Vagaries of federal surveillance law, enacted in 1968 and updated in 1986, favor lots of e-mail snooping over only a little. [Read more]
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Tag Archives: need
Why DOJ didn’t need a ‘super search warrant’ to snoop on Fox News’ e-mail
Posted by Gsurface
on May 26, 2013
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Two-factor authentication: What you need to know (FAQ)
Posted by Gsurface
on May 24, 2013
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Twitter just got it. Apple recently got it, too. Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and Amazon have had it for a while. But why’s two-factor authentication important, and will it keep you safe? [Read more]
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Does Tim Cook Need to Do A Better Job of Publicly Asserting Himself?
Posted by Gsurface
on May 19, 2013
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Apple CEO Tim Cook is an interesting person. He marched his way to the top of Apple’s corporate ladder through hard work and an uncommon intelligence that Steve Jobs, one of the most highly respected chief executives in history, respected. Tim Cook was able to earn the job that countless people around the globe would
Fed. Appeals Court Says Police Need Warrant to Search Phone
Posted by Gsurface
on May 18, 2013
No comments
An anonymous reader writes “In a decision that’s almost certainly going to result in this issue heading up to the Supreme Court, the Federal 1st Circuit Court of Appeals [Friday] ruled that police can’t search your phone when they arrest you without a warrant. That’s contrary to most courts’ previous findings in these kinds of cases where judges have allowed warrantless searches through cell phones.” (But in line with the recently mentioned decision in Florida, and seemingly with common sense.)
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
DOJ: We don’t need warrants for e-mail, Facebook chats
Posted by Gsurface
on May 8, 2013
No comments
An FBI investigation manual updated last year, obtained by the ACLU, says it’s possible to warrantlessly obtain Americans’ e-mail “without running afoul of” the Fourth Amendment. [Read more]
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‘Ring of fire’ solar eclipse this week: what you need to know
Posted by Gsurface
on May 8, 2013
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What You Need To Know About The Liberator 3D-Printed Pistol
Posted by Gsurface
on May 6, 2013
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Now that we have confirmation that the Liberator 3D-printed pistol can be fired without destroying the body, let’s address what this means for 3D printed weapons and, presumably, weapons in general.
Ghost’s Blogging Dashboard Doesn’t Need to Exist
Posted by Gsurface
on April 30, 2013
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Are dashboards really the best way to deliver analytics to people who want to “just blog”?
I can’t make sense of website analytics at all. When I go to my personal blog, I want to just blog, not pore over charts and graphs like a submarine navigator. Which made me curious about Ghost, a new open-source platform expressly designed as, as the creators put it, “just a blogging platform.” It’s pretty darn gorgeous. And right there in the middle of their pitch is their so-called “revolutionary” analytics dashboard, which also looks great: it’s flat (in 2013, you gotta be flat, yo), it’s got great typography, it’s got Feltron-esque infographics.
Why We Don’t Need Fisker
Posted by Gsurface
on April 24, 2013
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The failing maker of luxury hybrids is in the spotlight in DC, but technologically speaking, who cares if Fisker fails?
Congress is trying answer some important questions today about whether the government made mistakes in handling a loan to Fisker Automotive, a company that’s now teetering on the edge of bankruptcy—the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is holding a hearing on the subject. But when looked at from the perspective of innovation, Fisker doesn’t really matter much.
Does Apple need a hybrid MacBook?
