Tuesday, December 13, 2011


For my Ethical Hackers... Walk-by hacking can pay for your college education! (You didn't hear it here...)
UK: Privacy fears as banks refuse opt out from NFC-enabled cards
December 13, 2011 by Dissent
Dan Worth reports:
A leading security expert has warned that citizens’ privacy rights may be in danger thanks to the refusal by most high street banks to allow customers to opt out from near-field communication (NFC) enabled bank cards using RFID technology.
Richard Hollis, a director of the not-for-profit Information Systems Audit and Control Association, argued that the lack of choice is of grave concern.
Read more on V3.co.uk. It’s not all banks that are refusing, but yes, if a bank refuses, I’d be concerned, too.


I thought it was too good to pass up...
The FBI Is Using Carrier IQ Information
December 12, 2011 by Dissent
Sam Biddle writes:
Well, I suppose this was inevitable: the FBI, via a Freedom of Information Act request denial, inadvertently admitted to involvement with Carrier IQ. And it won’t say how.
The government transparency wranglers atMuckRock filed for a FOIA release on the FBI’s use of Carrier IQ, and by saying no, they almost said it all:
The material you requested is located in an investigative file which is exempt from disclosure…
Read more on Gizmodo.
In the meantime, I’m still awaiting a response to my FOI request on the U.K.’s Met Police as to whether they’re investigating the use of Carrier IQ there as a violation of R.I.P.A. We’ll see what they day. I should hear back by the end of this month.


For my Data Mining/Data Analytics students... (e-Discovery) Always interesting, this is actually useful outside the world of e-discovery...
Secrets of Search – Part One
Two weeks ago I said I would write a blog revealing the secrets of search experts. I am referring to the few technophiles, lawyers, and scientists in the e-discovery world who specialize in the search for relevant electronic evidence in large chaotic collections of ESI such as email.


An unforgettable paper?
The ‘Right to Be Forgotten’ – Worth Remembering?
December 12, 2011 by Dissent
Jeff Ausloos of EFF has a paper up on SSRN, “The ‘Right to Be Forgotten’ – Worth Remembering?” Here’s the abstract:
In the last few years there has been a lot of buzz around a so-called ‘right to be forgotten.’ Especially in Europe, this catchphrase is heavily debated in the media, in court and by regulators. Since a clear definition has not emerged (yet), the following article will try to raise the veil on this vague concept. The first part will weigh the right’s pros and cons against each other. It will appear that the ‘right to be forgotten’ clearly has merit, but needs better definition to avoid any negative consequences. As such, the right is nothing more than a way to give (back) individuals control over their personal data and make the consent regime more effective. The second part will then evaluate the potential implementation of the right. Measures are required at the normative, economical, technical, as well as legislative level. The article concludes by proposing a ‘right to be forgotten’ that is limited to data-processing situations where the individual has given his or her consent. Combined with a public-interest exception, this should (partially) restore the power balance and allow individuals a more effective control over their personal data.
The paper will be published in Computer Law & Security Review, 2012. You can download it from SSRN, here.


More reading...
For Your Library or Reference Shelf: New Edition of Information Privacy Law Casebooks
December 13, 2011 by Dissent
Privay law prof Daniel Solove has updated versions of some his books out. Over on Concurring Opinions, he writes:
The new edition of my casebook, Information Privacy Law (4th edition) (with Paul M. Schwartz) is hot off the presses. And there’s a new edition of my casebook, Privacy, Information, and Technology (3rd edition) (with Paul M. Schwartz). Copies should be sent out to adopters very soon. If you’re interested in adopting the book and are having any difficulties getting a hold of a copy, please let me know.
You also might be interested in my concise guide to privacy law, also with Paul Schwartz, entitled Privacy Law Fundamentals. This short book was published earlier this year. You can order it on Amazon or via IAPP. It might make for a useful reference tool for students.


There were a number of publishers who took government publications and put their own cover on them … I remember buying a “Small Building Construction” guide that was actually a SeaBee technical manual. Is this kind of the same thing?
"Cory Doctorow has written a Guardian column, 'The pirates of YouTube,' about how multinational copyright-holding companies have laid false claim to public domain videos on YouTube. The videos are posted by the nonprofit FedFlix organization, which liberates public domain government-produced videos and makes them available to the world. These videos were produced at public expense and no one can claim to own them, but multinationals from CBS to Discovery Communications have done just that, getting YouTube to place ads on the video that deliver income to their coffers. What's more, their false copyright claims could lead to the suspension of FedFlix's YouTube account under Google's rules for its copyright policing system. This system, ContentID, sets out penalties for 'repeat offenders' who generate too many copyright claims — but offers no corresponding penalties for rightsholders who make too many false claims of ownership."


