CIA to monitor Twitter?

America's top spy agency has started investing in a software firm that develops programmes to monitor social media.

In-Q-Tel, the rather coyly named investment department of the CIA, has begun investing in Visible Technologies, a US software company that produces social media monitoring programmes.

According to Wired, Visible Technologies screen over half a million social media sites a day, trawling over a million posts and conversations from blogs, open social networks such as Twitter and Flickr, as well as online forums, and even Amazon user reviews.

Subscribers to Visible's service are offered a streamlined feed of what is being said online about them online. Visible's technology does not extend to "closed" social networks like Facebook.

The CIA has described this move as an extension of part of an existing program it calls "open source intelligence" — monitoring information that is already publicly available, which essentially means anything that is published or broadcast.

"Anything that is out in the open is fair game for collection," Steven Aftergood, an intelligence analyst for the Federation of American Scientists told Wired, although he considers the harvesting of such data by the CIA as "problematic".

"Intelligence agencies or employees might be tempted to use the tools at their disposal to compile information on political figures, critics, journalists or others, and to exploit such information for political advantage. That is not permissible even if all of the information in question is technically ‘open source."

ninemsn.com.au

Phone fraud

There are real fears thousands of mobile phone users are being exposed to the risk of identity fraud, which could end up costing them thousands of dollars.

Charlie Brown joins the show with the risks involved.

1. The first risk is our increasing exposure to identity fraud through mobile phones

• Mobile phones that are lost, stolen or recycled are exposing thousands of people every week to identity fraud.
• According to recent data, there are approx 19 million mobiles in service and another 16 million stored away. Aside from those phones that are traded in, figures show almost 3200 mobile phones are reported lost or stolen each week.
• When people trade these phones in or sell them on eBay they rarely think about protecting their identity and the identities of their friends who reside on the phone.
• Experts warn that we should ensure that data stored on an unwanted mobile is erased, first by deleting the information and then by restoring the phone to its factory default settings.
• We are also warned that when disposing of a mobile, we need to destroy its SIM card by snapping it down the centre before disposing of the phone.

2. The second issue ties in with the issue of identity fraud and has to do with a technological breakthrough that will allow text messages from mobile phones to be retrieved five years after they were deleted.

• The new device, called an "XRY FORENSIC DEVICE" mines old SIM cards for long-erased nuggets of personal information.
• Companies which handle mobile forensics for Australian police, private companies and suspicious individuals have started using the technology and say old text messages can be easily found within minutes.
• The XRY forensic device costs $25,000

How the device works:

• The XRY System can read SMS messages, phone numbers, address books, pictures, videos and much more from the mobile phone memory and the SIM-card .
• You simply insert the SIM card into the XRY device, which is shaped like a hockey puck and connected to a computer..and it brings up deleted items from the phone onto the PC.
• The tool supports more than 800 phone models and SIM cards and is easily connected to your PC.
• The Sunday Telegraph tested the abilities of the XRY forensic devices last week and were able to retrieve hundreds of messages from a seven-year-old SIM card, including a "Merry Christmas" from December 25, 2005.
• They were able to ascertain the owner's date of birth, home address, brother's name and high school attended - all from deleted messages.

How can deleted items be retrieved?

• When you delete an item from your phone, it does not actually remove the item, but rather deletes the pathway to the item. The mobile phone you are using has just "forgotten" where on the drive that information is sitting but it is still there.
• This information can last forever, depending on whether new information is copied over the top of it or not.
• The problem is that we do not know when our deleted items have been replaced and when they are still in our phone, but unable to be retrieved by us.

Below are some examples of information that can be retrieved - even after they have been deleted:

• Telephone books with names, numbers, etc.
• SMS messages that have been sent, received and archived
• Pictures
• Calendar information
• Sound files
• Call logs
• Multimedia messages

Wider implications

• In decades past, phone memories could only handle text messages and a contacts book however the latest smartphones offer GPS, Wi-Fi connectivity and can download emails directly to the phone.
• Consequently, there is now a vast amount of personal information that can be obtained using the forensic device.
• People have always trusted their mobiles and have therefore been willing to feed personal information into them.
• They often store their bank details, Tax File number etc. in their phones so there is a real threat of identity threat.
• However, this new technology is incredibly effective for police, private companies and suspicious individuals keen to catch wayward spouses!

today.ninemsn.com.au

KFC records 'purged' since allegation

Sales records and CCTV footage of purchases made at a Sydney fast food outlet the day a customer claimed she developed salmonella poisoning have been purged, a court has been told.

