Yearly Archives: 2013

NSA slides: Steve Jobs Is ‘Big Brother’ And Smartphone Users Are ‘Zombies’

"A private individual referring to iPhone customers as 'zombies' is one thing. The NSA doing it is quite another. People who don't take an active effort to protect their information are being labeled as sub-human by a government agency. If these smartphones users don't care about the data they're leaking, then they really don't have an 'expectation of privacy' to be steamrolled. That's the argument. As Der Spiegel puts it, the agency is arguing that the smartphone-buying public is 'complicit in its own surveillance.' But they aren't, as one recent decision on acquiring cell phone location data without a warrant pointed out." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNSA slides: Steve Jobs Is ‘Big Brother’ And Smartphone Users Are ‘Zombies’

How to foil NSA sabotage: use a dead man’s switch

"It doesn't really matter if you trust the 'good' spies not to abuse their powers (though even the NSA now admits to routine abuse, you should still be wary of deliberately weakened security. It is laughable to suppose that the back doors that the NSA has secretly inserted into common technologies will only be exploited by the NSA. There are plenty of crooks, foreign powers, and creeps who devote themselves to picking away patiently at the systems that make up the world and guard its wealth and security (that is, your wealth and security) and whatever sneaky tools the NSA has stashed for itself in your operating system, hardware, applications and services, they will surely find and exploit." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHow to foil NSA sabotage: use a dead man’s switch

California poised to implement first electronic license plates

"The idea is that rather than have a static piece of printed metal adorned with stickers to display proper registration, the plate would be a screen that could wirelessly (likely over a mobile data network) receive updates from a central server to display that same information. In an example shown by a South Carolina vendor, messages such as 'STOLEN,' 'EXPIRED,' or something similar could also be displayed on a license plate. A South Carolina company, Compliance Innovations, did not immediately respond to Ars’ request for comment. Smart Plate Mobile’s founder, Michael Jordan, declined to speak to Ars." Continue reading →

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Why Cash Costs the U.S. Economy Real Money

"With all the buzz about Bitcoin, PayPal (EBAY), Google Wallet (GOOG), and all the other innovations in digital currencies, it’s easy to forget that cash remains remarkably resilient. In part, that’s because the cost of using it is often hidden to the users themselves. Chakravorti, along with co-author Benjamin Mazzotta, says that’s especially true for those who don’t even have a bank account. The unbanked are four times more likely to pay fees to get their own money, yet are also more likely to trust cash and feel comfortable carrying around large amounts." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhy Cash Costs the U.S. Economy Real Money

Crypto prof asked to remove NSA-related blog post

"What I've been told is that someone on the APL [Johns Hopkins' Applied Physics Laboratory—motto: 'Enhancing national security through science and technology'] side of JHU discovered my blog post and determined that it was hosting/linking to classified documents. This requires a human since I don't believe there's any automated scanner for this process. It's not clear to me whether this request originated at APL or if it came from elsewhere. All I know is that I received an e-mail this morning from the Interim Dean of the Engineering school asking me to take down the post and to desist from using the NSA logo. He also suggested I should seek counsel if I continued." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCrypto prof asked to remove NSA-related blog post

How eBay Could Rescue Bitcoin From the Feds

"There’s another operation that runs both a marketplace where Bitcoins are bought and sold and a fully compliant money-transmitting business that, observers say, could rescue Bitcoin from its biggest problem. That company is eBay, and the money transmitter is its well-known subsidiary, PayPal. Last week, the company posted a Bitcoin explainer to one of its blogs, and it recently added a new 'Virtual Currencies' section to its online marketplace, not too far down the page from 'Hobo Nickels.' Hours after we asked eBay about it, the section was removed, and when we asked Ramirez to explain why, she said she’d look into it and then stopped answering our messages." Continue reading →

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If You’re Still Unimpressed With Bitcoin Wait Until You See This ATM

"Where Bitcoin likely feels intractable for some, RoboCoin brings it into the physical world. Suddenly we're dealing with Bitcoin right in front of us in terms that we understand – it's just like any ATM you've used a thousand times before. It builds a bridge between digital and physical currency. The first RoboCoin kiosk will open later this year in Vancouver and will spread quickly thereafter, according to the plan. CEO Jordan Kelley tells us there's already plenty of interest. Check out the video below to see what a sample transaction looks like." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIf You’re Still Unimpressed With Bitcoin Wait Until You See This ATM

Slovenia Liquidates, Backstops Two Banks to Stave Off Cyprus Fate

"Slovenia liquidated two of its smaller banks, Probanka d.d. and Factor Banka d.d., in a move described by Central Bank Governor Bostjan Jazbec as a preemptive action to avoid the fate of Cyprus. The cost of liquidation of Probanka and Factor Banka will be borne first by owners, followed by holders of subordinated debt, Finance Minister Uros Cufer said at the joint press conference with Jazbec yesterday. Even so, Slovenia will issue state guarantees of 490 million euros for Probanka and 540 million euros for Factor Banka 'that will ensure an unhindered liquidity and normal fulfillment of obligations of both banks to ordinary creditors,' Banka Slovenije said in an e-mailed statement." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSlovenia Liquidates, Backstops Two Banks to Stave Off Cyprus Fate

Record 90.5 Million Out Of Labor Force; Half A Million Drop Out In One Month

"While the Establishment survey data was ugly due to both the miss and the prior downward revisions in the NFP print, the real action was in the Household survey, where we find that the number of people not in the labor force rose by a whopping 516,000 in one month, which in turn increased the total number of people outside the labor force to a record 90.5 million Americans. And what is even worse, the Labor Force Participation Rate declined from 63.4% to 63.2%: the is the lowest print since August 1978! Whether or not this means the Fed will continue QE at this point is largely irrelevant: what is more relevant is that the Fed so far has failed miserably at its core mandate." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRecord 90.5 Million Out Of Labor Force; Half A Million Drop Out In One Month

Personal Retirement Accounts Are Great only if You Can Stop Confiscation

"Most Western nations have huge long-run fiscal problems because of unfavorable demographics and misguided entitlement programs. That’s the bad news. The good news is that dozens of nations have fully or partially shifted to mandatory private savings as a pro-growth way of modernizing bankrupt tax-and-transfer Social Security systems. But good news in the short run doesn’t mean good news in the long run if greedy politicians decide to loot the wealth accumulated in personal retirement accounts. That’s already happened in Argentina and Hungary, and now it’s happened in Poland." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPersonal Retirement Accounts Are Great only if You Can Stop Confiscation