EVERY DAY I WRITE THE MACBOOK

As hinted at yesterday, I am now the proud owner of a MacBook, which I needed to get because my PowerBook G4 has power issues.

Specifically, it sustained a dent near the power outlet that prevents the power cord from connecting cleanly, which means it can drop from AC power to the battery on a moment’s notice – the long-term effect being that it wreaks havoc on the battery’s charging ability over time. The current battery can now last maybe 45 minutes if I only use Word and nothing else. And I can’t be having that when I go to Barcelona in a couple of weeks to report on the mobile phone industry again.

I could always buy a new battery and get the casing fixed, but (1) a new battery costs HK$950, and (2) the last time I had the casing fixed, it cost about a third of the price of a new laptop. I didn’t have a choice at the time. I do now. And besides, the G4 was getting a bit slow.

So far, so good. Transferring files and apps has been pretty painless. And the new machine purrs. The keyboard is taking a little getting used to, though, with the raised keys and all. On the other hand, with the built-in Webcam, I can look at myself all day. Like this.



So, you know, that’s useful.

And if yr wondering why I didn’t get a MacBook Air, I’m glad you asked. There’s a few reasons.

1. More expensive.

2. I only get an 80GB hard drive, a 1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo chip and one USB port for that. With the MacBook, I have 160GB, a 2.2GHz Intel chip and two (2) USB ports for considerably less money.

3. I’d need technical support to replace the battery.

4. Sorry, but I need an optical disk drive. How else am I going to kill the music industry if I can’t rip CDs that I paid good money for? And the Remote Disk idea is just silly.

Speaking of which, I need to get on with my latest project with which to entertain you all. Details before Valentine’s Day. (See what I did there?)

21st century digital boy,

This is dF

PRIVACY vs SECURITY

ITEM [via Schneier]: In a Jan. 21 New Yorker article, Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell discusses a proposed plan to monitor all Internet communications for security purposes.

Not some. ALL.

Which is nothing new, but the revealing quote from Ed Giorgio, who is working with McConnell on the plan, is this:

“Privacy and security are a zero-sum game.”

In other words, in the eyes of the NSA (and the current presidential admin, and probably others before it), you can be secure against terrorism, or you can have yr privacy respected. You can’t have both.

Cue brilliant essay from Bruce Schneier on why this is a false choice.

If you set up the false dichotomy, of course people will choose security over privacy -- especially if you scare them first. But it's still a false dichotomy. There is no security without privacy. And liberty requires both security and privacy. The famous quote attributed to Benjamin Franklin reads: "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." It's also true that those who would give up privacy for security are likely to end up with neither.

Tell yr friends. If you dare.

Gimme some liberty,

This is dF