united states

The United States Air Force (USAF) plans to add 1,000 cybercrime experts to its current workforce of 6,000 computer professionals. The reason: there is a concern that Iran may soon pose a serious threat to US Internet security. Although the Air ... Force budget as a whole is likely to be cut, observers expect extra recruits in Space Command, the unit responsible for monitoring and controlling United States Internet security, satellites, and long-range missiles. (Source: ohsonline.com ) Cyber Command: Leading, Preventing Online Attacks Space Command is a unit within the larger Air Force Cyber ... (view more)

The situation in Egypt is dire. The government, which is facing enormous protests has turned to shutting off communications, most notably the Internet , as a way to silence dissension. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has gone on record ... admonishing the Egyptian Internet blackout , calling it a senseless attempt to bring order to a country at the cost of basic democratic rights. Could an Internet Blackout Happen in the United States? While most Americans have viewed the entire debacle as something that simply couldn't and wouldn't happen in the United States, some political pundits ... (view more)

Like whiling away those boring days at work listening to free streaming music? Many cubicle kings and queens enjoy no-charge service Last.fm, one of the most popular of these sites -- unfortunately, if you don't live and work in the United States, ... Germany, or Britain, it will soon cost you. It's becoming increasingly difficult to access free music online. Hot on the heels of Warner's decision to rip its music off popular video site YouTube, Last.fm fans living outside the aforementioned three countries will soon have to pay a fee to access the site's mountain of music. It's not yet known what ... (view more)

Recently we looked at some of the problems with mass surveillance and the myth associated with justifications of its use. If you think you're being watched, as noted by Wired.com, you're probably right. But, how did we end up a mass surveillance ... society? (Source: wired.com ) We may not have realized it at the time, as noted by Scott Horton from Harper's Magazine, but in the period from late 2001 to January 19, 2009, many argue that the U.S. was a dictatorship. (Source: harpers.org ) Bush Memorandums Made Available A set of memorandums written by U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) lawyers were ... (view more)

The United States has long been considered an "innovation nation". But last year, John Kao, an accomplished jazz keyboard player, Yale philosopher, Medical School graduate, and an MBA from Harvard Business school sounded the alarm: America was ... losing its innovative touch. In his book, prepared for the 2008 presidential election candidates (inspired by Hillary Clinton), Kao points out that innovation drives geopolitical position and America is losing it. (Source: businessweek.com ) The main justifications for his position come from the globalization phenomena. He cited several observations in ... (view more)

Still not sure that China has become a rising technological giant? Perhaps recent news that the Asian country has officially passed the United States in the number of online users will convince you otherwise. Granted, we've been aware of China's ... massive population for a very long time. The country boasts some 1.3 billion citizens, and although it struggled to establish an economy on par with the United States or Britain during the twentieth century, by the turn of the 21st it had clearly arrived amongst the world's economic (and military) super powers. For a good look at China's export ... (view more)

Apple has finally brought the iPhone, or perhaps just the rights to one, to Europe. While the iPhone won't officially go on sale until November, those who were in attendance at the unveiling said that the multi-modal phone is already being ... well-received by the public. Seemingly every major mobile network operator from Europe's most influential cities have lined up for their chance to hold the exclusive rights to the product when it hits retail shelves in just a few months. As it stands right now, O2 will hold the exclusive rights to the product in Britain, while Telefonica will bring the ... (view more)

The BlackBerry has been praised by some, rejected by others, and now banned by the Government of France, with the country's Minister of Defense calling the handheld device a "threat to French state secrets". What is most bizarre about the situation ... is that France has lashed out against the United States, claiming that American intelligence agencies are manipulating French BlackBerry devices to spy on government secrets. Emails that are sent from a French BlackBerry device must pass through servers in the United States and Britain. France fears that this process will make their systems prone ... (view more)