The NSA’s 2013 transparency report is more opaque
In an attempt to offer transparency to United States surveillance tactics, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a report today offering numbers for National Security Agency actions in 2013. The report notes thousands of orders placed for use of surveillance tactics (FISA requests: 1,899 in total), but fails to mention who or what was being targeted, not to mention exactly how. It recounts thousands of requests to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court — the court that decides which surveillance tactics are considered legal by the US government — and thousands of “targets” (90,601). However, issues arise immediately. The word “target” is defined as such:
“[It] has multiple meanings. For example, ‘target’ could be an individual person, a group, or an organization composed of multiple individuals or a foreign power that possesses or is likely to communicate foreign intelligence information that the U.S. government is authorized to acquire.”
Moreover, numbers are given for business records requests; instance where business records were specifically requested by the US government. While only numbering in the hundreds (178), the word “target” is used once again, which the US defines in an extremely loose way. As such, once more, it’s unclear exactly how many US citizens were affected and how.
There’s also a stat breakdown of national security letter (NSL) requests in 2013. Historically, NSLs were used in financial matters — they’re subpoenas for electronic records, as ordered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) — but their use was expanded under the PATRIOT Act of 2001. These are particularly important to surveillance, as they order record holders to turn over otherwise private information, cannot be challenged, and even require the records holder not to tell the individual(s) or entity that their records are being given to the US government.
The report is slightly more specific in respect to NSL requests: 38,832 requests were made for records and 19,212 were approved. The report says those numbers skew far higher because, “the FBI may serve multiple NSLs for an individual for multiple facilities, e.g., multiple e-mail accounts, landline telephone numbers, cellular phone numbers, etc.” In plain English: multiple NSLs might be issued for the same person or entity.
The report is in response to President Barack Obama’s June 2013 directive to the Director of National Intelligence to issue a transparency report. Obama’s directive, of course, is in response to the deluge of NSA leaks last summer led by Edward Snowden.
The original team behind Facebook Home moved on, but the app still lives
Remember Facebook Home? The Android homescreen replacement that Facebook hoped would change the way we interacted with our phones — and the titanic social network — from now on? The one that tragically failed to catch on with the Android-using public at large and hasn’t been updated since January? Yeah, that one. Turns out, the situation at Home may be even more dire than expected. Mike Isaac at the New York Times’ Bits blog reports that the original team that worked Home has been disbanded, but don’t count Home out yet. We reached out to Facebook to see what exactly this means for Home’s future, and a spokesperson confirmed that yes, there is a team still working on and supporting the app.
So Home isn’t dead yet, but it’d be good company if it was. After all, Facebook has seen (and disposed of) its share of mobile flubs these past few years. Poke, FB’s Snapchat clone officially bit the dust earlier in 2014, and the social giant released a Camera app that never really went anywhere shortly after it bought Instagram. And could forget the HTC First? It wasn’t the first Facebook phone to hit the streets, but it did some with Facebook Home pre-installed… and it sure fell into the bargain bin in a hurry.
None of this is meant to imply that Facebook outright sucks at mobile — far from it. Its story-centric Paper app is one of the best ways to sift through the sheer amount of stuff peppering your News Feed, and the required reciprocity built into Slingshot is a nifty approach to a well-worn path. Home was something more ambitious, and stands in pretty stark contrast to the other piecemeal apps that bear Facebook’s blessing. It was a way for the company to inject your social everything right into the heart of your homescreen. Facebook seems to be dialing back on its desire to own the whole experience of using a smartphone, but it hasn’t completely given up yet.
Source: NY Times Bits
For $10,000, here’s a mechanical watch you’ll never have to set
Mechanical watches are beautiful, but there’s always the hassle of setting it to the correct time when you travel abroad. What price, then, would you pay to never make that sort of effort again? If you answered “about ten grand,” then you’re the ideal customer for VCXO’s Ox One. The Swiss company has paired up a mechanical movement with a GPS module, so all you need to do is push the — sigh — “magic button,” and it’ll wind the time according to the local satellite. The Stainless Steel version of the watch will set you back $10,000, while the black ceramic is priced at $12,000, but if you’re really looking to splash out, there’s a limited-edition version that’ll set you back nearly $45,000. Of course, if you’re that obsessed with accuracy and efficiency, perhaps you’re better off just, you know, going digital?
