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I Do and I am Watching You, Too

In today’s dangerous world, is it enough to just say “I Do” when you take a vow to love and protect your beloved other during a marriage ceremony?  Isn’t it, perhaps, even more romantic to also add under your breath, “…and I’m watching you, too.” at&t thinks so, too, and they now offer a “FamilyMap” service that allows you, for ten dollars a month, to track two phones on your cellular service family plan.  For $15.00USD a month, you can track up to five phones.  Now you can have peace of mind while those around you tremble with paranoia in their new lives under your unblinking Panopticonic gaze — as demonstrated in the image below as I reflectively track myself, creating my own horrifying hallway of mirrors as I wonder if I’m coming or going:

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at&t 3G Quicksilver Modem Review

I’m not crazy about at&t as a cellular provider.  Their 3G network is awful and slow and shattered — but, I have an iPhone and I have a 3G data plan with at&t as well — so I’m stuck with the service in deulling, two-year, pops. 
I used to own the Option GT Ultra Express 3G modem on the at&t network, but my new MacBook does not have a 3/4 Express slot; I needed to upgrade to a USB modem for 3G connectivity.  I decided to get the new Quicksilver 3G USB 2.0 modem from at&t.

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FISA Retroactive Immunity

Can you put Pandora back in the box?  The FISA folks appear to think s,o because they are trying to force retroactive immunity for the telecoms.  The EEF is fighting that idea in court:

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Microsoft and the NSA and the Texas Cryptology Center

Total Information Awareness is now possible thanks to Microsoft and the NSA’s new Texas Cryptology Center in San Antonio, Texas:

“No longer able to store all the intercepted phone calls and e-mail in its secret city, the agency has now built a new data warehouse in San Antonio, Texas,” writes author James Bamford in the Shadow Factory, his third book about the NSA. “Costing, with renovations, upwards of $130 million, the 470,000-square-foot facility will be almost the size of the Alamodome. Considering how much data can now be squeezed onto a small flash drive, the new NSA building may eventually be able to hold all the information in the world.” …

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3G is Broken on the iPhone 3G

I have been loving my new iPhone 3G a lot — but after the recent 2.0.2 upgrade that was supposed to “fix” the 3G voice and data problems on at&t, I am beginning to taste the sting of a bitter lemon from Apple.

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Buying the Byte: Going 3G Mobile

One of the greatest inventions for my new seventeen inch Mac Book Pro — new Mac Book Pro 17-inch LCD review coming soon — is my new Option GT Ultra Express modem from at&t that allows me to go “3G Wireless” and have fast internet connectivity the world over. 

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You are an Electronic Jigsaw Puzzle

The New York Times recently reported an allegedly sustained and multi-faceted effort by the United States government to monitor its citizens’ behavior in the name of national defense and homeland security with the assistance of private businesses. The pieces of this puzzle of electronic surveilling of its citizens by a government causes more than a moment of dismay and a period of concern.

An online news outlet has published details about secret rooms in AT&T buildings where government spies are said to be gaining access to millions of private e-mail messages and other Internet traffic.

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