jrjBlog

The watershed milestone products in the computer industry are few. You may argue with this list, but I think it’s pretty reasonable...

It's nearly impossible to securely erase a Solid-State Drive. My question is this: Who cares? If you need to perform a secure erase then you're doing it wrong.

The personal histories we build of ourselves online is unprecedented, and it's not clear what the ramifications will be long term. However, one thing is clear: configuring your privacy settings on sites like Facebook may not keep your information safe from prying eyes, so be mindful of what you post!

I've had a lot of discussions--both online and off-- about WikiLeaks and Bradley Manning. My opinion on the subject is somewhat nuanced: WikiLeaks is generally a positive force for transparency and accountability, but Manning committed a crime. Contrary to popular belief, these are NOT mutually exclusive views.

A few fun news links from the last couple weeks, including info on the Stuxnet worm, the Hyundai Equus, and an excellent tweet about the unexpected state of the tech world.

A collection of interesting articles from the last week, including a great historical economics lesson by Niall Ferguson, a look at the future of loyalty cards, the National Cybersecurity Initiative, and more.

A random technical glitch brought down jrj.org-- the site should be back up in a day or two. I'm taking advantage of this oportunity to move the site off SharePoint and to MangoBlog, which looks pretty cool so far.

I'll transition the old posts if I can get the old site back online long enough to do an import.

I've decided to leave Microsoft, and want to thank all the great people I've worked with over the years. It was a great experience, but it's time to move on to the next challenge.

Should the Federal Trade Commission be empowered to "veto" ISP Bandwidth caps and otherwise regulate ISPs?

People have difficulty differentiating between things they need, and things they want. This is a cultural difference that has evolved over the last few decades. Also, a great Daily Show snippets and my reaction to the Tea Party tax protests after the jump.

Last night was one of the strangest experiences I've had sin ce I relocated to the Seattle area a decade ago. I had been working late, and was headed home after 10pm. Behind me, I saw the view everyone hopes not to see while driving: a police cruiser with the lights flashing. While looking for an appropriate spot to pull over, I glanced down at the speedometer—I was going exactly 1mph under the posted limit. This is going to be a long post, so I'll put the officer's statements in blue, and my own in red to make it easier to read (after the jump.)

A profoundly unpopular Republican President, widely viewed as a massive failure by the populace is succeeded by a charismatic Democrat just as the country peers down the precipice of a deep and prolonged recession, following a historic crash in the stock markets. Unemployment is soaring, and deflationary forces rear their ugly head. The new President promises to put Americans back to work with sweeping public works projects, and leverages new technology to reach out to the citizenry weekly with his message of hope and change, delivered with the skill of a master orator known for his consistently poised and calm temperament.

Yep, Franklin Delano Roosevelt started his presidency in ways that should seem familiar to every American today. Oh, I'm sorry… did you think I was talking about Obama? (More after the jump...)

Some excellent Inaguration-day blunders, and thoughts on President Obama's inaugural address. 

Tech workers aren't immune to concerns about the economy and job security... recent queries on managing a technical career reminded me of a conversation I had with a friend earlier this year, which I recount in this post. 

A little levity in honor of a crazy market: I share my 10 favorite twitter comments I've made about the economy over the last few months. 

Tech workers aren't immune to concerns about the economy and job security... recent queries on managing a technical career reminded me of a conversation I had with a friend earlier this year, which I recount in this post. 

I take a look at the recent boom in gold, and explain why I think silver is the better investment. The reasons may surprise you.

What is the impact of the rebalancing of commodities indicies?  

To quote F.A. Hayek, "The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design." I assert that the level of complexity in markets is sufficient to make "Chaos Theory" more relevant than traditional economic theory.