Free Republic

What is the appeal of auto-autos? Is it just the latest techno-gadget, like the iPhone? Hardly. Auto-autos offer a huge array of benefits. Start with a quantum-leap increase in consumer satisfaction. People spend an enormous amount of time and energy driving. I, for one, am weary after my hour-long commute to work. If I could relax with my coffee and read my newspaper, I would be much happier and more rested at work. Second, there would be an explosive growth of productivity. We already see that cell phones have allowed people to conduct business in the car to a limited...

The Metropolitan Police have foiled an extraordinary plot to steal millions of pounds from a London branch of Santander Bank using a remote control device planted on one of its computers by a bogus maintenance man. On Thursday evening, the Police's Central e-Crime Unit (PCeU) arrested 12 men between the ages of 23 and 50 years old accused of being involved in the alleged attempted heist at addresses in London, a statement said. A bank source confirmed to press that a KVM (keyboard, video, mouse) was fitted by someone posing as a maintenance worker, something that would have allowed the...

Two technology stories have filled the airwaves in recent days: the impending Twitter IPO, which is predicted to raise more than $1 billion; and the Obamacare online roll-out, which has crashed in a welter of locked-out applicants and frozen exchanges. The connections between the two events are deeper than you might think – and they represent the latest milestones along the diverging responses by industry and government to the birth of the technology revolution more than a century ago.

The words of Pope Francis and Archbishop Charles Chaput should give us pause this weekend and make us think about the growing trend in our society to devalue human beings and treat them like playthings. We must not only think about the innocent souls we are discarding like trash, but about our own as well. Much has been written about Pope Francis' interviews and insights in last few days. Some of the rhetoric has been respectful, while some not at all. But much of what I have read is insightful. For example, the following excerpt from an editorial by Archbishop...

Welcome to ObamaWreck! Americans nationwide spent Tuesday struggling with the much-hyped "Affordable Care Act" health insurance exchanges. Server meltdowns, error messages and security glitches plagued the federal and state government websites as open enrollment began. But when taxpayers discover exactly who will be navigating them through the bureaucratic maze, they may be glad they didn't get through. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius controls a $54 million slush fund to hire thousands of "navigators," "in-person assisters" and counselors, who are now propagandizing and recruiting Obamacare recipients into the government-run exchanges. As I warned in May, the Nanny State...

LONDON -- A chemical mist which turns perpetrators florescent green is being used to target thieves in Britain. Officers have started fitting SmartWater technology to security systems in cars and houses in the U.K.'s capital. When someone tries to break in, they are sprayed with the odorless substance which is only visible under ultraviolet light and cannot be washed off. Crooks have no idea they have been tagged -- until it is too late. The dramatic effect can be seen in these photos of Yafet Askale, a 28-year-old who stole a laptop from a "trap car" in the Brent area...

At first blush, the Massachusetts “tech tax” appears similar to tax regimes in other states. However, the Massachusetts tax on computer software services has a unique set of implications—and would likely have an unprecedented impact on the state’s tech economy. The software services tax or “tech tax” passed in July would tax all computer software services, including cloud computing and data storage operations. The legislature intended for the tax to raise $160 million for transportation improvements, but many believe the wide range of services eligible for taxation coupled with the law’s ambiguous language would yield upwards of $500 million. Massachusetts...

It's elementary. Public education bureaucrats do the darnedest, stupidest things. Clever kids are ready, willing and able to capitalize on that costly stupidity in a heartbeat. Within days of rolling out a $30 million Common Core iPad program in Los Angeles, for example, students had already hacked the supposedly secure devices. The Los Angeles Times reports that the disastrous initiative has been suspended after students from at least three different high schools breached the devices' security protections. It was a piece of iCake. The young saboteurs gleefully advertised their method to their friends, fellow Twitter and Facebook users, and the...

If the notion of an anonymous identifier strikes you as a contradiction in terms, you aren't alone."It's a persistent identifier, a super cookie," says Jeff Chester, head of the Center for Digital Democracy. "Google will gain more information about users wherever they are, across platforms and with one number. This will be the new way they identify you 24/7."

Invent something and the first thing that goes through some people's minds -- especially politicians' minds -- is what might go wrong. 3D printers now allow you to mold objects right in your living room, using patterns you find online. It's a revolutionary invention that will save time, reduce shipping costs and be kind to the earth. But what critics see is: guns! People will print guns at home! Well, sure. On TV, Rachel Maddow sneered about "a well-armed anarchist utopia, where everybody fends for themselves with stupid-looking plastic guns. ... It's a political effort to try to do away...

