Archive for August, 2012
Laid-Off US Workers Are Taking Huge Pay Cuts At Their New Jobs
August 26th, 2012“The Great Reession was now entering its third decade, and unemployment was still at a record high. Even the fast-food joints in my neighborhood had a two year waiting list for job applicants.” —Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline Via: AP: The U.S. economic recovery hasn’t felt much like one even for people who managed […]
Lancaster Police Continuously Track Activity with Aerial Video
August 26th, 2012Via: Los Angeles Times: The residents of Lancaster probably didn’t notice it, but a small Cessna aircraft on Friday flew high above the desert city, capturing hours of video and ushering in a new era in law enforcement surveillance. The plane, equipped with sophisticated video equipment, is set fly a loop above the city for […]
TSA Chatdowns
August 26th, 2012Via: The Blaze: Can the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) pull you out of line without any rational reason, quiz you on where you are going and why? And if you choose not to answer, does that make you “hostile?” One newspaper writer from the Midwest found out the answers to those questions on Monday when […]
Windows 8 Tells Microsoft About Everything You Install
August 25th, 2012Via: Nadim Kobeissi: Windows 8 has a new featured called Windows SmartScreen, which is turned on by default. Windows SmartScreen’s purpose is to “screen” every single application you try to install from the Internet in order to inform you whether it’s safe to proceed with installing it or not. Here’s how SmartScreen works: You download […]
California Approves Location Privacy Act: ‘Get a Warrant’
August 25th, 2012Via: ZDnet: A new bill designed to require law enforcement to obtain a warrant before collecting any GPS or location data from a cellphone or smartphone has been passed by California state legislators. The Location Privacy Bill 2012, which was co-sponsored by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), received […]
The Cheapest Generation
August 25th, 2012Via: The Atlantic: The largest generation in American history might never spend as lavishly as its parents did—nor on the same things. Since the end of World War II, new cars and suburban houses have powered the world’s largest economy and propelled our most impressive recoveries. Millennials may have lost interest in both. … The […]
SSD Performance with TrueCrypt
August 25th, 2012Using CrystalDiskMark, I checked the speed of my OCZ Vertex 4 before and after I applied full disk encryption with TrueCrypt. I used AES-256 with no wipe. The performance hit is pretty substantial. The full disk encryption makes the SSD run between 18% and 39%[!] slower, depending on the metric. I know that some of […]
Australia: Bribes Related to Currency Printing
August 24th, 2012Via: Testosterone Pit: Central banks are designed to be “independent,” and they shroud themselves in secrecy. But they have formidable and, when it comes to money, “unlimited” powers that they harness for the benefit of their clientele, banks. And hiding behind their veil of secrecy are shenanigans that rarely seep to the surface, but when […]
Lesson from Iceland: Let Bondholders Eat Losses
August 24th, 2012I’m surprised that these admissions came from the IMF, which routinely promotes the types of absurd policies that lead to the economic crisis in the first place. If investors want to roll the dice on some country’s sovereign debt, and that stuff blows up, in any sane world they should take the hit and not […]
Could Microsoft Be This Cunning?
August 24th, 2012Update: Microsoft Will Allow Downgrades From Windows 8 to Windows 7, Vista Via: PC World: Microsoft will allow users of Windows 8 Pro to downgrade their new PCs to Windows 7 or even Vista, according to the operating system’s licensing agreement. Not surprisingly, users may not downgrade to the still-used-but-slated-for-retirement Windows XP. Downgrade rights — […]
