What little chance we had of NSA reform died in Washington last week, under the banner of anti-terrorism.
The USA Freedom Act would have ended the government’s ability to bulk collect record collections, and other sweeping provisions. This act only needed 60 votes; it only received 58. Those who voted against the bill, mostly Republicans, argued without a strong NSA, terrorist groups like ISIL will be able to run rampant. Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, said, “Why would we weaken the ability of our intelligence community at a time when the threats against this country have never been greater?? But those who voted for the bill, mostly Democrats and Civil Libertarians, dismissed such comments as fear mongering, and even hinted they used threats like ISIL to terrorize people into killing the bill. Vermont Democrat Patrick Leahy responded, “This nation should not allow our liberties to be set aside by passing fears.” The USA Freedom Act was a devastating blow to privacy rights advocates and even technology companies. This was going to be the beginning of the end to NSA outreach, and with the Republicans taking over Congress in January 2015, it doesn’t look like the tide is going to turn anytime soon.
So I guess this is the end of this argument, right? I hope not. This is a conversation that needs to keep going, on all sides. I can give the bill killers a little credit. I understand the concern of ISIL and other terrorist groups who want to do nothing but kill and destroy. And they may have taken advantage of the USA Freedom Act to do just that. Then again, Leahy had a point: We can’t live in fear. I do believe the opposition pushed the fear card to give the NSA licenses to keep doing what they’re doing. Founding father Benjamin Franklin said it best: Those who are willing to give up freedom for security deserve neither. What do you think other founding fathers would say about the death of the USA Freedom Act?
Google will lease Moffett Naval Airfield, based in the Silicon Valley, to NASA. The purpose will be to house robotics exploration and space vehicles, among other uses.
This airfield space won’t come cheap, and the lease won’t be short. It will cost NASA $1.16 billion and the lease will last 60 years. NASA plans to clean up the hangars, including historic Hangar One, and build an educational museum. Moffett Naval Airfield is 1,000 acres big and has a golf course, two runways and an operations building. We can add this to the other robotic and satellite labs Google has acquired. Google is so invested in robotics, space, and satellite technology they have their own sub-division for it called X Lab. This X Lab is responsible for bringing us (or at least a handful of us) Google Glass. The X Lab is also working on a pill to detect early signs of cancer and heart attacks. This facility was designated a military historic site in the 1960s, so it can’t be torn down. But decades of decay still took it’s toll. By 2008, the National Trust for Historic Preservation called it one of the most endangered historic sites in America. Keep in mind Moffett Airfield isn’t far from the Googleplex. In fact, they’re less than five miles apart, and the airfield is currently used by Google for their private jets.
There are lots of possibilities and questions here. This is a very smart move for Google to find this historic gem so close to headquarters and take advantage of it. Not only are they expanding their empire, they’re saving an important piece of military history. When I think of other investment they’re in (have you seen these freak robots they’re sponsoring), and now they’re investing in medical technology as well as space? Is Google trying to take over the world?
Did you ever have to give a presentation on the job that turned into a major uh-oh? It can cause major embarrassment and then some. Apple gave one Florida web/app developer a huge uh-oh.
Ngen Works is a software and app development company in Jacksonville, FL, led by Carl Smith. According to a blog post found in Medium.com (the blog’s language is fairly graphic, so it may not be appropriate reading for the little ones), one of Smith’s apps was sent to Apple for review and approval. But Smith was soon notified the app could be used to search for hardcore porn, a strict no-no in Apple’s policy. However, when an Apple employee sent a replying email with an attachment, that attachment included a man touching himself inappropriately. There was no warning, no red flag, nothing. Naturally, Carl Smith is outraged. That’s what inspired to write the blog post, in hopes that Apple management, the higher the better, will respond to the issue. Personally, I can’t wait for Apple’s response.
I’m going to play innocent and naive and just assume this was just a terrible mistake by one Apple employee. But if just find it ironic, to say the least, that Apple has such a strict anti-pornography policy, only for this to happen under their watch. Apple needs to address this and address it immediately before it happens again. Carl Smith is taking the right action here, except he could have used more dignified language to do so. This mishap comes just weeks after the celebrity nude photo hacking scandal, which also pointed back to an Apple fumble. It’s another Apple uh-oh, and how many more of these can they afford to have?
