Archive for the 'Technology' Category
In Secret, Court Vastly Broadens Powers of NSA
July 7th, 2013…people possibly involved in nuclear proliferation, espionage, cyberattacks and _____
Deutsche Boerse to Launch Cloud Exchange to Trade Computing Power
July 6th, 2013Via: Reuters: German financial markets operator Deutsche Boerse is planning to commoditize computing power with the launch early next year of the world’s first independent exchange for trading cloud computing capacity. The advent of cloud computing, whereby a remote network of computers is made available online, has not only enabled users to ditch much of […]
And Now… Talking Train Window Advertisements
July 6th, 2013When I saw this yesterday, I was sure that it was a hoax. I guess it’s real. Via: BBC: A German firm is proposing to transmit adverts via train windows so that the sound appears to “come from inside the user’s head” when passengers lean against them. The idea would use bone conduction technology, a […]
Frenchelon Stories Making the Rounds
July 5th, 2013The ECHELON Trigger Words Generator has used the term Frenchelon since around 2001. Via: ZDnet: An investigative report by French daily paper Le Monde has uncovered what it calls the “French Big Brother”: Its own local version of the PRISM-like systems in place in the US and the UK. Le Monde’s report states that French […]
99% of Android Devices Vulnerable to Exploit
July 5th, 2013Via: BlueBox: The Bluebox Security research team – Bluebox Labs – recently discovered a vulnerability in Android’s security model that allows a hacker to modify APK code without breaking an application’s cryptographic signature, to turn any legitimate application into a malicious Trojan, completely unnoticed by the app store, the phone, or the end user. The […]
U.S. Postal Service Logging All Mail for Law Enforcement
July 3rd, 2013Via: New York Times: Leslie James Pickering noticed something odd in his mail last September: A handwritten card, apparently delivered by mistake, with instructions for postal workers to pay special attention to the letters and packages sent to his home. “Show all mail to supv” — supervisor — “for copying prior to going out on […]
Companies Switch to Prepaid Cards for Payroll, Employees Pay Ridiculous Fees
July 1st, 2013Via: New York Times: A growing number of American workers are confronting a frustrating predicament on payday: to get their wages, they must first pay a fee. For these largely hourly workers, paper paychecks and even direct deposit have been replaced by prepaid cards issued by their employers. Employees can use these cards, which work […]
Cameras to Monitor Emotional States of Students
July 1st, 2013Via: MIT Technology Review: Even a good teacher may not always be able to tell, at a glance, which students are quietly struggling and which need more of a challenge. Fortunately, laptops may soon come with enough emotional intelligence built in to do the job for them. A recent study from North Carolina State University […]
Washington Post Brushes a Few More Prism Crumbs Onto the Floor
June 30th, 2013Thank you, Master, thank you. My now familiar and broken-record-response to this thing is to go back to Room 641A last decade if you want a real thrill. They have beam splitters installed at the peering points. NSA is getting everything. The end. The media’s repeated ramblings/mantras about the FISA court and protections for Americans […]
Booz Allen Hamilton to Hire Quantum Information Physicist
June 29th, 2013See: Well, it has been the $64,000 question for a couple of decades: Can NSA break something like PGP? Via: Clearance Jobs: Minimum Security Clearance Clearance Location Arlington, Virginia 22201 (map) Workplace: Not Specified Travel: Not Specified Quantum Information Physicist-01127026 Description Key Role: Serve as a consultant to government science and technology clients. Contribute to […]
