"The willingness of the government to punish leakers is inversely proportional to the leakers' rank and status, which is bad news for someone so lacking in those attributes as Edward Snowden," writes media critic Jack Shafer at Reuters. As the US moves to prosecute Snowden, Shafer says we should ask "Why Snowden is singled out for punishment when he's essentially done what the insider dissenters did when they spoke with Risen and Lichtblau in 2005 about an invasive NSA program. He deserves the same justice and the same punishment they received."
Jack Shafer: Edward Snowden and the selective targeting of leaks
ShotSpotter "wastes millions of taxpayer dollars" and doesn't even work, say critics
ShotSpotter is a service that installs microphones around town and "spots" gunshots, but is frequently criticized for its reliability and price. One study found it offers "no reductions in serious violent crimes, yet … increases demands on police resources". The problems with it are both systematic (the mics confirm the biases that went into the… READ THE REST
Gentleman robs company that specializes in security cameras
A gentleman in South Nashville cut a fence and broke into the headquarters of Pro Systems, a company that specializes in security cameras. The thief absconded with $20,000 worth of goods. Unsurprisingly, police quickly apprehended the man who was easily identified on surveillance footage. According to WKRN, "Pro Systems was able to recover most of… READ THE REST
Italian mafia fugitive caught in Spain after he appeared on Google Street View
After 20 years on the lam, convicted murderer and mafia Gioacchino Gammino of Italy was arrested last month in Galapagar, Spain after police spotted him in a Google Street View photo. Gammino was standing outside a fruit and vegetable store he had opened under a fake name. They confirmed his identity by comparing that photo… READ THE REST
Teach yourself how to play guitar with the Jamstik trainer
We thank our sponsor for making this content possible; it is not written by the editorial staff nor does it necessarily reflect its views. Has learning how to play the guitar been on your bucket list? Learning how to play guitar should be simple, fun, and accessible, but with the average guitar costing $600 — lessons not included, you might… READ THE REST
Make room for important and large files with Prism Drive cloud storage
We thank our sponsor for making this content possible; it is not written by the editorial staff nor does it necessarily reflect its views. With most of our daily activities happening online, no one will ever complain about having too much storage space. On the contrary, it's frustrating when you run out of storage or have… READ THE REST
This 13-in-1 media hub brings your favorite content to the big screen
We thank our sponsor for making this content possible; it is not written by the editorial staff nor does it necessarily reflect its views. We're sure our parents had a wild time back in the day without modern media, and to some degree, we wish we could be a little less plugged in. But then we… READ THE REST
