Monthly update #0294 • October 2014
Monthly update 294 • October 2014 • 2014-10-01 - 2014-10-31
Monthly Updates
Blog
The Dalton Uncles by Laurent Gerra
The jailed Daltons learn they have a small nephew to raise, and Lucky Luke is saddled with minding both the brothers and the unruly boy.
Books
Eurobloat #0053 • September 2014
The month Brussels outlawed the powerful vacuum cleaner, eyed your kettle and hairdryer next, and unveiled a brand new Commission to think up further things to ban.
Eurobloat
John Wick
John Wick (2014), directed by Chad Stahelski, follows a retired hitman who returns to the criminal underworld after a group of thugs steal his car and kill the puppy his dying wife left him. Keanu Reeves plays John Wick, a man the whole underworld fears.
Movies
De Cock en de dood van de Helende Meesters by A.C. Baantjer
A plastic surgeon vanishes from the Clinic of the Healing Masters. It is not his colleagues who call the police, but a woman who had grown close to him.
Books
What is nsurlsessiond and why is it using so much bandwidth?
If you see nsurlsessiond using network resources on your Mac, here is what this process does.
Mac
Monthly update #0293 • September 2014
Monthly update 293 • September 2014 • 2014-09-01 - 2014-09-30
Monthly Updates
Privacy Roundup #0098 • September 2014
September 2014 turned the post-Snowden privacy debate towards the device itself, as Apple and Google promised encryption by default while breaches at Home Depot, Goodwill and Jimmy John's showed how exposed everyday data remained.
Privacy
The IT Crowd
The IT Crowd is a British comedy series. It aired on Channel 4 from 3 February 2006 to 27 September 2013. Graham Linehan created it. Chris O'Dowd plays Roy and Richard Ayoade plays Moss, two IT support staff in the basement of a London corporation.
TV Series
Eurobloat #0052 • August 2014
The month Brussels banned your vacuum cleaner, flung two satellites into the wrong orbit, carved up its top jobs over dinner, and handed out cheques to the farmers its own sanctions had ruined.
Eurobloat
Useful macOS defaults: Mission Control and Spaces
Handy defaults write commands for com.apple.dock (Mission Control settings) and com.apple.spaces, controlling how Spaces and Mission Control behave.
Mac
I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes
Terry Hayes’ “I Am Pilgrim” is an intense, globe-trotting thriller that seamlessly integrates espionage, mystery, and high-stakes action.
Books
What is revisiond?
If you see revisiond running on your Mac, here is what this file versioning process does.
Mac
Monthly update #0292 • August 2014
Monthly update 292 • August 2014 • 2014-08-01 - 2014-08-31
Monthly Updates
De Cock en moord op bestelling by A.C. Baantjer
A young man is shot dead in his doorway in what looks like a criminal settling of scores. Before De Cock can act, a woman is strangled.
Books
Privacy Roundup #0097 • August 2014
August 2014 brought a wave of Snowden disclosures, mega retail card breaches and a hard look at how governments and companies hoard our data.
Privacy
Eurobloat #0051 • July 2014
The month the Parliament crowned Jean-Claude Juncker, the Commission billed Servier nearly half a billion euros, and Brussels found time to redesign your bin, your vacuum cleaner and the entire energy mix while it was at it.
Eurobloat
What is FDERecoveryAgent?
If you see FDERecoveryAgent running on your Mac, here is what this FileVault recovery process does.
Mac
24
24 is an American action thriller series. It aired on Fox from 6 November 2001 to 24 May 2010, with a limited revival in 2014. Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran created it. Kiefer Sutherland plays Jack Bauer, a federal agent at the Counter Terrorist Unit in Los Angeles.
TV Series
What is taskgated?
If you see taskgated running on your Mac, here is what this code signing enforcement process does.
Mac
Privacy Roundup #0096 • July 2014
July 2014 deepened the post-Snowden reckoning, with fresh surveillance leaks, emergency British data laws, transatlantic spy expulsions and a wave of breaches and tracking exposes.
Privacy
De Cock en de blijde Bacchus by A.C. Baantjer
A young man reports that his wealthy, unmarried great-uncle has disappeared. A collection of small statues turns out to matter to the case.
Books
Monthly update #0291 • July 2014
Monthly update 291 • July 2014 • 2014-07-01 - 2014-07-31
Monthly Updates
Guardians of the Galaxy
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), directed by James Gunn, follows a group of criminals and misfits who are thrown together in a space prison and must work as a team to stop a fanatic from destroying an entire planet. Chris Pratt plays Peter Quill, a thief who calls himself Star-Lord.
Movies
Lucy
Lucy (2014), directed by Luc Besson, follows a young woman who gains extraordinary mental powers after a drug is absorbed into her body. Scarlett Johansson plays Lucy, a student in Taipei who is forced to carry a new synthetic substance inside her stomach.
Movies