Homeland Security Spies On Your Tweets? DHS

According to a lawsuit filed by the Electronic Privacy Information Center, the government is monitoring the Twitter / Facebook accounts of people that use certain terms and keywords. I would tell you what those key words are...but I am afraid of being investigated. 

Homeland Security spies on Facebook and Twitter users, recording the activity of people who search for terms like "human to animal," "collapse" and "infection," according to an online privacy advocacy group that has sued to peruse the agency's data. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) says Homeland Security announced plans to monitor social media sites in February."

Does a Magnet Gun Conserve Momentum?

The Gauss gun. A very simple, yet very cool device. Check out this video.

There are many other examples of this Gauss gun. You can easily reproduce this yourself. You just need some magnets and steel balls (or balls of steel).

China’s New/Used Aircraft Carrier Ain’t Scary

When China launched the maiden voyage of its first aircraft carrier in August, it had a lot of eyes on it. Some were from way, way up in the heavens — specifically, DigitalGlobe’s satellites. They provide the clearest pictures yet of China’s much-heralded floating toy, and make it seem less than meets the eye.

Truth be told, the Shi Lang isn’t actually new-new. It’s more like the aircraft carrier equivalent of buying a used car. China purchased the Varyag, a Kuznetsov-class carrier from Ukraine, refurbished it, and set it to sea as Shi Lang, intending to show the world it was a first-class naval power.

Radio Zeta: How Mexico’s Drug Cartels Stay Networked

Arranging drug sales on a cellphone, cryptic email or even a pager? That’s strictly for the small-time dealer. If you’re a Mexican drug cartel, you have your own radio network.

Since 2006, the cartels have maintained an encrypted DIY radio network that stretches across nearly all 31 Mexican states, even down south into Guatemala. The communications infrastructure of the narco-gangs that have turned Mexico into a gangster’s paradise consists of “professional-grade” radio antennas, signal relays and simple handheld radios that cost “millions of dollars” — and which the Mexican authorities haven’t been able to shut down.

LCD Makers Settle Price-Fixing Case For $553M

Isn't this something like the fifteenth time this case has been settled? I could've sworn we've reported on this before. 

Samsung Electronics Co, Sharp Corp and five other makers of liquid crystal displays agreed to pay more than $553 million to settle consumer and state regulatory claims that they conspired to fix prices for LCD panels in televisions, notebook computers and monitors. The settlement is the latest arising from lawsuits alleging the creation of an international cartel designed to illegally inflate prices and stifle competition in LCD panels between 1999 and 2006, affecting billions of dollars of U.S. commerce.

Mark Zuckerberg Riding A Buffalo

The time between Christmas and New Year's Eve is probably the slowest time of the year for tech news. That's probably why this picture of Mark Zuckerberg riding a buffalo is making headlines. Well, that...and it is pretty damn funny.

Ex-Aide: Ron Paul Foreign Policy is 'Sheer Lunacy'

Ron Paul is not having the best holiday season.  First the media discovered racist, anti-Semitic newsletters that went out under Paul’s name in the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s. Then the New York Timesdid a story about the support Paul draws from white supremacists and anti-Semites.  

Now there’s former Paul staffer Eric Dondero purporting to describe the ins and outs of Paul’s positions on everything from Israel (it shouldn’t exist) to Hitler (we shouldn’t have fought him) to 9/11 (U.S. authorities may have known about the attacks) to Afghanistan (we shouldn’t have invaded). He calls Paul’s foreign policy “sheer lunacy.”

Or, as the conservative Weekly Standard summarized in hits headline: “Ex-Aide Says Ron Paul Is a 9/11 Truther & Isolationist Who Thinks U.S. Shouldn't Have Fought Hitler.”

Tribe's high-interest online lending venture booms

HELENA, Mont. (AP) -- An Indian reservation in the heart of Montana's farm country may seem an unlikely place to borrow a quick $600, but the Chippewa Cree tribe says it has already given out more than 121,000 loans this year at interest rates that can reach a whopping 360 percent.

