Archive for September, 2011
OnStar Begins Spying On Customers’ GPS Location for Profit
September 21st, 2011Update: OnStar Reverses Decision to Change Terms and Conditions Via: GM: OnStar announced today it is reversing its proposed Terms and Conditions policy changes and will not keep a data connection to customers’ vehicles after the OnStar service is canceled. OnStar recently sent e-mails to customers telling them that effective Dec. 1, their service would […]
More than 4.2 Million People Have U.S. Government Security Clearances
September 20th, 2011Ha. That’s about as many people with security clearances as the population of New Zealand. Via: Washington Post: More than 4.2 million people have security clearances for access to classified information, a number that vastly outstrips previous estimates and nearly rivals the population of metropolitan Washington. The number was disclosed in a new report that […]
A Future for Drones: Automated Killing
September 20th, 2011Via: Washington Post: One afternoon last fall at Fort Benning, Ga., two model-size planes took off, climbed to 800 and 1,000 feet, and began criss-crossing the military base in search of an orange, green and blue tarp. The automated, unpiloted planes worked on their own, with no human guidance, no hand on any control. After […]
Only Enterprise and Developers Can Bypass Windows Store for Metro Apps
September 19th, 2011“If Apple’s transitioning of OSX to an iOS-like experience is dumb, Microsoft wants to be dumber with Windows 8.” How long until both Microsoft and Apple require approval for software to run in their full operating systems? You think I’m nuts—and then it happens. Via: Ars Technica: Microsoft will restrict general distribution of Metro apps […]
Italy’s Debt Downgraded by S&P; Outlook Still Negative
September 19th, 2011Via: CNBC: Standard and Poor’s downgraded its unsolicited ratings on Italy by one notch to A/A-1 and kept its outlook on negative, a major surprise that threatens to add to concerns of contagion in the debt-stressed euro zone. S&P in a release dated Sept. 19 said the cut reflected its view of Italy’s weakening economic […]
Japanese Government to Invite Foreigners Who Have Large Facebook and Twitter Networks to Tohoku So That They Can Tell Their Followers “Japan Is Safe”
September 19th, 2011Do they get to bring their own dosimeters? Via: EX-SKF: Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs have started to make preparations for inviting people from overseas who disseminate information via the social media such as Facebook and Twitter, as part of the countermeasures against “baseless rumors” that have damaged sales of Japanese agricultural products and tourism […]
Solution for Oahu’s Slums: Move Homeless to Mainland?
September 19th, 2011Via: Independent: Despite its “aloha” reputation, Hawaii currently has the third-highest ratio of homelessness of any state in the nation, behind Oregon and Nevada. Since the number of Americans living below the poverty line rose above 15 per cent last week, the problem here, like elsewhere, seems likely to get worse before it gets better. […]
Lloyd’s Insurer Sues Saudi Arabia for ‘Funding 9/11 Attacks’
September 19th, 2011Well, well, this could meander into all sorts of interesting areas. Update: Lawsuit Withdrawn That didn’t take long. Via: Insurance Journal: Lloyd’s London’s Syndicate 3500 filed a notice on Monday, Sept. 19, to voluntarily dismiss its federal lawsuit against Saudi Arabia over 9/11 claims. The lawsuit, first filed on Sept. 8, had asserted that Saudi […]
Economic Collapse of Britain Entering New Phase: Famine
September 19th, 2011Via: Independent: Tens of thousands of benefits claimants will be referred to food banks by the Government, which is worried that many Britons face a stark choice: starvation or feeding themselves by begging or stealing. From tomorrow, jobcentres in England and Wales will refer the needy to charity-run food banks that will give them a […]
What Does It Feel Like To Fly Over Planet Earth?
September 19th, 2011Via: Universe Today:
