Thursday, March 26, 2009

Another slow FEMA response?

http://www.databreaches.net/?p=2620

Katrina evacuees may have had personal information published on web

March 25, 2009 by admin

Filed under: Exposure, Government Sector, U.S.

Katie Moore of WWLTV reports that although FEMA learned on December 19 that personal information of nearly 17,000 evacuees — including “names, Social Security numbers, addresses, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses and other disaster information” — was published without authorization on scribd.com and esnips.com, many of those affected are just now finding out about it. The data had been provided to the Texas Workforce Commission.

To date, FEMA and TWC have been unable to determine who uploaded the files to those web sites.



“Total Information Awareness” by any other name would smell as bad.

http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20090325043105873

Government moots plans to monitor social networking sites

Wednesday, March 25 2009 @ 04:31 AM EDT Contributed by: PrivacyNews

The government is considering monitoring social networking sites such as Facebook, Bebo and MySpace to collect data in an attempt to combat online crime and terrorism.

Under the proposal, social networking sites would be forced to retain information about users' web-browsing habits.

Source - Brand Republic Related - BBC

[From the article:

This data would then be stored by the government on a central database as part of the Intercept Modernisation Programme.

The move follows plans to store information about every phone call, email and internet visit made by everyone in the UK.



Cindy: For your “Sex & Power” class... (Love that name!)

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2009/03/aclu-sues-da-ov.html

ACLU Sues Prosecutor Over 'Sexting' Child Porn Charges

By Kim Zetter March 25, 2009 2:12:01 PM

The American Civil Liberties Union is helping three teenage girls fight back against a Pennsylvania prosecutor who has threatened to charge the girls with felony child porn violations over digital photos they took of themselves.

In a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday in Pennsylvania, ACLU lawyers accuse District Attorney George P. Skumanick, Jr. (.pdf) of violating the civil rights of the girls. The lawsuit says the threat to prosecute the minors "is unprecedented and stands anti-child-pornography laws on their head."

The lawsuit comes in the wake of a string of cases around the country in which teens have been arrested on child porn charges for making and distributing nude and semi-nude photos of themselves.

At issue in the case are photos seized from student cellphones last year by officials of the Tunkhannock School District in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania. The practice of taking nude or semi-nude self-portraits and distributing them via a cellphone or the internet has come to be called "sexting" and has resulted in teens being arrested in a number of states under child porn production, distribution and possession charges.



CyberWar: The Chinese are getting good (no surprise)

http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/020935.html

March 25, 2009

Military Power of the People's Republic of China 2009

Military Power of the People’s Republic of China - A Report to Congress Pursuant to the National Defense Authorization Act Fiscal Year 2000

  • "China’s rapid rise as a regional political and economic power with growing global influence has significant implications for the Asia-Pacific region and the world. The United States welcomes the rise of a stable, peaceful, and prosperous China, and encourages China to participate responsibly in world affairs by taking on a greater share of the burden for the stability, resilience, and growth of the international system. The United States has done much over the last 30 years to encourage and facilitate China’s national development and its integration into the international system. However, much uncertainty surrounds China’s future course, particularly regarding how its expanding military power might be used."



Chasing DNA rather than criminals?

http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/25/2222246&from=rss

Cotton Swabs Prime Suspect In 8 Year Phantom Chase

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday March 26, @12:10AM from the mom-always-said-to-wash-your-hands dept. Biotech

matt4077 writes

"For eight years, several hundred police officers across several European countries have been chasing a phantom woman whose DNA had been found in almost 20 crimes (including two murders) across central Europe. It now turns out that contaminated cotton swabs might be responsible for this highly unusual investigation. After being puzzled by the apparent randomness of the crimes, investigator noticed that all cotton swabs had been sourced from the same company. They also noted that the DNA was never found in crimes in Bavaria, a German state located at the center of the crimes' locations. It turns out that Bavaria buys its swabs from a different supplier."