As more states pass laws to rein in lenders who deal in high-interest, short-term loans, Indian tribes like the Chippewa Cree and their new online lending venture, Plain Green Loans, are stepping in to fill the void. The Internet lets them reach beyond the isolated Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation to borrowers across the nation, while tribal immunity has allowed them to avoid bans and interest-rate caps several states have set.

To Neal Rosette, Plain Green Loans CEO and the Chippewa Cree's former executive administrative officer, it's a win-win. The online lending venture is a resource for people who can't or won't borrow from banks, while it gives the tribe a steady revenue stream and jobs with unemployment on the reservation at nearly 40 percent.

Connecticut Christmas Fire: Grandfather Died Trying to Save Granddaughter

The grandfather who died in a Connecticut Christmas fire that claimed the lives of five people tried desperately to rescue one of his granddaughters as the house was being engulfed by flames.

The grandfather, Lomer Johnson, made it out a third floor window and onto the roof before being overcome by fumes.

"The grandfather was found just outside the structure on a small roof covered in debris and inside the window we found one of the children," Stamford Fire Chief Antonio Conte told "Good Morning America." "It appears that the grandfather has one of the children with him, tried to exit the structure but was overcome and passed away. And the little one passed away just inside the window."

Violence creeping into Mexican capital

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - In a nation wracked by drug violence, this sprawling capital city of more than 20 million has been an oasis of relative peace. But the key to that calm - an informal truce among rival gangs - may be cracking.

On a sunny afternoon this month, a group of gunmen drove into a slum in the north of Mexico City, the streets packed with shoppers and children leaving school. In plain sight, the killers lined three crack cocaine dealers against a wall and shot them in the head with AK-47 assault rifles. They then forced another two men into a black van and drove away past terrified onlookers.

The killings, allegedly carried out by the bloodthirsty La Familia cartel of the central state of Michoacan, were the latest sign that the drug violence raging across large swathes of Mexico is creeping into the capital.

Shannon Stone’s mother makes a request of Josh Hamilton

With 2011 drawing to a close, the Shannon Stone tragedy at Rangers Ballpark is appearing on most, if not all, of the year-end retrospectives.

And while many of those lists will simply note the accident that led to the 39-year-old father falling to his death after trying to catch a ball thrown by Josh Hamilton, the New York Times Magazine scored an interesting interview with Stone's parents. Though neither Al or SuZann Stone get into the details of the fall or its effects on young Cooper Stone — a public stance that has been m.o. since the tragedy — they relate a story about how Al once caught a foul ball from Buddy Bell when Shannon was young.

Colo. man returns $10,000 found at Vegas airport

GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo. (AP) — A Colorado man who found $10,000 before boarding a flight in Las Vegas says he returned the money to the owner because he wanted to show his children it was "the right thing to do."

Greenwood Village resident Mitch Gilbert told KUSA-TV he found two unmarked Caesar's Palace envelopes at the airport and realized there was money inside when he arrived home. The television station reported Monday (http://goo.gl/7aqpU ) that Gilbert called the airport and eventually got in touch with a man from El Paso, Texas, who reported the money missing.

Gilbert says he deposited the money in the man's bank account two days before Christmas. The man told the television station he won the money gambling and dropped it while running to catch a flight. LINK

TV Prices Fall, Squeezing Most Makers and Sellers

It's a great time to buy a television, and Ram Lall, a television salesman, isn't happy about it. In a basement showroom of J&R, the huge electronics store in Lower Manhattan, Mr. Lall says the days of making big money from televisions are in the past. Pointing to a top-of-the line, 55-inch Sony television, Mr. Lall said it would have sold for $6,000 a few years ago. The current price? $2,599.

"We are making less money because the company is forcing us to slash prices," Mr. Lall said, standing amid rows of flickering television sets.

Televisions have become so inexpensive that the profits have largely been squeezed out of them, a result of a huge increase in manufacturing capacity that has led to an oversupply and continued downward pressure on prices from low-cost manufacturers and online retailers.

The near fire-sale prices are great for consumers, who can now buy a television for a fraction of what one cost just a few years ago.

