"The FAA Reauthorization Act, which President Obama is expected to sign, also orders the Federal Aviation Administration to develop regulations for the testing and licensing of commercial drones by 2015. Privacy advocates say the measure will lead to widespread use of drones for electronic surveillance by police agencies across the country and eventually by private companies as well. “There are serious policy questions on the horizon about privacy and surveillance, by both government agencies and commercial entities,” said Steven Aftergood, who heads the Project on Government Secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists."

"There’s a Zuckerbergian tone in Morin's apology where the company says it's sorry that you were offended, but falls short of admitting it violated anyone's privacy. The incentives for Path's actions were pretty high. Grabbing your contacts made it easier for Path to connect you to more people and thus entice you to keep using Path. There's nothing wrong with that idea in general -- you use a social network to connect with other people after all. But that doesn't excuse Path's decision to cast aside respect for its users by violating their privacy and nabbing their address book without their consent. Path's actions also speak to a larger problem with smartphone apps in general."

"President Barack Obama said on Thursday he was granting 10 U.S. states exemptions from parts of the "No Child Left Behind" education law, a signature initiative passed under President George W. Bush, was aimed at holding public schools accountable for improving student performance. But it has been heavily criticized by many parents, teachers and state government officials. The states to be granted waivers are Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. The administration is also pledging to work closely with New Mexico, another state that has made a formal request for a waiver."

"At least four people were killed in the fighting Wednesday. The rebel fighters are simply no match for the army regulars. They have no military training. They're not physically fit. They're up against an army with artillery, tanks. Soon the Syrian army will begin to use air power as well. Many rebels say at this point there's no turning back. Too much damage has been done. Too much blood has been shed. They've been living under repression 40 years. They want to speak their minds with freedom, choose their own government. And they're willing to die to get there."

"Two things are missing from the current conversation. First, the recent debate all but ignores the broad arsenal of responses to copyright infringement already available to rights-holders, without SOPA. Second, the public has not been informed on how America's free trade negotiations have been used to circumvent the democratic process, accomplishing much of what SOPA was meant to do. This administration, like its predecessors, negotiates free trade agreements without public input or transparency. These agreements quietly ratchet up the international scope of copyright protection and the harshness of penalties for infringement, without public discussion of how these changes impact companies or users at home. One of these agreements was just signed in the EU, where it is belatedly raising political havoc, and another was negotiated last week- in Hollywood."

"Nokia is cutting 4,000 jobs and will end its manufacturing in Hungary, Mexico and its home nation of Finland as it moves its phone making to Asia, the company announced Wednesday. The Salo, Finland, factory, which is Nokia's oldest manufacturing plant, along with the affected facilities in Komarom, Hungary, and Reynosa, Mexico, won't be shut down entirely, Nokia said. Instead, the "three factories are planned to focus on smartphone customization, serving customers mainly in Europe and the Americas," Nokia said in a statement. "Device assembly is expected to be transferred to Nokia factories in Asia, where the majority of component suppliers are based."

"The new measure was mandated as part of Iran sanctions legislation that was passed by Congress and signed by the president Dec. 31. “I have determined that additional sanctions are warranted, particularly in light of the deceptive practices of the Central Bank of Iran and other Iranian banks to conceal transactions of sanctioned parties, the deficiencies in Iran’s anti-money laundering regime and the weaknesses in its implementation, and the continuing and unacceptable risk posed to the international financial system by Iran’s activities,” Obama said in his congressional notification."

"Not many people know that local police and the RCMP have already begun building a massive public traffic surveillance system. And no one knows how they’re going to use it. The A News reporter and Nanaimo constable interwove: “amazing,” “blown away,” “overwhelming.” “This will revolutionize the way we police,” proclaimed Vancouver police in The Province."

"To move into the ULP market, AMD is targeting x86 support at under two watts. "We can absolutely get x86 to less than 2 watts," Su promised. "So if you think about that, you can take the full Windows 8 capability into an x86 processor in a tablet system that lasts for over 30 days battery life. That is very much within the realm of our capability." Su pointed out that AMD will have plenty of both possible customers and competition in the tablet market. "There are a lot of players who are out there talking about tablets," she said, "and frankly, the volume isn't so high – except for the first one." And so AMD, along with its megacompetitor Intel, is crossing its fingers that Ballmer & Co. don't jump the shark with Windows 8."

"In January, oil prices in the U.S. rose about only 0.36 percent, with oil selling for $98.74 a barrel on Jan. 31, 1.04 percent less than a year ago. Despite the rise in oil prices, Shell reported fourth-quarter net income fell 4 percent to $6.5 billion. Chevron's fourth-quarter net also fell 4 percent to $5.1 billion. These mediocre results came as the U.S. increased its production of domestic hydrocarbons and actually became a net exporter of refined product for the first time since 1949, the EIA said, Moreover, with increased production such as the use of hydraulic fracturing to extract rich natural gas and oil deposits, the EIA predicts the U.S. is likely to maintain its increased production levels. "It has been an extraordinary year for natural gas," Brookings' Ebinger said. The EIA anticipates the U. S. and the Americas will continue being the leading non-OPEC members in crude production for several more years."

