What Adam Curry is reading

Video: BBC cameraman films close call with polar bear in new nature documentary - Telegraph
  Link to Article
  Sun, 06 Jan 2013 12:25
  The incident occurred as Scottish wildlife cameraman Gordon Buchanan followed a wild polar bear family in Svalbard, Norway over the course of three seasons for a new documentary series that starts on BBC Two next week.
  You can watch The Polar Bear Family & Me on Monday 7 January at 21:30 on BBC Two
VIDEO-BBC News - US student held over school 'bomb plot'
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  Sun, 06 Jan 2013 12:14
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VIDEO-New FDA Rules Proposed To Prevent Food Contamination | Crooks and Liars
  Link to Article
  Sun, 06 Jan 2013 10:07
  Progress! This is the kind of nuts-and-bolts stuff that makes a huge difference in our everyday lives. Not incidentally, this is the kind of thing for which we should be able to count on for our federal government, the sort of thing at which Republican "conservatives" so love to chip away. Food safety seems to be a reasonable thing to expect, don't you think? So thumbs up to the Obama administration for starting the process of getting this done:
  The Food and Drug Administration on Friday proposed two sweeping rules aimed at preventing the contamination of produce and processed foods, which has sickened tens of thousands of Americans annually in recent years.
  The proposed rules represent a sea change in the way the agency polices food, a process that currently involves taking action after contamination has been identified. It is a long-awaited step toward codifying the food safety law that Congress passed two years ago.
  Changes include requirements for better record keeping, contingency plans for handling outbreaks and measures that would prevent the spread of contaminants in the first place. While food producers would have latitude in determining how to execute the rules, farmers would have to ensure that water used in irrigation met certain standards and food processors would need to find ways to keep fresh food that may contain bacteria from coming into contact with food that has been cooked.
  New safety measures might include requiring that farm workers wash their hands, installing portable toilets in fields and ensuring that foods are cooked at temperatures high enough to kill bacteria.
  The lack of toilets for farm workers is a common reason for produce contamination. Use your imagination -- and then wash your spinach!
Wat verandert er in 2013?
  Link to Article
  Sun, 06 Jan 2013 09:12
  Elk jaar brengt zo zijn nieuwigheden mee. Ook voor uw geldzaken zal er dit jaar weer een en ander veranderen. Wat staat ons dit jaar te wachten?
  1. Nieuwe spaarfiscaliteit
  Na alle verwarring die vorig jaar werd gecreerd rond roerende voorheffing, rijkentaks en aangifteplicht is er sinds 1 januari weer rust op het vlak van de spaarfiscaliteit. Vanaf het inkomstenjaar 2013 geldt zowel voor interesten als voor dividenden een eenvormig tarief van 25 procent roerende voorheffing, dat opnieuw bevrijdend is. Voor de klassieke spaarrekening verandert er echter niets. De eerste renteschijf hierop '' vermoedelijk tot 1.880 euro voor inkomstenjaar 2013 '' blijft vrijgesteld van roerende voorheffing en voor het rentesurplus blijft het tarief behouden op 15 procent. Dat verlaagde tarief zal ook van toepassing zijn voor de 'staatsbons Leterme' en voor de dividenden van residentile vastgoedbevaks.
  Let wel op: het bevrijdende karakter van de roerende voorheffing geldt enkel voor de inkomsten toegekend vanaf dit jaar. Interesten en dividenden die u heeft ontvangen in 2012 moet u dit jaar in principe nog wel eenmalig invullen op uw belastingaangifte. Voor belastingplichtigen met roerende inkomsten lager dan 20.020 euro zou echter naar verluidt een vrijstellingsregeling worden uitgewerkt op basis van een verklaring op eer.
  2. Meldingsplicht voor financile rekeningen en verzekeringen
  In de loop van dit jaar zullen alle financile instellingen gevestigd in ons land de identiteit van hun klanten en de nummers van hun rekeningen en levensverzekeringspolissen moeten melden bij een centraal aanspreekpunt bij de Nationale Bank. De buitenlandse rekeningnummers en levensverzekeringspolissen zullen door de belastingplichtigen zelf aangegeven moeten worden. De procedures hiervoor zullen in de komende maanden verder uitgewerkt worden.
  Deze gegevensbank, die momenteel nog niet operationeel is, zal onder welbepaalde wettelijke voorwaarden '' bijvoorbeeld in fraudedossiers - door de fiscus geraadpleegd kunnen worden om de financile instellingen te kennen waarmee de belastingplichtigen relaties hebben (of hebben gehad).
  3. Meer transparantie voor spaarrekeningen
  Vorige zomer werden nieuwe regels voor spaardeposito's aangekondigd die vanaf dit jaar van kracht zouden gaan. Omdat de vereiste koninklijke besluiten vertraging hebben opgelopen, zullen de nieuwe maatregelen gespreid in werking treden in de loop van 2013 en 2014.
  Als eerste in de rij zal op 31 januari een officile spaarsimulator gelanceerd worden op de website van de FSMA, waarmee de rekeningen van verschillende banken vergeleken kunnen worden, de zogenaamde B-test. Met deze simulator zal elke spaarder op basis van zijn eigen profiel kunnen testen welke spaarrekening het voordeligst is in functie van het bedrag dat hij wenst te sparen en de spaarperiode die hij voor ogen heeft. In het zog daarvan zullen de banken ook gestandaardiseerde infofiches introduceren voor hun spaarrekeningen, die op uniforme wijze de belangrijkste kenmerken van elke spaarrekening weergeven. Ook dit dient om het vergelijken van spaarrekeningen te vergemakkelijken.
