Google Readies Launch of New Desktop Search Tool
An article is today’s New York Times describes the new, apparently free, search engine tool, code named “Puffin,” that Google is preparing to introduce for use in locating files and text on your PC.
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Documents From 9/11 Commission Hearing Today
Staff Statement No. 14: Crisis Management Links to submitted testimony. Former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani’s statement is not currently online, but for reference, see Giuliani Mounts Spirited Defense of City’s Response to 9/11. From the Commission’s Media Advisory of today: “The 9-11 Commission has selected W. W. Norton & Company as the authorized publisher of …
Voice Recognition on Your Credit Card
Technology for securing your credit card transactions while conducting online purchases is described in this article.
GAO Report Calls for Independence and Balance on Federal Advisory Cmtes.
From a new GAO report, Federal Advisory Committees: Additional Guidance Could Help Agencies Better Ensure Independence and Balance (149 pages, pdf): “Federal advisory committees have been called the “fifth arm of government” because of the significant role they play in advising federal agencies, the Congress, and the President on important national issues. To be effective, …
Privacy Impact Assessments and E-Gov’t
Federal government agencies are required to conduct privacy impact assessments (PIAs) and make them available to the public, according to Section 208 of the E-Government Act of 2002 (P.L. 107-347, 44 USC Ch. 36, 44 USC 3501). As the increasingly routine process of government collection of personal data results in the creation of larger databases, …
Privacy Group Issues Report Critical of EU Passenger Data Agreement With US
From Privacy International: “On May 17, 2004 the European Commission approved an agreement to transfer passenger details to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, an agreement established in the name of, but that has little to do with, the war on terror.” Privacy International has published this report, Transferring Privacy and Inadequate Adequacy, documenting what …
New Subscription Access to CRS Reports
From the May 17 press release: “GalleryWatch.com has expanded its partnership with Penny Hill Press to provide subscriber’s access to all numbered Congressional Research Service (CRS) documents and Electronic Briefing Books, from January 2003 to the present. The services are available on a subscription basis via the Web through www.GalleryWatch.com or on DVD-ROM. The Web …
9/11 Commission Hearing Today and Tomorrow
Eleventh public hearing of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States – “The two-day hearing will examine the response of local and federal emergency response departments on September 11, 2001, and will consider how to improve these critical functions in the event of future terrorist attacks.” Staff Statement No. 13 – Emergency …
Software Allows Camera Phones to Convert Bar Codes into URLs
Way back in October 2000, Roger V. Skalbeck wrote an article on LLRX.com about the free CueCat, a digital device that permitted users to scan bar codes from various products into a PC. Well, in the tradition of all that is old is new again, Wired today published this article, Camera Phones Link World to …
Hearing on Bill to Expand Patriot Act
May 18, 2004 – Legislative hearing on H.R. 3179, the “Anti-Terrorism Intelligence Tools Improvement Act of 2003.” Witness List, Chairman Howard Coble, Daniel Bryant, Thomas Harrington, and from the prepared statement of Bob Barr, “The question before us today is whether the USA PATRIOT Act should be expanded this year. In short, the answer is …
SurfWax Launches New Search Engine
See the recently launched SurfWax News Accumulator, a “news aggregator with 100,000 topic-specific news pages, covering 4,000 news sources in 86 categories.”
Biometric ID Will Be Added to US Passports
U.S. passports to get ID chips: The State Department will be testing machine readable passports, incorporating facial scanning for U.S. citizens, this fall, with plans for wider implementation in 2005. DHS Secretary Ridge and Sec. of State Powell recently requested a two-year extension for 27 countries who had been required to meet a “October 26, …
