Interesting group. Interesting question.

“Does Technology Lead to Tyranny? – The Fourth Amendment and New Technologies in a Digitized World”

Orin Kerr writes:

Last Friday, I spoke on a very interesting panel about how the Fourth Amendment should respond to new technologies hosted by the Heritage Foundation. The panelists were Miguel Estrada of Gibson Dunn, Susan Herman of the ACLU and Brooklyn Law, and me. Paul Larkin of the Heritage Foundation moderated. You can watch the panel here:

[and at Heritage: http://www.heritage.org/events/2013/09/technology-and-tyranny?ac=1

[and at YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=tc_TriZh89E#t=391

(Related)

Metadata and the Fourth Amendment – Jennifer Granick & Orin Kerr debate

You’re going to want to read this exchange:

Debate: Metadata and the Fourth Amendment

Debate: Metadata and the Fourth Amendment – A Reply to Jennifer Granick

(Related) Same interesting question?

Senators Call for Surveillance Inquiry

Charlie Savage reports:

A bipartisan group of senators on the Judiciary Committee on Monday signed a letter asking the inspector general for the intelligence community, I. Charles McCullough III, to carry out a “full accounting” of how the government is carrying its surveillance powers.

Read more on The New York Times.

I submit that we don't really understand this technology stuff.

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/09/49-of-the-links-cited-in-supreme-court-decisions-are-broken/279901/

49% of the Links Cited in Supreme Court Decisions Are Broken

Of course it's confusing. It's a politician being “helpful.”

How Mike Rogers Buries NSA-Related Documents, While Pretending He Made Them Available

Tim Cushing writes:

Senator Mike Rogers heads up the House Intelligence Committee and he, along with Dutch Ruppersberger, have taken a squarely antagonistic stance against any other members of Congress who wish to do perform the oversight duties they’re tasked with. This attitude has resulted in a wholly uninformed Congress which relies on the Intelligence Committee to disseminate information on surveillance programs.

Read more on TechDirt.

Anything new?

New Amicus Brief Urges Massachusetts to Require Warrants for Cell Tracking

Hanni Fakhoury writes:

As the highest court in Massachusetts considers whether cell-site data is private in the context of the Fourth Amendment, we filed an amicus brief arguing that when the police want to be able to recreate your every step—figuring out your patterns of movement, where you’ve been and with whom—they must obtain a search warrant.

Read more on EFF.

This can't work, can it?

Woohoo! Gov. Jerry Brown signs online child privacy bill into law

Governor Jerry Brown has signed SB-568 into law. The bill has sometimes been referred to as the online child privacy “eraser” bill because it requires web site operators to allow minors to remove information. There are exemptions, but here’s a portion of the text:

22581. (a) An operator of an Internet Web site, online service, online application, or mobile application directed to minors or an operator of an Internet Web site, online service, online application, or mobile application that has actual knowledge that a minor is using its Internet Web site, online service, online application, or mobile application shall do all of the following:

(1) Permit a minor who is a registered user of the operator’s Internet Web site, online service, online application, or mobile application to remove or, if the operator prefers, to request and obtain removal of, content or information posted on the operator’s Internet Web site, online service, online application, or mobile application by the user.

(2) Provide notice to a minor who is a registered user of the operator’s Internet Web site, online service, online application, or mobile application that the minor may remove or, if the operator prefers, request and obtain removal of, content or information posted on the operator’s Internet Web site, online service, online application, or mobile application by the registered user.

(3) Provide clear instructions to a minor who is a registered user of the operator’s Internet Web site, online service, online application, or mobile application on how the user may remove or, if the operator prefers, request and obtain the removal of content or information posted on the operator’s Internet Web site, online service, online application, or mobile application.

(4) Provide notice to a minor who is a registered user of the operator’s Internet Web site, online service, online application, or mobile application that the removal described under paragraph (1) does not ensure complete or comprehensive removal of the content or information posted on the operator’s Internet Web site, online service, online application, or mobile application by the registered user.

So we may someday have a defibrillator App, but not if I can randomly use it on my students?

U.S. FDA issues final rules on mobile medical apps

Toni Clarke reports:

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued final rules governing the development of mobile medical apps, saying it will focus its oversight on those products that have the potential to harm consumers if they do not function properly.

The rules, announced on Monday, come more than two years after the FDA released draft guidance in which it proposed regulating any mobile app deemed to be a medical device.

Read more on Reuters.

For my Computer Security students.

http://www.bespacific.com/cybersecurity-authoritative-reports-and-resources/

Cybersecurity: Authoritative Reports and Resources

Cybersecurity: Authoritative Reports and Resources. Rita Tehan, Information Research Specialist, September 20, 2013

“Cybersecurity vulnerabilities challenge governments, businesses, and individuals worldwide. Attacks have been initiated by individuals, as well as countries. Targets have included government networks, military defenses, companies, or political organizations, depending upon whether the attacker was seeking military intelligence, conducting diplomatic or industrial espionage, or intimidating political activists. In addition, national borders mean little or nothing to cyberattackers, and attributing an attack to a specific location can be difficult, which also makes a response problematic. Congress has been actively involved in cybersecurity issues, holding hearings every year since 2001. There is no shortage of data on this topic: government agencies, academic institutions, think tanks, security consultants, and trade associations have issued hundreds of reports, studies, analyses, and statistics.”

