With the passage of AB 1844, the California State Assembly has effectively banned employers from requiring access to their workers social media accounts. Several states already outlawing the practice and a national ban is in the works, employers will soon have a much harder time snooping through your online life. Now would be a good time to tighten your privacy settings.
via California Passes Law Preventing Employers From Demanding Social Media Access.
Drones arent just for the military anymore. Department of Homeland Security grants gave hundreds of law enforcement and fire agencies across the country access to them. But DHS may have jumped the gun, as the Federal Aviation Administration hasnt yet okayed populating Americas already busy skies with unmanned aerial vehicles.Backed by the drone industry, Congress is trying to push forward an FAA rule that will allow more drones to fly in civil airspace. But not without a fight from advocacy groups asserting that a sky full of hovering cameras would invade peoples privacy.
via Why You Could Soon See A Lot More Drones In American Skies.
TAMPA CBS Tampa — Did Capt. Nemo ever see anything like this when he was “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”?A mysterious creature was caught by underwater cameras recently during deep-sea drilling near the United Kingdom.The camera catches the giant blob – which looks brown in color and appears to have scales — floating around, with organs and appendages sticking out, something rarely ever seen before.
via What Is That? Underwater Drilling Camera Catches Giant Sea Creature « CBS Tampa.
While we all need water to survive, colleges and universities across the U.S. are betting that their students can survive without water of the bottled variety. As Bloomberg recently reported, more than 90 universities, including Brown and Harvard, are banning or restricting the sale of plastic water bottles. Considering that bottled water represents a $22 billion industry in the U.S. and that more than 9 billion gallons were sold last year, the actions of these universities aren’t likely to scare “Big Water,” as they represent just a fraction of sales. But it makes an important statement about bottled water nonetheless.
via Evive Launches With $2M From Angels To Help Cure Our Addiction To Bottled Water | TechCrunch.
Looking for great free apps and games for your iPad? The App Store is home to over half a million apps and games, and a surprising number of them are available for free. That’s free as in free of charge to buy, free of subscriptions to use, and free of any crippling or time-bombing to make you pay later. They’re just free. But which free apps are the best? Which are the top free apps you just absolutely have to download right now?
That’s where iMore comes in! Here’s your ultimate, authoritative guide to the top, 100% free iPad apps for social networking, IM and communications, education, entertainment, finance, fun and games, health and fitness, kids, music, navigation and location, news, photography, productivity, reading, shopping, sports, travel, and general utility.
Whether you’re new to iPad and looking for a fast, free way to get started with apps, or you’re just bored and looking for a little free fun, check out the apps and games below. And hey, since they’re free, you can download them all!
People who browse religious websites are more likely to have their computers infected with a virus than those who visit pornographic websites, according to Symantec’s annual “Internet Security Threat Report.” The firm found that websites with religious or ideological themes had triple the average number of threats than those featuring adult content. “It is interesting to note that websites hosting adult/pornographic content are not in the top five, but ranked tenth,” Symantec said. “We hypothesize that this is because pornographic website owners already make money from the Internet and, as a result, have a vested interest in keeping their sites malware-free; it’s not good for repeat business.” The report was based on information gathered from more than 200 countries through the Symantec Global Intelligence Network. Symantec blocked a total of 5.5 billion attacks last year, an 81% increase from 2010.
Spirit Airlines introduced the ludicrous concept of charging you for carry-on luggage two years. Apparently that wasnt terrible enough because now the airline says it wants to charge more than twice as much if you havent paid for your bag when you get to the gate. Jerks.
via Spirit Airlines Figures Out How To Screw You Even Harder With Bag Fees.
At midnight tonight I will leave the internet. I’m abandoning one of my “top 5” technological innovations of all time for a little peace and quiet. If I can survive the separation, I’m going to do this for a year. Yeah, I’m serious. I’m not leaving The Verge, and I’m not becoming a hermit, I just won’t use the internet in my personal or work life, and won’t ask anyone to use it for me.Depending on your perspective, you might be completely shocked that I’d even attempt such a thing, or you might be completely unimpressed. For me personally, the decision felt like a big, crazy idea at first, and now it’s started to seem a perfectly natural evolution of my life with technology.I feel like I’ve only examined the internet up close. It’s been personal and pervasive in my life for over a decade, and I spend on average 12+ hours a day directly at an internet-connected terminal (laptop, iPad, Xbox), not to mention all the ambient internet my smartphone keeps me aware of.
I had an emergency tooth extraction last Friday. One of my molars cracked and got infected. Fortunately, my dentist isn’t an ex-girlfriend. Otherwise I may have ended like Marek Olszewski, who went to his girlfriend’s practice with a toothache and left without his teeth. All for revenge!
via Dentist Removes All of Her Ex-Boyfriend’s Teeth in His Sleep.
Forget TVs. Want something more whimsical and lo-fi than Instagram? This is a digital camera made of cardboard that Ikea included with its press kit at this year’s Milan Design Week. It runs on two AA batteries (Ikea-branded, natch) and features a swing-out USB plug, viewfinder cutout, shutter key and paperclip-friendly erase button. While there are no details on the sensor, lens or storage capacity, the camera holds up to 40 pictures. It’s expected to land in Ikea stores at some point but exact pricing and availability are still a mystery. No matter — this camera is sure to impress hipsters everywhere (and yes, that includes us). click here to watch video
via Ikea cardboard digital camera: when Instagram isn’t authentic enough — Engadget.
video via: It’s Nice That : Ikea set to launch the KNÄPPA – a cardboard camera and potential gamechanger.
It's my life, you're just along for the ride! 