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WASHINGTON (AFP) – US software giant Microsoft launched a free online home energy monitoring tool on Wednesday that allows consumers to gauge their usage and reduce consumption. Microsoft Hohm, available as a beta, or test, version in the United States at microsoft-hohm.com, lets users "better understand their energy usage, get recommendations and start saving money," Microsoft said. "We believe technology will play a pivotal role in tackling the global energy issues we currently face," Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer at Microsoft, said in a statement. "Microsoft Hohm demonstrates how a combination of advanced software and Internet-based services can...

As the hostage situation with a U.S. vessel and Somali pirates lasted into its second day, the White House said Thursday that President Obama is keeping "apprised" of the situation and continues to be concerned about the safety of the ship's captain and crew. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said the president has spoken with the commander of the Fifth Fleet, and the Navy and the FBI are "on the scene" so "the resources of our government are deployed in ensuring the safety and security of the captain and crew." Gibbs said the interagency group on maritime safety, which...

The New York City Police Department is working on a plan to photograph the license plates of every vehicle entering Manhattan in an effort to guard against a terrorist attack. The plan, called Operation Sentinel, calls for photographing and scanning the license plates of cars and trucks at all bridges and tunnels, and using sensors to detect the presence of radioactivity, The New York Times reports. Data on each vehicle would be sent to a command center in Lower Manhattan, where it would be stored for at least a month and then eliminated if it were not linked to a...

Illegal Alien Activity Tracking System GSAC (Global Security Analysis, LLC) and The Publishers of GlobalIncidentMap.com, of Washington County, MD are pleased to announce the Illegal Alien Activity Tracking System (IAATS). This is a free, public service website, available October 21st, displaying ongoing Incidences of illegal alien criminal activity, legislation, the growing national security risk and threat of terrorism, plus other significant news. GSAC (Global Security Analysis, LLC) approached the publishers of GlobalIncidentMap.com with an idea of creating a free, public service website that allows everyone from your average citizen to law enforcement , and government agencies and officials, to have...

WASHINGTON – Federal officials are routinely asking courts to order cellphone companies to furnish real-time tracking data so they can pinpoint the whereabouts of drug traffickers, fugitives and other criminal suspects, according to judges and industry lawyers. In some cases, judges have granted the requests without requiring the government to demonstrate that there is probable cause to believe that a crime is taking place or that the inquiry will yield evidence of a crime. Privacy advocates fear such a practice may expose average Americans to a new level of government scrutiny of their daily lives.

VENICE, Italy - Security officials from Europe's largest countries backed a plan Saturday to profile mosques on the continent and identify radical Islamic clerics who raise the threat of homegrown terrorism. The project, to be finished by the fall, will focus on the roles of imams, their training, their ability to speak in the local language and their sources of funding, EU Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Franco Frattini told a news conference after a meeting on terrorism. Italian Interior Minister Guiliano Amato said Europe had extensive experience with the "misuse of mosques, which instead of being places of worship...

Several days ago, the 'Maria S Merian' returned from her second Arctic expedition with data confirming trends of Arctic warming. "Compared to last summer, the water that flows from the Norwegian Sea to the Arctic has been an average 0.8 degrees Celsius warmer this summer," says expedition leader Dr Ursula Schauer of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research. "This is in addition to the last two years already having been warmer than the previous 20 from which we have regular measurements. Over the Yermak Plateau, an oceanic ridge, the oceanographers documented water of more than four degrees...

They are meant to reduce crime by helping police spot problems. By the end of the year, 40 cameras will cover 31 locations in the area. It's part of a plan first announced in January by Dallas Police. Grant money will cover the 840-thousand dollar price tag for the cameras. Police will monitor the cameras from their headquarters and City Hall. Some residents feel apprehensive about the surveillance, seeing it as an invasion of privacy. But others say the cameras could help curb petty crime and random violence.

Hundreds of drivers who ran red lights while making turns at intersections newly monitored by cameras have not been issued tickets because of a loophole in the photo-enforcement ordinance. "The way the current city ordinance is written, turns are excluded, even if they are illegal turns," said Houston police Sgt. Michael Muench. Traffic officers reviewed more than 1,000 violations caught on camera during the first two weeks of the program, the police department reported. A third were thrown out, many because the driver was making a right or left turn while running the light, Muench said. Muench was unable to...