  Vermoedelijk vanaf 1 oktober zal gestart worden met de trimestrile uitbetaling van de getrouwheidspremie, een tweede maatregel uit het principeakkoord van vorig jaar. Hierdoor zullen spaarders minder lang moeten wachten op de uitbetaling van hun rentepremie.
  Andere nieuwe regels die nog op stapel staan zijn de afschaffing van rentepromoties en voorwaardelijke spaaraanbiedingen, zoals bijvoorbeeld spaaraanbiedingen die voorbehouden zijn voor vers geld. Ook zullen banken in de toekomst nog maximaal zes verschillende spaarrekeningen mogen aanbieden en zullen ze verplicht worden om op hun website een rekenmodule te zetten waarmee spaarders hun verworven interesten kunnen berekenen. Hiermee zullen de spaarders ook kunnen nagaan wanneer ze hun geld best kunnen afhalen zonder de getrouwheidspremie te verliezen voor het lopende jaar. Deze calculators worden door de banken beloofd tegen 1 januari 2014.
  4. Eindfase dematerialisering van effecten aan toonderVanaf 1 januari 2014 moeten alle effecten gedematerialiseerd zijn en zullen effecten aan toonder hun rechten verliezen. Papieren beleggingen zullen geen recht meer geven op coupons of dividenden, zullen niet meer uitbetaald kunnen worden, enzovoort. Heeft u nog papieren effecten in uw kluis liggen, dan zal u ze dus uiterlijk tegen 31 december 2013 op een effectenrekening moeten plaatsen. De taks die betaald moet worden bij het deponeren van effecten aan toonder met het oog op de dematerialisatie ervan werd vanaf 1 januari van dit jaar opgetrokken tot 2 procent, tegenover 1 procent vorig jaar.
  5. Stopzetten van een domiciliring wordt omslachtiger
  Eind 2009 werd de Europese domiciliring ingevoerd, die op termijn de Belgische domiciliringen moet vervangen. Het einde van die overgangsperiode komt nu eindelijk in zicht en werd vastgeprikt op 1 februari 2014. Alle leveranciers en schuldeisers die nog met Belgische domiciliringen werken, zullen daardoor in de komende maanden verplicht worden om over te stappen naar de Europese domiciliring. Sommige grote bedrijven, zoals bijvoorbeeld Electrabel, hebben de overschakeling al achter de rug.
  Op het eerste gezicht verandert er hierdoor weinig voor de consument, behalve bij de stopzetting van het mandaat. Omdat Europese domiciliringen rechtstreeks beheerd worden door de leverancier '' en dus niet door de bank '' zal u uw domiciliringsmandaten in de toekomst niet meer zelf kunnen stopzetten via thuisbankieren (of via uw bankkantoor) maar zal u daarvoor contact moeten opnemen met de leverancier/schuldeiser waaraan u het mandaat heeft toegestaan. Om problemen te vermijden doet u dat best via een aangetekende brief (waarvan u eventueel een kopie bezorgt aan uw bank).
  6. Strengere regels voor onder nul gaan met een kredietkaartGaat u al wel eens shoppen met een kredietkaart waarvan u het saldo in schijven kan afbetalen? Dan moet u vanaf dit jaar rekening houden met een nieuwe nulstellingsverplichting. Concreet zal u vanaf nu niet meer doorlopend nieuwe betalingen kunnen verrichten binnen de toegestane kredietlimiet, maar zal u verplicht worden om het openstaande saldo binnen een welbepaalde termijn volledig aan te zuiveren. De maximumtermijn die u heeft om volledig op nul te komen, wordt berekend op basis van het maximale kredietbedrag en de rente, maar kan voor kredietlijnen tot 5.000 euro nooit hoger liggen dan 60 maanden (5 jaar). Ter illustratie: voor een kredietlijn van 2.000 euro met een rente van 5,76 procent bedraagt de maximale termijn 36 maanden. Noteer wel dat contractueel ook een kortere termijn kan worden opgelegd.
  Ook voor zichtrekeningen waarmee men onder nul kan gaan, werden nieuwe nulstellingstermijnen vastgelegd waarbinnen de rekening minstens (C)(C)n dag weer in de zwarte cijfers moet komen. Mag de rekening ten hoogste 3.000 euro in het rood staan dan bedraagt die nulstellingstermijn 12 maanden. Voor rekeningen met een hogere kredietfaciliteit is dat 60 maanden.
Tied up at the moment
  Link to Article
  Sun, 06 Jan 2013 00:00
  The pastor of St. Aloysius church on Springfield's north end has been granted a leave of absence after he called 911 from the rectory and told a dispatcher that he needed help getting out of handcuffs.
  ''I'm going to need help getting out before this becomes a medical emergency,'' Father Tom Donovan told a dispatcher who sounds a bit incredulous during the Nov. 28 call.
  ''You're stuck in a pair of handcuffs?'' the dispatcher asks.
  ''(I was) playing with them and I need help getting out,'' Donovan responds.
  Donovan told the dispatcher that he was alone in the rectory. It's not clear exactly how he ended up in handcuffs or why he feared a medical emergency. His voice sounds garbled or muffled on the tape, and sources say that police discovered some sort of gag on the priest when they arrived.
  The diocese has been tight-lipped about the matter, saying only that Bishop Thomas Paprocki granted Donovan's request for a leave of absence at some point before Christmas. The diocese knows about the incident, given that Brad Huff, an attorney for the diocese, has been given a copy of the 911 tape by the Sangamon County Emergency Telephone System Department. Kathie Sass, spokeswoman for the Diocese of Springfield, said that the diocese also has a copy of a police report on the matter.
