Close to home...

http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20080116143015978

CO: Credit Card Numbers At Online Grocer Stolen

Wednesday, January 16 2008 @ 02:30 PM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews News Section: Breaches

Several employees and customers of Aspen Grove Market in Boulder have complained about apparent identity theft and the stealing of their credit card numbers, police said Wednesday. Aspen Grove Market is an online grocery delivery service at 2885 Wilderness Place in Boulder.... Police believe there may be more victims.

Source - cbs4denver.com

I have a heavily encrypted copy of the Constitution on my hard drive...

http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20080116113528103

Pretty Good Privacy Causes Legal Problems for a Vermont Court

Wednesday, January 16 2008 @ 11:35 AM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews News Section: In the Courts

Pretty Good Privacy is an encryption software used to protect computer files. One Canadian man, Sebastian Boucher, uses the PGP program to protect certain files, and those certain password protection files are the focus of the US District Court in Vermont.

... Boucher is being asked to provide the password to open the Z drive, however Magistrate Judge Jerome J. Niedermeier says “If Boucher does know the password, he would be faced with the forbidden trilemma: incriminate himself, lie under oath, or find himself in contempt of court.”

It’s a tricky case. A privacy and technology expert, Mark D. Rasch, says that ruling will be a “dangerous” one for law enforcement. “If it stands, it means that if you encrypt your documents, the government cannot force you to decrypt them…So you're going to see drug dealers and pedophiles encrypting their documents, secure in the knowledge that the police can't get at them."

Source - TransWorldNews
Related - Washington Post: In Child Porn Case, a Digital Dilemma

Related

http://www.news.com/8301-13578_3-9851844-38.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5

Child porn defendant locked up after ZIP file encryption broken

Posted by Declan McCullagh January 16, 2008 10:38 AM PST

Government investigators were able to easily break the ZIP file encryption that a Texas man allegedly used to conceal illegal images, a recent court case shows.

Updating 1984 technology. Thanks Microsoft!

http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article3193223.ece

How computer spy in the office will monitor everything you do

David Brown, Elizabeth Judge From The Times January 16, 2008

Every aspect of computer users’ lives — from their heartbeat to a guilty smile — could be monitored and immediately analysed under the futuristic system detailed in Microsoft’s patent application.

Details of the planned “Big Brother” system are revealed in an application to the US Patent and Trademark Office, seen by The Times, over seventeen pages of text with ten diagrams.

The systems work not only through desktop or laptop computers but even through mobile phones or handheld PCs, meaning that even out of the office the employee can still be monitored. In its most advanced format, the system will monitor users’ private interests.

I wonder if they'll add Geek?

http://www.killerstartups.com/Web20/Babbelcom---Speak-in-Tongues-Really/

Babbel.com - Speak in Tongues, Really

Whoever said learning languages is easy. It’s not. Forget high school Spanish 101 or that college Italian minor you thought might give you the upper edge in ordering pasta all’amatriciana with real unsmoked, pig jowl. So far the easiest way to pick up a language is to pack your bags and spend a few months in the language of your choice—that or an expensive Berlitz type deal that somehow leaves you craving something more authentic. If you really want to learn a language without spending thousands of dollars or leaving the country, try Babbel. Babbel is a rich new Flex application that helps you wrap your tongue around the subtleties of Italian, English, German, French or Spanish. And it’s got a social twist. Send messages to users, create your own lesson plans, vocabulary, and get motivated. Babbel uses images and audio to help you learn. You can submit your own content as well. Or if you feel your learning experience could be better, feel free to add to the available content. And you don’t have to worry about paying—the only thing Babbel requires is an open mind and a willingness to learn.

Here's a thought. The writers deal with these folks because they have a functioning model to pay the writers. Is that automatically rejected by Hollywood?

http://www.killerstartups.com/Video-Music-Photo/60framescom---Original-Internet-Programming/

60frames.com - Original Internet Programming

If you think you will be craving original programming once the writer’s strike fully affects the airwaves, you should tune into 60 frames now. The site, which hosts a handful of original shows produced to be broadcast exclusively over the internet, has struck a goldmine with their programming lineup, and plans to produce regular episodes for their multiple series. The programs are reminiscent of some HBO shows- there are little or no restrictions, they often deal with unusual themes or subgroups, and they are hilarious. The site is welcoming new actors and producers, distribution sites (they are often aired over social networking sites), and national advertisers.