wiretapping

From the desk of the big man himself: tablets are gonna be huge. Thanks for that one, boss. Also, iPhone 4 shipments are delayed again, and that doesn't even address the white iPhone 4 issue (where is that thing?). But Android's no help, at least not if you want the HTC Aria, which is all locked down by (you guessed it) AT&T. And in other obvious news, monkeys like TV.

LOS ANGELES--At a show that's as large as it gets for video games, in a corner of E3 the was a product designed to be hidden from sight entirely.

Hitech Innovation's Wiretape, which the company claims is the world's thinnest wire at 0.16 millimeters, has been designed to de-clutter the usual mess of wires that can stretch down from high-mounted televisions, or across rooms.

It works like a roll of tape, running as long as it's needed before consumers can cut it with a pair of scissors. Then, the loose ends can be fed into … Read more

I know that there are many parents who would dearly love to spy on their children. Some, because they think their kids might be up to no good. Some, because they think their kids might be up to something so very not good that it might be illegal.

So I am rather moved with concern at a spying accusation that has reportedly been leveled by parents at a Philadelphia-area school district.

According to Computerworld, a class action lawsuit has been served upon the Lower Merion School District, based in Ardmore, Pa. It declares that the school district has taken on … Read more

The National Security Agency tried to wiretap a member of the U.S. Congress without a warrant, and has engaged in "significant and systemic" illegal surveillance activities in the last few months including e-mail and telephone call interceptions, according to a report this week.

The article in Wednesday's New York Times said the Obama administration acknowledged there had been abuses but said they had been resolved. The attempted eavesdropping on a congressman came about because he or she was part of a delegation to the Middle East in 2005 or 2006, and was ultimately blocked.

The NSA … Read more

For the past two years, several independent Mac software developers have teamed up to put together a bundle of award-winning Mac apps at a vastly reduced price--with 25 percent of the purchase price donated to the charity of your choice (chosen from a list). The whole thing takes place at a very well-designed site called MacHeist.com and over the past two years, thousands of Mac users have snapped up the limited time offer--it's really a great deal! The fun part about the MacHeist offer is the developers of MacHeist make it into a kind of scavenger hunt. They … Read more

The Bush administration secretly concluded after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that it had the authority to wiretap the Internet and telephone calls with virtually no limitations, restrict free speech, and use the U.S. military domestically against suspected terrorists.

Those legal opinions came in a series of memorandums written by U.S. Department of Justice lawyers, including deputy assistant attorney general John Yoo, which were disclosed by the Obama administration on Monday.

Although the broad outlines of the Bush administration's claims to sweeping executive powers were previously known, the newly released memorandums provide a glimpse at both … Read more

Playing with sound files is something not all of us aspire to do in any greater detail than clicking "Buy Now" in iTunes. But this is one of those cool Mac niches that is filled with possibilities you might not have thought about before.

For instance, have you ever wished you could easily record a phone call for a job interview? How about automatically record your favorite radio program from the Internet, even if it's on in the middle of the night? Ambrosia Software's WireTap Studio, recently updated to version 1.0.8, is an inexpensive … Read more

A secret federal appeals court has ruled that federal agencies can be authorized to conduct warrantless e-mail and telephone surveillance without violating the U.S. Constitution.

In a 29-page redacted opinion (PDF) released Thursday, the court ruled that presidents do not need to obtain warrants to conduct "foreign intelligence for national-security purposes"--which is effectively at least a partial endorsement of President Bush's views on expansive executive powers.

The central question in this case was how the Fourth Amendment's prohibition on "unreasonable searches and seizures" applies to intelligence agencies wishing to compel AT&… Read more

Rana and CMC join the show for a "what's up" with iPhone apps and a warm farewell to the last dick. Is Steve Jobs alive? Will New Yorkers pay tax on their iPods? Will Guitar Hero ever add death metal tracks? All these answers and more on The 404. Did we mention that we've got two flesh and blood females on the show? Make sure to stick around until the end of the episode when we find out that Rana has a secret celebrity crush...