No. Even if the employer submitted half of the search info, the info on the backpacks had to be provided by another source and then had to to matched. Where did that info come from? Google? NSA backdoors on home computers? The interesting part of the story (if indeed true) is the other half of the info.

So dad searched pressure cookers at work and the employer allegedly turned this over to the cops, but who turned in mom's Google search history? How was the match made? Was there a request made too Google? Did the Feds hack the computers using a MS-NSA or Apple-NSA backdoor? According to the article, the task force didn't even look at the computers or confiscate them.

This is only half a story, (if it is indeed true about the employer turning over the suspicious weblogs). How did the Feds/Police/Joint Task Force get the other half of the info.

And according to the article this occurs 100 times per week and we are just hearing about it.

There is more to this story and this simple explanation is only half of it.

Unfortunately, this seems to be the theme these days. Send out half-baked stuff that barely works. A friend just visited and her laptop would maintain wireless connection for about 5 minutes then drop off. Long story short, HP shipped this nice shiny gorgeous laptop with Windows 8 and defective wireless drivers. It couldn't maintain a wireless connection long enough to run windows update (after finding WU in Windows 8, geez), and and plugging in the RJ45 the WU ran. However, the tolerance of the RJ45 port was so far off RJ45 the connector remained stuck, I had to get a pair of needle nose to wiggle it out. On the plus side the did have a cool ultrabright white LED that illuminated the RJ45 connector plastic.

I scratched my head and wondered, why would HP send out a laptop that would just frustrate their customers with constant wireless dropping leading to increased returns, and increases support phone calls?

From my perspective, I see a rush to market with half baked, sorta working Windows 8 hardware these days. My old reliable T-Series Thinkpad finally died and I am at a loss for what to replace it with. Under new ownership, Lenovo seems to have dropped in quality. Ironically, the Mac Book Pro was recently voted the best Windows laptop. In any case, my desire is for a machine something backward compatible with Windows 7. Thank you for sharing.

I did Arduino last summer. Controlling my lawn sprinklers :) Fun little platform.

Yes, that is about the size of it. I am still a command line, C, HTML/CSS, JSON, Javascript, PERL, PHP, SQL, backend database, Linux type of developer. I see apps taking over the web on tablets both native and in HTML5. I realize there is still a huge base for this stuff, but I wanted to fast forward 10 years. It was a sincere question not an advertisement for Dice.com or Lynda.com as others have suggested.

If there were only some way to store the information encoded in DNA in a molecular level storage device... oh wait, face palm.

I agree, workflow on the iPad is tough because of the security model where apps can't get into each others files. While this keeps down malware, it makes uploading files, creating digital portfolios, and sharing between apps nearly impossible without the use of computer or cloud service. Hopefully Apple has a plan for it's new shiny giant green data centers other than serving iTunes apps and running flaky near useless iCloud service.

Improving workflow on the iPad would be on the top of my list, I can live with the UI as-is.

Some other interesting features might be allowing wireless devices communicate with each other to share and collaborate. The 8 iPad - Jam session for Garageband is a good start but we need more than just "more cowbell".

I know the marketing Apple marketing droids don't want the iPad to be a laptop since it would cannibalize MacBook Air sales, but I say forget it and let the iPad morph into a better platform.

This removes the video ads that play prior to the main video. The onscreen popups may still appear. Someone else please verify.

Supposed you want to wish your mother a Happy Dub Step Mothers Day with this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9J0o65u73Nc

But you want to strip the adds and go fullscreen:

Easy, simply change the URL: delete "watch?v=" and replace with "v/"
http://www.youtube.com/v/9J0o65u73Nc

sarcasm
Microsoft must have some really smart developers to have figured out how to rewrite the YouTube URL using computer programming. I am going to run out and get a Surface with Windows 8 before Best Buy closes tonight. Microsoft might be adding more useful features soon and I don't want to miss out. It would be a shame to watch a 5 second YouTube Ad and support that rich Google company. Microsoft is sticking it to man! Wait, I thought they were the man. Hmmm... something has changed. I'm so confused.
sarcasm

A company and a society are judged and remembered by what they build and not what they destroy.

