Federal Appeals Court Allows ACLU Challenge to Warrantless Wiretapping Law to Proceed
September 22nd, 2011Via: ACLU:
In September 2011, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit denied the government’s request that all of the court’s judges rehear a lawsuit filed by the ACLU challenging the FISA Amendments Act (FAA), a law that gives the executive branch virtually unchecked power to collect Americans’ international emails and telephone calls. The denial of rehearing allows the ACLU’s lawsuit to proceed, upholding an unanimous March 2011 ruling by a three-judge panel that the plaintiffs have the right to challenge the constitutionality of the law.
Research Credit: noncompliant
Disclosure: I’m Long Oil
September 22nd, 2011Warning: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument.
Update: Stopped out of USO. No position USO. Tight stop on that one.
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I’m long United States Oil Fund (Symbol: USO).
Atlanta Increases Surveillance of City
September 22nd, 2011I almost didn’t bother to read this one. I mean, there’s going to be more surveillance—thanks, Captain Obvious. But even I was taken aback by this one.
Private CCTV cameras are feeding the “Video Integration Center.”
Via: AJC:
Plans to put Atlanta’s public spaces under camera surveillance will move forward this week with the opening of a state-of-the-art video monitoring center.
Whether it’s good that Atlanta is joining other big cities in the video surveillance race depends on your comfort level with being watched more often by police.
The downtown “Video Integration Center,” funded by a mix of private donations and public money, has already given Atlanta police links to more than 100 public and private security cameras.
Talks are underway to link up with more cameras at CNN Center, Georgia State University, the Georgia World Congress Center and MARTA, along with cameras in Buckhead.
Officials say hundreds or thousands more private-sector cameras will eventually feed into the center. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution toured the center last week, as live footage of a traffic stop and archived video of a DragonCon parade played on a 15-foot screen. Officers can watch up to 128 views at once.
“This is just the beginning,” said Dave Wilkinson, president of the Atlanta Police Foundation, which helped raise money for the center. “This is going to grow by leaps and bounds over the years. The goal, of course, is to have the entire city blanketed.”
With enough cameras, it might be possible to never lose sight of a suspect after a crime occurs, advocates say. And camera backers say signs warning of constant surveillance help prevent crime, although they acknowledge it is difficult to know how much.
Research Credit: noncompliant
Young Adults: America’s Lost Generation
September 22nd, 2011Via: AP:
Call it the recession’s lost generation.
In record-setting numbers, young adults struggling to find work are shunning long-distance moves to live with Mom and Dad, delaying marriage and buying fewer homes, often raising kids out of wedlock. They suffer from the highest unemployment since World War II and risk living in poverty more than others — nearly 1 in 5.
New 2010 census data released Thursday show the wrenching impact of a recession that officially ended in mid-2009. It highlights the missed opportunities and dim prospects for a generation of mostly 20-somethings and 30-somethings coming of age in a prolonged slump with high unemployment.
“We have a monster jobs problem, and young people are the biggest losers,” said Andrew Sum, an economist and director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University. He noted that for recent college grads now getting by with waitressing, bartending and odd jobs, they will have to compete with new graduates for entry-level career positions when the job market eventually does improve.
“Their really high levels of underemployment and unemployment will haunt young people for at least another decade,” Sum said.
Richard Freeman, an economist at Harvard University, added, “These people will be scarred, and they will be called the ‘lost generation’ — in that their careers would not be the same way if we had avoided this economic disaster.”
Related: Inside the Trillion-Dollar Underground Economy Keeping Many Americans (Barely) Afloat in Desperate Times [Research Credit: HPLovecraft666]
European Stocks Sharply Lower, U.S. Futures Sharply Lower
September 22nd, 2011Warning: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument.
Large European markets are down about 5% at the moment about an hour before the regular U.S. session kicks off.
ES down 25. Yep.
Ok, on gold, the 50% retracement that I mentioned is coming into view. Spot gold is down $42.40 (2.38%) at $1738.10.
Feds Probe Possible ‘Arabic-Type’ Markings On Southwest Jets
September 22nd, 2011Watch out for those possible “Arabic-Type” markings!
Someone queue the ghost of Bin Laden effect and the Theremin.
Ready, and……… ACTION!
Via: CBS – Los Angeles:
Federal agencies were working with Southwest Airlines on Thursday to determine who has been vandalizing their aircraft with mysterious markings.
KNX 1070 investigative reporter Charles Feldman has learned that since February, several Southwest jets have been vandalized with mysterious writings that show up on the underbelly of their 737 passenger aircraft.
The writings — which some have interpreted as being either Arabic or Arabic-type symbols — appeared to have been done with a chemical process that reveals the text once an auxiliary power unit is turned on and heats up the outside skin of the aircraft, according to Feldman.
While it remains unclear how many aircraft are involved, the trend has reportedly increased in recent weeks.
Southwest Airlines has ordered its employees not to discuss the matter with the media, Feldman said.
Research Credit: MS
Capture Camera Clip System by Peak Design
September 22nd, 2011This looks great / wish I had it 20 years ago.
