So is this a story about an employee blocking his employer's tracking device or is it about a new multi-million (multi-billion?) dollar system that was just proven vulnerable. Fortunately, terrorists can't read.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-57597971-71/truck-driver-has-gps-jammer-accidentally-jams-newark-airport/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=title

Truck driver has GPS jammer, accidentally jams Newark airport

… I understand from my underworld contacts that such a jammer can be obtained for less than $100.

Gary Bojczak may have thought this a sound investment. For, as CBS New York reports, he admitted to investigators that he put one in the truck he drove on behalf of an engineering company called Tilcon.

… However, Bojczak tended to drive by Newark airport in New Jersey. The enterprising souls there were trying out a new system called Smartpath. This, according to its maker Honeywell, lets airports "increase airport capacity, decrease air traffic noise, and reduce weather-related delays."

Sadly, though, it can be jammed by passing trucks that happen to enjoy a GPS jammer.

As the New Jersey Star-Ledger reported, the FCC explained: "The signals emanating from the vehicle were blocking the reception of GPS signals used by the air traffic control system."

So Bojczak was fined $31,875 on Friday. And, yes, he was also fired for his misdirection.

Though the Smartpath system was only being tested at the time Bojczak was intercepted, it has now been installed at Newark.

Only a politician could think this would work. “Let's give each surviving sysadmin 10 times as much classified data (and no pay increase) and hope they don't become disgruntled.”

http://www.bespacific.com/nsa-director-sysadmin-cuts-of-90-in-progress/

NSA Director – SysAdmin Cuts of 90% in Progress

(Reuters) – “The National Security Agency, hit by disclosures of classified data by former contractor Edward Snowden, said [August 8, 2013] it intends to eliminate about 90 percent of its system administrators to reduce the number of people with access to secret information.”

For my (Big Data) Data Mining students

http://www.bespacific.com/text-data-mining-a-librarian-overview/

Text & Data Mining – A Librarian Overview

Text & Data Mining – A Librarian Overview, Ann Okerson – Senior Advisor, Center for Research Libraries, Chicago IL, USA

“Text and data mining offers exciting research opportunities over a broad range of fields. As large corpora of data accumulate, automated and semi-automated analysis of their contents (and often of many different data sets correlated together) reveals patterns and allows establishment of fact patterns invisible to the naked eye. Libraries and librarians have an exciting opportunity to support this work. This paper reviews some of the possibilities for such work and outlines the challenges and the way ahead for librarians. One challenge lies in the terms by which data sets are licensed and made available to academic and other users; librarians need to be proactive in ensuring that these terms are favorable for the kind of use researchers will need and that the resources themselves are available in a format that allows innovative mining-based research. Another challenge is the need to support users who wish to engage in text and data mining with limited experience, especially when they approach data sets made available through library resources. Librarians should develop the expertise to support their users by making data resources available to them on favorable terms and supporting their mining efforts.”

Just in time for my student's kids to take these back to school...

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19736_7-57597368-251/7-great-android-apps-for-notes-and-tasks/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=title

7 great Android apps for notes and tasks

… Google Keep is a bare bones way of organizing notes and lists. As is to be expected, the app ties directly to your Gmail or Drive account. Thanks to the power of the cloud, your notes, tasks, photos, and other items can be accessed from anywhere.

… Evernote is likely the first name that comes to mind for many readers, and it's for good reason. First and foremost, the service has moved far beyond a "cloud based note service". Not only are users able to upload notes, tasks, and photos, but Evernote also provides a backbone for other apps. Indeed, the home screen widgets allow for quick adding of items, even by voice.

… Any.do was Holo-themed before before Google made it cool. There are few apps rival this straightforward to-do and task app; both the black and white themes make your checklists pop off your device.

… If you're looking for a slick-looking list keeping service with cross-platform support, Wunderlist is one of the top names today. Available for Android, iOS, Windows, and Mac, this free client makes for a great way to create, manage, and share lists.

… One service that I've enjoyed watching develop over time is Todoist and its eye-catching Android app. Not only is it simple to pick up, it's rich enough to satisfy deeper needs.

Essentially a cloud-based filing system for your to-do lists,

… If you're like me then you've been pining for an official app for Google Tasks for years. Task List is one of those apps that fills the void quite nicely and happens to look like something Google might endorse. It also doesn't hurt that it actually syncs with your Google account.

… GTasks eschews the glitz and glamour for straight up task and to-do list management. Like the others in this list, this free app offers reminders, prioritization, due dates, and sorting items by name.