Month: December 2012

U.S. Terrorism Agency Granted Unprecedented Access to Citizens’ Files

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Counterterrorism officials wanted to create a government dragnet, sweeping up millions of records about U.S. citizens—even people suspected of no crime. Not everyone was on board. “This is a sea change in the way that the government interacts with the general public,” Mary Ellen Callahan, chief privacy officer of the Department of Homeland Security, argued Read more about U.S. Terrorism Agency Granted Unprecedented Access to Citizens’ Files[…]

Google Gets A Second Brain, Changing Everything About Search | Xconomy

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Today, when you enter a search term into Google, the company kicks off two separate but parallel searches. One runs against the traditional keyword-based Web index, bringing back matches that are ranked by statistical relevance—the familiar “ten blue links.” The other search runs against a much newer database of named entities and relationships. This second Read more about Google Gets A Second Brain, Changing Everything About Search | Xconomy[…]

Ubuntu inserts spyware

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Ubuntu, a widely used and influential GNU/Linux distribution, has installed surveillance code. When the user searches her own local files for a string using the Ubuntu desktop, Ubuntu sends that string to one of Canonical’s servers. (Canonical is the company that develops Ubuntu.) To make matters worse, they also install adware, inserting Amazon promotions in Read more about Ubuntu inserts spyware[…]

Contact Lens LCD Display

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Ghent University’s centre of microsystems technology has developed a spherical curved LCD display which can be embedded in contact lenses and handle projected images using wireless technology. “Now that we have established the basic technology, we can start working towards real applications, possibly available in only a few years,” said Professor Herbert De Smet. Unlike Read more about Contact Lens LCD Display[…]