  Sass would not disclose Donovan's whereabouts or say whether he is staying at a church-affiliated location.
  ''I wouldn't be able to tell you where Father Donovan is,'' Sass said. ''There's a matter of privacy there.''
  Sass said that Donovan approached Paprocki after the incident and asked for help.
  ''He came to the bishop before anyone was aware of the incident,'' Sass said. ''He came to the bishop and asked for help and was granted leave.''
  Paprocki reviewed the police report after speaking with Donovan, and the police account jibed with what the priest told the bishop, Sass said.
  Contact Bruce Rushton at brushton@illinoistimes.com.
Carville rips Hillary Clinton skeptics as 'inhumane,' 'idiotic' [VIDEO]
  Link to Article
  Sat, 05 Jan 2013 22:42
  Democratic strategist James Carville doesn't take kindly to critics who suggest Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is faking health problems to avoid testifying about the deadly Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attack on the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi, Libya.
  ''I have no idea what that's drives them to this kind of inhumane, idiotic behavior,'' Carville said during the Friday broadcast of ''The Situation Room'' on CNN. ''People in Clinton-land were very, very concerned about the secretary of state when she fell and hit her head, and particularly when they had the blood clot.''
  ''This is really an inhumane kind of discussion that these people were having,'' Carville added. ''I have no idea what would lead them to do something like that. It's beyond me. As if she wouldn't testify on Benghazi. She said she took responsibility for it and ordered an investigation into it and God know what is else. It doesn't make sense. Just a cheap sound bite, if you ask me.''
  Host Wolf Blitzer said he personally doubted that Clinton would deliberately avoid testifying, prompting Carville to speculate about her critics' motives. (RELATED: Clinton calls in sick again on Benghazi)
  ''I can't imagine what it is that these people want '-- other than the fact that they have some intense hatred for the secretary of state that can't be explained, and they should just go out and say it. '... Hillary-hating is old and deep, and I guess it was still alive. I was hoping after [her] tremendous service to the country that it would have dissipated somewhat, but apparently not.''
  (h/t Real Clear Politics Video)
  Follow Jeff on Twitter
US troops arrive in Turkey to man Patriot missiles | The Times of Israel
  Link to Article
  Sat, 05 Jan 2013 11:28
  ANKARA, Turkey (AP) '-- U.S. troops have started to arrive in Turkey to man Patriot missiles meant to protect the NATO ally from potential Syrian warheads, the U.S. military said Friday.
  The United States, Germany and the Netherlands are each deploying two batteries of the U.S.-built defense system to boost ally Turkey's air defenses against any spillover from Syria's nearly 2-year civil war. The Patriot systems are expected to become operational later this month.
  The Stuttgart, Germany-based U.S. European Command said in a statement that U.S. personnel and equipment had started arriving at Turkey's southern Incirlik Air Base. Some 400 personnel and equipment from the U.S. military's Fort Sill, Oklahoma-based 3rd Battalion were to be airlifted to Turkey over the coming days, while additional equipment was expected to reach Turkey by sea later in January, the Command said.
  NATO endorsed Turkey's request for the Patriots on Nov. 30 after several Syrian shells landed on Turkish territory.
  Last month, NATO said the Syrian military has continued to fire Scud-type missiles, although none had hit Turkish territory, and said the alliance was justified in deploying the anti-missile systems in Turkey. Ankara is supporting the Syrian opposition and rebels and is providing shelter to Syrian refugees.
  More than 1,000 American, German and Dutch troops are to be based in Turkey to operate the batteries. NATO said the Americans will be based at Gaziantep, 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of Syria. The Germans will be based at Kahramanmaras, located about 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of the Syrian border; the Dutch at Adana, about 100 kilometers (66 miles) west of the border.
  Navy Vice Adm. Charles Martoglio, the Command's deputy chief, reiterated that the Patriots' deployment is for defensive purposes only and would not support a no-fly zone ''or any offensive operation,'' in Syria, according to the Command's statement.
  ''Turkey is an important NATO ally and we welcome the opportunity to support the Turkish government's request in accordance with the NATO standing defense plan,'' it quoted Martoglio as saying.
  Syria is reported to have an array of artillery rockets, as well as medium-range missiles '-- some capable of carrying chemical warheads. These include Soviet-built SS-21 Scarabs and Scud-B missiles, originally designed to deliver nuclear warheads.
  Last month, a top military commander from Iran '-- a key Syrian ally '-- warned Turkey against stationing the NATO systems on its territory, saying such a move risks conflict with Syria.
  Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
DECLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS - ARMY SPRAYED CHEMICALS ON KIDS
  Link to Article
  Source: aangirfan
  Sat, 05 Jan 2013 11:18
  Website for this image
VSATs
  Link to Article
  Sat, 05 Jan 2013 09:47
  A very small aperture terminal (VSAT), is a two-way satelliteground station or a stabilized maritime Vsat antenna with a dish antenna that is smaller than 3 meters. The majority of VSAT antennas range from 75 cm to 1.2 m. Data rates typically range from 56 kbit/s up to 4 Mbit/s. VSATs access satellite(s) in geosynchronous orbit to relay data from small remote earth stations (terminals) to other terminals (in mesh topology) or master earth station "hubs" (in star topology).
  VSATs are most commonly used to transmit narrowband data (point of sale transactions such as credit card, polling or RFID data; or SCADA), or broadband data (for the provision of satellite Internet access to remote locations, VoIP or video). VSATs are also used for transportable, on-the-move (utilising phased array antennas) or mobile maritime communications.