“Legislation”

“Executive Orders and Presidential Directives”

“Data and Statistics”

“Cybersecurity Glossaries”

“CRS Reports by Topic”

“Related Resources: Other Websites”

What happens if Google wins?

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57604290-93/judge-appears-to-back-googles-defense-of-digital-books-project/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=title

Judge appears to back Google's defense of digital books project

A U.S. judge made comments Monday that suggest favor for Google's defense of its digital books project, which could hobble an authors group's effort to stop it.

… During a hearing in New York on Monday, Circuit Judge Denny Chin said Google's fair use defense hinged on whether the project "is a benefit to society," according to a Reuters' account of the hearing. Chin listed several examples how the book-scanning project has helped people find information, including his own law clerks.

"Aren't these transformative uses, and don't they benefit society?" Chin asked.

Edward Rosenthal, a lawyer representing the authors, said the project "may benefit society in some instances" but argued that it should be the copyright holder who decides whether the work is displayed.

For all my students... You can look at 'rights to privacy' in 139 constitutions.

http://www.bespacific.com/explore-the-worlds-constitutions-with-a-new-online-tool/

Explore the world’s constitutions with a new online tool

Official Google Blog: “Constitutions are as unique as the people they govern, and have been around in one form or another for millennia. But did you know that every year approximately five new constitutions are written, and 20-30 are amended or revised? Or that Africa has the youngest set of constitutions, with 19 out of the 39 constitutions written globally since 2000 from the region? The process of redesigning and drafting a new constitution can play a critical role in uniting a country, especially following periods of conflict and instability. In the past, it’s been difficult to access and compare existing constitutional documents and language—which is critical to drafters—because the texts are locked up in libraries or on the hard drives of constitutional experts. Although the process of drafting constitutions has evolved from chisels and stone tablets to pens and modern computers, there has been little innovation in how their content is sourced and referenced. With this in mind, Google Ideas supported the Comparative Constitutions Project to build Constitute, a new site that digitizes and makes searchable the world’s constitutions. Constitute enables people to browse and search constitutions via curated and tagged topics, as well as by country and year. The Comparative Constitutions Project cataloged and tagged nearly 350 themes, so people can easily find and compare specific constitutional material. This ranges from the fairly general, such as “Citizenship” and “Foreign Policy,” to the very specific, such as “Suffrage and turnouts” and “Judicial Autonomy and Power.” Our aim is to arm drafters with a better tool for constitution design and writing. We also hope citizens will use Constitute to learn more about their own constitutions, and those of countries around the world.”

For my students. Translate my lectures into plain English.

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/google-translate-updates-includes-handwriting-translation-and-seven-new-languages/

Google Translate Updates Includes Handwriting Translation and Seven New Languages

Google this week posted a significant update to its powerful and easy to use Google Translate (Free) iOS app, to include handwriting input, seven new languages, and a modern redesign of the user interface.

Google Translate works similar to the Google Search app which allows users to use voice to text technology to get super quick translations between more than 70 languages

For my students

http://priceonomics.com/is-college-worth-it/

Is College Worth It?

America’s colleges and universities are enduring a crisis of faith among the public. As we wrote last week in The Supersizing of American Colleges, due to a subsidy-fueled spending spree, the cost of college has increased over the past 30 years faster than the price of healthcare, housing, or just about anything else. Tuitions, student debt, and student loan default rates have all skyrocketed, leading indebted graduates to malign their degrees and pundits to argue that college is not worth the price tag.

In contrast, the research on the financial value of a college degree all concurs: A bachelor’s degree is a sound investment whose value is growing. The extra income graduates earn compared to high school graduates more than compensates for the high cost.

I need one! (Works on wine too!)

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57604205-1/spin-chill-a-beer-in-30-seconds-with-the-beerouette/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=title

Spin-chill a beer in 30 seconds with the Beerouette

Perhaps you have experienced the disappointment and despair of plunging your hand into an ice chest and pulling out a still-warm beer. You have a few options. Pop it in the freezer and wait. Plunge it deep into the ice and wait. Or back the Spin Chill Kickstarter and cool off your beer in less than a minute.

For my Ethical Hackers: I told you there was a simpler way to do it!

http://www.buzzfeed.com/jwherrman/the-iphones-fingerprint-sensor-has-already-been-hacked

The iPhone’s Fingerprint Sensor Has Already Been Hacked

A European hacker group has announced a simple, replicable method for spoofing Apple’s TouchID fingerprint authentication system. “A fingerprint of the phone user, photographed from a glass surface, was enough to create a fake finger that could unlock an iPhone 5s secured with TouchID,” claims the Chaos Computer Club, which demonstrated the hack in a video.

The technique is based on previous methods for spoofing fingerprint authentication systems, and needed only minor adaptation to be applied to the iPhone’s unusually high-resolution scanner.

Apple is really really good at marketing!

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-57604053-71/nypd-to-iphone-owners-hurry-up-and-download-ios-7/

NYPD to iPhone owners: Hurry up and download iOS 7

Police in New York hand out fliers explaining to Apple faithful that iOS 7 brings with it Activation Lock, which makes it harder for a thief to turn off the "Find My Phone" feature.

(Related) Probably due more to reluctance to learn a new tool...

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-57604074-71/political-bias-58-percent-of-us-house-of-reps-have-iphones/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=title

Political bias! 58 percent of US House of Reps. have iPhones

I would be more comfortable if they said the information was “anonymized” rather than “confidential.”

