Government

Thu
12
Apr
Dennis Faas's picture

Big Brother is Watching: Talking Cameras invade Britain

British Homeland Security has put a new spin on video surveillance. By introducing CCTV cameras equipped with loudspeakers, security staff may now verbally berate those seen committing crimes. The cameras will have a two-way speaker system that ... allows staff to talk and respond directly to the perpetrator. The British government has high expectations for the talking cameras, because many believe that their presence will deter those considering breaking the law at the risk of public embarrassment. British Homeland Security forces have already reported a significant decline in crime rates in the ... (view more)

Wed
14
Mar
Dennis Faas's picture

More Federal Agencies Delay Migration to Vista

Last week we reported how the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration imposed a moratorium on users migrating to Windows Vista, Internet Explorer 7 and Office 2007 citing no compelling reasons to upgrade at this time. ... Federal Computer Week is reporting that more Federal Agencies are delaying the migration to Windows Vista. The Interior Department, including the Army and the Transportation Department are developing implementation policies and say they need to complete their testing of Vista before switching over from older working systems already in place. A draft ... (view more)

Thu
08
Mar
Dennis Faas's picture

U.S. DOT bans Vista, IE 7 and Office 2007

Recently, Information week obtained a memo citing concerns over cost and compatibility issues by the federal U.S. Department Of Transportation (DOT) in January 2007, prohibiting thousands of federal workers from upgrading to Windows Vista, Internet ... Explorer 7 (IE7) and Office 2007. The DOT's Chief Information Officer (CIO) placed an "indefinite moratorium" on the upgrades since "there appears to be no compelling technical or business case for upgrading to these Microsoft software products. Furthermore, there appears to be specific reasons not to upgrade." "Microsoft Vista, Office 2007, and ... (view more)

Tue
16
Jan
Dennis Faas's picture

US Warns: Canadian Spy Coins Amist

Attention, Canadian Residents: Those Loonies and Toonies ($1 and $2 coins) jingling around in your pocket may include more than just bronze and metal. Tiny radio frequency transmitters have been found inside Canadian coins, according to a recent ... U.S. intelligence report. This all sounds like something out of a spy movie -- and like any good espionage thriller, the facts of this case are a mystery wrapped in a riddle. This is what the report *didn't* say: The coins are from Canada, but the U.S. government isn't saying (or doesn't know) who's doing the tracking -- or why. How the Pentagon ... (view more)

Fri
10
Nov
Dennis Faas's picture

RCMP Warns: School Boards Must Prohibit Student Information from Websites

Students attending institutions in Canada may no longer have to fear that their personal information is easily accessible to potentially harmful individuals. As part of the new Public School Network Access and Use Policy, school and school board ... websites in Canada are to refrain from including the names and images of all students. The policy also regulates how Internetand email are used by schools and school boards and have unanimously agreed that most websites leave their students prone to corruption by unwanted users. (Source: herald.ns.ca ) Representatives of the policy have admitted that ... (view more)

Fri
03
Nov
Dennis Faas's picture

Chinese Youth Addicted to Internet: Government Warns, Considers Ban

Imagine a world where minors can have their online game sessions legally ended after a fixed amount of playtime. Envision a place where psychiatric clinics are available to wean children away from compulsive Internet use. Picture a country that bans ... its youth from Internet cafes. Welcome to China. The psych wards are already open, Internet cafes may soon be closed to children in China if legislation passes, and Chinese Parliament is currently considering technology to shut down a minor's online game access after the designated quantity of time has passed. (Source: physorg.com ) The Reason ... (view more)

Sat
29
Jul
Dennis Faas's picture

MySpace: Online Recruiting for the U.S. Marines

The United States Marine Corps is using MySpace.com, the web's most popular social network, to recruit new prospects. Since the launch of the Marine Corps profile in January, over 12,000 MySpace users have added the Marine Corps to their list of ... online friends, and as many as 430 people have completed online applications on the Marine Corps website. (Source: news.com ) Changing the Way Youth Communicate MySpace has changed the face of socialization for many teens and twenty-something's. The Web-based community has over 94 million registered users that post personal profiles and communicate ... (view more)

Thu
02
Feb
Dennis Faas's picture

Google Says 'NO' to US Government Request to Hand Over Search Data

When the U.S. Government requested search data from the web giants, Yahoo! and MSN said "yes" and Google said "no," forcing the matter into the courts. The government's position is that this request would aid in its efforts "to understand the ... behavior of current web users, to estimate how often web users encounter harmful-to-minors material in the course of their searches, and to measure the effectiveness of filtering in screening that material." Additionally, the government wants to know what "web sites people find through the use of search engines, to determine the character of those sites ... (view more)

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