  [edit]HistoryThe concept of the geostationary orbit was originated by Russian theorist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, who wrote articles on space travel around the beginning of the 20th century. In the 1920s, Hermann Oberth and Herman Potocnik, also known as Herman Noordung, described an orbit at an altitude of 35,900 kilometers whose period exactly matched the Earth's rotational period, making it appear to hover over a fixed point on the Earth's equator.[1]
  Arthur C. Clarke contributed to the understanding of satellites through an article published in Wireless World in October 1945 titled "Extra-Terrestrial Relays: Can Rocket Stations Give World-wide Radio Coverage?". In this article, Clarke not only determines the orbital characteristics necessary for a geostationary orbit, but also discusses the frequencies and power needed for communications.
  Live satellite communication was developed in the sixties by NASA,[2] named Syncom 1-3. It transmitted live coverage of the 1964 Olympics in Japan to viewers in the US and Europe. Soon after, on April 6, 1965 the first commercial satellite was launched into space, Intelsat I, nicknamed Early Bird.[3]
  The first commercial VSATs were C band (6 GHz) receive-only systems by Equatorial Communications using spread spectrum technology. More than 30,000 60 cm antenna systems were sold in the early 1980s. Equatorial later developed a C band (4/6 GHz) 2 way system using 1 m x 0.5 m antennas and sold about 10,000 units in 1984-85. In 1985, Schlumberger Oilfield Research co-developed the world's first Ku band (12''14 GHz) VSATs with Hughes Aerospace to provide portable network connectivity for oil field drilling and exploration units. Ku Band VSATs make up the vast majority of sites in use today for data or telephony applications. The largest VSAT network (more than 12,000 sites) was deployed by Spacenet and MCI for the US Postal Service.
  [edit]ConfigurationsMost VSAT networks are configured in one of these topologies:
  A star topology, using a central uplink site, such as a network operations center (NOC), to transport data back and forth to each VSAT terminal via satellite,A mesh topology, where each VSAT terminal relays data via satellite to another terminal by acting as a hub, minimizing the need for a centralized uplink site,A combination of both star and mesh topologies. Some VSAT networks are configured by having several centralized uplink sites (and VSAT terminals stemming from it) connected in a multi-star topology with each star (and each terminal in each star) connected to each other in a mesh topology. Others configured in only a single star topology sometimes will have each terminal connected to each other as well, resulting in each terminal acting as a central hub. These configurations are utilized to minimize the overall cost of the network, and to alleviate the amount of data that has to be relayed through a central uplink site (or sites) of a star or multi-star network.[edit]Future applicationsAdvances in technology have dramatically improved the price/performance equation of FSS (Fixed Service Satellite) over the past five years. New VSAT systems are coming online using Ka band technology that promise higher data rates for lower costs.
  FSS systems currently in orbit have a huge capacity with a relatively low price structure. FSS systems provide various applications for subscribers, including: telephony, fax, television, high speed data communication services, Internet access, Satellite News Gathering (SNG), Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) and others. These systems are applicable for providing various high-quality services because they create efficient communication systems, both for residential and business users.
  [edit]Constituent parts of a VSAT configurationAll the outdoor parts on the dish are collectively called the ODU (Outdoor Unit), i.e. OMT to split signal between BUC and LNB. The IDU is effectively a Modem, usually with ethernet port and 2 x F-connectors for the coax to BUC (Transmit) and from LNB (Receive). The Astra2Connect has an all-in-one OMT/BUC/LNA that looks like a QUAD LNB in shape and size which mounts on a regular TV sat mount. As a consequence it is only 500 mW compared with the normal 2W, thus is poorer in rain. Skylogic's Tooway system also uses an integrated OMT/BUC/LNB assembly named TRIA (Transmit/Receive Integrated Assembly) which is 3W.
  [edit]Maritime VSATMaritime VSAT is the use of satellite communication through a VSAT terminal on a ship at sea. Since a ship at sea moves with the water, the antenna needs to be stabilized with reference to the horizon and True North. The antenna is constantly pointing at the satellite it uses to transmit and receive signals.
  [edit]TechnologyInitially the use of VSAT antennas at sea was for transmission of television signals. One of the first companies to manufacture stabilized VSAT antennas was SeaTel of Concord, California which launched their first stabilized antenna in 1978. Sea Tel dominates the supply of two-way VSAT stabilised antenna systems to the marine market with almost 72 percent of the market in 2007 compared with Orbit's 17.6 per cent.[4] Initially maritime VSAT was using Single Channel Per Carrier - SCPC technology - which suited large volume users like oil drilling rigs and oil platforms and large fleets of ships from one shipowner sailing within one or few satellite footprints. This changed when the company iDirect launched its IP-based Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) technology that dynamically allocated bandwidth to each ship for shared bandwidth, lowering the entry level cost for getting maritime VSAT installed, which turned out to be of key importance to small-to mid-sized fleets, and thus to the market acceptance of VSAT.
