Comment Re:clever bouy = clever name (Score 1) 55
But how is it against clever girls?
Massachusetts SWAT Teams Claim They're Private Corporations, Immune To Oversight 534
New submitter thermowax sends a report on how Massachusetts SWAT teams are dodging open records requests by claiming to be corporations. From the article:
As it turns out, a number of SWAT teams in the Bay State are operated by what are called law enforcement councils, or LECs. These LECs are funded by several police agencies in a given geographic area and overseen by an executive board, which is usually made up of police chiefs from member police departments. ... Some of these LECs have also apparently incorporated as 501(c)(3) organizations. And it's here that we run into problems. According to the ACLU, the LECs are claiming that the 501(c)(3) status means that they're private corporations, not government agencies. And therefore, they say they're immune from open records requests. Let's be clear. These agencies oversee police activities. They employ cops who carry guns, wear badges, collect paychecks provided by taxpayers and have the power to detain, arrest, injure and kill. They operate SWAT teams, which conduct raids on private residences. And yet they say that because they've incorporated, they're immune to Massachusetts open records laws. The state's residents aren't permitted to know how often the SWAT teams are used, what they're used for, what sort of training they get or who they're primarily used against.
Comment I don't really game but... (Score 1) 208
...I feel the same way about Ticketmaster.
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Comment Re:Fins (Score 1) 105
Fool - they're for the sideline steakburger stand. Cooked by rocket fuel!
(Don't tell the cows.)
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(Don't tell the cows.)
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Comment Re:Sky.NET (Score 1) 56
It looks like you'd like to kill all humans.
[ ] Launch thermonuclear weapons at all the major population centers.
[ ] Don't help, and let me target the weapons directly.
[ ] Don't show this tip again.
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[ ] Launch thermonuclear weapons at all the major population centers.
[ ] Don't help, and let me target the weapons directly.
[ ] Don't show this tip again.
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Google Fit To Curate Steps, Calories, Heart Rate, Other Biometric Data 53
mpicpp (3454017) writes "Google is planning to release a new product called Google Fit that will aggregate health data from various devices and apps, according to a report Thursday from Forbes. Fit will use available APIs to pull biometric information together into one place, but it's unclear whether it will be a standalone app or part of the Android OS. Reports of Fit come on the heels of Apple's announcement of HealthKit in iOS 8, a system that also interacts with apps and APIs to curate and present health data like steps walked, calories consumed, and heart rates logged. Fit also follows the announcement of Sami, Samsung's health platform for culling health-related info."
Comment Re:Editors Won't Won't Edit (Score 1) 114
So it's not opposite day?
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Comment Re:A (hidden) communication channel is not an atta (Score 2) 121
I was wondering how this speed compared to a telegraph operator sending Morse Code. Googling about, words per minute, based on the standard five characters per word plus spaces and punctuation, works out to about bps * 1.2.
http://superuser.com/questions...
So 20 bps is about 24 words per minute. Compare this to a skilled telegraph operator, who can manage 40 wpm.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M...
So yeah, it's slow, BUT for keylogging it couldn't keep up only if users typed constantly, which they don't. Plenty of time in between to do some catch up.
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http://superuser.com/questions...
So 20 bps is about 24 words per minute. Compare this to a skilled telegraph operator, who can manage 40 wpm.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M...
So yeah, it's slow, BUT for keylogging it couldn't keep up only if users typed constantly, which they don't. Plenty of time in between to do some catch up.
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Comment Solution: office dog (Score 5, Funny) 121
What is it? What is it, girl? Someone running a covert mesh network? Where's it coming from?
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Comment Emperor Walmartine and Amazon Skywalker (Score 1) 210
Yesss...yesss...feel the power of the Dark Side flowing through you...hate those who would defy you...squeeze your suppliers, force them to cut costs, wages and benefits in order to remain profitable. Make them in turn go to even cheaper sources for low-quality parts and materials. Soon you will join me by my side and together we will rule both retail and online and crush any so-called worldwide labor movement!
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Comment The NSA has pre-ordered already. (Score 1) 257
Where have you been? It's alright we know where you've been!
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GoDaddy Files For $100 Million IPO 110
mpicpp (3454017) writes with news that GoDaddy has filed to make an initial public offering "This is the second time GoDaddy has tried to go public. It went this route back in 2006, but then backed out when it didn't get the pricing it wanted."
The SEC Filing indicates that they are not in the greatest financial condition. Quoting CNN: "GoDaddy hasn't made a profit since 2009. The company lost $279 million in 2012. It bled another $200 million last year. This year doesn't look much better, with another $51 million lost in the first quarter." Founder Bob Parsons, currently executive chairman, will be stepping down but remaining on the board of directors.
Comment Nothing new (Score 4, Funny) 139
Teachers and vice principals have been warning students that their misbehaving and bad attitude were going on their permanent record for decades.
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Parents Mobilize Against States' Student Data Mining 139
theodp writes 'Politico reports that parents have mobilized into an unexpected political force to fight the data mining of their children, catapulting student privacy to prominence in statehouses. Having already torpedoed the $100 million, Bill Gates-funded inBloom database project, which could have made it easier for schools to share confidential student records with private companies, the amateur activists are now rallying against another perceived threat: huge state databases being built to track children for more than two decades, from as early as infancy through the start of their careers. "The Education Department," writes Stephanie Simon, "lists hundreds of questions that it urges states to answer about each child in the public school system: Did she make friends easily as a toddler? Was he disciplined for fighting as a teen? Did he take geometry? Does she suffer from mental illness? Did he go to college? Did he graduate? How much does he earn?" Leonie Haimson, a NY mother who is organizing a national Parent Coalition for Student Privacy says, "Every parent I've talked to has been horrified. We just don't want our kids tracked from cradle to grave." For their part, ed tech entrepreneurs and school reformers are both bewildered by and anxious about the backlash — and struggling to craft a response, having assumed parents would support their vision: to mine vast quantities of data for insights into what's working, and what's not, for individual students and for the education system as a whole. "People took for granted that parents would understand [the benefits], that it was self-evident," said Michael Horn, a co-founder an education think tank."
Pixar To Give Away 3D RenderMan Software 147
nairnr sends this news from the BBC:
'The 3D rendering software behind films such as Toy Story, Monsters Inc and Harry Potter is to be given away free for non-commercial use. RenderMan, which is developed by Pixar, has faced increased competition from rival animation rendering programmes such as VRay and Arnold. Although Pixar, which is owned by Disney, produces its own films, it licenses RenderMan to rival studios. In a statement, the firm said it would release a free version of RenderMan "without any functional limitations, watermarking, or time restrictions." "Non-commercial RenderMan will be freely available for students, institutions, researchers, developers, and for personal use," it added.'
