http://www.databreaches.net/?p=9617
Man sentenced in credit card scam orchestrated behind prison bars
January 25, 2010 by admin Filed under ID Theft
Robert J. Lopez reports:
Morocco Curry, 37, also known as Monica Dupree, was serving a three-year sentence at Centinela prison in Imperial after pleading guilty to bank fraud and identity theft charges in state court, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles.
While doing his time at Centinela, Curry obtained credit card numbers and other information on at least four victims, prosecutors said. Curry then made three-way telephone calls to conspirators outside the prison, and they contacted credit card issuers and asked them to send replacement credit cards.
Read more in the Los Angeles Times.
The cost of failure to control. If the drives were to be disposed of, they should have been destroyed immediately. Simple. Best Practice. And in the long term, far cheaper!
http://www.phiprivacy.net/?p=1901
TN: BlueCross computer theft already costs $7 million
By Dissent, January 26, 2010 7:33 am
Dave Flessner reports:
What was initially assumed to be just a glitch in some soon-to-be-discarded computer equipment last fall has grown into one of Chattanooga’s most expensive property crimes of the year.
BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee said Monday it already has spent more than $7 million to respond to the theft last October of computer hard drives from an abandoned office at Eastgate Center.
Although the Chattanooga-based health insurer has adequate reserves to absorb such losses, officials said the company may have to spend millions more to assess what was on the missing computer records and to provide identity protection for affected customers.
Read more in the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
[From the article:
To date, BlueCross said there have been no verified instances of any improper access or use of individual identities or health records from the stolen computer hard drives. [I read this as: “Lots of our customers have asserted that they were harmed because of this breach, but we're denying it like crazy.” Bob] But BlueCross Communications Director Roy Vaughn said the company has received 8,728 member calls related to the theft so far, and about 20,500 members of BlueCross plans have taken advantage of the company’s offer for free credit monitoring services from Equifax, Kroll or Lifelock.
Determining what was on the 57 stolen computer hard drives — and complying with federal and state notification requirements — already has required the hiring of more than 700 contract and BlueCross workers to assess back-up copies of the missing records.
Mr. Harr said the cost of dealing with the theft will not directly lead to any increase in rates for BlueCross, which still enjoys sufficient reserves to absorb such losses.
“But we have to be honest with people and recognize that, in the end, ultimately all of our money must come from our customers,” he said. [Attention Class Action lawyers! Bob]
http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-10440901-245.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Report: Companies unprepared for cybercrime
by Elinor Mills January 25, 2010 4:49 PM PST
Many organizations are focused on stopping random hackers and blocking pornography when they should be concerned with bigger threats from professional cybercriminals, according to a new cybersecurity report.
In a survey conducted last year of 523 IT and security managers, top-level executives, and law enforcement personnel, hackers were rated the biggest threat, followed by insiders and foreign entities--probably because hackers are the "noisiest and easiest to detect," the 2010 CyberSecurity Watch Survey concluded.
Where does this end? This woman is a Democrat (suffers from advanced liberalism) if we release her, she's only gonna vote for Obama.
http://www.phiprivacy.net/?p=1903
Fla. woman fights ruling that kept her in hospital
By Dissent, January 26, 2010 7:44 am
Bill Kaczor of the Associated Press reports:
Samantha Burton wanted to leave the hospital. Her doctor strongly disagreed, enough to go to court to keep her there.
She smoked cigarettes during the first six months of her pregnancy and was admitted on a false alarm of premature labor. Her doctor argued she was risking a miscarriage if she didn’t quit smoking immediately and stay on bed rest in the hospital, and a judge agreed. [Women were late to adopt smoking (not proper for young ladies) and the first to quit. But in that window of time I wonder if any studies concluded that smoking caused miscarriages? Bob]
Three days after the judge ordered her not to leave the hospital, Burton delivered a stillborn fetus by cesarian-section (sic).
And six months after the pregnancy ended, the dispute over the legal move to keep her in the hospital continues, raising questions about where a mother’s right to decide her own medical treatment ends and where the priority of protecting a fetus begins.
Read more on AJC.
