Everything you ever wanted to know?

http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/015600.html

July 31, 2007

Oversight Hearing on Privacy in the Hands of the Government

House Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law - Oversight Hearing on Privacy in the Hands of the Government: The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board and the Privacy Officer for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, July 27, 2007. [links to witness statements]

1984! 1984! (Is that Prior Art?)

http://techdirt.com/articles/20070730/162255.shtml

In Microsoft Patent App, TV Watches You

from the we're-watching-you... dept

theodp writes "In a just-published patent application for delivering Advertising that is relevant to a person, nine Microsoft inventors spell out plans for using cameras, remote controls and biometric sensors to detect the identity of the person viewing a TV, cellphone, or computer monitor display. This knowledge, coupled with previously collected info about the person's interests and hobbies, sex, age, locale, profession, subscriptions and memberships, ethnicity, marital status, parental status, pet ownership, and height as well as additional info gleaned from his or her address book, calendar, mail, IMs, to-do lists, notes, purchasing history, historical record of reactions to ads, search history, and media consumption history will then be used to allow advertisers to deliver highly-targeted ads." Of course, this is just an application, rather than a granted patent, but it's hardly a unique idea. People have been discussing such things for years -- it's just that most people recognize it would seriously creep people out if it were ever put in place. Unless, of course, the company gives you $5/month and suddenly the creepy factor subsides.

You think they would try to understand the process before they made law...

http://techdirt.com/articles/20070730/224919.shtml

German Court Says eBay Should Be Able To Tell A Fake Rolex From A Real One

from the got-any-watch-specialists-on-hand? dept

For many years, various luxury brands have had problems with people selling counterfeit goods on eBay -- leading to a variety of lawsuits. Of course, most of these lawsuits are incorrectly targeted. They're usually filed against eBay, rather than the seller of the goods. eBay doesn't inspect the goods or make any claim to the authenticity of them. That should be up to the buyer and seller to work out. However, a few months ago, it appears that a German court felt differently, and told eBay that it may be liable for fake Rolexes being sold on the site, even if eBay has no real way of knowing what's real and what's fake. The court seemed to indicate that eBay should be able to tell from the price, but that's not necessarily true. In the meantime, it's not clear why this isn't a problem that the market will start to work out by itself. For many, many years you've been able to buy fake Rolexes on the streets of New York City, but Rolex doesn't sue the New York City government for letting this happen. It recognizes that most people know that the Rolex you buy from a street vendor probably isn't real. Along those very lines, Rolex has introduced programs to designate legitimate Rolexes on eBay already -- so this seems like the type of "problem" that could work itself out without making eBay liable, but apparently it's too late for that.

Yeah, we knew that...

http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/005386.php

Administration Concedes Open Secret: NSA Spying Broader Than Previously Admitted

July 31, 2007

In a letter [PDF] released today, the Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell admits that the so-called "Terrorist Surveillance Program" (TSP) is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the NSA's spying on the American public.

Think of this technology as a way to automate the problems (fraud?) we already have.

http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/015596.html

July 31, 2007

Florida State Univ. Security Lab Report on Diebold Voting Machine Software

• Letter from Florida Department of State Kurt S. Browning, Secretary of State to Diebold Election Systems, on the Report from the Security and Assurance in Information Technology (SAIT) Laboratory Regarding Diebold Optical Scan Voting System, July 31, 2007

• Software Review and Security Analysis of the Diebold Voting Machine Software, July 27, 2007 (35 pages, PDF)

• "Florida's optical scan voting machines are still flawed, despite efforts to fix them, and they could allow poll workers to tamper with the election results, according to a government-ordered study obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press." [Link]

• Related postings on Diebold and e-voting issues

Not even my introductory Statistics students would believe 56 of 88 was an accident.

http://www.alternet.org/story/58328/?page=3

In Violation of Federal Law, Ohio's 2004 Presidential Election Records Are Destroyed or Missing

By Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet. Posted July 30, 2007.

In 56 of Ohio's 88 counties, ballots and election records from 2004 have been "accidentally" destroyed, despite a federal order to preserve them -- it was crucial evidence which would have revealed whether the election was stolen.

[Details of suspicious voting omitted. (Reads like a “how to” manual) Bob]

What's the next Big Thing

http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/015604.html

July 31, 2007

Highlights Available From 2007 Digital Future Project

Press release: "The role of the Internet in politics has grown with such speed and scope that it is well on its way to becoming the dominant media force in political campaigning, according to the director of the most comprehensive study of the impact of the online technology on America...The Center for the Digital Future will share a highlight of the Digital Future Report on every other Monday of each month."

• Related news > 50 million - Clicking the News: The daily audience online for news has grown dramatically since 2002 -- a surge fueled by the rise in home broadband connections. Some 50 million Americans now seek out news on the internet on a typical day. In a December 2005 survey, the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that a major segment of broadband users now say the internet is their primary news source, surpassing even television and newspapers as their source of choice. Some 71% of these high-powered news consumers go online for news on the average day, while 59% get news from local TV. Just more than half get news from national TV and radio on the typical day and about 40% turn to local papers."

This has got to be Hollywood's greatest fear – someone changing the rules,,,

http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/58587.html

Hollywood Pros Get Their Own Damn Channel

By Gary Gentile AP 07/31/07 9:29 AM PT

Looking to escape the tug-of-war power games common to traditional media distribution models, a group of Hollywood creatives have launched My Damn Channel, an ad-supported site for the production and syndication of professionally produced online comedy videos. Main players include "The Simpsons" Harry Shearer and filmmaker David Wain.

You know I like lists.

http://mashable.com/2007/07/30/make-money-online/

Make Money Online: 100+ Tools and Resources

July 30, 2007 — 06:39 AM PDT — by Patric Herber

Making money online is a dream for many, but the simple fact is that it’s often just as tough as making money offline. Due to requests, we’ve put together a list of the most popular money making methods today, many of them focused on blogging and peer production.

A word of caution: for the sake of completeness, we’ve included a small number of sites that have been criticized for their ethics. If it sounds too good to be true, it generally is. Commenters are welcome to share their experiences of the various sites.

[Examples:

eJury - Earn $5 to $10 dollars per verdict rendered as a mock juror for practice trials.

Tutor.com - Get paid to tutor people online.