Remember, this is just some of the information in your dossier.

http://www.bespacific.com/guide-googles-account-history-feature/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=guide-googles-account-history-feature

Guide to Google’s Account History Feature

by Sabrina I. Pacifici on Jul 13, 2014

Martin Brinkmann - ghacks.net: “Most online companies make available privacy related settings that their customers can modify to their liking. The default settings are often less than optimal and making sure that everything is set up properly is one of the first things that you should do. In fact, it is also important to check those settings regularly just to make sure nothing has changed. The Google Account History is where Google displays some of the information that it collects about you. Search History for example is turned on by default, which means that all searches on Google will be recorded by it if you are signed in to a Google account at that time. There is a misconception though in regards to the Account History feature: some users believe that disabling history features will stop Google from recording data. It won’t. While it limits Google on what it can do with the data, the company may still record it as confirmed on the “delete search history” page… What is being recorded - According to Google, the following information are recorded by its servers:

1. The IP address of the user.
2. The date and time the request was made.
3. The full request URL including search query.
4. The header that includes the browser and operating system.
5. A unique cookie ID that is stored on first visit…”

The Sergio Leone legal education model?

http://www.bespacific.com/learning-true-good-beautiful-law-school-educating-twenty-first-century-litigator/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=learning-true-good-beautiful-law-school-educating-twenty-first-century-litigator

Learning ‘The True, the Good and the Beautiful’ in Law School: Educating the Twenty-First Century Litigator

by Sabrina I. Pacifici on Jul 13, 2014

Colatrella Jr., Michael Thomas, Learning ‘The True, the Good and the Beautiful’ in Law School: ucating the Twenty-First Century Litigator (March 1, 2014). Review of Litigation, Vol. 33, No. 4, p. 1, 2014. Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2465231

“The author uses the ancient Greek ideal of learning “the true, the good and the beautiful” to form a basis from which legal education can produce lawyers who will be more valuable to their clients and more fulfilled in their twenty-first century careers. To begin, the Article advocates that law schools can foster the Greek ideal of learning “the true” by increasing its focus on “collaborative advocacy” in the core curriculum instead of relying so heavily on “adversarial advocacy” that dominates the required curricula at most law schools. To pursue learning outcomes that are better aligned with the skills needed to practice law in the twenty-first century, legal institutions should require courses that teach collaborative advocacy, such as negotiation and mediation. In a profession that is traditionally defined by its winners and losers, the modern legal arena is shifting toward being open to working with one’s opponent to find a mutually agreeable solution earlier in the dispute, which saves the client time and money. Next, the Author discusses how law school students can achieve “the good” through their legal education. Ethical education remains a staple of law school curriculum. Yet, most institutions require their students to learn only the black-letter ethical rules. When encountering difficult ethical dilemmas, however, lawyers often must decide between two or more competing values that require them to make moral choices about which the black-letter law provides little guidance. A law school curriculum that also fosters thinking about the moral dimension of legal ethics and the psychology of ethical decision-making can help aspiring attorneys to become conscientious practitioners who make better ethical, moral and strategic decisions for their client, themselves and the legal profession. Finally, the Article examines how law schools can help their students embrace “the beautiful” in legal practice. Today, lawyers need the ability to propose creative, efficient and cost-effective solutions to their clients’ problems. As intelligent technology and foreign labor performs a growing percentage of routine legal tasks cheaper, attorneys must find new, smarter ways to provide value to their clients. Law schools can help future lawyers succeed in this economically and technology driven atmosphere by embracing the increasing role that creativity will play in modern legal practice and integrating more creative problem solving techniques into their core curricula. By molding their curricula with guidance from the ancient Greek ideal of learning “the true, the good and the beautiful,” law schools can develop lawyers who can more effectively meet the demands of the twenty-first century legal practice.”

For my students.

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/new-raspberry-pi-b-released-fcc-tallies-net-neutrality-comments-tech-news-digest/

New Raspberry Pi Model B+ On Sale

The Raspberry Pi Foundation has officially unveiled the Raspberry Pi Model B+, described as “the final evolution of the original Raspberry Pi.” The Raspberry Pi Model B+ is available to buy right now from many stockists, including Element14 and RS Components.

The Model B+ features the same processor, RAM, and software as the original. However, it boasts improvements including more GPIO (General Purpose Input/Output) pins, four USB ports rather than two, a new micro SD card slot, lower power consumption, and better audio.

We’re big fans of the Raspberry Pi here at MakeUseOf, and the Model B+ represents a chance for more people to gain an interest in this tiny, affordable, open-source computer. If you are new to Raspberry Pi then be sure to check out our unofficial guide to Raspberry Pi.

Amazon Trolls French Government

France recently enacted an “anti-Amazon” law banning the online retailer from offering free shipping and 5 percent discounts on books. While Amazon hasn’t yet seen a way around the ban on discounts, it has already solved the problem of free shipping by charging €0.01 per order. Simple, effective, legal, and totally trollish.

Wikipedia may not be the last word in research, but for my students it is often the first word.

http://www.labnol.org/internet/guide-to-wikipedia-tools-and-resources/8320/

The Best Wikipedia Tools and Resources

[For example:

• Wiki Blame- quickly find the author(s) of any specific passage of a Wikipedia article.
• Wiki Checker – Get a list of all users who have edited a particular Wikipedia article.

