I'm not sure we should dismiss the risk out of hand either...

http://it.slashdot.org/story/11/01/17/1936221/Threat-of-Cyberwar-Is-Over-Hyped?from=rss

Threat of Cyberwar Is Over-Hyped

"A new OECD report suggests the cyberwar threat is over-hyped. A pair of British researchers have said states are only likely to use cyberattacks against other states when already involved in military action against them, and that sub-state actors such as terrorists and individual hackers can't really do much damage. Dr. Ian Brown said, 'We think that describing things like online fraud and hacktivism as cyberwar is very misleading.'"

[From the article:

Between well-equipped states, like the US, China, UK and so on, certain cyber-weaponry would likely be part of any future war.

But having said that, we think that less capable states and sub-state actors, like terrorist groups and individual hackers, will not be able to have an equivalent damaging effect using cyber attacks.

A very short White Paper talking about Cloud Computing as a tool for handling large collections of data.

http://science.slashdot.org/story/11/01/17/1954220/Canada-Explores-New-Frontiers-In-Astroinformatics?from=rss

Canada Explores New Frontiers In Astroinformatics

"The number of scientific instruments available to astronomy researchers for gathering data has grown significantly in recent years, leading to unprecedented amounts of information that requires vast storage and processing capabilities. Canadian researchers are finding a way around this problem (PDF) with a new solution that combines the best of grid and cloud computing, allowing them to more efficiently reach their research goals."

Perhaps this kind of extortion wouldn't play well in court...

http://www.pogowasright.org/?p=19492

File-sharing Cases – ACS:Law Fails to Appear in Court After Trying to Drop Lawsuits, While France Moves Forward with Warnings

January 17, 2011 by Dissent

enigmax writes:

Today a judge-ordered hearing took place in the Patents Court to decide how to handle all cases filed by ACS:Law against alleged file-sharers. Despite claims by the law firm that they have no fears of going to court, last week all the cases were dropped and today, supported by claims of “an unfortunate family accident”, company owner Andrew Crossley failed to attend the hearing. All this as a new, mysterious and already controversial company appears to front the entire operation. And immediately backs out.

Last month ACS:Law made a messy attempt at achieving default judgments in the Patents County Court against 8 internet connection owners who the company claimed infringed or allowed others to infringe copyright.

Read more on TorrentFreak.

Meanwhile, over in France, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reports that a second wave of warning letters is going out to alleged file-sharers:

Reporters Without Borders is concerned to see that the French authorities have advanced to the second stage of enforcement of the controversial HADOPI law, under which Internet users suspected of illegal file-sharing could end up having their Internet connection suspended.

After starting to send warning emails on 5 October, the authorities have announced that they are now sending out a second wave of emails accompanied by a certified letter. If violators continue to illegally download copyrighted material, the HADOPI’s Rights Protection Commission (CPD) can then ask a judge to order their Internet Service Provider to disconnect them for a month.

Read more on RSF.

Sort of like a “shrink wrap license?”

http://www.pogowasright.org/?p=19501

Article: The New Price to Play: Are Passive Online Media Users Bound by Terms of Use?

January 17, 2011 by Dissent

The New Price to Play: Are Passive Online Media Users Bound by Terms of Use?
Woodrow Hartzog University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill – School of Journalism and Mass Communication; Stanford University – Center for Internet and Society
Communication Law and Policy, Vol. 15, No. 4, p. 405, 2010

Abstract:

When individuals turn on the television, listen to the radio, or read newspapers, they are not forming contractual relationships. Yet almost without exception, online readers, viewers and listeners are required to enter into “terms of use” contracts. These ubiquitous agreements are generally unfavorable for the user in areas of intellectual property rights and privacy. In addition, the terms often restrict users’ behavior and their ability to litigate any disputes with a Web site. In analyzing the implications of contracts for Web site users, this article examines whether courts have recognized a distinction between online consumers, interactive users, and “passive media users” – online readers, listeners or viewers who engage in little, if any, of the activity traditionally required to form contracts. Case law reveals a frequent de facto exemption from online agreements for passive media users, but not highly interactive users. This exemption could be formally recognized to benefit all parties to a contract.

Source: SSRN. The full article does not seem to be available on their site at this time.

[nor is it on the UNC web site... Bob]

Or is this a way to avoid conflict with the SEC?

http://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/01/18/004226/Goldman-Sachs-Says-No-Facebook-Shares-For-US-Investors?from=rss

Goldman Sachs Says No Facebook Shares For US Investors

"In 2009, Robert Cringely speculated that the day might be coming when Goldman Sachs decides the United States isn't worth dealing with anymore. Crazy, eh? Maybe not. Blaming 'intense media attention,' Goldman Sachs has decided to exclude US investors from a $1.5 billion Facebook offering. In a nicely-timed all-investors-are-not-created-equal MLK Day statement, the US taxpayer bailout beneficiary said, 'Goldman Sachs decided to proceed only with the offer to investors outside the US.... We regret the consequences of this decision, but Goldman Sachs believes this is the most prudent path to take.'"

Visualize a bigger Internet – much bigger...

http://www.smashingapps.com/2011/01/18/how-bigger-the-internet-would-become-in-2020-infographic.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SmashingApps+%28Smashing+Apps%29

How Bigger The Internet Would Become By 2020 (Infographic)

Would this mean the “Rodney King” video was illegal?

http://www.pogowasright.org/?p=19388

Court Rejects Claim of a First Amendment Right to Audio-Record Police Officers

January 14, 2011 by Dissent

Eugene Volokh mentions a ruling in ACLU v. Alvarez (N.D. Jan. 10, 2011) that will probably disappoint many of this blog’s readers. Here’s a snippet of the opinion:

To assist in deterring and detecting police misconduct, the ACLU has developed a program to “audio record police officers, without the consent of the officers, when (a) the officers are performing their public duties, (b) the officers are in public places, (c) the officers are speaking at a volume audible to the unassisted human ear, and (d) the manner of recording is otherwise lawful.”

[...]

The ACLU intends to audio record police officers speaking with one another or police officers speaking with civilians. The ACLU’s program only implicates conversations with police officers. The ACLU does not intend to seek the consent of either police officers or civilians interacting with police officers. Police officers and civilians may be willing speakers with one another, but the ACLU does not allege this willingness of the speakers extends to the ACLU, an independent third party audio recording conversations without the consent of the participants. The ACLU has not met its burden of showing standing to assert a First Amendment right or injury….

Amendment would be futile. The ACLU has not alleged a constitutional right or injury under the First Amendment. Rather, the ACLU proposes an unprecedented expansion of the First Amendment….

