background propaganda

(SA_Steve)

A few weeks after a 15-year-old started an online petition to tell Gatorade to get rid of brominated vegetable oil, an ingredient linked to flame retardants, its parent company PepsiCo says it’s pulling the controversial ingredient from the sports drink. But not because of that petition, says the company. Nope, because of everyone else who was complaining. 

A spokeswoman made sure the distinction was clear, saying the company began “hearing rumblings” in the past year from consumers concerned about the ingredient, reports the Associated Press. She reportedly said it was not a response to the Mississippi teen’s Change.org petition. Because she’s not a consumer that rumbled in the past year?

The teen’s petition highlighted the fact that brominated vegetable oil has been patented as a flame retardant and is considered unsafe for consumption in Japan as well as by the European Union. As of today the petition she started had more than 200,000 supporters.

PepsiCo’s spokeswoman says its’ used as an emulsifier so that flavoring doesn’t get clumpy. It’s also used in other drinks like Mountain Dew and Coca-Cola products like Fanta and some Powerade flavors. She says the move is not because the company thinks BVO is unsafe, but to address concerns expressed specifically by Gatorade customers. Again — not, ostensibly, the Mississippi teen’s concerns. Just everyone else’s.

As for the teen, named Sarah, she said via a press release from Change.org that she’s excited about how things have turned out.

“When I went to Change.org to start my petition, I thought it might get a lot of support because no one wants to gulp down flame retardant, especially from a drink they associate with being healthy,” she said. “But with Gatorade being as big as they are, sometimes it was hard to know if we’d ever win. This is so, so awesome.”

“Companies like Gatorade put so much thought into marketing,” she added. “As someone who loves to drink their products, I’m so glad they’re making strides to put as much consideration into their customers’ health.”

She started her petition after researching the ingredients in a Gatorade she was drinking, and was inspired in part by a Scientific American article that linked BVO to ill health effects, especially in children.

Gatorade to remove controversial ingredient [Associated Press]

SOURCE The Consumerist

(Consumerist)

For years, you have been able to just unlock your cellphones and take them from your old carrier to one with a compatible network. But starting this weekend, anyone who unlocks a new phone without getting the permission of their current wireless carrier will be violating the law.

In 2006 (and reaffirmed in 2010), the Librarian of Congress, who not only tells all the lawmakers to be quiet and not bring snacks into the reading room but also interprets how the Digital Millennium Copyright should be applied, had allowed for cellphone users to unlock their devices without seeking the permission of their wireless provider.

And then in October, the Librarian changed his mind.

In spite of pleadings from groups, including Consumers Union, that the ability to unlock cellphones allowed for consumers to more easily switch between carriers, thus encouraging competition and market flexibility, the Librarian chose instead to listen to the CTIA—The Wireless Association, which claimed that “the largest nationwide carriers… have liberal, publicly available unlocking policies,” and unlocked phones are “freely available from third party providers—many at low prices.”

The Librarian also cited a 2010 ruling in which it was determined that purchasers of software do not actually own the programs, but instead are merely licensing it as per the terms of the End User License Agreement.

Thus, declared the Librarian:

The Register further concluded that the record before her supported a finding that, with respect to new wireless handsets, there are ample alternatives to circumvention. That is, the marketplace has evolved such that there is now a wide array of unlocked phone options available to consumers. While it is true that not every wireless device is available unlocked, and wireless carriers’ unlocking polices are not free from all restrictions, the record clearly demonstrates that there is a wide range of alternatives from which consumers may choose in order to obtain an unlocked wireless phone. Thus, the Register determined that with respect to newly purchased phones, proponents had not satisfied their burden of showing adverse effects related to a technological protection measure.

However, with respect to “legacy” phones—i.e., used (or perhaps unused) phones previously purchased or otherwise acquired by a consumer—the record pointed to a different conclusion. The record demonstrated that there is significant consumer interest in and demand for using legacy phones on carriers other than the one that originally sold the phone to the consumer. It also supported a finding that owners of legacy phones—especially phones that have not been used on any wireless network for some period of time—may have difficulty obtaining unlocking codes from wireless carriers, in part because an older or expired contract might not require the carrier to cooperate…

The Register concluded after a review of the statutory factors that an exemption to the prohibition on circumvention of mobile phone computer programs to permit users to unlock “legacy” phones is both warranted and unlikely to harm the market for such programs. At the same time, in light of carriers’ current unlocking policies and the ready availability of new unlocked phones in the marketplace, the record did not support an exemption for newly purchased phones. Looking to precedents in copyright law, the Register recommended that the class designated by the Librarian include a 90-day transitional period to allow unlocking by those who may acquire phones shortly after the new exemption goes into effect.

