Archive for December, 2013
Bargains, Bargains: Facial-Recognition Cameras Hidden in Eyes of Mannequins
December 12th, 2013Via: CBS: Big Brother could be at your favorite store. As CBS 2?s Don Champion reported, a growing number of stores are using discrete and sophisticated technology — including mannequins with facial-recognition cameras hidden in their eyes — to track shopper demographics in an effort to boost sales. Retailers say the marketing data technology allows […]
Intel Contractors Give Millions to Lawmakers Overseeing Government Surveillance
December 12th, 2013Via: Maplight: In response to documents leaked by former National Security Agency contractor Edward J. Snowden, the congressional committees in charge of overseeing the government’s intelligence operations have come to the defense of the surveillance and data collection programs, and the agencies that administer them. The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate […]
Chinese Pilots Must Learn to Land in Thick Smog
December 12th, 2013Via: Guardian: Chinese authorities have told pilots who fly to Beijing they must be qualified to land their aircraft in the low visibility bought about by smog – the latest missive related to the capital’s heavy air pollution, which the government this week lauded as a beneficial shield against missile attacks. From 1 January pilots […]
Canada to Stop Delivering Mail to City Homes Over 5 Years
December 12th, 2013Via: New York Times: Canada’s postal service said Wednesday that it would cease home delivery over the next five years, and substantially increase postal rates. Though Canada would become the first Group of 7 country to end all residential mail delivery in cities and older suburbs, Canada Post shares many problems with postal services in […]
NSA Uses Google Cookies to Pinpoint Targets for Hacking
December 11th, 2013Via: Washington Post: The National Security Agency is secretly piggybacking on the tools that enable Internet advertisers to track consumers, using “cookies” and location data to pinpoint targets for government hacking and to bolster surveillance. The agency’s internal presentation slides, provided by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, show that when companies follow consumers on the […]
FreeBSD Developers: Don’t Trust Intel/Via Random Number Generators
December 10th, 2013Via: Ars Technica: Developers of the FreeBSD operating system will no longer allow users to trust processors manufactured by Intel and Via Technologies as the sole source of random numbers needed to generate cryptographic keys that can’t easily be cracked by government spies and other adversaries. The change, which will be effective in the upcoming […]
What The Government Could Do With All That Location Data
December 10th, 2013Via: ACLU: We now know that the NSA is collecting location information en masse. As we’ve long said, location data is an extremely powerful set of information about people. To flesh out why that is true, here is the kind of future memo that we fear may someday soon be uncovered…
JPMorgan Patents Bitcoin-Like Payment System
December 10th, 2013Bitcoin is not anonymous on it’s own. Never was. Never will be. And if this JPMorgan thing is anonymous, my name is Santa Claus. Via: CNN: JPMorgan Chase has patented a digital payment system that could rival Bitcoin. The system includes digital wallets, the ability to transfer money to anyone and anonymity too, according to […]
Homeland Secure: TSA Agent Confiscates Sock Monkey’s Pistol
December 10th, 2013Via: KING5: “Rooster Monkburn” the cowboy sock monkey is without his pistol, thanks to a diligent TSA agent in St. Louis. … May and her husband were going through the screening process when she noticed that one of her bags was missing. “And the (TSA agent) held it up and said ‘whose is this?’” she […]
This Week in Acidic Radioactive Slurry
December 10th, 2013Via: Sydney Morning Herald: The chemical spill at Ranger Uranium Mine last weekend was the second such incident in a week for the mine’s parent company, Rio Tinto, placing further scrutiny on the company’s uranium mining operations. Processing at the Ranger site, in Kakadu National Park, was suspended by the federal government on Tuesday. Environment […]