Read more on The Volokh Conspiracy. Note that this ruling is not about the right of an individual to audio record their interactions with the police, but about the rights of a non-involved third party to record the interactions of others. [So, Rodney King could have recorded himself but no one else could? Bob]

[From the article:

“there is nothing in the Constitution which guarantees the right to record a public event”

We need a new word – I suggest we call this an “e-Coup”

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/01/tunisia/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29

Tweeting Tyrants Out of Tunisia: Global Internet at Its Best

Even yesterday, it would have been too much to say that blogger, tweeters, Facebook users, Anonymous and Wikileaks had “brought down” the Tunisian government, but with today’s news that the country’s president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali has fled the country, it becomes a more plausible claim to make.

… Here’s a guide to the part of this battle fought in cyberspace over the last month.

What other ill-considered technologies will eventually be seen as failures? (My bet? Airport scanners)

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/01/homeland-security-junks-its-sensor-laden-border-fence/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29

Homeland Security Junks Its Sensor-Laden Border Fence

It only took nearly a year of hiatus and $1 billion in sunk costs, but the Department of Homeland Security has finally gotten rid of the networked suite of sensors that made up its virtual border fence. But some of its technology may live on as zombie border protection.

The virtual fence “cannot meet its original objective of providing a single, integrated border-security technology solution,” Secretary Janet Napolitano conceded in a statement today heralding the program’s termination.

Boeing’s SBInet was supposed to be the ultimate in anti-illegal immigrant technology: miles of surveillance-radar towers (colloquially, “Cameras on a Pole”) hooked up to ground-based sensors that detected the heat of someone’s footprints or the metal of a border-crossing vehicle. Sound impractical? That’s what the Government Accountability Office found in October, when it lamented SBInet’s “well-chronicled history of not delivering promised capabilities and benefits on time and within budget.” (.pdf)

Yet the Customs and Border Protection office boasted in a fact sheet that it would ultimately cover 6,000 miles of the U.S.’ northern and southern frontiers. But only 53 miles of border in Arizona ever actually got outfitted with SBInet.

Wow! Detroit schools must have had lots of sex crimes to force them to come up with this!

http://www.pogowasright.org/?p=19380

New security system to protect Detroit students from sex offenders raises privacy concerns

January 14, 2011 by Dissent

First the roll-out of yet another “for the children’s safety” measure, as described by ABC News in Detroit:

The Detroit Public School system is launching a new security system designed to keep sex offenders out of the city’s schools.

The system works by running instant background checks against sex offender registries and then issuing ID badges that identify which area of a school a person is allowed to enter. Anyone who doesn’t pass the background check will not be allowed access to the school. Officials say the system will not check any other criminal databases. [“Ax murderers welcome?” Probably not, see below. Bob]

The system can scan driver licenses and ID cards. It can also run checks using a visitor’s name and date of birth.

The ID badges that are issued by the system include the person’s name and picture. They are temporary and expire after a day. Contractors, regular volunteers and frequent visitors can be issued long-term badges.

Followed quickly by the concerns, as reported by Zenobia Jeffries of the Michigan Citizen:

As of Jan. 3, all visitors — including parents — to DPS will have to scan their driver’s license or state-issued identification to obtain a visitor’s pass with a photo I.D. to enter the school.

Although the system is slated for all schools in the district, it is only up and running currently at a few schools, including Martin Luther King, Jr. Senior High School (King).

Security officers and staff at King refused to comment to this reporter on how the system works or what database visitors’ identification is run through.

“All questions have to go to the district,” said Officer Brewer, campus security of DPS Department of Public Safety.

Speculation is circulating that the information is run through law enforcement, including Homeland Security.

Allegedly, two parents visiting King were arrested the week of Jan. 3, one for outstanding child support and the other for outstanding tickets. These arrests have not been confirmed.

Repeated attempts to get detailed information about the new system such as the name of the system, supplier, data bases into which the information flows and costs from DPS Emergency Financial Manager (EFM) Robert Bobb and his communications spokesperson Steve Wasko have gone unanswered.

Read more on Michigan Citizen. Both the ACLU of Michigan and the Michigan Citizen have filed FOIA requests to obtain more information.

A press release posted to the Detroit Public Schools web site says:

The system, which is being rolled out gradually to 33 sites, will instantly scan visitors’ driver licenses and state ID cards and cross-check the information with sex-offender registries throughout the United States and Canada. School security personnel can also conduct checks using visitors’ names and date of birth. It will eventually be set up at every DPS school.

Stay tuned… and thanks to the reader who pointed me to this story.

For my Computer Security students. I see this an inevitable, and one of the major security policy issues they will face.

http://it.slashdot.org/story/11/01/14/2035201/Should-Employees-Buy-Their-Own-Computers?from=rss

Should Employees Buy Their Own Computers?

"Data security vs. productivity. We have all heard the arguments. Most of us use some of our personal equipment for work, but is it a good idea? 'You are at work. Your computer is five years old, runs Windows XP. Your company phone has a tiny screen and doesn't know what the internet is. Idling at home is a snazzy, super-fast laptop, and your own smartphone is barred from accessing work e-mail. There's a reason for that: IT provisioning is an expensive business. Companies can struggle to keep up with the constant rate of technological change. The devices employees have at home and in their pockets are often far more powerful than those provided for them. So what if you let your staff use their own equipment?' Companies such as Microsoft, Intel, Kraft, Citrix, and global law firm SNR Denton seem to think it's a decent idea."

I am struck by how little data is in this archive. It is probably the size of the average teenager's Facebook dossier.

http://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/01/14/1643217/JFK-Library-Launches-Largest-Presidential-Online-Archive?from=rss

JFK Library Launches Largest Presidential Online Archive

"The JFK Library launched what it is calling the largest presidential online archive, offering the public 117TB of data related to John F. Kennedy's presidency. The four-year project digitized a plethora of analog material including 200,000 pages of documents; 300 reels of audio tape containing more than 1,245 individual recordings of telephone calls, speeches and meetings; 300 museum artifacts; 72 reels of film; and 1,500 photos. 'As young people increasingly rely on the Internet as their primary source for information, it is our hope that the library's online archive will allow a new generation to learn about this important chapter in American history,' said Carolyn Kennedy, the wife of the late John F. Kennedy, Jr., [Quite a substantial error... Must be some young journalist who thinks history begins with Bill Clinton. Bob]who was on hand at the opening of the archive."

Now this is interesting! WalMart relies on hard negotiation. Amazon seems to think the next step is “Take it or leave it.”

http://developers.slashdot.org/story/11/01/15/0525224/Amazon-Not-Developers-Will-Set-New-App-Stores-Prices?from=rss

Amazon, Not Developers, Will Set New App Store's Prices

"Looks like Amazon is changing the rules of the game for developers with their new Android App store. I'm curious how Amazon will determine the value of your app and if having control of your prices really matters."

