technology

Finally…a beer that won’t give you a hangover

"Scientists have created a beer which could finally put an end to the dreaded hangover. The beer has been created by a team of researchers in Australia who say it prevents drinkers from becoming dehydrated. They have added electrolytes - an ingredient in sports drinks - which helps to keep them refreshed. However, inevitably, some may feel there is a downside to the new drink. In order to create it, they have had to reduce the alcohol content. The team also said that despite adding the electrolytes, it did not effect the taste of the drinks. Hangovers are caused by several factors but dehydration is known to be one of the biggest causes." Continue reading →

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Obama administration asks Supreme Court to allow warrantless cellphone searches

"If the police arrest you, do they need a warrant to rifle through your cellphone? Courts have been split on the question. Last week the Obama administration asked the Supreme Court to resolve the issue and rule that the Fourth Amendment allows warrantless cellphone searches. But as the storage capacity of cellphones rises, that position could become harder to defend. Our smart phones increasingly contain everything about our digital lives: our e-mails, text messages, photographs, browser histories and more. It would be troubling if the police had the power to get all that information with no warrant merely by arresting a suspect." Continue reading →

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US court rules that IP cloaking to access blocked sites violates CFAA law

"The legal dispute began in July 2012 when Craigslist sent a cease-and-desist letter to apartment listing app PadMapper, claiming it was violating the site's terms of service by scraping apartment rental information from the online classifieds site. Craigslist argued that the 3Taps' subterfuge violated the CFAA, which prohibits the intentional access of a computer without authorization that results in the capture of information from a protected computer. The 1984 law, which was invoked in the federal prosecution against late Internet activist Aaron Swartz, has been criticized as overly broad." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUS court rules that IP cloaking to access blocked sites violates CFAA law

US court rules that IP cloaking to access blocked sites violates CFAA law

"The legal dispute began in July 2012 when Craigslist sent a cease-and-desist letter to apartment listing app PadMapper, claiming it was violating the site's terms of service by scraping apartment rental information from the online classifieds site. Craigslist argued that the 3Taps' subterfuge violated the CFAA, which prohibits the intentional access of a computer without authorization that results in the capture of information from a protected computer. The 1984 law, which was invoked in the federal prosecution against late Internet activist Aaron Swartz, has been criticized as overly broad." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUS court rules that IP cloaking to access blocked sites violates CFAA law

Decline and Fall: The Second Stage is Anger

"Not too long ago, I predicted that if I live to the average American male lifespan of 76 — I’m 46 now — I’ll have outlived the United States as we know it. At the time, I feared I was being over-optimistic, but lately I’m leaning the other way and thinking that my timetable may have been unduly timid. The recent temper tantrums of the American political class and its toadies abroad bring to mind an old saying (incorrectly attributed to Gandhi) — 'first they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win' — and the Kubler-Ross model of grief. Our would-be masters appear to have moved forward from 'denial' to 'anger' in a big way." Continue reading →

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‘Guardian’ editor: Destroying hard drives allowed us to continue NSA coverage

"Alan Rusbridger, the Guardian editor-in-chief, has said that the destruction of computer hard drives containing information provided by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden allowed the paper to continue reporting on the revelations instead of surrendering the material to UK courts. Rusbridger told BBC Radio 4′s The World at One on Tuesday that he agreed to the 'slightly pointless' task of destroying the devices – which was overseen by two GCHQ officials at the Guardian’s headquarters in London – because the newspaper is in possession of digital copies outside Britain." Continue reading →

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Schedule 7 and the detention of David Miranda

"One of the most troubling aspects of Section 7 is that the UK government is using it to seize computers and mobile phones of travellers without cause, and retain the data indefinitely. The UK justifies its actions as a natural extension of its powers to examine a traveller's paper documents. But mobile electronic devices carry so much more intimate information about us than we would have previously hauled around in our luggage. Everything from a list of contacts, to photos of loved ones, to financial and medical documents, to trade secrets might be contained on a traveller's computer." Continue reading →

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David Miranda: I was treated like a threat to the United Kingdom

"David Miranda, the partner of the Guardian journalist who broke stories of mass surveillance by the US National Security Agency, has accused Britain of a 'total abuse of power' for interrogating him for almost nine hours at Heathrow under the Terrorism Act. In his first interview since returning to his home in Rio de Janeiro early on Monday, Miranda said the authorities in the UK had pandered to the US in trying to intimidate him and force him to reveal the passwords to his computer and mobile phone. During that time, he said, he was not allowed to call his partner, who is a qualified lawyer in the US, nor was he given an interpreter." Continue reading →

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“The Internet Police” Shines a Light on the Online Surveillance State

"When Ars Technica editor Nate Anderson sat down to write The Internet Police, Edward Snowden hadn’t yet decided to add some excitement to the National Security Agency’s summer by leaking a trove of surveillance secrets to The Guardian. As a result, Anderson’s book doesn’t mention Snowden’s escapade, which will likely become the security-and-paranoia story of the year, if not the decade. However, The Internet Police is a handy guide to the slow and unstoppable rise of the online security state, as well as the libertarian and criminal elements that have done their level best to counter that surveillance." Continue reading →

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