(via Boing Boing)
According to the filings in Blake J Robbins v Lower Merion School District (PA) et al, the laptops issued to high-school students in the well-heeled Philly suburb have webcams that can be covertly activated by the schools’ administrators, who have used this facility to spy on students and even their families. The issue came to light when the Robbins’s child was disciplined for “improper behavior in his home” and the Vice Principal used a photo taken by the webcam as evidence. The suit is a class action, brought on behalf of all students issued with these machines.
Absolutely gobsmacked.
I can’t even begin to imagine how that school thought that idea was okay. How many students would have gotten changed in front of their laptops in their bedroom, had private conversations with friends and family… The amount of personal information that they could have inadvertently divulged…
Friday February 19, 2010 @ 1522
An 8 year old boy, born less than a month before 9/11, has to deal with getting frisked at the airport and screenings. He had his first pat down at age 2. All because he shares the same name as someone on the TSA No-Fly list.
Meanwhile, another man sick of being detained for hours and questioned because he shares the same name as someone on the watchlist, simply ended this slow torture at the hands of airport staff by changing his name. Others deliberately misspell their own name when they buy tickets to avoid getting picked up for having a name-twin.
With such rigid measures that can be circumvented by typos and legal name changes, it hardly seems surprising that Pants On Fire managed to get on a plane.
Friday January 15, 2010 @ 2213
"First, it’s fast – there’s almost no line. That’s because they’re not looking for liquids, they’re not looking at your shoes. They’re not looking for everything they look for in North America. They just look at you,” said Sela. “Even today with the heightened security in North America, they will check your items to death. But they will never look at you, at how you behave. They will never look into your eyes … and that’s how you figure out the bad guys from the good guys."
—
What Israel can teach us about security - thestar.com
Excellent article about airport security. Would love to read the “They just look at you” criteria.
(via cjn) (via david-noel)
This really is interesting.
(via theresalighton)
Incredibly interesting. And very Lie to Me*. But it makes sense, doesn’t it. The behaviour and the eye contact…
Sunday January 03, 2010 @ 0945
A woman’s home was burgled and then the burglar posted to her facebook to gloat (via Unplugged).
From the Telegraph:
Victoria Richardson, 42, from Hove, East Sussex, was burgled last week, losing an iPhone, a Nintendo DS games console, a handbag containing a purse, cash and debit cards and a black Toshiba laptop.
Ms Richardson said: “I felt very spooked. I have never felt like that before. It felt like they were rubbing my nose in it.
“They have been in your physical space, and then they are in your online space. My friends could all see what they were writing so it was really degrading.
The callous thief then mocked the fact they had left Victoria’s television because it was ‘rubbish’, adding: “I have the laptop , phones ok but a bit scratched itll do, tv was rubbish so I left it , ds was a bonus, now to the porn shop, thankyou toshiba is my favourite make”.
As if having your home violated isn’t bad enough… What an arseholey thing to do.
Although, it isn’t as though the guy stole her internet connection. Sure it’s a long shot, but where would they have connected to the internet from? I wonder if they contacted Facebook for the logged in IP when the message was posted…
Wednesday August 19, 2009 @ 1816
![A new paint containing aluminium-iron oxide has been developed in Japan which will keep your unsecured wireless signal within your home, thereby preventing people from wardriving and piggybacking your wireless network. A “poorman’s security solution”.
So, you can either buy gallons of paint and paint your entire house to secure your home network from outsiders… OR you could just learn to remember your password[1].
Aside from that, the paint will also more than likely prevent you from getting a signal for your mobile phone.
[1] If you have trouble remembering passwords you don’t have to completely unsecure your network or set your password to something incredibly simple (or use paint). Just use normal memory aids that you might use for other things (remember studying days?) like mnemonics, or create a sentence that you’ll always remember and take the first or last letter of each word and exchange some letters for numbers…
Secure doesn’t have to be hard.](http://27.media.tumblr.com/RloupWM74j7jl0wtpq1BPgi7o1_500.jpg)
A new paint containing aluminium-iron oxide has been developed in Japan which will keep your unsecured wireless signal within your home, thereby preventing people from wardriving and piggybacking your wireless network. A “poorman’s security solution”.
So, you can either buy gallons of paint and paint your entire house to secure your home network from outsiders… OR you could just learn to remember your password[1].
Aside from that, the paint will also more than likely prevent you from getting a signal for your mobile phone.
[1] If you have trouble remembering passwords you don’t have to completely unsecure your network or set your password to something incredibly simple (or use paint). Just use normal memory aids that you might use for other things (remember studying days?) like mnemonics, or create a sentence that you’ll always remember and take the first or last letter of each word and exchange some letters for numbers…
Secure doesn’t have to be hard.
Tuesday January 27, 2009 @ 1117
Key duplication can now be achieved by just using a photo and software developed by UC San Diego researchers.
They warn that people should treat their keys like their credit cards and drivers license and be more aware of where these other personal ‘details’ are being published.
Tuesday November 11, 2008 @ 0824