Privacy fears after it emerges Highways Agency is being given motorists’ data from smartphone and satnav firms

Angela Haggerty reports:

Privacy concerns have been raised after it emerged that mobile phone companies have been passing data to the Highways Agency allowing them to monitor motorists’ movements through their phone signals. The agency has been using data from phone companies and other firms to track the information, including collecting data collated by satnav systems, prompting serious questions about the protection of personal data.

According to the Telegraph, the Highways Agency said any information it receives is confidential and could not lead to the identification of motorists, but privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch said people were unlikely to have any idea that information was exchanged in this way and called for a less intrusive method to monitor traffic.

Read more on The Drum.

Some issues worth considering, some assumptions are more “ass” less “umption?”

http://www.bespacific.com/white-paper-avoiding-byod-legal-issues/

White Paper – Avoiding BYOD Legal Issues

Avoiding BYOD Legal Issues - Route1 Inc. September 2013

“Today’s business landscape is facing emerging legal issues stemming from bring your own device (BYOD) initiatives. The shift towards the use of personal computing devices (laptops, tablets, smartphones and now watches) to conduct business in theory is a win-win strategy for both the Enterprise and its employees. Enterprises avoid costs associated with providing devices and employees can work using the personal devices they are already comfortable with. In reality, BYOD poses serious legal problems for the Enterprise.

Protecting Data or Breaking the Law? BYOD is undoubtedly convenient, but it poses grave risks to Enterprise security. Simply put, BYOD devices are not currently used in a secure manner. Although 90% of American workers use their smartphones for work, only 60% use password protection to lock their device.1 Perhaps more alarming, 50% frequently connect their smartphones to unsecured Wi-Fi networks.2 Poor BYOD security habits mean that sensitive Enterprise data is often unsecured and easily accessible to malicious third parties. Of course, Enterprises want to prevent their information from falling into the wrong hands. The question is: do security concerns give businesses the right to protect their data by remotely monitoring and wiping an employee’s personal device?

BYOD means that employees often co-mingle personal and business information on their devices. Generally, device software has few measures to distinguish between sensitive Enterprise data and the owner’s personal information. When an employee’s device is compromised (hacked, stolen, etc.), the Enterprise wipes all data on that device – both business and personal. Enterprises have no other option to protect their sensitive data, but the destruction of employees’ personal property is legally ambiguous. Another common practice is GPS tracking. If an employee’s personal device contains confidential Enterprise information and is lost or stolen, the Enterprise may use the device’s GPS capabilities in an attempt to locate it. Again, this strategy is legally unclear as it raises issues of monitoring employee whereabouts.”

I missed this in July, so it may be available now... Think it will be less distracting that chatting on your cell phone?

http://www.thedrum.com/news/2013/07/09/garmin-unveils-hi-tech-car-windscreen-hud-display

Garmin unveils hi-tech car windscreen HUD display

Sat-nav manufacturer Garmin has unveiled a sci-fi like portable head-up display for motorists which can project directions directly onto the owners windscreen.

Operating from a smartphone with a built-in app the device outputs navigational data in the form of directional arrows and speed via a reflector lens or onto a plastic film affixed to the windshield.

Available for iPhone, Android and Windows handsets the app can also relay voice prompts via the smartphone or car stereo.

For all my students

Tweet2Cite

– is a quick, easy, and free citation generator that converts tweets into, properly formatted MLA and APA, citations. Paste a link to the tweet you want to cite in the field below, click ‘Go’, and you’re on your way. The service is very useful for students, journalists and academics.

(Related) I don't understand it completely. $2 per user per year?

http://www.businessinsider.com/why-you-should-care-about-twitter-2013-9

Why You Should Care About Twitter

… Twitter currently has 250 million monthly active users.

… Just because Twitter hasn't gone mainstream yet doesn't mean it won't.

I'm of the strong opinion that Twitter is the most important consumer-facing company to go public since Google. I also see it outlasting Facebook.

I'm not alone. Matthew Knell, VP of social and community at About.com recently told CNBC's Carl Quintanilla: "I think Twitter's probably the best-positioned major social network, and I kind of see Facebook on a decline."

Also, Saudi billionaire Price Alwaleed and his investment arm, Kingdom Holding invested $300 million in Twitter in 2011. Alwaleed recently told Reuters he doesn't plan to sell a single share when Twitter goes public.

… Since the majority of people still don't use or understand Twitter, there's enormous growth potential for the company once it goes public. There's also unrealized advertising potential that could work a lot like Google ads, only better.

Currently, Twitter generates a little more than half-a-billion dollars annually. That money comes mostly from three types of ads: promoted tweets, promoted trends, and promoted accounts.

Somehow, I doubt this is the last word.

http://www.bespacific.com/epic-foreign-intelligence-court-releases-controversial-opinion-on-domestic-telephone-records-program/

EPIC – Foreign Intelligence Court Releases Controversial Opinion on Domestic Telephone Records Program

“The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) has released an Opinion, justifying the NSA’s telephone record collection program. In the Opinion, Judge Claire Eagan states that “there is no Fourth Amendment impediment to the collection” of all domestic call detail records. Judge Eagan also concluded that all domestic call detail records are “relevant” under Section 215 because “individuals associated with international terrorist organizations use telephonic systems to communicate” and because the government argued that bulk collection is ‘necessary to create a historical repository of metadata’ in order to identify ‘known and unknown operatives. [I think this is the key to the argument. Using a variety of analytical techniques, you can tie entities together (A called B who then called C...) What you can't do is demonstrate that I am not a terrorist. Therefore like Schrodinger's cat, I am both innocent and guilty... Bob] This FISC opinion was issued more than a month after EPIC filed its Mandamus Petition challenging the NSA domestic surveillance in the U.S. Supreme Court. The Eagan opinion has also been criticized by legal scholars. For more information, see In re EPIC.”

