Supreme Court Denies to Hear PATRIOT Act Challenge

Brandon Mayfield, wrongly accused as part of the Madrid bombings through matching of a partial fingerprint, has, "...lost his bid to have part of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act declared unconstitutional." See the full story here:

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2010/1101/Supreme-Court-declines-to-hear-wrongly-accused-man-s-Patriot-Act-challenge

Students' free speech rights on the move in the US

Normally, I try to keep blog posts very closely related to the theme of computers and society, but here's an article that underscores our discussion of the changing rules and norms of rules about free speech.

Texas cheerleader suing - didn't root for attacker

San Francisco Chronicle, November 5, 2010

Coles Notes (that's Cliff's Notes for us Americans): a court in the U.S. has declared groundless a high school student's objection to being forced to cheer for a player who assaulted her. The article includes an informative discussion and links about the steady shift in the U.S. judiciary's interpretation of free speech rights -- from favouring students' rights, to favouring institutions such as schools.

I was on the newspaper crew in high school (and thus one of the first non-university/military users of the Internet...) My teachers told me to take seriously the lessons on free speech, libel and attribution -- because the speech of students was constitutionally protected, and we had the power to enact real social change through our speech. I wonder if students today feel the same sense of empowerment and responsibility.

Anyway, in CPSC 430 we studied examples of how restrictions on electronic communications get determined by a host of factors: ethical arguments, social contract theory, Mill's Principle of Harm, and, perhaps more than we realize, cultural relativism. We saw that China's restrictions on speech on the Internet are motivated by factors that aren't so different from those that shape the laws in the U.S. and Canada -- CIPA, the Patriot Act, and PIPEDA are as much a product of the public concern of the moment, and nationalistic interests, as they are descended from universal moral laws of the kind Kant envisioned.

As UBC grads, you will be leaders and people will look to you for insight on technology. When it's your turn to decide what society should make of an emerging technology that we never imagined a few years prior, I hope you will remember CPSC 430 and take a broad view of the issues that determine society's complex relationship with information technology.

Meizu dead? Fake IPhone gone? No~no~

Here is the newest Hiphone 4GS!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJL1Az16DEo

Hiphone 4 Hiphone 4GS Features:
• GSM Compatibility: Frequencies 850MHZ, 900MHZ, 1800MHZ, 1900MHZ
• Language: English, Spanish, French, Polish, Portuguese, Italian, German, Bahasa Melayu, Bahasa Indonesia, Czech, Dutch, Vietnamese, Russian, Bulgarian, Thai, Greek.
• Hiphone 4 Hiphone 4GS Screen: 3.3 inch, QVGA high vivid touch screen, 240*320 pixels
• Hiphone 4 Hiphone 4GS SIM Card Slots: 2 Card Slots
• Hiphone 4 Hiphone 4GS SIM Card Modes: Dual SIM open, Only SIM1 open, Only SIM2 open, Flight Mode
• Hiphone 4 Hiphone 4GS Security Settings: Phone lock, Auto Keypad lock, Change password
• Hiphone 4 Hiphone 4GS Camera: Dual camera. 2.0M pixel on the rear and self-capture camera on the front panel. Supports video-shoot, the duration depends on storage.
• Audio Player: Built-in
• Ring tone: supports MP3 audio record as ring tone
• User Profiles: General, Meeting, Outdoor, Indoor, Headset, Bluetooth
• Memory: Internal 89MB memory. TF Card Support （Up to 4GB in size）
• Vibration: Support
• Hiphone 4 GPRS Support: Browse WAP Website
• Messaging: SMS, MMS, Chat
• Games: Built-in Funny Games
• E-Book Reader: TXT
• JAVA Support: JAVA 2.0
• Bluetooth Support: Bluetooth 2.0
• Power Source: Standard Li-ion Battery
• Analog TV: YES
• Virtual keypad: Support
• Audio Output: Mini USB Port
• Shape: Bar Phone
• Hiphone 4 Dimensions:113 mm*59mm*13mm

