This is Philadelphia, where the cops consider everyone second class citizens.

http://www.nbc10.com/news/9574663/detail.html

Obstruction Of Justice

Man Arrested For Shooting Photo Of Police Activity

POSTED: 6:41 pm EDT July 25, 2006 UPDATED: 5:11 pm EDT July 26, 2006

PHILADELPHIA -- A Philadelphia family said they are outraged over the arrest of one of their family members.

The family of Neftaly Cruz said police had no right to come onto their property and arrest their 21-year-old son simply because he was using his cell phone's camera. They told their story to Harry Hairston and the NBC 10 Investigators.

... Cruz said police told him that he broke a new law that prohibits people from taking pictures of police with cell phones.

"They threatened to charge me with conspiracy, impeding an investigation, obstruction of a investigation. … They said, 'You were impeding this investigation.' (I asked,) "By doing what?' (The officer said,) 'By taking a picture of the police officers with a camera phone,'" Cruz said.

... The NBC 10 Investigators asked the ACLU union how they viewed the incident.

"There is no law that prevents people from taking pictures of what anybody can see on the street," said Larry Frankel of the American Civil Liberties Union. "I think it's rather scary that in this country you could actually be taken down to police headquarters for taking a picture on your cell phone of activities that are clearly visible on the street."

... Cruz, a Penn State University senior, said that after about an hour police told him he was lucky because there was no supervisor on duty, so they released him.

http://blog.wired.com/27BStroke6/index.blog?entry_id=1529559

27B Stroke 6

by Ryan Singel and Kevin Poulsen Friday, 28 July 2006

NSA Suits To Be Consolidated?

A federal judicial panel on multijurisdictional lawsuits heard arguments today on whether to consolidate the myriad lawsuits filed against the government and against the country's largest telecoms in the wake of revelations about widespread warrantless surveillance of Americans.

The Department of Justice wants all the suits consolidated and brought to Washington, D.C., while Electronic Frontier Foundation lawyer Cindy Cohn urged the panel to consolidate the class-action cases to Judge Vaughn Walker in San Francisco, who has already read classified briefs on the program and rebuffed the government's attempt to dismiss the EFF's suit against AT&T on the grounds of national security,according to Reuters's Andrew Stern.

This looks like a student paper, but perhaps it would be useful.

http://www.infosecwriters.com/text_resources/pdf/Social_Engineering_RMorgan.pdf

Social Engineering Defense for Small Businesses

Russell Morgan East Carolina University

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4081259.html

Sentry Insurance Says Customer Data Stolen

© 2006 The Associated Press July 29, 2006, 3:03PM

STEVENS POINT, Wis. — Personal information on 72 worker's compensation claimants was stolen from Sentry Insurance and later sold over the Internet, the company said.

The data sold included names and Social Security numbers but not medical records, Sentry said. Data on an additional 112,198 claimants was also stolen but there is no evidence it was sold, the company said.

Sentry said it notified everyone affected and was providing credit monitoring services to help prevent fraud.

The thief was "a lead programmer/consultant with a nationally recognized computer contractor" hired by Sentry, based in Stevens Point, company officials said Friday.

Sentry said the consultant was arrested outside Wisconsin by the Secret Service and faces federal felony charges.

Secret Service representatives did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press seeking comment Saturday.

Mary Weller, corporate communications director for Sentry, would not say where or when the arrest occurred, or give details about when the theft occurred or how it was discovered.

It was the first theft of claimants' personal data from Sentry, Weller said.

This can be used to help fill the 1000 channels of cable TV. Create shows like “Ads you might have missed” or “Top 100 unsorted Ads” Probably easy to get sponsors...

http://digg.com/design/Amazing_Retro_1950_s_Ads_Really_Cool

Amazing Retro 1950's Ads (Really Cool)

Roulette submitted by Roulette 1 day 7 hours ago (via http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/adaccess/browse.html )

The Ad*Access project consists of hundreds of retro ads from the 1950's. They are grouped into five categories: Beauty & Hygiene, Radio, Television, Transportation & World War II. These subjects were chosen for their broad popular appeal and proven interest to students, faculty and researchers.

Note the source. Another attempt to have everyone recycle.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/07/theres_gold_in_1.php

There's Gold In Them Thar Smelly Hills

July 29, 2006 05:45 PM - Justin Thomas, Virginia

Patrick Atkins says there is plenty of aluminum in landfills — more aluminum than we can produce by mining ores. He is the director of energy innovation at Alcoa, a large aluminum manufacturing firm. He thinks the same is probably true of gold and copper, which are used in the circuit boards of computers and electronic gadgets. One ton of scrap from discarded PCs contains more gold than can be produced from 17 tons of gold ore--and humans throw away 20 million tons of electronic waste a year. Landfill mining is a fascinating sleeper of an idea that's actually been around for decades.