These are the facts.

This is what PogoWasRight said the fact were.

I'm just tossing this out for debate. Purely as a hypothetical...

Elvis wrote this opinion.

New Opinion Examines Privacy Claims Against Online Media

Jeff Kosseff writes:

News organizations are more likely to be liable in privacy lawsuits if their reporting is factually incorrect, according to a federal court opinion issued this week.

Read more about Edme v. Internet Brands, Inc. et al on InsidePrivacy.

This could be handy for my website students...

Stylify Me

– is a site where you can enter a URL, and have that site’s elements, such as the fonts, the colors, and the image dimensions, broken down for you. It will list the exact HEX codes for each color, as well as specify which font the site is using. You can also download a PDF file with this information for later viewing.

Just because I haven't mentioned MOOCs much, does not mean they have gone away.

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/coursera-and-udacity-have-competition-as-futurelearn-joins-the-mooc-bandwagon/

Coursera And Udacity Gain Competition As FutureLearn Joins The MOOC Bandwagon

FutureLearn has launched with an open beta website and a roster of free online courses. The UK based program is an alliance of many British educational institutions and also worldwide recognized names like British Council, British Library and the British Museum. FutureLearn is owned by The Open University and its making a foray into the very open space of Massively Open Online Courses (MOOC) with nearly 26 educational partners.

While Coursera and Udacity have become recognizable names in the online courses arena, FutureLearn is a late-starter.

For my iStudents...

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/marvin-e-reader-for-ios-is-better-than-kindle-ibooks/

Marvin E-Reader for iOS is Better Than Kindle & iBooks

If you want to see how much better Amazon’s Kindle and Apple’s iBooks e-book readers could be, check out Marvin, an e-reader for the iPad and iPhone.

… Marvin can’t open EPUB books with DRM (e.g. iBooks and Kindle books), but it provides a bundle of free e-books to get you started, and there’s also in-app links to public domain catalogues, Project Gutenberg, and Manybooks, to name a few. You can also add books from Dropbox (by signing in within the app) and Calibre in a standard DRM-free EPUB format. If you’re stuck for reading material, check out our review of free and paid online sites to download e-books from.

Download: Marvin (Free)

If you have students put their documents on Google Drive and if you use this Chrome extension, feedback would be fast and easy.

Voice Comments

Simply highlight and speak - the Voice Comments app for Google Drive is the fastest way to give high quality feedback on a document.

Sneaky trick #49 Most banks don't have outside “engineers” wandering around working on their computers.

Barclays Bank Cyber Theft: 8 Arrested For Allegedly Hacking Computer System, Stealing $2 Million

Eight men have been arrested on suspicion of stealing 1.3 million pounds ($2 million) from a Barclays bank branch by tapping into its computers, British police said Friday.

[...]

Detective Supt. Terry Wilson said one of the arrested men is the “Mr. Big” of British cybercrime.

Police suspect that in both cases a gang member posed as an engineer and installed devices on the bank’s computers that allowed the suspects, in the Barclays case, to gain information used to siphon money from the bank.

Read more of this story on HuffPost.

[From the article:

Police suspect that in both cases a gang member posed as an engineer and installed a KVM on the bank's computers that allowed the suspects, in the Barclays case, to gain information used to siphon money from the bank.

"That would allow them to log the keystrokes and the actual screen, so you could gather passwords and see how people log into their systems," said Graham Cluley, an independent computer security analyst. "Then you could remotely access the computers as if you were sitting in front of it. Effectively, it's like breaking into the bank in the middle of the night."

[Related reporting:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/santander-hacking-plot-how-gang-2271350

Santander hacking plot: How did gang use keyboard video mouse to take control of a bank's computers?

… Expert Chris Pirillo, speaking on YouTube, explained how it worked. "The idea behind KVM is that you can have one set of peripherals, a keyboard, monitor and a mouse, to control many computers.

"An example is that if you have multiple computers in a house and you want to control them with relative ease you can have a KVM switch."

Once installed, the technology would mean that a person keen to steal from a bank, could effectively attempt to transfer cash from its computer systems from the comfort of their own home.

According to police, the gang arrested allegedly used this technology to control of all the computers at the Santander branch in Surrey Quays shopping centre

However, according to the Spanish bank said they were unable to steal any money.

I have to wonder if we've trained some privacy advocates too well.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57603992-38/nsa-job-post-for-civil-liberties-privacy-officer-goes-live/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=title

NSA job post for 'Civil Liberties & Privacy Officer' goes live

… President Obama announced during a press conference in August the plan to create the new position, along with an NSA Web site devoted to greater transparency, which, surprisingly to some, took the form of a Tumblr blog.

Here's the job listing in full

No doubt Section II, Paragraph C, Line 4 says something like “and then a miracle occurs.”

Regret that embarrassing social media post? California bill would make ‘eraser’ the law

Somini Sengupta of the NYT reports:

Kids. The reckless rants and pictures they post online can often get them in trouble, by compromising their chances of getting into a good college or even landing them in jail. What to do about such lapses vexes parents, school officials, the Internet companies that host their words and images — and the law.

