UK Document on Leaks Leaked to Wikileaks October 6, 2009
Posted by Joey in Culture, Government, Internet, Media, Oops!.Tags: MoD, Wikileaks
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In the age of the intertubes, it’s not easy keeping secrets. Expect governments to get their panties in wads. Spying on you and all that.
For your reading pleasure: UK MoD Manual of Security Volumes 1, 2 and 3 Issue 2, JSP-440, RESTRICTED, 2389 pages, 2001
MoD ‘how to stop leaks’ document is leaked – Telegraph.
The Defence Manual of Security is intended to help MoD, armed forces and intelligence personnel maintain information security in the face of hackers, journalists, foreign spies and others.
But the 2,400-page restricted document has found its way on to Wikileaks, a website that publishes anonymous leaks of sensitive information from organisations including governments, corporations and religions.
Known in the services as Joint Services Protocol 440 (JSP 440), it was published in 2001. As Wikileaks notes, it is the document that is used as justification for the monitoring of certain websites, including Wikileaks itself.
David Letterman’s Secret Bedroom October 4, 2009
Posted by Joey in Media.Tags: David Letterman
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Nothing like a nice, juicy sex scandal to keep the frothing masses entertained while politicians busily plan how to socialize the economy and steal your money.
David Letterman had secret bedroom above Ed Sullivan Theater, sez ex-’Late Show’ staffer.
An ex-”Late Show” intern unmasked herself Saturday as one of David Letterman’s former flings – and sources revealed the randy funnyman keeps a bachelor pad atop the Ed Sullivan Theater.
“I was madly in love with him at the time,” said Holly Hester. “I would have married him. He was hilarious.”
The NYU alum, who it appears went on to become a top Hollywood producer, told TMZ.com that the relationship started in the early ’90s when Letterman called and asked her on a date to the movies.
A year-long, secret romance ensued, she said, until the funnyman called it off because of their age difference.
Paparazzi Laser Shield September 21, 2009
Posted by Joey in Media, Technology.Tags: mega-yacht, Yachts, Roman Abramovich, Conspicuous Consumption, Paparazzi
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You would think, given the massive scale of conspicuous consumption, that Roman would want paparazzi photographing his yacht.
I can’t think of a reason why using a laser against a paparazzi wouldn’t be considered assault. But then, I’m not a Russian oligarch.
Russian Billionaire Installs Anti-Photo Shield on Giant Yacht | Gadget Lab | Wired.com.
Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich has a rather curious new addition built in to his latest oversized yacht. The 557-foot boat Eclipse, the price tag of which has almost doubled since original plans were drawn to almost $1.2 billion, set sail this week with a slew of show-off features, from two helipads, two swimming pools and six-foot movie screens in all guest cabins, to a mini-submarine and missile-proof windows to combat piracy.
It might not seem like somebody with such ostentatious tastes would crave privacy, but along with these expensive toys, Ambramovich has installed an anti-paparazzi “shield”. Lasers sweep the surroundings and when they detect a CCD, they fire a bolt of light right at the camera to obliterate any photograph. According to the Times, these don’t run all the time, so friends and guests should still be able to grab snaps. Instead, they will be activated when guards spot the scourge of professional photography, paparazzi, loitering nearby.
John Stossel Going To Fox Business Network September 13, 2009
Posted by Joey in Media.Tags: Fox Business Network, John Stossel, Libertarian
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Here’s a nice twist. What happens if Fox Business goes libertarian? The TV might melt.
John Stossel Leaving ABC for Fox Business Network – NYTimes.com.
John Stossel, the ABC anchor known for his libertarian bent, is moving to the Fox Business Network to host a weekly prime-time program. He will also make regular appearances on the Fox News Channel.
A fierce and sometimes controversial contrarian, Mr. Stossel is perhaps best known for his watchdog reports, “Give Me a Break.” He has been a correspondent for the ABC newsmagazine “20/20” for almost 30 years, and a co-anchor of it for six years.
Mr. Stossel’s hiring is an important one for the two-year-old Fox Business, which is seeking more viewers and wider cable distribution. Last week the network, a unit of News Corporation, said it would start to simulcast Don Imus’s radio show in October.
Mr. Stossel will start work in October, and his weekly program, named “Stossel,” will begin sometime in the fourth quarter. Fox said “Stossel” would include news segments and conversations about “libertarian issues in the United States and abroad,” including free-market economics and civil liberties.
The Pirate Bay Deal Scuttled September 10, 2009
Posted by Joey in Culture, Internet, Media, Politics.Tags: The Pirate Bay
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The Pirate Bay sale scuttled by a penny stock manipulator. Nice.
Vote: What’s Next for The Pirate Bay? | Threat Level | Wired.com.
Thursday’s de-listing from a Swedish stock exchange of The Pirate Bay’s corporate suitor is likely to scuttle the planned $8.5 million purchase of the world’s most notorious BitTorrent site.
