Hasta La Gadget!

As if people weren’t already paranoid or suspicious that their government could be tracking them or spying on it, it seems that over in the UK, the government has proposed a new bill that would make it official in which internet service providers are expected to keep records on their users, thus allowing them to hand over user-information to law enforcement agencies upon request.

The idea is to link internet protocol (IP) addresses to specific devices, like smartphones, laptops, tablets, and so on, in hopes that they will be able to identify who is using what and when. The goal is to combat terrorism threats and the growth of online child sexual exploitation, which while noble in concept, has led to civil liberties campaigners to compare it against an earlier bill that had been dubbed a “snoopers charter”.

However despite the concern, some groups have acknowledged that in principle, this bill is not actually a bad thing. According to Emma Carr, the director of Big Brother Watch, “We need to see what this legislation would look like. As a principle it’s not necessarily a bad thing.” However some security experts have questioned the proposal and have pointed out some of its flas.

Tom Gaffney of F-Secure has mentioned that this proposal will not work simply because users are able to mask their IP addresses and routing their traffic through alternate networks around the world. Of course not every criminal in the world knows how to do this, but presumably the ones that do will have an easier time evading the authorities. There is no doubt that this is a controversial bill, so we’ll just have to wait and see how it plays out during Home Secretary Theresa May’s speech which is expected to take place on Monday.

UK Government Wants ISPs To Start Keeping Records Of Its Users , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

The American Music Awards took over Los Angeles on Sunday, and unsurprisingly it was outrageous.

Fergie arrived on a psychedelic tour bus, Jordin Sparks looked like a lost member of The Supremes in a bronze sequin gown and Meghan Trainor carried her brother’s inhaler in her lip-shaped purse. We’re still waiting to see if Taylor Swift can manage to top her amazing look from last year, and are keeping our fingers crossed for a Beyoncé sighting. But we think it’s safe to say the AMAs glam is in full force.

Here are all the major American Music Awards red carpet looks, from the good to the awful. Which is your favorite outfit of the night?

Jordin Sparks left jaws on the floor on the American Music Awards red carpet Sunday night with a low-cut, high slit golden frock.

Sparks, 24, paired her stunning floor-length dress with black sandals, jewels by Orit Mesica, and wore her hair down in soft waves. The songstress is set to host the AMA red carpet with Lance Bass.

Artists like Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, One Direction and Jennifer Lopez are scheduled to take the stage later in the night.

Ta6yking a spin on the #AMAs red carpet with @jordinsparks 🙂 https://t.co/S2oYcx5J4L

— AMAs (@TheAMAs) November 23, 2014

Feeling so glam in my @orkamesicajewelry! #AMAS ✨

A photo posted by Jordin Sparks (@jordinsparks) on Nov 11, 2014 at 2:40pm PST

I didn’t expect to, but my eyes just kept filling up with tears and suddenly they were drizzling out the side of my eyes. I was standing on the street corner of Oak and Gough in what had been for decades a dangerous and rough part of San Francisco. But slowly the creative class had begun to move in – artists, musicians, people who devoted their lives to preserving old books, small clothing designers and retailers who collected 1950s furniture when people just discarded on the street or gave it to Goodwill. Food artists in the form of chefs had dusted out abandoned storefronts in the neighborhood, chiseling off years of neglect on the windows to try new recipes, new concepts. Many had failed. Some of these pioneers had become the city’s new icons.

When I felt the salty water dripping down my cheek I was attending a rally in front of the apartment of close friends. Not behind on their rent, they were days away from being evicted from the place they have called home for 25 years. The landlord was using a provision in a California law, the Ellis Act to kick them out. Suddenly studios in the neighborhood – if you could find them – were renting for as much as $3500/month and property owners were seized by the dollar signs. Many owners had waited years for property value appreciation; others saw an opportunity to do a quick flip.

While evictions tell only a small piece of the story, it’s clear that San Francisco has contracted full-blown heart disease. San Francisco lost so much of its talent and spirit from the HIV virus back in the 80s and 90s. It was quietly at first, but now not so quietly, experiencing a new epidemic. Only this time it was caused by something we had all hoped for – an economic virus of success.

People who attended the rally feared for a city losing not just the creative class, but also long term renters who provide the range of services needed in the city and those in non-profits protecting people slammed by domestic violence or other social services.

Those secure in their homes, viewing this crisis from afar and trying to be positive suggested, ‘How sad, but they could move to Oakland.’ Yes, Oakland like Brooklyn in NYC has blossomed as a new center for the creative class in the Bay Area. We should all celebrate the vibrancy of the East Bay. But seeding all the creative and service classes to Oakland is the wrong approach. It would be like carving the heart out of SF.

It might work for football, but not for creativity. The 49ers in August packed their bags and moved 44 miles south to a new stadium, named after an iconic San Francisco company, Levis. And for less than ten days a year the team plays home games, you can board a train or bus or hop in a car to get there or watch on them on TV. Doesn’t work that way for innovation.