Every article on Wikipedia has an RSS feed though they aren’t obvious. Click the “History” tab on any Wikipedia page and you’ll find RSS icons in the left toolbox. See: How to Track Wikipedia Articles.

… Wikipedia articles change with time. Therefore when you are linking to any Wikipedia page from your website, consider linking to the current snapshot of the page and not the main article. You can find the permalink (URL) to the page snapshot in the right sidebar as “Permanent Link.”

Funny we don't hear more about these breaches.

http://www.bespacific.com/67-percent-critical-infrastructure-providers-breached-last-year/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=67-percent-critical-infrastructure-providers-breached-last-year

67 Percent of Critical Infrastructure Providers Were Breached Last Year

by Sabrina I. Pacifici on Jul 12, 2014

Jeff Goldman - eSecurity PlanetJeff Goldman - “A recent survey of 599 security executives at utility, oil and gas, energy and manufacturing companies in 13 countries has found that 67 percent have experienced at least one security breach in the past 12 months that led to the loss of confidential information or the disruption of operations. The survey, conducted by the Ponemon Institute and sponsored by Unisys, also found that 64 percent of respondents anticipate one or more serious attacks in the coming year — and fully 78 percent anticipate an attack on their organizations’ industrial control systems (ICS) or supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems within the next year.”

For my Ethical Hackers. Own the signature, own the signer.

SignNow

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.signnow.android

– sign documents anywhere or get anyone’s signature for free. Need to sign a document? Need to get someone’s signature on a document? SignNow makes it easy to do both for free. Upload a document and sign realistically with your finger or with a photo. People won’t even know your signature was electronic.

Interesting, but I ain't buying it. I'd much rather pay for performance, which in banking would include measures of trustworthiness.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2014/07/13/calpers-ex-ceo-buenrostro-guilty-plea-explains-why-bankers-make-so-much-money/

CalPERS Ex-CEO Buenrostro Guilty Plea Explains Why Bankers Make So Much Money

The ex-CEO of CalPERS, Fred Buenrostro, has just pleaded guilty to accepting doucers, cash bribes and fees for placing investment business with a specific firm. The economic point that this helps us elucidate is why bankers and fund managers make such vast incomes normally. It’s a concept called “efficiency wages”. Essentially, when stripped right down, if people are handling or responsible for a large amount of money then pay them very well. So that it’s not actually worth their trying to do anything naughty, the risk of losing that high income is greater than what they can gain by being naughty.

For my entrepreneurial students. See? It doesn't have to be a new technology (or potato salad). Once upon a time, every bedroom in America had an alarm clock and a radio. Panasonic made millions by combining them into one device.

http://www.businessinsider.com/kickstarter-cooler-project-2014-7?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+businessinsider+%28Business+Insider%29

A Guy Raised More Than $3 Million On Kickstarter By Reinventing The Cooler

An Oregon man who set out to reinvent the familiar cooler you take to the beach or on camping trips has already raised $3 million for the project, and his fundraising effort is on track to possibly beat the Kickstarter record, The Oregonian reports.

Launched just four days ago, Ryan Grepper's "Coolest Cooler" has raised $3.2 million of his $50,000 goal, and he still has 48 days left.

Besides the aesthetically pleasing design and it being able to keep drinks and food cool, it includes just about every possible feature you might want to have for a fun day out:

It has a built-in ice crushing blender, storage for plates and a knife, bottle opener, USB charger for your electronics, Bluetooth speaker to listen to some tunes, and even an LED light so you can fish out a drink in the dark.

For my students who still have a working XP machine.

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/make-lubuntu-look-like-windows-xp/

How To Make Lubuntu Look Like Windows XP

A government that grasps the obvious? What a concept! Makes me wish it was our government. (Sounds like they still haven't found the really intrusive stuff, so don't tell them, okay?)

http://www.zdnet.com/apples-iphone-branded-a-national-security-concern-7000031489/

Apple's iPhone branded a 'national security concern'

Apple's iPhone has been labeled a "national security concern" by Chinese state broadcasters as relations between the country and US over cybersecurity worsen.

The influential state-sponsored China Central Television broadcast declared the iPhone a "national security concern" as part of its national noon broadcast on Friday, according to the Wall Street Journal. CCT criticized the "frequent locations" function present on Apple's iOS 7 operating system, declaring that researchers believe data points recorded by the service could give those with access to this data knowledge of Chinese concerns and even "state secrets."