Global Warming! Global Warming! Science is difficult. Reporting on science is really difficult.
Greenland 'lurched upward' in 2010 as 100bn tons of ice melted
… Professor Michael Bevis … is lead boffin in charge of a network of groundbased GPS stations placed on bedrock outcrops around the Greenland coast, which were set up to measure rises in the rock as the weight of ice atop it diminishes. The stations were set up when gravity-measuring satellite measurements appeared to show colossal rates of ice loss from Greenland, in the range of 300 billion tons annually.
However the stations showed that the initial satellite calculations had failed to properly estimate the bedrock's rebound, and in fact scientists now think that losses from Greenland are probably more in the range of 100 billion tonnes a year, which might cause a worldwide sea level rise in the order of a quarter of a millimetre annually. [Estimates were off by a factor of three, Bob]
… This doesn't seem to mean anything very significant for sea levels globally, however. Throughout the 20th century (about as long as consistent records have been kept) sea levels rose slowly and steadily at around 1.7mm each year, and they have been rising for tens of thousands of years since the last ice age. Like world temperatures, sea levels vary a lot year to year, so they must be measured over a long period to detect any trend. [So 1.7mm times 10,000 years = 17,000mm or 55.7742782 feet Interesting. How far back has this been happening? And where would sea levels have been then? Bob]
… Various global-warming models and predictions suggest that sea-level rise might accelerate massively in a runaway positive feedback loop if global temperatures climb, and so become a major problem - probably the main reason to worry about global warming, if such massive accelerations in the rate of rise actually occur. However the warming seen in the latter half of the 20th century in fact produced no such acceleration. Indeed recent research indicates that the normal rise of the seas may be slowing down somewhat. [Global Cooling! Global Cooling! Bob]

(Related) A reaction to over-reaction? A recognition of reality?
"Canada will become the first country to formally withdraw from the Kyoto protocol on climate change, dealing a symbolic blow to the troubled global treaty. 'Kyoto, for Canada, is in the past,' says Environment Minister Peter Kent. 'We are invoking our legal right to formally withdraw from Kyoto.' Kent, a Conservative, says the Liberals should not have signed up to a treaty they had no intention of respecting and says Ottawa backs a new global deal to cut emissions of greenhouse gases, but insists it has to cover all nations, including China and India, which are not bound by Kyoto's current targets. Kent adds that meeting Canada's obligations under Kyoto would cost $13.6 billion: 'That's $1,600 from every Canadian family — that's the Kyoto cost to Canadians, that was the legacy of an incompetent liberal government.' Kent's announcement came just hours after negotiators in Durban managed to thrash out an agreement at the very last minute — an agreement to begin a new round of talks on a new agreement in the years ahead. 'Staying under 2C will require drastic, immediate action — with global emissions peaking in the next five years or so,' writes Brad Plummer. 'The Durban Platform, by contrast, merely prods countries to come up with a new agreement that will go into effect no later than 2020.'"


“A billion here, a billion there...”
December 12, 2011
CBO - The U.S. Federal Budget: Infographic
The U.S. Federal Budget: Infographic - December 12, 2011: "The United States is facing significant and fundamental budgetary challenges. The federal government's budget deficit for fiscal year 2011 was $1.3 trillion; at 8.7% of gross domestic product (GDP), that deficit was the third-largest shortfall in the past 40 years. (GDP is the sum of all income earned in the domestic production of goods and services. In 2011, it totaled $15.0 trillion.)"


At last! The original formula for Fig Newtons will be revealed!
December 12, 2011
Cambridge Digital Library - Newton Papers
"Cambridge University Library holds the largest and most important collection of the scientific works of Isaac Newton (1642-1727). We present here an initial selection of Newton's manuscripts, concentrating on his mathematical work in the 1660s. Over the next few months we will be adding further works until the majority of our Newton Papers are available on this site."


A business model for the Information Age? I know a few professors who teach because they would otherwise be bored to death. I even know a few bright students. I wonder if this model could be made to work here?
Accidental Scientist Hawks ‘Online Marketplace for Brains’
Kaggle bills itself an online marketplace for brains. Over 23,000 data scientists are registered with the site, including Ph.D.s spanning 100 countries, 200 universities, and every discipline from computer science, math, and econometrics to physics and biomedical engineering. Companies, governments, and other organizations come to the site with data problems — problems that require the analysis of large amounts of information — and the scientists compete to solve them. Sometimes they compete for prize money, sometimes for pride, and sometimes just for the thrill. “We’re making data science a sport,” reads the site’s tagline.


All of the education sites I read have picked up on this. I wonder why?
YouTube launches schools-friendly video service
YouTube For Schools promises classrooms access to educational videos without the risk of pupils being "distracted by the latest music video or cute cat".
The Google-owned site has put together playlists according to subject matter and intended age level.
… A sister site, YouTube for Teachers, gives advice on how best to use the site for learning.


I grok.
"After twenty years of hard work, the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction website has recently gone live. It's an online database containing thousands of entries for all things Sci-fi, and a great place to read all about your favourite authors, characters, themes, and everything else."

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