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Raising privacy and civil liberties issues, job applicants to the city of Bozeman are not only required to list all their social media accounts, but their passwords as well. “Please list any and all, current personal or business websites, web pages or memberships on any Internet-based chat rooms, social clubs …

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Following the lead of John F. Kennedy's Peace Corps, President Barack Obama had mentioned in his campaign platform a "Craigslist for Service" (which met with the [URL="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/craig-newmark/a-craigslist-for-service_b_150924.html"]full approval[/URL] of Craigslist founder Craig Newmark). It has now come to fruition with what Obama is calling "[URL="http://serve.gov/"]the summer of service[/URL]." "This summer, …

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[I]"The Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it." [URL="http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Gilmore"]John Gilmore[/URL], founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, in 1993.[/I] In the same way that people in Mumbai used Twitter last fall to [URL="http://www.forbes.com/2008/11/28/mumbai-twitter-sms-tech-internet-cx_bc_kn_1128mumbai.html"]publicize[/URL] news of terrorist attacks in that Indian city, Iranians are using Twitter to let the world …

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Everyone knows that China is not exactly the most Internet friendly country, in fact the Chinese government pretty much hates it. Despite being a truly [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry1269.html"]connected superpower[/URL], the Chinese government has already [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry1407.html"]declared war on Internet porn[/URL]. Of course, the Internet is a cool tool when used as a weapon …

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I guess that is what you might call a turn up for the books, as the US [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry1506.html"]Department of Homeland Security[/URL] announces the 16 members which have been sworn in to serve on the Homeland Security Advisory Council. Especially when you consider that one of them, Jeff Moss, is best …

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Isn't it amazing just how attached so many people are to Windows XP given that it is relatively old and [URL="http://www.itwire.com/content/view/25484/53/"]relatively insecure[/URL]? I will even admit to having a netbook which runs very nicely on XP thank you very much, and have no plans to 'upgrade' this to Vista or …

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Across Europe people have been voting in the European Parliamentary elections, and it looks likely that a pirate or two will have got elected in Sweden. I voted nice and early this morning, with candidates representing the three main political parties here in the UK as well as a rather …

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Some people are complaining that the company hoping to map the availability of broadband Internet is too closely tied to the same major telecommunications and cable companies that stand to benefit from the more than $7 billion in funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, also known …

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Remember the 14 million missing email messages from the White House under President George W. Bush? [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3815.html"]Remember[/URL] the (albeit flawed) court order (issued days before President Barack Obama's inauguration) directing the Bush White House to figure out what happened to them? Never mind. A federal appeals court recently ruled that …

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Busy this weekend? President Barack Obama and his IT staff are [URL="http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/09/05/21/Opening/"]asking for ideas[/URL] through June 3 to help make government more open. The call for ideas first went out on May 21. So far, there's [URL="http://opengov.ideascale.com/"]1171[/URL]. People can vote thumbs up or thumbs down on the ideas. "Then on …

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As [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry4304.html"]expected[/URL], Representative Barney Frank, D-Massachusetts, has introduced [URL="http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.2267:"]legislation[/URL] that would roll back a ban on Internet gambling enacted when Republicans led Congress. The legislation would allow the Treasury Department to license and regulate online gambling companies that serve American customers, according to the [URL="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/26/us/politics/26cong.html?_r=1&src=twt&twt=nytimespolitics"]New York Times[/URL]. Under the current …

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[URL="http://twitter.com"]Twitter[/URL] has struck again according to reports. The German elections had their results leaked online, both on Twitter and over the open Internet. In the same week that the UK heard that it was going to have insufficient broadband bandwidth to meet the needs of the [URL="http://www.culture.gov.uk/what_we_do/broadcasting/5631.aspx/"]Digital Britain[/URL] initiative, critics …

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"Universal service" should encompass broadband Internet access in the same way that it originally encompassed telephone access, according to a new report from the Federal Communications Commission to Congress. The [URL="http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-291012A1.pdf"]report[/URL], [I]Bringing Broadband to Rural America: Report on a Rural Broadband Strategy[/I], is written by Michael Copps, acting chairman of …

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It must be about 15 years since I was standing on a boat in Los Angeles at a press party, talking to a computer executive from the States. I don't remember his name; he'd had a couple of drinks by that time and there were a few people from the …

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The UK Government's communications agency GCHQ has issued a rare statement saying it has no plans to monitor every individual's emails. Instead, the Home Secretary says we should all be ready to have our ISPs record [URL="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8032367.stm"]all our Internet contacts[/URL]. I've met a few ISPs. They're going to be delighted, …

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Along with a number of other changes brought forth by President Barack Obama’s administration, another one might be the re-legalization of online gambling -- particularly poker -- in the United States. Online gambling in the U.S. was made much more difficult, though not technically illegal, in 2006 by the Unlawful …

