Sep 25
What the hell. The NYPD has released statistics that imply, basically, that Apple product theft makes up 14 percent of all reported crime in the city. It’s absurd and sad and sort of predictable but mostly just the sad and absurd. More »
Sep 24
To crafty thieves, a bike locked up on the street looks like free money. Even if you’re using one of the finest locks in the world, your bike is still pretty easy to jack. We proved it with an angle grinder, and our friends at PopSci proved it with science. More »
Sep 20
Dear police: Feel free to tase children at will. According to a new study reviewing 100 cases in which tasers were used to subdue adolescent suspects, doctors found that the kids were just fine afterwards. Hurray for brutality! More »
Sep 14
Apple’s iPhone has had its crime-fighting capabilities detailed before, but a new story today out of Atlanta (via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution) has its Find My iPhone feature helping to catch two suspects in an armed robbery case. After five women were held up at gunpoint near the Biltmore Hotel last night in the Georgia state capital, police tracked one of their stolen iPhones to an apartment and nabbed the suspects.
A tipster tells us that police used Find My iPhone, the service that Apple makes available to iCloud users who also own iPhone, iPod touch, Mac, and iPad hardware, to track the device. Find My iPhone has helped in arrests a number of times in the past, including in an armed robbery case reported by the L.A. Times last November.
The suspects in the case were both on probation when they were arrested, and police say the investigation is ongoing and others might still be involved. Find My iPhone actually has more useful features in store in iOS 6, including a method for tracking a device’s progress and marking its route on a map, so you don’t just see where it is, but also where it has been since it left your possession, which could theoretically help authorities build a timeline of events in cases like this one.
Sep 13
Crazy Footage of Robbers Driving Through the Glass Door of an Apple Store [Video]
Posted in: Today's Chili
Okay! This is nuts. These dumb idiots broke through the glass facade of a Los Angeles Apple store with A BMW SUV to rob its iPads, iPods, and iPhones. And were nabbed red-handed because the license plate got stuck in the metal grating. More »
Sep 12
New ‘nano-code’ could help fight banknote forgery by embedding invisible QR-style ciphers
Posted in: Today's Chili 
We’ve all seen (and probably used) QR codes at some point. And, handy as they are for quick linking to apps, or value added content etc, there’s usually not much else going on. Unless you’re one of the team at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, that is, who have created a tiny version of the quadrilateral-codes that could be used to spot counterfeit money. The invention uses nanoparticles combined with blue and green fluorescent ink, and can be sprayed onto surfaces such as glass, plastic film, or of course, pictures of American presidents. The nano-code remains invisible until placed under a near-infrared laser, making it ideal for helping spot legit bank notes. The creators say they have done significant wear tests, which suggest that it’s durable, but they also accept that eventually criminal technology could eventually catch up, in the constant cat and mouse game between mandated money producers and forgers. Whether there’d be links to the Benjamin Franklin Wiki page is unclear.
New ‘nano-code’ could help fight banknote forgery by embedding invisible QR-style ciphers originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 Sep 2012 00:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sep 09
FBI to roll out $1 billion public facial recognition system in 2014, will be on to your evildoing everywhere
Posted in: Today's Chili 
They’re watching you — or at least will be in a couple of years. That’s when the FBI is gearing up for a nationwide launch of a $1 billion project designed to identify people of interest, according to the New Scientist. Dubbed the Next Generation Identification (NGI) program, the high-tech endeavor uses biometric data such as DNA analysis, iris scans and voice identification to track down folks with a criminal history. The FBI also plans to take NGI on the road literally by using public cameras to pick faces from the crowd and cross check them with its national repository of images. Let’s just say this facial technology isn’t going to be used for lighthearted Japanese vocaloid hijinks or unlocking your electronic device. The use and scope of NGI, which kicked off a pilot program in February, will likely be questioned not just by black helicopter watchers but privacy advocates as well. Facial recognition has certainly been a touchy issue in privacy circles — something Facebook learned firsthand in Germany. Meanwhile, the Electronic Frontier Foundation is already raising concerns about innocent civilians being mixed up or included in the database. Naturally, the FBI claims that the NGI program is in compliance with the U.S. Privacy Act. On the positive side, at least they didn’t name it the Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System.
Filed under: Misc
FBI to roll out $1 billion public facial recognition system in 2014, will be on to your evildoing everywhere originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 09 Sep 2012 08:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sep 04
If You Stab Someone Don’t Steal Their iPhone Because the Police Will Use Find My iPhone to Catch You [Wtf]
Posted in: Today's Chili
Here’s a nominee for silliest way to get caught for committing a horrible crime of the year: A man stabbed a woman in a domestic dispute in Los Angeles and then stole her iPhone. Unfortunately for him—you already know where this is going—the police used Find My iPhone to determine the man’s location and promptly arrested him. More »
Aug 22
It’s been almost half a year since LulzSec mastermind Hector “Sabu” Monsegur turned on his people in one of the most dramatic turns of hacking history. And in order to get another half away from a judge, he’s still snitching. More »
Aug 21
Online Prostitution Laws Are Out of Date and Letting Internet Pimps Off the Hook [Crime]
Posted in: Today's Chili
According to legal experts, the laws that have been regulating prostitution have left giant loopholes when it comes to online prostitution. So though real life brothels can still be policed with those old laws, brothels that originate and operate over the Internet have managed to escape the law. Ruh Roh. More »
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