A functioning economy needs continuous creativity and innovation and a critical mass of talent paired with a mash-up of different sites, smells, ideas, and interactions – some wanted, some experienced serendipitously and even some that challenge or even offend.

Some tech leaders and local elected officials are pushing for more housing and activists for a moratorium on evictions. However, the spread of this heart disease can’t wait. And patience only means more destruction.

The causes and solutions are complex but possible. If only we would bring the same disruptive thinking that home-grown companies like Kiva did to create a new source of funds for lending to poor people in the world raising over $1 million/day or Levi Strauss brought to market the staple of all wardrobes, blue jeans or Cisco that invented the gear to power the internet. And the breakthrough solution is likely to be both some of the old ideas repurposed and some brand new ones.

As I stood at the rally, I was reminded of the impatience of Larry Kramer. Upon watching more and more of his friends die of AIDS in the early and mid-eighties and frustrated with the slow response, he wrote a play to bring wider attention to the epidemic. When that didn’t seem to generate enough progress, he made many uncomfortable by turning to direct action. While the virus is still claiming new people every year, it is a fraction of what it once was and thousands are thriving despite the disease, because of the innovations impatience drove.

The iconic Cable Cars or even the Golden Gate Bridge have never been the real heart of San Francisco. For many international cities have architectural icons. The heart of this city is truly it’s creative class combined with its working and immigrant classes.

So much more is at stake here, than just housing.

DAVID A. LIEB & ANDALE GROSS, Associated Press

FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — Despite preparations for a weekend decision in the Ferguson shooting case, the grand jurors apparently need more time to deliberate, and the uncertainty just seemed to feed the anxiety and speculation Sunday in a city already on edge.

More than 3½ months have passed since police Officer Darren Wilson, who is white, killed unarmed black 18-year-old Michael Brown after a confrontation in the middle of a street in the St. Louis suburb. The shooting triggered riots and looting, and police responded with armored vehicles and tear gas.

Many in the area thought a grand jury decision on whether to charge Wilson with a crime would be announced Sunday, based partly on a stepped-up police presence in the preceding days, including the setting up of barricades around the building where the panel was meeting.

The grand jurors met Friday but apparently didn’t reach a decision, and they were widely expected to reconvene on Monday, though there was no official confirmation of that.

During church services Sunday, some pastors encouraged their flocks not to fret.

A choir sang, “We need you Lord right now” at the predominantly black Greater Grace Church in Ferguson. The pastor, Bishop L.O. Jones, referred to the pending grand jury decision briefly.

“Everybody stand to your feet and tell somebody, ‘Don’t be afraid. God is still in control,'” Jones said as church members repeated after him.

The Rev. Freddy Clark of Shalom Church in nearby Florissant told the mostly black interdenominational congregation that “justice will be served” whichever way the decision goes, because God will take care of it.

“None of us are pleased about what happened,” said parishioner James Tatum. “Whatever the verdict is, we have to understand that’s the verdict.”

As they wait, some people have continued daily protests, while speculation has grown that the delays are intentional.

“People feel like it’s been engineered, so that the results wouldn’t come out until after the election and until the weather got cold, and it would be more difficult to protest,” said Susan McGraugh, supervisor of the Criminal Defense Clinic at the Saint Louis University School of Law. “It’s really adding fuel to the fire.”

Wilson has remained out of public view since the shooting, though CNN reported Sunday that he has met with network anchors to discuss possible interviews. Don Lemon and Anderson Cooper, both of CNN, each said on Twitter that they had met with Wilson.

St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch had said he expected a grand jury decision by mid-to-late November. But that’s not ultimately in his control.

The 12-person grand jury deliberates in secret, without McCulloch, and sets its own schedule depending upon when the members are available.

It’s not uncommon for deliberations to take a while in complex cases when, such as in the Brown shooting, self-defense is alleged or there are two widely conflicting versions of events, said Cole County Prosecutor Mark Richardson, who is not involved in the Ferguson case.

Downtown STL Inc., a St. Louis civic group that promotes downtown businesses, told members in an email Saturday that the grand jury will reconvene Monday to continue deliberating. The email did not explain how the group knew that, and McCulloch’s office has not commented on the grand jury’s schedule.

If jurors meet Monday, there is no guarantee they will reach a decision that day, or even this week.

“In the course of their deliberations, if one grand juror convinces the others that ‘Look, we need to hear from an additional witness,’ and they all agree, the prosecutor’s got a duty to bring that witness in,” Richardson said.

When the panel reaches a decision, it will be up to McCulloch to publicize it.

Sunday would have been an opportune time to minimize disruptions from protests, since schools and governments are planning on only a partial work week because of Thanksgiving, said Peter Joy, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis. He said Monday or Tuesday would still make sense.

But “my belief is that with the holiday, releasing it on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday would produce a negative reaction,” Joy said.

___

Lieb reported from Jefferson City. Follow David A. Lieb at: https://twitter.com/DavidALieb

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.