  [edit]MarketAccording to the Maritime VSAT report [5] issued by the Comsys Group their research shows that stabilised maritime VSAT services (not including oil & gas rigs) reached more than $400 million in 2007. In 2010 the COMSYS group released the "2nd Maritime VSAT Report" where the market estimate had increased to $590 million in 2009 with predictions for 2010 at $850 m. The estimated size of the market in terms of vessels eligible to get VSAT was in this report set to in excess of 42.000 with just over 34.000 to go. The major companies market share in terms of number of vessels in service were in 2009 (2007 in parenthesis) according to these reports: Vizada: 17,6% (26.0%), Ship Equip: 11.0% (10.7%), Cap Rock 2.8% (2.9%), MTN 7.5% (6.4%), Stratos - % (3.6%), KVH 5.4% (- %) Elektrikom 4.9% (3.2%), Intelsat 3.4% (- %), Eutelsat 3.1%, NSSL 3.1%, Radio Holland 3.0%, Telemar 3.0%, DTS 2.6% and others accounted for 32.6% (27.7%). Many of the major providers have branded their maritime VSAT offering such that Vizada offers its service through the Marlink division and the SeaLink and WaveCall products, OmniAccess through their BroadBEAM[6] products and Ship Equip calls its offering Sevsat.[7]
  [edit]TrainingModern VSAT systems are a prime example of convergence, and hence require skills from both the RF and IP domains. VSAT specific training includes:
  [edit]References[edit]External links
VIDEO-Popular office phones vulnerable to eavesdropping hack, researchers say - Red Tape
  Link to Article
  Sat, 05 Jan 2013 09:02
  Columbia University
  This small gadget can be attached to a single Cisco IP phone and turn an entire company's network into a sophisticated bugging device within seconds, researchers say.
  By Bob Sullivan
  High-tech telephones common on many workplace desks in the U.S. can be hacked and turned into eavesdropping devices, researchers at Columbia University have discovered.
  The hack, demonstrated for NBC News, allows the researchers to turn on a telephone's microphone and listen in on conversations from anywhere around the globe. The only requirement, they say, is an Internet connection.
  Doctoral candidate Ang Cui and Columbia Professor Sal Stolfo, who discovered the flaw while working on a grant from the U.S. Defense Department, say they can remotely order a hacked telephone to do anything they want and use software to hide their tracks. For example, they said they could turn on a webcam on a phone equipped with one or instruct the phone's LED light to stay dark when the phone's microphone has been turned on, so an eavesdropping subject wouldn't be alerted that their phone has been hacked.
  The flaw involves software running on Cisco's popular Internet Protocol telephones. Cisco acknowledged the flaw in a statement to NBC News, but wouldn't say how many of its phones were impacted. In a blog post earlier this year, the company -- the leading IP phone maker, with about one-third of the market -- said it had just surpassed 50 million in phone sales.
  In a vulnerability announcement sent to paying customers in December, Cisco listed 15 phone models impacted by the problem.
  "You can imagine the implications of this," Stolfo said of the vulnerability. "Anything that is said behind closed doors isn't private, no matter how sensitive the conversation is. There is no privacy. How can you conduct business like that?"
  Cisco's statement indicated that the company is working on a fix, and the firm told NBC News that it planned to issue a security bulletin next week. But Stolfo said he is "very worried about the speed with which Cisco is handling this."
  In a demonstration of the phone hack at the Chaos Communications Conference Dec. 29 in Germany, Cui showed examples of Cisco phones being used in government and military applications, though he noted there is no way to know if those phones were vulnerable to the attack.
  "On the dark side, these phones are sold worldwide,'' Stolfo said. ''Any government that would like to peer into the private lives of citizens could use this. This is a great opportunity to create a low-cost surveillance system that is already deployed. It's a monitoring infrastructure that's free, when you turn these into listening posts."
  The research was conducted under a grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), an arm of the Defense Department devoted to computer security, and conducted at the Computer Science Department of Columbia University's School of Engineering and Applied Science. The same lab caused a global stir in 2011 when it published a hack of Hewlett Packard printers.
  ''We consider this to be much more dangerous than the printer hack," Stolfo said, "because of what you can do with the phone."
  In a demonstration conducted last week for NBC News, Cui showed how a small device pre-loaded with software and plugged into a port on the Cisco phone could rewrite the IP phone's software within seconds. In the scenario he described, a would be hacker would need to access a phone for only a few moments '' a phone on a secretary's desk, for example '' to conduct the attack.
  Full technology and science coverage from NBC News
  The Columbia lab focuses on so-called "embedded devices" -- computer chips in non-PC gadgets, such as televisions, thermostats or telephones. Increasingly, all these gadgets are networked and connected to the Internet, and therefore can be hacked remotely.
  "These phones are really general purpose computers jammed into a plastic case that makes you think it's a phone," Cui said. "Just because it doesn't have a keyboard doesn't make it less of a computer.''
  Cisco's IP phones -- and other models that use the same chipset -- are open to attack because they routinely connect to a central server looking for updated instructions, according to Cui. That creates an avenue for a hacker to insert rogue code, he said.
  The phones run a proprietary adaptation of the popular Unix operating system called CNU, but any programmer familiar with Unix could write code for the phone and tell it to perform any function, Cui said.
  "The phones are listening to a network waiting for a command. They are actively saying, 'Does anybody have any code for me to run?''' said Stofo.
  In an initial statement to NBC News, Cisco said that all Cisco IP phones "feature a hard-wired light that will alert the user whenever the microphone is active," meaning it would warn any users that their phone's microphone had been turned on. But the Columbia researchers dispute that, and showed NBC News a hacked phone that showed no evidence the microphone had been activated while they were eavesdropping on a conversation.
  "There is no hard-wired light,'' Cui said. ''Everything is controlled by the software."
  After viewing Cui's demonstration in Germany, Cisco issued an updated statement to NBC News backing away from its disagreement on the LED light issue, saying it "wasn't directly relevant."
  But the researchers and Cisco still disagree about potential methods of attack.
  Cisco said hackers would generally need physical access to a telephone in order to begin an attack, with rare exceptions.
  "(Remote attack would require) the combination of authenticated remote access and non-default device settings," Cisco said. "No default account exists for remote authentication and devices configured for remote access must use administrator-configured credentials."
  Stolfo said, however, that a hacker would need physical access to only a single phone on the network -- a receptionist's phone, for example, or a phone at the home or a remote worker -- to gain access to a company's entire phone network.