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will test its crowd-scanning facial recognition system, known as the Biometric Optical Surveillance System, or BOSS, at a junior hockey game this weekend, according to the Russian news agency RT. With assistance from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, DHS will test its system at a Western Hockey League game in Washington state. The test will determine whether the system can distinguish the faces of 20 volunteers out of a crowd of nearly 6,000 hockey fans, to evaluate how successfully BOSS can locate a person of interest.

Note: The following text is a quote: Three Chinese Nationals and Two Corporations Charged with Illegally Exporting Defense Articles and Commerce Controlled Electronics Components to China and Conspiring to Violate U.S. Export Laws BOSTON, MA—Three nationals of the People’s Republic of China and two corporations were charged on October 1, 2009 in federal court with conspiring over a period of 10 years to illegally export defense articles, designated on the United States Munitions List, and Commerce controlled electronics components to end-users in China, including several Chinese military entities. Acting United States Attorney Michael K. Loucks; John J. McKenna, Special Agent...

A service called "Ghetto Tracker" appeared online at the beginning of this week and quickly drew criticism for its racist and classist overtones. Shortly after, the site was renamed "Good Part of Town." Its creator, who would only identify himself as a 30-something-year-old in Tallahassee, Fla., told Gawker: "This was originally seriously developed as a travel tool and the name 'Ghetto Tracker' was meant to be something that people would remember." The basic premise of Ghetto Tracker/Good Part of Town — to crowdsource travel advice -– actually isn’t so outrageous, but the framing, even without the word "Ghetto" in the...

The bureaucracy’s analysis of green jobs leaves a lot to be desired. No, really. Like a million monkeys pounding on keyboards, even the Beltway occasionally produces something Shakespearean, and fortunate indeed we are to be alive in the summer of 2013, as the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a report (PDF) announcing that the “[Department of] Labor’s Green Jobs Efforts Highlight Challenges of Targeted Training Programs for Emerging Industries.”B-O-R-I-N-G, you say? You are oh, so wrong. GAO was happy to translate that bureaucratese right up front: “Of the $595 million identified by Labor as having been appropriated or allocated...

Last September, with great fanfare, Ocean Power Technologies began construction on America's first wave-powered utility. Holding the first - and only - wave energy permit from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, OPT had planned to deploy a test buoy off the coast of Reedsport by spring. But a year after the permit, regulatory and technical difficulties have all but halted the project. Federal regulators notified the company earlier this year it had violated the license after failing to file a variety of plans and assessments.

With a pool of tech-focused firms and a slew of graduates from top-notch universities like MIT and Harvard, it’s no surprise that Massachusetts is home to a flourishing tech economy. What is surprising, however, are recent tax hikes targeting this sector of the economy, which is recognized as the state’s saving grace amid high unemployment rates and languid economic growth. Legislation passed last month—referred to as the “tech tax”—levies a 6.25 percent tax on software sales and services in order to raise the required funds to pay for roads in need of repair. The legislature expects the tax to raise...

What is the best software or website to stream live TV, (including the networks) online? I would greatly appreciate any help on this.

NRA historically has preached and campaigned against the threat of a national database of firearms or their owners. But, in fact NRA themselves housed over 10 million information on gun owners. Unclear of NRA's motives but the data may be used as a marketing weapon to focus in on converting gun owners to dues-paying NRA members. Who knows, what do you all think? Read the article for more.

Is Scripture-Alone Sufficient? But it is the spirit in man, the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand. Job 32:8 There are some 41,000 “Christian” denominations in the world that all utilize the same Bible to proclaim their particular versions of truth. Additionally, Judaism utilizes only the Old Testament from that same Bible, and there are also movements, such as Hebraic Roots and Messianic Jews, that are little more than “Judaism Lite,” in that, they focus mainly on the Old Testament, and either discount the teachings of the New Testament, or pervert their meanings to fit their own versions...

Electrical engineering Professor Kamal Sarabandi of University of Michigan is on to something for public safety. He has been working on using radar technology that can scan a person from a distance to detect concealed firearms. Looking forward, just seems like my rights are being violated, and cops may be using to profile. westernshootingjournal.com/technology/radar-for-detecting-concealed-carry-weapon/What do you all think?