Sunday, May 05, 2013

How would the FBI hide this? If it is never mentioned directly in court, is the defense unable to “discover” it? Would a direct question, (Did you do something like the Guardian article said you did?) be sufficient to open that can of worms?
Glenn Greenwald’s piece in The Guardian is your must-read for this weekend. Here’s a snippet:
On Wednesday night, Burnett interviewed Tim Clemente, a former FBI counterterrorism agent, about whether the FBI would be able to discover the contents of past telephone conversations between [Katherine Russell and her husband, deceased bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev]. He quite clearly insisted that they could:
BURNETT: Tim, is there any way, obviously, there is a voice mail they can try to get the phone companies to give that up at this point. It’s not a voice mail. It’s just a conversation. There’s no way they actually can find out what happened, right, unless she tells them?
CLEMENTE: “No, there is a way. We certainly have ways in national security investigations to find out exactly what was said in that conversation. It’s not necessarily something that the FBI is going to want to present in court, but it may help lead the investigation and/or lead to questioning of her. We certainly can find that out.
BURNETT: “So they can actually get that? People are saying, look, that is incredible.
CLEMENTE: “No, welcome to America. All of that stuff is being captured as we speak whether we know it or like it or not.”
Read more on The Guardian.


Bruce always demonstrates a grasp of the obvious that others seem to lack...
"Bruce Schneier, security expert (and rational voice in the wilderness), explains in an editorial on CNN why 'Connecting the Dots' is a 'Hindsight Bias.' In heeding calls to increase the amount of surveillance data gathered and shared, agencies like the FBI have impaired their ability to discover actual threats, while guaranteeing erosion of personal and civil freedom. 'Piling more data onto the mix makes it harder, not easier. The best way to think of it is a needle-in-a-haystack problem; the last thing you want to do is increase the amount of hay you have to search through. The television show Person of Interest is fiction, not fact.'"


Now this would be interesting if they had reported a few details...
"The CCTV cameras operated by the local government in the country town of Nowra, NSW (Australia) have been turned off following an order by the Administrative Decisions Tribunal. The local government is crying because it believes that it is losing an effective method in combating crime in public. Locals however are rejoicing that they are no longer being recorded whilst walking down the street."
[From the article:
After allegations made by a member of the public, only identified as SF, that the council had used its CCTV cameras to obtain personal information from him, the council was ordered to refrain from any conduct or action in contravention of the act.


Does this mean the US government will never make the same claim?
"U.S. officials have told the Indian Government that they will not be able to serve summons to the executives of companies like Google and Facebook because they are not convinced that the content hosted on these sites can cause violence and that these summons impact 'free speech principles.' The reply comes as a response to India's request to the US to help serve papers to 11 Internet companies accused of hosting content on their sites that was meant to fuel communal hatred and violence. The U.S. authorities said that there are limitations when it comes to protection on free speech — when the speech comprises a true threat or provokes imminent violence — but in this particular case there is not sufficient evidence of either of these."


Typical government long windedness...
May 04, 2013
FTC Issues Updated FAQs on Amended Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule
"The Federal Trade Commission has issued an updated set of frequently asked questions designed to help website operators, mobile application developers, plug-ins and advertising networks operating on child-directed websites and online services prepare for upcoming changes to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule. The document, titled Complying With COPPA: Frequently Asked Questions contains information directed to websites and online services whose work online may involve the collection of personal information from children under age 13. The document provides guidance from the FTC staff that supplements the rule and other COPPA–related material previously published by the FTC."


For my Data Analysis class.
May 04, 2013
How lawyers are mining the information mother lode for pricing, practice tips and predictions
  • "Law firms are using big data to identify which cases will be easy slam dunks and those that are air balls. They’re relying on the technology to get a read on what other law firms are charging, so they can adjust their rates accordingly. And big data is also popping up in law firm human resources departments, where tech-savvy department heads are crunching data on potential new hires in the hopes of coming up with recruits who are truly a good fit."


For my Geek friends who find an App that does almost everything they want...


For my amusement (like all the other articles)
… Professors in the philosophy department at San Jose State University penned an open letter to Harvard professor Michael Sandel, famous for his class on “Justice.” “There is no pedagogical problem in our department that JusticeX [the edX version of the Justice class] solves, nor do we have a shortage of faculty capable of teaching our equivalent course,” they write. “Professors who care about public education should not produce products that will replace professors, dismantle departments and provide a diminished education for students in public universities.” [Perhaps they worry that they won't be selected as the “Best” teacher for that class? Bob]
… According to a Gallup poll of college presidents, only 3% surveyed believe that MOOCs will improve the learning of all students. 2% said they think MOOCs will solve universities’ financial troubles. More details via Inside Higher Ed, which worked with Gallup on the survey.
… Washington State’s Open Course Library has released openly licensed course materials for 39 university courses (it released 42 others a year and a half ago). Along with the release of materials, the state’s student public interest research group says that it’s found that the “The Open Course Library has saved students $5.5 million in textbook costs to date, including $2.9 million during the 2012–2013 academic year alone.”
… OpenStax College, a Rice University OER initiative, says it plans to double the number of fields that its open textbooks cover by 2015. More details via Inside Higher Ed.

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