Inside 'Prism' Success: Even Bigger Data Seizure | ET | NSA spy programmes thwarted potential terrorist plots in 20 nations

NSA spy programmes thwarted potential terrorist plots in 20 nations: Officials

20 Nations at Threat 

WASHINGTON: Top US intelligence officials have said that information gleaned from two controversial data-collection programmes run by the National Security Agency thwarted potential terrorist plots in the US and more than 20 other countries and that gathered data is destroyed every five years.

Last year, fewer than 300 phone numbers were checked against the database of millions of US phone records gathered daily by the NSA in one of the programmes, the intelligence officials said in arguing that the programmes are far less sweeping than their detractors allege.

No other new details about the plots or the countries involved were part of the newly declassified information released to Congress on Saturday and made public by the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Intelligence officials said they are working to declassify the dozens of plots NSA chief General Keith Alexander said were disrupted, to show Americans the value of the programmes, but that they want to make sure they don't inadvertently reveal parts of the US counterterrorism playbook in the process.

For More 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/NSA-spy-programmes-thwarted-potential-terrorist-plots-in-20-nations-Officials/articleshow/20613977.cms  

                                                EVEN THOUGH

Inside 'Prism' Success: Even Bigger Data Seizure

EVEN BIGGER DATA SEIZURE

WASHINGTON — In the months and early years after 9/11, FBI agents began showing up at Microsoft Corp. more frequently than before, armed with court orders demanding information on customers.

Around the world, government spies and eavesdroppers were tracking the email and Internet addresses used by suspected terrorists. Often, those trails led to the world's largest software company and, at the time, largest email provider.

The agents wanted email archives, account information, practically everything, and quickly. Engineers compiled the data, sometimes by hand, and delivered it to the government.

Often there was no easy way to tell if the information belonged to foreigners or Americans. So much data was changing hands that one former Microsoft employee recalls that the engineers were anxious about whether the company should cooperate.

Inside Microsoft, some called it "Hoovering" – not after the vacuum cleaner, but after J. Edgar Hoover, the first FBI director, who gathered dirt on countless Americans.

For More 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/15/prism_n_3446541.html?utm_hp_ref=politics

Women Are at the Table, So Now What? | ET | Australian Army Chief : Respect Women Or 'Get Out'

Women Are at the Table, So Now What?

Top Women in the World 

NEW YORK — The focus of feminism has long been on inclusion and equality: giving women access where they had been shut out, ensuring the same opportunities and rewards as for men. This focus can distract from a harder, pertinent question: How would everything in the world be different if the female half of humanity had not been more or less locked out of its design ?

It is a tricky subject. Many arguments for equality flow from the premise that gender differences have historically been overstated. To suggest that women have a distinct way of thinking is, in this view, to flirt with the kind of logic that held them down.And yet other arguments for equality suggest that limiting the diversity of any gathering curtails the range of life experiences and perspectives in the room, and results in narrower, dumber decisions. In this view, it is at least plausible to maintain that the way meetings are conducted, wars are waged, books are written — that these ways were influenced by the absence of those without a direct voice

For More 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/15/us/15iht-currents15.html?_r=1&

                                                     EVEN THOUGH 

Australian Army Chief Warns Service Members To Respect Women Or 'Get Out'

Lt. Gen David Morrison

Lt. Gen. David Morrison is not messing around.

Following allegations that a group of servicemen circulated emails degrading several female service members, the Australian army chief issued a stern warning to the military branch: Respect women, or "get out."

In a striking public service announcement posted on YouTube, Morrison addresses the allegations of "unacceptable behavior" and clarifies his stance on any action that is demeaning to women.

"Those who think that it is okay to behave in a way that demeans or exploits their colleagues have no place in this army," he says in the video. "On all operations, female soldiers and officers have proven themselves worthy of the best traditions of the Australian army. They are vital to us maintaing our capability now, and into the future."

For More 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/14/australian-army-chief-warns-video_n_3442822.html

Walmart Has Improved 'Women's Lives Around The World' | ET | Obamacare Is Turning Walmart Workers Into Temps

Tom Cruise: Walmart Has Improved 'Women's Lives Around The World'

Critics are calling out Hollywood star Tom Cruise this week for praising Walmart as “a role model” that has "improve[d] women’s lives around the world" during the retailer’s shareholder meeting earlier in June, according to MSNBC.

