Citibank Archive

  • Student loan data stolen: 3.3 million ex-college students look forward to giant headache

    Student loan data stolen: 3.3 million ex-college students look forward to giant headache

    It was only a few days ago that I mentioned that, you know, your data is never secure. So, this story isn't surprising at all. It turns out that the records of more than 3.3 million student loans were stolen a few days ago. Data stolen includes names, Social Security numbers, and credit card numbers. Awesome.

    Full Story

  • Secret copyright treaty is the most annoying thing you’ll read all year

    Secret copyright treaty is the most annoying thing you’ll read all year

    A great African American civil rights activist one said, “I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired.” That's how I feel about copyright these days. You've got these entrenched business interests who seemingly have their favorite congressmen on speed-dial, and then you have people who, God forbid, would like to see these businesses embrace new, practical business models that don't automatically assume their customers are potential criminals. But this! This latest development has me thinking, “You know what? Just shoot me. Go ahead, I'll even buy the ammo from Wal-Mart if you want. I don't have to pay my student loans any more (take that, Citibank!), and I won't have to worry about being treated like a criminal by the likes of whatever stupid entertainment company is in Congress' good graces this week. Win-win.”

    Full Story

  • It shouldn’t be this difficult to upgrade a hard drive

    It shouldn’t be this difficult to upgrade a hard drive

    You know what's a little more difficult than I first imagined? Upgrading the hard drive in my late 2006 iMac. I had initially wanted to upgrade the hard drive so I could finally dual boot between Mac OS X and Windows 7, since the old drive, a 250GB model, was pretty much filled to capacity. (Trying to run Mac OS X with only ~5GB of free space isn't ideal.) And even though the iMac user manual clearly states that the only user-replacabable parts are the RAM, I figured, “Bah! I think I can handle a simple hard drive replacement.” I did, but not before wishing I had never so much had broken out a screwdriver.

    Full Story

  • What a surprise: Sale of The Pirate Bay possibly in danger

    What a surprise: Sale of The Pirate Bay possibly in danger

    Not for nothing, but it looks like the sale of The Pirate Bay may well be in jeopardy. You'll recall that the site announced last month that it had found a buyer in Global Gaming Factory. The deal was predicated on the ability of GGF to come up with nearly $7 million, which now doesn't look all that certain.

    Full Story

  • Company that pledged to buy The Pirate Bay now says it’ll only buy if it can make site ‘legitimate’

    Company that pledged to buy The Pirate Bay now says it’ll only buy if it can make site ‘legitimate’

    Whoa, whoa, whoa. Is the company that announced plans last month to buy The Pirate Bay now getting cold feet? A lawyer representing Global Gaming Factory X said in a Dutch court today that GGF would only buy The Pirate Bay if it could turn it into a “legitimate business.” And while we're at it, I'd like to announce that I plan on purchasing the New York Knicks, but only if I can turn it into a winning baseball team.

    Full Story