Now California legislators are trying to solve the problem with the first measure in the country to give minors the legal right to scrub away their online indiscretions. The legislation puts the state in the middle of a turbulent debate over how best to protect children and their privacy on the Internet, and whether states should even be trying to tame the Web.

Gov. Jerry Brown has taken no position on the bill. He has until mid-October to sign it, after which, without his signature, the legislation becomes law.

Read more on BendBulletin.com

Update: For those seeking the text of the bill, it’s SB 568

[From the article:

Some supporters of the bill say Internet companies got off easy. The eraser bill does not, for example, require companies to remove the deleted data from its servers altogether, nor does it offer any way to delete material that has been shared by others; a sensational picture that has gone viral, in other words, can’t be purged from the Internet.

Interesting in theory, unlikely in practice.

http://www.bespacific.com/eff-thirteen-principles-against-unchecked-surveillance-launched-at-united-nations/

EFF – Thirteen Principles Against Unchecked Surveillance Launched at United Nations

Privacy Advocates Call Upon UN Member States to End Mass Internet Spying Worldwide: “Geneva – At the 24th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council on Friday, six major privacy NGOs, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), warned nations of the urgent need comply with international human rights law to protect their citizens from the dangers posed by mass digital surveillance. The groups launched the “International Principles on the Application of Human Rights to Communications Surveillance” at a side event on privacy hosted by the governments of Austria, Germany, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. The text is available in 30 languages at http://necessaryandproportionate.org. The document was the product of a year-long negotiation process between Privacy International, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Access, Human Rights Watch, Reporters Without Borders, and the Association for Progressive Communications. The document spells out how existing human rights law applies to modern digital surveillance and gives lawmakers and observers a benchmark for measuring states’ surveillance practices against long-established human rights standards. The principles have now been endorsed by over 260 organizations from 77 countries, from Somalia to Sweden. Included in the 13 principles are tenets such as:

Necessity: State surveillance must be limited to that which is necessary to achieve a legitimate aim.

Proportionality: Communications surveillance should be regarded as a highly intrusive act and weighed against the harm that would be caused to the individual’s rights.

Transparency: States must be transparent about the use and scope of communications surveillance.

Public Oversight: States need independent oversight mechanisms.

Integrity of Communications and Systems: Because compromising security for state purposes always compromises security more generally, states must not compel ISPs or hardware and software vendors to include backdoors or other spying capabilities.”

Big Data is not automatically Big Money. If raw data was all you needed, NSA would provide all the money needed to run the government.

http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/09/stop-assuming-your-data-will-bring-you-riches/

Stop Assuming Your Data Will Bring You Riches

Here are four steps your organization can take in order to understand the value of your data, and to plan for potential monetization:

Clarify whether it’s really your data

Understand who would value it, why, and how much

Frame up realistic aspirations for monetization

Test, learn, and tweak

I'm on a two week break between Quarters, so I might try one or two “free online” movies...

Movie Visor

– What are you in the mood to watch right now? Movievisor helps you find something to fill your cravings. Give Movievisor the thumbs up or down, and it will customize its recommendations. Suggestions come from Netflix, Amazon Instant and Hulu, with more sources to be added soon. You can see reviews for each movie on the page as well.

First question I ask in each class, “Who reads SiFi?” They will have no problem with new concepts OR will drive me crazy with “What if...” questions.

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/09/why-todays-inventors-need-to-read-more-science-fiction/279793/

Why Today's Inventors Need to Read More Science Fiction

… This fall, MIT Media Lab researchers Dan Novy and Sophia Brueckner are teaching "Science Fiction to Science Fabrication," aka "Pulp to Prototype," a course that mines these "fantastic imaginings of the future" for analysis of our very real present. Over email, I asked Novy and Brueckner about the books they'll be teaching, the inventions that found their antecedents in those pages, and why Novy and Brueckner believe it is so important for designers working in the very real world to study the imaginary. An edited transcript of our correspondence follows.

Every week a new laugh...

Hack Education Weekly News

… EdX launched a new program, “the XSeries,” that will offer certificates for students who complete a sequence of classes offered on its MOOC platform. The program starts with two series: Foundations of Computer Science and Supply Chain and Logistics Management. These new certificates will require an ID verification program, newly launched from edX too. More details on the courses and the fees in Inside Higher Ed.

… CalTech joins edX.

… Nanyang Technological University joins Coursera.

… All of the courses that make up the first year of Wharton’s MBA program are now available online via Coursera.

Interesting case of the pot calling the kettle black? Has Zuckerberg (Facebook) matured? Is this a ploy to make their privacy violations look like the work of an evil secret government agency?

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/09/mark-zuckerbergs-advice-to-the-nsa-communicate/279814/

Mark Zuckerberg's Advice to the NSA: Communicate

(Related) What Mr. Communication did to his customers.

http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/18/4744904/how-facebook-secretly-redesigned-its-iphone-app-with-your-help?curator=MediaREDEF

How Facebook secretly redesigned its iPhone app with your help

The App Store will be packed with updates today as developers roll out new designs and features to take advantage of Apple's new iOS 7. Facebook is no exception, but alongside the expected visual tweaking and trimming, the company is introducing a radically simplified navigation paradigm. Other developers sweat bullets when they make a big change like this, but Facebook isn't. It believes users will like the update because it's already tested it — with 8 million unsuspecting people.

