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Sunday, September 08, 2013

California Bill Gives Electronic License Plates the Green Light

While forward-thinking drivers are considering the implications of supercharging stations for their Tesla vehicles and the impending arrival of Google’s driverless cars, another, far more personal technological development is coming to roads in California. A bill allowing the use of electronic license plates passed the state’s assembly last week, and is slated to be signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown.

Live from the West Wing: Obama goes prime time - Josh Gerstein - POLITICO.com

The uphill fight to get Congress to approve a military strike on Syria is pushing President Barack Obama to embrace a brand of communication he’s long resisted: the delivery of a prime-time address to the nation from the White House.

During his nearly five years in office, Obama has gone to extraordinary lengths to avoid high-stakes, nighttime White House speeches. His advisers have repeatedly denigrated the value of Oval Office addresses, accusing promoters of such talks as being out of touch with modern media realities.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/09/obama-syria-address-96442.html#ixzz2eLfHgGX0

Why Android Kit Kat Is a Troubling Operating System [SUNDAY COMIC]

In this Sunday comic, Nitrozac and Snaggy of The Joy of Tech point out plenty of reasons we should be concerned that two major corporations are teaming up — mainly, will candy take over the world?

NSA can reportedly tap smartphone users' data | Politics and Law - CNET News

The National Security Agency has the ability to access user data on three of the most popular smartphone platforms, including BlackBerry's e-mail system, according to classified documents viewed by German news outlet Spiegel.
The US intelligence-gathering agency has created platform-specific working groups to tap the contact lists, SMS traffic, and user location information on the Apple iOS, Google Android, and BlackBerry mobile operating systems, the documents indicate. NSA scripts allow the agency to access at least 38 iPhone features after the agency infiltrates the computer used to sync the device, Spiegel reported.

Saturday, September 07, 2013

The 1 percent played Tea Party for suckers

The 1 percent played Tea Party for suckers

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The Real Problem With a Service Called 'Ghetto Tracker'
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A service called "Ghetto Tracker" appeared online at the beginning of this week and quickly drew criticism for its racist and classist overtones. Shortly after, the site was renamed "Good Part of Town." Its creator, who would only identify himself as a 30-something-year-old in Tallahassee, Fla., told Gawker: "This was originally seriously developed as a travel tool and the name 'Ghetto Tracker' was meant to be something that people would remember."

The basic premise of Ghetto Tracker/Good Part of Town — to crowdsource travel advice -– actually isn’t so outrageous, but the framing, even without the word "Ghetto" in the name, and the intention — to label whole geographic areas as "good" or "bad," "safe" and "unsafe" — make the operation distasteful.

Friday, September 06, 2013

Irene Monroe: The Gandhi None of Us Knew As with King, Gandhi, too, became an iconic image in The Movement. However, if King and others knew of Gandhi's racist views of black South Africans, and knew why Gandhi never met with African American civil rights leaders, who were hungry to not only meet the man but to know more about his philosophy of "satyagraha," Gandhi wouldn't have been so highly profiled in his public sermons.

Amazon will reportedly give away its smartphone for free | Mobile - CNET News

Laser-Equipped NASA Orbiter Is Bringing Broadband to the Moon

Thursday, September 05, 2013

New Chrome Apps take the Web out of the browser | Business Tech - CNET News

Chrome Apps, known in development as Chrome Packaged Apps, allow Web developers to turn their sites into single-serving apps that function like more like apps and programs written in native code. The apps are currently available only on Chrome for Windows and Chromebooks running Chrome OS, with Mac and Linux support in the works.

A7X-Based iPad and iPad Mini Expected to Launch in 4Q 2013, Lower-Cost A6 iPad Mini to Follow in 2014 - Mac Rumors

Kuo believes that both devices will run on a new A7X chip, with the new iPad mini seeing a significant processor upgrade from the A5 found in the current model to help support a Retina display in the forthcoming model. For both the new iPad and iPad mini models, Kuo sees component shipments ramping up through the end of this quarter, with mass production gearing up in the fourth quarter of the year, in line with previous expectations for a fall launch.

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 - Tablets - CNET Reviews

BERLIN -- With eight-core processing power and 3GB of RAM hidden under its louche leather-look frame, the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 Edition) could be the most powerful tablet ever made.
The new Note 10.1 for 2014 was unveiled alongside the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Gear smartwatch at technology trade show IFA in Berlin. Like the Note 3, the Note 10.1 sports a svelte new leather-effect rear casing edged with stitching -- perhaps a riposte to the criticism drawn by the glossy plastic back of previous Notes and the Galaxy S4.

Wednesday, September 04, 2013

How Microsoft Always Seems To Be Behind Apple | Mac360

Way back in the day, Apple created the Mac and Mac OS, an easier way to compute. It took Microsoft 10 years of trying, and the result was Windows 95, and Apple dangling from a cliff.

Microsoft copied Apple’s Mac OS as much as it could. Bill Gates knew the future was the GUI.

Apple without Steve Jobs languished and nearly died. Microsoft won. Apple lost. Steve Jobs returned. Microsoft went to sleep while Jobs and Apple invented the future of personal computing– mobile devices to use, love, and cherish.

From the time Steve Jobs cut a financial deal with Microsoft and locked in Office for Mac for a few years, Microsoft fell asleep. After all, who was left to copy? Apple was near dead.

Then, in short order, almost as if on a schedule, Apple invented the future of mobile devices. Classy stores with well arranged products to be demonstrated, touched, held, and purchased.

More Disruptions
Then along came the iPod. The iTunes Music Store. The iPhone. The iPhone App Store. The iPad.

Sunday, September 01, 2013

NYTimes: Who Will Prosper in the New World

How to Turn Your Nexus 7 Tablet into a Phone for Free Calls & Text Messages « Nexus 7 softModder

Your Nexus 7 may be a tablet, but it can also be used as a phone, thanks to the continued upswing of VoIP applications, which send voice and media messages over the Internet—not over a cellular network.

Leaked documents detail broad reach of US cyberoperations | Politics and Law - CNET News

US spy agencies carried out 231 offensive cyberattacks in 2011, primarily targeted at Iran, Russia, North Korea, and China, The Washington Post reports.