A challenge for my Computer Security students.

http://www.bespacific.com/banks-try-tame-gadget-flooded-workplace-management-software/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=banks-try-tame-gadget-flooded-workplace-management-software

Banks Try to Tame Gadget-Flooded Workplace with Management Software

by Sabrina I. Pacifici on Jul 11, 2014

American Banker: “MDM [mobile device management] software has been available for awhile, but it is being slowly adopted by banks. Many of these banks once used only BlackBerry products, but the Ponemon study found that 23% of banks are migrating from BlackBerry to a multi-OS mobile environment and 18% plan to do so. And a recent Forrester survey found that 20% of “mobile decision-makers” at U.S. companies with more than 1,000 employees are so eager to use their own devices that they would be willing to help pay for the opportunity; 11% said they would be willing to pay the entire cost if they could get the smartphone of their choice. Another driver for MDM software in banking is the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council’s guidelines on cloud computing, which were issued in mid-2012 but are still being digested by many in the industry. The regulators say, among other things, that banks must know where their data is at all times. At the $1.4 billion-asset Needham Bank, MDM software from MobileIron has helped with regulatory compliance and automatic provisioning. “It gives auditors an increased level of comfort that we know exactly what’s going on with that fleet [of devices],” Gordon says. “We can also help users set up devices more rapidly than we would have otherwise.” A recent IT project proved the software’s worth, Gordon says. The bank redeployed a wireless network, setting up sub-networks to handle data security and software distribution separately for executives, IT and general users.”

(Ditto) Worth a read, Computer Security students. These are your future employers!

http://www.securityweek.com/soft-underbelly-enterprise-cybersecurity-small-business-readiness

The Soft Underbelly of Enterprise Cybersecurity: Small Business Readiness

For the better part of the last two years, I’ve been on a bit of a personal campaign.

I’ve talked to more than 50 individual business owners - a set of folks that represents pretty much the entire spectrum of what I’d call the “everyday life” industries - about cybersecurity and the risks their businesses face. Sadly, not once have I encountered a small business owner who knew much more than my dad about network or computer security.

Perhaps an “Academic Search Engine” or one controlled by an organization like the Privacy Foundation ( http://www.law.du.edu/index.php/privacy-foundation ) might reduce the bias? OR we could leave it to my Ethical Hackers...

http://www.law.du.edu/index.php/privacy-foundation

Why we need an underground Google

There has never been a search engine that accurately reflects the Internet.

In the 1990s and 2000s, the limitation was technical. The so-called "deep web" and "dark Internet" -- which sound shady and mysterious, but simply refer to web sites inaccessible by conventional means -- have always existed.

Many parts of the Internet are hard to index, or are blocked from being indexed by their owners.

Companies like Google have worked hard to surface and bring light to the "deep, dark" recesses of the global web on a technical level.

But in the past few years, a disturbing trend has emerged where governments -- either through law or technical means or by the control of the companies that provide access -- have forced inaccuracy, omissions and misleading results on the world's major search engines.

If Harvard says it, it must be true!

http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/07/millennials-are-entering-a-changed-workplace-not/

Millennials Are Entering a Changed Workplace. Not.

What’s Wrong with Millennial Employment, in Three Charts Fortune

Sometimes the U.S. government’s exhaustively and exhaustingly dry reports yield startling results, as Fortune discovered. A Department of Education study of college graduates shows, for example, that the wage gap starts early: Four years out of college, male graduates were already making much more than their female counterparts, even if you control for field of study and other factors. A male engineer, for instance, earned $68,000, on average, while his female peer earned $65,817.

Another finding: The 65.2% of for-profit college graduates who were employed and not in school earned a full-time median salary of $54,000, compared with $47,500 and $45,000, respectively, for graduates of private nonprofit and public universities.

(On the other hand)

http://www.bespacific.com/majority-stem-college-graduates-work-stem-occupations/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=majority-stem-college-graduates-work-stem-occupations

Majority of STEM College Graduates Do Not Work in STEM Occupations

Census news release: “The U.S. Census Bureau reported today that 74 percent of those who have a bachelor’s degree in science, technology, engineering and math — commonly referred to as STEM — are not employed in STEM occupations. In addition, men continue to be overrepresented in STEM, especially in computer and engineering occupations. About 86 percent of engineers and 74 percent of computer professionals are men. “STEM graduates have relatively low unemployment, however these graduates are not necessarily employed in STEM occupations,” said Liana Christin Landivar, a sociologist in the Census Bureau’s Industry and Occupation Statistics Branch. According to new statistics from the 2012 American Community Survey, engineering and computer, math and statistics majors had the largest share of graduates going into a STEM field with about half employed in a STEM occupation. Science majors had fewer of their graduates employed in STEM.

“You can fool some of the people all of the time” but you can't call them ignorant without being called names yourself.

http://www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00072788.html

Old 'Jurassic Park' Photo of Steven Spielberg With 'Dead' Triceratops Caused Controversy

Steven Spielberg meant no harm 20 years ago when he posed with a "dead" dinosaur on the set of "Jurassic Park". The old pic caused controversy this week when humorist Jay Branscomb posted it on Facebook in the wake of criticism against teen hunter Kendall Jones.

In a bizarre situation, Spielberg was accused of slaughtering an animal that has been dead million of years ago. Branscomb posted the 1993 snapshot and jokingly captioned it, "Disgraceful photo of recreational hunter happily posing next to a Triceratops he just slaughtered. Please share so the world can name and shame this despicable man."

I've been thinking about having my students make videos explaining Math concepts. Then I can show them to the next class. (Eventually, I'll have students do all the work.)