Too obvious?

http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/020938.html

March 25, 2009

Pew Internet: The Mobile Difference

The Mobile Difference, by John Horrigan, March 25, 2009

  • "Some 39% of Americans have positive and improving attitudes about their mobile communication devices, which in turn draws them further into engagement with digital resources – on both wireless and wireline platforms. Mobile connectivity is now a powerful differentiator among technology users. Those who plug into the information and communications world while on-the-go are notably more active in many facets of digital life than those who use wires to jack into the internet and the 14% of Americans who are off the grid entirely."



The economics of IT. Perhaps using idle machines for SETI-like in-house projects would be worth while?

http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/26/0355241&from=rss

Companies Waste $2.8 Billion Per Year Powering Unused PCs

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday March 26, @04:44AM from the just-let-it-run dept. Power Earth IT

snydeq writes

"Unused PCs — computers that are powered on but not in use — are expected to emit approximately 20 million tons of CO2 this year, roughly equivalent to the impact of 4 million cars, according to report by 1E and the Alliance to Save Energy. All told, U.S. organizations will waste $2.8 billion to power 108 million unused machines this year. The notion that power used turning on PCs negates any benefits of turning them off has been discussed recently as one of five PC power myths. By turning off unused machines and practicing proper PC power management, companies stand to save more than $36 per desktop PC per year."



Perhaps you could tweet a synopsis of WWII in 140 characters or less?

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10204364-71.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5

British children to study Twitter in school

by Chris Matyszczyk March 25, 2009 1:16 PM PDT

The British are looking very hard in the mirror these days. Perhaps it is related to the belief that the country is running out of money.

In any case, who would have thought that they would choose to give up mandatory education about the Second World War and begin teaching their children about Twitter and Wikipedia?

The plans, leaked to the dastardly press (perhaps some devious cove just Twittered a tiny URL to a password-protected site), give children relief from having to learn too many dates, place names, and pesky scientific formulas. You can Google all that nonsense anyway.



Bet they didn't ask: Is it only the Hugh Chavezes who rig elections?

http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/25/1641228&from=rss

CIA Expert Decries E-Voting Security

Posted by Soulskill on Wednesday March 25, @01:11PM from the only-vote-that-matters-is-the-cia-assassin's dept. Government Technology

ISoldat53 sends this quote from McClatchy DC:

"The CIA, which has been monitoring foreign countries' use of electronic voting systems, has reported apparent vote-rigging schemes in Venezuela, Macedonia and Ukraine and a raft of concerns about the machines' vulnerability to tampering. Appearing last month before a US Election Assistance Commission field hearing in Orlando, Fla., a CIA cybersecurity expert suggested that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and his allies fixed a 2004 election recount, an assertion that could further roil US relations with the Latin leader. ... Stigall said that most Web-based ballot systems had proved to be insecure. The commission has been criticized for giving states more than $1 billion to buy electronic equipment without first setting performance standards. Numerous computer-security experts have concluded that US systems can be hacked, and allegations of tampering in Ohio, Florida and other swing states have triggered a campaign to require all voting machines to produce paper audit trails."



Bet my students will love this!

http://www.killerstartups.com/Web20/online-casinos-com-a-guide-to-online-casino-gambling

Online-Casinos.com - A Guide To Online Casino Gambling

online-casinos.com

Do you like casino games? If that is so, this site gives you a very good opportunity to experience the adrenaline boost you feel when you go to the casino.

… Moreover, the site gives you useful online casino reviews, as well as tutorial videos in addition to free slot games with cash prizes, etc. These reviews are updated on a daily basis, and there is a news section where you will be able to get the scoop on casino poker, bingo and sports betting on the internet.



Is this useful? Find out what your neighbors are selling on Craigslist?

http://digg.com/tech_news/CraigLook_Web_2_0_Search_For_Craiglist

CraigLook - Web 2.0 Search For Craiglist

craiglook.com — This is a compelling mashup that combines Yahoo Pipes with Google Maps in order to go through Craiglist and show you only ads that come from your local Craiglist community.

http://www.craiglook.com/

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