Weekly output: Apple’s environmentalism, terrorists and social media

Happy Easter! I mean, unless you’re a UVA fan

(Sigh.)

Yahoo Tech Apple-environmentalism post3/21/2016: Apple’s making good on its environmental promises, but are they enough?, Yahoo Tech

After Apple’s iPhone SE and iPad Pro introduction Monday, my editor asked me to take a look at the environment-minded presentation that led off the event. The big thing to realize about that: Data-center electricity use adds up to a tiny fraction of the U.S.’s electrical budget.

3/24/2016: Get terrorism off the Internet? It’s (still) not so simple, Yahoo Tech

This was another current-events-driven post, in this case a response of sorts to the suicide bombings in Brussels this week. I would like to see my news-analysis work focus on more boring topics.

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Weekly output: Trump closing parts of the Internet

As I type this, I have six pieces for various clients that I’ve completed but which have yet to be posted–three of which I filed this week. So, yes, I was more productive than this paltry list would suggest.

Yahoo Tech Trump close-the-Internet post12/17/2015: Dear Donald Trump: No, You Can’t Shut Down Parts of the Internet, Yahoo Tech

This post was slightly unpopular with Trump supporters, as I noted yesterday. Were I to write it again, I would have acknowledged upfront that countries like China and North Korea can and do wall off parts of the Internet–but that if we could exercise that level of control over Iraq and Syria, we most likely would have rounded up all of the current crop of terrorists.

Meanwhile, if you didn’t leave one of the first of the 1,928 comments the story has drawn to date–getting featured on the Yahoo home page yields results!–please accept my apology for not having read your feedback yet.

Donald Trump supporters have some opinions

Thursday’s post at Yahoo Tech critiquing Donald Trump’s notion of “maybe, in certain areas, closing the Internet up in some way” did not go over well among Trump fans.

Trump-supporter messagesI expected as much, but I did not quite expect to see quite their rage so poorly expressed–like, for example, the fellow whose entire message consisted of a one-word subject header, “Bull,” and the “Sent from my iPhone” signature. Another disgruntled individual closed with “Your a Complete ASSHOLE.”

A few less spittle-flecked messages expressed disdain for my calling The Donald a blowhard or a loudmouth. My response: If Trump isn’t one, then those words no longer have any meaning in the English language.

Several asked why we couldn’t cut the terrorists off from the Internet when North Korea, China or Cuba maintain an iron grip on their citizens’ online access. Well, if we could exercise that level of control over Iraq and Syria, wouldn’t we already have rounded up the Daesh death cultists by now?

Finally, a few led with “you’re just a member of the liberal media.” Hoo boy, I’ve never heard that one before. I will have to warn my colleagues about this novel insult they may come across on the Internet.

On the other hand, a couple of people wrote in to say they appreciated the story. So I’ve got that going for me.