Perspective We suspected some confusion as to “cause and effect,” perhaps now it's time for a little “re-think?”

Massive Music Piracy Plunge Fails to Halt Decline in Sales

… Since last year Ofcom has surveyed the download habits of tens of thousands of Brits. The latest data wave shows that between March and May of this year about 9% of the people in the UK pirated music, with Ofcom signaling a clear downward trend compared to last year.

The estimated number of downloaded tracks in the UK dropped from 301 million last year to 199 million in the latest measurement. In other words, according to Ofcom’s findings a third of all music piracy evaporated in a year.

The number of people who admitted to pirating music during the same period dropped as well, approximately 10% during the same time frame.

This is great news for the music industry, but neither the BPI or IFPI have cheered on the findings in a press release. It might be that they are not convinced by the data, or perhaps they too might have noticed that the unprecedented drop in piracy had virtually no effect on music sales.

Perspective

http://www.bespacific.com/pew-mobile-cell-phone-activities-2013/

Pew: Mobile Cell Phone Activities 2013

Report: Mobile Cell Phone Activities 2013 by Maeve Duggan. September 19, 2013

“Fully 91% of American adults own a cell phone and many use the devices for much more than phone calls. In our most recent nationally representative survey, we checked in on some of the most popular activities people perform on their cell phones and found:

• 81% of cell phone owners send or receive text messages
• 60% of cell phone owners access the internet
• 52% send or receive email
• 50% download apps
• 49% get directions, recommendations, or other location-based information
• 48% listen to music
• 21% participate in a video call or video chat
• 8% “check in” or share their location”

Perhaps my students will actually use this...

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2013/09/a-snappy-visual-dictionary-and-thesaurus.html#.Ujw6F38vwQY

A Snappy Visual Dictionary and Thesaurus

Snappy Words is a free visual dictionary and thesaurus. Enter any word or phrase into the Snappy Words search box and it will create a web of related words, phrases, and definitions. Hover your cursor over any word or phrase in the web to read its definition. Click and drag any node to explore other branches of the web. Double click on a node and it will generate new web branches.

Snappy Words could be a good resource for students that are stuck in the rut of using the same words and phrases repeatedly in their writing. Snappy Words will give those students access to alternative words and their definitions much faster than thumbing through a thesaurus.

For my students...

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57603744-93/google-makes-quickoffice-mobile-app-free-for-everyone/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=title

Google makes Quickoffice mobile app free for everyone

… The company on Thursday announced that its Quickoffice mobile app, for viewing and editing Microsoft Office files, is now free to anyone with a Google account.

… As a bonus, Google is offering an extra 10GB of Google Drive storage for the next two years to anyone who signs up their Google account for the new Quickoffice app by September 26.

Quickoffice for iOS and Android lets users create, view, and edit Microsoft Office Excel, Word, and PowerPoint files on their mobile devices. The app is also integrated with Google Drive so files can be stored and accessed across devices.

Since we don't have a football stadium, students are looking for other sports. This may work.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57603653-1/star-wars-lightsaber-thumb-wrestling-goes-to-the-digit-side/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=title

'Star Wars' lightsaber thumb-wrestling goes to the digit side

Would this apply to Alfred E. Neuman?

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57603500-93/court-grants-first-amendment-protection-to-facebook-like/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=title

Court grants First Amendment protection to Facebook 'Like'

… The likable ruling was included in a decision published by the Fourth US Circuit Court of Appeals in Bland v. Roberts.

In the case, which is still ongoing, Bobby Bland and five of his co-workers in the Sheriff's Department in Hampton, Va., are suing their former employer, Sheriff B.J. Roberts, for wrongful termination. Part of the suit hinged around the question of whether liking a campaign's Facebook Page is protected speech. One of the plaintiffs, Daniel Carter, said that he was fired for liking the Page of a candidate running against Roberts in the 2009 election.

Is this the opposite of “Cool?”

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57603496-75/windows-phone-8-gets-security-thumbs-up-from-us-government/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=title

Windows Phone 8 gets security thumbs-up from US government

Robert Hoover, a Windows Phone project manager, wrote on the official Windows Phone blog that Win Phone 8 has reached an "important new security milestone," which could make the platform a prospect for governments and organizations that require high security and encryption on their networks and communications platforms.

The U.S. government has granted Win Phone 8 the FIPS 140-2 (PDF) security accreditation. FIPS 140-2 is used to scrutinize and assign a level of security to devices, including tablets and smartphones, that use cryptographic algorithms to protect sensitive data stored within.

Remember the old “Practice safe hex!” campaigns? (Only $10)

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/usb-condoms-protect-your-data-while-you-charge/

USB Condoms Protect Your Data While You Charge

A company by the name of Int3.cc has just introduced what they are calling USB Condoms, a small device that goes on the end of your USB plug to protect your data from “juice jacking”, which is when someone is able to steal your data through a public charging station.

Since most phones are set up to allow data transfer just by connecting to a USB port, the USB Condoms work by blocking the data transmitters and receivers of a USB port without blocking the charging components.

… The USB Condoms are currently sold out on Int3.cc’s website, but they state that they should be getting more inventory soon.

Sort of a Big Data, Social Networking, target identifying, 'now we can squash them like a bug' kind of thing. Also useful for spreading disinformation?

http://www.technologyreview.com/view/519361/us-military-scientists-solve-the-fundamental-problem-of-viral-marketing/

US Military Scientists Solve the Fundamental Problem of Viral Marketing

Viral messages begin life by infecting a few individuals and then start to spread across a network. The most infectious end up contaminating more or less everybody.

