Topics

176

Living Room / Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Powers

« on: September 28, 2012, 08:52 PM »

US House Renews Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Powers

The US House has voted to reauthorize the FISA Amendments Act of 2008.
The Act authorizes surveillance programs intended to target foreign
agents, but allows collection of private communications of US
citizens without individualized suspicion. In May 2012, EPIC
Executive Director Marc Rotenberg testified before the House Judiciary
Committee on the legislation and recommended new oversight procedures.
The Senate has yet to consider the measure. EPIC recently submitted a
"Friend of the Court" brief to the US Supreme Court in Clapper v.
Amnesty International USA, a case involving the FISA Amendments Act. 


US House:  Vote on FISA Amendments Act
   http://thomas.loc.go...uery/z?d112:h.r.5949:

US House:  FISA Amendments Act of 2008
   http://epic.org/redi...amendments-2008.html

US House:  Testimony of EPIC's Marc Rotenberg on FISA (May 31, 2012)
  http://epic.org/redi...-fisa-testimony.html

US House:  House Judiciary Committee
   http://judiciary.house.gov/

EPIC et al.: "Friend of the Court" Brief in Clapper (Sept. 24, 2012)
http://epic.org/amic...PIC-Amicus-Brief.pdf

EPIC:  Clapper v. Amnesty Int'l USA
http://epic.org/amicus/fisa/clapper/

EPIC:   Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
    http://epic.org/privacy/terrorism/fisa/

177

Living Room / Internet Privacy Law Intact

« on: September 28, 2012, 08:50 PM »

=======================================================================
Senate Leaves Internet Privacy Law Intact
=======================================================================

A Senate Committee has left a key Internet privacy law intact after
a last-minute protest by law enforcement agencies.The National District
Attorneys' Association and the National Sheriffs' Association were
concerned about a provision in the amendment requiring law
enforcement to obtain search warrants before accessing files stored in
the cloud. The VPPA updates were championed by Netflix and other
providers of streaming video content; in the proposed ruling, companies
could obtain blanket consent from consumers over the
use of their data.

The Video Privacy Protection Act was passed in 1988 in reaction to
public disclosure of then-Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork's video
rental records. In 2011, the US House passed HR 2471, a bill similar
to the current Senate proposal, which also would allow companies to
obtain blanket consent to disclose consumer video viewing records.

In testimony before the Senate in January, EPIC strongly opposed the
amendment and instead recommended changes to provide greater safeguards
for Internet users. EPIC Executive Director Marc Rotenberg urged the
Senate not to adopt HR 2471 because the amendment "undermines meaningful
consent" and does not protect consumer privacy.  Rotenberg also warned
that once Netflix users give the company blanket permission to disclose
their information, Netflix could divulge this information to any party
- including law enforcement - at any time. EPIC's testimony underscored
that the 1988 Video Privacy Protection Act was a "smart, forward-
looking, technology neutral" privacy law that could be modernized to
ensure protection of "the collection and use of personal information by
companies offering new video services."

Meanwhile, a federal court in California has held that the VPPA protects
the privacy of Hulu subscribers. As the court explained, "Congress was
concerned with protecting the confidentiality of private information
about viewing preferences regardless of the business model or media
format involved."


Senate Judiciary Committee:  Hearing on VPPA Amendment (Sept. 20, 2012)
http://epic.org/redi...te-vppa-hearing.html

US House:  Amendment to the VPPA (HR 2471)
   http://thomas.loc.go...ery/z?d112:h.r.02471:

EPIC:  Testimony Before US Senate on VPPA (Jan. 31, 2012)
http://epic.org/priv...e-VPPA-Testimony.pdf

US District Court of CA:  In Re Hulu Privacy Litigation (Aug. 10, 2012)
http://epic.org/priv...n-Mot-To-Dismiss.pdf

EPIC:  Video Privacy Protection Act of 1988
   http://epic.org/privacy/vppa/

Video Privacy Protection Act of 1988
   http://www.law.corne.../uscode/18/2710.html

EPIC:  Letter to Rep. Mel Watt (D-NC) re: HR 2471 (Dec. 5, 2011)
   http://epic.org/priv...-on-HR-2471-VPPA.pdf

178

Living Room / Electronic surveillance by US agencies

« on: September 28, 2012, 08:06 PM »

ACLU: Electronic surveillance by US agencies skyrocketing

U.S. law enforcement surveillance of email and other Internet communication has skyrocketed in the last two years, according to data obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union.

http://www.pcworld.c...es-skyrocketing.html

179

Living Room / Computer Rental Places Spying on Customers

« on: September 28, 2012, 08:00 PM »

[ Ordered to stop!!!  They should have been prosecuted!!!]

