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American government extends warrantless wiretapping until 2017
Looks like warrantless wiretapping in the name of counter-terrorism in the US isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. After a Senate vote last Thursday that saw the bill passed by a vote of 73 to 23, it looks like the proverbial nail is in the coffin on this one.
President Obama [...]
Read More »U.S. ITC judge recommends import and sales ban on Samsung products
A U.S. International Trade Commission judge Thomas Pender is recommending sanctions against Samsung in light of his preliminary finding that the company infringed four of Apple’s patents.
The recommended sanctions include an import and sales ban on products found to infringe Apple patents and the posting of a bond for [...]
Read More »Apple’s Mac mini will be the first to be ‘Made in USA’
We’ve known for awhile now that Apple has plans to bring production of one its Macs to the US — and we’ve also speculated that it was most likely going to be the Mac Pro due to its relatively lower volume of sales when compared to the rest of the [...]
Read More »Retailer websites are showing higher prices depending on where you live
Turns out that shopping online in some retailers might not be worth the convenience anymore. That’s because The Wall Street Journal has discovered that some retailers vary their pricing depending on their buyer’s zip code.
Normally this wouldn’t be such a big deal, because factors like shipping costs can vary [...]
Read More »Project Azalea – Apple replacing Samsung for TSMC US-based chip factory?
According to The EETimes, the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is contemplating on building a new factory in either New York or Oregon with the project being called “Azalea.” Another report out of The Oregonian says that officials in New York and Oregon may be competing to attract a [...]
Read More »Pro-privacy bill is passed by US Senate Judiciary Committee
Location privacy is something that many in today’s connected world worry about, especially when it seems like every app you use wants information on your whereabouts. Many off these are perfectly understandable of course, such as mapping applications, but there are some that don’t need to be anywhere near your [...]
Read More »US rejects UN telecoms treaty in fight to maintain an open Internet
The Verge reports that the US has chosen not to sign a proposed international telecommunications treaty amid fears that it could lead to the regulation of the Internet. The countries involved — which include Russia, China and Saudi Arabia, have argued that the US has unfair control over ICANN. The [...]
Read More »Looks like Apple’s Mac Pro will be ‘Made In USA’
As previously reported, Apple will be bringing manufacturing of one its Mac lines to the USA next year. What that report didn’t say, however, is which Mac line will be getting the distinction of being ‘Made in USA’. According to a report by Fortune, all signs point to the [...]
Read More »The ‘Steve Jobs’ patent may be invalidated by United States Patent and Trademark Office
Rumor has it United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has preliminarily ruled Apple’s ‘Steve Jobs’ patent as invalid upon reexamination. You might be wondering, what in the world is a Steve Jobs patent?
Its actual name is US Patent #7,479,949 which lays claim over technology related to “[t]ouch screen [...]
Read More »Foxconn plans on expanding operations to the US
Hot on the heels of Apple’s announcement to bring some of its Mac production to the US, Foxconn has also announced plans to expand operations into North America.
There are numerous advantages to having production and assembly based in China, the most obvious being the lower cost of labor. Another [...]
Read More »Apple is bringing manufacturing of Macs to the US in 2013
One of the tidbits revealed by NBC’s TV interview of Apple CEO Tim Cook is actually a significant piece of news. There have been many complaints about Apple’s heavy reliance on Foxconn for its manufacturing, whether it’s because of the alleged poor working conditions in their factories in China or [...]
Read More »TSA security officers are caught stealing electronics from passengers at airports
Ever lose something while traveling? Maybe you forgot it at a security checkpoint or the item disappeared from your baggage. If a passenger does forget their things at checkpoints then TSA agents are supposed to contact the passenger to try to return the stuff; or if an agent has to [...]
Read More »Warrantless surveillance by American government has increased by 662% since 2001
We already know about the once-secret but now-public warrantless wiretap program, Terrorist Surveillance Program, run by the National Security Agency that spies on Americans (and non-Americans). There is also a possibility of the NSA spying on the general American public without good reason, if a former NSA director is [...]
Read More »Americans have spent almost $6 billion on damaged iPhones since 2007
Have you ever dropped your phone? I have, although only once or twice. Have you ever damaged your phone, whether that be cracked screen, scuff mark, or water damage? I, thankfully, haven’t. My fellow Americans, on the other hand, are a completely different story. According to a study released by [...]
Read More »FBI is working on a $1 billion facial recognition database, all your faces are belong to them
Did you think facial recognition software in the hands of law enforcement is only something in the movies? Well, to an extent, it really is something only in movies. However, with the FBI’s $1 billion Next Generation Identification program, this will change and it will change as soon as 2014.[...]
Sniffing unprotected WiFi is not wiretapping (and, thus, is legal), American federal judge rules
A few years ago Google got in trouble for (accidentally) sniffing data from unprotected WiFi nodes. While sniffing unprotected WiFi networks wasn’t declared explicitly illegal, in 2011 a federal court hinted as much. Now, thanks to a recent ruling by a different federal judge, the question of the legality of [...]
Former NSA director claims U.S. government has been spying on Americans for over a decade, collecting e-mails, call records, and other data
Scared of Google? If what William Binney claims is true, your time will be better spent being scared of the National Security Agency.
William Binney, a mathematical genius that worked for the NSA for 32 years with part of that time being served as the technical director of National Security [...]
Read More »Court says warrantless cell phone tracking is legal in USA
Melvin Skinner was arrested in 2006 for alleged drug trafficking. He was tried and eventually convicted of two counts of drug trafficking and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Law enforcement agencies where able to arrest Skinner by tracking him through his cell phone prior to his arrest [...]
Read More »American court makes spying with warrantless wiretaps legal
September 11, 2001 changed the world. As a result of 9/11, then USA President George W. Bush introduced what has come to be known as the Terrorist Surveillance Program, a program that allows the NSA (National Security Agency) to spy on conversations between an American and someone from outside [...]
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