Posted by Gsurface
on April 14, 2013
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Duedil Raises $5M For Open Data Platform To Conduct The Due Diligence Companies Need
Posted by Gsurface
on April 12, 2013
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Duedil has raised $ 5 million for its platform that uses open data to help companies conduct due diligence. The Series A round was led by Notion Capital. Also participating were Oak Investment Partners as well as Passion Capital and Spotify investor Shakil Khan. With the funding, Duedil is hiring data scientists and beefing up its resources for expansion. Duedil is a company that shows what innovation can come when governments open their data. That’s what has happened with Duedil, which directly benefits from open data policies in the United Kingdom and those emerging in the European Union. With open data, Duedil can link data from different sources, aggregate it and provide it free or soon to come, on a subscription basis. At its core, Duedil offers a data analytics and visualization engine. Using the service, for example, a corporate lawyer can research a company’s corporate structure. The lawyer can visualize in a mind-map the company’s shareholders and investments. Last fall, Mike Butcher wrote about Duedil opening its API. Developed with Mashery, Duedil offers up to 20 years of information on all companies registered in the UK and Ireland. With the EU opening its data, Duedil will extend its network across the continent. This is some pretty cool stuff. The data analysis is detailed and the visuals bring the information to life. Just take a look at this blog post about how it developed its new credit rating service. It draws from GitHub’s Histogram and the colored bands resistors to show data in a new dimension. This is not your old school credit score. This is something to marvel at both in terms of the analysis it provides and the elegance of the design.
TechCrunch
Does a Tele-Robot Operator Need a Visa and W-2?
Posted by Gsurface
on April 11, 2013
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Linux Fatware: Distros That Need To Slim Down
Posted by Gsurface
on April 8, 2013
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snydeq writes “We need bare-bones Linux distros tailored for virtual machines or at least the option for installs, writes Deep End’s Paul Venezia. ‘As I prepped a new virtual server template the other day, it occurred to me that we need more virtualization-specific Linux distributions or at least specific VM-only options when performing an install. A few distros take steps in this direction, such as Ubuntu and OEL jeOS (just enough OS), but they’re not necessarily tuned for virtual servers. For large installations, the distributions in use are typically highly customized on one side or the other — either built as templates and deployed to VMs, or deployed through the use of silent installers or scripts that install only the bits and pieces required for the job. However, these are all handled as one-offs. They’re generally not available or suitable for general use.’”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Do We Need Specialized Hardware for the Deaf?
Posted by Gsurface
on April 4, 2013
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Companies that once made specialized hardware may soon be relegated to software and services.
A company called Purple Communications this week unveiled a product called SmartVP. It’s a videophone with applications and features to help deaf people communicate. Purple says it’s the first videophone to feature “true HD quality.”
We Need Nuclear-Powered Airplanes, Not Solar-Powered Ones
Posted by Gsurface
on March 29, 2013
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Making liquid fuels from low-carbon sources is better than mounting solar panels on planes.
It’s being billed as a triumph for solar power, but the Solar Impulse solar-powered airplane could also be seen as an illustration of just how amazing liquid fuels like jet fuel are, and how far solar power and battery technology would need to go to challenge them. A far better idea than solar-powered flight is nuclear-powered flight, although I don’t mean putting nuclear reactors on airplanes as the U.S. government once proposed (see these two pdfs). Let’s use fission to make low-carbon fuel.
Do we need another Windows OS?
Posted by Gsurface
on March 23, 2013
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Microsoft made a case this week for Windows RT. Is it necessary? [Read more]
CNET News
Sound bar buying guide: what you need to know
Posted by Gsurface
on March 19, 2013
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Sounds bars are the cheapest and easiest way to get better sound in your living room. Here’s what’s important, what’s not and why you should still consider a simple stereo system. [Read more]
CNET News
Why We Need More Solar Companies to Fail
Posted by Gsurface
on March 18, 2013
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Solar manufacturers like Suntech are struggling. Hundreds need to die for the industry to recover.
Suntech, a Wuxi, China-based company that as recently as 2011 was the world’s largest producer of solar panels, is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. It’s running low on cash, owes bond investors half a billion dollars (which it failed to pay Friday), and is saddled with payments on billions of dollars in loans as it struggles to make money in a market flooded with solar panels.
Everything you need to know about the Samsung Galaxy S4
Posted by Gsurface
on March 12, 2013
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Hospitals need to copy airline, bank, retail e-business models
Posted by Gsurface
on March 4, 2013
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Warner Thomas, CEO of Louisiana’s largest healthcare system, pointed to airlines, banks and online retailers as examples of how the healthcare industry should implement technology, cut costs and improve the customer experience.