Via: Amazon:
Capture Camera Clip System by Peak Design
The Capture Camera Clip System is a new way for active photographers to carry their camera – by rigidly clipping it to any strap or belt on your existing gear. The product consists of a compact, ultralight aluminum “chassis” that securely clamps down onto your belt, backpack strap, messenger bag strap, climbing harness, life vest, or other garments you already own. A small aluminum “camera connection plate” screws into the tripod mount on your camera. The plate allows your camera to slide and lock into the chassis, letting you securely carry your bulky SLR camera with ease. Furthermore, Capture keeps your camera readily accessible with it’s “quick release lock.” With the press of a button, you can slide your camera out of the chassis, snap a photo, and click it back into place. Whether you’re hiking, biking, skiing, climbing mountains, or just snapping pictures at a family gathering, the versatility of Capture will revolutionize the way you transport and handle your camera.
U.S. Kindle Users Can Now Borrow E-Books from Local Libraries
September 22nd, 2011DISCLOSURE: Cryptogon is an Amazon affiliate.
This whole Kindle thing moved so fast that I didn’t really have a chance to form my nonspecific sense of doom about it into much besides, Amazon is Tracking the Most-Highlighted Kindle Passages.
And now, people will be signing into their Amazon accounts to borrow ebooks from public libraries.
So it goes…
Via: Amazon (Link does not contain my affiliate code):
You can check out a Kindle book from your local library and read it on any generation Kindle device or free Kindle reading app.
When you borrow a Kindle public library book, you’ll have access to all the unique features of Kindle books, including real page numbers and Whispersync technology that synchronizes your notes, highlights, and last page read. After a public library book expires, if you check it out again or choose to purchase it from the Kindle store, all of your annotations and bookmarks will be preserved.
Kindle books are available at more than 11,000 libraries in the U.S.
How It Works
You can borrow Kindle books from your local library’s website and, with the click of a button, have them delivered to your Kindle device or free reading app.
* Visit the website of a U.S. library that offers digital services from OverDrive.
* Check out a Kindle book (using a valid library card).
* Click on “Get for Kindle” and then sign in to your Amazon.com account to have the book delivered to your Kindle device or reading app.
Note: Public library books can be sent wirelessly to Kindle devices via an active Wi-Fi connection or transferred via USB.
Video Games Intruding on Reality: ‘Game Transfer Phenomena’ [???]
September 22nd, 2011
Wow, if there was one for the top of your Not The Onion stack, this is it.
Via: New Zealand Herald / AP:
Some video-game players are so immersed in their virtual environment that when they stop playing, they transfer their experiences into the real world. A study found evidence of game transfer phenomena, which result in gamers doing things in the real world as if they were still playing.
The most extreme examples included reaching for a search button when looking for someone in a crowd and seeing energy boxes appear above people’s heads.
Half of the gamers questioned said they often look to use something from a video game to resolve a real-life issue.
In some cases these thoughts were accompanied by reflexes such as reaching to click a button on the controller even when it is not in their hands.
One interviewee reported seeing a menu of topics that were available for him to think about, while another created a list of possible responses in their head after being insult-ed.
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Also: Game Firms Set Sights on Female Market
Via: New Zealand Herald / AP:
Like many young Japanese women, Takako Suzuki says the first thing she does most days is think about her next boyfriend. Her choices: a cute millionaire, a butler or a samurai.
Whether playing the role of a teenager who fantasises about her five rich housemates or flirting with a civil war warrior, Suzuki says she can’t get enough of “otome” Japanese romance games geared towards women.
Suzuki, who says she once played 10 different titles concurrently, buys credit from Gree to pamper her avatar with virtual clothes or shoes and buy tickets for additional game chapters.
“When I wake up in the morning, I play these games for a while before I really get up,” said Suzuki, 28, an office worker. “I need to play otome games because I’m so stressed out by my nagging boss at work.”
Next Generation Hardware Specification Could Prevent Computers from Booting Linux
September 21st, 2011Update: Microsoft Responds
Via: Microsoft:
Who is in control?
At the end of the day, the customer is in control of their PC. Microsoft’s philosophy is to provide customers with the best experience first, and allow them to make decisions themselves. We work with our OEM ecosystem to provide customers with this flexibility. The security that UEFI has to offer with secure boot means that most customers will have their systems protected against boot loader attacks. For the enthusiast who wants to run older operating systems, the option is there to allow you to make that decision.
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Jailbreaking for commodity PCs?
Via: Network World:
Windows 8 PCs will boot super fast in part because of the next-generation booting specification known as Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI). The latest UEFI, released April 8, includes a secure boot protocol which will be required for Windows 8 clients. Secure UEFI is intended to thwart rootkit infections by requiring keys before allowing executables or drivers to be loaded onto the device. Problem is, such keys can also be used to keep the PC’s owner from wiping out the current OS and installing another option such as Linux, says Matthew Garrett, a mobile Linux developer at Red Hat, in a blog post.
‘If a vendor key is installed on a machine, the only way to get code signed with that key is to get the vendor to perform the signing. A machine may have several keys installed, but if you are unable to get any of them to sign your binary then it won’t be installable. … Microsoft requires that machines conforming to the Windows 8 logo program and running a client version of Windows 8 ship with secure boot enabled.’