Cruise, who was joined at the event by fellow celebrities Hugh Jackman and Kelly Clarkson, also called Walmart a “role model for how business can address some of the biggest issues facing our world, in ways big and small."

The claim drew criticism from some activists, who called Cruise's comments out of touch with reality. Cruise "didn’t really tell the truth about what happens on a day-to-day basis,” one activist told MSNBC. Others took to social media to criticize the actor,accusing        him of being a "tool," among other things.
For More
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/13/tom-cruise-walmart_n_3435575.html?ir=Business

                                                                        EVEN THOUGH

Obamacare Is Turning Walmart Workers Into Temps

Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) opponents warned it would happen, but now there’s mounting proof that full-time employees are being replaced with part-timers, at least in the retail industry where Walmart is focused on keeping the majority of workers to part-time hours only.

A new hiring policy uncovered byReuters shows that nearly half of its stores are only hiring part-time employees, thus avoiding the mandate to provide health care or pay a fine.

A Reuters survey of 52 stores run by the largest U.S. private employer in the past month, including one in every U.S. state, showed that 27 were hiring only temps, 20 were hiring a combination of regular full, part-time and temp jobs, and five were not hiring at all.

It’s company directive, according to sources interviewed by Reuters who asked to remain anonymous.

For More

http://www.forbes.com/sites/lauraheller/2013/06/14/obamacare-is-turning-walmart-workers-into-temps/

NSA Surveillance Violates Constitution | ET | Facebook and Microsoft Release Numbers on Government Information Requests

Al Gore: NSA Surveillance Violates The Constitution

Former Vice President Al Gore broke with many of his fellow Democrats Friday and said that the NSA surveillance programs violate the constitution.

"This in my view violates the constitution. The fourth amendment and the first amendment – and the fourth amendment language is crystal clear," he told The Guardian, which revealed the agency's phone surveillance and reported on its Internet data-mining. "It is not acceptable to have a secret interpretation of a law that goes far beyond any reasonable reading of either the law or the constitution and then classify as top secret what the actual law is."

"I quite understand the viewpoint that many have expressed that they are fine with it and they just want to be safe but that is not really the American way," he added.

Gore called "blanket" surveillance "obscenely outrageous" in a tweet on June 5. Nevertheless, he has mostly criticized Obama over climate change, an issue where the 2000 presidential nominee won a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in 2007.

For More

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/14/al-gore-nsa_n_3443646.html

                               EVEN THOUGH

Facebook and Microsoft Release Numbers on Government Information Requests

Facebook has disclosed that it has received between 9,000 and 10,000 requests from “government entities in the U.S.” in the six month period ending December 31, 2012.  These requests are “from any and all government entities in the U.S. (including local, state, and federal, and including criminal and national security-related requests),” according to a blog post written by Facebook general counsel Ted Ullyot.

And, according to Reuters, Microsoft disclosed Friday that it has received between 6,000 and 7,000 government requests during the last six months of 2012 that affected between 31,000 and 32,000 users.

For More

http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrymagid/2013/06/14/facebook-and-others-release-numbers-on-govt-information-requests/

Man Stab's Brother Over Macroni & Cheese .!

Randy Zipperer Allegedly Stabs Brother After Macaroni And Cheese Goes Missing

Randy Zipperer, 47, has been charged with aggravated battery and obstructing an officer without violence.

Looks like this guy wasn't using his noodle.

Randy Zipperer, 49, is accused of stabbing his younger brother following an argument about missing macaroni and cheese.

A witness told deputies in Volusia County, Fla. that Randy and his brother, 47-year-old Edward Zipperer, started arguing over Randy's missing macaroni and cheese, the Daytona Beach News-Journal reported. His younger brother helped him look, but during the mac-hunt, Edward knocked over a beer Randy had been drinking.

The spill allegedly made Randy even angrier, and deputies say he began waving around a knife that wound up inserted in his brother's stomach.

When deputies arrived, Edward had a small puncture wound in his abdomen. Investigators noted a trail of blood between the kitchen and bedroom, according to Click Orlando.

Randy allegedly admitted that "I poked him a little with the knife, but I didn't mean to."

