Expect Mandatory ‘Big Brother’ Black Boxes In All New Cars From 2015
“A bill already passed by the Senate and set to be rubber stamped by the House would make it mandatory for all new cars in the United States to be fitted with black box data recorders from 2015 onwards. Section 31406 of Senate Bill 1813 (known as MAP-21), calls for ‘Mandatory Event Data Recorders’ to be installed in all new automobiles and legislates for civil penalties to be imposed against individuals for failing to do so. ‘Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall revise part 563 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, to require, beginning with model year 2015, that new passenger motor vehicles sold in the United States be equipped with an event data recorder that meets the requirements under that part,’ states the bill.”
Facebook Forensics
Ever say or do something on Facebook that might come back to haunt you? It turns out, if Facebook receives a subpeona from law enforcement, they respond by sending off all your data (over 71 pages in an example account only 3 months old), and a lot more than you would think…
All your wall posts and shares
Everything you’ve ever written on your wall, of the wall of any group you have ever liked, including a list of everything you have ever “shared” or reposted. Even posts you think you have deleted are only hidden from view.
All your friends (and enemies)
Every person you’ve ever befriended and un-friended. Facebook, like a lot of web services, has a full memory of all your actions — the friends, the unfriends, the likes, the shares. Facebook is a million little bells that you can’t unring, at least as far as police investigations go.
All your photos
Public, Private and even deleted.
Your entire Facebook browsing history
When you click on someone’s profile, it’s logged. Other Facebook users don’t know you’re looking at their profiles, but Facebook itself most assuredly does. Or rather can, if the police come asking. Facebook also knows every group you have looked at as well as any specific conversations on the group wall.
Here’s what the site says about its policies for cooperating with law enforcement:
We work with law enforcement where appropriate and to the extent required by law to ensure the safety of the people who use Facebook. We may disclose information pursuant to subpoenas, court orders, or other requests (including criminal and civil matters) if we have a good faith belief that the response is required by law. This may include respecting requests from jurisdictions outside of the United States where we have a good faith belief that the response is required by law under the local laws in that jurisdiction, apply to users from that jurisdiction, and are consistent with generally accepted international standards.
Japanese CCTV Camera Can Scan 36 Million Faces/Second
A new camera technology from Hitachi Hokusai Electric can scan days of camera footage instantly, and find any face which has EVER walked past it. Its makers boast that it can scan 36 million faces per second. The technology raises the specter of governments – or other organizations – being able to ‘find’ anyone instantly simply using a passport photo or a Facebook profile. The ‘trick’ is that the camera ‘processes’ faces as it records, so that all faces which pass in front of it are recorded and stored instantly. Faces are stored as a searchable ‘biometric’ record, placing the unique mathematical ‘faceprint’ of anyone who has ever walked past the camera in a database.
New Samsung TV Watches You Watching It
Posted by Martin in Personal Tech, Privacy, Security on March 21, 2012
Straight out of 1984, Samsung has unveiled a new series of televisions with integrated cameras and microphones, complete with facial and voice recognition software. Best of all, there appears to be no physical indication of the mic and camera’s status, so consumers have no way of knowing when they’re being monitored, or by whom… and if you don’t find the idea of a TV that watches you creepy enough, apparently Samsung’s Terms of Service include a clause allowing third-party apps to make use of the monitoring system, and use the data gathered for their own purposes. Nothing Orwellian about that…
Don’t insure your car – can’t fuel it up!
Cameras at UK petrol stations will automatically stop uninsured or untaxed vehicles from being filled with fuel, under new government plans. Downing Street officials hope the hi-tech system will crack down on the 1.4 million motorists who drive without insurance. Automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras are already fitted in thousands of petrol station forecourts. Drivers can only fill their cars with fuel once the camera has captured and logged the vehicle’s number plate. Currently the system is designed to deter motorists from driving off without paying for petrol. But under the new plans, the cameras will automatically cross-refererence with the DVLA’s huge database.
After 244 Years, the End For the Encyclopedia Britannica
Posted by Martin in Uncategorized on March 13, 2012
According to the New York Times, it’s the end of the road for the printed Encyclopedia Brittanica, saying, ‘…in recent years, print reference books have been almost completely wiped out by the Internet and its vast spread of resources, particularly Wikipedia, which in 11 years has helped replace the authority of experts with the wisdom of the crowds.’ The last print edition will be the 32-volume 2010 edition.
Space Elevator!
Posted by Martin in Future Tech on February 22, 2012
I’ve always been a big fan of the space elevator, but with today’s technology it is still in the realm of science fiction. A general contractor in Japan is looking to change that with an announcement they intend to build one by 2050!
A space elevator is simply a long cable stretching from the earth’s surface to a point in geosynchronous orbit. A structure moves up and down the cable using a power source (probably lasers from earth) instead of relying on expensive chemical propellants. It would be a big boon to low earth orbit construction and building a space station for permanent occupation and beyond. The elevator would travel around 200km/h and take about a week to reach the 36,000 km mid-way station. The entire cable reaches a quarter of the way to the moon!
By 2050 I’ll be 80 years old. With my luck I would get stuck in the elevator with a guy that presses all the buttons so we stop on every floor. 
Free Backup Software
Posted by Martin in Personal Tech, Windows on February 21, 2012
You know you’re supposed to make regular backups, and yet you’re just not doing it. Why?
If it’s because you’re not wild about the idea of spending money on backup software, here’s good news: you don’t have to. There are plenty of full-featured backup utilities (for Windows, anyway) that don’t cost a dime.
Indeed, your only out-of-pocket expense should be a USB or network hard drive–a place to hold your precious data in case your primary drive goes belly-up.
Below are five of the most popular and well-known backup programs for Windows, all of them capable, all of them free.
How Much Would it Cost to build the Death Star?
Posted by Martin in Science Fact on February 19, 2012
Summary: The Empire’s crown jewel would take more than 800,000 years and many thousand times the world’s GDP to build.
In gloriously geeky fashion, economics students at Lehigh University tried to estimate how long it would take and how much it would cost to build the Empire’s ginormous man-made ‘planetship” if we were to get started today.
The students started by assuming the Death Star could be made from steel, and that the ship would be about as steel-dense as a modern warship, in particular the HMS Illustrious. Applying that steel density to the Death Star’s size–the moon-size weapon was reportedly 140 km in diameter–they determined that just over a quadrillion tons of steel (quadrillion comes after trillion) would be required for construction.
That much steel would take more than 800,000 years to produce at current rates, however, so someone might want to see if the boys at the smelter are willing to work some overtime, along with the next few thousand generations.
Pharmacy On-a-chip Dispenses Drugs Automatically
Posted by Martin in Health, Personal Tech on February 18, 2012
The idea is simple — load up a microchip with a whole pharmacy of drugs that are dispensed as needed automatically. The devil has been in the details, since mistakes could kill the patient if, say, a leak developed dumping dangerous cocktails into the bloodstream. This MIT sponsored company, however, claims to have perfected wireless control of a pharmacy-on-a-chip and has just completed the clinical trials to prove it. The test microchip has just 20 doses of a single drug, but their new prototype will house thousands of pin-prick sized drug reservoirs, after which they will seek FDA approval. The elderly (who have complicated drug regime) and soldiers could both benefit from these smart pharmacies-on-a-chip, since drugs can be dispensed even if the patient is unconscious.