This time, Steve Jobs will be played by Christian Bale, known for blockbusters such as Batman Begins, Dark Knight, and American Hustle. Not only did Bale get the role, he didn’t even have to audition for it. Bale won an Oscar for best supporting actor in The Fighter.? The new project is led by Hollywood screenwriter Aaron Sorkin. In 2011, Sorkin won an Academy Award for best screenplay in The Social Network, a movie about Facebook’s humble beginnings.? According to Sorkin, “We needed the best actor on the board in a certain age range that is Chris Bale’s.” But this role will not be a quick or easy role. Sorkin says Bale has more than double the lines of the rest of the cast combined. He’s expected to be in every scene and Sorkin is confident he’ll excel in every one.
We’ll see. We had high hopes for Kutcher too, but look at what happened. But Ashton Kutcher is more of a comedic actor, though he did attempt to go dramatic in 2004’s Butterfly Effect. Bale has done a range of Oscar winning dramatic acting and a far reaching range of roles. He even pulled off a very dark portrayal of Batman. But you need a good supporting cast behind the camera as well as in front of it. Aaron Sorkin is a good start. Just be careful of picking the right producers and directors and editors. Be careful in picking a good supporting cast and who will be portrayed in this movie. There was a lot of beef about that in the last one. Do you think this new Jobs biopic will be any better?
The Netflix invasion of Hollywood has no end in sight. They’ve produced critically acclaimed and popular shows. These shows have won awards. A veteran movie star has taken notice and wants in on this ever increasing medium.
Netflix just announced it will produce four movies with Saturday Night Live alum, stand up comedian and A-List movie star Adam Sandler. All these movies will be exclusive to Netflix and their subscribers. It’s their latest quest to push the medium into Hollywood movies. We don’t know the financial details, but Netflix executive Ted Sarandos came to Sandler because Sandler’s movies are so popular on this medium. Sandler immediately jumped at the chance. This is just a part of the Netflix movie plan. It’s part of an exclusive distribution of a coming sequel to 2000’s mega-hit ‘Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon’. They’re venturing into the increasing popular talk show circuit too. They’re in talks with comedian, author and talk show host Chelsea Handler to give her her own show that will be exclusively on Netflix. Not bad for a company that started as a simple mailing video rental company.
But if Netflix is going to expand in the movie business like this, I wonder if Adam Sandler is a wise choice. I respect everything this man has done.? He’s been entertaining us and humoring us over 20 years, from Saturday Night Live to the Wedding Singer, form Anger Management to Grown Ups. Grown Ups was the last hit Sandler ever had. This was back in 2010. Now I know Sandler’s movies have been highly requested, but this is a new realm. They’re asking him to make new movies. They’re asking this from a man that hasn’t had a box office hit in over five years. I respect Netflix for taking it to the next level. But is Sandler the way you want to go? Shouldn’t they go with someone whose making hit after hit after hit right now?
Remember when Yahoo, not Google, was the top search engine? Remember that list of topics, and the number in parenthesis telling you how many websites Yahoo had about that topic? That was the Yahoo Directory. And now we say goodbye, Yahoo Directory.
And let’s just say that this goodbye in unceremonious. In one paragraph, they explained how Yahoo Directory helped users explore the Internet, but it was time to change with the times, and this service will be ending in December 2014. Yahoo Directory was founded in 1994, the same year Yahoo was. In fact, Yahoo is an acronym for Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Order-then exclamation point. For years, Yahoo Directory was the premier search engine site. But in the 1990s, search engines were in their infancy. Back then, all a good search engine needed was generic terms that can help you find broad information was acceptable, and for the times, remarkable. This directory required human laborers to review, summarize, and categorize the websites. And believe it or not, this was a winning formula for several years.
But by the early 2000s, Google had revolutionized the Internet as a whole and the search engine game. They processed search results by automation. And unlike Yahoo, Google didn’t have a long list with a number beside it, meaning you’d have to go through pages and information you don’t want. Suddenly, all you did was type in a specific keyword and it brought you to a specific website. This worked so well that by 2003, Google surpassed Yahoo and never looked back. And in December 2014, Yahoo Directory will close it’s doors forever. It’s been dying a slow death. Directory may be fun if you just want to browse and browse through all kinds of subjects. But in 2014, who has time for that anymore? The real question is, what took Yahoo Directory so long to die?