He has been charged with aggravated battery and obstructing an officer without violence.
For More
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/13/randy-zipperer-stabs-brother-macaroni-and-cheese_n_3436240.html

Controversial spying programme helped nab Headley \ET\ US secret surveillance programme failed to track Headley

US secret surveillance programme failed to track Headley: Report

Headley 

WASHINGTON: Questioning the effectiveness of America's secret surveillance programme, a top investigative publication here has said the US intelligence failed to track Mumbai attack convict David Headley and he was arrested only after a tip off was provided by the British intelligence.


The US officials have repeatedly mentioned Headley's case to defend the controversial spying programme, saying the surveillance had been critical in thwarting potential terror attacks and also to track the 2008 Mumbai attack convict. 

"The government surveillance only caught up with Headley after the US had been tipped by British intelligence. And even that victory came after seven years in which US intelligence failed to stop Headley as he roamed the globe on missions for Islamic terror networks and Pakistan's spy agency," said ProPublica, an investigative publication. 

                                   EVEN THOUGH

Controversial spying programme helped nab Headley: Top American lawmaker

WASHINGTON: Defending the controversial phone and internet surveillance programmes of the US, a top American lawmaker backed the stand of the country's leaders and said it had prevented several terrorists' attacks and helped in nabbing David Headley, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks convict. 

Congressman Peter King, chairman of the counterterrorism and Intelligence Subcommittee of the House Homeland Security Committee, said yesterday during a Congressional hearing. 

"The Director of National Intelligence (DNI), General (James) Clapper, has revealed that Headley's terror ties were discovered through the same National Security Agency programs that have come under criticism in past days," King said during the hearing which debated the threat being posed by LeT for a Mumbai type attack on the US. 

'Facebook doesn't excite teens anymore' And Here Is Why..!!

'Facebook doesn't excite teens anymore'

WASHINGTON: The interest of teenagers is moving away from social networking platform Facebook, and they prefer "parent-free" platforms, according to a survey. 

The survey, conducted by Pew Research Center, indicates how teenagers' enthusiasm forFacebook is diminishing. The authors of the Pew report wrote how Facebook is now a "social burden" for teenaged users. 

"While Facebook is still deeply integrated in teens' everyday lives, it is sometimes seen as a utility and an obligation rather than an excitingnew platform that teens can claim as their own," huffingtonpost.com quoted one of the authors. 
For More 
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/social-media/Facebook-doesnt-excite-teens-anymore/articleshow/20257904.cms

Facebook Revises Policy On Post-
Mastectomy Photos

In theory, Facebook has always allowed photos of mastectomy scars -- as long as they didn't involve full breasts, which would violate the site's anti-nudity policy. This week, the social network reiterated its stance but reworded the policy. The new language acknowledges the toll breast cancer takes on women and men and the role post-surgery photos can play in community and recovery.

The social network posted the following guideline under the "Warnings" tab in the "Manage Your Account" feature in Facebook's Help Center:

For More 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/12/facebook-mastectomy-photos-allowed_n_3428602.html

Discoveries ..!! Inside The NSA's Ultra-Secret China Hacking Group & Scientist Discovers New Structure Inside Human Body

Layer Of Human Eye,'Dua's Layer,' Discovered Behind Cornea

Harminder Dua

Scientists have discovered a previously unknown layer lurking in the human eye.

The newfound body part, dubbed Dua's layer, is a skinny but tough structure measuring just 15 microns thick, where one micron is one-millionth of a meter and more than 25,000 microns equal an inch. It sits at the back of the cornea, the sensitive, transparent tissue at the very front of the human eye that helps to focus incoming light, researchers say.

The feature is named for its discoverer, Harminder Dua, a professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences at the University of Nottingham. Dua said in a statement that the finding will not only change what ophthalmologists know about human eye anatomy, but it will also make operations safer and simpler for patients with an injury in this layer.

For More 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/12/layer-human-eye-duas-layer-cornea_n_3427580.html

Inside the NSA's Ultra-Secret China Hacking Group

NSA

For  More

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/06/10/inside_the_nsa_s_ultra_secret_china_hacking_group

Ne

The Internet With The Potential To Change The World & Embarrassed USA ..!!

The First Technological Innovation Since The Internet With The Potential To Change The World

Even within the infrastructure of the American surveillance apparatus, the National Security Agency is notoriously secretive. The spy agency jealously guards from public view practically all aspects of its operations, from the information it collects to its plans for a massive 100,000-square-foot building being constructed in the Utah desert.