So what that all means is that, if you have a cellphone right now, you can still unlock it at your leisure and not be breaking the law. But any phone purchased after tomorrow will need to be done so with the permission of your wireless carrier.

As the folks at TechNewsDaily have pointed out, there are options for purchasing unlocked phones, though they often cost significantly more than the phones you would purchase through your carrier.

TechBlog’s Dwight Silverman notes that, like every other issue today, a petition on the White House website asking for the administration to review this rule change.

SOURCE The Consumerist

North Korea says it is proceeding with plans for a third nuclear test, two days after the UN Security Council condemned its rocket launch.

SOURCE BBC News – Asia

innocent_white_lamb writes “In what appears to be a more-and-more common occurrence, Ahmed Al-Khabez has been expelled from Dawson College in Montreal after he discovered a flaw in the software that the college (and apparently all other colleges across Quebec) uses to track student information. His original intention was to write a mobile app to allow students to access their college account more easily, but during the development of his app he discovered ‘sloppy coding’ that would allow anyone to access all of the information that the system contains about any student. He was initially ordered to sign a non-disclosure agreement stating that he would never talk about the flaw that he discovered, and he was expelled from the college shortly afterward.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

SOURCE Slashdot

In light of the drones used to prowl the skies while snooping on the everyday person, Adam Harvey has designed a Stealth Wear hoodie that serves as a type of invisibility cloak against the spying equipment. Harvey hails from New York, and is no stranger in the world of surveillance-thwarting apparel. Some of the artist’s other items in this category include CVDazzle, makeup that foils face-recognition applications.

The Stealth Wear hoodie functions in a simple manner — by blocking thermal radiation, which is how the drones “see.” Without being able to sense the body heat, the drone will only see the parts of the body not concealed by the hoodie: face, hands, and legs, for example. The Steal Wear is expensive to produce, and cannot be purchased from an ordinary store, although it is reported that the item will be available for purchase.

In addition to the hoodie, Harvey has also created a scarf that works in a similar manner, making one’s neck and face seem black to a drone. For those concerned about the health effects of the x-ray machines in airports, he has also created a t-shirt with a design said to safeguard the wearer’s heart from radiation. Finally, he has also produced a cell phone pouch to block radio signals and prevent tracking.

Starting today, Harvey is showing off his Stealth Wear items at an exhibition with Primitive London, which is set to run until the 31st. The items showcased were made with the help of designer Johanna Bloomfield, and are demonstrated during the exhibit with real-world tests used to reveal the “process behind each technology and counter technology.” Says Harvey, these items are a way to explore the realm of privacy and surveillance.

[via Discovery]

Stealth Wear hoodie is an invisibility cloak to drones is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

SOURCE SlashGear

The Presidential Inauguration is next Monday, and I was all geared up to tell everyone about the Inaugural 2013 app from AT&T and PIC. It’s a beautifully done application, has received rave reviews from the folks who have installed it and looks like it would be really helpful for anyone going to the festivities over the weekend as well as the Inauguration itself. But as Politico notes, there’s a bit of a thing here — according to the application’s privacy policy it appears that the app is mining your data and sending it off to “candidates, organizations, groups or causes that we believe have similar political viewpoints, principles or objectives.”

The election’s over. But make no mistake, this is not a nonpartisan inauguration application. That’s not to say it’s not a fine app — it is. And that’s not to say it’s evil — it’s not. But it belongs to the Presidential Inaugural Committee 2013, and so does any data it collects from you. If you’re cool with that, then cool. It’s just something to be aware of. 

I’m not a big conspiracy nut. I understand why apps ask for permissions like reading contact data or your phone’s wake state, and it’s usually always for a good reason. But this is a bit over the top for me. It may be normal for political groups to share supporter data with like-minded people, but that’s just not good practice in a smartphone application. The data that Inaugural 2013 needs to help you get around and make the most of a weekend in the nation’s capital just doesn’t need to be going anywhere else.

