Heartbleed and the National Academies Press

I found this amusing and wanted to share. - Ken

The National Academies Press wants you to know that it is unaffected by Heartlbleed - and to peddle a few books | http://t.co/eJrWmWDczC
— Kenneth D. Pimple (@Ethical_PICT) April 10, 2014

"The Information-Gathering Paradox"

Facebook, Google, Twitter, etc., collect data for the NSA; who knew? - "The Information-Gathering Paradox" | @NYTimes http://t.co/MEMvNfjJAU
— Kenneth D. Pimple (@Ethical_PICT) October 27, 2013

"Google to Sell Users’ Endorsements"

Has Google become yet another abomination upon the earth? On the bright side, we can all use it's own services to condemn it.

Remember "don't be evil?" Say it ain't so, Google! - "Google to Sell Users’ Endorsements" | @NYTimes http://t.co/1XZpp2Y5jt
— Kenneth D. Pimple (@Ethical_PICT) October 12, 2013

"Let's Build a More Secure Internet"

Open source hardware for the Internet? Intriguing.... - "Let’s Build a More Secure Internet" | @NYTimes http://t.co/oq3Ot4fJQS
— Kenneth D. Pimple (@Ethical_PICT) October 9, 2013

"Researchers split over NSA hacking"

Here's the comment I posted to this news piece: 

In 1982, I graduated with a B.S. in mathematics. I was young and ignorant and naive, and the only math jobs I knew of were either college teaching or in the military-industrial complex. I didn't think I was good enough in math to go to graduate school and I didn't want to contribute to the war in Viet Nam, so I took another route.

I later came to believe that we should not vilify people who work in industries that we deplore. If liberal academics (like me) condemn others like us except that they might apply for a job that happens to have military connections, only the very boldest will apply and the majority of applicants might well be militaristic jingoist fundamentalists intent on ushering in the apocalypse. (I came of age during the nuclear freeze movement and Secretary of Interior James Watt.)

My characterization of "them" is intentionally exaggerated, but I hope you get the point: If people who share my values are shut out from certain areas of study, only people who don't share my values will have a voice. This is unacceptable in a democracy.

My Q: Can working for spies temper their tendency toward abuse? - "Researchers split over NSA hacking" | @NatureNews http://t.co/TY5RNFiWS4
— Kenneth D. Pimple (@Ethical_PICT) October 8, 2013

"The Face Scan Arrives"

Homeland Security and the FBI are developing facial identification software. The author, Ginger McCall,  suggests two policies to restrict the use of such technologies.

First, facial-recognition databases should be populated only with images of known terrorists and convicted felons. Driver’s license photos and other images of “ordinary” people should never be included in a facial-recognition database without the knowledge and consent of the public.

Second, access to databases should be limited and monitored. Officers should be given access only after a court grants a warrant. The access should be tracked and audited. The authorities should have to publicly report what databases are being mined and provide aggregate numbers on how often they are used.

I approve of the second policy 100%, but I wonder whether having the faces of ordinary people on file would tend to make the database more effective in identifying criminals. In some areas, having tons of data give systems greater power; when Netflix knows that I like movies A, B, and C, and that several hundreds of people who like A, B, and C also like movie D, it's a good guess that I'd like D, too. Is there an analog to this in facial recognition?

Slouching toward Big Brother (or maybe not) - "The Face Scan Arrives" | http://t.co/F7mOok0vUw
— Kenneth D. Pimple (@Ethical_PICT) August 30, 2013

"I Flirt and Tweet. Follow Me at #Socialbot."

Is this scary, or just silly? - "I Flirt and Tweet. Follow Me at #Socialbot." | http://t.co/nxcbUd9vUA
— Kenneth D. Pimple (@Ethical_PICT) August 21, 2013

"Facial Scanning Is Making Gains in Surveillance"

NSA collection of metadata doesn't hold a candle to this - "Facial Scanning Is Making Gains in Surveillance" | http://t.co/jj93WIcXlX
— Kenneth D. Pimple (@Ethical_PICT) August 21, 2013

"Children Lost in War Zones and Disasters Find Their Families With an App"

A truly important app - "Children Lost in War Zones and Disasters Find Their Families With an App" | @nytimes http://t.co/i9heSczqFa
— Kenneth D. Pimple (@Ethical_PICT) August 20, 2013

"2 E-Mail Services Close and Destroy Data Rather Than Reveal Files"

The good guys shut down, the big guys profit - "2 E-Mail Services Close and Destroy Data Rather Than Reveal Files" | http://t.co/qo5IR2Byhw
— Kenneth D. Pimple (@Ethical_PICT) August 10, 2013

"Searching Big Data for ‘Digital Smoke Signals’"

This article describes "the United Nations Global Pulse team — a tiny unit ... [with a focus on] harnessing technology in new ways — using data from social networks, blogs, cellphones and online commerce to transform economic development and humanitarian aid in poorer nations" as one example of "a growing collection of scientists at universities, companies and nonprofit groups have been given the label 'Big Data for development.'"

Research by Global Pulse and other groups, for example, has found that analyzing Twitter messages can give an early warning of a spike in unemployment, price rises and disease. Such “digital smoke signals of distress,” Mr. [Robert] Kirkpatrick [who leads Global Pulse] said, usually come months before official statistics — and in many developing countries today, there are no reliable statistics.

I shouldn't have been surprised by this; people who want to help people, just like people who want to make money, are innovative, hard working, and alert to new tools. I am pleased to learn of this movement.