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The [I]New York Times[/I] is [URL="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/29/technology/internet/29google.html?_r=1"]reporting[/URL] that the Justice Department is opening an antitrust investigation of Google’s settlement with authors and publishers over its Google Book Search service. In 2005, the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers filed suit against Google, claiming that Google’s practice of scanning copyrighted …

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Member Avatar for happygeek

I am no great fan of the concept of National ID Cards, although my reasoning is not so much based upon distrusting the 'if you've done nothing wrong you have nothing to fear' argument nor even the 'big brother invasion of privacy' paranoia which seems to grip most of the …

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Last week, former UK Prime Minister and current Quartet Envoy to the Middle East on behalf of the EU, UN, US and Russia, [URL="http://www.tonyblairoffice.org/"]Tony Blair[/URL] was hacked. Well, the [URL="http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Tony-Blair-Faith-Foundation/53370916629"]Tony Blair Faith Foundation on Facebook[/URL] was hacked according to reports at any rate. It seems that the site was flooded …

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On the day that the annual [URL="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2241289/european-commission-criticises"]Infosec[/URL] show starts in the UK we have a call for a Euro cyber security tsar. I was surprised at this. In many ways it's the perpetuation of all that I feel is bad about security management. A handful of readers might have heard …

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Though the swine flu just began hitting the news media on Friday or so, there's already a number of sites and ways to help you keep track of developments (and give you nightmares, frankly, but forewarned is forearmed). 1. A [URL="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&t=p&msa=0&msid=106484775090296685271.0004681a37b713f6b5950&ll=30.977609,-98.789062&spn=53.686525,85.78125&z=4"]Google Map[/URL] of reported swine flu cases. It's not perfect …

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A California Senate candidate is using a Don Henley song in a campaign video on YouTube, and when Henley sued for copyright violation, the candidate fired back that it was his first amendment rights to use the song. It seems he failed to understand the nuances of the Digital Millennium …

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The Department of Agriculture's Office of the Inspector General has issued a [URL="http://www.usda.gov/oig/webdocs/09601-8-TE.pdf"]report[/URL] finding that the Rural Utilities Service continues to grant loans to areas that already have broadband service and to communities near major cities. For example, 77 percent of loans were said to have been made in areas …

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President Obama – who only weeks ago warned of the greatest financial meltdown since the Great Depression if his $1.1 trillion stimulus package wasn’t passed by Congress - now says that he sees a “glimmer of hope” that the financial trauma is ending and that things could be stabilizing. Call …

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Remember the [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3821.html"]teenagers[/URL] getting charged with child pornography for taking revealing pictures of themselves with cell phones? They're fighting back. According to an [URL="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/26/us/26sextext.html?_r=1"]article[/URL] in the New York [I]Times[/I] by Sean Hamill, 17 students -- 13 girls and 4 boys -- accepted a plea bargain requiring them to attend 10-hour …

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The non-technical world is starting to understand the concept of Twitter -- which means that they're starting to try to control it. Courtrooms have [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry4148.html"]already begun dealing[/URL] with jurors Googling, Facebooking, and Twittering their way through the case. Now, some courtrooms are starting to set regulations ahead of time. The …

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The digital generation brought up Googling, Wikipediaing, and Twittering their way through their lives is starting to have problems when it turns out they don’t see why they can’t do the same thing when they’re in a courtroom, according to the [URL="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/18/us/18juries.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1"]New York Times[/URL]. In a recent case, it was …

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When you rush legislation through Washington, like Congress did with the two financial sector bailout bills, you lose the right to complain when the outcome blows up in your face That means you Senator Chris Dodd, who actually inserted the language in the $170 billion AIG bailout bill guaranteeing the …

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Remember [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3344.html"]last fall[/URL], when people were terrified that pedophiles were using Google Streetview to find parks and schools so they could more readily find their young victims? Apparently a California legislator has been listening to them, or someone like them. Last month, California Assemblyman Joel Anderson, R-El Cajon, introduced a …

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"Most Americans can easily find videos of water skiing squirrels on the Internet, but they’ll have less luck finding out whether their children's school buses and classrooms are safe, or if neighborhood gas stations are overcharging," said the Sunshine Week 2009 Survey of State Government Information online. Results ranged from …

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Member Avatar for khess

Is there a stimulus package on the way for those who use Linux and Open Source Software? You bet there is but it might not come from where you'd expect. Too many wasted stimulus dollars have already rained down upon those who wasted their own money but this time it'll …

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According to [URL="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29447088/"]reports,[/URL] the security relating to the official Presidential helicopter, Marine One, has been breached. It would appear that engineering and comms data, amounting to a complete avionics package including blueprints, about Obama's helicopter turned up on the computer of defence contractor who also had a P2P file sharing …

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The Maryland Court of Appeals has reversed a lower-court ruling that a website must reveal the names of anonymous posters during a defamation hearing, and has issued guidelines for how such requests should be made in the future. The court ruling laid out the following steps in its [URL="http://mdcourts.gov/opinions/coa/2009/63a08.pdf"]decision[/URL]: [LIST=1] …

