Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Surveillance sneaks in on little cat's feet... What happens when the police run out of “It's for the children,” “We gotta catch terrorists,” and “These guys are criminals!” justifications?
Florida police use cameras to track cars in red-light districts


I guess I missed this (guess I should read the Intelligence Act more carefully) Could be interesting if the volume is a great as I think it is.
Congressional Notification for Authorized Public Disclosure of Intelligence Information
Steven Aftergood/Secrecy News: “A new Department of Defense directive requires the Pentagon to notify Congress whenever a DoD official discloses classified intelligence to a reporter on an authorized basis, or declassifies the information specifically for release to the press. The new directive on “Congressional Notification for Authorized Public Disclosure of Intelligence Information” applies to all components of the Department of Defense. It was issued last week — despite the government shutdown — in response to a provision in the FY2013 Intelligence Authorization Act (section 504) that was passed by Congress last year as part of an effort to stem leaks of classified information.”


Perspective. Looks like a bright future for my Computer Forensics students!
More than half of all Koreans have become victims of identity theft since September 2011, when laws were tightened to prevent the practice.
According to a report submitted to Saenuri Party lawmaker Kim Young-joo by the Ministry of Security and Public Administration, 29.26 million people reported being victims of identity theft every year since 2011. Supposing there were not too many repeat reports, that boils down to 57.4 percent of Korea’s total population of 50.9 million.
SOURCE: Chosun


Interesting. Will we learn and implement?
India’s Secret to Low-Cost Health Care
… The ultra-low-cost position of Indian hospitals may not seem surprising — after all, wages in India are significantly lower than in the U.S. However, the health care available in Indian hospitals is cheaper even when you adjust for wages: For example, even if Indian heart hospitals paid their doctors and staff U.S.-level salaries, their costs of open-heart surgery would still be one-fifth of those in the U.S.

(Related) IBM wants a piece of that Health Care money/
IBM's Watson wants to fix America's doctor shortage


Isn't there a “Fund” to ensure remote communities are connected to the telephone network? Is that no longer a strategic goal? (Or has it been lobbied away?)
On a New Jersey Islet, Twilight of the Landline
Hurricane Sandy devastated this barrier island community of multimillion-dollar homes, but in Peter Flihan’s view, Verizon Communications has delivered a second blow: the telecommunications giant did not rebuild the landlines destroyed in the storm, and traditional telephone service here has now gone the way of the telegraph.


I can probably adapt, or I could offer an offline “How to learn online” class.
Gallup – In U.S., Online Education Rated Best for Value and Options
Viewed as weakest in terms of trusted grading and acceptance by employers by Lydia Saad, Brandon Busteed, and Mitchell Ogisi
“Still something of a novelty, online education is seen relatively positively by Americans for giving students a wide range of curricula options and for providing good value for the money. However, Americans tend to think it provides less rigorous testing and grading, less qualified instructors, and has less credence with employers compared with traditional, classroom-based education. Public perceptions about online education’s ability to deliver education in a format most students can succeed in, as well as its ability to tailor instruction to the individual, are more mixed, but tilt negatively. In line with these views, Americans’ overall assessment of Internet-based college programs is tepid at best. One-third of Americans, 34%, rate such online programs as “excellent” or “good.” The majority calls them “only fair” or “poor.” In contrast, two-thirds of Americans (68%) rate four-year colleges and universities as excellent or good, and nearly as many (64%) rate community colleges this highly.”


Amusing. In Colorado the colors could change 50 times per day!
Mood cars: Paint reacts to temperature changes


Useful, because I know there are millions of you out there looking for ways to send me money!
Square Cash lets anyone send money by e-mail -- for free
Square launched a free service Tuesday that lets anyone send money via email to anyone else.
The service, known as Square Cash, was previously available only in an invite-only beta. For now, at least, it is only available in the United States.
Square Cash doesn't require either person in a transaction to have a Square account, and there are no fees, said product manager Brian Grassadonia. In order to send money, all that's required is for the sender to address an e-mail to the recipient, with a CC: to cash@square.com, and the amount in the e-mail's subject line. The body of the email can contain any information the sender wants.
Although users don't need a Square Cash account, both the sender and the recipient must link their e-mail address to a debit card, Grassadonia explained. That step takes place after the e-mail is sent. Once a recipient has gone through that process, that person can then send someone else money without having to re-enter their debit card number. The funds are deposited directly in the recipient's bank account, and not in a stored balance account.


Might be useful...
– , as the name suggests, converts whatever units of measurement you can think of, on your Android phone. These include things like angles, oven temperature, metric unit, clothing sizes, text conversions, digital image resolution, temperature, currency, and more.

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