Submission + - Congressmen Call For Clapper's Head (washingtonpost.com) 1

Submitted by Antipater on Monday January 27, 2014 @02:20PM

Antipater writes: Six members of Congress, led by Darrell Issa, have released an open letter to the White House that urges the President to go further in his intended reforms of the NSA. The letter, found here, calls out issues like the NSA's weakening of encryption standards and national security letter abuse. It also calls for the immediate firing of James Clapper, stating that "[his] continued role as Director of National Intelligence is incompatible with the goal of restoring trust in our security programs and ensuring the highest level of transparency."

Submission + - NSA Metadata Program Has Stopped Zero Attacks (nbcnews.com)

Submitted by Antipater on Friday December 20, 2013 @11:42AM

Antipater writes: According to a member of the White House panel that recently called for the NSA's metadata-collection program to be curtailed, that program has not stopped any terrorist actions at all. This runs counter to the stories we've heard for months, which claimed as many as fifty prevented attacks.

"Stone declined to comment on the accuracy of public statements by U.S. intelligence officials about the telephone collection program, but said that when they referred to successes they seemed to be mixing the results of domestic metadata collection with the intelligence derived from the separate, and less controversial, NSA program, known as 702, to intercept communications overseas."

Submission + - Former Microsoft Exec to Lead HealthCare.gov 2

Submitted by Antipater on Tuesday December 17, 2013 @01:52PM

Antipater writes: NBCNews reports that Kurt DelBene, former head of Microsoft's Office division, will take over operations of Healthcare.gov on Wednesday.

DelBene will replace Jeffrey Zients, who stepped in to lead the team fixing the health insurance website when it crashed and burned on its Oct. 1 launch. Zients is set to take over next month as senior White House economic adviser from Gene Sperling.

Submission + - 787 Dreamliner On Fire Again

Submitted by Antipater on Friday July 12, 2013 @12:47PM

Antipater writes: It looks like there's more trouble afoot for Boeing's 787 Dreamliner: London's Heathrow Airport has been shut down as fire crews attend to a "suspected fire" on a Dreamliner owned by Ethiopia Airlines.

Aerial pictures of the scene on the U.K.'s Sky News showed the new plane — which was not carrying passengers at the time — had been sprayed by foam, but there were no signs of fire.
The aircraft was not blocking either runway, but with all the airport's fire crews tacking the Boeing 787 incident, authorities were forced to suspend departures and arrivals because of safety rules.

Submission + - Disney Wants to Track You With RFID (nbcnews.com) 3

Submitted by Antipater on Tuesday January 08, 2013 @12:21PM

Antipater writes: Disney parks and resorts have long had a system that combined your room key, credit card, and park ticket into a single card. Now, they're taking it a step further by turning the card into an RFID wristband (called a "MagicBand"), tracking you, and personalizing your park experience, targeted-ad style.

"Imagine booking guaranteed ride times for your favorite shows and attractions even before setting foot in the park," wrote Tom Staggs, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, in a blog posting on Monday. "With MyMagic+, guests will be able to do that and more, enabling them to spend more time together and creating an experience that’s better for everyone."

Disney does go on to talk about all the things you can opt out of if you have privacy concerns, and the whole system seems to be voluntary or even premium.

Submission + - Researchers Design Memory-Strengthening Implant (nytimes.com)

Submitted by

Antipater

on Friday June 17, 2011 @04:08PM

Antipater writes: "Researchers at Wake Forest University have created a brain implant that can imitate signals through the hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for memory retention. Rats implanted with the device were able to remember information even after their hippocampus was shut down, reports the New York Times. Though still in its infancy, this technology could hopefully be used to help treat dementia or stroke victims."

Submission + - Physical, Emotional Pain Use Same Brain Networks (cnn.com)

Submitted by

Antipater

on Tuesday June 07, 2011 @06:26PM

Antipater writes: "To the brain, heartbreak and emotional torment are no different from having hot coffee spilled on your hand, reports CNN. They cite a recent study from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in which 40 recently-dumped men and women underwent fMRI scans while having their arm burned or being shown a picture of their ex. The stimuli produced nearly identical brain reactions."

Submission + - War over Arsenic-Based Life (washingtonpost.com)

Submitted by

Antipater

on Friday May 27, 2011 @12:39PM

Antipater writes: "Slashdot readers may remember the announcement and ensuing controversy six months ago over the NASA discovery of microbes that can supposedly incorporate arsenic into their DNA. Now, The Washington Post reports that Science has published a collection of eight scathing critiques of astrobiologist Felisa Wolfe-Simon, her methods, and her conclusions. Wolfe-Simon is starting to fire back and gather her own allies — one wonders if we're in for another cold-fusion style science war."

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