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PRISM Whistleblower Edward Snowden of Booz Allen Hamilton Tells All in 12-minute Video – Transcript Here!

Edward Snowden has come forward as the whistleblower in the NSA and PRISM scandal in which it has been discovered that through the PRISM program, the NSA and other agencies have had access to user data at such major Internet companies as Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, Hotmail and Apple. In the 12+ minute interview, Edward Snowden explains why he did it, and admits that by outing himself, he puts himself in danger from agencies such as the CIA and the NSA itself.

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The NSA PRISM Spying Program with Facebook, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Verizon and Others Explained in Plain English

The Internet, the country, and indeed the whole world is abuzz with the news of PRISM, the no-longer-secret program of the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) first exposed by Glenn Greenwald of the British newspaper The Guardian, through which the United States federal government is accessing and mining all sorts of user data from the major ISPs and possibly cell phone companies. Data which is potentially about just about anybody and everybody, even you. The list of companies and ISPs alleged to be involved with PRISM, by which we mean allowing the government to data mine their users’ data, is impressive (read as “scary”) indeed, although most of them are quick to deny it. However, we have evidence (see screenshots below) that even though they are denying it, Apple, Microsoft, Yahoo, Facebook, PalTalk, YouTube, Skype, and AOL are all involved. There are rumours of DropBox and Amazon joining. And Verizon is also giving the Feds access to their user data. But as 1984 as this all is, we really only have one question: why is anybody surprised?

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Microsoft Tries to Allay Fears That the New XBox One Will be Spying On You

There has been a lot of speculation that the new Microsoft XBox One (XBox 1) will essentially be spying on its owners. Well, ‘spying’ may be too strong a word but, at least, that it will have the potential to spy on its owners when combined with the required Kinect motion-detecting web-cam, an ever-vigilant watching and listening device connected to the Internet. These concerns arose after rumours started spreading that the new XBox One required a near 24/7 Internet connection and requires the Kinect.

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Microsoft Fined $732 Million for Failing to Honor Settlement Agreement

Microsoft has been fined to the tune of $732 million by the European Union, for failing to adhere to the requirements of a settlement agreement that resulted from Microsoft’s restrictive shipping of Windows computers pre-loaded with Internet Explorer as the default web browser, and with no obvious alternative. Joaquin Almunia, competition commissioner for the European Union, noted that it had been a mistake to let Microsoft monitor their own compliance with the agreement.

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Lenovo is First to Announce the new ‘Table PC’ Concept – a Touch Screen Table

PC maker Lenovo Group Ltd. has introduced the table PC, a 27-inch table computer that allows users to play boardgames, with the screen responding to up to ten fingers at the same time. Users can stick the 27-inch screen device on top of any table, or create a touch screen table with the optional coffee table that fits the device, and features sliding glass panels to cover the device when you are through playing board games.

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Oprah Winfrey Tweets That She Loves the Microsoft Surface …From Her iPad

The Internet is buzzing with Oprah Winfrey’s latest snafu – tweeting how much she loves the Microsoft Surface – from her iPad.

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Capture and Document Your Whole Life Online: New Life-Capturing Camera, Memoto, Lets You Record Your Life for Posterity

If you ever wanted to match the face to a name you just learned, or if you find yourself kicking yourself over missing a fabulous photo opportunity, then the tiny little Memoto clip-on camera may be just the device for you. Still in its concept phase, the device is promising to hold pubic interest, having already raised $245,000 on Kickstarter, far surpassing their goal of $50,000.

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Microsoft Introduces New Logo to a Lukewarm Reception

If Microsoft wanted to play it safe when designing their new logo, they pulled it off flawlessly. While a few are calling the new logo “great,” and a few are calling it “awful,” it seems the overwhelming response is “meh.”

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Privacy Experts Warn that Skype’s New Technology Upgrades Only Serve to Compromise User Privacy

Skype has found themselves in a privacy PR nightmare as reports are slowly coming out that the online voice and video chat company may be cooperating with governing authorities to make private conversations more accessible. As those with privacy concerns fear that yet another communications company is selling out user privacy, Skype is quick to deny that anything is changing. They do acknowledge that they have made technical upgrades to the Skype systems, but are quick to assert that these upgrades have nothing to do with helping police spy on those who are possibly using Skype to discuss illegal activity.

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Microsoft Breathes New Life into Nook eReader with $300 Million Investment

Microsoft announced today that it has taken an interest in the Kindle competitor, Barnes & Noble’s Nook e-reader. That is, a $300 million interest. That is how much Microsoft has announced that they are investing in the Barnes & Noble device. They have also announced Windows 8 will come pre-loaded with a Nook app.

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Facebook IPO May be Delayed

As we mentioned last week, Facebook’s IPO (initial public offering) was expected mid May. However, reports are surfacing that it may now be at least June before Facebook has their IPO. Here’s why.

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Cascade Insights: Microsoft Hotmail Beats Google Gmail and Yahoo Mail at Blocking Spam

Microsoft Hotmail, the world’s largest email provider, is better at blocking spam than Google Gmail and Yahoo Mail, according to a study released by the independent research firm Cascade Insights. The study only tested these companies – the so-called big three email providers – and was sponsored by Microsoft, which funded the research to combat their bad reputation for allowing loads of spam into users’ inboxes.

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Email Providers Unite to Fight Spam and Fraudulent Messages

Several email providers that normally compete with one another, like Google Gmail and Microsoft Hotmail, have teamed up in an effort to better protect email users from spam and fraudulent messages. The new system is called DMARC, short for Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance. With a united front, the war against spam may have a powerful new weapon.

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About Microsoft’s “Avoid Ghetto” GPS Service

Oh, how the Internet, and society in general, do love a scandal. Especially if it involves one of the big Internet or tech companies, like Google (witness this week’s scandal over Google’s “new” privacy policy) or Microsoft. This week everybody is mad at Microsoft for being, allegedly, racist, by updating their GPS software offerings to include a purported “avoid ghettos” feature. Some are even calling it “the avoid ghetto app”.

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Microsoft Spying on Internet Explorer Users Google Searches in Order to Enhance Bing Search Engine

Has Microsoft been spying on the Google searches of Internet Explorer users in order to use the data to enhance their own Microsoft Bing search engine, to make it more competitive with Google? According to Google, who claims to have caught MS watching their own IE users, tapping their Google searches and using the information gleaned from those searches to make their Bing searches more accurate.