Computer Rental Places Forced to Stop Spying on Customers
 Imagine having a rental computer in your home and knowing that the company renting you the device has spyware installed on the machine that logs your every keystroke, and even takes photos of you doing whatever it is you're doing in the room. This is the reality for over 420,000 customers of seven different computer rental companies. Photos of them in various stages of dress, their children, and even sexual encounters were transmitted to these stores in order to help them collect on debts. Not only that, but passwords and other things typed by the customers were also logged and transmitted, often revealing personal and unchecked information about their customers to whatever employee came across it. Seven rent-to-own companies were placed under investigation and ultimately forced to stop using this spyware on their customers by the FTC (Federal Trade Commission).

http://www.lockergno...spying-on-customers/

180

Living Room / Government spies on Twitter

« on: September 28, 2012, 07:53 PM »

US Government Spies on Citizens' Twitter Accounts
 A biannual transparency report released by Twitter covering the first half of 2012 revealed some enlightening intelligence about government information requests on the social network. In this report, Twitter outlined a number of different information, copyright, and content removal requests received over a six-month span between January and June of 2012. Of the 849 government-issued user information requests made in 2012, the United States topped the chart at 679. Japan, which claims 98 of these requests, is a distant second, with third place at a tie of 11 between Canada and the United Kingdom. These requests, some of which include multiple Twitter accounts, were honored by Twitter in 75% of the cases relating to the United States. The other 25% failed to meet criteria required by Twitter to release information on its users. These requirements include narrow information parameters and the naming of specific twitter account(s) where more information is needed. If a user disputes an information request after Twitter notifies them, then the request may be denied or delayed on those grounds.

http://www.lockergno...-request-government/

181

Living Room / SpammerScammer

« on: September 16, 2012, 07:34 PM »

  Here's something to get even with the scumbag scammers of the world.  Whenever you get a scam email attempting to part your hard earned money into the hands of a worthless scumbag, go to this website and enter the scammers email address and the subject line of the email.  The scumbag will then be bombarded with fake emails, making it harder for him/her to actually be successful in hooking someone.  Do read the contents of the site, if you abuse it you WILL be banned.....

http://scammerspammer.com/attack.php

182

Found Deals and Discounts / aShampoo Burning Studio 11

« on: September 02, 2012, 07:27 PM »

I just happened to come across this last night, and sure was glad too. This is a highly recommended suite, I just bought aShampoo Burning Studio version 11 last night. I've been using their products for years now. For the next two days both version 10 and 11 are 80% off, as with everything else they sell!!!!! V10 is selling for $7.99 and version 11 for $9.99. Kind of hard to pass up on a deal like that...Check out their other software for 80% off too.....

aShampoo

183

Developer's Corner / EFF

« on: May 03, 2012, 06:30 PM »

  I'm a dues paying member of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).  So this is for all you coders out there:

EFF works tirelessly to protect programmers and developers engaged in cutting-edge tech exploration through our Coders' Rights Project.

To help get the word out, we're introducing a new Coders' Rights List with a short video, which could just be the coolest video about hackers, cats and robots you will see all day.

https://supporters.eff.org/lists

Funny video:
http://www.youtube.c...amp;feature=youtu.be

184

General Software Discussion / Program not retaining configuration

« on: April 30, 2012, 08:23 PM »

  Got a mind twister that I'm working on and thought I'd post it here for any idea's.  I'm using XP SP3.
  I use a RAM and Cache optimizer called MemTurbo4.  For some reason, here lately it keeps resetting "Target Free RAM" to 707 Mb, when I had originally set it to 512 Mb.  On every boot it keeps going back to 707.  I uninstalled it, cleaned out my registry, then re-installed it, but it still keeps resetting to 707.  If I make changes, exit and restart it, it's back to 707 again.
  I went through the registry and every setting in there has 512, even when it's defaulted to 707.  I think it started doing this after the last MS update, which is pretty much normal, almost every update I have to go through the system and fix stuff like this.  Any idea's to why it keeps doing this?  I've used this program for years without a problem until recently.
  BTW, I went through the tech support for this software, which was bought out by another company, and they couldn't offer any help.  They didn't know their ass from a hole in the ground, but yet they still sell this program.  It is an awesome program, but I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND anyone buy MemTurbo4 just for this reason....No tech support 

185

Living Room / Official DonationCoder song

« on: December 18, 2010, 07:23 PM »

  You've got to hear the official song of DonationCoder....   

(Taken from PCWorld newsletter....)

Listen To Your Webpage Code
Ever wonder what your favorite Website sounds like? Codeorgan reads a
Webpage's HTML and converts it into a musical melody. Some pages sound great
(try PCWorld.com), while others sound like a band that has had a little too
much to drink (I'm looking at you MySpace).
http://www.codeorgan.com/

  The best one I've heard so far is http://www.thatscomedy.com/default.htm

186

Post New Requests Here / Website toolbar blocker

« on: November 10, 2010, 07:09 PM »

  On some websites like Lockergnome, there's a toolbar that pops up on the bottom of every page.  It has shortcuts to Google, Facebook, Twitter, and a buttload more.  The problem is even if you minimize the toolbar, if you go to another page on the site the toolbar pops up again.
  To me it's nothing but a pain in the ass that gets in the way.  I'd LOVE to see an addon for IE8 (Avant front end) that would prevent this nuisance from popping up....