So I’m going to advise everyone not to use the Inaugural 2013 app, and that’s a shame. I’ll keep looking for an alternative.

SOURCE Android Central – Android Forums, News, Reviews, Help and Android Wallpapers

Unless you have acute nostalgia for AOL dial-up service circa 1998, then you probably shouldn’t get busted pirating copyrighted material on Verizon’s (VZ) network. TorrentFreak has got hold of Verizon’s official “six strikes” anti-piracy policy that’s slated to roll out this year and has found that repeat offenders on Verizon’s network will see their connection speeds throttled down to just 256Kbps.

For users’ first two alleged copyright violations, Verizon will send out an email and a voice message informing them that “one or more copyright owners have reported that they believe your account has been involved in possible copyright infringement activity.” For users’ third and fourth alleged offenses, Verizon will “redirect your browser to a special web page where you can review and acknowledge receiving the [previous] alerts” and will also “provide a short video about copyright law and the consequences of copyright infringement.”

Finally, after the fifth and sixth alleged violations, Verizon gives the users the option of having their speed cut down to 256Kbps for a limited time. If they continue to rack up violations after that, reports TorrentFreak, then the MPAA and RIAA can obtain a court order forcing Verizon to hand over “the IP-addresses of such repeat infringers in order to take legal action against them.”

TorrentFreak also reports that the new policy will “also apply to business customers,” meaning that “coffee shops and other small businesses will have to be very careful over who they allow on their company networks” if they don’t want their speeds throttled. The six strikes policy could pose similar problems for apartment buildings that relied upon shared connections, where the actions of one person could lead to an entire group being punished.

SOURCE Boy Genius Report

Who needs precogs when you can use an algorithm to predict crime? Authorities in two states and D.C. are using software created by a University of Penn professor to predict the likelihood that parolees will commit murder, in order to …

SOURCE Threat Level

Bob the Super Hamste writes “The St. Paul Pioneer Press is reporting that Andrew Henderson was recording Ramsey County sheriff’s deputies frisking a bloody-faced man, who was then loaded into an ambulance by paramedics. Then sheriff’s deputy Jacqueline Muellner approached Henderson and confiscated his video camera, stating, ‘We’ll just take this for evidence,’ which was recorded on Henderson’s cell phone. On October 30th, Henderson went to the Arden Hills sheriff’s office to retrieve his video camera, where he was told where he would have to wait to receive his camera back. A week later, Henderson was charged with obstruction of legal process and disorderly conduct, with the citation stating, ‘While handling a medical/check the welfare (call), (Henderson) was filming it. Data privacy HIPAA violation. Refused to identify self. Had to stop dealing with sit(uation) to deal w/Henderson.’ In mid November, Henderson went back to the sheriff’s office to attempt to retrieve his camera and get a copy of the report when Deputy Dan Eggers refused. … Jennifer Granick, a specialist on privacy issues at Stanford University Law School, states that the alleged violation of HIPAA rules by Andrew Henderson is nonsense, stating, ‘There’s nothing in HIPAA that prevents someone who’s not subject to HIPAA from taking photographs on the public streets, HIPAA has absolutely nothing to say about that.'” The article notes that the Deputy in question basically told the guy he was arrested for being a “buttinski” and recording someone in the midst of a violent mental health breakdown. Supposedly the footage was deleted from the camera while in police custody.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

SOURCE Slashdot

wiredmikey writes “NVIDIA on Saturday quietly released a driver update (version 310.90) that fixes a recently-uncovered security vulnerability in the NVIDIA Display Driver service (nvvsvc.exe). The vulnerability was disclosed on Christmas day by Peter Winter-Smith, a researcher from the U.K. According to Rapid7’s HD Moore, the vulnerability allows a remote attacker with a valid domain account to gain super-user access to any desktop or laptop running the vulnerable service, and allows an attacker (or rogue user) with a low-privileged account to gain super-access to their own system. In addition to the security fix, driver version 310.90 addresses other bugs and brings performance increases for several games and applications for a number of GPUs including the GeForce 400/500/600 Series.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

SOURCE Slashdot