The core of the linked article: "Here's how it works: When developers submit apps to Amazon's app store, they will be able to set a suggested retail price ('MSRP'). It can be free, it can be $50, whatever. Then Amazon -- not the developer -- will set the retail price. It can be full price, it can be a sale price, or it can be free. Developers will get to take home the standard 70% of the app's retail price (what the app sells for) or 20% of the MSRP (what the developer thinks it should sell for), whichever is greater."

I start each day by reading articles collected in my RSS reader. Now I can search more efficiently for new feeds...

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-rss-feed-search-engines-fresh-content/

5 RSS Feed Search Engines You Should Try Out For Fresh Content

RSS (Rich Site Summary) as we know is the most common way to publish content that’s regularly updated on the web. Using your feed reader, you can have all the fresh pickings without needing to visit each site individually.

… That’s why you can think of feed search engines as one of the easiest ways to search for the latest feeds en masse. A feed search engine also links to the RSS feed link and a preview of the content if you choose to subscribe without browsing through the site.

Humor For those who believe texting while driving is not a distraction – a short video. (Narration by the ever-sympathetic mall security team)

http://www.break.com/index/texting-girl-falls-in-mall-fountain-1984673

Texting Girl Falls In Mall Fountain

Global Warming! Global Warming! Want to bet?

http://science.slashdot.org/story/11/01/14/1958219/Bastardis-Wager?from=rss

Bastardi's Wager

"AccuWeather meteorologist Joe Bastardi has a challenge for climate scientists. He wants one or more of their rank to accept a bet about temperature trends in the coming decade. Bastardi is making specific predictions. 'The scientific approach is: you see the other argument, you put forward predictions about where things are going to go, and you test them,' he says. 'That is what I have done. I have said the earth will cool .1 to .2 Celsius in the next ten years, according to objective satellite data.' Bastardi's challenge to his critics — who are legion — is to make their own predictions. And then wait. Climate science, he adds, 'is just a big weather forecast.' Bastardi's challenge is reminiscent of the famous Simon-Ehrlich Wager, where the two men made specific predictions about resource scarcity in the '80s."

I haven't been thinking enough about the future. What is better than Ubiquitous Surveillance? Remote Strip Searching!!!

http://www.pogowasright.org/?p=18827

Prediction: DHS Programs Will Create Privacy Concerns in 2011

January 1, 2011 by Dissent

Jim Harper writes:

The holiday travel season this year revealed some of the real defects in the Transportation Security Administration’s new policy of subjecting select travelers to the “option” of going through airport strip-search machines or being subjected to an intrusive pat-down more akin to a groping. Anecdotes continue to come forth, including the recent story of a rape victim who was arrested at an airport in Austin, TX after refusing to let a TSA agent feel her breasts.

Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security is working on the “next big thing”: body-scanning everywhere. This “privacy impact assessment” from DHS’s Science and Technology Directorate details a plan to use millimeter wave—a technology in strip-search machines—along with other techniques, to examine people from a distance, not just at the airport but anywhere DHS wants.

Read more on Cato@Liberty.

Indistinguishable from Cyber War?

http://it.slashdot.org/story/11/01/01/1428246/Zimbabwe-Govt-Websites-Hit-By-Pro-WikiLeaks-DDoS-Attack?from=rss

Zimbabwe Gov't Websites Hit By Pro-WikiLeaks DDoS Attack

"Pro-WikiLeaks hacktivists have struck a blow against the-powers-that-be in Zimbabwe, bringing down three government websites through distributed denial-of-service attacks. The attacks appear to be in support of newspapers who published secret cables in the ongoing WikiLeaks saga, to the annoyance of the country's leadership. Grace Mugabe, wife of Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe, was recently reported to be suing a newspaper for $15 million after it published a WikiLeaks cable that claimed she has benefited from illegal diamond trading. The Zimbabwe government's online portal at www.gta.gov.zw and the official ZANU-PF website continue to be offline, and the Finance Ministry's website now displays a message saying it is under maintenance."

Very little available yet, but this could be interesting...

http://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/01/02/0233231/Some-Hotmail-Accounts-Wiped?from=rss

Some Hotmail Accounts Wiped

"PC Magazine reports that many Hotmail accounts have lost all their emails. Users' entire email histories have apparently been lost. 'Users can still log in sans issue. However, they arrive at empty inboxes: No custom folders, no messages in "Sent" or "Deleted," nothing. As one might expect, the abruptness (and unexpectedness) of the purge has left some of Hotmail's long-time users a bit in the dark.'"

I find it difficult to believe that the Army requires it's soldiers to believe in “Invisible Harold” but there is plenty of evidence to suggest they do. Perhaps this is a way to eliminate non-Christians?

http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2010/12/mandatory_us_army_survey_says.php

Mandatory U.S. Army Survey Says: Non-Believers Unfit To Serve

(Related) From a PowerPoint presentation (so you know it has to be true...)

http://www.4militarywomen.org/WIM09Presentations/Cornum.pdf

Comprehensive Fitness includes Spiritual, Family, Emotional, and Social, as well as Physical Components

Tips & Tricks for my Ethical Hackers... You can read more in the PDF on the University Portal...

http://it.slashdot.org/story/11/01/02/0231242/Detailing-the-Security-Risks-In-PDF-Standard?from=rss

Detailing the Security Risks In PDF Standard

"At the 27th Chaos Communication Congress in Berlin security researcher Julia Wolf pointed out numerous, previously hardly known security problems in connection with Adobe's PDF standard. For instance, a PDF can reportedly contain a database scanner that becomes active and scans a network when the document is printed on a network printer. Wolf said that the document format is also full of other surprises. For example, it is reportedly possible to write PDFs which display different content in different operating systems, browsers or PDF readers — or even depending on a computer's language settings."

A strategy my IP Lawyer friends will have to counter...

http://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/01/01/2159203/Chinese-Intellectual-Property-Acquisition-Tactics-Exposed?from=rss

Chinese Intellectual Property Acquisition Tactics Exposed

"In an interview published in Sina.com.cn, Chinese rail engineers gave a detailed account of the history, motivation, and technologies behind the Chinese high-speed rail system. More interestingly, they blatantly revealed the strategies and tactics used in acquiring high-speed rail tech from foreign companies (Google translation of Chinese original). At the beginning, China developed its own high-speed rail system known as the Chinese Star, which achieved a test speed of 320km/h; but the system was not considered reliable or stable enough for operation. So China decided to import the technologies. The leaders instructed, 'The goal of the project is to boost our economy, not theirs.' A key strategy employed is divide-and-conquer: by dividing up the technologies of the system and importing multiple different technologies across different companies, it ensures no single country or company has total control. 'What we do is to exchange market for technologies. The negotiation was led by the Ministry of Railway [against industry alliances of the exporting countries]. This uniform executive power gave China huge advantage in negotiations,' said Wu Junrong, 'If we don't give in, they have no choice. They all want a piece of our huge high speed rail project.' For example, [Chinese locomotive train] CRH2 is based on Japanese tech, CRH3 on German tech, and CRH5 on French tech, all retrofit for Chinese rail standards. Another strategy is buy-to-build. The first three trains were imported as a whole; the second three were assembled with imported parts; subsequent trains contain more and more Chinese made parts."