It is disturbing to me to see such cases still being fought, and the article mentions some earlier court decisions on this type of question. The story ends with a statement from Dr. Michael Grodin, a physician and professor of health law, bioethics and human rights at Boston University:
“People have the absolute right to refuse treatment …,” Grodin said. “It’s unconscionable. … It’s an affront to women.”
The doctors in this case did not have informed consent from a woman who was capable of providing informed consent. The judge’s order was not only an affront to women, but it is a threat to patient privacy and self-determination, attempts to justify it notwithstanding.
Could you issue a warrant based on unidentified fingerprints?
http://www.pogowasright.org/?p=7288
“John Doe” warrants based on DNA profiles okay – court
January 25, 2010 by Dissent Filed under Court, U.S.
The Supreme Court of California ruled today that “no name” or “John Doe” warrants based only on a suspect’s DNA profile are authorized under California’s laws.
On August 21, 2000, four days before the statute of limitations would have expired, the Sacramento County District Attorney filed a felony complaint against “John Doe, unknown male,” describing him by his DNA profile. The next day, a John Doe arrest warrant issued, incorporating by reference the same DNA profile. On September 15, Paul Eugene Robinson was arrested based on an amended warrant that included his name. It was subsequently discovered that defendant's DNA profile in the state’s DNA database, which linked defendant to the crimes committed against Deborah L., had been generated from blood mistakenly collected from defendant by local and state agencies in administering the DNA and Forensic Identification Data Base and Data Bank Act of 1998.
In The People v. Paul Eugene Robinson, the court:
granted review to decide (1) whether the issuance of a “John Doe” complaint or arrest warrant may timely commence a criminal action and thereby satisfy section 800’s limitation period; (2) whether an unknown suspect’s DNA profile satisfies the “particularity” requirement for an arrest warrant; and (3) what remedy exists, if any, for the unlawful collection of genetic material under the 1998 version of the Act.
The court opinion is available here (pdf). In an opinion that concurred in part and dissented in part, Justice Moreno wrote:
In my view, the trial court should have granted the motion to dismiss because the prosecution of defendant was not commenced until after the statute of limitations had expired. The arrest warrant that was issued a few days before the statute of limitations expired was not a true arrest warrant; it was a mere placeholder, because it did not authorize the arrest of any individual. It was not until the warrant was amended to replace the name John Doe and the reference to the DNA profile with defendant's name that the warrant became effective and the prosecution commenced; but this was too late, because the statute of limitations had already expired.
This is great! Now we can ban access to the judicial system because the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court gives directions just like a crime boss!
Prison Bans D&D For Mimicking Gang Structure
Posted by kdawson on Tuesday January 26, @05:21AM from the step-away-from-the-polyhedral-dice dept.
Trepidity writes
"In a case that has been winding its way through the courts for a while now, a Wisconsin prison banned inmates from playing Dungeons & Dragons, using the justification that 'one player is denoted the Dungeon Master... [who] is tasked with giving directions to other players... [which] mimics the organization of a gang.' The prison also cited some sparse evidence that a handful of non-inmate D&D players once committed some crimes that allegedly were related to their D&D playing. On Monday the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the regulation (PDF) against challenges from inmates. The court appeared skeptical of the ban, sarcastically referring to it as the 'war on D&D,' but upheld it nonetheless as having a 'rational basis.' Law professor Ilya Somin suggests that the court may have had no choice, given how deferential rational-basis review usually is."
Lord YES! I suspect this is because phones are no longer tools. Phones are now “Bling” and you need to show them off.
The Cell Phone Has Changed — New Etiquette Needed
Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday January 25, @06:00PM
from the where-is-my-direct-neural-interface dept.
CWmike writes to share a recent manners-rant that has some great gems about how not to be "that guy" on a cell phone. What rules of engagement are absolutely necessary and what social penalties should become standard practice for repeat offenders?
"It's easy to be rude with a cell phone. A visitor from another planet might conclude that rudeness is a cell phone's main purpose. Random, annoying ring tones go off unexpectedly. People talk too loudly on cell phones in public because of the challenge of holding a conversation in a noisy environment with someone who's not present. Cell phones need their own rules of etiquette, or we'll descend into social barbarism."
