Defense Dept. Directed To Disclose Domestic Drone Use

An anonymous reader writes “The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to make the Pentagon disclose whether military drones are being used in U.S. airspace to spy on U.S. citizens. This follows Rand Paul’s filibuster on the floor of the Senate in which he demanded answers from the Obama administration as to whether drone strikes on U.S. soil were a possibility. (Senator Paul received an amusingly brief response (PDF) to his 13-hour question.) From the article: ‘A requirement buried in a lengthy appropriations bill calls on newly confirmed Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to disclose to Congress what “policies and procedures” are in place “governing the use” of military drones or other unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) domestically. The report is due no later than 90 days after the bill is signed into law. The vote on the bill, which was overwhelmingly supported by Republicans and opposed by Democrats, comes as concerns about domestic use of drones have spiked. …The House’s language stops short of requiring Hagel to disclose whether he or his predecessor have taken the step of approving the targeting of any U.S. citizens for surveillance.'” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Defense Dept. Directed To Disclose Domestic Drone Use

EA not altering return policy for furious SimCity buyers

Aurich Lawson / Thinkstock Electronic Arts has indicated that it will not be altering its usual digital refund policy in the wake of SimCity server issues that have led to access problems and scaled-back features for players that are able to log in, days after the game’s North American release. “In general we do not offer refunds on digital download games,” EA tweeted through its official Origin account yesterday, directing people to the company’s  online policy on returns and cancellations . While downloadable games purchased in North America are not be refunded “as a general policy,” EA does offer a “14-day unconditional guarantee” on any physical product sold through the Origin store. European customers, however, may be able to withdraw their downloadable purchase during a 14-day “Cooling Off period” as outlined on EA’s European return policy page . The recent tweet comes after a message posted to EA’s forums by Community Manager Raven on Tuesday, stating that “[i]f you regrettably feel that we let you down, you can of course request a refund for your order… though we’re currently still in the process of resolving this issue.” That message has now been revised to simply say “please review our refund policy here .” Read 6 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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EA not altering return policy for furious SimCity buyers

QuickShoot Takes Secret Photos from Your iPhone’s Home Screen

iOS ( jailbroken ): Waiting for the camera app to load (and having other people see it on your screen) doesn’t exactly make for good covert photos. QuickShoot is a jailbreak tweak that takes a picture from your home screen without even opening the camera app. More »

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QuickShoot Takes Secret Photos from Your iPhone’s Home Screen

7 Weird and Wonderful Facts About the Wizard of Oz Books

The new movie Oz the Great and Powerful opens today in theaters nationwide. The backstory of the wizard is loosely based on the L. Frank Baum book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz . Baum went on to write 14 more books about Oz, because the public kept demanding more. An interesting fact I didn’t know -one of his granddaughters was named after an Oz character!   Baum had a granddaughter named “Ozma,” and his 11th Oz book, The Lost Princess of Oz (published 1917), was dedicated to her shortly after her birth. The story begins with the disappearance of Princess Ozma, the ruler of Oz.    Read more interesting facts about Baumm’s Oz books and see artwork from all of them at Tres Sugar. Link   -via Holy Kaw!

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7 Weird and Wonderful Facts About the Wizard of Oz Books

City Councilman: Email Tax Could Discourage Spam, Fund Post Office Functions

New submitter Christopher Fritz writes “The Berkeley, CA city council recently met to discuss the closing of their downtown post office, in attempt to find a way to keep it from relocating. This included talk of ‘a very tiny tax’ to help keep the U.S. Post Office’s vital functions going. The suggestion came from Berkeley City Councilman Gordon Wozniak: ‘There should be something like a bit tax. I mean a bit tax could be a cent per gigabit and they would still make, probably, billions of dollars a year And there should be, also, a very tiny tax on email.’ He says a one-hundredth of a cent per e-mail tax could discourage spam while not impacting the typical Internet user, and a sales tax on Internet transactions could help fund ‘vital functions that the post office serves.’ We all know an e-mail tax is infeasible, and sales tax for online purchases and for digital purchases are likely unavoidable forever, but here’s hoping talk of taxing data usage doesn’t work its way to Washington.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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City Councilman: Email Tax Could Discourage Spam, Fund Post Office Functions

Carry a Tiny Supernova In Your Pocket With the Ultra-Bright LED Lenser F1

You might think all flashlights are created equal, but don’t tell that to a flashaholic. There are large online communities of flashlight aficionados who take their illumination very seriously, and there’s a good chance even they’ll be impressed by LED Lenser’s new F1 which manages to squeeze a whopping 400 lumens from a single CR123 battery. More »

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Carry a Tiny Supernova In Your Pocket With the Ultra-Bright LED Lenser F1

This Cheat Sheet Makes Learning Your Way Around Linux Easy

Whether you’re experimenting with Linux or making the switch, you’ll need to get your bearings. This Linux cheat sheet runs you through common and helpful commands you’ll need to know as you get comfortable with the command line. More »

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This Cheat Sheet Makes Learning Your Way Around Linux Easy

Moon Mining Race Under Way

New submitter rujholla writes “The race to the moon is back! This time, though, it’s through private enterprise. Google has offered a $20m grand prize to the first privately-funded company to land a robot on the moon and explore the surface (video) by moving at least 500 meters and sending high definition video back to Earth by 2015.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Moon Mining Race Under Way

Movie studios sign on for satellite-based digital delivery to theaters

We doubt we’ll see any reduction in ticket prices, but the process of bringing new movies to theaters could get easier very soon as five major studios have signed on with the Digital Cinema Distribution Coalition (DCDC) to use its satellite distribution network. Lionsgate, Universal, Disney, Warner and Paramount are all on board with the scheme, which says it will provide participants access to “a host of delivery options” as digital projection becomes increasingly common . The Hollywood Reporter quotes spokesman Randolph Blotky saying the network is expected to reach 300 locations when it launches this summer, all of which will be equipped with an appliance from video distributor KenCast. The satellite end of things is being handled by EchoStar/Deluxe, and once it’s rolled out should make things much easier than the current system of shipping hard drives back and forth. Of course, what we’re not hearing so far is if/how this upgrade will reach smaller, older theaters that are facing pricey upgrades from film-based equipment, but with theater chains like AMC, Regal and Cinemark forming the DCDC along with Universal and Warner, those considerations are probably a little further down the list. Filed under: Home Entertainment , HD Comments Source: The Hollywood Reporter

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Movie studios sign on for satellite-based digital delivery to theaters

FTC Goes After Scammers Who Blasted Millions of Text Messages

coondoggie writes “The Federal Trade Commission today said it has filed eight court cases to stop companies who have sent over 180 million illegal or deceptive text messages to all manner of mobile users in the past year. The messages — of which the FTC said it had received some 20,000 complaints in 2012 — promised consumers free gifts or prizes, including gift cards worth $1,000 to major retailers such as Best Buy, Walmart and Target.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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FTC Goes After Scammers Who Blasted Millions of Text Messages