Big Data can be a tool for good, apparently - "Searching Big Data for ‘Digital Smoke Signals’" | http://t.co/0D9rpDz7ig
— Kenneth D. Pimple (@Ethical_PICT) August 9, 2013

"A Cheap Spying Tool With a High Creepy Factor"

CreepyDOL and the war on security researchers - "A Cheap Spying Tool With a High Creepy Factor" http://t.co/YrPZdsd92b
— Kenneth D. Pimple (@Ethical_PICT) August 3, 2013

Could it be coming to a location (uncomfortably) near you?

"Pinterest Allows Users to Opt Out of Being Tracked"

"Pinterest Allows Users to Opt Out of Being Tracked" while tracking the rest more aggressively http://t.co/fM3o1KPURU
— Kenneth D. Pimple (@Ethical_PICT) July 27, 2013

It's one of those taking away with your right hand what you gave with your left situations. Here's a key paragraph:

As for people who do not select the Do Not Track feature, Pinterest will be watching over their shoulders more than it has in the past. As Twitter did in 2012, Pinterest introduced a new feature that it says will help surface better content to users.

Here's the score for Pintrest:

• 5 points for allowing users to opt in for do-not-track,

• -8 points for increasing invasiveness for users who do not opt out, and 

• -15 points for failing to use an opt-in model instead (so that no one would be tracked unless explicitly invited Pinterest to follow them wherever they go).

That puts them 18 points in the red. Nice try.

"Whispering sweet nothings in commuters’ ears"

Thanks to Lisa Lee for bringing this to my attention. Read the comments, too.

Adverts right to your brain via bone conduction - "Whispering sweet nothings in commuters’ ears" | BioEdge http://t.co/XqgKTwxvD2
— Kenneth D. Pimple (@Ethical_PICT) July 8, 2013

"Stealth Wear Aims to Make a Tech Statement"

From today's New York Times.

Just what we need: An arms war between the snoops and their targets - "Stealth Wear Aims to Make a Tech Statement" http://t.co/lgRsnUZIFg
— Kenneth D. Pimple (@Ethical_PICT) June 30, 2013

"Voice-Activated Technology Is Called Safety Risk for Drivers"

If there was ever any doubt that adding Internet connectivity and voice command technologies to cars is a bad idea, this should wipe that doubt away.

I summarize below (do read the whole article). Passages that are not direct quotations should be taken as my editorial ranting.

"In April, the federal government recommended that automakers voluntarily limit the technology in their cars to keep drivers focused," but automakers see dollar signs when they think about installing this stuff. Profits! Profits! Who cares about safety?

Research led by "David Strayer, a neuroscientist at the University of Utah who for two decades has applied the principles of attention science to driver behavior," shows that

What makes the use of these speech-to-text systems so risky is that they create a significant cognitive distraction.... The brain is so taxed interacting with the system that, even with hands on the wheel and eyes on the road, the driver’s reaction time and ability to process what is happening on the road are impaired.

(Some of Strayer's earlier research showed that "talking on a phone while driving creates the same level of crash risk as someone with a 0.08 blood-alcohol level, the legal level for intoxication across the country.)

And it's not just that speech-to-text is distracting, but that it's more distracting than other activities. In his latest study, Strayer and his colleagues "compared the impact on drivers of different activities, including listening to a book on tape or the radio, and talking on a hand-held phone or hands-free phone" and found "the results were consistent across all the tests in finding that speech-to-text technology caused a higher level of cognitive distraction than any of the other activities."

The only way this technology should be legal would be if the driver could not use it. I suspect it would be safe to install it in the back seats of limos, for example. There might even be a way for a passenger in the front seat, but not the drive, to use it - I don't know how that would be accomplished, but that would probably be fairly safe, too.

We really don't need more distracted drivers.

This is a must-read - "Voice-Activated Technology Is Called Safety Risk for Drivers" | @nytimes nyti.ms/19ptopD
— Kenneth D. Pimple (@Ethical_PICT) June 13, 2013

See also in this blog (listed from most to least recent) "Device Prevents Driving While Phone Is In Use," "Attention Turns to the Dangers of Distracted Pedestrians," and "Cell Carriers Explore Ways to Limit Distracted Driving."

"The Price of the Panopticon"

More on NSA surveillance and why we should oppose it - "The Price of the Panopticon" | @nytimes nyti.ms/1bud2bS
— Kenneth D. Pimple (@Ethical_PICT) June 12, 2013

"Track the trackers"

Many good reasons for reining in NSA and other snoops - "Track the trackers" | Nature News & Comment - s.shr.lc/1955ltv
— Kenneth D. Pimple (@Ethical_PICT) June 12, 2013

"The Cyborg Era Begins"

Talk about your pervasive technologies.

Here's a bit more from the summary: "In the lab, cling wrap–like circuitry draped over the hearts of test animals can track the activity of each of the heart's four chambers and kill tissue that initiate potentially deadly arrhythmias. Other arrays penetrate brain tissue to monitor the abnormal nerve firing patterns in epilepsy or induce gene expression in the brain tissue of mice." 

From summary: "Electronic components are invading the body." - "The Cyborg Era Begins" | @sciencemagazine s.shr.lc/ZWbIyN
— Kenneth D. Pimple (@Ethical_PICT) June 7, 2013

"Ad Formats at Facebook to Be Fewer"

"Ad Formats at Facebook to Be Fewer" to make life easier for advertisers (but not Facebook users) | @nytimes nyti.ms/193sRtc
— Kenneth D. Pimple (@Ethical_PICT) June 7, 2013