You might think scores are flat or declining, but this is not acccurate. There is a large gap betweeen what is tested and what is "required" to be taught. State curriculum websites are more of wish lists than actual curriculum guides. They are typically "a mile wide and an inch deep". It is impossible to cover all the material with any fidelity.

And then there's the test. What will be tested and how will the questions be constructed. I can teach you an simple concept like Ohms law and then have a test writer construct a 4-paragraph question with multiple graphs about resistance and current followed by 3 tricky multiple choice questions and there is a good chance you will screw it up.

This is the way I see it. Many schools are "good" and server their communities and students well. Schools is less desiriable communities are understaffed, under-resources, have large staff turn over and are the poster child for school reform and waste.

Some politicians look at education in the same manner that the look at defense spending... LOOK A BIG PILE OF MONEY... HOW DO I FUNNEL IT TO MY FRIENDS? The trick is to constant "reform" schools until they system can no longer respond to change and shows up on test scores as a flat-line or negative grow. Then you can shout, "LOOK ALL THE SCHOOLS ARE FAILING, HA! WE TOLD YOU!" we need an unlimited voucher program. People should be free to choose any school.

What will happen is that schools will accept the vouchers + tuition and education will become stratified. Everyone will pay as much as they can to send their kids to a "good school" while the poor concetrate and languish in the left-over public schools.

As a parent, I like the idea of vouchers and being able to send my kid anywhere, public or private. The voucher could be used as a coupon for that really expensive private school. As a citizen in a democracy, I shudder, thinking that our democracy depends on strong public institutions like public schools and without them our society will crumble. I also believe history bears this out.

What is the solution? ..... ask me and I will share my education policy. :)

Then Apple could put the new Final Cut Pro X out of it's misery and switch us all over to Premiere. This is a good plan.

Bill, if people want a laptop, let them by a laptop. If they want a keyboard for their Surface or iPad you pay more and there are plenty available. The PC World is not the Tablet world and the Tablet World is NOT THE PC World. It is a new category of device and people really seem to like them. Oh, and if you get a keyboard for your iPad I recommend the Zaggfolio. I am not sure what to do about the mouse. I am sure that the lack of a extra thing on the desk is really frustrating people as well instead of just touching what you want on the screen.

In case you miss it you can get a mouse of for the Surface and turn your tablet into a laptop, with the same battery life as a laptop vs. the 10 hours on a real tablet.

Oh and if you get a mouse, I recommend the Logitech Performance MX.

Seriously, you mean a data center like this can't handle the traffic?

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/03/ff_nsadatacenter/

and the 5 million people (as of 2011) with security clearances aren't enough?

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/07/security-clearances-increasing/

and the NSA recruiting at Defcon and math colleges all around the country isn't happening?

http://www.federalnewsradio.com/411/2890348/NSA-hiring-reforms-serve-as-model-for-government

These guys have cash and are all of their activities are shielded under FISA and the National Security Act and State Secrets Privilege.

http://www.aclu.org/national-security/fix-fisa-end-warrantless-wiretapping

It's happening, it is a reality, and it is more than possible. Even with an inside whistle blower, the courts will not limit the power of the government to spy on us.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_641A

The only thing we really have going for us is the Catch-22 on the use of the data. If it is every used in a trial, chain of custody and 4th amendment issues likethe exclusionary rule will suppress the evidence since it was obtained without a warrant. The only thing that stands in the way of the NSA and fully implementing 1984 is the 4th amendment.

While the FBI might not be the sharpest tool in the shed they have infinite resources thanks to the national security black budget. Granted if you have a private network that doesn't peer with any of the big backbones like AT&T then your a probably safe. Once your voice/data hops onto a major backbone like AT&T your data has been sold to the US Government. There are even allegation that this system is contributing names to the no-fly list through heuristic language analysis of voice traffic. To see if you networks are safe, use the word "bomb" as often as you can and if you aren't added to the no-fly list, your networks are probably safe :)

I think the real solution to the problem is to start generating massive amounts of meaningless data until the spooks run out of storage.

Security and Privacy are an illusion. Welcome to 1984 about three decades late.