Government mass surveillance will create a surge of technology spending

A simple graphic that shows how the NSA hacked Google.

As technology races ahead, from time to time public debate and the law of the land must catch up to it. Government surveillance is one of the most important technology issues of our times. In the US, the NSA files have already had a profound impact on the perceptions of Americans about surveillance and civil liberties. Outside the US, Germany is aghast that the US and UK, NATO allies would spy on Angela Merkel and Germany. On the other hand, there is some evidence that the NSA has aided in combating Mexican drug cartels and prevented terrorism.

 

 

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Does the NSA put U.S. elections at risk of manipulation?

NSA

During the last presidential election, did the Obama Administration ever spy on Mitt Romney? The question was raised by Alex Tabarrok at the popular economics blog Marginal Revolution and he acknowledges that it is provocative. Until recently, he would’ve regarded it as a “loony” question, he writes, and he doesn’t think that President Obama ordered the NSA to spy on Romney for political gain.

 

 

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Tim Berners-Lee denounces encryption cracking by spy agencies

Sir Tim Berners-Lee

The computer scientist who created the world wide web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, has called for a “full and frank public debate” over internet surveillance by the National Security Agency and its British counterpart,GCHQ. He warns that the system of checks and balances that oversee the agencies has failed.

 

 

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U.S. State Department and Coursera partner to support free education in over 30 countries

The State Departments’ goal is having more foreigners learn English and experience the U.S. education system.

U.S. embassies around the world this fall are hosting weekly discussions for students enrolled in free online courses, called MOOCs, in partnership with Coursera, the Silicon Valley-based platform with over 5 million users. Embassy employees and Fulbright fellows (Fulbright being an academic exchange program sponsored by the State Department) will volunteer to host the discussions. There will be over 30 sites to begin with, in countries like India, China, and Bolivia. Topics include English, science, technology, engineering, business, and U.S. civics.

 

 

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Lockheed Martin’s SPAN spy rock could be the military’s new secret weapon

The surveillance technology is so small it can fit in a rock.

Lockheed Martin showcased developments in their surveillance technology called SPAN (Self-Powered Ad-hoc Network) at the annual AUSA Army meeting in Washington, D.C. last week. SPAN, a “covert, perpetually self-powered wireless sensor network” that can provide “unobtrusive, continuous surveillance” in units so small they can fit in a rock.

 

 

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More than 20% of government organizations will have appointed a chief digital officer by 2014

The government CIO  role is increasingly under pressure due to the development and implementation of digital government strategies, leading to the creation of new roles, according to Gartner, Inc. Gartner predicts that by 2014, more than 10 percent of government organizations will have appointed a chief data officer and over 20 percent will have appointed a chief digital officer.

 

 

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Analysts predict $13.1 billion game market for China in 2013 with end of game console ban

The end of the console ban means that Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft can now legally sell their systems in the country.

Niko Partners, an Asian games market research firm, predicts a $13.1 billion game market for China in 2013. This is in its China Games Market Mid-Year 2013 Update Bulletin, which includes data and analysis of video game salesfor the country that has recently lifted a long-standing ban on consoles. That’s a 28 percent growth for online PC games compared to 2012 and a 60 percent increase for mobile games revenue.

 

 

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U.S. Air Forces converts F-16 fighter jets into unmanned drones

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPKOnZDR00A[/youtube]

 The U.S. Air Force goes to great lengths to train their fighter pilots. But even the best simulations lack the visceral experience of a real live fire dogfight. To give their pilots the most realist experience possible, the USAF is working with Boeing to convert some of its old F-16s into pilotless drones that can actually engage in a real dogfight with their pilots.

 

 

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Government agencies are spying on our data according to 33% of big data developers

Government agencies are tracking the data that two out of five software engineers are collecting, creating, and analyzing. And if you only ask those who are confident they could tell if the government was indeed spying on their data, that number goes up to 59 percent.

 

 

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New law in California will let kids erase online past

All websites must give minors in California an option to delete user activity.

Google’s Eric Schmidt suggested earlier this year that the internet should have a “delete” button for individuals that wanted to remove troubling information from the web, and thanks to a new law minors in California will get that chance.

 

 

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