  Any takers?

187

General Software Discussion / Services

« on: April 21, 2010, 08:50 PM »

OK Brainiacs, what's the best way to delete a service?  I uninstalled a program that left a service, and in Administrative Tools - Services, you can only get the properties, start/stop/etc.  I want to make this service go away..... 

188

General Software Discussion / Hard Drive Repair

« on: September 03, 2009, 08:44 PM »

  I've been using Norton Disk Doctor to repair file/hard drive errors for years.  Since I've gone to XP and NTFS I see that Disk Doctor has lost a lot of functionality and has little "quirks".  I don't know if this is because of the way NTFS works or just because Norton started going down hill since Symantec got involved.
  Anyhow, I never hear any mention of disk repair utilities like Disk Doctor.  Are there better hard drive repair utilities out there, or is NTFS limited in some way?

189

Post New Requests Here / USB Info

« on: December 23, 2008, 09:14 PM »

Anyone know of a "freebie" that will identify your USB ports as USB 1.0 or 2.0?  I've seen several that show you what's hooked up to the port, but not the actual port speed.....

190

Post New Requests Here / Caller ID

« on: November 07, 2008, 09:26 PM »

  Out of all the freeware apps available, why isn't there a simple caller ID app that does one thing and one thing only, pop up a small window with caller ID information and perhaps the options to hang up (dialup) or ignore?
  I've tested a few apps (freeware & shareware that supposedly had this option, but they didn't work as advertised or just didn't get along with the rest of the OS.
  I have an app like that which came with my modem (Modem On Hold), but for some reason it stopped showing the caller ID info after SP1 (XP Home), it jut pops up a blank window.  Of course this app was written for 98 & ME and there isn't any kind of update for it that I can find.....

191

General Software Discussion / Max Alert = Max Ripoff

« on: December 07, 2007, 09:52 PM »

  On 10/4/2006 I ordered Max Alert Registry Cleaner over the internet.  One year later it came up with a message stating that I had to register it and input a new registration number.  I attempted several times to do this but it only took me to a subscription page.  I didn't want to upgrade the program, just use the registry cleaner that I paid for.
  I contacted Max Alert's customer service and they told me that in order to continue using it I had to pay them again for a subscription.
  I read 3 reviews on this software, including on their own web site and there was no mention of a yearly subscription, in which I told them this.  They sent me a copy of an order page (not mine) showing at the very bottom was a blurb saying "This is one year subscription and Electronic delivery only".
  I never saw this on the order page, and find it very sneaky to put this on the order page to begin with, if it was indeed there.  I researched everything about this software before purchasing it, and even the reviews from other web sites didn't mention a subscription.  This software does not have to access their web site in order to run.
  If I had of seen this subscription notice I would have thought it would be for future updates, which I wouldn't be concerned about since it's only a registry cleaner and not an anti-virus or anti-spyware/malware program that has to be constantly updated and would require a subscription.
  These people are putting the screws to a lot of people, especially hiding the fact that it's a one year subscription service on the order page (if it existed in the first place) and not on the FAQ page.   

192

Coding Snack Guidelines / Caller ID

« on: April 29, 2007, 09:11 PM »

  OK, how about a Caller ID app for a V.92 modem, perhaps one that can give you the option of putting the internet on hold while you take a call or Ignoring it.
  There are a few commercial programs like this, but they are either bloated with other non-essentials, cost way too much, or just don't work worth a toot.....

193

Mini-Reviews by Members / SlickRun

« on: March 11, 2007, 09:11 PM »

  I've been using SlickRun for over 6 months now, and I don't know how I ever lived without it.
  SlickRun is a free floating command line utility for Windows. SlickRun gives you almost instant access to any program or website. SlickRun allows you to create command aliases (known as MagicWords), so C:\Program Files\Outlook Express\msimn.exe becomes MAIL.
Enter a web URL into SlickRun and it will launch your browser and navigate to the specified address. Run multiple programs in a few keystrokes, jot a note, look up a definition... SlickRun is the most natural way to interact with your computer. 

  Unlike a hotkey program that has limits, with SlickRun you hit the Windows & Q keys and a floating command line, which is totally configurable, comes up.  Now all you have to do is type in the first letter of the program you want to run (or more letters, depending on how many programs that start out with the same letters) and it automatically fills in the rest of the name for you, hit enter and your program is ran.  You can even configure it to play any sound when a program is ran.  (Mine is configured to say "Program loaded and ready")

  I gave up all the hotkey programs I have ever used for this.  SlickRun will never run out of hotkeys, because there are none, the first to three letters that you type will run the program you want.

  And best of all, it's free, Fast and tiny, only 170Kb.  The Bayden website has several more freebies, but I haven't checked any of them out.

System Requirements
Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista
32 mb memory
2 mb disk space

Find it here:
http://www.bayden.com/SlickRun/