It's that time of year again...

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/20-free-printable-calendars-planners-2011/

20+ Free Printable Calendars & Planners For 2011

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-webbased-tools-generate-awesome-tag-clouds/

3 Web-Based Tools that Generate Awesome Tag Clouds

Building a beautiful tag cloud (based on the terms extracted from a web page) is not all about fun.

This post is meant not only to show you the tools that will build an awesome tag cloud for you but also to inspire you and share various creative ways to use those tools.

For example, you can create infographics to visualize your point and make your message easier to deliver. Besides, you should also check this post on how tag clouds may be useful.

Think of the Internet as a really interesting book and then imagine being limited to page 6 & 399...

http://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/12/05/2013225/Report-Finds-More-Aussie-Govt-Workers-Misusing-Internet?from=rss

Report Finds More Aussie Gov't Workers Misusing Internet

"A new report to Australia's parliament announces a 54% increase in government workers misusing the internet. In fiscal year 2010, 313 different federal workers came under investigation for improper use of e-mail or the internet, up from just 202 in the previous year. The report — available online as a PDF file — also discovered that nearly half the investigated workers were in the Australian Tax Office, according to an Australian technology blog. 'Maybe it's just a case of particularly boring work making such distractions more attractive,' they suggest, since the report blames most of the discovered cases on one-time incidents of poor judgment."

So, does this make the folks at WikiLeaks journalists?

http://politics.slashdot.org/story/10/12/05/1639253/WikiLeaks-Took-Advice-From-Media-Outlets?from=rss

WikiLeaks Took Advice From Media Outlets

"According to the AP (through Google News), WikiLeaks isn't just sitting on the recent material so they can release it bit by bit to the press, as many people implied. On the contrary, it's quite the other way around: 'only after considering advice from five news organizations with which it chose to share all of the material' are they releasing it themselves. These newspapers 'have been advising WikiLeaks on which documents to release publicly and what redactions to make to those documents.' AP questions whether WikiLeaks will follow these redactions, but nevertheless seems quite impressed by this 'extraordinary collaboration between some of the world's most respected media outlets and the WikiLeaks organization.'"

I wonder if some of the anti-WikiLeaks fervor evident among US lawmakers will also be brought to bear against the AP and other mainstream media sources. Update: 12/05 17:42 GMT by T : Yes, that's WikiLeaks, rather than (as originally rendered) WikiPedia. HT to reader Mike Hearn.

For my Computer Security students

http://web.docuticker.com/go/docubase/62192

On Cyber Warfare

This report argues that national strategy must be reviewed and adapted if it is to take proper account of cyber warfare.

The report's key findings include:

Cyber warfare can enable actors to achieve their political and strategic goals without the need for armed conflict

Cyberspace gives disproportionate power to small and otherwise relatively insignificant actors

Operating behind false IP addresses, foreign servers and aliases, attackers can act with almost complete anonymity and relative impunity, at least in the short term

In cyberspace the boundaries are blurred between the military and the civilian, and between the physical and the virtual; and power can be exerted by states or non-state actors, or by proxy

Cyberspace should be viewed as the 'fifth battlespace', alongside the more traditional arenas of land, air, sea and space. Cyber warfare is best understood as a new but not entirely separate component of this multifaceted conflict environment

The transatlantic relationship is important for a variety of reasons where cyber warfare is concerned. Close cooperation between the United States and the United Kingdom in intelligence and military matters has extended into cyberspace, enabling both states to influence the domain in a way that is difficult, if not impossible, for any other bilateral partnership or alliance to match.

Direct link to Paper (PDF; 1.1 MB) Executive Summary (PDF; 369 KB)

For my Statistics students – Bell Curves

http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/025906.html

December 05, 2010

Chart of Percent Job Losses in Post WWII Recessions

Via Calculated Risk, this graph "shows the job losses from the start of the employment recession, in percentage terms aligned at maximum job losses. For the current employment recession, employment peaked in December 2007, and this recession is by far the worst recession since WWII in percentage terms, and 2nd worst in terms of the unemployment rate (only the early '80s recession with a peak of 10.8 percent was worse)."

• Related postings on financial system

Global Warming! Global Warming! Looks like Al Gore will need to revise those slides again....

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1335964/Alarmist-Doomsday-warning-rising-seas-wrong-says-Met-Office-study.html

Alarmist Doomsday warning of rising seas 'was wrong', says Met Office study

Alarming predictions that global warming could cause sea levels to rise 6ft in the next century are wrong, it has emerged. [I have seen predictions of up to 30 feet. Bob]

The forecast made by the influential 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which would have seen cities around the world submerged by water, now looks ‘unlikely’.

… However, the report says the IPCC was right to warn of a sea level rise of up to 2ft by 2100, and that a 3ft rise could happen.

The IPCC underestimated the danger posed by the melting of the Greenland ice sheet and the release of methane from warmer wetlands, the report adds.

… However, the report also has bad news. It says there is new evidence that the Arctic will become largely free of ice during most summers earlier in the century than the IPCC warned, and that the Greenland ice sheet is more likely to melt in centuries to come than previously thought.

It also warns that the release of methane from warming wetlands will be greater than thought in 2007 - leading to more global warming in the coming decades.

Cyber War: Does this sound like the work of a bored teenager? Or 'the continuation of Politics by other means?'

http://it.slashdot.org/story/10/11/16/0347231/Stuxnet-Was-Designed-To-Subtly-Interfere-With-Uranium-Enrichment?from=rss

Stuxnet Was Designed To Subtly Interfere With Uranium Enrichment

Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday November 16, @05:04AM

"Wired is reporting that the Stuxnet worm was apparently designed to subtly interfere with uranium enrichment by periodically speeding or slowing specific frequency converter drives spinning between 807Hz and 1210Hz. The goal was not to cause a major malfunction (which would be quickly noticed), but rather to degrade the quality of the enriched uranium to the point where much of it wouldn't be useful in atomic weapons. Statistics from 2009 show that the number of enriched centrifuges operational in Iran mysteriously declined from about 4,700 to about 3,900 at around the time the worm was spreading in Iran."

