Category: Misc

Fahmida Y. Rashid reports that methodological issues confound interpretation of a widely cited study by Pew: The problem is, the survey attempted an apples-to-oranges comparison for each of those findings. Non-smartphones, or feature phones (often called “dumb phones”) are a varied lot, including the likes of LG Rumor Reflex with a keyboard and touchscreen interface,…

For those interested:  Jeffrey Rosen has a review of Garret Keizer’s book, Privacy, in the Sunday New York Times Book Review. Here’s a snippet from the review: Keizer is a contributing editor at Harper’s, where part of his short book began as an essay, and his particular contribution is to concentrate on the “economic subtext”…

Kashmir Hill writes: Earlier this summer, researchers from Indiana University and the Kinsey Institute launched the ultimate app for the TMI crowd: the Kinsey Reporter, which “crowdsources sexual behavior.” It works how you would expect it to work. The app acts as a digital Dr. Alfred Kinsey — the pioneering sex researcher, a.k.a. Liam Neeson — for those willing to…

Tony Bradley reports: A new study from the Pew Internet and American Life Project finds that smartphones are at greater risk for privacy breaches than traditional flip or feature mobile phones. That seems like an obvious conclusion that needed a study about as much as we need research on whether or not water is wet or ice…