"Iran’s [President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad recently returned from his ‘Tour of Tyrants’ trip to visit Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba and Ecuador. Media reports have indicated an increased presence of Iran’s Quds Force in these countries and offices of Iran’s intelligence services surfacing throughout the region," said Ros-Lehtinen. "The fact that the military arm of a state-sponsor of terrorism has its operatives within multiple countries in our hemisphere is certainly cause for alarm and merits congressional focus."

"OPEN "needs to be scrapped," the statement says. "Stakeholders and Congress need to start over with a fresh look at solving this problem." Of course, Congress just did "start over" after the RIAA and its allies tried to ram the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and PROTECT IP Act through Congress. That effort sparked an unprecedented Internet backlash. While some of the RIAA's objections may have merit, we suspect the group's real problem with OPEN is precisely that the drafting situation was reversed this time: technology companies and the Internet community actually had a seat at the table when the bill was formulated. As a consequence, its provisions reflect a very different approach to the issue. In addition, SOPA and PIPA were not mentioned at all in the RIAA's statement. Apparently, those bills have become so politically toxic that even their leading supporters prefer "starting over" to reviving them... at least under their existing names."

"Wireless carrier US Cellular on Wednesday announced that its 4G LTE network will be up and running next month in six states. The March rollout will happen in select cities in Iowa, Wisconsin, Maine, North Carolina, Texas, and Oklahoma, including Milwaukee, Madison and Racine, Wis.; Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Davenport, Iowa; Portland and Bangor, Maine; and Greenville, N.C. The company's first LTE device will be the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 4G LTE tablet, followed by the Samsung Galaxy S Aviator 4G LTE smartphone, which will hit stores sometime in April, US Cellular said."

"More than three-quarters of the nation’s 17- to 24-year-olds couldn’t serve in the military, even if they wanted to. They’re too fat, too sickly, too dumb, have too many kids, or have copped to using illegal drugs. The armed services are willing to grant waivers for some of those conditions – asthma, or a little bit of weed. But the military’s biggest concern is how big and how weak its potential recruits have become. “The major component of this is obesity,” Curt Gilroy, the Pentagon’s director of accessions, tells Army Times‘ William McMichael. “Kids are just not able to do push-ups… And they can’t do pull-ups. And they can’t run."

"The U.S. “wants to control everything” and takes decisions unilaterally on key questions, Putin said on a campaign stop yesterday in the Siberian city of Tomsk, 3,100 kilometers (1,900 miles) east of Moscow. “Sometimes I get the impression the U.S. doesn’t need allies, it needs vassals."

"The treaty, known as Acta, aims to establish international standards to enforce intellectual property rights. But critics say it could curb freedom of expression, and government websites have been hacked in protest. Several marches took place in cities across the nation on Wednesday, says the BBC's Adam Easton in Warsaw. Crowds of mostly young people held banners with slogans such as "no to censorship" and "a free internet". After convening a special government meeting to discuss the issue, Mr Tusk said the government would not be blackmailed by the treaty's opponents. There would be ample time for public discussion about the treaty before it was ratified by the Polish parliament, he said."

"Newt Gingrich isn’t the only politician who’s freaked out by China and Russia’s online spying. But the new Republican presidential frontrunner may be the highest-profile political figure all but openly calling for cyberwar with Moscow and Beijing. “I think that we have to treat state-based covert activities as the equivalent of acts of war,” Gingrich said in response to a question about countries that target U.S. corporate and government information systems. “And I think that we have to respond to that and create a level of pain which teaches people not to do it."

"On Saturday’s edition of “Up With Chris Hayes,” Gary Johnson brought up an old Newt Gingrich idea I hadn’t heard before: Putting individuals who brought more than two ounces of marijuana into the United States to death. That sounded extreme, even for Gingrich. So I looked it up. And sure enough, there it is: “The Drug Importer Death Penalty Act of 1996.” What makes the bill even more amazing is that Gingrich himself is a confessed pot smoker."

"Reinforcing the fact that Chris Dodd really does not get what's happening, and showing just how disgustingly corrupt the MPAA relationship is with politicians, Chris Dodd went on Fox News to explicitly threaten politicians who accept MPAA campaign donations that they'd better pass Hollywood's favorite legislation... or else:"

"Later today, Stephen Colbert will host a rally with Herman Cain in South Carolina. It’s part of his increasingly complicated involvement in his home state’s GOP primary. Colbert wants voters to back Cain as a way of supporting Colbert’s run for “president of the United States of South Carolina.” Write-in candidates aren’t allowed, hence the partnership with the one-time GOP front-runner, who qualified for the ballot before dropping out of the race amidst controversy. Who’s kidding who?"