(Related) Think of software that locates and monitors targeting systems and changes coordinates randomly...

http://it.slashdot.org/story/10/11/15/2226214/State-Sponsored-CyberAttacks-Expected-To-Rise?from=rss

State-Sponsored CyberAttacks Expected To Rise

Posted by Soulskill on Monday November 15, @05:26PM

"According to a report released today, IT security professionals will see a rise in State-sponsored attacks, like the Stuxnet worm, that will build on concepts and techniques from the commercial hacker industry to create more powerful 'Advanced Persistent Threats.' The researchers also expect an increase in compromised mobile devices leading to data theft or loss as a result of lagging security measures, and that next year will bring the first major data breaches as a result of compromised devices. The biggest potential impact will be caused by the proliferation of sophisticated mobile devices interacting with corporate networks."

Was it a case of “Ready, Fire, Aim?” Or simply, “we can, therefore we must?” Note that questions we've been asking about how long they keep the scanned images are no longer “important”

http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/025753.html

November 15, 2010

Frequent Flyer Backlash Heightens Over Full-body Scanners at Airports

Follow up to previous postings on government implementation of whole body scanning technology at airports, via National Journal, "The Transportation Security Administration is working to create an alternative screening process for pilots, the agency's chief said this morning, amid mounting protests by airline pilots over new airport scanners criticized as invasive and hazardous to health due to radiation exposure."

A fair summary of Facebook's new tool. Can we live without it? Can we live with it? Seems that this will increase “interruption”

http://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/11/15/1838247/New-Facebook-Messaging-System-Announced?from=rss

New Facebook Messaging System Announced

Posted by Soulskill on Monday November 15, @02:01PM

Mark Zuckerberg just held a presentation to unveil Facebook's "next generation messaging" system. He repeatedly drove home the idea that "this is not email," nor is it "an email killer." Their plan is to tie together multiple forms of communication — email, texts, social updates, etc. — and blend them into conversations. As users go about their days, interacting with a variety of devices, the communication method automatically updates to whatever is appropriate at the time. If a user receives an email while he's at a desktop, browsing Facebook, it will bring up the message in a Facebook chat window. If the user is browsing on a smartphone, it will bring up the message there, instead. If it's a dumbphone, then a text message can be sent. Another central feature is the idea that conversation histories from multiple sources and different forms of communication can be integrated through Facebook, so that you no longer have to separately root through IM logs, SMS logs, old emails, etc., to see old correspondence. (Users will have the ability to delete these, should they desire.) The last major feature they mentioned is what they call the "social" inbox, which is based on whitelisting. Users will be able to set up primary inboxes which only display communications they definitely want to see, while leaving low-priority messages, spam, and all the other noise typical to email in an inbox they check less frequently. The new system will be rolled out slowly over the next few months.

Making Security the default!

http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-20022889-245.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

Forcing browsers to use encryption

Help is on the way for Web surfers who run the risk of having their Facebook, Twitter, and other Web accounts hijacked over unsecured Wi-Fi networks and other security issues that result from sites not using encryption.

A Web security mechanism called HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) is making its way through the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) standards process, and two of the major browsers are supporting it. Web sites that implement HSTS will prompt the browser to always connect to a secure version of the site, using "https," without the Web surfer having to remember to type that in the URL bar.

It will render useless tools like Firesheep, a Firefox add-on that lets people easily capture HTTP session cookies that sites use to communicate with computers. Firesheep was released at ToorCon last month.

HSTS is used in Google Chrome and the NoScript [One I recommend Bob] and Force-TLS Firefox plug-ins and is being implemented in the upcoming version of FireFox, according to a blog post by Jeff Hodges, a security engineer at PayPal. Hodges wrote the original draft specification for HSTS with Collin Jackson, a former Googler and current assistant research professor at Carnegie Mellon University Silicon Valley, and Adam Barth, a Google engineer.

"This allows for full-session encryption," Jackson told CNET. "A user won't see an insecure version of the site."

There is no “E-mily Post,” but perhaps there should be.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-11-14/sex-and-tech-12-relationship-rules-from-facebook-to-twitter/full/

The 12 Rules of Sex and Tech

Every man and woman in a modern relationship must navigate a complicated set of unspoken rules and etiquette for technology. Is it OK to tweet from the dinner table? Can one go online while the other watches TV? To find out, The Daily Beast's Claire Howorth and Brian Ries spoke with people in various stages of relationships about the sensibility of sharing passwords, the importance of the Facebook relationship status, and the ignorance of checking the phone after sex.

In our list, we present 12 common situations where technology has wormed its way into our lives, introduce the rules we should live by, and get the scoop from both sexes.

How does “Hey chubby! Want a diet drink?” improve sales?

http://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/11/15/1937256/Smart-Vending-Machines-Triple-Sales?from=rss

'Smart' Vending Machines Triple Sales

Posted by Soulskill on Monday November 15, @03:24PM

"A vending machine in Japan which recommends drinks to customers based on facial recognition data has tripled sales. JR East Water Business has previously installed two vending machines in JR Shinagawa station and it is believed that the recognition technology is responsible for a vast increase in sales in comparison to traditional machines. The vending machines recommend beverages after physical attributes of customers are picked up by sensors which allow the machines determine age, sex and other attributes, before offering a number of suggestions."

A tool for my Ethical Hackers (Moving hacking tools into the cloud) Making your tools portable.

http://www.killerstartups.com/Web-App-Tools/spoon-net-running-desktop-apps-from-the-cloud?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+killerstartups%2FBkQV+%28KillerStartups.com%29

Spoon.net - Running Desktop Apps From The Cloud

Spoon is a virtualization platform that lets you run desktop apps from the cloud. If you install the provided plug-in, you will be able to access these applications you love without having to worry about installing or updating them. Since everything is hosted on the cloud, that part is done for you. And I am sure you have guessed as much by now, but you can also use Spoon to play games.

Again - the same principles apply. There is nothing to install, and no need to ensure you have the latest version or patch. As long as you have installed the Spoon plug-in, you will be able to play all the games that are included on the site.

Some of the featured apps are TweetDeck, Skype, VLC Media Player, Adobe Reader, WinAmp, GOMPlayer... You can check the best of the best on the main page. And the same goes for the featured games, of course - the best titles are spotlighted for all to see.

http://www.spoon.net/

Cyber war? A cautionary tale at least... No indication in the article as to who might be behind the attack. Some are claiming the government is doing it to ensure they can manipulate the elections on Nov 7^th.

http://www.thetechherald.com/article.php/201044/6381/DDoS-Myanmar-attacks-larger-than-those-against-Estonia-and-Georgia

DDoS: Myanmar attacks larger than those against Estonia and Georgia

Starting towards the end of October, the nation of Myanmar (previously known as Burma) has suffering through a massive Denial of Service attack, leaving Web access at a crawl when it is available. According to Arbor Networks, the Myanmar attack is producing far more traffic than what was observed during the DDoS attacks on Estonia and Georgia.