Filed under: Wearables
Via: TechCrunch, A Blog to Watch
Source: VCXO
Robot builders work together to create structures much bigger than themselves
If you’ve ever read a novel from Iain M. Banks’s Culture series, then you’ll know that builder-bots play a huge role in his vision of the future: A future in which houses, cities and even entire planets can be built on the cheap by armies of drones. In a very modest way, something like this is already possible, thanks to a team of researchers from Catalonia’s Insitute of Advanced Architecture. They’ve created a prototype design for an “ecology” of mini robots, which work together to squirt out various materials that harden to create the frame and skin of a building. Wheeled Foundation Bots come first, building up the base layers, and then Grip Bots clamber up these structures to create further levels. The video after the break makes it all so sound very simple and inevitable, but it slightly glosses over an important fact: these bots can only build according to an architect’s exact instructions. And, as any builder will repeatedly tell you, architects know almost nothing about how to actually build stuff. (At least, not until robots take their jobs too.)
Via: Fast Company
Source: IACC
Amazon AppStore 48-hour sale; Plex, Splashtop HD, Ravensword and 29 more FREE
Looks like Amazon is kicking of a pretty fantastic sale today that is set to last just 48 hours. Generally when we see Android apps on sale in the App Store, it is for a myriad of apps that are ok, but not always highly sought after. This sale on the other hand is quite […]
Google Keep and Maps get Android Wear support; Google Search and YouTube also Update [APK Download]
We have been watching the Play Store pretty intensely since the Google I/O keynote just 2 days ago. Since then we have seen a number of apps up date. Seems the big stories on the web with the updates comes from Google Maps and Google Keep both getting updates that make them Android Wear compatible. […]
Apple Ending Development on Aperture as Upcoming Photos App for OS X Will Replace iPhoto
Apple will no longer continue development on its professional photography application, Aperture, reports The Loop. Instead, the company is working on the Photos app for Mac that it introduced during the Worldwide Developer’s Conference.
“With the introduction of the new Photos app and iCloud Photo Library, enabling you to safely store all of your photos in iCloud and access them from anywhere, there will be no new development of Aperture,” said Apple in a statement provided to The Loop. “When Photos for OS X ships next year, users will be able to migrate their existing Aperture libraries to Photos for OS.”
The Photos app, which was shown off only briefly during WWDC, will combine with iCloud Photo Library, replacing both Aperture and iPhoto. While Photos will allow users to store, search, and edit photos via the cloud on Apple devices, it is unlikely to include the more robust, professional-oriented tools found in Aperture.
Aperture, which has long lagged behind competing software like Lightroom from Adobe, saw its last major version update to 3.5 on October 22, 2013, and since then, the software has seen just one last minor update. One of the major complaints about Aperture has been its infrequent updates, and many users have wondered if and when Apple would release Aperture 4. With no plans to continue development, professional photographers will want to find another solution, such as Lightroom.
According to TechCrunch, Apple will continue to provide compatibility updates to allow Aperture to run on OS X Yosemite, but development will stop. Apple is also working with Adobe to create a transitionary workflow to help users shift to Lightroom.
Audi to Introduce CarPlay Compatible Cars in 2015 [iOS Blog]
Audi has announced plans to integrate Apple’s CarPlay system into its Audi Multi Media Interface, and new Audi models supporting CarPlay will become available to customers beginning in 2015. Audi says that its development lab in Silicon Valley is in an “intensive dialog” with Apple as it works to integrate CarPlay into Audi cars.
Our customers want to be ‘always on’ and use the services they know from their smartphones in cars as well,” says Prof. Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg, Board Member for Technical Development at AUDI AG. “In this regard, we are working closely with leading companies like Google and Apple. In the future, customers will be able to use the functions available to them on their smartphones via the operating systems in their cars as well.