China’s Noisy Subs Get Busier — And Easier to Track

The military’s latest secret assessment of China’s rapidly modernizing submarines has good news and bad news for the U.S. Navy. On one hand, the roughly 60 submarines in the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) fleet are spending more and more time on combat-ready patrols — signaling China’s increasing naval competence and growing seriousness about influencing the western Pacific Ocean.

On the other hand, the flurry of undersea activity gives American forces more opportunities to tail and examine Chinese subs. And U.S. analysts discovered a silver lining in the gathering strategic storm clouds. Chinese submarines are a hell of a lot noisier than anyone expected. The sound you hear is the Pacific balance of power tipping in Washington’s favor.

FedEx Addresses Tossed Monitor

Mike Krumboltz reports:

It was the monitor toss seen 'round the world. FedEx has responded to a viral video that showed one of the company's drivers throwing a (now broken) computer monitor over a fence.

Adobe's no-choice embrace of HTML5

Sometimes if you can’t beat ‘em, it’s better to join ‘em. Take what Adobe is doing in the HTML5 space, even though momentum behind standards-based HTML5 presents a serious challenge to Adobe’s own Flash rich Internet plug-in technology.

Adobe’s Flash has been used to present videos and multimedia on the Web. But the technology is proprietary and leverages Adobe’s own ActionScript programming language. With HTML5, developers can use just use the open JavaScript language, cascading style sheets (CSS), and of course HTML to build applications. The HTML5 “family” features a set of specifications that also includes CSS3, Canvas 2D tags, and WebSockets, for interbrowser communications.

Showing it can play in the HTML5 arena, Adobe has not onlydropped development of the mobile version of the Flash Player in favor of HTML5 and Adobe’s AIR, but also is working on additions to CSS and pitching tools for HTML5.

Meet Charles Feeney, Cornell's $350 Million Donor

The New York Times has unmasked 80-year-old Cornell alum Charles F. Feeney as the anonymous donor who gave the school a $350 million donation to construct a new technology-based satellite campus on Roosevelt Island in New York City. Officials at The  Atlantic Philanthropies, the foundation started by Feeney in 1982, confirmed to the paper last night that he was the one who made the gift for the project, which is expected to generate an extra $1.4 billion in tax revenue for the city, plus 20,000 construction jobs and as many as 30,000 new jobs once the facility is up and running.

Russia oil spills wreak devastation

USINSK, Russia (AP) -- On the bright yellow tundra outside this oil town near the Arctic Circle, a pitch-black pool of crude stretches toward the horizon. The source: a decommissioned well whose rusty screws ooze with oil, viscous like jam.

This is the face of Russia's oil country, a sprawling, inhospitable zone that experts say represents the world's worst ecological oil catastrophe.

Environmentalists estimate at least 1 percent of Russia's annual oil production, or 5 million tons, is spilled every year. That is equivalent to one Deepwater Horizon-scale leak about every two months. Crumbling infrastructure and a harsh climate combine to spell disaster in the world's largest oil producer, responsible for 13 percent of global output.

Mystery surrounds son set to succeed Kim Jong Il

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — With the sudden death of his father, Kim Jong Un went from being North Korea's "Respected General" to "Great Successor" — a heady and uncertain promotion for a young man virtually unknown even to the North Korean people just a year ago.

Word of Kim Jong Il's death, announced Monday two days after he suffered a fatal heart attack, thrusts his 20-something son in the spotlight as the future head of a nation grappling with difficult nuclear negotiations and chronic food shortages.

Within hours of breaking the news of his father's death, state media urged the nation's people to rally around Kim Jong Un and to "faithfully revere" their next leader. The son has not appeared publicly since the announcement of his father's death.

What's Next for North Korea After Kim's Death?

The death of Kim Jong Il likely puts the leadership of North Koreainto the hands of an even more mysterious man, his son, Kim Jong Un, fueling speculation about a struggle for power in the reclusive nation, and with that control of a nuclear arsenal and the world's fourth-largest military.

Former US Ambassador to South Korea Donald Gregg says he is more optimistic about the future of North Korea with the death of its "dear leader," because Kim Jong Un may be able to move the country more in line with the west.

Zynga shares fall in second trading session

(Reuters) - Zynga shares fell as much as 13 percent below their IPO price, in their second trading session, as investors worried about the online game publisher's growth prospects.

