It is hard to talk sensibly to the general public about standards. It is a pity because standards are important as they ensure e.g. that nuts match with bolts, paper sheets feed into printers, music files play on handsets and a lot more. One reason is that standards are one of the most ethereal things on Earth as they concern interfaces between systems.  Another reason is that the many industries created by human endeavour have developed their own customs: what…

USA President Obana is reported saying (NYT 2016/03/12): "If, technologically, it is possible to make an impenetrable device or system, where the encryption is so strong that there is no key, there is no door at all, then how do we apprehend the child pornographer? How do we disrupt a terrorist plot?" Anwer with another question: "How do we make a child pornographer or a terrorist talk if he does not want to?"

After decades of funding the most fancy and unproductives aspects of the welfare state by raising taxes, politicians have discovered that too much is too much. So cutting taxes has become the mantra of right- and left-wing politicians alike. There is one problem, though. Citizens have become unresponsive (i.e. they don't believe anymore to "tax cuts" promises). One suggestion to politicians in need of recovering citizens' confidence: instead of saying "I will cut this tax", say "I will cut this…

The Christian religion explains the mess of the world we live in with the Original Sin that has destroyed the good nature that would otherwise be in us. The Original Sin cannot be undone but Baptism and adherence to the Religion's precepts promise to make us reborn people. How can this help sorting out the European mess experienced of these days? Here, too, we have an original sin: greedy Greek politicians bent on lighting new debts from greedier bankers bent…