  But he also maintained that there are multiple scenarios that would allow for a remote attack.
  Escalation would be one way: An outsider could trick a worker into clicking on a virus-laden email attachment, infect the worker's computer and then use that computer to attack a phone from inside a company's network, he said. But the researchers say other flaws exist that would allow the phone to be attacked directly from outside the company.
  "It also works the other way," Cui added. "You could attack the network, and then attack a single person's phone. Say, the CEO, at home."
  Officials at DARPA said they couldn't comment on specific research, but praised Columbia's work generally.
  "DARPA's program is concerned ... with exploring what kinds of vulnerabilities are present in current systems so that we can determine architectural principles that will rule out such vulnerabilities in future systems," Dr. Howard Shrobe, DARPA Program Manager, said in a statement. "Computers often are at the core of many devices that most people do not think of as computers (e.g. phones, printers, power meters, cars and airplanes, for example) but which inherited the vulnerabilities of their embedded computer components. These devices have enormous impact in our everyday lives and in our critical infrastructures and are therefore a core concern.''
  Stolfo said it was critical to come forward with the Cisco flaw now because the company isn't working fast enough to fix it.
  "What we're doing is trying to alert the manufacturer to not provide the opportunity to hackers to break into our phones," he said. "What we're asking them to do is like asking automakers to put seatbelts into cars to save lives."
  The researchers have not released their attack code, so would-be criminals cannot simply copy their work and attack Cisco phone systems today, and there is no evidence that a hacker has exploited this vulnerability in the real world. They do believe others will successfully -- and independently -- duplicate their research, however, placing Cisco is in a race with hackers, and Cui thinks it's possible that has already happened.
  "I'd be surprised if someone else hasn't already done this," Cui said.
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  More from Red Tape Chronicles:
Newtown To Have Armed Guards For Returning Sandy Hook Students'...
  Link to Article
  Source: Weasel Zippers
  Fri, 04 Jan 2013 06:10
  Kind of like that plan the NRA proposed that the left had a mini-meltdown over?
  (CNSNews.com) '' When children from Sandy Hook Elementary school return to class in neighboring Monroe, Conn. today, they'll be entering ''the safest school in America,'' according to the Associated Press.
  ''Law enforcement officers have been guarding the new school, and by the reckoning of police, it is 'the safest school in America,''' the AP reported Thursday.
  ''I think right now it has to be the safest school in America,'' Monroe police Lt. Keith White was quoted as saying.
  Having armed guards in schools is the National Rifle Association's suggestion for keeping children safe from the kind of terror that happened last month in Newtown, Conn.
  Keep reading'...
CAIR Chief: Muslims Discovered America Before Columbus'...
  Link to Article
  Source: Weasel Zippers
  Fri, 04 Jan 2013 06:10
  No, they didn't.
  Via MEMRI:
  Following are excerpts from an interview with CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad, which aired on Iqra TV on December 27, 2012:
  Interviewer: Once again, I greet you from the USA, and specially, from New York. Today's topic is the American Islamic organizations.
  Nihad Awad: In my view, Islam and the US are twins, linked by common values. The values on which the US was founded are the same values advocated by Islam: freedom, and especially freedom of religion, freedom of speech, protection of minorities, and spreading justice among all sectors of society.
  The combination of my American nationality and the practice of my Islamic religion creates a beautiful blend, I believe. This is a civilized blend, which proves that Islam flourishes in an atmosphere of freedom, and spreads freedom, justice, and equality. Every day I live as an American-Muslim citizen, I rediscover the firm bonds between the humane system that the US created for its people, and the values advocated by Islam. This marriage of Islam and the US will be the best suited for humanity, because the Islamic values are divine values, conveyed by Allah. The Prophet Muhammad lived by these values, and Muslims today must rise to their level. The US is not perfect, but it is moving ''toward a more perfect union.''
  It is extremely important to know how Islam began in the US. There are historical accounts according to which the Muslims preceded Columbus, who is said to have discovered the US. Some documents and accounts indicate that Muslim seafarers were the first to reach the US. The bottom line is that Islam played a part in the establishment and development of the US.
State Dept. Slams Fox News 'Credible Journalist' for 'Asinine' Question About Clinton's Health
  Link to Article
  Source: Crooks and Liars
  Fri, 04 Jan 2013 06:03
  A spokesperson for the Department of State recently seemed to be really enjoying his job as called out Fox News correspondent Justin Fishel for asking an "asinine" question that suggested Secretary Hillary Clinton had faked her illness to avoid testifying about September attacks in Benghazi.
  Officials revealed last month that Clinton's testimony would be postponed after she became sick, fainted and suffered a concussion. Just two days later, Fishel showed up at a State Department press briefing and seemed to question the official story.
  "Toria, can you expand on why Secretary Clinton can't testify on Thursday about this?" the Fox News correspondent asked department spokesperson Victoria Nuland, according to a transcript. "It seems that she has not been available to testify on the Benghazi situation on some very key dates, including the Sunday after 9/11 and now this Thursday."
  "As we put out on Saturday, she is still under the weather," Nuland calmly explained. "She was diagnosed as having suffered a concussion, and her doctors have urged her to stay home this week. So it's on that basis that she's asked for the committees' understanding... But it was her intention to be there. If she had not been ill, she would be there."
  In an email obtained by The Washington Post and published on Wednesday, Clinton Senior Advisor Philippe Reines took a much snarkier tone with Fishel.
  "We owe you an apology," Reines wrote. "I'm almost embarrassed to even admit this '' but somehow your question at today's Daily Press Briefing was somehow completely mauled and transcribed in the release."