But when it comes to the agency's primary tool for making sense of all that data, the NSA hasn't been secretive at all. Indeed, two years ago, it made public the very code for a key program it uses to analyze the firehose of information pouring into its computer servers.

The NSA’s decision to give away that code to developers has helped fuel what is now a booming trend in technology known as "big data." The technology, Accumulo, makes it possible for companies to sift through massive amounts of information with essentially the same degree of sophistication and security as the country's top spy agency.

The use of computers to spot connections along a trail of digital breadcrumbs is hardly new. For years, major companies, from Amazon to Facebook to Google, have analyzed customer information to suggest books, friends or search results.

For More

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/12/nsa-big-data_n_3423482.html

Embarrassed USA closes ranks over snooping disclosures

WASHINGTON: An embarrassed American establishment began rolling out a ''national security'' imperative as an explanation for Washington's secret monitoring of electronic communication worldwide, even as the first lawsuit challenging the constitutional validity of government snooping was filed on Tuesday. 

In its constitutional challenge, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) argued that the NationalSecurity Agency's program violates the U.S First Amendment rights of free speech and association as well as the right of privacy protected by the Fourth Amendment. The complaint also charges that the dragnet program exceeds the authority that Congress provided through the Patriot Act. 

"It is the equivalent of requiring every American to file a daily report with the government of every location they visited, every person they talked to on the phone, the time of each call, and the length of every conversation." Jameel Jaffer, ACLU's deputy legal director, said in statement accompanying the challenge, maintaining that the dragnet program is "one of the largest surveillance efforts ever launched by a democratic government against its own citizens." 

For More 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/Embarrassed-USA-closes-ranks-over-snooping-disclosures/articleshow/20566045.cms

Apple Tries To Get The California Tag On The Products \ET\ almost all of them are manufactured overseas . !

New Apple Ad Sells Tech Multinational As Silicon Valley Startup

Apple Designed In California

Apple announced a dizzying number of new products and updates at its closely watched developer's conference in San Francisco on Monday, but perhaps its most original new "thing" was the company's radical attempt at rebranding.

In a new ad, Apple -- one of the most powerful companies the U.S. with a bigger effect on the S&P 500's Technology Index than any other firm -- plays up its California roots in an effort to put a fresh face to familiar products launched at the event. A new commercial, unveiled at WWDC on Monday, ends with Apple's new slogan.

"Designed by Apple in California," already gracing the back of most Apple devices in fine print, is prominently sloganeered in the electronics maker's new ad. Not mentioned is the sentence that directly follows it on iPhones and             iPads: "Assembled in China."

In reality, while Apple's products might be designed in California, almost all of them are manufactured overseas and will continue to be despite some Mac Pro production stateside. Apple has been widely criticized for contracting Foxconn Technology, a Chinese manufacturer that has become known for its unhealthy working conditions, to make many of its products.

For More 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/11/apple-ads_n_3421346.html?ref=topbar

Why Sue Obama ..!! ACLU Suing Obama \ET\ U.S. intelligence Fed’s surveillance foiled 2009 NYC terror plot

ACLU Suing Obama Administration Over Phone Records Gathering

ACLU Suing Obama 

The American Civil Liberties Union and the New York Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Obama administration, challenging the constitutionality of the phone surveillance program revealed by The Guardian.

The suit alleges that the program violates the First and Fourth amendments.

The suit takes issue with the so-called metadata that a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court compelled Verizon Wireless to hand over to the National Security Agency under Section 215 of the Patriot Act.

"The practice is akin to snatching every American’s address book—with annotations detailing whom we spoke to, when we talked, for how long, and from where," said the ACLU in the complaint. "It gives the government a comprehensive record of our associations and public movements, revealing a wealth of detail about our familial, political, professional, religious, and intimate associations."

The organization challenged the constitutionality of the FISA Amendments Act in 2008, and the Supreme Court dismissed it by a 5-4 vote.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/11/aclu-obama_n_3423378.html?ir=Politics

                                               EVEN THOUGH

U.S. intelligence official: Fed’s surveillance foiled 2009 NYC terror plot, amid calls to curb programs

FBI Stops Terrotrist attacks

As calls on Capitol Hill and across the country intensify to rein in surveillance programs, a senior U.S. intelligence official says the federal government's tracking of phone calls and Internet activity helped foil a 2009 terror plot on the New York City subways, the Associated Press reported.