Designed to overlay an iPhone’s display on a car’s in-dash infotainment system, CarPlay allows users hands-free access for functions like getting directions, making phone calls, sending messages, and more, using Siri voice control. CarPlay also includes support for several different iPhone apps like Spotify, Beats Music, iHeartRadio, and MLB at Bat, among others.
Audi joins a number of other manufacturers that have partnered with Apple, including Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, BMW, Ford, Hyundai, GM, and Honda, with the first CarPlay-supported cars becoming available later this year. Several aftermarket consoles from companies like Alpine and Pioneer will also support CarPlay before the end of the year.
Test your emoji deciphering skills with Guess The Emoji [App of the Day]
Emojis can be used to display emotions to a person you text. They can also be used to describe people, places and things. But did you know emojis could be used to addict you to your phone even more!?
Random Logic Games, the makers of a dozen or so popular guessing games in the Play Store, has designed a game with the avid texter in mind called Guess The Emoji.
This casual guessing game displays 2 or more emojis together, and the player has to try to figure out what the emojis are describing. I know it sounds easy, but believe me, it gets harder as you level up. There may come a point where you just get stuck, but there is an option for hints if you feel you need to use them.
Guess The Emoji surprised me and is so much fun. It is currently sitting at above 4 stars and has over 80 thousand ratings. Its free so grab it now and let me know what you think in the comments.
The post Test your emoji deciphering skills with Guess The Emoji [App of the Day] appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Editor’s Picks: 15 Android apps and games that you should know (June 27)
You’ve arrived at the latest installment of our Editor’s Picks! Here we take some time to dig through the multitudes of apps and games available in the Google PlayStore only to bring you 15 of the best! These are apps and games that we find to be the most fun/useful/etc, and will make for a great edition to your Android smartphone or tablet.
Don’t forget if you’d like to keep more in touch with the latest and greatest apps, please give us a follow on any of our pages at Facebook, Twitter or Google +. Feel free to send your favorite Android apps or games through these venues as well, and you just might see your picks appear on the site sometime!
PLEASE NOTE THIS ARTICLE IS SPREAD OVER THREE PAGES
SkipLock
Much like the Moto X’s “trusted Bluetooth devices”, SkipLock lets you bypass your lock screen when connected to one of your devices. Whether you’re leaving your house with your Pebble or coming home and connecting to Wifi, SkipLock will automatically remove your password on your phone.
You would almost think that an app like this should come standard on all Android phones, however, since it doesn’t there’s SkipLock.
Purchased Apps
If you buy a lot of apps via Google Play Store, this could be a very useful app for you. It can be quite handy if you don’t want to lose track of all of your purchases, or if you would like to keep them all in one place.
The app is relatively straightforward as well. You fire it up, choose an account/e-mail you’d like to get the list from (if you use more than one) and the app will generate a list of all of your purchased apps. Think of it as your purchase history.
Lively
Love to see bands or musical artists live but don’t get out all that often? Maybe you’re a responsible adult and you’ve got bills and obligations to worry about. Fear not! You can still check out live shows in both audio and video format with this free application. You’ll have access to an ever-growing library of shows that can be played online or offline as well as the ability to create playlists of individual songs. Sync up between devices and ensure you don’t miss another event.
MightyText
Mightytext is a service that allows you to send and receive texts right from your computer! Gone are those missed text messages because you were too busy working. You won’t miss another one because they are displayed right on your computer! It also has an auto backup feature for your photos and videos as well as send you battery notifications to your computer.
Mightytext enables you to stay updated with what is happening while you work away! It works well with any messaging app and is easy to set up through your Google account.
Healow
Healow is vital in keeping you in touch with your doctor. No more waiting to get a call from a front desk personnel, instead you get the test results on the app along with doctors notes. Healow allows you to look into your meds cabinet as well, letting you set reminders to take medications prescribed by your doctor.
Another great feature is the alerts for your next appointment and a QR code for checking in. This app makes going to and communicating with your doctors office so much simpler. The app is pin locked also so not just anyone using your phone can view your private medical history. This app is a must for any doctors office and should be used universally unfortunately it is not in widespread use yet.
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