Just how and why this happens is the subject of much study and debate. Network scientists know that key factors are the rate at which people become infected, the “connectedness” of the network and how the seed group of individuals, who first become infected, are linked to the rest.

It is this seed group that fascinates everybody from marketers wanting to sell Viagra to epidemiologists wanting to study the spread of HIV.

So a way of finding seed groups in a given social network would surely be a useful trick, not to mention a valuable one. Step forward Paulo Shakarian, Sean Eyre and Damon Paulo from the West Point Network Science Center at the US Military Academy in West Point.

These guys have found a way to identify a seed group that, when infected, can spread a message across an entire network. And they say it can be done quickly and easily, even on relatively large networks.

Ref: arxiv.org/abs/1309.2963 :A Scalable Heuristic for Viral Marketing Under the Tipping Model

Do we (here in the US) have a four-step “Get out of jail free!” procedure? (If not, could we?)

NZ privacy commissioner finds that physician properly mitigated harm following a breach

Case Note 248601 [2013] NZ PrivCmr 4 : Medical practice mitigates future harm after data breach

A doctor working in a suburban medical practice had his car broken into and bag stolen. The bag contained a USB stick holding the personal information of a number of patients, including the complainant. The data detailed the complainant’s first and last names. Also included were details of their prescribed drugs and medical diagnosis.

One of the doctor’s patients complained to us.

The medical practice acted quickly and fulfilled all four key steps an agency should follow in response to a privacy breach. These steps aim to contain the breach and reduce harm to the subjects of the breach.

Breach containment and preliminary assessment

Following a data breach, an agency must take immediate steps to contain or limit it. This includes designating an appropriate individual to lead the initial investigation and determine who needs to be notified.

The medical practice received news of the theft the following day and the manager immediately made plans to contact the affected individuals. Our complainant was informed of the breach by his general practitioner and offered a meeting with the manager to discuss the situation.

Evaluation of the risks associated with the breach

An appropriate evaluation includes considering what personal information was involved, establishing the cause and extent of the breach, considering who was affected by the breach and whether those affected might be harmed.

The manager noted that the only identifying details in this case were the complainant’s first and last name. He had frequently changed address in recent years and did not have a listed telephone number. The manager believed the main harm was that the complainant may lose trust in the medical practice. However, the complainant had continued to use the agency’s services since the breach.

Notification

The patients were notified as soon as reasonably possible. The manager of the medical practice met the complainant to discuss the theft and apologised for the loss of his personal information.

Prevention

As a result of the breach, the medical practice took steps to increase the security of any data that was to leave the premises. A review was conducted of their patient information security policy. Immediate changes were drafted for sign off by the practice’s Board.

The medical practice purchased new encrypted USB sticks immediately after the data breach, to be used where data is to leave the premises. [Never before? Bob] An active register containing a list of the staff who are to use these keys was implemented and an agreement drawn up for staff to sign, acknowledging that they are responsible for the safety of the information.

Staff were advised both verbally and electronically of the new process and the medical practice ensured there was a transparent communication process with the staff about this incident.

The complainant sought damages as a result of the breach. However we were not satisfied that he suffered harm that warranted damages.

We also considered the medical practice had taken appropriate steps in the circumstances.

See our privacy breach guidelines at: http://privacy.org.nz/news-and-publications/guidance-notes/privacy-breach-guidelines-2/

(Related) Is this also possible only in New Zealand?

NZ insurance firm settles over privacy breach

Stuff reports:

An insurance company has been forced to reach a settlement and change its policies after breaching a man’s privacy by accessing his full medical history without permission.

The unidentified man brought a complaint to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner after the company he applied to for trauma insurance accessed his full medical records for the previous five years.

Read more on Stuff.

Related: Case Note 226245 [2013] NZ PrivCmr 2 : Over-collection of medical notes by insurance company

A place to look. Are we as advanced as New Zealand?

Model Notices of Privacy Practices for health care providers and health plans

I wish they had published these before I spent days revising my privacy practices notice and having them printed, but if you still need them, HHS has provided customizable templates for your notices here. Remember the new law goes into effect September 23.

(Related) Or, can we relax and let the government handle everything?

White House Pushing Health Care Security Measure Addressing Privacy Concerns

Jesse Holland and Kelli Kennedy report:

The Obama administration is planning a high-level effort to reassure Americans about the privacy and security of the information submitted under the new health care law, hoping to blunt complaints from Republican opponents that enough isn’t being done to protect consumer data.

Attorney General Eric Holder, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Federal Trade Commission chairwoman Edith Ramirez and other federal and state officials are set to meet Wednesday at the White House to discuss security measures designed to keep scammers and identity thieves from taking advantage of what could be millions of Americans attempting to enroll for health coverage under the Affordable Care Act starting in October.

Read more on Huffington Post.

Is this an issue of just better informing/reassuring the public, or is it the case that more security and privacy protections will be introduced? It sounds like the White House will be emphasizing the former.

Another “Privacy in the Age of Big Data” article.

Pairing patient privacy with health big data analytics

Patrick Ouellette reports:

Health privacy and security are often mentioned in tandem, but Deborah Peel, Founder and Chair of Patient Privacy Rights and Adrian Gropper, Chief Technology Officer of Patient Privacy Rights, took a different view in a recent Institute for Health Technology Transformation (iHT2) webcast.