Monika Samaan, now 11, is suing KFC - through her father Amanwial Samaan - claiming she developed salmonella poisoning from a Twister he bought her at a KFC restaurant at Villawood on October 24, 2005.

KFC denies being responsible for her illness, maintaining there is no sales data to prove a Twister was purchased by Mr Samaan at the time he claims it was.

In the NSW Supreme Court on Monday, Mr Samaan's barrister, Anthony Bartley SC, told the court he believed a "substantial volume of documents" kept by KFC had been purged.

"The purge means we will never have the documents that might allow us to refute there was not a single Twister sold after 3pm on October 24 (2005)," he said.

"If we had those we would be able to match the amount of chicken cooked with the amount of chicken sold."

The court heard the sales records and CCTV footage of the sale were destroyed at the commencement of proceedings.

"We weren't able to find it in May '09," Mr Bartley said.

Mr Bartley is seeking to have KFC's computer records analysed, which he estimates will take three months and cost $100,000.

"We have to deal with these documents that should have been produced, at the latest, in May," he said.

Mr Bartley requested the case's hearing date of November 30 be rescheduled, to allow more time for the purged documents to be accessed and examined.

Justice Stephen Rothman asked for the request to be put in writing, so he can decide whether or not to adjourn the hearing date.

Lawyers for KFC applied to the court to amend its defence to deny that a Twister was bought by Mr Samaan.

"KFC emphatically rejects the suggestion of counsel for the plaintiff that any documents relevant to KFC's sales data have deliberately not been made available by KFC," KFC general manager Angus Armstrong said in a statement on Monday.

"These are totally unsubstantiated suggestions and appear to be an attempt to distract attention from the real issue, which, in light of the sales records, is proving Mr Samaan actually purchased the Twister from the store in the first place."

aap 26 Oct 2009

Show me the money!

Fun fact: women who consistently negotiate their salary increases earn at least $1 million more during their careers than those who don’t. Enticing?

Here are six easy steps to negotiating your next pay rise:

Step 1. Don’t wait to be offered
It’s time to stop being so polite; if you feel an offer is unfair, you should speak up. What’s more, negotiating only what your employer is presenting is silly in this day and age. Consider added benefits like further education, a laptop, a car or days in lieu.

Step 2. Talk yourself up
Have you noticed that those who are good at self-promotion get better jobs and more pay – even if they are not as good as you? Learning to "toot your own horn" is important. Ensure that if you are doing a great job that you let those who matter know about it.

Step 3. Learn about salary negotiation
Have you read any books or taken any courses on salary negotiation? Without this it is likely you lack confidence with salary negotiation, as you don’t now the rules or where to start. Start by educating yourself on the subject.

Step 4. Practice makes perfect
Role-plays, practicing in front of the mirror or in the car are easy ways to improve your negotiating skills. Ensure you adopt powerful and active language and remember there is always the option of a Negotiation Coach if you feel you need a little more support.

Step 5. Value yourself
Be clear about the value that you bring to your employer, the skills that you have and where you excel. Don’t take your expertise for granted - value yourself and others will also. Know your worth!

Step 6. Putting it all together
Begin with points one to five, research what the job market is paying in your sector, and have clear examples of where you have excelled at and why your employer should pay your more. A well-prepared business case is more likely to lead to a pay rise. Good luck, girls!

cosmopolitan.com.au

Another misrepresentation perpetuated by the mass media.

Influences NOT talked about in the article :
Company Politics or Masonic Influences,
which DO dictate whether ones gets a salary increase or NOT .

This perpetuated information gives the teenagers a nice and fuzzy feeling, and by no doubt does work, in the lesser significant positions.

NO ONE is irreplaceable in their position, and if they are replaced , more often than not by a cheaper worker.

Hollywood studios to ban stars using Twitter during productions

Cameron won't be tweeting about the next Shrek (Getty)

Executives for some of the American film industry's biggest studios are allegedly preparing to draft Twitter and Facebook clauses into the contracts of Tweet-happy Hollywood A-listers.

In a pre-emptive attempt to curb social media leaks from some of Hollywood's biggest stars and studio creatives, film executives and their legal advisors have begun tailoring confidentiality clauses to include Twitter, Facebook and other forms of social media.

Speculation that contracts were being altered to include potential breaches of confidentiality via social networking sites increased when The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Disney had inserted just such a clause into its new talent contracts, specifying that confidentiality extended to "interactive media such as Facebook, Twitter, or any other interactive social network or personal blog."

"This is just the beginning,” a top talent lawyer told The Hollywood Reporter.