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-make-whiteboard-videos-for-your-website/

How To Make Whiteboard Videos For Your Website

One of the coolest tools for creating visual online content in recent years is the “whiteboard” video. You know the type—a hand, a pen, a whiteboard, and some fun drawings that help bolster your online brand and generate a lot of social shares. Have you ever wanted to make a whiteboard video for your company? I set out to see how it could be done, and found out that it’s actually really easy!

For my students.

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/7-blogs-really-read-student-programmer/

7 Blogs You Should Really Read If You Are A Student Programmer

Another week, another series of belly laughs!

Hack Education Weekly News

… A class action lawsuit has been filed charging that the Los Angeles Unified School District does not provide students with enough PE.

… Sarah Houghton, “Librarian in Black,” discovered that Rosetta Stone “was setting ad tracking cookies (without disclosure or consent) on the personal computers of any library users who used the Library Edition that is offered through their libraries. This applied not only to the full product, but also to any library offering a temporary trial of the product.” Rosetta Stone say they’ve addressed the issue.

… “LG has announced a wrist-worn device designed to let parents keep track of where their child is and listen to what they are up to,” reports the BBC.

… The Gates Foundation is backing the development of a birth control chip that lasts up to 16 years and can be turned on and off via remote and omg what could possibly go wrong. [An Internet of Things thing... Bob]

… The US Department of Education is spending $3 million on research to gauge the effectiveness of Khan Academy.

… “College Students Still Prefer Print Textbooks”

… “Python is Now the Most Popular Introductory Teaching Language at Top U.S. Universities”

An example of the “Internet of Things with Malware”

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2453100/malware-hidden-in-chinese-inventory-scanners-targeted-logistics-shipping-firms.html

Malware hidden in Chinese inventory scanners targeted logistics, shipping firms

Financial and business information was stolen from several shipping and logistics firms by sophisticated malware hiding in inventory scanners manufactured by a Chinese company.

The supply chain attack, dubbed “Zombie Zero,” was identified by security researchers from TrapX, a cybersecurity firm in San Mateo, California, who wrote about it in a report released Thursday.

TrapX hasn’t named the Chinese manufacturer, but said that the malware was implanted in physical scanners shipped to customers, as well as in the Windows XP Embedded firmware available for download on the manufacturer’s website.

“It can't happen here.”

http://www.eweek.com/security/critical-infrastructure-firms-lag-behind-in-cyber-attack-defenses.html

Critical Infrastructure Firms Lag Behind in Cyber-Attack Defenses

Security teams at critical infrastructure firms have little trouble understanding that their networks are vulnerable. But the companies themselves have failed to make security a priority, according to a survey of nearly 600 security executives by the Ponemon Institute published on July 10.

External attackers and malicious or negligent employees managed to compromise two-thirds of the companies' networks in the past 12 months, leading to the loss of data or a disruption in operations, according to the report, Critical Infrastructure: Security Preparedness and Maturity, which was funded by technology firm Unisys. About 57 percent of respondents believe that their industrial control systems are at risk from cyber-attacks.

Despite the recognition of cyber-attacks as a threat, most critical-infrastructure firms are not focused on security, according to the survey. Only 28 percent of security practitioners stated that their firms considered security a top-five priority, the study found.

Something for my Computer Security and Computer Forensics students. Perhaps we could extend this to include Tools & Technques?

http://www.bespacific.com/ngos-launch-digital-first-aid-kit/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ngos-launch-digital-first-aid-kit

NGOs Launch Digital First Aid Kit

by Sabrina I. Pacifici on Jul 10, 2014

Via EFF – “When faced with a digital emergency—whether someone has hijacked your social media account or your website is being DDoSed—can be difficult for non-technical people to discern what the problem is and what the appropriate next steps may be for seeking help. To help fill this niche in the universe of privacy and security guides, a group of NGOs ( including EFF, Hivos, Internews, VirtualRoad, and CIRCL) have teamed up to write a guide that combines advice for self-assessment with advice for “first responders” to help non-technical users all over the world identify and respond to their digital emergencies. The Digital First Aid Kit aims to provide preliminary support for people facing the most common types of digital threats. The Kit offers a set of self-diagnostic tools for human rights defenders, bloggers, activists and journalists facing attacks themselves, as well as providing guidelines for digital first responders to assist a person under threat.”

“If the FAA gives us a hard time, we'll just buy a small country where we can fly all the drones we want.”

http://www.forbes.com/sites/gregorymcneal/2014/07/11/six-things-you-need-to-know-about-amazons-drones/

Six Things You Need To Know About Amazon's Drones

(Related) You need a drone to map an estate the size of this one.

http://dailycaller.com/2014/07/10/martha-stewart-uses-drones-to-take-pictures-of-her-farm/

Martha Stewart Uses Drones To Take Pictures Of Her Farm

Stewart posted the photos on her blog Wednesday — 31 “amazing aerial photos of my farm” taken with a “new toy,” a DJI Phantom flying camera. She said the drone is “lots of fun to play with and take[s] extraordinary photos.”

Sounds impressive, but I doubt that well run small businesses have significant amounts of capital tied up in receivables.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-07-11/obama-gets-26-companies-committed-to-help-suppliers

Obama Gets 26 Companies Committed to Help Suppliers

President Barack Obama will announce today that 26 companies including Apple Inc., Johnson & Johnson and Coca-Cola Co. are committed to speed payments to their suppliers that are small businesses.

