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UK Halts Anti-Pedophile Database
UK Halts Anti-Pedophile Database

UK Halts Anti-Pedophile Database

'Draconian' plan would have registered anyone working with kids

(Newser) - Britain has halted work on a massive pedophile database just weeks before it was to be introduced. Government ministers say the vetting program—which would have required gathering information on 9 million people—will be scaled down and redesigned along "common sense" lines, the Telegraph reports.

TSA Database Tracks Surly Air Travelers

Throw a tantrum and the feds will make note of it

(Newser) - Mind your manners at the airport or it's going on your permanent record. The TSA has a 3-year-old database with information on passengers who pitch a fit during screening by threatening employees or, say, kicking equipment, reports USA Today . So far it's logged 240 incidents, and privacy advocates are predictably...

Through Sheer Power, Google Translate Gets It Right

Similar programs use 1B words, while Google plugs in 100B+

(Newser) - Score one for Google’s “don’t be evil” side as Web surfers reap the benefits of its excellent translation program—thanks to the sheer force of Google's web dominance. Machine translation is a particularly tricky computer problem that programmers now agree is most easily solved by feeding massive...

Database Takes Scholars to Medieval Battlefields

Free searchable database includes facts on salary, health, knighthood

(Newser) - British researchers have posted records of some 250,000 medieval soldiers in a searchable online database, the BBC reports. Now, interested parties can easily learn about the lives of fighters in the Hundred Years’ War, including salary, health, and knighthood information—for free. The “remarkable” records, says one researcher,...

Scotland Yard Secretly Tracking Activists

Civil liberties groups believe database on peaceful protesters may be illegal

(Newser) - British human rights advocates have been alarmed to discover that Scotland Yard keeps a secret database on political activists, the Guardian reports. Surveillance teams have tracked and gathered information on protesters, including thousands of people not suspected of any crime. Personal information on the activists—including their political affiliation—is...

Search Could Be Twitter's Path to the Big Bucks
Search Could Be Twitter's Path to the Big Bucks
ANALYSIS

Search Could Be Twitter's Path to the Big Bucks

Site could offer real-time brand info to firms

(Newser) - Twitter is huge, and while it remains relatively unconcerned with how to monetize its prominent position in the online zeitgeist, a few ideas have popped up, Advertising Age reports. One is search: The micro-blogging site is considering charging firms for detailed metrics on who is saying what about their brand....

'Google-like' System to Link US Intelligence Agencies

Overhaul includes databases, email

(Newser) - The computer databases of the 16 US intelligence agencies soon will be linked, the Wall Street Journal reports. The system comes nearly 5 years after the spy agencies got heat for failing to "connect the dots" before the Sept. 11 attacks. Analysts will be able to search through secret...

State Databases Drop Thousands of Voters

Centralized registration information was intended to clear up discrepancies, but propagated them instead

(Newser) - Thousands of Americans nationwide are facing reams of red tape after new state registration systems booted them from voter rolls, the Washington Post reports. Yesterday the Supreme Court rejected a challenge of 200,000 Ohio voters whose data conflicted with state records, but states such as Montana, Colorado, and Wisconsin...

Feds Compile Database on Border-Crossing US Citizens

Agents will track crossings and store info for 15 years

(Newser) - The federal government has begun tracking the border crossings of US citizens and building a huge database with the information, the Washington Post reports. The data collection, made possible by machine-readable documents, has alarmed privacy groups. The government plans to keep the information for 15 years and share it with...

Obama Donor List Is 'Gigantic'

Database could make him power broker for decades

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s massive donor and networking list—stuffed with data on 2 million people—will make him a major power broker even if his campaign falters, Bloomberg reports. Unlike past hopefuls, Obama has inspired donors to reveal addresses, phone numbers, and even views on specific issues. "It's gigantic,...

Senate Backs Product Safety Crackdown

Sweeping changes in consumer laws

(Newser) - The Senate has passed a tough new product safety measure covering toys, household appliances and thousands of other products. It would ban lead in toys, increase civil penalties for hazardous products tenfold, enable more state regulation and create a database of dangerous items on the market. It also sets up...

Government Typos 'Kill' Thousands
Government Typos 'Kill' Thousands

Government Typos 'Kill' Thousands

People very much alive struggle to convince Social Security they're alive

(Newser) - It's not easy being dead—just ask Laura Todd. The Tennessee woman is one of an estimated 12,000 people a year the government declares dead—often because of a typo in the Social Security database—when they're still very much alive, MSNBC reports. The error can create a financial...

Comcast Launches Web Film, TV Trove

Hub called Fancast will offer 3,000 hours of media, plus listings and data bases

(Newser) - Comcast will offer more than 3,000 hours of film and television titles on a new online venture called Fancast. Users will also be able to use the hub to tap into the vast IMDB database, seek TV listings, and find their way to TV shows and theatrical releases available...

Oracle Blasts Forecasts With 35% Profit

Software maker rides spending spree to another big quarter

(Newser) - Database software-maker Oracle surprised analysts today, reporting its income surged 35 percent in the second quarter to $1.3 billion, thanks to the success of new programs and customer-support contracts. Experts had expected sales of approximately $5.03 billion, Bloomberg reports, but the company boasted sales of $5.36 billion—...

Google Wants You To Map Businesses
Google Wants You To Map Businesses

Google Wants You To Map Businesses

Search giant will hire everyone to collect data at $10 a pop

(Newser) - Google is hiring—and you don't even need to know html. The search giant wants locals to visit pizza joints, ice cream parlors, drugstores, and other businesses as part of a Herculean effort to build a commerce database. An army of freelancers will collect the data, snap a digital photo,...

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