<p>A former analyst for the Pentagon’s intelligence service provided China with highly classified information prior to the loss of a major electronic spying operation against Beijing, The Washington Times has learned. The loss of the National Security Agency’s eavesdropping operation hampered U.S. efforts to track China’s covert arms sales to nations such as Iran, Syria and Pakistan, Bush administration officials said.</p>

/begin my translationGovernment on Alert to Monitor Signs of N. Korean Nuclear Test '24 Hours a Day' A military monitoring team dispatched to the Korea Institute of Geoscience & Mineral ResourcesA few additional monitoring stations set up and in operation along DMZ(Seoul = Yonhap News) Kim Kwi-geun, Lee Kwi-won correspondent =The government and military authorities went into all-out monitoring of N. Korean nuclear test because the chance of N. Korea going ahead with the test shot up after N. Korea launched missiles on July 5, and UN passed resolution against N. Korea. A government source said in Aug. 20, "6-party talks on N. Korean nuke is still in deadlock. After the...

The Register reported on Monday that the Capistrano Unified School District "kept lists of 150 families who supported last year's board recall campaign, detailing such personal information as where their children went to school." This is a chilling abuse of power that should be thoroughly investigated by the county district attorney. One parent, appropriately enough, called the behavior "Nixonish." School districts are not allowed to engage in politics on public time. What else can such a list be considered if not political behavior? The Register reported that many of the documents about the recall were printed on district stationary, which...

MANY READERS have been sharply critical of our decision to publish an article Friday on the U.S. Treasury Department's program to secretly monitor worldwide money transfers in an effort to track terrorist financing. They have sent me sincere and powerful expressions of their disappointment in our newspaper, and they deserve an equally thoughtful and honest response. The decision to publish this article was not one we took lightly. We considered very seriously the government's assertion that these disclosures could cause difficulties for counterterrorism programs. And we weighed that assertion against the fact that there is an intense and ongoing public...

What Credit Monitoring Will VA Offer?NEW: How Will VA Provide Credit Monitoring?As part of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) continuing efforts to protect and assist those potentially affected by the recent data theft that occurred at an employee's Maryland home, VA announced on June 21 that the agency will provide one year of free credit monitoring to individuals whose sensitive personal information - Social Security Number (SSN) - may have been stolen in the incident.VA also announced on June 21 the Department is soliciting bids to hire a company that provides data breach analysis, which will look for possible...

A deeply divided Houston City Council today voted to approve a five year contract for the city's proposed red light camera program. American Traffic Solutions Inc. will now begin setting up cameras at ten intersections around town judged to be the most accident-prone. The cameras are set up to take pictures of red light runner's license plates. Violators caught by the cameras will be mailed a $75 ticket. Those who have three violations within one year would have to pay $150 for each ticket after the first two. Debate over the use of the cameras has raged ever since Mayor...

[How President Hillary Clinton will use Bush policing powers. Be very affair!] by Edward Hudgins The revelation that the Bush administration has secured records of millions of phone calls from three telecom companies should shock every American who is concerned about freedom. Apparently it has not. A poll the day after the disclosure found that two- thirds of Americans have no apparent problem with this practice. Perhaps those opinions will change as more details are revealed. But in any case, for the sake our freedom, Americans would do well to do what most politicians refuse to do: to think in...

In 1775, New Hampshire was the first colony to declare its independence from oppressive laws and taxes levied by the British crown. Now it may become the first state to declare its independence from an oppressive digital ID law concocted in Washington, D.C. New Hampshire's House of Representatives has overwhelmingly approved a remarkable bill, HB 1582, that would prohibit the state from participating in the national ID card system that will be created in 2008. A state Senate vote is expected as early as next week. The federal law in question is the Real ID Act (here's our FAQ on...

Unmanned aerial vehicles have soared the skies of Afghanistan and Iraq for years, spotting enemy encampments, protecting military bases, and even launching missile attacks against suspected terrorists. Now UAVs may be landing in the United States. A House of Representatives panel on Wednesday heard testimony from police agencies that envision using UAVs for everything from border security to domestic surveillance high above American cities. Private companies also hope to use UAVs for tasks such as aerial photography and pipeline monitoring. "We need additional technology to supplement manned aircraft surveillance and current ground assets to ensure more effective monitoring of United...

From Anchorage it takes 90 minutes on a propeller plane to reach this fishing village on the state's southwestern edge, a place where some people still make raincoats out of walrus intestine. This is the Alaskan bush at its most remote. Here, tundra meets sea, and sea turns to ice for half the year. Scattered, almost hidden, in the terrain are some of the most isolated communities on American soil. People choose to live in outposts like Dillingham (pop. 2,400) for that reason: to be left alone. So eyebrows were raised in January when the first surveillance cameras went up...