"Hollywood has a long history of controlling what talent says in the media. This is just a new area of media that hasn’t been controlled yet."

Until recently, it had been assumed that existing confidentiality agreements were expansive enough to include social media, but recent Twitter incidents involving actors, sportspeople and TV personalities have been enough to prompt entertainment lawyers into singling out social media platforms.

ninemsn.com.au

As mentioned in Eminiems song "We're the ones that made you"

You are a NOBODY. It's Hollywood that markets you to the masses, IRRESPECTIVE of your 'talent'.

If you are part of the 'club' then you have the million dollar salaries.

It's not only Hollywood that is unable to control what people write.

Governments also have little control over what people write, and 'free' speech is myth.

The control is exercised via the mass media which dos not post comments which it regards as 'dangerous'.

ps. Who really cares 'bout an actor posting about a movie.. Obviously people with no lives do.

The comments were sent to ninemsn. Lets see if they post them.

http://windowslive.ninemsn.com.au/blog.aspx?blogentryid=522809&showcomments=true

Update: Channel 9 has NOT published the above comment on the story.

Banks to get access to your bills

Banks will be able access information about whether customers have missed payments on utility bills and loans under proposed changes to the Privacy Act.

Currently, lenders are allowed to know about a consumer's application for credit during the past five years but not if the borrower has been able to pay the bills.

Under the proposed changes, banks and lending institutions will have information about the number of loans a consumer has, how reliable they have been with repayments and how much they have borrowed.

Banks could then use that information to refuse additional credit.

"A simple change to the credit reporting laws will allow credit providers to check a borrower’s current credit commitments and repayment history before additional credit is granted," said Russell Evans of credit agency Veda Advantage.

Cabinet Secretary Joe Ludwig said on Wednesday the government would accept some privacy law changes proposed by the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) in August 2008.

"Today I am announcing the government's intention to effectively rewrite the commonwealth Privacy Act 1988 for the 21st century, the most significant reform to it since its inception," Senator Ludwig told a privacy professionals forum in Melbourne.

"Currently, Australia's credit reporting system provides only half the picture of an individual's credit report," Senator Ludwig said.

A spokesman for the ALRC said present consumer credit check laws were among the most restrictive in the world.

Mr Evans said the changes would enable lenders to make an "informed decision" on giving credit.

"Allowing access to better lending information on credit reports will help protect the lender and any vulnerable Australians who are at risk of being caught in a debt trap," he said.

Veda released data on Tuesday showing one in six Australians have trouble repaying their debt.

But Consumer Action Law Centre chief executive Catriona Lowe said giving lenders more information about a consumer's credit repayment history would only encourage them to lend more.

"Of course we agree that we don't want consumers getting into more debt," she told AAP.

"The question is whether these sort of reforms will have that effect."

Under the proposals, the Privacy Commission will also have the power to make public and private sector agencies develop a privacy code, or follow an imposed one, if lots of complaints are made about them.

Privacy policies are voluntary under the present system but the government wants the law changed so groups can be prosecuted for breaching their privacy codes.

Australian Privacy Commissioner Karen Curtis said this would allow more flexibility in dealing with complaints.

The federal government accepted 141 ALRC recommendations of the 197 it responded to.

A spokeswoman for Senator Ludwig said public consultation on proposed privacy law changes would be held in early 2010.

money.ninemsn.com.au 15 Oct 2009

This is another step towards the gradual 'enslavement' of society.

All these proposals are geared so Corporations and Governments will have an unobscured view into your life.

There is NOTHING anyone can do about it.

The politics of globalisation (New World Order) are too strong for mere mortals to resist.

'Dangerous' to bail Puneet's mate: court

A prosecutor has warned it would be "diabolically dangerous" if the man who allegedly helped killer driver Puneet Puneet flee Australia was released on bail to live with a fellow Indian student.

Sukhcharanjit Singh was allegedly paid several thousand dollars by Puneet for his passport earlier this year.

Puneet fled Australia on June 12 using Singh's passport as identification.

Before leaving, Puneet celebrated his departure with friends.

On Thursday a bail application continued for Singh, who is charged with providing his passport to Puneet and has been in custody since his arrest in August.

Prosecutor Michael Tinney said the case against Singh was strong and it was too great a risk to release him on bail.

He said the idea of Singh sharing a bedroom with a fellow Indian student, who is also a prosecution witness, at his Melbourne home was unacceptable.

"It is a diabolically dangerous arrangement on the Crown submission," he said.

Magistrate Stella Stuthridge questioned how strong the evidence against Singh was.

"He has been quite lackadaisical with his passport," she said.

