Government

Senate Gives Telcos Free Pass On Warrantless Domestic Spying Program

Joel at BBG writes in five precise words what it means that the Senate has just granted retroactive immunity to telcos (AT&T, Verizon and others) for participating in the government’s warrantless wiretapping program that spied on American citizens: “We Lost. The Telcos Won.” https://gizmodo.com/senate-set-to-give-retroactive-immunity-to-at-t-and-oth-334874 Worse, they even knocked down two proposed amendments that would have…

James B. Utt on Space Travel (1963)

California congressman James B. Utt wrote a short piece for the time capsule book 2063 A.D., which was buried in 1963. The honorable James B. Utt first says that he could not even make an uneducated guess as to the future of space travel but then, in true politician form, makes one anyway. His contribution…

House Bill Mandates Colleges Make Plans for Network Filtering

I bet you were feeling pretty happy with Congress a little bit ago. Get ready to go back to normal! The College Opportunity and Affordability passed the House today (sounds good so far, right?), but it carries a provision that forces schools to make plans for network filtering mojo and a legal alternative to P2P…

Hey Telemarketers, Don’t Call Me. Like, Ever.

With the bill Congress just approved and sent to the Bush-in-Chief, I won’t ever have to say that again, since it’ll pretty much be the freakin’ law. The old version Do-Not-Call registry required you to remind the gov’t every couple years you still don’t wanna chat w/ telemarketers, but the updated bills from the House…

TSA Apologizes for Being Douches About Gadgets HOORAY BLOGGERS!

So, this new Transportation Security Administration blog is both endearing and creepy. Endearing, because it’s cute when bureaucrats try to act like real people with real lives and feelings and whatnot, but creepy because of things like its subtitle: “Terrorists Evolve. Threats Evolve. Security Must Stay Ahead. You Play A Part.” Anyhoo, some real bloggers,…

Divine Thunderbolt Bunker Buster: Bye Bye Mole People

The Air Force’s old bunker buster, BLU-113, was a bunch of explosives crammed inside of an old howitzer barrel. Its latest instrument of boom, the BLU-122, uses a new a steel shell with a hardened nose and 780lbs of thermobaric explosive to pound through 28 feet of concrete or 120 feet of dirt like styrofoam,…

Wisconsin Senator Wants to Tax Consoles and Games to Pay for Juvenile Delinquent Rehab Programs

Wisconsin State Senator Jon Erpenbach wants to pay to keep non-violent youth offenders out of adult court by funding rehab programs for juveniles declared delinquent by taxing another class of (usually) non-violent delinquents: gamers. His proposed one-percent tax on game consoles and games actually doesn’t tack an obscene penalty onto the receipt—$4.50 on an Xbox…

Miniature Military Spyplanes Know How to Recharge Themselves

The U.S. military is working on a series of miniature spyplanes that will perch on power lines and suck down juice when their batteries get low. Just be prepared when the sentient battlecruisers start rolling down your streets at night and sipping from your gas tanks while you sleep.

Senate Set to Give Retroactive Immunity to AT&T and Other Telcos for Warrantless Wiretapping Program

Should AT&T and the other telcos involved (like Verizon) get a total pass for participating in the NSA’s domestic wiretapping program that let the government eavesdrop on Americans without a warrant? The Senate’s thisclose to giving them immunity from lawsuits like the one the Electronic Freedom Foundation’s filed against AT&T and others. Mark Klein explained…

The FCC Cuts Comcast Off at the Knees

Comcast is pissed. Per the FCC’s latest vote, it can’t provide cable to more than 30 percent of the country. It has a 27 percent market share right now with 26.2 million subscribers. With the FCC’s 30 percent market cap, it can add fewer than 3 million new subscribers before it hits the wall, pretty…

Edmund G. Brown’s Californifuture (1963)

Today we continue our look into the time capsule and booklet titled 2063 A.D. Buried by General Dynamics Astronautics in 1963, there is some question as to where it may now reside, as the General Dynamics Astronautics building has been torn down. Some guessed that it would be at the San Diego Air & Space…

Uncle Sam Wants to Know How You Feel About E-Voting Machines

If you’re not exactly down with the state of e-voting in the US (and you really shouldn’t be), the Election Assistance Committee (a federal oversight committee that now has reign over certifying e-voting machines) wants to hear about it and what you think of their recently proposed guidelines (PDF, 600 pages). https://gizmodo.com/how-to-steal-an-election-with-a-diebold-machine-200693 Ostensibly they’re designed…

The House has agreed 402-0 to the Senate’s version of the net access tax ban, so the bill heading President Bush’s way runs to 2014. Hooray. [CNET] https://gizmodo.com/senate-passes-seven-year-extension-of-net-access-tax-ba-315500

Senate Passes Seven-Year Extension of Net Access Tax Ban

Showing the House who’s in the lower chamber of the bicameral setup, the Senate passed a seven-year extension on the net tax ban, three years longer than the four-year ban that passed the House. Better deal for us, right? Well, since they didn’t match up exactly, they’ll have to work together to hammer out the…

Congressman Hates on Comcast for BitTorrent Blockage, Won’t Do Anything About It

At least one Congressman is telling Comcast to take a break from its experiment proving why we need net neutrality—Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va), a consumer advocate, told CNet’s Chris Soghoian that “Comcast has made a major mistake in attempting to hinder peer-to-peer file sharing as an aspect of its network management” as “file sharing is…

The four-year extension of the net access tax ban has passed the House, 405-2. But it leaves the door open for taxes on “voice, audio or video programming” delivered through the intertubes, so VoIP and IPTV might be future tax revenue boosters. [CNet] https://gizmodo.com/house-judiciary-votes-to-extend-ban-on-net-access-tax-b-309967

House Judiciary Votes to Extend Ban on Net Access Tax by Four More Years

The ban on taxing your intertube access is set to drop dead next month, but signs are looking decent it’s taxation you won’t have to worry about for at least another few years—the House Judiciary Committee voted 38 to zip passing an amendment to the Internet Tax Freedom Act that stretches the tax-freeness out another…

California Bans Mandatory Subdermal RFID Tagging

Paranoid California readers, you can now relax thanks to Senate Bill 362. No longer can employers require you and your coworkers to have RFID chips embedded in your skin. If they are caught doing so the State of California will slap them with an initial $10,000 fine, followed by a subsequent $1,000 fine for each…

2000 A.D. Radio Documentary (1966)

The 1966 radio documentary 2000 A.D.: A documentary on life in the universe in the 21st century, hosted by Chet Huntley, covers some very interesting topics. Government, energy use, leisure time, electronics, use of the oceans, and private enterprise were among the many issues discussed by Mr. Huntley and those he interviewed. You can listen…

Senate Bill Could Compel “Top 25 Piracy Schools” to Use Anti-P2P Technology

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (pictured) has a fun summer vacation souvenir for institutes of higher education: His latest amendment to the Higher Education Reauthorization Act would require a college named to the list of “top 25” worst file-sharing schools to implement anti-p2p technology into its network, or risk losing some of its governmental funding.…