Tag Archives: I.T.

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More Cell Phone Hazards?

No, this does NOT have to do with texting behind the wheel!

Warning: Your Cell Phone May Be Hazardous to Your Health

Ever worry that that gadget you spend hours holding next to your head might be damaging your brain? Well, the evidence is starting to pour in, and it’s not pretty. So why isn’t anyone in America doing anything about it?

Gue$$ why not?

This is a somewhat lengthy article, and unfortunately the science looks to be pretty reasonable, and gives something to think about.

This IS worth some thought – read the article for yourself.

Personally, I DO use a cell phone, and will continue to do so…but it is not heavy use by any standard, and at this point that may be all to the good, so I can preserve a few more surviving veteran brain cells that made it through the 60’s and early 70’s.

Constitution Watch

I-net Now B.O. Target

Bill would give president emergency control of Internet

Internet companies and civil liberties groups were alarmed this spring when a U.S. Senate bill proposed handing the White House the power to disconnect private-sector computers from the Internet.

They’re not much happier about a revised version that aides to Sen. Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, have spent months drafting behind closed doors. CNET News has obtained a copy of the 55-page draft of S.773 (excerpt), which still appears to permit the president to seize temporary control of private-sector networks during a so-called cybersecurity emergency.

The new version would allow the president to “declare a cybersecurity emergency” relating to “non-governmental” computer networks and do what’s necessary to respond to the threat. Other sections of the proposal include a federal certification program for “cybersecurity professionals,” and a requirement that certain computer systems and networks in the private sector be managed by people who have been awarded that license.

This has so many problems that it boggles the mind.

Of course, just the power assumption here is a mind-bending expansion of the worst aspects of some of the Patriot Act stuff.

Then there’s the obvious one about having those with their hands on the net being subject ot government regulation…what was that bit about “no law…abridging freedom of speech…”?

Anyone that has have been certified as “cybersecurity professionals” and given a federal network operators license would be S.O.L. in B.O.’s Brave New World (BOBNW). The many non-degree cybergeeks with partial (and even full) degrees in other areas like physics, math, etc. could be completely frozen out…but hey, a lot of them are rather libertarianish anyway, so from the point of view of the BOBNW getting them out of the info roadway would be a positive political benefit to the Administration and it’s crypto-fascist Czars and others of that ilk.

obameinfuhrer21.jpg
Possible new control links for Obamanet!

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Divorce by SMS!

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Saudi man divorces wife by text message

A Saudi man has set a legal precedent by divorcing his wife by text message. The man was in Iraq when he sent the SMS informing her she was no longer his spouse.

Saudi Arabia practises a strict form of Islamic Sharia law, under which the law a man can divorce his wife by simply saying “I divorce you” three times.

He followed up with a telephone call to two of his relatives to confirm the split.

The Saudi man was in Iraq to participate in “what he described as ‘jihad’,” according to the Arab News.

THAT’S cold!

She’s hopefully better off without the jihadi moonbat, but in Saudi Arabia…that’s problematical too.

China Watch

Shocking! ChiCom Censorship of Web?

China to censor Internet during Games: official

China will censor the Internet used by foreign media during the Olympics, an organising committee official confirmed Wednesday, reversing a pledge to offer complete media freedom at the games.

I mean, did anyone REALLY expect otherwise? One supposes that there are libmoonbats that think everything is warm and fuzzy over there, but hey – the ChiComs are doing what the ChiComs do, in spite of what any moonbats think about them.

It’s always worth noting that Google, etc. are implicit and cooperative with the ChiComs in building and maintaining the “Great Firewall of China”, which is why the Chief recommends use of the new search engine Cuil. Besides, they don’t track your search patterns like Google does – a definite plus!

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Wikipedia Killer or Great Firewall of America?

Google Knol – Yup, it’s a Wikipedia killer

Google Knol, Mountain View’s answer to Wikipedia, launched last week and, while it can’t yet match the volume of articles on Wikipedia, its focus on accountability and ownership makes it a better choice for students and teachers.

Unfortunately, it gives the whole thing back to a supposedly more reliable “higher authority: to determine what is more accurate. In this case, whoever the GoG (Gods of Google) think is “reliable” gets heard.

Google wouldn’t weight things that way? Why not? Google people haven’t been bashful at expressing their own particular political opinions. Nor have they been hesitant at cooperating in erecting the “Great Firewall of China”, to help the ChiCom regime censor web content.

There is NO guarantee that these two things couldn’t be combined to give a bias to the coverage of Google Knol.

To give one possible (probable?) example; something like Glowbull Warming, where according to the major media and Al Gore there is no longer any debate POSSIBLE…except that the American Physical Society had recently stated that this is NOT the case, and that there is still a lot of SCIENTIFIC debate going on.

In short, I would rather have a no-holds barred mud-wrestle between various points of view from whatever source under a “caveat emptor” regime, than trust a corporate entity to “sanitize” and present what THEY determine to be the acceptable, orthodox view on possibly controversial topics.

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Big Brother: Alive and Well in U.S. Customs?

Clarity Sought on Electronics Searches

The seizure of electronics at U.S. borders has prompted protests from travelers who say they now weigh the risk of traveling with sensitive or personal information on their laptops, cameras or cellphones. In some cases, companies have altered their policies to require employees to safeguard corporate secrets by clearing laptop hard drives before international travel.

Today, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Asian Law Caucus, two civil liberties groups in San Francisco, plan to file a lawsuit to force the government to disclose its policies on border searches, including which rules govern the seizing and copying of the contents of electronic devices. They also want to know the boundaries for asking travelers about their political views, religious practices and other activities potentially protected by the First Amendment. The question of whether border agents have a right to search electronic devices at all without suspicion of a crime is already under review in the federal courts.

The lawsuit was inspired by two dozen cases, 15 of which involved searches of cellphones, laptops, MP3 players and other electronics. Almost all involved travelers of Muslim, Middle Eastern or South Asian background, many of whom, including Mango and the tech engineer, said they are concerned they were singled out because of racial or religious profiling.

The Chief is what may be considered a “national security hawk”, BUT…this is chilling, and as reported, raises some VERY serious concerns about abusive exercise of governmental authority.