Let’s start with the quote that set off the rage in my heart— “You can see today that our Internet is slow. Not because it itself is slow but because a lot of people are using it,” he said The government agency chief blamed this on illegal downloads hogging Internet bandwidth here, adding that this does not happen in countries like Germany due to stricter enforcement. “In Germany, the...
This will easily be the most controversial blog post I ever wrote, so consider yourself warned. It’s controversial, because it touches on multiple taboos in our society, sex, child abuse and security theater. You see, there’s been a growing call for a national sex offender registry, especially in the wake of news that a British Pedophile had sexually abused up to 200 children in...
Gawker is the internet’s most slimy news organization, a online website that has no qualms disclosing people’s sexual infidelities regardless of the cost such disclosures have on their personal lives. So for most people, seeing WWF superstar Hulk Hogan win a lawsuit against Gawker to the tune of $140 Million dollars was a real sight for sore eyes. But when it was revealed that...
The last time I took a public train in Malaysia was 10 years ago. That’s a long time to be spoilt by the luxury of having a car to drive around. So it was a pleasant surprise to see this viral story, about a man on a KTM kommuter train who saved a women from a group of youths who “misbehaved and demanded cash and their valuables”. But then I remembered that KTM had launched...
Two weeks ago, I took my first ever Uber ride, and here’s what I think is The Good, the bad and the ugly of Uber. The Good The app worked perfectly out of the box, it was intuitive, and the drivers that fetched me from (and to) the Toyota service center were courteous and friendly. What was even more shocking was the price–Uber is freaking cheap. Bukit Jalil to Bukit Bintang for RM20...
Some people are fans of medieval torture, and who can blame them. There’s just something about the sadistic treatment of people that makes us both want to watch with a bowl of popcorn in our hands, yet at the same time turn away in disgust and discomfort. How else do you explain the popularity of shows like Saw? I personally am a fan of the Iron Maiden, which before it became a name of rock...
People think of the media as the powerful behemoth that’s capable of swaying public perception. On the contrary, I think public perception sways the media. Companies like Facebook, Google and even Amazon, have gone all-in on the confirmation bias, the idea that people like and prefer information that confirms their existing ideas and biases. No one likes being told their wrong about...
On April 2nd, 1917, the President of the United States of America addressed an extraordinary session in congress, asking them to authorize America to declare war against the central powers in World War 1. Across the Atlantic, the European continent had been devastated by nearly 3 years of bloody conflict. Regardless of who started the war, President Wilson was sure the war was at it’s tail...
Nobody really knows how the FBI is hacking into iPhones. Well nobody, except Cellebrite and the FBI themselves. We can safely assume that the underlying crypto wasn’t hacked–that would be truly catastrophic for everyone’s security, and way above the pay grade of a company like Cellebrite. So we have to conclude that somehow the FBI has managed to trick the iPhone into giving up...
What happens when a government agency tasked with providing cybersecurity “guidance” and “expertise” gives you advice like “avoid uploading pictures of yourself to avoid the threat of black magic”? And then goes into damage-control claiming that it “was just a casual remark and did not represent the federal agency’s official position on the matter”, only to...