Democratic congressman Alan Grayson is leading a bipartisan group of representatives concerned about "constant misleading information" from the intelligence community. They're holding a hearing Wednesday, at which critics of the National Security Agency's spying programs will speak. One of them is Glenn Greenwald, who will participate remotely from Brazil. I'm sure the NSA will want to listen in on that line.
Critics of NSA spying, including Glenn Greenwald, to testify before Congress
French government proposes new ban on filming and photographing police
On November 20, 2020, the French government presented a new security bill. Article 24 of the bill outlaws the dissemination of photos and videos that feature, "the image of the face or any other element of identification of an official of the national police or of a soldier of the national gendarmerie when acting within… READ THE REST
Neighborhood associations are installing license plate readers to privately police who drives on their streets
A new piece over at OneZero examines the rising trend of local neighborhood associations installing private license plate readers to keep tabs on who comes and goes from their precious white suburbs; ALPR technology, invented in 1976 by the U.K.'s Police Scientific Development Branch, has become a popular law enforcement tool over the past decade… READ THE REST
Australian drones monitor beaches, and not just for sharks
Shark-detecting drones have been commonplace over Australian beaches for a while now. The same skyward technology is now spying for large groups of people. As the summer season ramps up down under local officials want to minimize any COVID-19 super spreader crowds. The drone surveillance cameras will transmit video to the authorities who will act… READ THE REST
This handy adapter ties your Nintendo Switch, smartphone, and Bluetooth headphones' audio together
A kid in tech-savvy 2020 has a lot of plates to keep spinning. That avalanche of technology often requires making some difficult choices, like this one: what happens when you want to listen to music streaming from your phone and play a game on your Nintendo Switch? Since you're obviously going to be wearing headphones,… READ THE REST
These 5 highly-rated password managers are on sale for an extra 40% off ahead of Black Friday
How many years has everyone been screaming about password security? Yet, even with all of the warnings, NordPass recently dropped the list of the most common passwords of 2020. And they're the same embarrassing assortment we see every year. The top 5 were: 123456, 123456789, picture1, 12345678, and the perennial favorite–password…sigh. You're obviously not one of… READ THE REST
Start 2021 as an electrical engineer with this training for less than $20
Considering how 2020 has played out, it feels like making resolutions about what you hope for in 2021 is a little underwhelming. Under the circumstances, you may need something a little stronger than a simple New Year's Eve promise to achieve your goals. If your job situation isn't the greatest right now, consider this: starting… READ THE REST