Analysts said Monday's sell-off, following the initial public offeringat $10 per share on Thursday, mirrors the double-digit stock decline of Japanese game maker Nexon since it went public last Wednesday in Tokyo.

"Investors aren't interested in Zynga - not at these prices," saidSterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia. "The demand post-IPO is what drives the stock price and it's just not there."

How Zynga became a $9 billion company

(Reuters) - Zynga Inc's started trading on Nasdaq on Friday, less than five years after the company was founded and rose to prominence with games that were easy to play on Facebook such as "CityVille" and "FarmVille."

Here's a look at how Zynga, founded by serial entrepreneur Mark Pincus, went from being an obscure company called "Presidio Media" in 2007 to the games powerhouse valued at $9 billion today.

April 2007 Mark Pincus and Eric Schiermeyer found Presidio Media.

Saudi Prince Invests $300M In Twitter

If I had $300 million to invest, I'm not too sure it would be Twitter.

Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and his investment company said Monday they are investing a combined $300 million into Twitter, giving the microblogging site a cash boost as it looks to entice more users and paying advertisers. The joint investment follows months of negotiations and represents a "strategic stake" in Twitter. t wasn't clear how much of Twitter the prince will control.

China party official warns members over religion

BEIJING (AP) — Religious practice among Chinese Communist Party members is increasing and threatens its unity and national leadership, a top party official said in remarks reported Monday.

Party members are required to be atheists and must not believe in religion or engage in religious practice, said Zhu Weiqun, a member of the party's Central Committee and executive vice director of its United Front Work Department in charge of dealings with nonparty groups.

Religious practice is a growing trend, especially in areas inhabited by ethnic minorities, and must not be tolerated, Zhu said in comments published in the latest edition of the main party theoretical journal, Qiushi, and reported by the official Xinhua News Agency.

Ferrari powered quadcycle looks kind of dangerous

Your Mom may have told you that motorcycles are too dangerous, but what about a nice stable quadcycle? This French made quad powered by a 3-liter Ferrari V-8 should do the trick.
The Lazareth Wazuma V8F puts out 250 horsepower in a vehicle that weighs less than aSmart Car, so the performance should be pretty nippy. Your Mom probably still won't like it however, because with a Ferrari you would be strapped tightly in a car carefully engineered to absorb massive impacts, whereas with the Wazuma you're just sitting out there in the open.

If Batman had an iPhone, he'd keep in this dock

iPhones can be a real asset in dangerous situations, but where do you put your phone when you're headed into a riot? This self-defense arm cover called the BodyGuard should do the trick.
We already looked at the Armstar BodyGuard earlier this year, but now they've added an armored iPhone dock to make it even more useful.

Integrated fuel cells might just convince me to buy a MacBook

I'm not a Mac person. I don't like the culture, I don't like the cost, and I definitely don't like having Apple tell me what I can and can't do. But if Apple manages to create a MacBook powered by a fuel cell (and new patents suggest they're working on it), then that's it. Game over. I'll be buying a MacBook.

Strange tsunami wave clouds explained

Residents of Birmingham, Alabama woke last Friday to skies that looked more like an ocean, with a series of huge "wave" shaped crests rolling slowly across the sky. Experts have now explained the phenomenon as perfect examples of "Kelvin-Helmholtz" waves, when a fast layer moves over a slower layer and drags the top along creating a curled shape.
You'll recognize Kelvin-Helmholtz waves when put in context of the ocean. This kind of turbulence forms when the top layer — air — moves faster than the water layer below. This creates what we all know as wave crests or breaks when the water surges forward.

3 flying and driving toys you control with your iPhone

Some toymakers had the clever idea of turning the iPhone into a remote control for their gizmos, and our host Andrea Feczko gives you the lowdown on one of my personal favorites: the Parrot AR.Drone. It's a big, ludicrous rotorcraft that's a blast to fly. I may or may not have crashed it into a wall. Off camera. (Sorry, Parrot!)

