School used student laptop webcams to spy on them at school and home

By Cory Doctorow at 11:49 PM February 17, 2010

According to the filings in Blake J Robbins v Lower Merion School District (PA) et al, the laptops issued to high-school students in the well-heeled Philly suburb have webcams that can be covertly activated by the schools' administrators, who have used this facility to spy on students and even their families. The issue came to light when the Robbins's child was disciplined for "improper behavior in his home" and the Vice Principal used a photo taken by the webcam as evidence. The suit is a class action, brought on behalf of all students issued with these machines.

If true, these allegations are about as creepy as they come. I don't know about you, but I often have the laptop in the room while I'm getting dressed, having private discussions with my family, and so on. The idea that a school district would not only spy on its students' clickstreams and emails (bad enough), but also use these machines as AV bugs is purely horrifying.

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Robbins v. Lower Merion School District (PDF)

Related Post: FBI will investigate school who used laptop webcams to spy on students
Update(2/26/2010): Revealed: How schools use laptop webcams to spy on students [Video]
Related video via aforementioned article at Neowin:

Source: Boing Boing via Neowin.net

Blackwater Took Hundreds of Guns From U.S. Military, Afghan Police

Senate Inquiry Shows Contractor Signed for Rifles Using 'South Park' Alias
By Spencer Ackerman 2/23/10 9:00 PM

Employees of the CIA-connected private security corporation Blackwater diverted hundreds of weapons, including more than 500 AK-47 assault rifles, from a U.S. weapons bunker in Afghanistan intended to equip Afghan policemen, according to an investigation by the Senate Armed Services Committee. On at least one occasion, an individual claiming to work for the company evidently signed for a weapons shipment using the name of a “South Park” cartoon character. And Blackwater has yet to return hundreds of the guns to the military.

Source: The Washington Independent via Raw Story via Digg

FBI will investigate school who used laptop webcams to spy on students

By Tom Warren

On Thursday Neowin reported on a shocking case at the Lower Merion High School district in Pennsylvania, U.S. An FBI official, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, confirmed they will be opening up a criminal investigation over the matter.

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Source: Neowin.net

Google Voice releases new HowTo (and WhatIs) videos

Seth Weintraub
February 18, 2010 - 3:55 P.M.

Here's one of the videos:



Check out the rest

Source: Computerworld Blogs

Woman Sues Obama, Federal Government for $950 Trillion

By J. David McSwane
Thu., Feb. 18 2010 @ 2:29PM

...

The Denver woman, who identifies herself as "an authentic genius" and shares a host of similar conspiracy theories, including a "water controversy that is religiously based," says the government's true conspiracy lies in shapes, textures, telepathy and even litter. But she's not seeking world destruction. Instead, she's suing President Barack Obama (who's visiting Denver today) and virtually the entire executive branch, past and present, for $950 trillion. And she's not joking.

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Source: Denver Westword via Digg

"Good Time Max" Intro

Good movie... I think the song is great too and seems to be unique to this movie so far. "Caveman" by Scott Thomas

Despite Obama admin’s promise, DEA continues raids on medical marijuana growers

Saturday, February 13th, 2010 -- 6:10 pm

On Thursday, a Denver news station interviewed Chris Bartkowicz about his medical-marijuana operation in the basement of his home. Bartkowicz, confident of his compliance with state laws, boasted of its size and profitability.

"I'm definitely living the dream now," he told 9News.

The following day, the dream was over.

Drug-enforcement agents raided his home, placed him under arrest, and carried off dozens of black bags of marijuana plants and growing lights.

The Obama administration promised in October that the federal government would respect state laws allowing the growing and selling of marijuana for medicinal use, but the Drug Enforcement Agency sent a loud message with the arrest of Bartkowicz.

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Video from 9news.com

Source: Raw Story via Digg