Join us for a conference call!

Update: - hit up the IRC chan and skype/w us if you like!

We will be discussing all things InformationLeak-ish. The general idea is to get members to talk about InformationLeak and what direction the site and forums are headed, as well as general conversation.
Keep it civil, keep it awesome.

Virtual cake and refreshments will not be served. Accents from all over the globe are not so much obligatory - just unavoidable.

Details:
TeamSpeak3 server (72.29.71.119)
(need Teamspeak? No problem, its free! http://www.teamspeak.com)
May 11th (Friday) 3-?PM EST

Hope to hear from you then!

First SOPA, then PIPA, now CISPA.

I was going to make this a call to arms. A cry to wake up and do something.
Nah.
Maddox was right. All the movements in the world arent going to stop this from happening. Blacking out websites and whatever dont matter. Writing to your representatives doesnt matter. None of it matters, because they are just going to change the name, add a few amendments and ram it through one way or another.

But never fear! Obama has threatened to veto CISPA!
Yeah right. He did the same thing with the NDAA. Then he didnt. Again, excuse me for my lack of surprise.

So hey people, lucky for us elections are rolling around. Wouldnt it be nice if a bunch of people just voted out all of the representatives they feel arent representing them?
Again, fat chance. Doing something like that requires a few hours of online research and having to go outside and vote on the appointed day. Never gonna happen. People will spend thousands of hours playing a game or browsing facebook but they wont look up some bills that effect their lives directly and see how the people they elected to represent them voted on it.

Oh, did I mention this is only going to get worse and not better? Ever? Mainly because while everyone is angry and appalled enough to tweet about it no one is willing to go a few miles at most from their homes on a predetermined date and vote to remove the people they are so outraged at. So again, Im not shocked.

You make your bed people. Its time to lie in it.
UPDATE:
Who took what money:
http://sopatrack.com/bills/3523


UPDATE 2:
CISPA explained in infogram/comic form for all you folks too busy to read anything else. (see sentence 19)
http://www.bgr.com/2012/05/02/cispa-wtf/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyber_Int ... ection_Act
http://intelligence.house.gov/bill/cybe ... n-act-2011
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news ... isions.ars
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/201204 ... ssed.shtml
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news ... mments-bar
https://www.cdt.org/pr_statement/cdt-op ... ng-forward
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/04/v ... inst-cispa
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/04/e ... lance-bill
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/04/e ... ght-senate
https://action.eff.org/o/9042/p/dia/act ... n_KEY=8609
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/112-2012/h192
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2012/roll192.xml
http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net ... =pass_sopa

Imagine if an internet provider had a "security first" mindset. Then imagine that it also engaged in practices like end-to-end encryption and limited logging. Then imagine it would also "challenge government surveillance demands of dubious legality or constitutionality."

Now imagine it cost ~$20/mo. Without data caps... and included encrypted email.

Now stop imagining, because its called the Calyx Institute.
The man who wants to get it up and running is named Nicholas Merrill.

Maybe you heard of him. He's the guy that fought tooth and nail against a letter that asked for confidential information without a warrant about a client of his when he was running a small ISP in NY.

Ok, look... I could write about this all day but there's really no point, honestly. If that little tidbit you read above sounded good, then take a few minutes and read the links posted below, and do your own research. If you are still as sold as I am, then donate some cash and lets get this thing going.

In a world where someone wants to create something that can ultimately benefit the internet connected population as a whole for the better and at the time of this writing the project has only gotten $55,844 - whereas make ane-paper bluetooth watch that can interact on a limited basis with your smartphone and raise over 3 million in a few days.

Sad imo.

Tell you what, lets meet in the middle.
Why dont you all drop some dough for the Calyx Institute and connect to your Pebbles securely?

If you think this is a good idea, spread the word and put your money where your mouth is.
I did. You should too.


Links as promised:
http://www.indiegogo.com/calyx
http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-57412 ... st-always/
http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comm ... _put_your/
http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/f ... st_person/
https://www.calyxinstitute.org/

For a good long while now Ive been telling people that the future of computers isnt computers. That is to say, its not desktops, laptops, net books or tablets. Its phones.
Rather, its the phones ability to become all of those other things.

Let me explain myself 'mo better.

If you do any PC build or repair work (or even if you are just keen in noticing stuff in general) you have probably asked yourself why people are buying quad+ core PCs with 6+ gig of RAM and a sweet video card when all they use the machine for is web browsing and occasionally opening some software like Office. It actually kills me to see some random clueless guy go out and buy an awesome machine and using it to watch youtube videos when I'm stuck using a decade+ old desktop.

All that aside for now, lets take a look at the general PC user. They use a browser and some other general programs like office and that's about it. That's the vast majority of the market.

I envision the future as being a phone you carry in your pocket that connects (I'm not going to get into specifics, this is a general statement) via ad-hoc or blue tooth to various other items/peripherals on demand. By on demand I mean either through an app or possibly even proximity. Imagine having your phone in your pocket, and simply hitting a button or something the wall TV/monitor turns on and your touch screen desk initializes and allows you to do... well... whatever.

That's what I see as the future of computing. You probably have it in your pocket. Its the future, but it doesn't know it yet...Or wait, maybe it does.

So imagine my excitement when a month or few weeks or so ago I heard about a product where

WOW. Really? Is it April Fools day? No? Seriously? When?
2014? DAMN IT!

I mean, sure, its kind of like the Motorola Atrix WebTop - which you have to admit was pretty innovative. Still, this is freakin awesome in my opinion and the way the future seems like it should go. I particularly like the idea of using your own peripherals and not being shackled to something that's proprietary.

Anyways...
Check it out and let us bask in the potential awesomeness of this together!

Linkage as usual:
http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/android
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_for_Android
http://www.androidcentral.com/ubuntu-for-android
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/a ... phone.html
http://www.bgr.com/2012/02/21/ubuntu-co ... d-devices/
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/201 ... phones.ars

Lets have a little experiment/game involving facebook and other social media sites...

I was recently intrigued/shocked/disgusted/whatever-you-want-to-call-it by facebooks picture retention policy/flaw/whatever-you-want-to-call-it (if you aren't aware of it, basically facebook keeps your pictures up for years even after you delete them and they are still accessible from the direct link after they are 'deleted')

Whoa, Whoa, Whoa.
You thought I was gonna slip that bit of craziness into some parenthesis and just move on?

Hahaha, actually yeah I am. You know me... Mr. Efficiency. [insert eye-rolling graphic here]

Turns out MANY social sites do this. Facebook, Twitpic, and, um... probably more but honestly I'm not into social media so I honestly don't know. heh.

So lets have a little game. Send me (email halla on contact page) a direct link to a picture you have deleted (small please, ~200 or ~300 px wide/high) along with the date you created it and the date you deleted it (if you want, you can even include that info in the pic) and I'll put it in this post. Non-offensive/Suitable for work pics only please. We'll see how long they are retained after deletion.

Let the games begin!