Blogs / Personal blogs

Nick Heer

pxlnv.com

A sassy weblog written by Nick Heer with topics including technology and policy, Apple, Silicon Valley, and privacy.

Popular posts
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Society, Policy & Culture 4Web & Frontend 3Security & Privacy 2Tech Industry & Business 2Design & UX 1

1

The Bullshit Web

My home computer in 1998 had a 56K modem connected to our telephone line; we were allowed a maximum of thirty minutes of computer usage a day, because my parents — quite reasonably — did not want to have their telephone shut off for an evening at a time. I remember webpages loading slowly: ten […]

2

Oh, the Places Your Apple ID Will Go

Here is a short and curious Twitter thread from app developers and security researchers Tommy Mysk and Talal Haj Bakry: Apple’s analytics data include an ID called “dsId”. We were able to verify that “dsId” is the “Directory Services Identifier”, an ID that uniquely identifies an iCloud account. Meaning, Apple’s…

3

The California Exception

You know how I linked to that New York Times editorial pleading for regulation of dark patterns? Turns out I missed something in the Times’ convoluted cancellation policies. They give you the choice of speaking with someone over the telephone or speaking with someone using an instant messenger. Both have similar hours…

4

Fake It 'Til You Fake It

Since Google’s introduction of its Pixel 8 phones earlier this month, it has been interesting and a little amusing to me to read the reactions to its image manipulation tools. It feels like we have been asking the same questions every year — questions like what is a photograph, anyway?, and has technology gone too […]