Computerworld News
AppGlu Launches Mobile Platform That Lets You Update Apps Without The Need For Developer Intervention
Posted by Gsurface
on March 4, 2013
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Apps can decay pretty quickly without updates after deployment. The problem is, most of the time the only one who can make the updates to the app is the person who developed it. AppGlu’s new mobile enterprise platform is designed to handle this updating so a business person can make updates without developer intervention.
The Mophie Juice Pack Air For iPhone 5 Drops iTunes Syncing, But Still Saves You When You Need More Power
Posted by Gsurface
on March 1, 2013
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Mophie caused a bit of a double-take by introducing not one but two rechargeable external battery cases for the iPhone 5 within a few days of each other. The Juice Pack Helium offers a sleeker body, but the Juice Pack Air, announced later, offers more stamina. I’ve been testing the latter for nearly a week now, and it lives up to Mophie’s good reputation, with a single trade-off that may or may not influence your buying decision.
TechCrunch
To get the best from your turntable, you need a great phono preamp
Posted by Gsurface
on February 24, 2013
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The best preamps are expensive, but this Kickstarter project is seeking funding for a bona fide audiophile-grade preamp, with prices starting at $ 100! [Read more]
CNET News
Need Bitcoins? This ATM takes dollars and funds your account
Posted by Gsurface
on February 24, 2013
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New Hampshire entrepreneurs have created a dollar-converting anonymous Bitcoin ATM, which they hope to sell to bars, restaurants, and other retail locations nationwide. [Read more]
CNET News
Cellphone Privacy In Canada: Encryption Triggers Need For Warrant
Posted by Gsurface
on February 21, 2013
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codegen writes “The Ontario Court of Appeal has just ruled that the police can search your cellphone if you are arrested without a warrant if it is not password protected. But the ruling also stated that if it is password protected, then the police need a warrant. Previous to this case there was no decision on if the police could search your phone without a warrant in Canada.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Ask Slashdot: What Does the FOSS Community Currently Need?
Posted by Gsurface
on February 18, 2013
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First time accepted submitter d33tah writes “In the summer term of my final year of IT’s bachelor’s course in my university, every student is obliged to develop his own project; the only requirement is that the application would use any kind of a database. While others are thinking of another useless system for an imaginary company that nobody would actually use, I’d rather hack up something the FL/OSS community actually needs. The problem is — how to figure out what it could be?”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Ask Slashdot: I Just Need… Marketing?
Posted by Gsurface
on February 16, 2013
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An anonymous reader writes “Over the years, Slashdot has had many stories of non-technical entrepreneurs in need of programmers. Now I found myself in an almost opposite situation: I am a programmer with a fledgling mass-market product that needs marketing. I know Slashdot’s general sentiment towards marketing. Without being judgmental one way or the other, I must say that for a product to reach the widest possible audience in a given time period, marketing is a necessity. Short of doing everything myself, I see a couple of options: 1. Hire marketing people, or an outside marketing firm; 2. Take in willing partners who are good at marketing (currently there are no shortage of people who want in). With these options, my major concerns are how to quantify performance, as well as how to avoid getting trapped in a partnership with non-performing partners — I already have a tangible product with a huge amount of time, money, and effort invested. Budget is also limited. (Budget is always limited unless you are a Fortune 500 business, but for now that’s more of a secondary concern.) So here is my question to Slashdot: how do you address these concerns, and in a more general sense, how would you handle the situation: technical people with a product in need of marketing?”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
“Did She Laugh At My Sext?” Or Why Poke And Snapchat Need A Like Button
Posted by Gsurface
on February 12, 2013
No comments
There’s nothing more terrifying than thinking you crossed the line by taking your flirtatious texting to the next level with a risque photo. Worrying the person you sent a goofy Snapchat or Facebook Poke to thinks you’re an idiot is no fun either. Did they even actually see your self-destructing photo? Ephemeral messaging has a feedback problem, and the solution is obvious. Snapchat and Poke need a Like button.
TechCrunch
10 reasons you really need to be at Expand this March
Posted by Gsurface
on February 12, 2013
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In case you haven’t noticed, we really, really want you at our inaugural Expand extravaganza this March 16-17! We wanted to take a moment and recap the highlights of the show we have planned so you have it all in one place (and because, let’s be real, everyone loves a list):
1) Even more reasonable ticket prices!
