Category: outside

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (commonly known as EFF) recently filed suit against AT&T alleging that the phone company has been helping the NSA to spy on their customers. The EFF claims to have seen some secret documents with proof. The case has just begun but shocking details have already been revealed. An engineer who used to work for AT&T has come forward to support the EFF’s lawsuit and has released a statement. If it turns out to be true, the ramifications are huge. It claims AT&T gave the NSA full access to all of the data on their network as well as the data on other networks that passed through their network, and the NSA installed equipment to monitor that data. With a network provider as big as AT&T, that would probably end up being maybe 1/3 or more of all US Internet traffic. Wow!

The Smithsonian Institue is teaming up with Showtime Networks to form Smithsonian Networks. The joint venture has the aim of developing television programming for a new cable channel called Smithsonian on Demand. At first thought that sounds pretty cool as they may produce some quality documentaries using the large archives of material contained in the Smithsonian, but a lot of people don’t see it that way. A part of the deal is the restriction of access to content in the public archives, and that would essentially kill the production of many documentaries before it ever begins. The Smithsonian claims they need the money badly and would not be able to continue on without more cash flowing in. I can see the reasoning for both sides of the argument, but it’s still a sad turn of events.

“Forrester Research says that more than half the people with a DVR routinely skip commercials” … Only half? That quote is from page 2 of this great ArsTechnica article about the rise of product placements in tv shows. Being able to pause and rewind whatever show you’re watching is very nice but for me skipping commercials is THE reason I must have a DVR from now on. It’s freaky to hear that nearly half the people with a DVR do not routinely skip commercials. What sort of weirdos are these people?

Coldplay’s latest CD has some anti-copying technology on it to try to prevent purchases from turning it into MP3 files and sharing it with the world but it also renders the disc unplayable in many devices. On top of that the album is freely available from file sharing networks so the annoyance isn’t doing anything to prevent piracy. More almost hilarious details at ARSTechnica.

It’s funny how things sometimes turn out. Petroleum was the replacement for burning coal way back when because petroleum could be made to burn cleaner or hotter or brighter or something. Whatever the reason, it was better. Well now as we’re all starting to experience problems related to diminishing world oil supplies it looks like coal may be rising from the grave to trump oil. A process for converting coal into liquid diesel fuel was developed way back in the 1920’s in Germany and is now starting to surface as a potential source of fuel into the future. Maybe Volkswagen hasn’t been so crazy to stick with diesel engines for so long after all!

French car maker Venturi has released the first production electric sports car. It’s called ‘Fetish’ and has 300 horsepower. More on Autotopia.

The upcoming November launch of Microsoft’s new Xbox 360 game console is including a faked limited launch so prospective buyers all over will arrive to the stores to find the console sold out. Stores have been notified in advance that they are getting very few units and they will sell out. They are preparing ‘SOLD OUT’ signs in advance to display. This is a move to generate a media buzz for the unit and make it appear to be more popular than it really is. Deceiving consumers this way is pretty sad, in my opinion. Maybe we should all just not buy any of their Xboxes so they learn their lesson. Who’s with me?

If a bill that’s been proposed becomes law, it would become legal for law enforcement officials to forcibly extract DNA samples from anyone arrested for anything, like they do with fingerprints already. Currently, DNA samples can be taken from anyone convicted of a crime but not until after the conviction. DNA contains a lot more information about a person than their fingerprints and I know I wouldn’t personally want that information in the hands of the government. Privacy and civil liberties groups are fighting the bill. (via arstechnica.com)

It’s really fun to watch this Bush ragdoll bounce around on the balls. Grabbing him and flinging him around adds a whole other level of fun, too.

Grandaddy is one of my favorite bands, and some random geek has made a sort of video for one of their songs on an old Apple ][+ (pre-Macintosh!). It’s fun to watch once or twice. Check it out.