Google wins dismissal of facial recognition lawsuit over biometric privacy act…
December 29, 2018
Google just got an important lawsuit alleging it violated users’ privacy by collecting facial recognition data dismissed by a judge in Chicago. As first reported by Bloomberg, the judge found that the plaintiffs didn’t suffer “concrete injuries.” The Google lawsuit is one of three cases aimed at prominent tech companies that have allegedly violated the United States’ toughest biometric privacy law and it’s the first one to get dismissed.
911 emergency services go down across the US after CenturyLink outage…
December 29, 2018
A nationwide outage for CenturyLink customers, including those trying to reach 911 emergency service, dragged on for the better part of two days before its resolution late Friday.
The outage hit customers of CenturyLink, a phone, internet and TV service provider, in areas including Idaho, New Mexico and Minnesota. The company's site lists residential services in 35 states. It also affected 911 service across the country, prompting nationwide alerts to cellphones.
The Federal Communications Commission said Friday that it's launching an investigation into the disruptions.
India accused of being ‘surveillance state’ after allowing 10 central agencies to snoop on any computer…
December 29, 2018
Bit of a cheek coming from a UK-based newspaper, a country where 50 agencies have such powers. In the UK the Food Standards Agency can do this, as can the Fire Brigade. Local councils have used it to ensure that parents aren't sending their kids to a school in a different area.
Dead musicians are touring again, as holograms. It’s tricky — technologically and legally…
December 29, 2018
In the process, they hope to unlock vast amounts of money in the back catalogues of the 20th Century's biggest artists.
[...]
The technology behind this post-human age of live entertainment is reaching a tipping point, with several companies clamouring — sometimes by way of the courts — to create a hologram performance that can be as engaging as a human one... The technology is cutting edge, but based on old-fashioned theory... The technology is one hurdle, but the law is another.
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In order to put one of these performances on, a hologram tour promoter has to pay to use the entertainer's music. In addition to that, in the US — where Orbison, Elvis and Holiday lived and died — there is also a thing called right to publicity, which gives someone an exclusive right to profit off their likeness. But whether that right extends beyond death, via the person's family or estate, differs from state to state.Another way to make money off of dead people, what a time to be alive!
Here's some suggested names for some of the holograms created by Anons:
- Grateful Undead
- The Jimi Hendrix Re-experience
- The Velvet No-Longer-Underground
- Amy Rewindhouse
- Billie Hologram
- Dead Zeppelin
- Frankenstein Zappa
- The Body Formerly Known As Prince
AP poll shows high job approval for Trump from veterans…
December 29, 2018
That’s according to AP VoteCast, a nationwide survey of more than 115,000 midterm voters — including more than 4,000 current and former service members — conducted for The Associated Press by NORC at the University of Chicago. It found that veterans overall approved of Trump’s job performance, showing high support for the president’s handling of border security and his efforts to make the U.S. safer from terrorism.
Trump makes 2019 federal pay freeze official…
December 29, 2018
Federal employees, about to head into the second week of a partial government shutdown, received another piece of bad news on Friday evening: their pay will be frozen at 2018 levels for the entirety of next year.
President Donald Trump had signaled his intent to hold the line on federal civilian pay in a letter to Congress in late August. But he made the freeze official in an executive order Friday.
Maine governor scribbles ‘stolen election’ on certificate confirming Democrat’s election win…
December 29, 2018
Outgoing Republican Maine Gov. Paul LePage took a swipe on Friday at a Democratic candidate’s victory in a controversial House race, writing “stolen election” next to his signature on the certificate confirming the election result.
LePage certified the victory of Democratic Rep.-elect Jared Golden after Rep. Bruce Poliquin, a two-term Republican congressman, conceded to his opponent on Christmas Eve following a contentious legal challenge.
Brace yourself for a brutal winter: Experts say disruptions in the polar vortex could cause temperatures to plummet in parts of the US…
December 29, 2018
Activity in an Arctic climate pattern could send the polar vortex barreling towards more southern latitudes to envelop parts of North America, Europe, and Asia.
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While there’s still time for things to change, the models currently suggest a split in the high-altitude polar vortex will ring in the New Year, creating the potential for ‘more severe winter weather’ in the Eastern US in the weeks to follow.
Why facial recognition software has trouble recognizing people of color…
December 29, 2018
Absolutely, because what we have right now is blind faith in AI that doesn't acknowledge how easy it is for bias to creep into the systems. And at the end of the day data reflects our history, and our history has been very biased to date. So we have to be checking, and this is especially important because now we're using artificial intelligence in high stakes decision making
Canadians paid more than $1.2 billion in wireless data overage fees last year…
December 29, 2018
Nothing irritates wireless customers quite like data overage fees, yet Canadians still spent more than $1.22 billion in extra charges for surpassing their data limits last year.
It Is Both Ridiculous And Dangerous To Make Domain Registrars Liable For Content On Domains…
December 29, 2018
Are domain registrars now expected to police the content on domains they register? Because that's often way outside of their areas of expertise, and like most such companies when put in that position, they will default to shutting down (or threatening to shut down) websites, rather than actually taking the time to understand the details and nuances (is it fair use? is most activity on the site non-infringing? etc).
What is idiotic here is the idea that registrars should be held accountable for the content of EVERYTHING they provide domain names for, which is totally ridiculous because registrars don’t host, manage or display any actual content.
Vet Who Has Raised $18 Million for Border Wall Promises Big Announcement Next Week…
December 29, 2018
“You all will be very happy to see what a little hard work can achieve and how we have it pulled off,” Kolfage wrote on the GoFundMe page where 294,661 people have donated and 2,984,722 have signed a petition that Kolfage added to his campaign.
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“We are funding the Wall! We Have it Done. Big Announcement Next Week!!! Donate,” Kolfage tweeted.“There’s nothing better than being told we can’t do something and then coming out on top. We are funding the wall, and you are about to take part in a historic moment. Next week we release our full plan,” Kolfage tweeted.
The Memes Write Themselves. Women’s March Cancelled For Being Too White…
December 29, 2018
"Up to this point, the participants have been overwhelmingly white, lacking representation from several perspectives in our community," the press release went on to say.
Nancy Pelosi Is Spending Shutdown at Hawaii Resort…
December 29, 2018
Democratic House leader Nancy Pelosi is spending the government shutdown at a luxury resort in Hawaii, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.
Pelosi, who has put blame squarely on President Donald Trump for the current government shutdown, was spotted Thursday vacationing in Hawaii at the Fairmont Orchid resort, where room accommodations range from $899-a-night for a standard room to $4,899-a-night for the presidential suite.
LA news anchor found dead in hotel room…
December 29, 2018
Los Angeles news anchor Chris Burrous was found dead in a hotel room Thursday in what police are investigating as a possible drug overdose.
Burrous, a 43-year-old morning anchor at the KTLA television station, was found unresponsive at a Days Inn after a man he was with called authorities to report he had passed out and may not be breathing, according to a statement from police.
The man said Burrous may have been suffering from an overdose.
7.0 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Off Southern Philippines
December 29, 2018