Hasta La Gadget!

Julian Assange is a man without a home. The Australian-born hacker was rejected by Sweden after applying for permanent residency last month. He’s got a few things working against him, after all. First there’s the fact that governments all over the world hate him for his hand in creating Wikileaks, a site devoted to the release of classified information.

And then there are those molestation and rape charges he was hit with in Sweden, back in August, after appearing at a seminar in Stockholm.

While plenty of countries wouldn’t touch Assange with a ten foot pole (except, perhaps, for the opportunity to prosecute him), Ecuador is ready to welcome him with open arms. The country has invited Assange to discuss documents. Its foreign ministry has also offered to reviewed a residency request “in accordance with the country’s current laws,” according to CNN.

Ecuador is apparently looking to Assange to help shed some light on the country’s troubled relationship with the United States.

You had to know something interesting would come out of the quarter million diplomatic cables that WikiLeaks just, well, leaked late on Sunday, and the New York Times has picked out a doozie for us. As it turns out, that big brouhaha in China surrounding the hacking of Gmail accounts was actually a state-authorized attack. Such was the report from a Chinese informant working for the US embassy, and the disclosure goes on to say that it was part of a “coordinated campaign of computer sabotage,” reaching a wide net of targets, including American government machines, American private businesses, and… the Dalai Lama. Hey, China’s hardly the first country to ever engage in state-sponsored cyber espionage (ahem, Stuxnet), but we can’t say we’re not disappointed. Let’s keep it classy from here on out, alright guys?

WikiLeaks: Chinese Politburo responsible for Google hacking originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Nov 2010 05:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re not sure what the humble DSLR has ever done to offend the Kuwaiti government, but, according to the Kuwait Times, the recreational use of Digital Single-Lens Reflex cameras has now been outlawed in the country. The Ministries of Information, Social Affairs and Finance (hello, 1984!) have collectively decided to ban the use of the chunky shooters in public places, except where it can be shown that it’s for journalistic purposes. This decision has left a lot of people scratching their heads, not least because every self-respecting smartphone nowadays can pump out screen-filling images. And then there’s also the matter of determining where the line between compact cameras, which are still allowed, and DSLRs resides — for example, is the Lumix G2 an illegal shooter just because it looks like one?

Kuwait bans DSLRs, leaves Micro Four Thirds question hanging in the air originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Nov 2010 05:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google has filed a lawsuit in the US Court of Federal Claims against the US Department of the Interior for being what it claims as “unduly restrictive of competition.” Apparently the DOI wrote up procurement requirements for a hosted email and collaboration solution (it’s currently hobbling along with 13 different platforms for its 88,000 users) that specifically stated the software had to be part of the Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite. Google thinks there should be a competitive procurement process for the $59 million contract, allowing for potential alternatives to Microsoft (like Google Apps, for instance). The DOI says it’s up for open competition on the contract, but it’s “standardized” on Microsoft tech. We’ll have to see how this plays out.

Google suing US Department of the Interior for Google Apps snub originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Nov 2010 10:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Politicians do love themselves a sharp and emotive turn of phrase, of which few are as good as “bill shock.” That’s the term the FCC has used to sum up all those instances when you’ve had unexpected surcharges on your monthly wireless bill, caused by unknowingly going outside the bounds of your geographical coverage or monthly allowance. Seeing this issue as something it could help alleviate, the Commission set up a Consumer Task Force back in May in an effort to seek out solutions, and now it has returned with perhaps the most obvious one: getting your network operator to shoot out a voice or text message warning you when you’re about to incur costs outside of your normal plan. That’s basically what AT&T already does with iPad owners approaching their monthly data limits, which the federales see as a good practice that should be extended across all carriers. We can see no good reason why it shouldn’t.

FCC set to approve rules compelling carriers to alert you when you’re about to go over your limit originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Oct 2010 03:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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