Alien-faced robot will seduce you with its geisha moves

If you had any concerns that this eventful year might end on a sedate note, take heart — the alien abduction-faced, geisha-style dancing robot is here to see you through the end of the year.

Farmers Branch man who swindled $50 million from Texas, Florida retirees found guilty of securities fraud

A Farmers Branch man was convicted on securities fraud charges Wednesday for swindling millions from 500 investors in Texas and Florida, many of them retirees.

Dennis Woods Bowden, 58, was found guilty of four counts of securities fraud and five counts of mail fraud for his role as CEO of Dallas-based AmeriFirst Funding Corp. and AmeriFirst Acceptance Corp., both of which are now defunct.

The Securities and Exchange Commission stopped the scheme in July 2007 after learning that Bowden and his accomplices raised more than $50 million by selling promissory notes called secured debt obligations that were not nearly as safe and secure as investors were led to believe.

Apple reportedly has no plans for a 7-inch iPad, iPad 2 price to drop when iPad 3 launches

A number of reports have emerged in recent months claiming that Apple has a new smaller iPad in the pipeline set to launch in 2012. Scheduled to be released in the second half of the year, the slate will reportedly feature a 7.85-inch display and a lower price tag compared to the current iPad 2 model. A new note from Wedge Partners analyst Brian Blair suggests that Apple has no such plans, however, and it will stick to a 9.7-inch panel when it launches new iPad models next year. Read on for more.

How Louis CK Is Spending That Money

How is Louis CK spending the money he made selling DRM-free videos? Just like you'd imagine he would...giving his staff a bonus, giving money to charity and so on. I really like this guy. 

So I'm breaking the million into four pieces.

• The first 250k is going to pay back what the special cost to produce and the website to build.
• The second 250k is going back to my staff and the people who work for me on the special and on my show. I'm giving them a big fat bonus.
• The third 280k is going to a few different charities. They are listed below in case you'd like to donate to them also. Some of these i learned about through friends, some were reccomended through twitter.
• That leaves me with 220k for myself. Some of that will pay my rent and will care for my childen. The rest I will do terrible, horrible things with and none of that is any of your business. In any case, to me, 220k is enough out of a million.

Video casts Steve Jobs as lightsaber-wielding anti-Android angel

If you were one of those Apple fans who believed Steve Jobs had near supernatural powers of product insight, you might identify with this new video that shows the late CEO as an anti-Android, lightsaber-wielding angel of death.

Robotize your Netbook with Oculus kit

Why don't laptops come with wheels? That way you could drive them around with your phone and use them as telepresence robots.

Here's a Kickstarter project that helps your Netbook get mobile. The Oculus Telepresence Robot kit puts a periscope on top of your computer and four wheels underneath, and you can pilot the thing with an Android phone, an iPad, aniPhone, an iPod Touch, or anything with a Web browser.

So what did you think of Terra Nova's season finale?

After all the hype, Terra Nova's first, and perhaps only, season ended with an explosive two-hour season-one finale "event" Monday. And the reviews were mixed.

Some viewers loved the family drama/dino action/Phoenix Group intrigue. Others were not amused and were hoping all of Terra Nova (especially the kids!) would find their way to the wrong side of a bunch of hungry Slashers so we could see how Stephen Lang's Taylor survived in the first place before the Terra Nova of it all.

Hydrogel is the sci-fi cure you're looking for, heals third-degree burns

The burn-healing stem cell gun might have some competition, as a new hydrogel could help develop new blood vessels and complex layers of skin that would mean quick healing and no scarring.

A hydrogel is a three-dimensional framework of polymers dispersed in water, and this one, researched at John Hopkins, might help third-degree burn victims, which is fairly unprecedented. It is mostly dextran, which is a polysaccharide (or sugar molecules). Though it sounds like a placebo, it's been pretty effective in healing third-degree burns.

Not so shocking: RIAA, major studios are all illegal downloaders

A Russian website that tracks and publicly posts the IP addresses and downloads of BitTorrent users has revealed that pretty much everyone downloads stuff illegally, including the RIAA, major movie and music studios, and even the Department of Homeland Security.