  "I just called them and read them the riot act for putting such misleading, accusatory, and absolutely asinine words in your mouth. Because after what we and her doctors explained over the weekend regarding her health, you couldn't possibly have been insinuating the ulterior motives that question implies. No way. No credible journalist would do that without any basis whatsoever."
  Reines continued by pointing out that there was no way "an informed reporter" would compare testifying before Congress with appearing an Sunday morning talk shows as Fishel seemed to do by asking why Clinton had "not been available to testify" in an interview on Fox News on the Sunday after the attacks instead of United States Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice.
  "I don't know Chris Wallace all that well, but I'm pretty sure he wouldn't place his television show on par with one of the three branches of our government," Reines insisted. "And therefore, saying that this has happened on multiple 'key dates' is simply a blatant lie and grossly misleading to the public."
  "Anyway, our sincere apologies," he concluded. "If you send us what you really said, I'll make sure it's properly reflected."
  Last year, Reines had taken a less-subtle approach with BuzzFeed correspondent Michael Hastings, telling him to "fuck off" and "have a good life."
Ink Not Dry From Fiscal Cliff Deal and Maxine Waters Proposes ... Milking the Rich More!
  Link to Article
  Fri, 04 Jan 2013 05:58
  Think that congressional Democrats are done lusting for the lucre of those they perceive as the filthy rich? Think again. They're far from finished.
  Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., signaled yesterday on Ed Schultz's radio show that the road to "fair share" is long indeed with many tolls along the way -- especially for those in limos. (audio clips after page break)
  Schultz and Waters were talking about the fiscal cliff bill approved the night before in the House, after the Senate voted in favor of the same bill, that would return tax rates for the wealthy to their Clinton-era levels while extending them permanently for everyone else (audio) --
  SCHULTZ: Your thoughts on what unfolded last night and where we go from here.
  WATERS: Well, to tell you the truth, we came out with a piece of legislation that perhaps did one really good thing and that was to protect the middle class, the American taxpayer, and avoid them having increased taxes and make the tax deductions, the tax credits, taxes for them permanent, instead of them having to have their taxes increased because we were going to go over the fiscal cliff, we stopped it and that's the one good thing that came out of this.
  SCHULTZ: What about the unemployment extensions? What about the business tax credits? What about ...
  WATERS: Well, all of that, you're absolutely right. All of that, all of that's good. The main focus, however, everybody was focused on whether or not we were going to get a deal or whether or not the middle-income taxpayers, middle class people of this country, were going to have to suffer the same fate as the millionaires and the billionaires. The millionaires and the billionaires gotta pay more. That 39.6 percent that they have to pay is a good thing that came out of that, but you're absolutely right. When we talk about the child tax credit, we talked about the earned income tax credit, we talked about the alternative minimum tax, all of those were good things that came out. Plus, the president was able to negotiate investments in economic development and energy in ways that can do job creation and help our economic condition in this country. So, good things did come out.
  SCHULTZ: All right, who's got the leverage in two months? (alluding to another looming battle over the debt ceiling)
  WATERS: Well, you know, the Republicans are talking about, what all they're going to do with these tax cuts. The president has said we cannot cut our way out of a deficit and he's absolutely correct. The first thing that we've got to do is look at where we still have unfairness in the tax system and make sure that the people of influence, the billionaires and the millionaires and the corporate interests are paying their fair share. And I believe that whether we're talking about the financial speculation tax or the elimination of the carried interest or defense spending, we've got areas that we could look at to get fair share so that we're able to take care of the basic needs of this country rather than going to Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security and focusing on those areas as the only place that we can get more revenue.
  Uh, wasn't this the song that liberals like Waters were singing before the deal to avoid the fiscal cliff? As far as Waters is concerned, it's as if a deal was never struck. There's only one tune in her songbook and she's determined to sing it regardless of whether it's a wedding or a funeral.
  Later in yesterday's show, while talking with a caller who spoke in favor of a flat tax, Schultz offered up a gem of his own (audio) --
  SCHULTZ: I think this is the limit, personal income tax, first time in 22 years Republicans have voted for this. It's at 39.6 percent. Now, you just heard Senator (Bernie) Sanders (Bolshevik of Vermont), I hope you did, saying that there are other areas where they're going to go do to try to get some revenue, corporations that, you know, comparatively speaking to other generations, are not paying anywhere near their fair share. Are you for or against that?
  CALLER: Well, I actually agree that all loopholes should be done away with, that's what I'm saying. Why not come with a tax rate across the board, if it's 15 percent, 20 percent, no loopholes, no anything, any amount of profit, any amount of income you make, you know at the end of the year, OK, I gotta write a check for this amount. If it's 15 percent, this is how much I've made, this is how much I pay. Across the board, businesses, everything. Do away with ...
  SCHULTZ: That's not, that's not the way, that would be favoring the wealthiest and really picking on the lower income Americans, to do that proportionally. We've always had a progressive tax system in this country and changing it, you're suggesting a flat tax, isn't going to be anywhere near revenue-gaining or neutral.
  Wrong, Ed -- our progressive tax code has been around less than half the history of the country and required amending the Constitution a century ago this year to take effect.
  In an essay titled "The Inequity of the Progressive Income Tax," the Hoover Institution's Kip Hagopian wrote in April 2011 --
  The first time a federal income tax was imposed in the United States was in 1861 as a means of financing the Civil War. The tax rates were decreased after the war and the income tax was allowed to expire in 1872. The concept of an income tax was legally quite controversial; so when a new income tax was levied in 1894, it was challenged in the courts, and in 1895 was found to be unconstitutional. It was not until 1913, with the ratification of the 16th Amendment to the Constitution, that the first constitutionally sanctioned income tax was enacted (which, incidentally, was progressive).