"President Barack Obama unveiled a defense strategy on Thursday that would expand the U.S. military presence in Asia but shrink the overall size of the force as the Pentagon seeks to slash spending by nearly half a trillion dollars after a decade of war. The strategy, if carried out, would significantly reshape the world's most powerful military following the buildup that was a key part of President George W. Bush's "war on terrorism" in Iraq and Afghanistan. Cyberwarfare and unmanned drones would continue to grow in priority, as would countering attempts by China and Iran to block U.S. power projection capabilities in areas like the South China Sea and the Strait of Hormuz. But the size of the U.S. Army and Marines Corps would shrink. So too might the U.S. nuclear arsenal and the U.S. military footprint in Europe."

"Rejoice, all ye faithful! Microsoft, in its infinite wisdom, will provide push-button Reset and Refresh in Windows 8. Reset will restore a Windows 8 PC to its stock, fresh-from-the-factory state; Refresh will reinstall Windows 8, but keep your documents and installed Metro apps in tact."

"CV Dazzle™ is camouflage from computer vision (CV). It is a form of expressive interference that combines makeup and hair styling (or other modifications) with face-detection thwarting designs. The name is derived from a type of camouflage used during WWI, called Dazzle, which was used to break apart the gestalt-image of warships, making it hard to discern their directionality, size, and orientation. Likewise, the goal of CV Dazzle is to break apart the gestalt of a face, or object, and make it undetectable to computer vision algorithms, in particular face detection. Because face detection is the first step in automated facial recognition, CV Dazzle can be used in any environment where automated face recognition systems are in use, such as Google's Picasa, Flickr, or Facebook."

"While the Food and Drug Administration monitors the safety and supply of the drugs, which are sold both as generics and under brand names like Ritalin and Adderall, the Drug Enforcement Administration sets manufacturing quotas that are designed to control supplies and thwart abuse. Every year, the D.E.A. accepts applications from manufacturers to make the drugs, analyzes how much was sold the previous year and then allots portions of the expected demand to various companies. How each manufacturer divides its quota among its own A.D.H.D. medicines — preparing some as high-priced brands and others as cheaper generics — is left up to the company."

"Judge M. Margaret McKeown of the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected the argument that immunity closed the courts to the plaintiffs. Only the telecommunications companies are covered, she wrote, not the government. “The federal courts remain a forum to consider the constitutionality of the wiretapping scheme and other claims,” she wrote. In a separate ruling, the appeals court on Thursday allowed a separate case against the government to proceed, in which plaintiffs say that the National Security Agency engaged in “an unprecedented suspicionless general search,” diverting Internet traffic into secure rooms in AT&T facilities."

"The group targeted this particular Web site because "their customer base is comprised primarily of military and law enforcement affiliated individuals, who have for too long enjoyed purchasing tactical combat equipment from their slick and 'professional' looking website. We'll continue to have ourselves a merry LulzXmas at the expense of capitalist pigs, corrupt public officials and all those third parties who cater to the continued oligarchic elite worldwide," Anonymous said. "We are your secretaries, your janitors, your babysitters, your IT guys, your bus drivers, your maids, your hard-working, driven and determined fellow humans." SpecialForces.com remains online."

"Desktop-oriented Cedarview parts, D2500 and D2700, started shipping in the third quarter of 2011. The Cedarview family has suffered delays due to problems with the video drivers, and Intel has had to cut features to deliver anything to market. During Cedarview's development, Intel claimed that the GPU hardware supported Direct3D 10.1. However, the shipping drivers only support Direct3D 9. They also only support 32-bit Windows 7—no 64-bit driver is available."

"The unifying complaint is crony capitalism. That’s a broad term, to be sure, and its bloody Libyan manifestation bears little resemblance to complaints about the Troubled Asset Relief Program in the United States or allegations of corrupt auctions for telecommunications licenses in India. But the notion that the rules of the economic game are rigged to benefit the elites at the expense of the middle class has had remarkable resonance this year around the world and across the political spectrum. Could the failure of the experts to anticipate this anger be connected to the fact that the analysts are usually part of the 1 percent, or at least the 10 percent, at the top?"

"Nevada's gambling authorities this week voted unanimously in favor of a framework that would make online poker legal in the state, according to reports. The move could mark a possible return to legitimacy for online poker businesses just months after a federal crackdown shuttered several top poker websites' operations in the United States. The Nevada Gaming Commission announced its approval of rules to govern online poker Thursday at a hearing room in the Grant Sawyer Building in Las Vegas, according to gaming site CardPlayer.com. The decision to regulate the industry comes after a months-long push by advocates to allow online poker sites to operate in the state—a prospect that seemed particularly dicey given the actions of U.S. authorities earlier this year."

