Eric Mann's Blog

  • Ethical Quandary: iPhones and Encryption

    Is Apple’s new stance on phone data encryption a good thing or a bad thing? The FBI, at least, thinks it’s bad. I say they’re wrong.

  • Email Syndication

    For years now, I’ve taken a very passive approach to syndicating site content. That changes today.

  • Static Content and Real-time Streaming

    When you buy a book, what are you really buying? A discrete copy of the work, or just the rights to access it – possibly from a real-time stream?

  • Does It Fit?

    Those of us with blogs or product lines or marketing messages often have a piece of material we want to put out that doesn’t quite fit with the rest of our message.

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  • Content and Quantum Mechanics

    If there were a way to use the Heisenberg uncertainty principal in computing, maybe we could have real digital rights management.

  • Copyright, DRM, and Diminishing Returns

    By driving down the cost of doing business, the publishing industry has inadvertently driven down the barrier to competition as well.

  • Code, Credentials, and Public Repositories

    Like most developers, I’m lazy. It’s easier to define a root-level constant with an API key or dashboard password than it is to program an interface for setting and storing those credentials. Unfortunately, it means I can very easily slip up and distribute those credentials to the world.

  • Deduplication and Self-Plagiarism

    There is no faster way to drive content away from your site than self-plagiarism.

  • The Fallacy of the $1 Salary

    Just because a handful of CEOs use their $1 salary as a gimmick doesn’t mean it’s a target to shoot for.

  • Dangerous Theology

    Music can be a fantastic unifying force, but if you’re not careful, it can unify people around the wrong ideas.