Browsing Category:
Big Government, Fascism, Gestapo, Orwellian, Shenanigans, Technology
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Un-Freaking-Believable! NSA Spy Chief HQ Is Fantasy Star Trek Bridge!
by Maynard on September 16, 2013**A Post by Maynard, Set On Stun** I thought this was a joke. An Onion thing. Apparently it’s not. This lunatic modeled his “Information Dominance Center” on Star Trek. And I don’t mean a couple of cute trophies. This is major architecture. How much did this all cost? I still can’t quite believe this is real. It can’t be real. Can it? Someone please tell me I’ve been punked. Please. Inside the mind of NSA chief Gen Keith Alexander A lavish Star Trek room he had built as part of his ‘Information Dominance Center’ is endlessly revealing It has been previously reported that the mentality of NSA chief Gen. Keith Alexander is captured by his motto “Collect it All”. It’s...
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Stay Tuned — Cameras In Cable Boxes Watching You
by Pat_S on June 17, 2013Last year Verizon filed for a patent for technology that would have infrared cameras and microphones monitor TV viewers behavior. Cameras in Your Cable Box? According to the patent application, the technology could detect ambient action, like people eating, exercising, reading, sleeping and more. “This may sound preposterous but it’s neither a joke nor an exaggeration,” Capuano said in a statement. “These DVRs would essentially observe consumers as they watch television as a way to super-target ads. It is an incredible invasion of privacy.” At least one member of Congress, Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Mass) is trying to stop this. The bill, called the We Are Watching You Act of 2013, would prohibit video service operators from collecting visual or audio...
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Trust The Government
by Pat_S on June 14, 2013“Trust the government” is becoming the functional definition of privacy in America. It’s all a matter of what laws government passes to constrain government activity and what methods government uses to monitor government behavior. In the old tech days, the government couldn’t follow you around taking notes on your activities and then seal the file until such time you were suspected of being involved in planning a crime. That was a violation of the Fourth Amendment. Today’s technology gives government the ability to gather every breadcrumb of your life, every minute of every day. “Gathering” data, the government tells us, is not the same as “collecting” data. To collect date, i.e., view the details, the government needs a court order....
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iPad For Grandpa
by Pat_S on March 15, 2012Translation: She: Say, Dad, how are you getting along with the iPad we gave you? He: Oh, just fine. She: you mean you are ok with all the apps, etc. He: yes, yes, just fine. Back to basics.
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Steve Jobs Resigns as Apple CEO
by Tammy on August 24, 2011As an Apple person I’m especially distressed by this. I consider Jobs the tech equivalent of Walt Disney. Only one ever comes along and it’s not a talent that can be simply taught. I got a “Macintosh” in the mid-late 80s and it was the first computer that really got me engaged in the possibilities. My thanks to Steve Jobs for changing everything. I trust he’s taking care of his health, which is a good thing. Steve Jobs resigns as Apple CEO Apple chief executive Steve Jobs, who almost single-handedly changed the way people around the world consume music, the Internet and even TV, announced late Wednesday that he has resigned as leader of the company he co-founded in his...
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Council of Europe: Wireless Is Bad For Kids’ Health, Ban In Schools
by Pat_S on May 15, 2011The influential Council of Europe wants to ban wireless in schools because the electro-magnetic waves are potentially dangerous to children’s health. They cite studies indicating adverse effects on tomatoes and beans. Because the health consequences are so dire, scary brain cancer maybe, we shouldn’t wait for definitive proof. Never mind the studies good enough for the World Health Organization indicating unconvincing correlation between wireless use and health risks. Those studies were probably funded by biased sources, they suggest. Ban mobile phones and wireless networks in schools, say European leaders A Council of Europe committee examined evidence that the technologies have “potentially harmful” effects on humans, and concluded that immediate action was required to protect children. Fears have been raised that...
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Bill Clinton’s Internet Baloney
by Pat_S on May 14, 2011Bill Clinton and Mati Kochavi, CEO of cyber security firm AGT International, were interviewed on CNBC Friday. During a corollary discussion on cyber security, the pants-on-fire perjurer Bill Clinton expressed an idea for authenticating truth on the internet. He thinks it would be a great idea to set up some kind of non-government agency, albeit funded by taxpayers, to scour through content identifying false information. Search results would then include a truthfulness measure, a credibility bar as Mr. Kochavi describes it. Kochavi compares the idea to ingredient labels on food. Clinton emphasizes it is imperative that such an agency needs to be independent, something like NPR maybe. Clinton: Is there a way to have fundamental security of the things that...
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Border Security Games
by Pat_S on April 30, 2011Unlike the $1.99 Smuggle Truck game rejected by Apple, Sandia is being paid over a million dollars for a border security “game”. This innovative video game technology supposedly will aid decision making for allocation of border security resources. The last high tech approach to border security was a billion dollar flop. U.S. Border Patrol is Using Video Games Technology to Help Keep Border Safe After spending $1 billion on a virtual border fence that it does not plan to complete, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is investing another $1.6 million to test video game technology to help improve its decisions on where to spend its border security funds. Now, with funding from the DHS, Customs and Border Protection...
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The Prize Giveaway
by Pat_S on August 5, 2010A post by Pat On yesterday’s show, Tammy talked about the privacy concerns over RFID tags in retail merchandise. RFID is a boon for inventory control and that may be the primary interest for commercial enterprises—for now. Invasion of privacy using technology can happen even without sinister intent. For example, someone had the bright idea for a novel prize giveaway that gave away more than a prize. It gave away where you live. Unilever in Brazil is embedding a GPS chip in a limited number of laundry detergent boxes. The gimmick is that a team will track the lucky winning consumers home and present them with a pocket video camera. It’s part of their “Dirt is Good” promotion. Brazil has...