The White House said in a statement released this morning that the faster payments will provide more working capital for suppliers to invest in new equipment and new hiring. The participants also have the option to offer financing to help suppliers cut their costs.

Interesting discussion with my students last night. No agreement on how much to tip and some interesting variations as a result.

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/calculate-tips-split-bills-beautiful-smartphone-apps/

Calculate Tips And Split Bills With These Beautiful Smartphone Apps

Don’t let your lack of mental math skills embarrass you when the bill hits the table. Whip out your smartphone and fire up Gratuity for iOS or Perfect Tip for Android; they’re simple enough to work quickly and gorgeous enough to be the talking point.

My students would like these, if they could remember where they made a note about them...

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/try-these-3-beautiful-note-taking-apps-that-work-offline/

Try These 3 Beautiful Note-Taking Apps That Work Offline

I would think this was obvious. You want a list of people you might want to compromise AND you can determine the minimum profile for an agent you want to plant.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/07/10/chinese-hackers-reportedly-sought-data-on-us-workers-with-security-clearance/

Chinese hackers reportedly sought data on US workers with security clearance

Chinese computer hackers were able to access the computer network of the federal agency that houses the personal information of all government employees in an apparent attempt to target workers who have applied for security clearances, according to a published report.

The New York Times reports that the hackers gained access to some databases from the Office of Personnel Management this past March before federal authorities were able to block them from the network.

… The attack in March was not announced even though the Obama administration has urged U.S. companies to share information about breaches in security with the government and with consumers, the newspaper reported.

"The administration has never advocated that all intrusions be made public," [“Except for you second class citizens...” Bob] Caitlin Hayden, a spokeswoman for the Obama administration, said in a statement to the Times.

… Hayden said the administration had no reason to believe [Interesting phrasing Bob] that personally identifiable information for employees had been compromised.

(Related) For us second class citizens.

Vermont Attorney General Fines Local Business For Failing To Notify Consumers Of Security Breach

Shelburne Country Store in Shelburne, Vermont will pay a $3,000 civil penalty for failing to inform 721 internet buyers of a security breach of their credit card information. In late 2013, the company’s website was hacked and credit card information stolen. Upon being informed of the breach in January 2014, the company quickly fixed the problem, but did not notify consumers until it was contacted by the Attorney General’s Office.

“At this stage of the game, having seen widely reported data breaches at big retailers like Target and dozens of others, we will not accept the excuse that a business did not know of its obligations to report a breach. ” said Attorney General Sorrell.

Under Vermont’s Security Breach Notice Act, businesses are required to send the Attorney General a confidential notice within 14 business days of discovery of a data breach. The business must also send notice to consumers in the most expedient time possible, but no later than 45 days. The Office of the Attorney General works with businesses and their counsel, particularly with small Vermont businesses, to help them address security breaches. The office has an open-line policy for anyone with questions about Vermont’s data security law or how to address a breach. The office brings enforcement actions under the Security Breach Notice Act only for serious violations.

Any business with questions about the Act can find guidance on the Attorney General’s website, call the office at 802-828-5479, or email data.security@state.vt.us.

SOURCE: Office of the Vermont Attorney General

Inevitable, but not necessarily serious.

http://www.csoonline.com/article/2452602/government/us-lawmaker-asks-ftc-to-probe-implications-of-facebook-big-data-experiment.html

US lawmaker asks FTC to probe implications of Facebook 'big data' experiment

A U.S. senator has asked the Federal Trade Commission to scrutinize the use of big data by Facebook and other Internet companies, following a controversy over a Facebook experiment on some of its users.

… In a letter to the FTC, Warner has asked whether the Facebook experiment violates the agency's consent agreement of 2011 with the company and also section 5 of the FTC Act which prohibits ''unfair or deceptive acts or practices."

Privacy group Electronic Privacy Information Center filed a complaint earlier this month to the FTC stating that the study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, violated the privacy consent order that requires the social-networking company to protect its users' privacy, and is also a deceptive trade practice.

Nothing angers courts more than being taken literally. (Be careful what you sue for?)

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/apple-loses-siri-patent-case-uber-drivers-go-bad-tech-news-digest/

Aereo Now Claims To Be A Cable Company

In its ongoing effort to stay alive, Aereo is using the ruling about its illegality against the U.S. Supreme Court. While backing the broadcasters in their case against Aereo, judges ruled that Aereo “is for all practical purposes a traditional cable system.”

Aereo is now taking those words literally and arguing that as a “traditional cable system” it’s entitled to a statutory license. The broadcasters are, unsurprisingly, rallying against this move, calling Aereo’s new stance “astonishing.” We think “genius” is a more apt description.

If Microsoft owns it, it must be vulnerable?

http://www.itproportal.com/2014/07/10/silent-circle-seeks-to-destroy-skype-with-international-roaming/

Silent Circle seeks to destroy Skype with its secret weapon: Encrypted VoIP

Silent Circle – the esoterically brooding group behind this year's "unhackable" Blackphone – has set its sights on disrupting big market players like Skype and Viber with an encrypted voIP client.

