Randall C. Kennedy
BetaNews.com
Mauritius
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Past articles by Randall:
False flags and internet censorship: A cautionary tale
The Internet went down in Mauritius -- and you should be afraid. → Read More
The 'I'm a Mac' guy is back and shilling for…Intel?
It’s true. B-list American actor Justin Long is currently being featured in a series of TV spots pitching Intel-based PCs over those from Apple. And just as he did back in the noughties, Long is playing his → Read More
Job search scammers and you
Some people have no shame. It wasn’t a year ago that I was approached by an Internet scammer posing as a job recruiter for a medium-sized New England IT firm. In that case, someone claiming to be a Ms. Kirsten Lambert contacted me through ZipRecruiter’s email service about a position with Belcan, LLC, and I spent several days → Read More
What US wireless providers need to learn from telecom companies in paradise
Living in a developing nation, what used to be referred to as a third world country, has its charms. Many of the most beautiful places on Earth are found in such countries -- think Phuket in Thailand, or the myriad members of the Greater and Lesser Antilles. As a resident of one of the more remote and desirable of these destinations -- Mauritius -- I’ve been spoiled by access pristine beaches,… → Read More
I’m never going back to my old school: Musings on the fallout from COVID-19-related school closures
With all due respect to Donald Fagan -- front man for beloved jazz-rock duo Steely Dan -- I don’t think we have to wait until → Read More
'M-m-m-my Corona!' [Humor]
The Coronavirus is everywhere! It’s in the air! It’s in elevators! It’s even crawling its way up through your toilet! → Read More
Why Google is wrong in its fight against Oracle America
"What’s mine is yours and what’s yours is mine." With all due respect to Pete Townsend and The Who, no, no it’s not. If you take something that’s mine without compensating me for it then it’s stealing, plain and simple. In fact, the concept of private property rights is so fundamental to the American experience that it’s literally baked into our founding documents. Yet, as details surrounding an… → Read More
Beware fake recruiters bearing gifts!
When corporate recruiter Kirsten Lambert came into work this week, the last thing she probably expected to see was a LinkedIn message from yours truly asking about the new position she had just offered me earlier in the day. That’s because she had made no such offer. It was a scam. Someone impersonating her had spent the better part of three hours → Read More
The Swiss 5G debacle is giving me a headache
This is why we can’t have nice things! Just as Switzerland is on the cusp of becoming a leader in 5G adoption, out pop the crazies to rain on the tiny nation’s wireless parade. → Read More
Hey, American patriots: Why all the Tesla hate?
People suck. Every time I think of giving my fellow humans a bit of slack, some evolutionary throwback emerges to spoil my mood. → Read More
Embracing our deepfake future
"Is it live? Or is it Memorex?" Those of us who’ve been around a while will recall those iconic TV commercials where the announcer challenged the audience to tell the difference between a recorded performance and a live one (or as "live" as a pre-recorded TV spot can be). The idea was that the recording medium -- in this case, Memorex brand audio cassette tapes -- reproduced the full fidelity of… → Read More
iPhone 11 Pro: The ugliest iPhone ever!
They say that good things come in threes. Three of a kind. Three’s Company (RIP, John Ritter). Three-eyed ravens. There’s even a literary Rule of Three that spans the breadth of human influence and communication. Basically, we humans are hardwired to like things that come as a → Read More
Reaping the whirlwind of our impatience culture
"I want it all! … And I want it now!" With all due respect to the late, great Freddy Mercury, I don’t give a damn what he wants. Nor do I have any patience for the current generation’s obsession with instant gratification. When the average millennial gets frustrated if a web page takes more than 16 seconds to load, you know that the end of the world is nigh. So, what the hell happened? Why is an… → Read More
Twitter philanthropy: Noble endeavor or evil conspiracy?
Philanthropy is a funny thing. Do it the "right" way and you’re a saint. Do it the "wrong" way -- as defined by the trolls of Twitter nation -- and you’re an evil, corrupt opportunist capitalizing on the bad fortune of the downtrodden. It’s a lesson that Bill Pulte, CEO of Pulte Capital & Blight Authority, is finding out the hard way. After championing urban renewal through his campaign of… → Read More
Metro by T-Mobile: Caveat Emptor!
Those who follow my musings here on BetaNews know that I travel a lot internationally. Whether it’s bouncing around Asia, cooling my heels in Europe, or soaking up rays on my adopted home of Mauritius, I rarely go more than a month or so without a major trip somewhere. And now that my children are both attending university in the U.S., I’m shuttling back and forth to the States more than ever.… → Read More
Sharknado 2019 as seen through the eyes of a Siri QA screener
We all have them. Those days when we question our life choices. The roads not taken. The career paths followed and later regretted. → Read More
Big brother Elon isn't watching you
In an effort to reassure privacy advocates, Tesla announced that its new automobile insurance product for owners of the company’s popular electric vehicles will not use onboard sensor data from said vehicles in determining policy premiums. The fear was that the company would use the voluminous data collected by every Tesla Model 3, S or X to pre-judge the risk associated with specific drivers… → Read More
Fairphone 3: Now with more HEMP!
No, the Fairphone 3 is not really made from marijuana plant fibers -- but it might as well be. This misguided attempt to make a smartphone that → Read More
#GoogleSoWhite
Google has a diversity problem. Whereas the company's mobile app offerings were once colorful and full of highlights, more recent iterations -- like the newly released version 16 of the Google Play Store -- have been thoroughly and deliberately → Read More
Cyber-stalking from 240 miles in the sky
"In space, no one can hear you…stalk?" That's the phrase that comes to mind as I sift through the sensationalist coverage of astronaut and decorated combat veteran Anne McClain's brief sojourn into the world of cyber-stalking. And while the act of checking up on an estranged spouse's financial activity is relatively common in a world where roughly half of all marriages (at least in Western… → Read More