Why DOJ didn't need a 'super search warrant' to snoop on Fox News' e-mail

If attorney general Eric Holder wanted to perform even a momentary Internet wiretap on Fox News' e-mail accounts, he would have had to persuade a judge to approve what lawyers call a "super search warrant."

A super search warrant's requirements are exacting: Intercepted communications must be secured and placed under seal. Real-time interception must be done only as a last resort. Only certain crimes qualify for this technique, the target must be notified, and additional restrictions apply to state and local police conducting real-time intercepts.

But because of the way federal law was written nearly half a century ago, Holder was able to obtain a normal search warrant -- lacking those extensive privacy protections -- that allowed federal agents to secretly obtain up to six years of email correspondence between Fox News correspondent James Rosen and his alleged sources.

Pixelmator 2.2 Surpasses 500,000 Downloads in Its First Week | MacTrast

Earlier, we told you about a major new update to Pixelmator, a popular and affordable Photoshop competitor for Mac. The update introduced over 100 new features – and Pixelmator’s customers were swift to show their appreciation by downloading over 500,000 copies of Pixelmator 2.2 in just one week!

Pixelmator 2.2 Surpasses 500,000 Downloads in Its First Week | MacTrast

Amtrak boosts WiFi on select trains, more upgrades coming this summer

There are plenty of wonderful things about train travel: the leg room, the scenery, the lack of security pat-downs. The WiFi, on the other hand, has long been the slowest thing about Amtrak. The company announced today that it's finally doing something about its frustratingly sluggish service, upgrading wireless on select trains, including the Acela express between Boston and Washington DC and a few California lines like the Capitol Corridor, Pacific Surfliner and San Joaquin. Travelers to other destinations will have to wait a bit longer for quicker load times -- Amtrak has promised that the rest of its WiFi-equipped trains will be upgraded by "late summer."

Amtrak boosts WiFi on select trains, more upgrades coming this summer

Apple vs. Android: The Open Factor | Tech.pinions - Perspective, Insight, Analysis

Judging by the comments on John Kirk’s post “Android’s Market Share Is Literally a Joke,” we are well into another operating system religious war. As is always the case in religious wars, it’s tough to make sense of the the arguments. As Harry McCracken notes at Time Techland, we can’t agree who is winning because we can’t agree on what “winning” means.

Advocates often argue that victory for Android is inevitable because Google’s platform is more open and open always triumphs over closed. That proposition is debatable at best. But the arguments is muddled by the confusion of several different concepts of openness. I’m going to try to at least clarify the terms of the debate. There are at least three concepts of open clamoring for our attention; I am going to call them open hardware, open software, and open systems.

- See more at: http://techpinions.com/apple-vs-android-the-open-factor/17049#sthash.aQrejf4O.dpuf

Apple vs. Android: The Open Factor | Tech.pinions - Perspective, Insight, Analysis

Google may build wireless networks in emerging markets, WSJ says | Mobile - CNET News

Google is reportedly going into the cellular business in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia in an effort to connect more people to the Internet

Yeah! I am celebrating Geek Pride Day.

Friday Poll: Are you celebrating Geek Pride Day? | Crave - CNET

Microsoft’s cheap shot at Apple’s iPad actually spotlights exactly why Windows 8 tablets suck (with video) – MacDailyNews - Welcome Home

A brand new Windows 8 ad pits the iPad against Microsoft’s Windows 8 tablet, in an attempt to show how much more versatile the Asus VivoTab is vs. the iOS device,” Darrell Etherington writes for TechCrunch.
“Microsoft uses Siri’s voice (which isn’t difficult, given that it’s a fairly generic computer-generated female tone) to highlight what the Windows 8 tablet can do that the iPad can’t,” Etherington writes. “The problem is that not only is the Siri construct weak and her actual lines poorly written, but the abilities Microsoft chooses to highlight show exactly why it doesn’t ‘get’ the tablet market. People aren’t looking for multitasking PowerPoint slide deck-creating machines; they have computers for that.”

Read more at http://macdailynews.com/2013/05/23/microsofts-cheap-shot-at-apples-ipad-actually-spotlights-exactly-why-windows-8-tablets-suck-with-video/#MrL2Dzst6p4HRjuu.99

Vint Cerf: Social conventions have not kept up with technology | Internet & Media - CNET News

Speaking of Glass, Google's chief Internet evangelist predicted, "It may be we will have to experience some damage before we discover what the social conventions are."

Vint Cerf: Social conventions have not kept up with technology | Internet & Media - CNET News

All In : What happens when a tornado hits?

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

All In : What happens when a tornado hits?

Google Reader, Google Plus and the Future of Social Networks

Though more informed people seem to be treating the notion as speculative or wistful, it seems clear to me that Google GOOG -0.01% intends to deliver the underlying service of Google Reader in Google Plus. Instead of subscribing to the RSS, you simply follow the blog in question.* This makes sense and is the obvious evolution of Google Plus as your “Window to the World.”

This is basically the same idea as the old Portals except now the window is “curated” by your social network. Since, this is how actual human beings interact with the world – through the lense of their ingroups – this should be perfectly natural. As widely mentioned the circles feature maps on to how real networks behave and if you can keep the boundary between the circles firm, it should mimic natural human behavior well enough for ‘Work’ – as in your actual workplace network, not just you work friends – to be essentially no different than “Family” or “Drinking Buddies” or what have you.

Google Reader, Google Plus and the Future of Social Networks

Surprise: Yahoo's mobile push is working better than you think

Don’t look now but it looks like Yahoo’s mobile apps push is bearing fruit, at least according to new data from Onavo.

Case in point: Yahoo Weather, which rolled out recently, already has what Onavo CEO Guy Rosen calls an “unprecedented” 3 percent market share among U.S. iPhone owners. That’s about 1.5 million users total which makes it the 91st most popular iPhone app three weeks after release, according to Onavo Insights data. That’s very good for a new app, Rosen said in an interview.

Other Yahoo mobile apps including Yahoo Messenger and the Yahoo app are also doing well. “In general, what we found is that although Yahoo has been quiet on mobile, when we look at the top apps, we see quite a few up there. They have a decent footprint.”

Surprise: Yahoo's mobile push is working better than you think

Google's Plan To Take Over The World

Google's big keynote at its I/O developers conference this week wore me out.

Not because it lasted a grueling three hours and fifty minutes, but because of what was announced. With every new product update, every new feature, every new virtual service, it became more and more clear that Google isn't just a search company that makes loads of cash by showing you ads. It's creeping into every aspect of our digital, physical, and private lives at an exponential rate. 

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/googles-plan-to-take-over-the-world-2013-5#ixzz2TtQgTCOE

Google's Plan To Take Over The World

Is computing speed set to make a quantum leap?

Quantum mechanics research could hold the key to a new generation of super-fast computers

Is computing speed set to make a quantum leap?