Snowden revelations led to Judge ruling against NSA

"a secret and illegal government scheme to intercept and analyze vast quantities of domestic telephonic communications" -- claim made in Klayman vs Obama case  (see also pdf of decision)

Edward Snowden himself praised the decision.“I acted on my belief that the NSA’s mass surveillance programs would not withstand a constitutional challenge, and that the American public deserved a chance to see these issues determined by open courts. Today, a secret program authorized by a secret court was, when exposed to the light of day, found to violate Americans’ rights. It is the first of many.”" source: POLITICO.com

Stunning revelations from man who sued NSA: "... Klayman brought the case on behalf of Charles Strange, the father of Michael Strange, a cryptologist technician for the NSA and support personnel for Navy SEAL Team VI. Michael Strange was killed in Afghanistan when his helicopter was shot down in 2011. The case asserted that Charles Strange is a subscriber of Verizon Wireless, and as such was bringing suit against NSA and the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as several officia ls in the U.S. government, including President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder. . . ." (read more at the link above)

Judge: NSA phone program likely unconstitutional - Josh Gerstein - POLITICO.com: " . . . The judge went on to conclude that the searches involved in the NSA metadata program were likely not permissible under the Fourth Amendment in part because there was little evidence the program has actually prevented terrorism. . . . "

‘World’s cheapest tablet’ lands in the UK for just £30 | Technology | theguardian.com: "...The UbiSlate features a low-resolution 7in touchscreen, 1GHz processor, 4GB of storage with a microSD card slot, and runs a modified version of Android 4.0.3 “Ice Cream Sandwich”. It comes bundled with a series of apps for education, entertainment, gaming and productivity, aiming to bring computer and internet access to everyone...."

Google's Motorola Loses Bid to Overturn Microsoft Victory

Bloomberg
Motorola Mobility failed to prove the technology covered by Microsoft's patent was previously used in Apple Inc.'s failed Newton personal digital ...

Google removes 'awesome' but unintended privacy controls in ...

ZDNet
Summary: Google's recent update Android 4.4.2 didn't bring many changes, but it did break off a privacy feature that slipped into KitKat by accident.

Apple Insider

Apple ships first OS X Mavericks update, tackles more email issues

Computerworld
Three of the vulnerabilities were originally reported by Google's Chrome ...Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and ...

Apple Insider

Google Glass Upgrade Arrives Just in Time for New Year's

Mashable
Google is ready to send the upgraded version of Google Glass starting the week of Dec. 30, according to an email Mashable received from the Glass ...

International Business Times UK

Apple's 64-bit A7 SoC 'set off panic' for chipmakers

Apple Insider
Apple caught market-leading chipmakers off guard when it debuted the 64-bit A7 system-on-chip alongside the iPhone 5s in September, a move one ...

Apple Insider

Amazon May Be Going for Payments Startup GoPago

Wall Street Journal (blog)
Amazon.com may be nearing a deal to buy payments startup GoPago, potentially putting it in more direct competition with eBay's PayPal, Square and ...

SlashGear

Amazon Prime Offers Free Holiday Shipping through Sunday ...

MarketWatch
Become a member of Amazon Prime to take advantage of this fast, free ...For delivery by Christmas, visit amazon.com/holiday-shipping for details.

Albany Times Union

Apple Dominating Small And Medium Business Mobile Device ...

Forbes
Intermedia is a third-party provider of hosted Microsoft Microsoft exchange with almost 700,000 business users. Its customer base is small and medium ...

Women Citizen

Google's pop-up store uses technology to tempt shoppers

Baltimore Sun
Soni tested out a Google Nexus 7 tablet, then announced to his wife, ... He cites Apple's retail stores, and pop-up shops by Microsoft and Samsung. ... Forte says even Amazon, which is increasingly selling hardware such as the ...

Google's top searches peer into society's mindset

San Jose Mercury News
The iPhone 5S, the latest upgrade in Apple's most popular product line, ... during the previous two weeks by its main search rivals—Microsoft Corp.

Tech Firms Push to Control Web's Pipes
Wall Street Journal
Technology giants like Google and Facebook are expanding efforts to control more of the world's Internet backbone, raising tensions with telecom companies over who runs the Web. Spencer Ante joins MoneyBeat. Photo: Getty Images. In the past year, these ...

Microsoft Executive to Oversee Health Website
Wall Street Journal
Mr. DelBene, who served as president of the Microsoft Office Division, will be a senior adviser to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and will oversee the HealthCare.gov project and the troubled health-insurance marketplace.

Apple reveals top app downloads of 2013: Candy wins
USA TODAY
The game itself, launched in November 2012 and available for free on the Apple and Android platforms, has over 500 million downloads and has been played over 150 billion times, according to developer King. APP OF ... "People are more engaged with their ...

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