We want to make sure Expand is as accessible to as many of you as possible so we’re knocking the ticket prices for all of the above back to $ 50 if you buy them in advance. We’re also instituting day pass pricing for those of you unable to attend the show both days. A $ 35 ticket gets you into Saturday’s show plus our after-party from 8 to midnight, and only $ 25 gets you in for Sunday. Parents, kids under 13 get in absolutely free so please bring the family for a day of hands-on technology fun!
Of course, we know many of you have variable schedules and aren’t sure if you’ll be able to make the show ahead of time. We’ll also be selling tickets at the door for $ 60 for the full weekend or $ 40 for just Saturday and $ 30 for just Sunday. And if you’ve already purchased Expand tickets, check the email you used to register for info about a refund (we won’t leave you hanging!). If you didn’t receive the email or have other questions about your tickets, please hit us up at tickets at engadget dot com and we’ll help you out.
Read on for nine more reasons…
Filed under: Announcements, Meta
NVIDIA Project SHIELD demoes PC-bound Need For Speed: Most Wanted
Posted by Gsurface
on February 12, 2013
No comments
Today the folks at NVIDIA are once again showing off the PC-streaming prowess of their Project SHIELD device with none other than the game Need For Speed: Most Wanted. It’s not often that a game with this much heavy-duty need for graphics backup is seen on a device smaller than a desktop computer – but
Do we need protection from cellphones?
Posted by Gsurface
on February 11, 2013
No comments
Ads, Odds, Nate Silver Predictions And Every Other Tech Angle You Need For Super Bowl XLVII
Posted by Gsurface
on February 3, 2013
No comments
Millions of people across the U.S. are preparing their jerseys, face paint and horrific nachos. Yes, football fans rejoice, the big game finally kicks off tomorrow in New Orleans — that is, Super Bowl XLVII, between the Baltimore Ravens and the San Franciso 49ers. The Super Bowl is always one of the biggest media events per year, and our inboxes have been flooded with “OMG this is going to be the most social Super Bowl EVAR” emails for weeks now.
It’s going to be a close, hard-fought game between two teams that most people will probably know nothing about until kickoff. But because the Super Bowl has become such a spectacle, there are tons of things to pay attention to on the Web and on social media, while stuffing your face with fried food and trying to watch the game while asking your friends what happened on the last play.
PSA: BlackBerry 10 doesn’t need a special data plan
Posted by Gsurface
on February 2, 2013
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With BlackBerry 10 devices wending their way into the hands of patient fans, there’s been some uncertainty as to just what service plans customers need to reach the new platform’s full potential. The short answer, after confirmations at CrackBerry: just about any of them. Unlike older BlackBerrys, the Z10 and future models don’t require tiers with BlackBerry Internet Service or BlackBerry Enterprise Server support in order to work their push messaging magic. Those migrating from a regular BlackBerry plan won’t have to worry about switching, though. The lone exceptions are subscribers who have barebones, social-only plans where BIS serves as the filter. While the switch could lead to price hikes for those cost-conscious users, it’s otherwise good news for BlackBerry devotees who’ve wanted the same choice in service as the rest of their smartphone-owning peers.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, RIM
Source: CrackBerry
How Vine Satisfies Its Need for Speed
Posted by Gsurface
on January 30, 2013
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The new mobile video-sharing app’s fortunes depend on delivering a sprightly user experience. Here’s how.
Last week I wrote about how Vine, Twitter’s new “Instagram of video”, offers an impeccably designed user experience backed up by engineering that delivers the only thing that matters in mobile: speed.
What You Need To Know About Phone Unlocking
Posted by Gsurface
on January 27, 2013
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Now that unlocking a new phone is under many circumstances illegal in the U.S. (!), Digital Trends has collected a useful set of answers outlining just what that means. As they put it, “quick guide to answer all your why, how, and WTF questions.” Among them, some explanation of the rule-making process, the reasoning that led to the end to the unlocking exception to the DMCA (including the Ninth Circuit’s 2010 Vernor v. Autodesk decision), and illustrations of situations in which it is not illegal to unlock your phone.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
What Games Are: Games Need Their Nielsens
Posted by Gsurface
on January 26, 2013
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With Facebook deciding to hide monthly and daily active users, we have lost the one game platform that could give us reasonably objective data about game performance. We are back to the Dark Ages of vanity metrics as a result. This is something that needs to change.
