The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is funding Wood's research in the hope that it will lead to stealth surveillance robots for the battlefield and urban environments. The robot's small size and fly-like appearance are critical to such missions.

Like that things going to stay on the battlefield. Cute little bugger, eh?

Technology Review: Robotic Insect Takes Off for the First Time

In a drug case from San Diego County, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco likened computer surveillance to the "pen register" devices that officers use to pinpoint the phone numbers a suspect dials, without listening to the phone calls themselves.

We lose yet another privacy right... they're falling like flies...

**WE** are falling like flies.

SAN FRANCISCO / Judges OK warrantless monitoring of Web use / Privacy rules don't apply to Internet messages, court says

It is the policy of The Washington Post not to publish anonymous pieces. In this case, an exception has been made because the author -- who would have preferred to be named -- is legally prohibited from disclosing his or her identity in connection with receipt of a national security letter.
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Without the gag orders issued on recipients of the letters, it is doubtful that the FBI would have been able to abuse the NSL power the way that it did. Some recipients would have spoken out about perceived abuses, and the FBI's actions would have been subject to some degree of public scrutiny.

I found it particularly difficult to be silent about my concerns while Congress was debating the reauthorization of the Patriot Act in 2005 and early 2006. If I hadn't been under a gag order, I would have contacted members of Congress to discuss my experiences and to advocate changes in the law.

I recognize that there may sometimes be a need for secrecy in certain national security investigations. But I've now been under a broad gag order for three years, and other NSL recipients have been silenced for even longer. At some point -- a point we passed long ago -- the secrecy itself becomes a threat to our democracy. In the wake of the recent revelations, I believe more strongly than ever that the secrecy surrounding the government's use of the national security letters power is unwarranted and dangerous. I hope that Congress will at last recognize the same thing.

My National Security Letter Gag Order - washingtonpost.com

I'm curious as to why multiple links from the aol main page were not working right prior to the release. Coincidence? I don't know, but it seems like such a big web presence would want working first tier links.....OR was there an accident, a hack, a mad employee with access to the web, or were they just scrambling to get everything about the release down as quickly as possible, taking large chunks of their first tier with them?

Techcrunch | AOL: “This was a screw up”

They were told, as they moved up the managerial ladder at the call center, that the amount they had sent in was much larger than their normal monthly payment. And if the increase hits a certain percentage higher than that normal payment, Homeland Security has to be notified. And the money doesn't move until the threat alert is lifted.

Very few people have really paid attention to the banking surveillance. All kinds of transactions are carefully monitored by the feds.

Big Brother: Whats in your wallet?

Colleges have zombies all over the place. I worked in collegiate IT - its just a mess. Academic Freedom and all that. (Which is great, and I support, but it makes it very hard to control access to a network.)

I had a problem when I went to work at a college - at first my boss really suspected me of being some sort of ebil debil hacka because I happened to know something about it, and because I knew their wireless was wide open, and probably because I had made a KITTY TREATS can antenna. NEVER MIND that I came to the college from a respected security company, with an impeccable work background. It was more likely because, 4 years ago - I knew that orinoco gold cards were the shiz.

No, it was that kitty treats antenna, and the fact that my 'esoteric' (laugh) knowlege of networks was maybe a bit threatening to someone. Could this be the case with you?

I understand. Luckily they didn't ever call big brother to me because they were always afraid big brother would take their servers again without leaving them a backup.

I always did my best to play as dumb as I could and stay hidden, and only come out railing about security issues - read AGAINST this or that -when I felt the network was REALLY threatened.

Good luck. Keep cool, play dumb, find out who the fragile ego is.

Yesterday's Nightmare

Just how much will people give up to feel safe?

This article explores privacy issues in the age of paranoia.

Getting Naked for Big Brother