Artful alliteration

This has to be one of the more intriguing (and most alliterative) newspaper headlines I’ve ever read: Feckless fishmongerfaces flak forfoisting fatal fuguon famished foreign female Makes you wonder, doesn’t it? The article concerned may be found here. It refers to a Japanese fishmonger who sold a poisonous puffer fish to a foreign woman who… Continue reading Artful alliteration

Potential risks of cellular and mobile phones

This is going to be a tricky post to write, because there’s an enormous amount of confusion, doubt, uncertainty, partisan bickering and plain old obfuscation in the field. I’m no expert, but there’s enough smoke out there to make me seriously concerned about the possibility of a real fire beneath it all. We’ve read of… Continue reading Potential risks of cellular and mobile phones

Bruce Schneier hits a home run

I’m sure many of you are familiar with Bruce Schneier’s Web site. He’s an authority on security, cryptography and related areas. In a recent article in his Crypto-gram newsletter he considers the competing demands of security versus privacy – and makes some very interesting points. We’ve been told we have to trade off security and… Continue reading Bruce Schneier hits a home run

Of witches, witch-doctors and the disposal thereof

It may sound strange to Western ears, but belief in witchcraft, the power of witch-doctors and the traffic in muti (medicine, potions, call it what you will) conveying power or warding off evil is rampant across much of the globe. I was reminded of this by a recent outcry in Sweden concerning plans by a… Continue reading Of witches, witch-doctors and the disposal thereof