Monthly Archives: August 2014

Democrats steamed that White House let the CIA censor a torture report

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“Senate Democrats engaged in a tug-of-war with the White House over heavy redactions to its long-delayed torture report remain furious that President Obama allowed the CIA to censor the document.  Months ago Democratic lawmakers asked the White House to lead the process of declassifying the report and are now blaming Obama for ceding that ground to the CIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.  The White House is not saying exactly who was involved in the redaction process, but declassification decisions of such magnitude usually involve close scrutiny from top officials at the CIA, ODNI and National Security Council.”

http://washingtonexaminer.com/democrats-steamed-that-white-house-let-the-cia-censor-a-torture-report/article/2551749

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Jacob Hornberger: Why Not Simply Abolish the CIA?

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“Did any CIA agent get indicted for torturing people? No.  Did any CIA agent get indicted for destroying the videotapes that showed the torture? No.  Did any CIA agent get indicted for murdering prisoners in Abu Graib prison in Iraq? No. We can debate whether it was wise and prudent to call the CIA into existence to fight the Cold War. What is indisputable is the fact that the Cold War ended in 1989 while the CIA continued onward. It’s time for Americans to do what they should have done a long time ago—abolish, not reform, the CIA. It’s time to put a stop to the lying, murdering, assassinating, spying, torturing, and detaining. They have no place in America.”

http://fff.org/2014/08/01/why-not-simply-abolish-the-cia/

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Researcher Identifies Hidden Data-Acquisition Services in iOS

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“There are a number of undocumented and hidden features and services in Apple iOS that can be used to bypass the backup encryption on iOS devices and remove large amounts of users’ personal data. Several of these features began as benign services but have evolved in recent years to become powerful tools for acquiring user data.  Using the hidden services that bypass the encrypted backup protection don’t require the use of developer mode and many of them have been present in iOS for five years.  Some of the undocumented services and features in iOS map pretty closely to capabilities attributed to some of the NSA’s tools, specifically DROPOUTJEEP.”

http://threatpost.com/researcher-identifies-hidden-data-acquisition-services-in-ios/107335

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Visit the Wrong Website, and the FBI Could End Up in Your Computer

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“Security experts call it a ‘drive-by download’: a hacker infiltrates a high-traffic website and then subverts it to deliver malware to every single visitor. It’s one of the most powerful tools in the black hat arsenal, capable of delivering thousands of fresh victims into a hackers’ clutches within minutes.  Now the technique is being adopted by a different kind of a hacker—the kind with a badge. For the last two years, the FBI has been quietly experimenting with drive-by hacks as a solution to one of law enforcement’s knottiest Internet problems: how to identify and prosecute users of criminal websites hiding behind the powerful Tor anonymity system.”

http://www.wired.com/2014/08/operation_torpedo/

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Ferguson is an occupation in plain sight

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“An alderman was arrested. Reporters from the Washington Post and Huffington Post were arrested. An Al Jazeera America news crew was attacked with teargas and had their equipment dismantled. Nonviolent protestors were confronted by a police department that is, in fact, an armed militia. The crowd stood before armored personnel carriers and men wearing Swat gear. There were snipers, aiming their rifles at unarmed, nonviolent citizens. The catalyst for all this was the killing of 18-year-old unarmed Mike Brown by an unnamed police officer later placed on paid administrative leave. He is being protected and compensated in the wake of Brown’s death.”

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/14/ferguson-occupation-peace-calm

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San Jose Police Department says FAA can’t regulate its drone use

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“Late last month, a set of documents showed that the SJPD acquired a Hexacopter called the Century Neo 660, along with a GoPro video camera and live video transmitter. The nearly $7,000 January 2014 purchase was funded through a grant from the Bay Area Urban Areas Security Initiative, a regional arm of the Department of Homeland Security. SJPD Police Chief Larry Esquivel signed off on the drone acquisition nearly two months after the drone was actually acquired, specifically stating contingency on a review by the San Jose City Attorney’s Office, a ‘policy in place,’ and ‘messaging/outreach to public,’ none of which appear to have actually taken place.”

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/08/san-jose-police-say-faa-cant-regulate-its-drone-use-faa-disagrees/

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Microsoft ordered to hand over US customer e-mails stored abroad

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“A federal judge ruled Thursday that Microsoft must hand over e-mails stored on an overseas server to US authorities. The case gives the Obama administration approval to reach into servers abroad.  The judge sided with the Obama Administration claims that any company with operations in the United States must comply with valid warrants for data, even if the content is stored overseas—in this case Dublin, Ireland. It’s a position Microsoft and companies like Apple contended was wrong, arguing that the enforcement of US law stops at the border.  The Redmond, Washington-based company said its consumer trust is low in the wake of the Edward Snowden revelations.”

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/07/microsoft-ordered-to-give-us-customer-e-mails-stored-abroad/

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Edward Snowden: The Untold Story

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“If other leakers exist within the NSA, it would be more than another nightmare for the agency—it would underscore its inability to control its own information and might indicate that Snowden’s rogue protest of government overreach has inspired others within the intelligence community. ‘They still haven’t fixed their problems,’ Snowden says. ‘They still have negligent auditing, they still have things going for a walk, and they have no idea where they’re coming from and they have no idea where they’re going. And if that’s the case, how can we as the public trust the NSA with all of our information, with all of our private records, the permanent record of our lives?'”

http://www.wired.com/2014/08/edward-snowden/

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How Crowdsourcing Solves Medical Mysteries

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“On CrowdMed, a new service that brings doctors — many of them retirees with years of experience and wisdom — together with laypeople to crowdsource difficult diagnoses, users post their symptoms and their case is ‘live’ for 30 days. During this time, the site’s ‘medical detectives’ — all volunteers — offer possible diagnoses, discuss with each other, ask questions of the patient and ultimately bet points on the right diagnosis from the suggestions offered by their peers.  At month’s end, CrowdMed sends the diagnoses with the most points to the user, who can then discuss the results with his or her doctors. Patients can incentivize the team’s medical detectives by offering a cash stipend.”

http://www.forbes.com/sites/nextavenue/2014/08/05/how-crowdsourcing-solves-medical-mysteries/

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Physicist concocts ice cream that changes color when you lick it

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“What happens when a physicist decides to become a chef? If they’re anything like Manuel Linares, then you can expect a fusion of food and science to come out of their kitchen.  He calls it the Xamaleón, a play on the Spanish word for chameleon, and it originally starts as a periwinkle blue frozen treat until it’s spritzed with Linares’ ‘love elixir,’ a super secret mixture he concocted himself. This mixture reacts to changes in temperature and saliva, causing the tutti-frutti-flavored ice cream to turn into purple, then into pink as you lick.  He also plans to whip up ice cream that turns from white to pink, and another one that glows under ultraviolet light.”

http://www.engadget.com/2014/07/29/ice-cream-changes-colors/

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