Humor (I mention that for you non-geeks)
10 Updated Colloquialisms for the Modern Age
By Anton Olsen January 25, 2010 8:00 am
Hindsight is always 1080p.
One #hashtag does not a trending topic make.
Too many hosts spoil the podcast.
That’s a hard act to unfollow.
140 characters to the wise is sufficient.
The bandwidth is always greener on the other side of the firewall.
E-mail, Twitter, and Facebook are three best friends and three worst enemies.
People who live in glass houses shouldn’t check their address on Google Street View.
A fool and his passwords are soon parted.
He’s 10 bits short of a byte.
For my website students. I've selected a few, there are others...
Add Creativity To Your Photography Projects With A Little Help From Big Huge Labs
By Bakari Chavanu on Jan. 25th, 2010
Digital photos are great, but often times we just post them straight to a website page or let them languish on our computers. For several years now,however, Big Huge Labs has provided some awesome and practical photo related projects that can be done in a short amount of time, with very little computer skills needed.
Hockneyizer
This example is based on the what’s called the Hockneyizer project, a college of Polaroid frames based on a selected image.
This project enables you to make a motivational poster, the kind that you often see sold in gift shops. You can create your own title and caption to fit your photo.
This is a fun project for your children. It requires a set of six photos that are copied to a template that can be printed out on say Matte paper and folded into a cube.
If you’re designing a website and you want to figure out what color(s) match your main photo for a particular page, or if you’re looking a color to frame your photos, this little resource can be very useful. Once a photo is uploaded, it just a few seconds to deliver a palette of swatches that match the selected photo.
Something for my lawyer friends. There is even more stuff in the article.
8 Best Websites for Law Students
By Steven Campbell on Jan. 25th, 2010
Law.com Dictionary
Law.com’s dictionary is a comprehensive list of (probably) every legal term known to man.
Advanced Advocates
AA, as it is so aptly named, allows you to review case briefs in a user-friendly format, create/edit briefs with wiki functionality, and search for briefs by party names, subject, and authors. You can leave/review clerk ratings, share outlines, and hold case discussions. It also has group creation ability.
When signing up, AA does require a law school email address. This is so they can keep the site exclusive to law school students.
Justia
Justia provides legal resources for lawyers. Coincidentally, a lot of this information could be useful to law students (such as you) as well. Justia has a wealth of information, including legal practice, research, and the latest cases in the news. It also has an inclusive ‘blawg’ search that covers over a thousand law blogs.
Social Media Law Student
Speaking of blogs, Social Media Law Student is a pretty popular one. Their goal is “to connect lawyers with new technologies in hopes of making the practice of law easier”, and as far as I can tell they are the only ones doing this.
LawLink
Speaking of social networks (you see the pattern yet?), LawLink is “the first and largest social network for law professionals”.
This could be useful or a complete boondoggle.
Schools To Get Their Own DARPA
Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday January 26, @10:18AM from the hall-monitor-death-robots-here-we-come dept.
Julie188 writes
"A decade ago, Lawrence Grossman, former president of both NBC News and PBS, and Newton Minow, former chairman of the FCC, proposed that the government set up a multi-billion dollar trust that would act as a 'venture capital fund' to research educational technologies for schools, libraries and museums. Congress has finally approved the idea, and grants could start rolling by this fall. Dubbed the National Center for Research in Advanced Information and Digital Technologies, it should be to education what the National Science Foundation is for science, and DARPA is for national defense."
From one of my favorite teacher tool blogs. Mostly math oriented, but the tools work in other disciplines too. If nothing else, the first few minuted of her presentation demonstrate WolframAlpha, a great tool for math students.
Watch my AMATYC 2009 Presentation
In a “pilot” program, we used Camtasia to record several sessions at the 2009 AMATYC Conference in Las Vegas. Several of these recordings are now available on the AMATYC 2009 Conference Proceedings Website.
In particular, you might want to check out my live presentation “Best of the Educational Technology Freebies” … at least, you can check out the first 24 minutes of it (before my spectacular graphics-overload-induced red-screen-of-death computer crash).
… The easy way to find all the recorded videos from the 2009 AMATYC Conference is to search the Conference Proceedings website (Ctrl-F for find) for the word “flash” (as in Flash video).
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