Tag Archives: security

No comments

Magic Bullet Links Teen Pregnancy to iPhone Location-Tracking

Link

  By Mike • 2011-04-24 Uncategorized

Obama sees no magic bullet to push down gas prices – via Reuters.com – Well, let’s see…It’s easy to TALK about energy independence, but where will the money come from?  Oh, I know!  Stop spending HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS OF DOLLARS fighting multiple wars and invest a bit into infrastructure, education, and research into domestic energy sources.

Washington teen fakes pregnancy as school project – via Yahoo! News – Not only is this a great prank, it also must have taken a lot of courage for this girl to voluntarily subject herself to the social stigma that goes along with teen pregnancy, all for a social experiment.  I hope she got an “A” on her project.

Why You Should Care About the iPhone Location-Tracking Issue – via Wired Gadget Lab – While this issue is being somewhat blown out of proportion, I still feel it’s necessary to call attention to it.  If you use a cell phone at all, you need to be aware that data about your location could be collected.  Whether or not you’re interesting enough for anybody to give a shit where you go and when you’re there is debatable, but that doesn’t change the fact that this data is immensely valuable.  It boils down to this:  Never assume you are invisible or anonymous.
Now, storing a database with your whole location history in an unencrypted file right on the mobile device AND the computer you connect it to is not only bad data management, it’s also a horrible practice from a security standpoint as well.  At a minimum I expect Apple will cover their ass and add an option to opt out of the location tracking, or at least add an option to wipe the data every so often.

No comments

Less Lethal Links

Link

  By Mike • 2011-04-10 Uncategorized

Here’s two links on the same story.
Police Pepper Spray 8-Year-Old in Colorado Elementary School – via AOL News
and,
Colorado police pepper-spray misbehaving boy, 8 – via Yahoo! News
When I first heard about this story but before I learned any details, my first reaction was to think this was another case of law enforcement using excessive force.  After hearing the details, I think this was probably one of the safer courses of action the police could have taken.  There easily could have been much more severe injuries to either the boy or the police officers if they had chosen to physically disarm him instead of using pepper spray.  I still think it presents a potentially dangerous precedent and could serve to desensitize the public to this kind of actions in our schools, but in this case it was warranted.

Non-Lethal Weapons That Still Hurt Like Hell – via ModernMan.com – Since we’re talking about pepper spray, let’s take a look at some of the other less-lethal weapons that are available.

No comments

Gratuitous Linkage – 2010-11-21

Link

  By Mike • 2010-11-21 Uncategorized

To Thwart Distracted Driving, US Government Considers Cell Phone Jammers in Cars – via PopSci.com – The Nanny-state is in full swing these days.  Some jack-holes just can’t resist yacking on the phone while driving, so let’s put a jammer in every car.  Nevermind the fact that this would also inhibit passengers from using a phone and could also stop a driver from calling for help in the event of an emergency.  I can’t see this actually happening, but the fact that anyone is even considering it is evidence of a head up an ass.

Distressed Toddler Gets a TSA Pat Down – via RawJustice.com – This whole body scanner/enhanced pat down business is far from over.  Judging from this story and others like it that are pouring in from all over it looks like the bogeyman terrorists have won.  People have gone to jail for touching children like this, but since it’s sanctioned by the government I guess it’s OK, right?

No comments

Airport Security and You – A Helpful Tip

  By Mike • 2010-10-27 Uncategorized

Anyone who has had the pleasure of using commercial air travel in the last few years knows what fun it can be.  Here’s a helpful tip when you remove your belt buckle to go through the metal detector.  If your pants start to fall down, don’t refer to yourself as a “Weapon of Ass Destruction”.  This may cause you to experience a secondary inspection, which may include a pat-down and check with a hand-held metal detector, and possibly further delays.  Apparently the TSA requires their employees to have their sense of humour removed.  Fair warning.