Current Events and Links
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Credit Cards, An Endangered Species
May 4, 2012 - A new feature of smart phones, called near field communications (NFC), will eventually replace most credit cards.
This technology enables rapid point-of-sale payment directly from one's phone to the vendor. The system is in use already and growing
in popularity.
- In locations in Africa, Asia and Latin America, money is often stored in a mobile account and transferred to another one during a
purchase by bringing the buyer’s and seller’s cell phones into close proximity.
The smart phone could eventually replace the need for cash, checks or credit cards, and will provide real-time feedback on account and payment information.
- Source: The Daily Reckoning
Facebook IPO to make Zuckerberg richer than Ballmer
May 4, 2012 - Facebook's 27-year-old founder, Mark Zuckerberg, will be worth $17.6 billion once the company's stock
has gone public.
- Source: WND
Cracks in the wall: Will China's Great Firewall backfire?
May 2, 2012 - China exerts great control over its citizen's use of the Internet. All international Internet traffic goes through a few
gateways that China can monitor. Sites that they think are undesirable, like Youtube, Twitter, and Facebook are blocked. Google Drive's new cloud
storage will also apparently be blocked.
The isolation is good for the Beijing government and for local businesses that don't have to compete with Internet competitors, but Chinese
companies may have difficulty functioning overseas because of the restrictions.
- Source: BBC
- Google Drive to offer free storage in the cloud - BBC
Pastor Tells Worshipers to Turn ON Cellphones
Mar. 28, 2012 - Many pastors ask their congregations to turn their cellphones off during the services. But others, like Rev. Mark Solyst
of the English Lutheran Church in La Crosse, Wisconsin, actually asks listeners to use their phones to text their answers to challenging questions
he asks during the message.
- “Solyst poses challenging questions to worshipers, who can text their answers,” the Tribune reports. “The responses are then reviewed in a
PowerPoint presentation after the homily.”
- Source: NewsMax
- Ed. Note: In our recent visit to the very popular "Blue Letter Bible" offices we were told that Sunday Morning (during
worship services) was now their peak traffic time as congregants follow the pastors' messages on their cellphones!
The CIA wants to spy on you through your TV: Agency director says it will 'transform' surveillance
Mar. 18, 2012 - In a Wired's 'Danger Room' blog CIA Director David Petraeus says that new inexpensive technology will make it
feasable to connect the Internet not only to computers, phones, and televisions, but to an endless variety of devices like cameras, doorbells,
kitchen appliances, etc.
- Petraeus says that web-connected gadgets will 'transform' the art of spying - allowing spies to monitor people automatically
without planting bugs, breaking and entering or even donning a tuxedo to infiltrate a dinner party.
- Source: Daily Mail
- CIA Chief: We’ll Spy on You Through Your Dishwasher - - Danger Room - Wired News
Apple Cements Tablet Market Lead with New IPad
Mar. 16, ,2012 -
- The new iPad ... has faster chips, fourth-generation wireless, a sharper display and a better camera, making it harder for
competitors like Samsung's Galaxy, which also lack Apple's range of apps and content, to catch up.
- Source: NewsMax
Google’s New Privacy Policy: What Has Changed and What You Can Do About It
Mar. 2, 2012 - Google's new privacy policy allows sharing of information from any of its services with the approximaely 70 other Google
products, presumably to enhance their service to users. There is debate about the legality of it, and whether or not it is a problem to users. The
article gives some suggestions of what individuals can do if they are concerned about the new policies.
- Source: Wired WebMonkey
- Updaed Google Privacy Policy - Mar. 1, 2012
- Tor Project - Free Software that protects your privacy
Wikipedia blackout to oppose censorship!
Jan. 18, 2011 - Imagine a World Without Free Knowledge
Wikipedia, Google, and many other information sites are trying to raise awareness about new bills in Congress that would
seriously limit their ability to serve the public. Wikipedia posted this on their home page today:
- For over a decade, we have spent millions of hours building the largest encyclopedia in human history. Right now, the U.S.
Congress is considering legislation that could fatally damage the free and open Internet.
- Source: Wikipedia
- Editor's note: Some evil things certainly should be censored, and no fair-minded person supports piracy of movies,
books and music, but critics of these bills argue that they are too broad and could be used to block the truth and even lead to
religious persecution.
- Learn More: SOPA and PIPA - Wikipedia
- Sign Online Petition - Google
- Video: Protect IP/ SOPA Breaks the Internet - Fight for the Future
- Hackers retaliate over Megaupload website shutdown - BBC
The 12 Coolest Things We Saw at the Consumer Electronics Show
Jan. 16, 2012 - The annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas introduced another dazzling array of new products.
Time Magazine's writers picked twelve of the best - Laptops, tablets, smart phones, and more:
- Samsung Galaxy Notebook
- Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook
- Toshiba Excite X10
- Intel Smartphone Reference Design (For developers)
- Samsung Series 9 Notebook
- Nokia Lumia 900
- Eye-Controlled Computing
- Motorola Droid Razr MAXX
- Windows 8 Tablet/Laptop Hybrids
- OnLive Desktop
- 3D Body-Mapping
- Asus MeMo Tablet
- Source: TIME
Iran's strict cyber regulations lay groundwork for 'halal' network
Jan. 11, 2011 - Iran may institute its own country's "Intranet," which will be cut off from the rest of the world's Internet.
- Source: Fox
Go to: News articles before Jan. 1, 2012
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