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Government

Submission + - Database of all UK children launched (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: "A controversial database which holds the details of every child in England has now become available for childcare professionals to access. The government says it will enable more co-ordinated services for children and ensure none slips through the net. 390,000 people will have access to the database, but will have gone through stringent security training."
Businesses

Submission + - SPAM: Did AI cause the financial crisis?

Submitted by
destinyland
destinyland writes: ""One of the many interesting aspects of the current global financial crisis is the role that AI and advanced computer software has played in it." An AI company's CEO is pointing to the "narrow AI" software that recognizes subtle nonlinear patterns in financial data, and asks what's learned from its performance leading up to the global financial crisis. "The root of the problem really came down to the ways people chose to use this software to serve their own ends," he argues. "On the other hand, it's hard to say exactly how long it will take for AI to achieve the needed understanding of context, to avoid this sort of 'minor glitch.'""
Link to Original Source
Medicine

Submission + - fMRI Shows Man Loves Wife More Than Angelina Jolie (esquire.com) 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: We've discussed (at length) functional MRI technology as it pertains to marketing and virtual reality, but now Esquire writer A.J. Jacobs has become the first person to go inside the controversial machine to test the science behind his sex drive. As in, he has fMRI experts read his mind as to whether he's actually more turned on by his young wife or Angelina Jolie. The results, unsurprisingly, are both geeky and hilarious. Would you subject yourself to this kind of reality check?
Government

Submission + - Time to Repeal the PATRIOT ACT? (associatedcontent.com) 1

Submitted by A non-mouse Coward
A non-mouse Coward writes: Ashton Lundeby, a 10th grade home schooler with no criminal record, was arrested in his North Carolina home by the FBI replete with tactical gear, suspected of bomb threats made from a Skype account on his IP address. During the raid, no bomb-making paraphernalia was found. Arrested under the PATRIOT ACT, Lundeby was not allowed access to an attorney during initial interrogation and has been imprisoned for over 60 days without an official indictment. Lundeby has what appears to be a valid alibi and his mother believes his Skype account was hijacked by a hacker who has harassed the family for months. Many are calling this a prime example to repeal the PATRIOT ACT.
Government

Submission + - "Little Brother" Comes to Life (wral.com)

Submitted by
ProteusQ
ProteusQ writes: "Sixteen-year-old Ashton Lundeby's bedroom in his mother's Granville County home is nothing, if not patriotic. But according to the United States government, the tenth-grade home-schooler is being held on a criminal complaint that he made a bomb threat from his home on the night of Feb. 15. 'There were no bomb-making materials, not even a blasting cap, not even a wire,' his mother, Annette Lundby, said. 'We have no rights under the Patriot Act to even defend them, because the Patriot Act basically supersedes the Constitution. It wasn't intended to drag your barely 16-year-old, 120-pound son out in the middle of the night on a charge that we can't even defend.'"
Google

Submission + - EPA investigating alleged Google chemical release (cnet.com)

Submitted by suraj.sun
suraj.sun writes: Greener-than-thou Google, which takes environmentalism seriously, is under investigation by the Environmental Protection Agency for an alleged coolant problem at one of its data centers, the company disclosed Wednesday.

"In February 2009, we learned of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency investigation into an alleged release of refrigerant at one of our smaller data facilities, which we acquired from DoubleClick, and the accuracy of related statements and records," Google said in a quarterly report( http://sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1288776/000119312509101727/d10q.htm ) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

"We are cooperating with the EPA and have provided documents and other materials. The EPA investigation could result in fines, civil or criminal penalties, or other administrative action," Google said.

CNET News : http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10234998-54.html
The Courts

Submission + - Court Sets Rules for RIAA Hard Drive Inspection (blogspot.com) 2

Submitted by
NewYorkCountryLawyer
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: "In a Boston RIAA case, SONY BMG Music Entertainment v. Tenenbaum, the Court has issued a detailed protective order establishing strict protocols for the RIAA's requested inspection of the defendant's hard drive, in order to protect the defendant's privacy. The order (PDF) provides that the hard drive will be turned over to a computer forensics expert of the RIAA's choosing, for mirror imaging, but that only the forensics expert — and not the the plaintiffs or their attorneys — will be able to examine the mirror image. The forensics expert will then issue a report which will describe (a) any music files found on the drive, (b) any file-sharing information associated with each file, and any other records of file-sharing activity, and (c) any evidence that the hard-drive has been 'wiped' or erased since the initiation of the litigation. The expert will be precluded from examining 'any non-relevant files or data, including ...emails, word-processing documents, PDF documents, spreadsheet documents, image files, video files, or stored web-pages.'"
United States

Submission + - SPAM: Do we really need a National Climate Service?

Submitted by
coondoggie
coondoggie writes: "I suppose its natural for Washington to try and wrap issues up in a tidy legislative package for bureaucratic purposes (or perhaps other things more nefarious). But one has to wonder if we really need another government-lead group, especially when it comes to the climate and all the sometimes controversial information that entails. But that's what's under way. Today the House Science and Technology Committee's Subcommittee on Energy and Environment held a hearing on the need for a National Climate Service that could meet the increased demand for climate information, the committee said. The NCS would provide a single point of contact of information climate forecasts and support for planning and management decisions by federal agencies; state, local, and tribal governments; and the private sector. [spam URL stripped]"
Link to Original Source
Government

Submission + - 16 year old siezed under Patriot Act (wral.com)

Submitted by
Arlack42
Arlack42 writes: "A 16 year old home schooled student from North Carolina was taken into custody under provisions of the US Patriot Act on March 5 and is being held sans due process. The youth was accused of making a bomb threat from his home on February 15. A computer, a cell phone, gaming console, routers, bank statements and school records were seized at the time of the arrest. He is currently being held in a youth facility near South Bend, Ind. The boys mother has appealed to state representatives and attorneys but has so far been told there is nothing that can be done."

Comment Re:Spambot (Score 1) 134

It doesn't matter if they know for certain where the traffic originated from. The point is, you wouldn't wander up to a completely unknown stranger and whisper your personal secrets so they could tell them to another stranger and so on, so why have your computer do that same thing? Even if they don't know the origin, the metadata in your traffic will betray your privacy at some point. How can you trust someone you don't know?

That's how that guy in Europe got into hot legal water when he demonstrated the emperor hath no TOR clothes with his accumulation of sensitive information belonging to political officials, ripe for the picking at a TOR exit node.

Comment Re:suddenoutbreakofcommonsense (Score 2, Insightful) 366

by A non-mouse Coward (#26832511) Attached to: Cambridge, Mass. Moves To Nix Security Cameras

>>>started up a national health service, and began a process of ensuring personal freedoms

Forcing your neighbors to pay YOUR health bills is not freedom. It's graft. It's no different than if I bought a Lexus, and then demanded everybody contribute $1 to pay my bill & extracted the money from their wallets.

If he said "house" instead of "lexus" would it have NOT been a troll? I get that some people may not like comparing health care to luxury cars, but replace "health care" with any "need" (food, water, clothing, shelter, and ... love ...) and the parent's point is pretty valid.

I still want to understand, since the Federal Reserve will be printing money for these bailouts and stimuli, why can't they just print money to pay off these debts in the first place?

--
libertarian: socially liberal (you can do whatever you want), financially conservative (as long as I don't have to pay for it); people can help people directly (private charities work better than government regulated bureaucracies); and people can mostly govern themselves, thanks! (Politicians, stay out of our lives!)

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