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It wasn't that long ago that we were thrilled when politicians started using Twitter. Now we kinda wish they'd stop -- except for the one who has, it seems, actually stopped. President Barack Obama, who [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2689.html"]began Tweeting[/URL] during his campaign last summer, has fallen silent since Jan. 19 -- the …

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Though it hasn't gotten as much attention, one of the biggest recipients of largesse from President Barack Obama's stimulus package is the health care information technology industry. The bill requires utilization of electronic health care records for everyone in the U.S. by 2014, when only about 28 percent of health …

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Rumors were rampant all over Wall Street that Barack Obama trotted Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke out yesterday to calm the markets by declaring the recession could be over by the last half of 2009. It was a surprise to hear Bernanke, who’s been relatively quiet about the economy to …

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178 Web posters who thought they were anonymous are being [URL="http://www.connordemond.com/LESHER-OMEGA_PETITION.pdf"]sued[/URL], and the website where they made the offending posts has been ordered to release information to help identify them. A couple, Mark and Rhonda Lesher, was accused of sexually assaulting a woman, and the websites for [URL="http://www.topix.com/forum/city/mckinney-tx"]McKinney[/URL], [URL="http://www.topix.com/forum/city/clarksville-tx"]Clarksville[/URL], and …

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This is the sort of thing that annoys me intensely. Our Minister of State for Trade and Investment, Lord Davies of Abersoch, has been asking the good people at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona what they need to grow the mobile business, what it's all about, that sort of …

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I've heard that President Obama might appoint a cabinet-level CIO--does that sound right to you? I think it's a good idea but shouldn't that be part of Homeland Security instead of its own post? This president is the first president we've ever had who is truly a technology user. I …

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Boy. What does a tech outfit have to do to get some love on Wall Street? Intel announces a $7 billion effort to upgrade a pair of chip manufacturing centers in the U.S. and Intel’s stock price actually drops by over 3% in Tuesday trading (to $14..44 per share). I’ll …

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Remember the Idaho legislator who wanted to outlaw anonymous blogging? He’s back. The good news is, Representative Steve Hartgen, R-Twin Falls, no longer is trying to [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3662.html"]outlaw anonymous blogging[/URL]. According to Jared Hopkins in the Magic Valley [URL="http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2009/02/06/news/local_state/154433.txt"]Times- News[/URL], Hartgen told the Idaho House State Affairs Committee that he had …

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Who would you back in a fight? Barack Obama or Stephen Fry? When it comes to being popular on [URL="http://www.itwire.com/content/view/22533/53/"]Twitter[/URL] these two are the only real contenders for the title if you discount news organisations and the like. Currently, of course, US President Obama has the size advantage with an …

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A government is rolling out a wireless network, starting with 18 cities, using WiMAX technology that supports mobile networking, for $30 a month. The real news is where it is: Libya. WiMAX, based on similar technology to cell phone networks, offers wider coverage than is possible using wifi. Like wifi, …

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Some school kids in Louisiana got a surprise last Monday when sitting at their computers: the floating head of Barack Obama on-screen. They were amongst the first to be infected with the Obama-head worm which spreads via USB memory sticks courtesy of the Windows Autorun feature which is causing widespread …

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President Barack Obama will be able to continue to use a personal digital assistant like the Blackberry he used during the campaign, which naturally required security improvements. But more important, the new administration has agreed that any messages he sends through the device will be subject to the Presidential Records …

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The Mayor of London, the totally eccentric Boris Johnson, has written a column in a national newspaper in which he champions fellow loon [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2863.html"]Gary McKinnon[/URL], the [URL="http://www.itwire.com/content/view/20017/53/"]NASA UFO hacker[/URL]. Currently busy fighting extradition to the USA on the grounds that, essentially, to do so would not be fair to someone …

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A recent report from the [URL="http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Broadband%20Barriers.pdf"]Pew Internet & American Life Project[/URL] suggests that even if broadband Internet is made more widely available in the U.S., 9% of adults said they aren't interested in switching from dial-up, and 25% of adults aren't on the Internet at all and are unlikely to …

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Remember when China officially declared war on Internet pornography and set a target of just six months to purge the Web of sexually explicit images, stories and AV clips? No, well [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry1407.html"]read this[/URL] to refresh your memory. While you are at it, make a note of the date: that story …

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In the run-up to Inauguration Day, just about has been everyone speculating on what changes our newly-elected president will bring to the table. Naturally, we talk a lot around DaniWeb about how Obama's plans will affect the tech sector. As long as everyone else is making predictions and suggestions, I …

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With Inauguration Day finally upon us, mobile phone operators across the US are preparing for what could be a bigger test of capacity than the traditional biggest strain on the mobile network, New Year's Eve. Hopefully the months of hard work, involving adding capacity and prepping networks to cope with …

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The End.