It would appear that our beloved ‘moses’,of #hackuk / #2600uk fame, has gone and got himself engaged. Now living in sunny Perth, Australia, moses is set to marry his fiance, Krysty, in November 2007.
So, from everyone at 2600uk.com and the old school crew of Undernet. Congratulations! :D
Slashdot is running a story today sourced from Live Science on the patent application of an Iris Scanning technology that could see large scale deployment in the future for advertising and tracking purposes. For anyone who has seen The Minority Report, this will be a familiar scenario.
From the patent application:
“…a system for obtaining iris biometric information includes an array of cameras defining an image capture volume for capturing an image of an iris; and an image processor, coupled to the array of cameras, for determining at least one suitable iris image for processing from the images generated for the image capture volume … A subject within the capture volume is repeatedly imaged to produce a plurality of images of the subject. The plurality of images are processed to extract at least one clear image of the subject’s iris.”
The usual, and agreeable, Slashdot sceptism can be found on the articles comments page
Robbed from slashdot, philba writes informing us that home theaters may become the new jurisdiction of our MPAA overlords. The MPAA is lobbying to make sure that home users authorize their entertainment systems before any in-home viewings.
From the article: “The MPAA defines a home theater as any home with a television larger than 29″ with stereo sound and at least two comfortable chairs, couch, or futon. Anyone with a home theater would need to pay a $50 registration fee with the MPAA or face fines up to $500,000 per movie shown.”
Original Post : Slashdot - MPAA Goes After Home Entertainment Systems
From the BBC:
Motorists who get stopped by the police could have their fingerprints taken at the roadside, under a new plan to help officers check people’s identities.
A hand-held device being tested by 10 forces in England and Wales is linked to a database of 6.5m prints which police say they will save time because people will no longer have to go to the station to prove their identity. Whilst officers promise prints will not be kept on file but concerns have been raised about civil liberties.
Bedfordshire are the first force to use the equipment, which is being distributed among the forces in Essex, Hertfordshire, Lancashire, North Wales, Northamptonshire, West Midlands and West Yorkshire, as well as to British Transport Police and the Metropolitan Police, over the next two months.
It is primarily aimed at motorists because banned or uninsured drivers often give false names, although pedestrians could also be asked to give prints if they are suspected to have committed an offence.
Police Minister Tony McNulty said:”The new technology will speed up the time it takes for police to identify individuals at the roadside, enabling them to spend more time on the frontline and reducing any inconvenience for innocent members of the public.”
Under the pilot, codenamed Lantern, police officers will be able to check the fingerprints from both index fingers of the suspect - with their permission - against a central computer database, with a response within a few minutes.
“The handheld, capture device is little bigger than a PDA,” said Chris Wheeler, head of fingerprint identification at the Police Information Technology Organisation PITO. “Screening on the street means they [police] can check an identity and verify it.”
Currently an officer has to arrest a person and take them to a custody suite to fingerprint them.
Electronic safeguards
The device will be used with the Automatic Number Plate Recognition team, who identify vehicles of interest.
If a vehicle is stopped, police will be able to identify the driver and passengers. At present about 60% of drivers stopped do not give their true identity.
Inspector Steve Rawlings, based in Luton, said it takes two sets of fingerprints and the fingerprints are not retained.
“The encounter can be 15 minutes on the roadside rather than three hours in the police station,he said.
The device has an accuracy of 94-95% and will be used for identification purposes only, say police, and there are electronic safeguards to prevent misuse.
It sends encrypted data to the national ID system using GPRS - a wireless system used by many mobile phones.
More than 6.5 million fingerprints are cross-referenced and sent back to the officer.
Mark Wallace, who represents the civil liberties group the Freedom Association, told BBC Radio Five Live that he had concerns about the scheme.
“I don’t think we should be reassured by the fact that at the moment it’s voluntary and at the moment they won’t be recorded”, he said.
“Both of those things are actually only happening in the trial because the laws haven’t been passed to do this on a national basis compulsorily and with recording.”
Original Article : BBC News - Police to fingerprint on streets
Help fight for your privacy and freedom at www.no2id.net
A much talked about incident recently occurred in the states, whereby an Iranian-American student at the University of California was tasered up to five times after failing to produce his BruinCard during a random check at the campus library.
Please distribute this video so that we may make an effort to bring those responsible to justice and hope that they are severely reprimanded.
This video has also sparked an interesting debate on Slashdot as to the ubiquity of video phone technology and its roll in todays society. One mans claim has now given rise to a global backing in what could prove to be an important turn in justice issues.
More Information : Original YouTube Posting
Police patrolmen in the Haringey area of London have recently been issued with a new camera system that will enable them to record their surroundings at a full 360 degrees simultaneously.
The new device comprises of 8 small cameras, each about the size of a single AA battery, and can be activated at the flick of a switch.
Detective superintendent Richard Wood said: “Should anyone commit any offences the officers will instantly have the evidence to hand to help them apply for an ASBO or pursue criminal charges. If the cameras prove successful they will be deployed to other units within Haringey and could be used to assist police raids and officers working at football matches.”
Needless to say, at £1,800 a pop, the new units will be an expensive addition to Big Brothers arsenal, and no doubt subjected to the odd misplaced pint glass or two.
At age 17, most of us are out binge drinking and having copious amounts of sex, whilst the rest of us are earning our ASBO’s. So it might come as a shock to you to discover that a teenager from Michigan, USA, has spent his procreation time forming a fusion reactor in his parents cellar.
Thiago Olson, of Stoney Creek High School in Rochester Hills, MI, managed to create his nuclear fusion reactor by pumping 40,000 volts of electricity into a vacuum that had been filled with deuterium gas. The effect, he describes, is “a small intense ball of energy”.
www.fusor.net rates Thiago as the 18th top amateur in the world to create nuclear fusion.
The new U.S. intelligence czar is developing a computer system capable of data-mining huge amounts of information about everyday events to discern patterns that look like terrorist planning. The technology is reminiscent of the axed Total Information Awareness program. Civil liberties and privacy advocates criticized the effort, called Tangram, which is being developed by contractors working for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
Read more about it here.
Now, this isnt exactly “news” on the basis that its not “new” information, however I have been reading about an Airborne Holographic Projector. The holographic projector displays a three-dimensional visual image in a desired location, removed from the display
generator. The projector can be used for psychological operations and strategic perception management. It is also useful for optical deception and cloaking, providing a momentary distraction when engaging an unsophisticated adversary.
There is a pretty good video of the Total Immersion - D’Fusion (DEMO 2004), something thats not a million miles away from the above.
The reason why i am woffling on about this is that i read an “imaginative scenario” that was proposed by the US Air Force (USAF) in 1991 during the Gulf War wherby a huge shimmering face materialises in the sky causing soldiers and citizens to prostrate themselves as each hears the voice of Allah, commanding them to overthrow the evil and treacherous Saddam Hussein.
Cutting to the chase, if you see a face in the sky telling you to do something, think before you do 
Ever the bearer of proprietry software, Microsoft have inadvertantly managed to steal an hour of everyones time.
A bug in Microsofts Exchange Server is set to turn the clocks back a week earlier than anticipated meaning loyal users of Outlook, and the such, will find need to log a call with the much beloved Mulder and Scully as an hour of their day is molested by the Seattle enitities.
The issue occurs as Microsofts Exchange Server handles the yearly change from BST to GMT. However, under the impression that every October is to only have 4 sundays, the program will reset the clocks a week early, as this year, along with 2010, 2011 and 2016, October has 5 sundays.
Microsoft have issued a patch for pre-service pack 2 releases here.