"How do you build a $226m company? Start with a $2bn one. This joke could apply to Imation, which could go the way of Kodak and turn shareholder value into dross, because its management, facing declining sales of old technology, is late to respond and now buying bum companies with crappy prospects. That's the view implied by transcribed comments from the 2011 third quarter earnings call. Imation's shares, at $5.93, are just 11.5 per cent of their $48.81 peak value in 2006. The company has a current market capitalisation of $226.02m. On June 20, 2006, it was $1.96bn. Imation's management has lost 88.5 per cent of the company's share value, a humungous $1.734bn of market capitalisation since then. A harsh view is that it has been a prolonged and spectacular executive management failure."

"As written, [Congress] would betray more than a decade of U.S. policy and advocacy of Internet freedom by establishing a censorship system using the same domain blacklisting technologies pioneered by China and Iran." GoDaddy doesn't share this view, explaining that the U.S. can't "turn a blind eye to illegal conduct online." "If we don't want the government to be the gate-keeper, then we have to set expectations for ourselves," Jones said. "And those expectations must respect the predicament that U.S. businesses and American consumers are facing - that they are getting duped, that their intellectual property is being stolen and that the Internet ecosystem has a duty to help."

"The phone has 32GB of memory, of which more than 28GB is available for user data, including apps, music, and photos. I was able to transfer data to and from the phone from a Windows PC without trouble, except for a message warning me MP3s might not play, though they did. Unlike many phones, it does not have a microSD slot. Instead, it seems designed to pull information from Google's cloud-based services. Indeed, in order to play music at all, users have to set up a Google Music account or link a current Google account. Once set up, though, I was able to play music fairly easily and new features such as Android 4.0's equalizer were quite nice. (One thing to note: This phone has mostly "pure" Google Android software and as such will not play WMA audio, unlike some previous Android phones."

"Then, in 2000, one groundbreaking episode of Sex And The City made the Manolo Blahnik demographic sit up and take notice: Heroine Carrie Bradshaw found a new swagger in her step after waxing it off. And once Carrie was bare down there ... well, remember when the Sex And The City girls ate cupcakes? Let's put it this way: There's now a cupcake bakery on every other corner in upper Manhattan. Finally, the phenomenon introduced by the seven sisters Padilha blossomed, as spas all over the United States began to offer Brazilian wax services. By 2003, Victoria Beckham had announced that she thought Brazilian waxes should be compulsory at age 15. Eva Longoria followed suit in 2006, telling Cosmopolitan that "Every woman should try a Brazilian wax once. The sex they have afterward will make them keep coming back." Soon, states like New Jersey and North Dakota were revisiting their regulations on legal cosmetology services after outcries from women who were surprised and dismayed to find that genital waxing had never been officially legalized. Gone were the warm, velvety vaginas of yesteryear -- the smooth, Brazilian-waxed vagina was the wave of the future."

"We already know that exposure therapy is an effective [therapy] for PTSD, and we want to figure out how to optimize it,” Dr. Barbara Rothbaum, who will lead the Emory team’s research, told Danger Room. “I really think that this study will move beyond the theoretical. We can rescue people.” Exposure therapy is thought to work by allowing patients to revisit traumas in safe settings. Every time the mind remembers an event, it “rewrites” that recollection. By helping a patient rewrite traumatic memories to be less frightening, studies suggest that exposure therapy can significantly improve symptoms like nightmares and flashbacks. Adding DCS seems to hasten that process, targeting the precise brain pathways responsible for regulating fear responses."

"A U.S. stealth drone in Iranian hands was hijacked by using software that spoofed GPS coordinates, forcing it to land at those coordinates, the Christian Science Monitor reported today. Hackers reconfigured the GPS system of the RQ-170 Sentinel, forcing it to "land on its own where we wanted it to, without having to crack the remote-control signals and communications," said an unnamed Iranian engineer who said he examined the captured drone."

"To the great growth industries of America such as health care and home building add one more: influence peddling. The number of registered lobbyists in Washington has more than doubled while the amount that lobbyists charge their new clients has increased by as much as 100 percent. Only a few other businesses have enjoyed greater prosperity in an otherwise fitful economy. Lobbying firms can't hire people fast enough. Starting salaries have risen to about $300,000 a year for the best-connected aides eager to "move downtown" from Capitol Hill. "People in industry are willing to invest money because they see opportunities here," said Patrick J. Griffin, who was President Bill Clinton's top lobbyist and is now in private practice. "They see that they can win things, that there's something to be gained. Washington has become a profit center."