There's an excellent tick-tock of the Lavabit saga in the New Yorker, by Michael Phillips and Matt Buchanan. Lavabit founder Ladar Levison says he believes even if he hadn't hosted an email account for Edward Snowden, "Lavabit would eventually have found itself in the position that it's in now because it 'constitutes a gap' in the government's intelligence." And that should worry all of us. Read: How Lavabit Melted Down : The New Yorker.
'How Lavabit Melted Down'
Singapore deploys autonomous robots to catch smokers and other "undesirable social behaviors"
Singapore is testing autonomous ground robots that can move through crowds and detect undesirable social behaviors such as smoking in prohibited areas, illegal hawking, improper bicycle parking, and gathering in groups of more than five people. When a robot spots an undesirable person, it "will trigger real-time alerts to the command and control centre, and… READ THE REST
A laser camera that can see an entire room through a keyhole
"Non-line-of-sight imaging" is the technique of shining light in a direction and measuring all the ways it bounces off objects to determine their rough shape — including ones the person holding the camera can't see. That means that, historically, they've been able to use NLOS imaging to, say, detect an object hidden around a corner… READ THE REST
Apple pauses child porn surveillance plan
Apple announced that it planned to scan images on iPhones to see if they matched the signatures of known child abuse images. Though iCloud mail (and many cloud storage services) are already subject to such scanning, the fact that the scanning would happen on users' own phones alarmed users and privacy groups. Even if the… READ THE REST
Bright Cellars is making wine selection a lot easier – and a lot tastier
There's a reason why the movie Sideways was such a hit with audiences. Sure, it had a great cast and a fun script, but part of its success was baked into its premise. It was a comedy about people who took wine way too seriously. That's an idea that practically writes itself. You know all… READ THE REST
This ultra-compact, totally wireless portable charger is only $24
Nothing is worse than having your devices die when you're out and about. Sure, standard portable power banks will do the trick, but most are too bulky to carry around in your pockets. Plus, then you have to worry about the long charge times for those power banks have, not to mention the hassle of… READ THE REST
Never miss a single detail with a digital microscope like this on your hands
No matter how good your vision may be, the naked eye sure misses a lot. Like if you ever look up close at a Van Gogh painting — all those brush strokes and swirls are the magic behind any of the artist's masterpieces. And the same goes with other things in life, whether it be… READ THE REST
