W.H. Collects Web Users’ Data Without Notice
September 18, 2009 by admin
Filed under new world order
The White House is collecting and storing comments and videos placed on its social-networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube without notifying or asking the consent of the site users, a failure that appears to run counter to President Obama’s promise of a transparent government and his pledge to protect privacy on the Internet.
Marc Rotenberg, president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said the White House signaled that it would insist on open dealings with Internet users and, in fact, should feel obliged to disclose that it is collecting such information.
On Facebook, MySpace? White House Has Got Your Email
September 4, 2009 by admin
Filed under new world order
The White House is hiring a contractor to harvest information about Americans from its pages on social networking websites such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr.
The National Legal and Policy Center, or NLPC, revealed the White House New Media team is seeking to hire a technology vendor to collect data such as comments, tag lines, e-mail, audio and video from any place where the White House “maintains a presence” – for a period of up to eight years.
“The contractor shall provide the necessary services to capture, store, extract to approved formats, and transfer content published by EOP Executive Office of the President on publicly-accessible web sites, along with information posted by non-EOP persons on publicly-accessible web sites where the EOP offices under PRA Presidential Records Act maintains a presence,” the posting states.
Human Sperm Created In Lab From Stem Cells
July 7, 2009 by admin
Filed under Stories Of Interest
Women who say they don’t need a man may well be right – after human sperm was created in the lab.
The breakthrough could give hope to infertile couples and men left unable to have children after having cancer treatment.
But don’t worry guys, the scientists who created the sperm using stem cells don’t plan to take you out of the baby-making process just yet.
Judge Bans Bible from Childs Show and Tell
June 2, 2009 by admin
Filed under Stories Of Interest
A U.S. court says a kindergartner’s mother cannot read Scripture during show and tell, even if the Bible is the boy’s favorite book.
Monday’s ruling is a victory for the Marple Newtown School District in suburban Philadelphia.
The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says the school’s decision does not violate First Amendment rights given the nonpublic nature of the classroom and the tender age of the children.
The mother, Donna Kay Busch, argues the students heard stories related to Passover, Christmas and other religious holidays.
The appeals court says there is a “significant difference” between identifying those holidays and reading from Scripture.
Mind-Reading Device Sends Twitter Messages
April 23, 2009 by admin
Filed under Stories Of Interest
Twitter messages are so short — a 140-character limit — that you have to really think about what you want to say.
For Adam Wilson, thinking is all he has to do.
Earlier this month, Wilson thought of a tweet (the name for a post to the social networking site) and poof, his computer read his mind and sent the darn thing. At just 23 characters, Wilson’s message, “using EEG to send tweet,” was done with a computer setup that interprets brain waves.
The technology could one day help patients who otherwise can’t communicate finally talk to the outside world. Among them are people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), brain-stem stroke or high spinal cord injury.
Other mind-reading devices have been developed recently. Other research has suggested brain activity could be monitored before decisions are made, perhaps with a mind-reading hat that would predict what we’ll do. One shines near-infrared light into the noggin to glean thoughts.
Twitter and Facebook Could Harm Moral Values
April 13, 2009 by admin
Filed under Moral Decay
Today’s fast-paced media could be making us indifferent to human suffering and should allow time for us to reflect, according to researchers.
They found that emotions linked to moral sense are slow to respond to news and events and have failed to keep up with the modern world.
In the time it takes to fully reflect on a story of anguish and suffering, the news bulletin has already moved on or the next Twitter update is already being read.
As activities such as reading books and meeting friends, where people can define their morals, are taken over by news snippets and fast-moving social networking, the problem could become widespread, researchers warn.
Children could be particularly vulnerable because their brains are still developing.
“If things are happening too fast, you may not ever fully experience emotions about other people’s psychological states and that would have implications for your morality,” said Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, from the University of Southern California, and one of the researchers.
