OK TSA, How about it?

SO...  On the same day that we get this:  TSA inspector accused of stealing iPads

we also get this:  Why Airport Security Is Broken— And How To Fix It

This begs the question - is TSA more dedicated to prolonging their bureaucracy and making US travelers miserable, or are THEY GENUINELY TRYING TO PROTECT THE COUNTRY?!

TSA bans box cutters, scissors, Ski poles?  Really ?  They just can't understand the threat.  We've got to stop giving them our money.

How about it?

#sheesh

Perry

Clearly I'm not the only one thinking this

Rock Band Blitz dumbs the rhythm game down to timed thumb twiddling

People are really caring about the new Google privacy policy

I was at a dinner party with the Italy group, when someone asked me about the Google privacy policy.

All the other conversations stopped, and people wanted to listen to my answer.  I tried to explain that Google was sharing information between different applications like Apple and Blackberry already do, and that was causing problems for people that are trying, for example, to keep work email separate from a personal calendar.  I do realize now that it's complicated enough that it's hard to explain.

and I need to do more research

I Do know that some people have things in their Web history that they wanted to delete, mine is already turned off.  Is yours turned on?  (Please tell me if it is)

Perry

Confusing Attackers with Artillery By Dave Kennedy (ReL1K)

Interesting server software named Artillery from The Hacker News, written by Dave Kennedy (@ReL1K) - looks like it works both as a honey pot and file integrity monitor

http://thehackernews.com/2012/02/confusing-attackers-with-artillery-by.html

The Right to Read

This is a very good essay by Richard Stallman showing a distopic future where the SPA/BSA and RIAA/MPAA have all their wishes, and citizens have, well, none.


http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read

I had to go to the DMZ protected network to get it, because it was on the blog.torproject.org site, which is blocked at work because it was on a filter bypass site (sigh)

Sounds a lot like stories of the Soviet Union in the 60's - where people were frightened of the secret police finding out they have unapproved books.  Luckily it's not like that...  is it?

[ Semi-obligitory smarmy comment:  In his notes, Mr Stallman states: "The Republicans took control of the US senate shortly thereafter. They are less tied to Hollywood than the Democrats, so they did not press these proposals. Now that the Democrats are back in control, the danger is once again higher." ]


Perry

One News Story Shows All - SOPA/PIPA Isn't Needed, is Stupid, and Doesn't Work

Umm, I think the following post is incorrect - check the update

If you haven't heard, the day after the SOPA/PIPA internet protest, and the governmental retreat, the Justice Department showing their stunningly bad decision making (and timing), shut down Megaupload.com.

Anonymous responded, shutting down the RIAA and the Justice department ( this BTW is not really part of the story )  I do not condone this reprehensible behavior ( believe me ).

On the other hand, I can vouch for the fact that Megaupload is used for legitimate uses - it's where I get my home router firmware.

We shouldn't worry, in spite of our crack justice department work, megaupload was down for less than 24 hours. 

Our taxpayer dollars at work.  Sheesh

Perry

Update
One of the people arrested is Kim Schmitz. Not exactly a poster child for protected speech. Actually a global celebrity in Internet Abuse and Fraud.

Hey - If you've real lost work because you stored it on MegaUpload, did you do a little bit of research?

Update 2 It's probably worse than that

I haven't read the indictment, but Wikipedia has, and says:
"In Megaupload's case, the indictment asserts DMCA provisions were used for the appearance of legitimacy - the actual material was not removed, only some links to it were, takedowns agreement was approved based on business growth rather than infringement, and the parties themselves openly discussed their infringing activities. The indictment states that Megaupload executives "... are willfully infringing copyrights themselves on these systems; have actual knowledge that the materials on their systems are infringing (or alternatively know facts or circumstances that would make infringing material apparent); receive a financial benefit directly attributable to copyright-infringing activity where the provider can control that activity; and have not removed, or disabled access to, known copyright infringing material from servers they control."[46]"

Which, from what I know of Schmitz, is just him acting as himself. So he's making a business stealing intellectual property. This is illegal in a large number of civilized countries, which I define as places where I'd like to live. He was living in a mansion in New Zealand, and (allegedly) living off wholesale IP theft. Too bad for him.

OTOH if he was living in some sort of country where this wasn't illegal, well, our legal process just couldn't touch him, so that would be too bad for us. Oh well, let's see how it plays out in the courts.

Of course, that doesn't matter for Anonymous or Luzsec - they're just in it for the chaos or the Lulz

Perry

Does Android have a Siri Competitor ?

Nuance (owns Dragon) has released a free product that's supposed to be context sensitive voice recognition for Android

http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/10/nuance-dragon-go-android/#continued

Let's see what happens