Protecting your backend from jargon-laced error messages
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Protecting your backend from jargon-laced error messages

Code that goes wrong generates errors. It’s typical for developers to spend their time on the code, not on the error messages. This is a plea to put a little more effort into those messages, even if you think no one will see them. Unknown attackers ambushed the Boston Globe site with a DDOS (distributed denial…

Did Kevin Spacey just post the worst apology ever?
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Did Kevin Spacey just post the worst apology ever?

Anthony Rapp, the actor now appearing on “Star Trek: Discovery,” says Kevin Spacey sexually assaulted him when he was 14. Kevin Spacey apologized by saying he was gay. This is wrong on so many levels. Rapp was a child actor appearing on Broadway in 1986. As he told BuzzFeed News, he remembers going to Spacey’s…

The challenge with how Reddit is shutting down violent speech

The challenge with how Reddit is shutting down violent speech

Reddit clarified its policy to ban speech that “encourages, glorifies, incites, or calls for violence or physical harm.” Sounds great, but as always with free-speech issues, the lines between acceptable and awful are fuzzy. Reddit has a challenging history to deal with. Among mainstream public social platforms, it has been the most tolerant of extreme…

The DFJ case: When should we believe a woman who claims sexual harassment?
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The DFJ case: When should we believe a woman who claims sexual harassment?

Sexual harassment claims tend to come down to “he said, she said.” Is venture firm DFJ’s founder Steve Jurvetson a predator or a victim? Let’s look at the dueling statements. The accusation Entrepreneur Keri Kukral posted this on Facebook: Threshold reached after long contemplation. Women approached by founding partners of Draper Fisher Jurvetson should be…

Can Forrester empower consumers with its Tap app?
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Can Forrester empower consumers with its Tap app?

Forrester Research, my former employer, has released a consumer app called “Tap.” The essence is simple: tell the world what businesses are doing wrong, and they’ll listen and fix it. It’s a crowded app world out there, but if this one catches on, it could make a difference. The world is filled with ratings and…

Facebook’s arrogant and patronizing statement about changes to the News Feed
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Facebook’s arrogant and patronizing statement about changes to the News Feed

Facebook’s News Feed shows both what your friends share and what companies that you follow share. In some countries, Facebook is ripping the company stuff out of the news feed. But publishers need not worry, because as it says in its patronizing, arrogant, and ultimately meaningless statement, it has “no plans” to make those changes…

Barstool Sports tells Elika Sadeghi that they’re schmucks. Is this a problem?
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Barstool Sports tells Elika Sadeghi that they’re schmucks. Is this a problem?

Barstool Sports offered reporter Elika Sadeghi a two-year contract that specified she’d be subject to offensive speech. Sort of. The whole incident falls apart upon close examination. As described in The Boston Globe, Sadeghi opted not to take the gig when she read the contract. It included a passage saying she understood that her colleagues…

Could you thank the people who just fired you? Red Sox manager John Farrell did.

Could you thank the people who just fired you? Red Sox manager John Farrell did.

The Boston Red Sox fired their manager John Farrell yesterday. He then made a surprising statement thanking everyone he worked with, including the ownership and management team that just fired him. You need a little context to fully understand his statement. Farrell’s five years with the Red Sox featured extremes, including a surprising World Series…

Here’s what to do when Dow Jones says Google is buying Apple

Here’s what to do when Dow Jones says Google is buying Apple

Here’s a story that appeared on Dow Jones newswires yesterday: DJ Update: Google, Apple Join to Create Tech Giant By Josee Rose In a surprise move to everyone who is alive, Google said it’s going to buy Apple for $9 billion. Google Chief Executive Larry Page had secret talks with the now deceased Steve Jobs…