Weekend Open Thread

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am i doing it right?

The biggest game changer from Amazon's Kindle Fire announcement yesterday wasn't the pricing, dual WiFi antennas or Dolby Digital Plus sound. Rather, it was that Amazon became the first major tablet maker to allow different people to have their own accounts on the same device.

Think how commonplace this is for traditional personal computers. Mac or Windows, both platforms allow multiple people to use the same machine, logging in with different accounts that are linked to their own settings, data, applications and perhaps even special restrictions. But for tablets, it's been the dark ages.

Amazon took a big step forward in improving things for families with Kindle FreeTime. It's not perfect. It's not even true account switching. But it's a good start, and one that I hope we'll see both Apple and Google follow with.

FreeTime is designed to allow parents easy control over what their children can do on a Kindle Fire. Each child can have their own profile, which in turn has access only to the videos, books, games and apps that parents have selected.

FreeTime also allows parents to set time limits for how long kids can read books, play apps, watch videos or use the Kindle Fire overall

I am not that old but when I was kid my mother would kick my me out of the house and if I said there was nothing to do the response I got was go play with some sticks and rocks but you aren't staying in the house.

When I was a kid, I practically lived outdoors from the day school let out for the summer til it started up again in Sept. Except for meals, I was never in the house from 9 in the morning until 10 at night.

Seven strikes, you're out? EPA court defeats keep piling up

August is starting to look a lot like March, with two separate federal courts rebuking the EPA for ignoring the plain text of the Clean Air Act and attempting to usurp the authority of the states'; to achieve air quality emissions standards.

Yesterday, the D.C. Circuit struck down the EPA's "Cross-State Air Pollution Rule" that would have imposed $2.4 billion (at least!) in drastic new requirements on utilities in "upwind states" to curb emissions that could affect "downwind states" (EME Homer v. EPA). That sounds like a laudable objective - except, as the D.C. Circuit explained, the Clean Air Act already has a provision to address this very problem

A) what does this have to do with anything on this site?

B) The federal government is in it's right. So Arkansas can send air pollution into Tennessee? That's like saying you're neighbors can empty their septic tank in your yards. Um no they can't. Why are you rooting for BIG BUSINESS polluters? Do you hate America? I'm asking not saying.

A) what does this have to do with anything on this site?

B) The federal government is in it's right. So Arkansas can send air pollution into Tennessee? That's like saying you're neighbors can empty their septic tank in your yards. Um no they can't. Why are you rooting for BIG BUSINESS polluters? Do you hate America? I'm asking not saying.

The Federal Communications Commission will propose on Friday a plan to auction off television airwaves to wireless carriers that will use them to create faster and more reliable networks, according to an official familiar with the plans.

The sale could potentially raise billions of dollars that would fund a public safety communications network and fatten the coffers of the Treasury.

The FCC’s proposal is expected to outline how broadcasters will voluntarily give up airwaves to win proceeds from the auction, as well as instructions for wireless carriers that increasingly are hungry for more spectrum. The auctions are expected to take place in 2014, the agency official said

Didnt we just give up all the TV spectrum already? Does the FCC intend to force people to get cable?

I bet the MSOs and the Cell companies are bribing the FCC somehow. Cable wants Antenna dead, Cell companies want TV over IP so they can sell it as a service or hit you with the overages.

I thought, well, when Obama tried to bring in, partially successfully, the health care plan, there was tremendous opposition to that in the United States,
and a lot of it was built around "We don't want to lose freedom, we want to choose for ourselves".

And I'm wondering, why is it that people don't rise up in the same way about the airlines (ie: TSA), which is something that maybe happens to them much more often...?

The Federal Communications Commission is rapidly backpedalling from a proposal to tax broadband Internet service after a public outcry over the issue.

Democrats and Republicans at the agency are now blaming each other for pushing the idea in the first place.

Consumers already pay a fee on their landline and wireless phone bills to support the FCC's Universal Service Fund, which aims to provide phone service to everyone in the country, even if they live in remote areas.

In April, the FCC suggested a number of ideas for reforming the fund's contribution system, including adding a fee to broadband Internet service. The commission also sought comments on taxing text messages, as well as levying a flat fee on each phone line, instead of the current system, which is based on a portion of the revenue from interstate phone calls.

A number of companies, including AT&T, Sprint and Google, expressed support for a broadband tax in comments filed with the FCC.

But the potential broadband tax gained wider attention in recent weeks, and the proposal now appears to be off the table.

One FCC official said an Internet tax is "politically toxic." The FCC official said Chairman Genachowski was always skeptical about a broadband fee because he feared it would discourage people from adopting the technology. The official said that after reviewing comments from the public on the topic, the chairman is unpersuaded that a broadband fee would be a good policy.

The FBI is expanding the pilot project of its facial recognition software and will be offering a free-of-charge client software version later this summer to law enforcement agencies.

The Universal Face Workstation will enable law enforcement agencies to conduct automated facial/photo searches with minimal resource investment.

The facial recognition system was piloted in February with the state of Michigan, which is currently submitting searches to the Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division

Several other states are now joining the initiative.
Hawaii, Maryland, and South Carolina, Ohio and New Mexico are engaged in the MOU review process for facial recognition pilot participation.

Kansas, Arizona, Tennessee, Nebraska and Missouri are also interested in facial recognition pilot participation

The agency's facial recognition pilot provides a search of a repository of nearly 13 million criminal mug shot photos taken at time of booking. It is scheduled to be fully operational in the summer of 2014.

This story has been bugging me for weeks.

All states should participate in this. It sounds like a great idea. The information is there, it might as well be used. If people don't want a mug shot to be used then don't do something to get yourself arrested.

Boy wades ankle deep in to ocean as a seal pup swims near. Last thing he ever did in his short life.
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