Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×

Comment Re:What are the bounds of property? (Score -1, Troll) 166

Well, how does it smell, since you've obviously got it on you? I'd advise you in the future to ask someone for evidence first, especially if you are going to make demands after you've just insulted them via their speech. For example, a better way, "It smells like BS to me, would you please supply some evidence and additional information?

Now, would you please refer to sections B. and C below? To answer your question, you must angle the camera's down so that they record only up to the top of the fence or to the property line.Private property has an expectation of privacy in Georgia.

(B) For an owner or occupier of real property to use for security purposes, crime prevention, or crime detection any device to observe, photograph, or record the activities of persons who are on the property or an approach thereto in areas where there is no reasonable expectation of privacy; or

  (C) To use for security purposes, crime prevention, or crime detection any device to observe, photograph, or record the activities of persons who are within the curtilage (fenced yard) of the residence of the person using such device. A photograph, videotape, or record made in accordance with this subparagraph, or a copy thereof, may be disclosed by such resident to the district attorney or a law enforcement officer and shall be admissible in a judicial proceeding, without the consent of any person observed, photographed, or recorded
http://www.ehow.com/info_83762...

Submission + - Despite Obama's Pledge to Curb It, NSA Mass Surveillance Wins Rubber Stamp (nationaljournal.com)

schwit1 writes: The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court approved the Justice Department's request for another 90-day extension of the National Security Agency's controversial mass surveillance program, exposed publicly last summer by Edward Snowden and authorized under Section 215 of the post-9/11 Patriot Act. The spying authority is next set to expire on Dec. 5.

The extension marks the third of its kind since President Obama pledged in January to reform how the NSA spies on Americans during a major policy speech delivered amid withering scrutiny of the nation's intelligence-gathering practices.

Submission + - US Patent Office seeking consultant that can stamp-out fraud by patent examiners (washingtonpost.com)

McGruber writes: A month after Slashdot reported Every Day Is Goof-Off-At-Work Day At the US Patent and Trademark Office (http://news.slashdot.org/story/14/08/11/1519201/every-day-is-goof-off-at-work-day-at-the-us-patent-and-trademark-office), the USPTO issued a statement that it is “committed to taking any measures necessary” to stop employees who review patents from lying about their hours and getting overtime pay and bonuses for work they didn’t do. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2014/09/13/patent-office-to-hire-outside-consultant-to-review-telework-program/)

USPTO officials also told congressional investigators that they are seeking an outside consulting firm to advise them on how managers can improve their monitoring of more than 8,000 patent examiners.

The Patent Examiners union responded to the original Washington Post report with a statement (http://popa.org/2523/) that includes these lines:

To claim that the USPTO has “thousands” of examiners not doing their work is simply ridiculous on its face. It represents poor journalistic rigor on the part of a well-respected newspaper like the Washington Post. If “thousands” of USPTO employees were not doing their work, it would be impossible for this agency to be producing the best performance in recent memory and, perhaps, in its entire 224 year history.

In related news, USPTO Commissioner Deborah Cohn (http://www.uspto.gov/about/bios/cohn_bio.jsp) has announced plans to resign just months after a watchdog agency revealed that she had pressured staffers to hire the live-in boyfriend of an immediate family member over other, better-qualified applicants. (http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/sep/8/patent-office-head-step-down-amid-nepotism-charge/) An agency spokesman declined to say whether Cohn's decision to resign was tied to the nepotism probe. The live-in-boyfriend was among more than 700 people applying for the job, but he failed to qualify as one of the 250 candidates to advance to the first round of screening. When he finished 75th out of 76 applicants in the final round of screening, Cohn "intervened and created an additional position specifically for the applicant," wrote Inspector General Todd Zinser in a statement on the matter.

Comment Re:Hmm... (Score -1, Troll) 166

Government workers are special people. But rejoice, dearheart, for you are a first class citizen! You have the right to remain silent, and anything you say or do WILL be used against you in the court of law. It's the second class and above that the first class has elected to handle such "dangerous" things. This is for umm, 'your" safety, yea that's it, "your" safety. (Phew almost didn't dig my way out of that one, that's why I'm a leader!)

Comment What are the bounds of property? (Score 2) 166

How high above the dirt do I own? In theory, I could just go straight up with a powerful enough camera lens and zoom in and see what I want on your property from another piece of property, possibly miles away. I see little difference than selling people rights to the dirt, but not to the minerals, and the legality of drilling diagonally underneath someone else's property.

Right now where I'm at on this is allowing someone to look at my property, as long as they aren't "above" my property, and if they do cross my property line they can be held responsible, including me shooting it out of the sky. I can always go inside, just like neighbors can peer over a fence.

Submission + - Justice Sotomayor Warns Against Tech-Enabled "Orwellian" World (arstechnica.com)

An anonymous reader writes: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor spoke on Thursday to faculty and students at the University of Oklahoma City about the privacy perils brought on by modern technology. She warned that the march of technological progress comes with a need to enact privacy protections if we want to avoid living in an "Orwellian world" of constant surveillance. She siad, "There are drones flying over the air randomly that are recording everything that’s happening on what we consider our private property. That type of technology has to stimulate us to think about what is it that we cherish in privacy and how far we want to protect it and from whom. Because people think that it should be protected just against government intrusion, but I don’t like the fact that someone I don’t knowcan pick up, if they’re a private citizen, one of these drones and fly it over my property."

Slashdot Top Deals

Anyone can make an omelet with eggs. The trick is to make one with none.

Working...