The company has announced a global expansion of its encrypted calling service, allowing around the world to make secure phone calls without incurring roaming charges.

Silent Circle's apps have always allowed customers to make encrypted calls, send secure messages and to transfer files, but until now the app had to be in use by both parties. The latest announcement means that users will now be able to make private calls to non-Silent Circle subscribers across 79 countries.

… Starting now, anyone wishing to utilise this "Out-Circle" service will be given a unique ten-digit Silent Phone number to make and receive calls without incurring roaming charges.

It does still come at a price though. Silent Circle will charge $12.95 for 100 minutes, $19.95 for 250 minutes, $24.95 for 500 minutes and $39.95 for 1,000 minutes.

For my Website and my Excel students.

Sheetlabs

https://sheetlabs.com/#/

– turns spreadsheets into well-documented APIs, quickly and easily. Many businesses still share product lists, service coverage areas, or other tabular information with one another using spreadsheets attached to email. There are so many things that can go wrong with this. Sheetlabs was built with the goal of making it really easy for businesses to build APIs on top of their existing spreadsheets.

[From the website: Emailing weekly updates of your product list, service coverage, or your other spreadsheet is sooo last century. Creating an API helps ensure your customers are always using your latest data, and it saves everyone the hassle of dealing with spreadsheets manually.

For my “Let's build a killer robot” students.

Guest Post: Autonomy, “Killer Robots,” and Human Control in the Use of Force – Part I

In May of this year, the United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) held the first multilateral discussions on autonomous weapons or, as activists like to colorfully refer to them, “killer robots.” Discussion was robust, serious, and thoughtful, but through it all ran a strong sense of confusion about what exactly participants were, in fact, talking about.

Part II

Guest Post: Autonomy, “Killer Robots,” and Human Control in the Use of Force – Part II

Perspective. Roughly ¾ ounce for every man, woman and child.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-usa-marijuana-colorado-20140709,0,7311382.story

Colorado puts annual marijuana demand at 130 tons

Total marijuana demand in Colorado, where the nation's first recreational pot shops opened in January, is estimated at 130 tonnes this year, a study for the state's revenue authority said on Wednesday.

A day after Washington became only the second state to allow recreational sales of the drug to adults, the report said the projected demand in Colorado was much higher than anticipated.

More than 90 percent of it came from residents, while out-of-state visitors accounted for only about 9 tonnes.

For my students. (I'm probably as guilty as they)

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/idea-final-draft-increase-writing-productivity/

From Idea to Final Draft: How to Increase Your Writing Productivity

Unfortunately, that does not mean they will work for free.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/american-teens-cant-read-a-pay-slip-2014-07-09

American teens can’t read a pay slip

Fewer than 30% of U.S. teens understand their paycheck, according to the financial literacy portion of a test administered by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

More than one in six 15-year-olds is unable to make even simple decisions about everyday spending, and only one in 10 can solve complex financial tasks, according to the test.

Among the seemingly simple questions that American teens struggled with was determining how much money was going into a bank account from a theoretical month’s pay.

The pay slip for the month of July listed four numbers: Gross pay, deductions, net salary and gross salary year to date.

Only 28.8% could correctly say how much money was automatically deposited into the worker’s bank account. By comparison, 74.8% of students in Shanghai got the right answer. Americans also performed below the OECD average.

… How well would you score? Take the 5-question test here

Wally describes my ideal job.

http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2014-07-10/

Your government in action! “After a typically through review by our skilled analysts, their managers and our legal department...”

http://www.securityweek.com/dhs-mistakenly-releases-840-pages-critical-infrastructure-documents-mishandled-fioa-request

DHS Mistakenly Releases 840-pages of Critical Infrastructure Documents Via Mishandled FOIA Request

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has released hundreds of documents, some of which contain sensitive information and potentially vulnerable critical infrastructure points across the United States, in response to a recent Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request about a cyber-security attack.

The Operation Aurora attack was publicized in 2010 and impacted Google and a number of other high-profile companies. However, DHS responded to the request by releasing more than 800 pages of documents related to the 'Aurora' experiment conducted several years ago at the Idaho National Laboratory, where researchers demonstrated a way to damage a generator via a cyber-attack.

The documents are posted on MuckRock.com. The information request was made May 17. On July 3, the agency replied with the mistaken documents.

Of the documents released by the DHS, none were related to the Operation Aurora cyber attack as requested.

… According to information on the MuckRock site, the person who filed the FOIA request received a "no-responsive documents" response from the FBI in reaction to the FOIA request, while the National Security Agency notified him that his request for information is being processed.

The incident the FOIA request was actually about, the Operation Aurora cyber attack, impacted dozens of organizations, including Juniper Networks and aerospace and defense company Northrop Grumman, and is believed by many to have been perpetrated by hackers from China.