"He has probably even been reckless."

Puneet had pleaded guilty to culpable driving over the death of 19-year-old Gold Coast student Dean Hofstee.

Puneet had a blood-alcohol reading of 0.165 and was speeding at 148 km/h when his car slammed into Mr Hofstee who was walking on a footpath in central Melbourne in October 2008.

The hearing continues.

aap 15 Oct 2009

Australia does NOT need to import more criminals,

under the 'student' / 'refugee' / 'asylum seeker' banner.

Deport this human sewage back to where it came from.

How Billionaires Control Our Lives

Why should we care about the rich? Besides the obvious interest in their lavish lifestyles, everyone should care about the super wealthy because, in many respects, they control almost every thing we do, every hour of the day.

Don't believe it? Follow Alex, a fictional yuppie New Yorker who is admittedly lazy and a bit of a lush.

It's Monday morning, exactly 6 a.m. Alex wakes up in her apartment at Donald Trump's West Side Trump Place with a slight headache--the residual reminder of a Patron tequila-induced hangover (thanks, John Paul DeJoria) from a reckless Sunday night with friends. Her iPhone jingles, playing the latest iTunes download, courtesy of Steve Jobs. An hour later, Alex drags herself out of bed.

Alex tosses on some mascara and lip gloss (Ronald and Leonard Lauder), then throws on some lingerie from Victoria's Secret (Leslie Wexner), a pair of slacks and a cute button-down shirt and sweater set she'd gotten with her mom at the Gap (Fisher family) last fall.

Breakfast is always a crisis of conscience: should she sit down at home and enjoy a honeydew melon and banana from Dole Foods (David Murdock)? Or hurry to work, grabbing a coffee and a Boston cream doughnut from Dunkin' Donuts (Tom Lee, David Rubenstein, Daniel D'Aniello, William Conway) on the way? Since it's Monday and her head is still throbbing, Alex decides on the latter.

Alex is the rare New York driver who avoids public transportation at all costs--any cost. After a silly mishap with her own car over the weekend, she's forced to drive a rented Enterprise sedan (Jack Taylor). She squints at the bright sunlight outside and slips on her Oakley sunglasses (James Jannard).

When Alex finally arrives at her Times Square office (Leon Charney), she has copies of the Daily News (Mort Zuckerman), New York Post and The Wall Street Journal (Rupert Murdoch) waiting for her on her desk. She turns on her Dell computer (Michael Dell), which runs with an Intel processor (Gordon Moore).

Alex is almost through the Page Six gossip column when her overbearing boss pokes his head in, asking her to generate a spreadsheet on Microsoft Excel (Bill Gates). Alex rolls her eyes, but it's 11 a.m. and she might as well start working. She calls a client on her cellphone, run on technology developed by Qualcomm (Irwin Jacobs).

By 11:30 a.m., Alex is hungry and bored. She searches on Google for a new restaurant while watching a hilarious puppy video on YouTube (Sergey Brin, Larry Page). After much ado, she decides to order pizza with her co-workers. Loaded on top: mozzarella cheese from Leprino Foods (James Leprino).

Feeling a bit lethargic after lunch, and not really in the mood for number-crunching or clients, Alex posts pictures of that embarrassing (though funny) Saturday morning car mishap on her Facebook page (Mark Zuckerberg). The digital pics were loaded on a memory card from Kingston Technologies (David Sun and John Tu).

It's 3 p.m. and her boss has gone off to a client meeting. Alex slips a (thin) issue of Vogue (SI Newhouse) from her purse and flips through it.

Later, after checking several stocks on the office Bloomberg terminal (Michael Bloomberg), Alex calls her Schwab broker to make a few trades (Charles Schwab). Great timing: The mailman delivers her paycheck from Paychex (B. Thomas Golisano).

Before getting off the phone with her broker, Alex has spent half her paycheck on self-help books and fitness DVDs on Amazon.com (Jeff Bezos). She considers spending the remainder at WalMart.com (the Walton family), but manages to restrain herself.

Finally, it's 6 p.m.--time to clock out. Alex stops at a gas station (George Kaiser) to refuel her rental car. Before heading home, though, she makes good on her New Year's resolution and goes for a quick jog in Central Park, sporting her brand new Nike gear (Philip Knight).

When she gets home, Alex turns on CNN to catch up on the day's news (Ted Turner). A football junkie, she heads to the neighborhood bar to watch the Dallas Cowboys (Jerry Jones) take on the New England Patriots (Robert Kraft) on Monday Night Football. After the game, she watches The Daily Show and Colbert Report (Sumner Redstone). The cable service is provided by Cablevision (Charles Dolan).

