This is a bit old, but I hadn’t noticed, so perhaps some of Loose Wire’s Asia-based readers hadn’t either: j2Global Communications, provider of the eFax Internet fax service, have this year started offering local toll-free numbers in Asia — well at least in Manila and Singapore. It says it’s planning to add numbers in Malaysia… Read More »
A painful story of what can happen when you let your spam rage get the better of you. Rachel Buchman was a reporter with National Public Radio affiliate WHYY when she tried to get off a mailing list from conservative for-profit company www.Laptoplobbyist.com, according to a piece she wrote for the Philadelphia Weekly. More annoying than… Read More »
You have to feel sorry for designers, particularly bridge designers. How can you factor in all the variables that will determine whether your bridge survives? Take for example, a bridge in Palembang, on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Built between 1962 and 1965, the 1,177-meter long and 22-meter wide bridge was named after the then… Read More »
A few weeks ago I wrote about steganography — the hiding of information inside other stuff, usually referring these days to hiding data inside photographs (FEER column here, WSJ.com here; both subscription only). One usage I missed was in trying to track down paedophiles. So instead of bad guys hiding their bad stuff inside other… Read More »
RFID tags? Sinister chip or harmless piece of plastic and wire? I’ve been on the side of the former for some time, but in the face of some objection from readers. A listener to a piece I did on the BBC World Service a few weeks back about the danger that RFID tags would give… Read More »