The official's remark follows Michigan Republican Rep. Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, saying Thursday the programs thwarted a terrorism plot.

However, civil libertarians and some members of Congress say the National Security Agency surveillance programs to hunt terrorists were too broad and collected too much information about innocent Americans.

News of the programs -- first about the phone calls, then about the Internet activities -- was revealed late Wednesday and Friday.

In one program, the NSA collected daily records of millions of phone calls made and received by U.S. citizens not suspected of any wrongdoing.

The senior U.S. intelligence official who asserted Friday that the phone records program together with other technical intercepts thwarted the subway plot would not provide other details. The official was not authorized to discuss the plot publicly and requested anonymity.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/06/08/us-intelligence-official-feds-surveillance-foiled-200-nyc-terror-plot-amid/#ixzz2W0Lzn9Lu

"Commitment" Thats How Long It Lasts .

Hollywood couples having 'commitment issues'

Not being able to commit has taken a toll on many Hollywood celebs' love life. H-Town's hottest 'it' couple Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson's rocky romance finally went kaput after Kristen wanted a forever after with her on-off beau. R-Patz now belongs to an exclusive commitment phobic club of Hollywood. Here are some other members:

*Taylor Swift and Harry Styles
*Michelle Williams and Jason Segel
*Kourtney Kardashian
*Julianne Hough and Ryan Seacrest
*Rachel McAdams and Michael Sheen





Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson :
risten Stewart and Robert Pattinson's romance was the stuff every Twihard's dreams were made of. Until Kristen cheated on R-Patz, and left him heartbroken. After a passionate reconciliation Kristen reportedly wanted permanence while Rob wanted to take 'things slowly'. The on-off lovebirds finally called it quits when Rob refused to give in to Kristen's demands and commit.
For More
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hollywood/news-interviews/Hollywood-couples-who-are-having-commitment-issues/articleshow/20539413.cms

                                                       EVEN THOUGH

Robert Pattinson, Katy Perry in love?

Actor Robert Pattinson and Katy Perry have reportedly fallen for each other. The "Twilight" actor even stayed at the singer's home for more than a week.

The two also attended a Bjork concert at the Hollywood Palladium here. They were said to have met up secretly and made their way into the gig together before leaving separately to avoid photographers waiting outside the venue.

Their romance is said to have blossomed as Perry comforted him over his split with "Twilight" co-star Kristen Stewart, who cheated on him with director Rupert Sanders, reports thesun.co.uk.

A source said: "They are both good friends but have been hanging out more and more recently. Rob poured out his heart to Katy about Kristen cheating on him. She proved to be a really good shoulder to cry on."

"He stayed at her house in LA after they went away to Santa Barbara together for few days over American Memorial Day weekend late last month. Their friends say they have now fallen for each other," the source added.

For More

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hollywood/news-interviews/Robert-Pattinson-Katy-Perry-in-love/articleshow/20539795.cms

MAD World On EVEN THOUGH

• Apes get iPads at US National Zoo.
• Saudi teen hides on wedding night to avoid 90-year-old 'husband'.
• Woman discovers that her husband was actually her father.

For More 

http://even7hough.blogspot.in/p/mad-world.html

Youngest Billionaires ..!! First Facebook Team In Top 10

               The Youngest Billionaires 

Dustin Moskovitz

No. 1: Dustin Moskovitz
Age: 28
Net Worth: $3.8 billion

No. 2: Mark Zuckerberg
Age: 28
Net Worth: $13.3 billion

No. 3: Albert von Thurn und Taxis
Age: 29
Net Worth: $1.5 billion

No. 4: Scott Duncan
Age: 30
Net Worth: $5.1 billion

No. 5: Eduardo Saverin
Age: 30
Net Worth: $2.2 billion

No. 6: Huiyan Yang
Age: 31
Net Worth: $5.7 billion

No. 7: Fahd Hariri
Age: 32
Net Worth: $1.35 billion

No. 8: Marie Besnier Beauvalot
Age: 32
Net Worth: $1.5 billion

No. 9: Sean Parker
Age: 33
Net Worth: $2 billion

No. 10: Ayman Hariri
Age: 34
Net Worth: $1.35 billion

For More 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/briansolomon/2013/03/04/the-worlds-youngest-billionaires-23-under-40/