TechCrunch
Peter Thiel Talks The Future Of Education, The Need For Innovation And Why Facebook Won At DLD
Posted by Gsurface
on January 22, 2013
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PayPal co-founder, early Facebook investor and Founders Fund partner Peter Thiel today took the stage at the DLD conference in Munich for a very wide-ranging discussion about the future of philanthropy, education, how we can sustain growth in the developed world and why Facebook won out over MySpace.
TechCrunch
Do You Really Need a Voice Plan with That Fancy Smartphone?
Posted by Gsurface
on January 14, 2013
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With even Facebook adding free calling to its mobile app, voice plans are starting to seem outmoded, but an experiment shows it’s hard to let go.
Talking and texting may have been the first things we used mobile devices for, but they’re hardly the only ones anymore. And when it’s just as easy to place a video call via Skype, send an instant message through WhatsApp, tweet, or check in on Facebook, summoning a phone’s dialer tends to be an afterthought. So could we could be approaching a time when it makes little sense to even have a voice or text plan.
Why We Need To Kill “Big Data”
Posted by Gsurface
on January 5, 2013
No comments
It’s the New Year and along with resolutions about eating healthier, being kinder and exercising more frequently, I’d like to add one more to the list. Let’s banish the term “big data” with pivot, cloud and all the other meaningless buzzwords we have grown to hate.
TechCrunch
Google may need history lesson on blocking rivals’ products
Posted by Gsurface
on January 5, 2013
No comments
Is there any good reason Google is blocking Windows Phone users from accessing Google Maps via the Internet Explorer browser? [Read more]
CNET News
No, we don’t really need another smartphone OS
Posted by Gsurface
on January 2, 2013
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Ubuntu, Tizen, and Firefox OS are all around the bend, but with more established platforms struggling, can the market support the noobs? [Read more]
CNET News
Do you need a case for your smartphone?
Posted by Gsurface
on December 22, 2012
No comments
In this edition of Ask Maggie, CNET’s Marguerite Reardon offers some advice on smartphone cases and also helps a reader decide between the iPad Mini and the fourth generation iPad. [Read more]
CNET News
Do I really need insurance for my smartphone?
Posted by Gsurface
on December 15, 2012
No comments
In this edition of Ask Maggie, CNET’s Marguerite Reardon answers the age old question of whether to get insurance for your smartphone or not. [Read more]
CNET News
Drobo’s new 5N is a speedy $600 NAS for when you need files, stat
Posted by Gsurface
on December 13, 2012
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Tragically, we only learned about Drobo’s new 5N after we’d hired a warehouse the size of an aircraft hanger to store our latest, 12 million page novel. If you want to avoid our mistake, then the company’s latest NAS might end your own storage woes. The new hardware is part of the same family as the 5D and Drobo Mini, except this one ditches the Thunderbolt connection in favor of a single gigabit-ethernet port. Inside, there’s space for five 3.5-inch drives, giving you a maximum capacity of 20TB. An mSATA slot for an SSD drive will let you make use of Drobo’s “data-aware tiering” feature, which gives applications like Adobe Lightroom and iTunes faster access to your NAS-stored files. The base model will set you back $ 600 and will be available in “mid December,” which we impatiently hope is a euphemism for “tomorrow.”
Continue reading Drobo’s new 5N is a speedy $ 600 NAS for when you need files, stat
Filed under: Storage
Source: Drobo
President Bill Clinton at Dell World: We Need To Get Into The Tomorrow Business
Posted by Gsurface
on December 12, 2012
No comments
At Dell World in Austin, Texas, today, President Bill Clinton delivered a keynote address discussing the importance of collaboration and how society needs to get into the tomorrow business.