Video: 11 of the coolest (and weirdest) iPhone and iPad peripherals

There's just about a billion iPhone and iPad peripherals out there. We wanted to showcase some of the options that are a little more off the beaten path, from handmade goodies from artists nearby DVICE HQ in New York City, to the infamous iPhone TV Hat. Check it all out inside with our host, Andrea Feczko.

IBM says 'mind control' possible in five years

As part of IBM's "5 in 5" forecasts of predictions, the company says that "minding reading" (more like mind control) will no longer be a science fiction dream and that within five years, we'll all be controlling our computers and smartphones by just wiggling our brains.

While Apple focuses on speech technology with Siri, IBM believes the next revolution will involve our brains. To tackle and make mind control a reality, we'd all need to wear something like Emotiv's EPOC neuroheadset that's equipped with sensors that read electrical brain signals.

It’s Not a UFO, Just a Killer Drone for an Aircraft Carrier

Note to the Navy: When trucking a giant flying robot with a rounded fuselage across the country, people are going to think they’re looking at an artifact from Area 51.

As the local news coverage above shows, residents of Cowley County, Kansas, were freaked out to see a truck rumbling down U.S. 77 towing what looks a whole lot like a 32-foot spaceship. “People were calling in saying, ‘Oh they think they found a flying saucer,’” Donetta Godsey of the Winfield Daily Courier told the ABC News affiliate.

Razer delays its sexy Blade gaming laptop until January

If you were hoping to get one of those hot and powerful Razer Blade laptops before Christmas, we've got bad news for you: it's delayed. Delayed at the eleventh hour because the company is swapping out the default 320GB hard drive with a 256GB solid-state drive.

In a note on Facebook to fans, Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan announced the company received "overwhelming response from the press and gamers for the Razer Blade." The storage swap will not affect the original price for the Razer Blade which remains at $2,800.

Hawaii wind farm leans on giant battery bank

Speedy lithium ion batteries, the power source for consumer electronics and electric vehicles, are making inroads into the renewable energy business.

A123 Systems today announced that a Hawaiian wind project developer will use its batteries to firm up power delivery into the grid. The Auwahi Wind project, which has a generating capacity of 21 megawatts, will be buttressed by a giant battery bank able to deliver 11 megawatts of power.

17 Hollywood classics reimagined as bloodthirsty zombie thrillers

Undead mashups are nothing new—Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is but one drop in a big bucket—but one fine artist has taken it to a new level, painting pitch-perfect re-creations of classic posters with a particularly toothsome flair.

Artist Matt Busch doesn't resort to Photoshop trickery for his posters, which comprise a project he calls Hollywood Is Dead—he repaints them by hand. According to Busch:

Dwarves, Gollum and the green Shire in 1st trailer for The Hobbit!

It seems like we've been waiting ever since the end of The Return of the King to see it, and now the first trailer for Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is finally here! Prepare yourself for singing dwarves, beautiful visuals and a creature in a mountain who first hears the dreaded name Baggins.

From the very beginning we get ties to The Lord of The Rings with hints of Howard Shore's original score, plus appearances by both Elijah Wood and Ian Holm as old Bilbo lets young Frodo know that he didn't tell him the whole story of how he got his hands on the One Ring after all.

Eight U.S. Soldiers Charged In Death of Fellow Soldier

A group of eight U.S. soldiers stationed in southern Afghanistan have been charged in connection with the death of a soldier from their own company, the NATO military command in Afghanistan announced early Wednesday. That death was initially considered a suicide.

Pvt. Danny Chen, a 19-year old infantryman from Chinatown in New York City, was found dead in a guard tower of Combat Outpost Palace from an “an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound,” the International Security Force Afghanistan (ISAF) disclosed. When the Defense Department officially announced Chen’s death, on October 4, it did not list the circumstances that cost Chen his life.

Microsoft Pulls Bulldozer Performance Hotfix

Murphy’s Law has been invoked for Microsoft’s newly released hotfix to improve AMD’s Bulldozerperformance. It seems that the hotfix actually lowered the performance even further in some cases. Microsoft has since pulled the update for further testing and evaluation. Oopsie 

Apparently there is a second part to the hotfix that was not pushed live, and this hotfix was pushed live prematurely.