News
Move over home security systems, there’s an app for that
Whether you’re carving fresh powder on a Colorado ski slope or hanging out with Mickey Mouse at Disneyland, you can now remotely control your home security system with – you guessed it, a smartphone. If I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard someone say, “there’s an app for that,” I’d be lounging on a […]
Bring your gun to the bar law passed in Louisiana
Drunk people are not known for making good decisions. In Louisiana, where permissive concealed carry is as old and dear a tradition as drinking to excess, lawmakers have — mostly accidentally — passed a bill that allows concealed carry weapons into establishments that serve alcohol. Called House Bill 48 and sponsored by Republican Representative Henry […]
No glass allowed: Why spaces will ban Google Glass
Google Glass can be characterized as futuristic, innovative, and nerdy. If you haven’t seen it, you must check out the unveiling video featuring of ice skaters, skydivers, and proud parents all using the head-mounted display. Google Glass is basically a smartphone you wear in front of your eyes. It can check email, take pictures, video […]
TSA considers allowing knives on planes
Ever since 9/11, the shoe bomber, the liquids bomber and the underwear bomber, air travel has been a cumbersome affair. We arrive early, occasionally have our luggage swabbed for traces of ballistic material, stumble through the security line, pulling out laptops and Ziploc baggies of toiletries, as we tug off sneakers all the while tripping […]
New Jersey to improve homeless services through fingerprint scanning
New Jersey plans to use fingerprint scans to manage parts of its homeless program, based on the success of a similar program in Bergen County. The new biometrics data management system (BDMS) will make it easier to track the homeless and the benefits they receive. Fingerprint scanning could also save time and labor. Government Technology reports, […]
FBI sued for selling Americans’ biometric data to private companies
The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), a non-profit privacy advocacy group, has filed a lawsuit against the FBI over the use of its new Next Generation Identification System (NGIS). Privacy advocates and experts are purportedly suing the federal intelligence agency in order to protect personal, identifiable information on the grounds of non-disclosure, citing concerns about the […]
Violent military tactics used by police investigated by ACLU
After a decade of wartime innovations, some of those military technologies are finding their way into local and state police stations. Law enforcement is already successfully using predictive technology in capturing serial offenders on American soil. Originally developed by the military to help bomb squads in Iraq and Afghanistan figure out where explosives were buried, police have […]