The removal of GGF from the AktieTorget exchange was based, in large part, on the exchange’s findings that the Swedish company’s CEO, Hans Pandeya, never had the financing to go through with the deal, and was just trying to manipulate the company’s penny stock prices.
Sony Adopts ePub for E-Book Readers August 13, 2009
Posted by Joey in Gadgets, Internet, Media.Tags: Amazon, e-books, ePub, Kindle, Reader, Sony
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Sony gets smart and ditches its proprietary e-book format and goes with ePub. Let’s hope Amazon gets the message and goes with ePub as well on the Kindle.
Sony Plans to Adopt Common Format for E-Books.
Paper books may be low tech, but no one will tell you how and where you can read them.
For many people, the problem with electronic books is that they come loaded with just those kinds of restrictions. Digital books bought today from Amazon.com, for example, can be read only on Amazon’s Kindle device or its iPhone software.
Some restrictions on the use of e-books are likely to remain a fact of life. But some publishers and consumer electronics makers are aiming to give e-book buyers more flexibility by rallying around a single technology standard for the books. That would also help them counter Amazon, which has taken an early lead in the nascent market.
On Thursday, Sony Electronics, which sells e-book devices under the Reader brand, plans to announce that by the end of the year it will sell digital books only in the ePub format, an open standard created by a group including publishers like Random House and HarperCollins.
Murdoch: Give Me Kindle Subscriber Names or Else August 7, 2009
Posted by Joey in Gadgets, Internet, Media.Tags: Amazon, Kindle, News Corp., Rupert Murdoch
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Rupert Murdoch, that old fart, thinks people will pay to have access to Fox News and CNN websites. Don’t hold your breath, Rupert, while you’re waiting for those subscription fees to roll in.
And, why should Amazon give you the subscriber names? They’re Amazon’s customers, not yours.
It’s a new world out there, Rupert. You’ll need new business models if you plan to stay in business. Very, very few websites get by on subscription fees.
Murdoch’s ultimatum to Amazon: Give us Kindle subscriber names or else.
Murdoch acknowledged that the Journal recently negotiated a slightly larger share of the revenues Amazon gets from selling Kindle subscriptions to the paper, “but it’s not a big number, and we’re not encouraging it at all because we don’t get the names of the subscribers,” he said. “Kindle treats them as their subscribers, not as ours, and I think that will eventually cause a break with us.”
More:
“As I’ve said before, the traditional business model has to change rapidly to ensure that our journalistic businesses can return to their old margins of profitability,” Murdoch said. “Quality journalism is not cheap, and an industry that gives away its content is simply cannibalizing its ability to produce good reporting.”
PGA Tour Suppresses Tiger Fart Video On YouTube August 4, 2009
Posted by Joey in Internet, Media, Sports.Tags: Golf, PGA Tour, Tiger Woods, YouTube
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I’ve got the Buick Open on the Tivo. I’ll get back to you shortly on whether Tiger did the deed, or if it was that funny guy David Feherty, the on-course color analyst.
PGA TOUR ORDERS YOUTUBE TO TAKE DOWN VIDEO OF TIGER WOODS FARTING DURING TOURNAMENT.
What a stink that video made!
The PGA Tour yesterday ordered YouTube and other Web sites to remove a video that purports to show Tiger Woods farting on the 18th hole of a golf tournament in a clear attempt to save him from embarrassment.
YouTube, on which the clip was posted Sunday, did as it was requested, saying it took the action because of “a copyright claim by the PGA Tour.”
e-book: Paperback Equivalent? July 20, 2009
Posted by Joey in Gadgets, Media, Technology.Tags: Dan Brown, e-book, Kindle, The Lost Symbol
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Let me be the first to say it: If the book isn’t available as an e-book, I’m not buying it. I’ve no more shelf space, and the Kindle is so much nicer for reading than carrying around a bunch of books.
So, publishers, please realize that those that buy e-books won’t buy a hardcover book, and those that buy books won’t buy e-books. So, what’s the sense in waiting weeks or months to get your money?
Don’t treat e-books as paperbacks. That’ll really knock down your profit margins. So, don’t be idiots, release e-books at the same time as the hardcover, and make more money.
When to Schedule E-Book Releases – A New Worry for Publishers.
Dan Brown’s fans have waited six long years for “The Lost Symbol,” his follow-up to the megablockbuster novel “The Da Vinci Code” that is being published in hardcover on Sept. 15.
Will those who want to read it in e-book form wait a little longer?
It is a question that Mr. Brown’s publisher, the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, is weighing as it plans the rollout of what it hopes will be a book-selling sensation. The publisher has announced a first hardcover run of five million copies, but Suzanne Herz, a spokeswoman for Knopf Doubleday, said the publisher had not decided when to release an electronic version.
