Kia's World

Just read this BBC article.

Starts well:

"DNA profiles of those not convicted of a crime should be removed from the database in England and Wales, a government-funded inquiry has said.

Control of the database should be taken from government and police and given to an independent body, the inquiry urged.

Javed Aslam, one of the 30 panel members on the Citizen's Inquiry, said keeping the records would be "the first step towards a totalitarian state".

But the Home Office said the database helps to secure convictions.

The UK has the largest police DNA database in the world - with more than four million people on file. "

What is more interesting - is the bit at the end:

"A spokeswoman said it welcomes an "open discussion on the issue of how the National DNA Database is used".

However, she said it provides the police on average with almost 3,500 DNA matches each month and is a "key" instrument in the fight against violent crime, burglaries and rape.

She added that, in a 12-month period between 2006 and 2007, DNA evidence had been used in police investigations into 644 rapes, 222 other sexual offences, 1,900 violent crimes and more than 8,500 domestic burglaries. "

Now - this is interesting, for a start "almost 3,500 DNA matches each month" that is 42000 a year (this figure will be needed later - I am going somewhere with this - honest). Then the last line states "DNA evidence had been used in police investigations" - It does not state that ANY crimes have be solved - just that DNA has been used in "investigations" - but, more interestingly, lets sum all those crimes up - between 2006 - 2007 DNA evidence was "used" in 11266 investigations - but hold on I hear you cry - just one sentence ago you stated that the police got 3500 matches per month (42000 a year) - so, of those 42000 'matchs' per year only about a quarter are used in "investigations".

To sum up: Why are the police running 30734 DNA tests per year that have NOTHING to do with investigations?

Certainly moderns society has gotten used to just throwing anything they need into the search engine titan Google. Society's addiction to the king of search engines has lead to the acceptance of the two word combo "Google It" as an actual verb in the english language. To be completely honest who really uses Yahoo!, Ask Jeeves, or any of the other hundreds of search engines out there? Personally, until yesterday, I myself was an avid Googler. Now, thanks to a decision made by a few witty individuals a new search engine has risen from the abiss of the internet with the aspiration to challenge mighty Google.

Meet Cuil (pronounced "cool"). The avid Googler would have to get used to the completely different, but intuitive, interface that Cuil employs for its searches. Cuil, like Google, employs a mathematical formula called a page rank that they (Cuil) claim delivers more relevant hits than Google's page rank formula. This is, however, debatable. Cuil does return far more results than Google does in a much more eye appealing format. When searching on Cuil the search bar (like that found on YouTube) gives you suggestions based on what you're typing. This feature makes typing go buy that much faster, something those who use the "hunt & peck" or "search & destroy" typing methods will happily thank Cuil for.

Cuil has two big claims to fame, claims that could turn this into a "David vs. Goliath" story. Cuil announced that their searchable index is currently at 120 billion web sites. Google completely refuses to give a strait answer as to how many web sites they have indexed, the estimate is at 30 to 50 billion. Naturally a Google Search and a Cuil Search will not turn up the same results, and not just because of the different page rank algorithms. With almost twice the indexed web sites to search Cuil is guaranteed to produce more hits. Cuil's second claim to fame is, very much unlike Google, it does not log your searches or sell your search patterns to companies for personal profit.

Cuil or Google? You make you're choice, personally I have college searches to do. I'll be "Cuiling It" this time…

Link here:

"A central database holding details of everyone's phone calls and emails could be a "step too far for the British way of life", ministers have been warned...."  The article goes on to describe how not only does this data collection violate privacy, but how often the government tends to lose data or otherwise make mistakes with this sort of information.

I often get asked the question: "What can I do about the current attack on freedom?"

In other words: How do we fight the Vast Machine? 

Believe it or not, you've already started the process by being informed about what is going on -- and finding this website. If a core of people remain unafraid and independent of mass manipulation, it influences the society as a whole. 

I realize that most of you have jobs and responsibilities. Some of you have families. You can throw it all away and join a commune. Nevertheless, you can perform small actions on a daily basis and it mounts up over time.

I also believe this: that there will be one moment in your life, one issue, one cause, where you will have to step forward and risk. You'll know the moment when it comes. The choice will be clear: Are you a free human being or are you just going to go along with the crowd?

I just receved this news video sent at johntwelvehawks.com. It's about an ordinary man with an ordinary life who suddenly decides: "No, I won't agree to this decision. This is where I make my stand." 

This is the true Power of One...

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=2930944

Earlier Wednesday, the Senate struck down three amendments that would have delayed, weakened or revoked a controversial provision in the bill to grant unconditional, retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies that assisted the White House in its warrantless wiretapping program....

Link to article here

"I am the LAW!"

From the BBC:

"Europeans suspected of putting movies and music on file-sharing networks could be thrown off the web under proposals before Brussels.

The powers are in a raft of laws that aim to harmonise the regulations governing Europe's telecom markets.

Other amendments added to the packet of laws allow governments to decide which software can be used on the web.

Campaigners say the laws trample on personal privacy and turn net suppliers into copyright enforcers."

Okay - piracy, you can argue the for or against till the cows come home - but this new law allows governments to dictate what SOFTWARE is used on the internet:

"Tomorrow, popular software applications like Skype or even Firefox might be declared illegal in Europe if they are not certified by an administrative authority," warned Benjamin Henrion.

"[The amendments] pave the way for the monitoring and filtering of the internet by private companies, exceptional courts and Orwellian technical measures," said Christophe Espern.

From the BBC:

"Google must divulge the viewing habits of every user who has ever watched any video on YouTube, a US court has ruled.

The ruling comes as part of Google's legal battle with Viacom over allegations of copyright infringement.

Digital rights group the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) called the ruling a "set-back to privacy rights".

The viewing log, which will be handed to Viacom, contains the log-in ID of users, the computer IP address (online identifier) and video clip details."

I don't have the words to express just how far off the mark the US courts are in this case.

Google are also to blame - they should just not store this data.