  That Schultz believes the United States has "always" had progressive taxation isn't surprising. Like many liberals, he traces the start of American history to the Progressive Era and the tax scheme that shares its name. The history preceding this era, including such pittances as the Constitution, is irrelevant to them.
Obama Issues Signing Statement To Defense Bill Rejecting ''Ill-Advised'' Conscience Protections For Military Chaplains'...
  Link to Article
  Source: Weasel Zippers
  Thu, 03 Jan 2013 23:03
  Bonus: In 2008 Obama vowed not to use signing statements calling them un-constitutional.
  (CNSNews.com) '' President Obama issued a statement Wednesday rejecting several provisions of the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), including a conscience protection for military chaplains that he called ''ill-advised''.
  ''Section 533 is an unnecessary and ill-advised provision, as the military already appropriately protects the freedom of conscience of chaplains and service members,'' he said in his signing statement.
  Obama made clear that his administration would remain unmoved by the NDAA's conscience provision, stating that the Department of Defense would continue to implement the repeal of the military's ban on homosexual service members.
  ''My Administration remains fully committed to continuing the successful implementation of the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and to protecting the rights of gay and lesbian service members; Section 533 will not alter that.''
  The president said that the Secretary of Defense would ensure that no ''discriminatory'' actions result from Section 533's conscience protections.
  Keep reading'...
How Lead Caused America's Violent Crime Epidemic - Forbes
  Link to Article
  Thu, 03 Jan 2013 21:08
  (Credit: Mother Jones)
  Starting in the 1960s, America saw a huge increase in levels of violent crime that peaked in the early 1990s, then steadily declined, and continues to decline today. All kinds of theories have been promulgated to explain this peak and decline in crime, and plenty of politicians in the 1990s took credit for it. But in what I personally consider to be a tour de force of journalism, Kevin Drum of Mother Jones has summarized all of the available research. All of it points to one simple idea: violent crime rose as a result of lead poisoning because of leaded gasoline. It declined because of lead abatement policies.
  There are three basic reasons why this theory should be believed. First, as Drum points out, the numbers correlate almost perfectly. ''If you add a lag time of 23 years,'' he writes. ''Lead emissions from automobiles explain 90 percent of the variation in violent crime in America. Toddlers who ingested high levels of lead in the '40s and '50s really were more likely to become violent criminals in the '60s, '70s, and '80s.''
  Second, this correlation holds true with no exceptions. Every country studied has shown this same strong correlation between leaded gasoline and violent crime rates. Within the United States, you can see the data at the state level. Where lead concentrations declined quickly, crime declined quickly. Where it declined slowly, crime declined slowly. The data even holds true at the neighborhood level '' high lead concentrations correlate so well that you can overlay maps of crime rates over maps of lead concentrations and get an almost perfect fit.
  Third, and probably most important, the data goes beyond just these models. As Drum himself points out, ''if econometric studies were all there were to the story of lead, you'd be justified in remaining skeptical no matter how good the statistics look.'' But the chemistry and neuroscience of lead gives us good reason to believe the connection. Decades of research has shown that lead poisoning causes significant and probably irreversible damage to the brain. Not only does lead degrade cognitive abilities and lower intelligence, it also degrades a person's ability to make decisions by damaging areas of the brain responsible for ''emotional regulation, impulse control, attention, verbal reasoning, and mental flexibility.''
  The bottom line, as Drum points out, is that ''even moderately high levels of lead exposure are associated with aggressivity, impulsivity, ADHD, and lower IQ. And right there, you've practically defined the profile of a violent young offender.''
  I've barely scratched the surface of Drum's excellent article, and I'd seriously encourage you to hop over to Mother Jones right now and read the whole thing. I've been reading Drum for years and he's been blogging about this topic for a long time. Indeed, I've been convinced of the lead/crime hypothesis for years thanks to Drum's writing. But this article is a masterpiece. Read it. Talk about it. It's an important piece of journalism.
  In particular, it's important because this is precisely the kind of problem that people are uncomfortable about believing. It's hard for us to see the link between cause and effect when there's a 20+ year gap between one and the other. Additionally, none of us like thinking that our autonomy as human beings can be destroyed by forces beyond our control that we can't even see.
  But such time lags between cause and effect do exist. Invisible molecules like tetraethyl lead can do us great harm. We need to understand this. It's not enough to know this as an interesting fact. We have to know in our guts that these types of things are possible, because this is far from the only problem like it. And that kind of deep understanding that these problems are possible are what's necessary to motivate us as people to do something about it.
  Follow me on Twitter or Facebook. Read my Forbes blog here.
Obama signs defence bill
  Link to Article
  Source: ccampeador
  Thu, 03 Jan 2013 14:05
  Obama had threatened to veto the bill because of a number of concerns. The bill covers the cost of ships, aircraft, weapons and military personnel as well as the war effort in Afghanistan.The president said although he continued to oppose certain sections of the bill, ''the need to renew critical defence and authorities and funding was too great to ignore'', Xinhua reported.
  The bill consists of 528 billion dollars for the Defense Department's base budget, 17 billion for defence and nuclear programmes in the Energy Department and 88 billion for overseas contingency operations that covers the war in Afghanistan.
  It also contains controversial sections relating to the disputed Diaoyu Islands between China and Japan as well as arms sales to Taiwan.
  China has expressed serious concerns and firm opposition to the two sections.
  Link'...
  http://www.business-standard.com/generalnews/ians/news/obama-signs-defence-bill/104063/