Hiphone 4 Hiphone 4GS Specification:
• Multimedia:
- Camera, Image Viewer, Video Player, FM Radio, Sound recorder.
- Audio Player, Video recorder, E-book Reader, Analog TV
• File formats:
- Music: MP3, AMR, MID, WAV
- Image: BMP, GIF, JPG, BNG
- Video: 3GP, MP4
- E-Book: TXT
• TV Function:
- Type: Analog
- Options: Channel List, Manual input, My Channel, Channel Search, Search Area
- TV Record Format: 3GP
• Digital Still Camera:
- Image Quality: High, Normal, Low
- Camera Settings: Shuttle Sound, Delay Timer, Continuous Shot
- Other Options: White Balance, Scene Mode, Effect Settings, Set Frame
- EV: 4 steps (+2 to -2)
- Banding: 50Hz / 60Hz
• Video recorder:
- Video Record Format: 3GP
- Video Quality: Normal, Low, High
- Video Settings: Effects, White Balance, LED Highlight
- EV: 4 steps (+2 to -2)
- Banding: 50Hz / 60Hz
• Sound recorder setting:
- Storage: Phone, Memory Card
- File Format: AMR, WAV, AWB
- Sound quality: Low, High
• Audio Player:
- Formats: MP3, AMR, MID, WAV
- Options: Refresh list, Settings.
- Settings: Player Settings, Sound effects, Bluetooth Settings.
• FM Radio:
- Radio FM Tuner Frequency: 87.5MHz to 108MHz
- Background Play: ON, OFF
- Loudspeakers: ON, OFF
- Record Function: Yes
• Bluetooth:
- Type: MTK BT DEVICE
- Supported Service Profiles: Handsfree, Headset, SPP, DUN, OPP, FTP, A2DP, AVRCP, HID, BIP, SyncML service.
- Options: Power, Inquiry Audio Device, Remote Control, My Device, Active Devices, Settings
• Battery Life:
- Talk Time: Up to 3 hours
- Music Play: Up to 7 hours
- Stand By: Up to 120 hours
• Personal Organizer:
- Calendar, Tasks, World Clock, Synchronization, Phone sync.

Hiphone 4 Hiphone 4GS Package Content:
• 1 x F080 Mobile Phone
• 2 x Standard Li-ion Battery
• 1 x Travel Charger
• 1 x USB Cable
• 1 x User’s Manual (English)
• 1 x wired earphones with MIC and clip

Facebook Firing

Two Pitt Meadows car-detailing workers were fired for posting nasty comments and threats against their bosses on face book. According to the article this is the first clear case of a firing related to facebook postings.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/03112010/73/bc-first-clear-facebook-firing-canada-occurs-pitt-meadows.html

Recommended Reading for Tuesday: "The Image Microsoft Doesn't Want You To See"

From The Daily Mail (UK):

The image Microsoft doesn't want you to see: Too tired to stay awake, the Chinese workers earning just 34p an hour

By LIZ HULL and LEE SORRELL

Showing Chinese sweatshop workers slumped over their desks with exhaustion, it is an image that Microsoft won't want the world to see.

Employed for gruelling 15-hour shifts, in appalling conditions and 86f heat, many fall asleep on their stations during their meagre ten-minute breaks.

For as little as 34p an hour, the men and women work six or seven days a week, making computer mice and web cams for the American multinational computer company.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1266643/Microsofts-Chinese-workforce-tired-stay-awake.html#ixzz14OF3fIbg

Who's suing who? [Visualized]

For all the legal battles and patent infringements we hear about in class that keep popping up between Apple and Nokia, Nokia and Apple, HTC and Apple, etc. It can get overwhelming trying to keep up with everything.

Here's an easier way:

http://infobeautiful2.s3.amazonaws.com/whos_suing_whom.png

Google for a Big Brother award in 2003

I find this article very interesting/entertaining about Google. Somehow it reminds me of the book 1984 by Orwell.

http://www.google-watch.org/bigbro.html