“Papers, citizen” After all, they need to be able to identify “political dissidents” (anyone who voted for the other guy) in order to “reeducate” them.

http://www.pogowasright.org/?p=16789

Germany’s new e-ID cards raise hackles over privacy

November 3, 2010 by Dissent

Michelle Martin reports:

Germany has introduced electronic identity cards that store personal data on microchips, raising fears over data protection in a country especially wary of surveillance due to its Nazi and Stasi past.

The so-called eIDs enable owners to identify themselves online and sign documents with an electronic signature, which the government says should “increase the safety and convenience of e-business and e-commerce.”

Read more on Reuters.

Where do you draw the line between religion and politics? As we become an increasingly global society, whose laws apply?

http://news.slashdot.org/story/10/11/03/1938204/UK-Pressures-the-US-To-Takedown-Extremist-Videos?from=rss

UK Pressures the US To Takedown Extremist Videos

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday November 03, @05:43PM

"BBC News and the Telegraph are reporting that the British government has pressured the US government to take down privately hosted extremist web sites and videos, particularly on YouTube. The request follows the conviction of a 21 year old woman who attempted to murder MP Stephen Timms after watching YouTube videos of radical American Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. YouTube hosts more than 5,000 videos featuring al-Awlaki, but has begun to remove them following the British government's complaints. The issue obviously raises First Amendment issues in the US, but Security minister Baroness Neville-Jones has said 'Those websites would categorically not be allowed in the UK. They incite cold-blooded murder and as such are surely contrary to the public good. If they were hosted in the UK then we would take them down but this is a global problem. Many of these websites are hosted in America and we look forward to working even more closely with you to take down this hateful material.'"

“...because you don't actually own the phone you bought, so we should still be allowed to control what you can do with it.”

“Hey! Great idea! We have computers in our cars now, so we should be able to turn them off if you drive too fast!” Car Companies

“We're going to put computers in our refrigerators, and turn them off if you store anything less healthy than broccoli!”

http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/10/11/03/1736232/Microsoft-Outlines-Windows-Phone-7-Kill-Switch?from=rss

Microsoft Outlines Windows Phone 7 Kill Switch

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday November 03, @02:12PM

"Microsoft has outlined how it might use the little publicized 'kill switch' in Windows Phone 7 handsets. 'We don't really talk about it publicly because the focus is on testing of apps to make sure they're okay, but in the rare event that we need to, we have the tools to take action,' said Todd Biggs, director of product management for Windows Phone Marketplace. According to Biggs, Microsoft's strict testing of apps when they are submitted for inclusion in Marketplace should minimize kill switch use, but he explained how the company could remove apps from the marketplace or phones, when devices check-in to the system. 'We could unpublish it from the catalog so that it was no longer available, but if it was very rogue then we could remove applications from handsets - we don't want things to go that far, but we could.'"

[From the article:

Apple's iPhone and Google's Android phone software also have kill switches built-in to cover the evetuality that they need to remove malware, or even just apps that break guidelines,...

… “From a high-level perspective, phones check in to see if there are any downloads or updates available and it will also check if there are any apps that shouldn't be on there,” he said. “There might be instances where we would remove the app.”

Microsoft was reluctant to give examples of situations that would warrant app deletion, but agreed privacy and security concerns would be on the list.

(Related) Or, you could just cover up your failures...

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19512_7-20021738-233.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

Skyfire's iPhone browser 'sells out' due to shaky bandwidth

Skyfire for iPhone ($2.99) may be one of the shortest-lived apps in the iPhone App Store, surviving only five hours today before Skyfire pulled it from the marketplace after noticing strain on their servers that resulted in poor user experience.

"The servers haven't crashed," a Skyfire spokesperson said, but they did stutter as customers who bought the browser streamed Flash video. The Webkit-based Skyfire app (also available for Android) delivers Flash video to users--ordinarily forbidden by Apple--by streaming it through their own servers first in a process known as proxy browsing.

Skyfire issued a press release earlier tonight declaring that the app has "sold out," and that the company will issue "a new batch" of downloads once Skyfire increases its server capacity

(Related) Extending “Behavioral Advertising” tools to fight negative comments?

http://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/11/03/2137233/Cisco-Social-Software-Lets-You-Stalk-Customers?from=rss

Cisco Social Software Lets You "Stalk" Customers

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday November 03, @10:24PM

"Cisco this week unveiled software designed to let companies track customers and prospects on social media networks like Twitter, Facebook, blogs and other public forums and sites. Cisco SocialMiner allows users to monitor status updates, forum posts and blogs of customers so they can be alerted of conversations related to their brand. The software is designed to not only enable enterprises to monitor the conversations of their customers but to engage those that require service, Cisco says."

[From the article:

If discussions included information of a sensitive matter they would then be taken offline, Hernandez says. [This may mean the discussion would move to email or phone, but since the activity must pass through Cisco servers to be detected in the first place, what keeps them from 'blocking' the offending user? Bob]

You watch and we watch you watch, so watch out!

http://www.pogowasright.org/?p=16816

Going to the movies? Prepare to be watched while you watch

November 4, 2010 by Dissent

wconeybeer writes:

Gaining entry to some movie theaters lately gives patrons an experience that is on par with going through a TSA security checkpoint at the airport. Then once you’ve gained access, there are cameras strategically positioned that record your every move. Unfortunately, the extent to which these companies monitor movie-goers is only going to get worse.

In an effort to further combat piracy, some cinemas have incorporated the use of an infrared scanning system that detects recording devices in the audience and if detected, sounds an alarm to alert management. Now the company that offers those services, Aralia Systems, is working to enhance the system by incorporating technology which will scan and read the audiences’ physical expressions and emotions.

Aralia Systems is teaming up with Machine Vision Lab of the University of the West of England to develop the technology to turn their anti-piracy devices into a dual-purpose system that will gather data about how the crowd reacts to what they’re seeing at any particular moment.

Read more on myce.

As Ernesto writes on TorrentFreak:

The main question that comes to mind is how far these systems can go without specifically asking for consent from theater visitors. What was once a relaxing evening out might be turning into an interactive consumer research lab, with cameras carefully analyzing, recording and storing your every move – while you’re being charged for the privilege

I have no idea how to characterize this one other than “Huh?”

http://news.slashdot.org/story/10/11/04/132257/Do-Firefox-Users-Pay-More-For-Car-Loans?from=rss

Do Firefox Users Pay More For Car Loans?

Posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday November 04, @09:21AM

"Someone wrote in to The Consumerist to report an interesting discovery: while shopping online for a car loan, Capital One offered him different rates, depending on the browser he used! Firefox yielded the highest rate at 3.5%, Opera took second place with 3.1%, Safari was only 2.7%, and finally, Google's Chrome browser afforded him the best rate of all: 2.3%! A commenter on the article claims to have been previously employed by Capital One, and writes: If you model the risk and revenue of applicants, the type of browser shows up as a significant variable. Browsers do predict an account's performance to some degree, and it will affect the rates you will view. It isn't a marketing test. I was still a bit dubious, but at least one of her previous comments backs up her claims to have worked for a credit card company. Considering the outcry after it was discovered that Amazon was experimenting with variable pricing a few years back, it seems surprising that consumers would be punished (or rewarded), based solely on the browser they happen to be using at the time!"

Easy money for my Ethical Hackers?

http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/025653.html

November 03, 2010

SEC Proposes New Whistleblower Program Under Dodd-Frank Act

News release: "The Securities and Exchange Commission today voted unanimously to propose a whistleblower program to reward individuals who provide the agency with high-quality tips that lead to successful enforcement actions. The SEC’s proposed rule under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act maps out a simple, straightforward procedure for would-be whistleblowers to provide critical information to the agency. It conveys how would-be whistleblowers can qualify for an award through a transparent process that provides them a meaningful opportunity to assert their claim to an award."

I wonder if they also look at Amazon's “people who bought this book also bought...” feature?

http://news.slashdot.org/story/10/11/04/0238228/How-Google-Is-Solving-Its-Book-Problem?from=rss

How Google Is Solving Its Book Problem

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday November 04, @07:57AM

"Alexis Madrigal writes in the Atlantic that Google's famous PageRank algorithm can't be deployed to search through the 15 million books that Google has already scanned because books don't link to each other in the way that webpages do. Instead Google's new book search algorithm called 'Rich Results' looks at word frequency, how closely your query matches the title of a book, web search frequency, recent book sales, the number of libraries that hold the title, how often an older book has been reprinted, and 100 other signals. 'There is less data about books than web pages, but there is more structure to it, and there's less spam to contend with,' writes Madrigal. Yet the focus on optimizing an experience from vast amounts of data remains. 'You want it to have the standard Google quality as much as possible,' says Matthew Gray, lead software engineer for Google Books. '[You want it to be] a merger of relevance and utility based on all these things.'"

You know you've become iconic when...

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-20021721-71.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

'Sesame Street' skit slaps 'an app for that' concept

Clearly they use words differently. But is this just a reporter with a cheap thesaurus, or actual quotes?

http://capitolhillseattle.com/2010/11/01/capitol-hill-credit-card-fraud-wave-adjudicated-task-force-claims-break-in-case

Capitol Hill credit card fraud wave 'adjudicated' -- Secret Service task force claims break in case

A special task force that combines Secret Service investigators with local law enforcement experts has made a major break in the case of a large wave of fraudulent activity involving credit card accounts belonging to people who live and work on Capitol Hill, CHS has learned.

According to David A. Iacovetti, Special Agent in Charge of the Electronic Crimes Task Force Seattle office, investigators made a break on the case late Friday night. "We addressed it so no further fraud could be conducted," Iacovetti said. [What to bet? Bob]

Iacovetti would not confirm that this wave involved a skimming device on a point of sale system somewhere on the Hill. Because this is an open and ongoing investigation, Iacovetti said it's too soon to release details of how the accounts were defrauded but that the situation has been "adjudicated." [Am I wrong to think 'adjudicated' has always meant 'resolved within the judicial system?' Bob] "Our guys got on it quick," Iacovetti said.

Iacovetti said the investigation continues and people should remain vigilant of suspicious activity on their accounts. "We're continuing," he said. "There was a point of interest that we were working on Friday. That threat was reduced." [“Reduced” does not suggest “resolved” does it? Bob]

Iacovetti tells CHS that agents will work to "reverse engineer" the circumstances and could be able to trace back all fraudulent activity for victims.

Cyber War Corporate risk analysis does not typically consider attacks by a foreign military – ignoring history again...

http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/025630.html

November 01, 2010

Google Confronts China's "Three Warfares"

Google Confronts China’s “Three Warfares”, by Timothy L. Thomas. Parameters, Summer 2010, Vol. 40, No. 2, U.S. Army War College.

• "In early January 2010, Google announced that a computer attack originating from China had penetrated its corporate infrastructure (in mid-December) and stolen information from its computers, most likely source code. The hackers also accessed the Gmail accounts of some human-rights activists and infiltrated the networks of 33 companies. In April 2010, journalist John Markoff wrote: A person with direct knowledge of the investigation now says that the losses included one of Google’s crown jewels, a password system that controls access by millions of users worldwide to almost all of the company’s Web services, including e-mail and business applications. The program, code named Gaia for the Greek goddess of the earth, was attacked in a lightning raid taking less than two days last December, the person said." .. China’s recent incursions into US military computer networks and Google’s cyber systems are of concern when viewed in isolation. They reflect a more serious problem when viewed as part of a short-term goal of conducting “preemptive reconnaissance” that accommodates a longer-term goal of affecting US military planning or the US economy. Many factors indicate that this may be China’s goal."

[From the article:

An example of a civilian source that emphasizes economic and digital issues is the Chinese book Internet Wars. It also focused on the Internet confrontation in general. The book has 18 chapters. Several chapters draw the reader’s attention immediately. They are: “The Inevitable Internet War;” “Battles for Internet Control;” “Offensive and Defensive Internet Wars;” “The Internet Will Determine Victory in Future Wars;” “Dangerous Virtual Reality;” and “Financial Wars in the Internet World.”31 The latter should be of particular interest to US analysts.

[Also see the PowerPoint at:

http://www.slideserve.com/presentation/16637/16637.swf

[Also see the book:

Unrestricted Warfare

http://www.c4i.org/unrestricted.pdf

(Related) ...and is the reverse also true?

http://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/11/02/0134226/Kindle-Allowing-Chinese-Unfettered-Access-To-Web?from=rss

Kindle Allowing Chinese Unfettered Access

Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday November 02, @12:02AM

"Apparently, some Chinese Kindle owners have discovered that they are able to access banned sites such as Twitter and Facebook without a problem. The article speculates that Amazon may be operating a local equivalent to Amazon Whispernet with a Chinese 3G provider. Professor Lawrence Yeung Kwan, of the University of Hong Kong's electrical and electronic engineering department, told the paper that mainland internet patrols might have overlooked the gadget (perhaps because they consider it solely a tool to purchase books). How long before Kindle traffic is locked down?"

