7:50 PM
Russia launched a $650 billion plan to counter the West's military dominance by adding 8 nuclear submarines and hundreds of warplanes to completely overhaul their armed forces. Their plan is that by 2020 they will add 20 submarines, 600+ warplanes, 100 ships, and 1,000 helicopters:
http://www.asdnews.com/news/33757/Russia_launches_$650_bn_military_spending_drive.htm
Georgia lawmaker (called 'the conscience of the Republican Caucus') has proposed a bill that classifies miscarriages as prenatal murder! So, a miscarriage can be considered a felony that can be punishable by *death*:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110225/ts_yblog_thelookout/georgia-lawmaker-proposes-classifying-miscarriages-as-prenatal-murder
The coldest storm of the season is hitting the Bay Area now...it is hard to believe that kids in San Jose could have snowball fights tomorrow morning! The strong gusts of wind have already knocked out the power to 10,000+ homes...no power with freezing cold weather is not a great combination:
http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_17481253?source=rss&nclick_check=1
Ice cream parlor is going to be selling "Baby Gaga", an ice cream made from breast milk:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110225/hl_nm/us_breastmilk_icecream
More than *150,000* Symbian-based mobile phones in China has been infected with a spyware that enables a third party to secretly eavesdrop on conversations (the spyware activates the phone's conference call feature when a call is made). The spyware can also remotely activate a phone's speaker (so it can hear nearby sounds even when the phone is not in use) and can steal incoming text and e-mail messages:
http://www.infoworld.com/t/mobile-security/eavesdropping-trojan-hits-150000-symbian-phones-in-china-790
Android smartphones do not encrypt data sent to and from Facebook and Google Calendar--Facebook has their always-on SSL encryption setting, but the setting apparently is NOT used on the smartphone platform. The official Facebook app was shown to transmit everything except for the password without any protection--all private messages, photos, and all other transactions are visible to eavesdroppers without protection. Facebook warns users to be careful when using unsecured WiFi networks, but they never told users that their smartphone app doesn't encrypt traffic. Google said that they will encrypt traffic to Google Calendar on Android in a future maintenance release:
http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/android-apps-send-private-data-clear
T-Mobile lost 318,000 net postpaid subscribers last quarter, much higher than the 117,000 net postpaid losses it had in the year-ago quarter. An analyst called that "Sprint-esque", noting that T-Mobile lost *10x* more subscribers than expected. T-Mobile's parent company, Deutsche Telekom, last $803 mil last quarter, compared with a $4.1 mil loss in the year-ago quarter:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/t-mobile-usa-sheds-318k-postpaid-subscribers-q4/2011-02-25
Dish Networks' CEO said that Dish has no "grand strategy at this point" to use all of the spectrum it is gathering to make some type of wireless venture. Through a series of acquisitions, Dish may actually obtain as much 3G/4G spectrum as Sprint and T-Mobile have! A company like Verizon or AT&T might want to acquire Dish to get all of that spectrum, or Dish could use their spectrum to get a nice deal with one of the wireless carriers to get a bundling arrangement:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/dishs-ergen-no-grand-strategy-spectrum-play/2011-02-24
Pro hockey is HUGE in Canada...but on Wednesday *curling* outdrew the NHL game (Edmonton vs. Colorado) on TV:
http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Curling/TournamentOfHearts/2011/02/24/17398211.html
http://www.asdnews.com/news/33757/Russia_launches_$650_bn_military_spending_drive.htm
Georgia lawmaker (called 'the conscience of the Republican Caucus') has proposed a bill that classifies miscarriages as prenatal murder! So, a miscarriage can be considered a felony that can be punishable by *death*:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110225/ts_yblog_thelookout/georgia-lawmaker-proposes-classifying-miscarriages-as-prenatal-murder
The coldest storm of the season is hitting the Bay Area now...it is hard to believe that kids in San Jose could have snowball fights tomorrow morning! The strong gusts of wind have already knocked out the power to 10,000+ homes...no power with freezing cold weather is not a great combination:
http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_17481253?source=rss&nclick_check=1
Ice cream parlor is going to be selling "Baby Gaga", an ice cream made from breast milk:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110225/hl_nm/us_breastmilk_icecream
More than *150,000* Symbian-based mobile phones in China has been infected with a spyware that enables a third party to secretly eavesdrop on conversations (the spyware activates the phone's conference call feature when a call is made). The spyware can also remotely activate a phone's speaker (so it can hear nearby sounds even when the phone is not in use) and can steal incoming text and e-mail messages:
http://www.infoworld.com/t/mobile-security/eavesdropping-trojan-hits-150000-symbian-phones-in-china-790
Android smartphones do not encrypt data sent to and from Facebook and Google Calendar--Facebook has their always-on SSL encryption setting, but the setting apparently is NOT used on the smartphone platform. The official Facebook app was shown to transmit everything except for the password without any protection--all private messages, photos, and all other transactions are visible to eavesdroppers without protection. Facebook warns users to be careful when using unsecured WiFi networks, but they never told users that their smartphone app doesn't encrypt traffic. Google said that they will encrypt traffic to Google Calendar on Android in a future maintenance release:
http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/android-apps-send-private-data-clear
T-Mobile lost 318,000 net postpaid subscribers last quarter, much higher than the 117,000 net postpaid losses it had in the year-ago quarter. An analyst called that "Sprint-esque", noting that T-Mobile lost *10x* more subscribers than expected. T-Mobile's parent company, Deutsche Telekom, last $803 mil last quarter, compared with a $4.1 mil loss in the year-ago quarter:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/t-mobile-usa-sheds-318k-postpaid-subscribers-q4/2011-02-25
Dish Networks' CEO said that Dish has no "grand strategy at this point" to use all of the spectrum it is gathering to make some type of wireless venture. Through a series of acquisitions, Dish may actually obtain as much 3G/4G spectrum as Sprint and T-Mobile have! A company like Verizon or AT&T might want to acquire Dish to get all of that spectrum, or Dish could use their spectrum to get a nice deal with one of the wireless carriers to get a bundling arrangement:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/dishs-ergen-no-grand-strategy-spectrum-play/2011-02-24
Pro hockey is HUGE in Canada...but on Wednesday *curling* outdrew the NHL game (Edmonton vs. Colorado) on TV:
http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Curling/TournamentOfHearts/2011/02/24/17398211.html