By midnight, Alex is ready to go to sleep. But as soon as her head hits the pillow she starts worrying about her performance review Tuesday, which she didn't prepare for at all. After much tossing and turning, she goes to sleep with the help of a generic sleeping pill bought at a pharmacy serviced by Kinray (Stewart Rahr).

As Alex falls into a deep slumber, hundreds of miles away, her Saturday night dinner is being prepared. Crops and meats are being processed in Ohio. (The Cargill and MacMillan families). Helping them grow faster, larger and stronger: fertilizer produced by Koch Industries (Charles & David Koch).

Meanwhile, documents she sent earlier in the day are being flown to London via FedEx (Frederick Smith). Her local grocery store is being restocked with food brought in on trucks owned by Schneider National (Donald Schneider).

In an hour, the cycle will begin again. This time, for breakfast, Alex will choose to enjoy the fresh fruit. And after the disastrous performance review, she'll decide she needs to spend more time working and less time fooling around.

By Keren Blankfeld, October, 2009

Why does not the mass media 'openly' talk about the secretive financial world,

of the Rothschilds, Rockerfellers, Rooservelts

or the meetings of the Bilderberg group of members.

Lihir says gold could reach $US1,500

Australia's second biggest gold company Lihir Gold Ltd says the price of gold could climb to $US1,500 per ounce.

Gold rose to a record high of $US1,062.70 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Thursday.

The value of gold has soared in recent weeks as the US dollar experienced weakness, China restocked and investors looked for a hedge against inflation.

Lihir Gold chief executive Arthur Hood said he expected the price of gold to continue to rise.

"There's been talk this week about $US1,500 and I see that as perfectly achievable," Mr Hood told ABC's Inside Business on Sunday.

Mr Hood said the gold price had doubled over the last five years.

"There's been a constant upward trend and we're not surprised by this at all."

He said there were a range of factors contributing to pushing up the gold price.

"On the supply and demand side, there's gently declining mine supply but physical demand for gold is staying constant or actually increasing."

He said buying by central banks was also adding to demand.

"As China's reserves increase, its proportion of gold stays the same, so that in its own right will increase demand from central banks.

"There are a number of central banks who have variously said that they're increasing their percentage of gold reserves and the rate at which central European banks have been selling gold has dropped."

Mr Hood said Lihir, which mines for gold in Papua New Guinea, was also expanding its operations in Cote d'Ivoire in West Africa.

"West Africa is the hot spot in the world now for new gold discoveries.

"We've already added a million ounces of resources in West Africa around our Bonikro mine."

He said Lihir would focus on organic growth and was "not worried about acquisitions at the moment".

Lihir dipped four cents to $3.13 on Friday.

ninemsn 11 Oct 2009

Boy, 9, punched, dragged teacher by hair

A NSW primary school teacher was attacked by a nine-year-old student who threw rocks in her face, called her a slut and dragged her by her hair to the staffroom floor.

Teacher Margaretta Slingsby, who says the incident left her with post-traumatic stress and unable to work, is suing the Department of Education and Training for negligence, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Ms Slingsby was working at Lismore Heights Public School in north eastern NSW when the alleged attack occurred in 2005.

Her barrister, Andrew Lidden SC, told the District Court the student involved — referred to as only as B — had a history of violent behaviour but that the school did not have any plans in place to manage this.

The principal at the time, Trevor Pryor, told staff the boy had come to the school for a new start but said he did not have any records from his previous school.

Ms Slingsby, who taught Italian, was verbally abused by the student in the playground and reported the incident to Mr Pryor.

Two months later, she saw B chasing a girl into the library, screaming, ''You f---ing slut, I'm going to get you," the Herald reports.

Ms Slingsby and the librarian tried to restrain him but he kicked them both and punched the librarian.

After being taken away by the principal, B returned again to attack Ms Slingsby.

''He came up behind me and tried to push me down the stairs,'' she said.

''He grabbed me by the hair and was dragging me ... I could feel my hair being ripped out of my scalp.''

B punched a female staff member who tried to help and threw rocks and dirt into Ms Slingsby's face.

Later she was sitting in the school staffroom when the boy "came tearing in" with the principal chasing after him.

The boy ''grabbed me by the hair and he threw me down on the ground'', Ms Slingsby told the court.

The case continues.

31 Oct 2009

The 'politics' is NOT to do anything.

Quite simply put loser parents breeding.

The Chemical Castration policy of the United States would have been better employed in this situation.