(Related) I hope not! (daylight savings time ends Sunday Nov. 7^th in the US)

http://apple.slashdot.org/story/10/11/01/136235/iPhone-Alarm-Bug-Leads-To-Mass-European-Sleep-in?from=rss

iPhone Alarm Bug Leads To Mass European Sleep-in

Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday November 01, @10:

"A flaw in the alarm clock in iPhone 4s gave Europeans a bit of a lie-in this morning. While the Apple handsets automatically adjusted to daylight savings time, a bug in the alarm system meant many were woken up an hour later than they should have been, after clocks rolled back over the weekend. Annoyingly, Australia was hit by a similar problem last month, but Apple failed to fix the problem or even warn users. American Apple fans, consider yourselves warned. The iOS4 bug can apparently be avoided by using one-off alarms, rather than pre-set regular wake-up calls."

This looks more like typical political ass-covering. They seem to be using these request to flag areas where they may have screwed up in order to have a timely 'rebuttal' ready when the evidence is released.

http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/025628.html

November 01, 2010

FOIA, Transparency and Additional Reviews Based on Origin of Requests

DHS Singles Out EFF’s FOIA Requests for Unprecedented Extra Layer of Review: "The Identity Project notes on its blog today that the Department of Homeland Security singled out EFF, along with other activist groups and media representatives such as the ACLU, EPIC, Human Rights Watch, AP, etc, for an extra layer of review on its FOIA requests. Records posted online by the DHS in response to one of the Identity Project’s FOIA requests show that the agency passed certain requests through extra levels of screening. According to a policy memo from DHS’s Chief FOIA Officer and Chief Privacy Officer, Mary Ellen Callahan, DHS components were required to report “significant FOIA activities” in weekly reports to the Privacy Office, which the Privacy Office then integrated into its weekly report to the White House Liason. Included among these designated "significant FOIA activities" were requests from any members of "an activist group, watchdog organization, special interest group, etc." and “requested documents [that] will garner media attention or [are] receiving media attention."

“The world according to ___________” Could be useful to know haw they other guys think(?) but I doubt it will be used that way... I wonder if they have a Forrest Gump option?

http://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/11/01/1413201/Blekko-Launches-a-Search-Engine-With-Bias?from=rss

Blekko Launches a Search Engine With Bias

Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday November 01, @10:45AM

"Previous specialized search engines including Cuil, Hakia, Powerset, Clusty, and RedZ — each had a special trick, but they've all faded from memory, some after crashing in flames, some after making their founders rich. Now Rafe Needleman reports at Cnet that along comes Blekko, whose claim to fame is that you can tilt your search results in the direction you like by using a category of bias, like 'liberal' or 'conservative.' Categorization lists are applied by appending a 'slashtag.' The query, 'climate change /conservative' will give you politically slanted results, for example. 'Climate change /science' will restrict your results to hits from scientific Web sites. Blekko won't have a real, Web-wide impact unless its concept — that bias is good and more aggressive search filtering is needed — gets some traction, writes Needleman. But 'Blekko is a solid alternative to Google and Bing for anyone, and more importantly it's got great potential for researchers, librarians, journalists, or anyone who's willing to put some work into how their search engine functions in order to get better results.'"

Speaking of bias... Or perhaps lobbying?

http://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/11/01/1942259/Google-Sues-US-Govt-For-Only-Considering-Microsoft?from=rss

Google Sues US Gov't For Only Considering Microsoft

Posted by Soulskill on Monday November 01, @04:20PM

"Late last week, Google sued the US government for putting out a Request For Quotation for the messaging needs of the Department of the Interior that specified only Microsoft solutions would be considered. Google apparently had spent plenty of time talking to DOI officials to understand their needs and make sure they had a solution ready to go — and were promised that there wasn't a deal already in place with Microsoft. And then the RFQ came out. Google protested, but the protest was dismissed, with the claim that Google was 'not an interested party.'"

Big Brother Barbie? “Train them young?” Have children (or parents) demanded surveillance enabled toys?

http://www.pogowasright.org/?p=16669

Call to boycott Barbie with built-in camera

November 1, 2010 by Dissent

Daniella Miletic reports:

MATTEL’S trademark vinyl doll is getting older but she has embraced technology – Barbie’s new built-in camera abilities are worrying some privacy advocates and psychologists.

The Barbie Video Girl doll has been criticised for enabling children to film themselves and others using a hidden camera in Barbie’s necklace.

The doll, which retails for about $110, also has a small colour LCD screen in her back and the capacity to record 30 minutes of video, which can be transferred to a computer.

Read more in The Age.

(Related)

http://web.docuticker.com/go/docubase/61661

State Electronic Harassment or "Cyberstalking" Laws

November 2, 2010 11:54

State Electronic Harassment or "Cyberstalking" Laws

Source: National Conference of State Legislatures

Law enforcement agencies estimate that electronic communications are a factor in from 20 percent to 40 percent of all stalking cases. Forty-seven states now have laws that explicitly include electronic forms of communication within stalking or harassment laws. State laws that do not include specific references to electronic communication may still apply to those who threaten or harass others online, but specific language may make the laws easier to enforce.

I'm sure the RIAA will agree, as long as they have the majority of seats on the panel...

http://www.pogowasright.org/?p=16657

UK: Minister proposes privacy mediation service and good-privacy kitemark

November 1, 2010 by Dissent

A UK Government minister has proposed the creation of a mediation service for people who think their right to privacy has been violated on the internet. The mediation could result in the removal of material, Ed Vaizey said..

Vaizey is Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, and told a House of Commons debate that there should be a mediation service for content to match the Nominet-run service run to resolve domain name disputes.

“Nominet, the charity that is responsible for internet domain names, runs an extremely effective mediation service, so that people who are disputing the ownership of an internet domain name may be involved in a low-cost process to discuss how to resolve that dispute,” he said.

Read more on Out-Law.com.

“Gee Prof. Bob, I'm just studying!”

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-20021407-37.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

Oxford, Rice, Open University release eBooks on iTunes U

The Open University has released 100 free, interactive eBooks and promises an additional 200 titles by the end of the year. The school said its eBooks aren't just digital versions of existing books, but rather books that are designed specifically for the electronic format.

As an example, Martin Bean, vice chancellor of The Open University, said that if you are learning about Schubert, you can hear the music while you follow the score and read the text.

In June, The Open University became the first school to reach 20 million downloads of its material on iTunes U. It now has over 27 million downloads worldwide.

Oxford University joined the eBook release party as it pushed out Shakespeare's entire First Folio. Oxford's Shakespeare contribution is available free from iTunes U.

Oxford said it is also making six plays by contemporaries of Shakespeare available, including "The Duchess of Malfi" by John Webster.

Rice University released 18 of its most popular free textbooks available as part of its open education initiative, Connexions.

The books are available for download on iTunes U in the open ePub format. iTunes U, providing free educational material such as lab demonstrations and lectures, launched in 2007.