What could possibly go wrong.

http://www.bespacific.com/verizons-transparency-report-first-half-2014/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=verizons-transparency-report-first-half-2014

Verizon’s Transparency Report for the First Half of 2014

by Sabrina I. Pacifici on Jul 8, 2014

“In the first half of 2014, Verizon received approximately 150,000 requests for customer information from federal, state or local law enforcement in the United States. We do not release customer information unless authorized by law, such as a valid law enforcement demand or an appropriate request in an emergency involving the danger of death or serious physical injury… Verizon has teams that carefully review each demand we receive. We do not produce information in response to all demands we receive. In the first half of this year, we rejected as invalid approximately three percent of the subpoenas we received and approximately four and one-half percent of the orders and warrants we received. We might reject a demand as legally invalid for a number of reasons, including that a different type of legal process is needed for the type of information requested. When we reject a demand as invalid, we do not produce any information… In the first half of 2014, the 72,342 subpoenas we received sought information regarding 132,499 information points, such as a telephone number, used to identify a customer. These customer identifiers are also referred to as “selectors.” On average, each subpoena sought information about 1.8 selectors. The number of selectors is usually greater than the number of customer accounts: if a customer had multiple telephone numbers, for instance, it’s possible that a subpoena seeking information about multiple selectors was actually seeking information about just one customer. We have also determined that during the first half of the year, approximately 75 percent of the subpoenas we received sought information on only one selector (and thus only one customer), and approximately 90 percent sought information regarding three or fewer selectors (and thus three or fewer customers).”

Not a bad summary.

http://www.securityweek.com/intersection-cloud-and-internet-things-and-what-it-means-security

The Intersection of Cloud And Internet of Things And What It Means For Security

Last month, Salesforce.com and Philips announced their plan to build an open cloud-based healthcare platform. In the initial application, this “platform” will allow healthcare software developers, producers of medical services, insurance companies, and healthcare providers to monitor patients with chronic conditions. Healthcare information utilizing digital patient-sensing devices (internet of things) send information to the cloud to be remotely processed and monitored, allowing healthcare providers to prioritize care.

Another Thing for the Internet of Things.

http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/07/all-hail-the-humble-solar-powered-trash-bin/

All Hail the Humble Solar-Powered Trash Bin

The solar-powered trash compactors that have appeared on the streets of Philadelphia and other cities can go 4 times as long as old-fashioned wire baskets before needing to be emptied, saving municipalities millions of dollars, according to CNN. Not only that, they send alerts when they’re full, making pickup much more efficient. Philadelphia was able to reduce the size of its trash-collection crews by 73% as a result.

SOURCE: How solar trash cans save millions

How negotiations work in the Internet Age?

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/389701/amazon-offers-hachette-authors-100-of-ebook-sales

Amazon offers Hachette authors 100% of ebook sales

… The online retailer and book publisher have been locked in a negotiating battle over how much of a slice of ebook sales each should receive. To put pressure on Hachette, Amazon has started stocking fewer of its books, meaning customers must wait longer for delivery, and refusing to take pre-orders on new titles, hurting their chances in sales charts.

Now, Amazon has sent a letter to Hachette authors, proposing a deal whereby they would receive 100% of the sales price of their ebooks - with not a penny going to Amazon or the publisher - until an agreement is reached.

… However, the publisher said it would be "suicide" to accept the deal, and called on Amazon to "withdraw the sanctions they have unilaterally imposed".

Amazon replied that was "baloney" pointing out that Hachette is part of a $10 billion conglomerate.

Clearly creates the possibility of an “undue reliance” error. (You say “omnipresent,” I say “ubiquitous” – either way we confuse my students.

http://www.bespacific.com/complex-operational-decision-making-networked-systems-humans-machines/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=complex-operational-decision-making-networked-systems-humans-machines

Complex Operational Decision Making in Networked Systems of Humans and Machines

by Sabrina I. Pacifici on Jul 8, 2014

“Over the last two decades, computers have become omnipresent in daily life. Their increased power and accessibility have enabled the accumulation, organization, and analysis of massive amounts of data. These data, in turn, have been transformed into practical knowledge that can be applied to simple and complex decision making alike. In many of today’s activities, decision making is no longer an exclusively human endeavor. In both virtual and real ways, technology has vastly extended people’s range of movement, speed and access to massive amounts of data. Consequently, the scope of complex decisions that human beings are capable of making has greatly expanded. At the same time, some of these technologies have also complicated the decision making process. The potential for changes to complex decision making is particularly significant now, as advances in software, memory storage and access to large amounts of multimodal data have dramatically increased. Increasingly, our decision making process integrates input from human judgment, computing results and assistance, and networks. Human beings do not have the ability to analyze the vast quantities of computer-generated or -mediated data that are now available. How might humans and computers team up to turn data into reliable (and when necessary, speedy) decisions? Complex Operational Decision Making in Networked Systems of Humans and Machines explores the possibilities for better decision making through collaboration between humans and computers. This study is situated around the essence of decision making; the vast amounts of data that have become available as the basis for complex decision making; and the nature of collaboration that is possible between humans and machines in the process of making complex decisions.”

A project for Law School students? Colorado isn't there yet. (and some of my programmers)

http://www.bespacific.com/accessible-law-internet-age-americas-laws-peoples-public-property/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=accessible-law-internet-age-americas-laws-peoples-public-property

America’s Laws Are the People’s Public Property

by Sabrina I. Pacifici on Jul 8, 2014

The State Decoded software provides you with a people-friendly way to access your local, state, and federal legal code.

