http://www.boingboing.net/2010/02/25/school-administrator.html
School administrator boasts to PBS about his laptop spying
By Cory Doctorow at 10:34 PM February 25, 2010
A few weeks ago, Frontline premiered a documentary called "Digital Nation". In one segment, the vice-principle of Intermediate School 339, Bronx, NY, Dan Ackerman, demonstrates how he "remotely monitors" the students' laptops for "inappropriate use". (his demonstration begins at 4:36)
He says "They don't even realize we are watching," "I always like to mess with them and take a picture," and "9 times out of 10, THEY DUCK OUT OF THE WAY."
The impact of Identity Theft... Think this might impact the Census? What happens if the state you were born in does the same?
http://www.databreaches.net/?p=10229
Shock, confusion after birth certificates voided
February 27, 2010 by admin
Suzanne Gamboa reports:
Native Puerto Ricans living outside the island territory are reacting with surprise and confusion after learning their birth certificates will become no good this summer.
A law enacted by Puerto Rico in December mainly to combat identity theft invalidates as of July 1 all previously issued Puerto Rican birth certificates. That means more than a third of the 4.1 million people of Puerto Rican descent living in the 50 states must arrange to get new certificates. [...and it opens a hole for Identity Thieves to use as well. Bob]
[...]
Puerto Rico’s legislature passed the law after raids last March broke up a criminal ring that had stolen thousands of birth certificates and other identifying documents from several different schools in Puerto Rico.
As much as 40 percent of the identity fraud in the U.S. involves birth certificates from Puerto Rico, McClintock said he was told by the State Department.
“It’s a problem that’s been growing and as the need in the black market for birth certificates with Hispanic-sounding names grew, the black market value of Puerto Rican birth certificates has gone into the $5,000 to $10,000 range,” McClintock said.
Thus far, there seems to be little effort by the U.S. or Puerto Rican governments to educate the 1.5 million people born in Puerto Rico and living on the mainland about the new law.
Rep. Jose Serrano, D-N.Y., has been getting a steady stream of calls about the law at his district office. Serrano —who must replace his birth certificate, too — said he is trying to provide answers without triggering a panic.
Read more in the Palm Beach Post.
[From the article:
Puerto Ricans on average get about 20 copies of their birth certificates over their lifetimes, said Kenneth McClintock Hernandez, the commonwealth's secretary of state.
This is because they are regularly asked to produce them for such events as enrolling children in school or joining sports leagues. Schools and other institutions have typically kept copies, a practice prohibited under the new law since January, McClintock said.
… He noted there is no deadline for getting a new birth certificate. After July 1, the government will issue a temporary, 15-day certificate for those who need a birth certificate in an emergency.
… Puerto Rico birth certificate rules: http://tinyurl.com/yjdudqv
How to guarantee strong Computer Laws (Part III)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100226/ap_on_hi_te/eu_britain_twitter
British politicians fall victim to Twitter scam
By RAPHAEL G. SATTER, Associated Press Writer
LONDON – British politicians were among those caught up Friday in the latest Twitter-based scam which hijacks users' accounts to send out sexually explicit messages to friends and followers. [On the other hand, this may win them even more votes in the next election. Bob]
How's this for a class title? “Computer Law for Computer Outlaws”
http://brainz.org/dmca-takedown-101/
DMCA Takedown 101
The Digital Millennium Copyright ACT (DMCA) is one of the best-known and most-controversial pieces of legislation passed in recent years. It has had a greater impact on the Web than virtually any other piece of legislation and is largely responsible for much of the Web we see today.
An indication that social networks look important to the “Music Bid'ness” at last, but perhaps teens have already moved on? Maybe there's a market for a Ghost Blogger?
http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-10460660-261.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
New music acts to labels: 'We won't tweet'
by Greg Sandoval February 26, 2010 12:50 PM PST
… Some new artists signing at both major and indie labels are telling execs there that they'll make music, but don't expect them to do Facebook or Twitter. The labels are saying back that the days when performers--even mega-superstar performers--can keep fans at arms length are over.
There seems to be a difference between the research my students do on Google and that done by the Chinese scientists. Perhaps we could get them to teach a class?
Losing Google Would Hit Chinese Science Hard
Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday February 26, @01:54PM
An anonymous reader writes to share recent statements by Chinese scientists that indicate troubled waters ahead if Google were to pull out of China.
"More than three-quarters of scientists in China use the search engine Google as a primary research tool and say their work would be significantly hampered if they were to lose it, a survey showed on Wednesday. In the survey, 84 percent said losing Google would 'somewhat or significantly' hamper their research and 78 percent said international collaborations would be affected. 'Research without Google would be like life without electricity,' one Chinese scientist said in the survey, which asked more than 700 scientists for their views."
I have no artistic ability, so I find these sites interesting.
http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/3d-pack-create-a-3d-box
3D-pack: Create A 3D Box View For Your Product
3D-BoxMaker lets you create a 3D view of your product within seconds. Just upload individual images of the cover, top, side and backside – the tool will then take them and create a 3D view. It lets you create 3d boxes in form of CD box, DVD box and Book.
Supported image formats are jpg, png and gif. Once the 3D view is created, you can rotate it in any direction to get a 360 degree view and download it to your computer.
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