The presentation, titled “Competing for Patient Trust and Data Privacy in the Age of Big Data” detailed a few of the nuances between patient data privacy and security and why privacy is so significant as healthcare organizations pull together huge data sets for health information exchange (HIE) and accountable care.

Read more on HealthITSecurity.com.

(Related) Is this a valid use of social media?

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/09/lenders-vet-borrowers-social-media-facebook

Your Deadbeat Facebook Friends Could Cost You a Loan

It's already well known that Facebook and other social media networks harvest user data and sell it to companies that use that info to peddle their products to consumers. But some lenders have begun to find a new use for this information, scrutinizing Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn data to determine the credit-worthiness of loan applicants. It's an unprecedented practice that consumer advocates say can be unfair or discriminatory—and one that is poised to only become more prevalent in the years ahead.

Among the US-based online lenders that factor in social media to their lending decisions is San Francisco-based LendUp, which checks out the Facebook and Twitter profiles of potential borrowers to see how many friends they have and how often they interact; the company views an active social media life as an indicator of stability.

No discrimination against the new guys...

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57603437-93/pandora-scores-legal-victory-against-music-publishers/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=title

Pandora scores legal victory against music publishers

… A federal court in New York has ruled in favor of Pandora's motion that it can play all of the songs covered in the ASCAP library, the online music service announced Wednesday. Pandora had argued that a consent decree with ASCAP gave it a blanket license to play all such music despite attempts by some publishers to negotiate their own separate deals.

The case arose when ASCAP members EMI Music Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing, and Universal Music Publishing Group tried to remove their licensing rights from ASCAP as a way to negotiate directly with online radio services such as Pandora, according to Reuters. Pandora claims these withdrawals shouldn't affect its overall license with ASCAP.

The future of the education bid-ness?

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/09/the-next-step-on-the-path-to-an-online-only-education/279799/

The Next Step on the Path to an Online-Only Education?

MIT will soon offer a free, two-year online course sequence. (Then you pay to take a test.)

Compare and contrast the previous business with this one...

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2013/09/18/grand-theft-auto-v-sells-800-million-on-first-day.aspx

Grand Theft Auto V Makes $800 Million On First Day

(Related)

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57603553-37/apple-expected-to-sell-5-6m-iphone-5s-5cs-this-weekend/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=title

Apple expected to sell 5-6M iPhone 5S, 5Cs this weekend

Even the one based on the Zombie TV show?

http://www.edudemic.com/free-online-courses-worth-taking/

11 Cutting-Edge Free Online Courses Worth Taking This Fall

Just in case all my math students want to download all those math videos...

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-ways-to-download-all-videos-from-a-youtube-channel/

3 Ways to Download All Videos in a YouTube Channel

YouTube is great to check out videos on the fly. It’s fast, dynamic and incredibly easy to find other related videos. However, if you have to go offline, that won’t do you much good. Why not download those videos to your computer instead? Not only does this let your enjoy your videos offline, you can also use them in presentations or your own projects.

Downloading a single YouTube video is simple, but it’s a bit harder to download all the videos from a particular YouTube channel in one go. Today we’ll be offering you three ways to tackle this problem.

For my Criminal Justice students

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/22/technology/personaltech/a-smartphone-case-delivers-a-jolt.html?_r=0

A Smartphone Case Delivers a Defensive Jolt

The Yellow Jacket smartphone case is meant to protect more than a phone.

The $140 smartphone cover conceals a stun gun.

For all my students. Remember, you only need to find one that you like...

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/cherrytree-a-wiki-style-notebook-thats-polished-and-functional/

CherryTree: A Wiki-Style Notebook That’s Polished and Functional

Which organization tool is best for you? Evernote seems to be a wide favorite for our readers, but less conventional alternatives outside the mainstream exist. Take for example personal wiki-style notebook apps like the awesome personal wikis I wrote up recently. In that article, I praised TiddlyWiki for its speed and features, but there may be a contender on the horizon: CherryTree.

[Others: Zim (our review), wikidPad

Hey! It can't hurt!

Logo Garden

– Entrepreneurs often lack time and money to make basic branding materials – logo, website, business cards, etc – all with the same look and feel. Yet when everything matches, your business looks more professional. And potential customers recognize you more easily. Logo Garden has invented do-it-yourself (DIY) logos, then DIY websites. The result is dazzling looks, instant launch, and zero cost.

For all my students

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2013/09/four-helpful-web-search-strategy.html

Four Helpful Web Search Strategy Tutorials

Vaughn Memorial Library at Acadia University hosts four free animated tutorials designed to teach lessons on web research strategies. The four tutorials are Credible Sources Count, Research It Right, Searching With Success, and You Quote It, You Note It.

In Credible Sources Count students learn how to recognize the validity of information on the Internet. It's a good tutorial except for a strong emphasis on using domain names for determining validity.

Research It Right walks students through the process of forming a research question through the actual research steps.

Searching With Success shows students how search engines function. The tutorial gives clear examples and directions for altering search terms.

You Quote It, You Note It shows students what plagiarism is and how to avoid accidentally plagiarizing someone's work.

A freebie for all my students...

http://www.bitsdujour.com/checkouter/b17c5b6f-2f1c-420d-832d-1d0f5a92ced9/akyw08vfzvqhi1dpqy0rmz0v0guwpn

ALLCapture 3.0for PC

Simple and Powerful Screen Recording / Video Creating Software!