• “Careful organization by article and section makes browsing a breeze.
• A site-wide search allows you to find the laws you’re looking for by topic.
• Scroll-over definitions translate legal jargon into common English.
• Downloadable legal code lets you take the law into your own hands.
• Best of all, everything on the site remains cost-and restriction-free.”

[From the website:

The America Decoded network is based on The State Decoded platform. This software is freely available for developers to use and modify. https://github.com/statedecoded/statedecoded

You may want to start with the documentation. http://documentation.statedecoded.com/

For my Computer Security students. Also grab the Verification Handbook at: http://verificationhandbook.com/

http://www.securityweek.com/microsoft-issues-new-advice-defending-against-pass-hash-attacks

Microsoft Issues New Advice on Defending Against Pass-the-Hash Attacks

Microsoft on Tuesday released new guidance to help customers defend against credential theft stemming from Pass-the-Hash (PtH) attacks.

In a new white paper called Mitigating Pass-the-Hash and Other Credential Theft, version 2, Microsoft encourages IT professionals to “assume breach” to highlight the need for the use of holistic planning strategies and features in Microsoft Windows to become more resilient against credential theft attacks.

Microsoft describes Pass-the-Hash attacks as a technique in which an attacker captures account logon credentials on one computer and then uses those captured credentials to authenticate other computers over the network.

This latest 60-page report is a follow-up to a previously released report from Microsoft on guidance and mitigations for Pass-the-Hash attacks.

For my Computer Security video library.

http://www.securitybistro.com/?p=8874

A Real Story About Successful DDoS Mitigation

… This short video will help you gain insight into how a cybersecurity professional like yourself successfully put an end to the damaging effects of a DDoS attack.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qm_S-XyEHc

For my Computer Forensics students.

http://www.bespacific.com/amnesty-international-launches-video-tool-website-learn-use/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=amnesty-international-launches-video-tool-website-learn-use

Amnesty International launches video tool and website to learn its use

by Sabrina I. Pacifici on Jul 8, 2014

Via Poynter – The YouTube Data Viewer enables you to enter in the URL of a YouTube video and automatically extract the correct upload time and all thumbnails associated with the video. These two elements are essential when verifying a YouTube video, and it’s information that’s difficult to gather from YouTube. The upload time is critical in helping determine the origin of a video. Finding the upload time of a YouTube video can be difficult — it’s not clearly displayed on the video page. The thumbnails are useful because you can plug them into a reverse image search tool such as Google Image or TinEye and see where else online these images appear. “Many videos are scraped, and popular videos are re-uploaded to YouTube several times on the same day,” said Koettl. “So having the exact upload time helps to distinguish these videos from the same day, and a reverse image search is a powerful way to find other/older versions of the same video. The goal is to offer non-technical users a tool and guidance to help them verify video, without requiring an expert such as Koettl. He said now his colleagues “will be able to do this basic research themselves by using the new tool, so not everything has to go through me for a basic assessment.” The same goes for journalists. The YouTube Data Viewer should join tools such as an EXIF reader, reverse image search, Spokeo, and Google Maps/Earth as one of the core, free verification tools in the verification toolkit. (For a list of other tools out there, see this section of the Handbook.)”

Because eventually even my students will be interviewing for jobs.

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2014/07/brooks-brothers-teaches-you-how-to-tie.html#.U71En0CmVw0

Brooks Brothers Teaches You How to Tie a Tie - Bow Ties Included

A couple of days ago I clicked on a Brooks Brothers sales advertisement while reading an article on Inc. That advertisement took me to a page featuring neck ties and a set of videos on how to tie five kinds of neck tie knots. The videos are hosted on Vimeo.
Why am I sharing these videos? Whether it's for an interview or a semi-formal affair at some point almost every male student will need to know how to tie a tie. These videos will be helpful when that time arrives in the life of a student.

How To Tie A Tie - Half-Windsor Knot | Brooks Brothers from Brooks Brothers on Vimeo.

Windsor Knot

Four In Hand Knot

Pratt Knot

Bow Tie

For my students.

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/android-fails-delete-data-sony-sells-selfie-smartphone-tech-news-digest/

Microsoft Releases Countless Free eBooks

Microsoft has released a huge trove of free eBooks related to its products and services. Almost 300 free Microsoft eBooks and resources can now be found on MSDN, with Windows 7, Windows 8, Microsoft Office, SharePoint, and Azure amongst the products featured.

(Related) Have I mentioned this one recently?

http://thebookinsider.com/the-one-website-book-lovers-need-to-know/?utm_source=taboola&utm_medium=referral

Publishers Are Giving Away Bestsellers For Free

… Publishers and authors discount eBooks for several reasons. For example, in the case of The Da Vinci Code, Random House wanted to prime the pump for the new release of Inferno. Publishers and authors also run free or discounted eBooks to hook readers on a series, or build a following for a new author.

… In order to get the word out on these promotions, publishers and authors feature their deals on sites like BookBub. BookBub is unique in that it does not list every single free eBook on the market. Instead, BookBub’s expert editorial team selectively curates only the best eBooks to be featured in their email and on their website.