Silicon Valley, the startup community, big data vendors — all of them are in the business of tomorrow. All of these communities live in the future. But only slivers of society are showing signs that we are preparing for it. Clinton cited recent studies that show fourth graders are now just behind South Korea and Singapore in math and science test scores. That’s a good sign but compare 11th grade test scores and there’s a gaping difference.
TechCrunch
FTC: Apple and Google need to improve privacy protection in kids’ apps
Posted by Gsurface
on December 11, 2012
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Having investigated 400 randomly chosen kids’ apps, the FTC has noted that almost 60 percent of them were transmitting sensitive device information to developers, advertisers or analytics firms. The report points the finger at the app makers and the lack of information given on privacy and interactive features of their wares, with the majority not disclosing the information shared in the app description.
Focusing on Apple and Google apps, only 20 percent of those surveyed disclosed any data collection that might occur — data that often included the location, phone numbers and device IDs of whatever the little tykes were playing on. It’s the second such survey from the FTC, which deems the results “disappointing” since hardly any progress has been made since the commission first noted this stealth sharing issue. FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said, “All of the companies in the mobile app space, especially the gatekeepers of the app stores, need to do a better job.” In short, the FTC wants Apple and Google to get more involved in policing these apps, and it’s been pressing that point for quite some time already.
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Software, Apple, Google
Via: Apple Insider
Source: Mobile Apps for Kids (PDF)
Ask Slashdot: Do You Still Need a Phone At Your Desk?
Posted by Gsurface
on December 6, 2012
No comments
First time accepted submitter its a trappist! writes “When I started my career back in the early 1990s, everyone had a ‘business phone’ phone on their desk. The phone was how your co-workers, customers, friends and family got in touch with you during the business day. It had a few features that everyone used — basic calling, transfer, hold, mute, three-way calling (if you could figure it out). This was before personal mobile phones or corporate IM, so the phone was basically the one and only means of real-time communication in the office. Flash forward 20 years. Today I have a smart phone, corporate IM, several flavors of personal IM, the Skype client and several flavors of collaboration software including Google Apps/Docs, GoToMeeting. My wife and daughter call me or text me on the cell phone. My co-workers who are too lazy or passive aggressive to wander into my office use IM. My brother in Iraq uses Skype. I use GoToMeeting and its built-in VoIP with customers. The big black phone sits there gathering dust. I use it for conference calls a few times each month.I’m sure that there are sales people out there who would rather give up a body part than their trusty office phone, but do any of the rest of us need them? Around here, the younger engineers frequently unplug them and stick them in a cabinet to free up desk space. Are the days of the office phone (and the office phone system) at an end?”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
OLPC cancels XO-3 tablet, downplays need for new hardware
Posted by Gsurface
on November 29, 2012
No comments
One Laptop Per Child has cancelled plans to release its XO-3 tablet, although technology from that project could still be used in other products, OLPC Chairman Nicholas Negroponte said.
Computerworld News
The Big Data Fallacy And Why We Need To Collect Even Bigger Data
Posted by Gsurface
on November 26, 2012
No comments
Editor’s note: Dr. Michael Wu is the Principal Scientist of Analytics at Lithium where he is currently applying data-driven methodologies to investigate and understand the complex dynamics of the social Web.
The value of any data is only as valuable as the information and insights we can extract from it. It is the information and insights that will help us make better decisions and give us a competitive edge. The promise of big data is that one could glean lots of information and gain many valuable insights. However, people often don’t realize that data and information are not the same. Even if you are able to extract information from your big data, not all of it will be insightful and valuable.
The Need For Mobile Money Spawns A Startup Ecosystem Across Africa
Posted by Gsurface
on November 24, 2012
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Editor’s Note: Vanessa Clark is the co-founder of Mobiflock, a mobile safety and security company offering parental control services for smartphones and tablets. She is involved in the mobile industry in Africa.
Zimbabwean Tawanda Kembo, 25, has been employed for more than two years but still doesn’t qualify for a credit card. This is the result of banking restrictions on issuing credit cards, he says, and around 70 percent of his fellow Zimbabweans are in the same boat. This is not unusual across the entire African continent, which has a similar unbanked or underbanked rate, according to the World Bank.
TechCrunch
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