David lafontaine's
Sips from the firehose
A site that attempts to render the internet down into one easy-to consume mental beverage.
Quirks of the Internet in Myanmar
No TOR, but Rule 66 instead I've been in Yangon for more than two weeks now, and I'm starting to run into the outer edges of what is allowed here on the internet. First, Netflix and Apple Music work here. So I'm able to (pretty much) update the apps on my iPhone and...
Mobile Phone Wizards
I bought a new Sim card from one of the hundreds of tiny shops that line Insein Road here in Rangoon. The guy on the right here wasn't absolute magician with my phone. His fingers moved so fast I could barely see them as he was setting up my phone to work on the...
Just What Is a Digital Native Anyway?
Not to get all existential on your or anything, but it's the difference between "Being" and "Doing" Recently, while putting the finishing touches on a Great Big Important Research Project For A Huge Client, I got into a discussion with Janine Warner, my partner in all...
Whither Digital Advertising, Mid-2017 Edition: NYTimes Take; Analytics to the Rescue!
Are we about to see advertisers "flee to quality"? And would a complete overhaul of digital advertising be good for journalists and netizens who produce honest, high-quality content (and more importantly, bad for Fake News)? Mark Thompson, the CEO of the New York...
DDoS Attacks for $2/day: Researching the DarkNet
Hackers hire out their botnets for DDoS attacks for as little as $2/day I've been working on a series of articles on the threats to activists, independent journalists and innocent bystanders targeted by trolls that lurk on the web. This has led me to some of the...
Internet Security for Creative Professionals – The Basics
Hackers want in. Don't make it easy for them. With all the controversies swirling around hacked emails and cyber-threats, I was asked to come in to USC-Annenberg, and speak to the students about what they need to know about security. Basically, I had to come in do a...