Hasta La Gadget!

From the NSA to Mozilla, it seems like everyone wants to track your online activity (because you’re so interesting, of course). Pinterest is the latest to jump on that bandwagon, but the company is keen to assure users that it’s completely down with Do Not Track. In a blog post introducing its most recent update, Pinterest spelled out what its latest addition — the “Edit Home Feed” option — means for its users’ privacy. Basically, you can now tailor your feed to provide you with content related to what you’ve been pinning. Additionally, Pinterest can track your activity on other sites (so long as they feature a “Pin It” button) to suggest boards based on your interests, though users can easily opt out under their account settings. With public concern over online tracking at an all time high (Thanks, PRISM!), Pinterest evidently didn’t want to get caught on the wrong side of the divide.

Filed under: Internet

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Via: The New York Times

Source: Pinterest

When you walk into a brick and mortar retail store like a Nordstrom, Cabela, or even Family Dollar, you’re being tracked around the store. Not by an over-suspicious security guard, but by the store’s wireless network, using your phone’s Wi-Fi. The store then uses your phone to track you around the store, determine if you’re a repeat visitor, see what departments you visit, and more. Here’s how they do it, and how to stop them.

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In a blog post today, Twitter announced that they’re "experimenting with new ways of targeting ads," which is their way of saying they’re planning to track you around the web—even when you leave Twitter—and relay that information to advertisers to craft better ads. Here’s how to opt out.

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Researchers at the University of Tokyo’s Ishikawa Oku Lab have been hard at work on a camera system that can track fast moving objects incredibly well, and the technology may change the way sports like baseball and soccer are televised. Recently, the team building the system has entered the next phase of testing: taking it outside, to see if will perform as well as it has in a lab setting. If all goes according to plan, they expect it’ll be ready for broadcast use in roughly two years.

Demos of the tech are pretty impressive, as you can see in the video below showing the (warning: not recommended watching for those easily prone to motion sickness). To get the ping-pong ball-centric shots, the system uses a group of lenses and two small mirrors that pan, tilt and move so the camera itself doesn’t have to. The mirrors rely on a speedy image tracking system that follows movement, rather than predicting it. Swapping the camera out for a projector also has some interesting applications — it can paint digital pictures on whatever its tracking. Sounds like the perfect gadget for folks who wish their table tennis balls looked like emoji.

Filed under: Cameras, Alt

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Via: Diginfo

Source: Ishikawa Oku Laboratory

With all the coverage PRSIM and the NSA’s data collection have been getting recently, it’s no surprise that the US government is eager to rationalize its actions. The crux of the latest defense seems to be that the government isn’t using its treasure trove of data very often: according to recently declassified documents, the NSA used the database to investigate less than 300 phone numbers last year. These efforts reportedly prevented terrorist actions in more than 20 countries.

It’s a small assurance, but a vague one, and the NSA knows it — according to the Associated Press, the organization is trying to get the records of these thwarted plots declassified to demonstrate the program’s value to concerned citizens. The reveal of such data might be a convincing argument, but disquieting revelations continue to roll out: members of congress are now reporting that the NSA has acknowledged that it does not need court authorization to listen to domestic phone calls. Either way, we’re certainly open to more government transparency.

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Via: CNET (1), (2)

Source: AP