At Wired.com via The Blaze, this stunning story, something the legacy media hasn’t and likely won’t tell you, unless they’re forced to mention it because of new media like this (is it any wonder digital is overtaking the mainstream media, which is becoming increasingly irrelevant for many Americans?).
Now coming to light is a report that the federal government’s National Security Agency is building a mega computer server farm in the heart of the Utah desert about to go online gathering everything on the Internet, including your email. It’s for your “cybersecurity,” of course.
“Deep in the Utah desert, the government is busy putting the finishing touches on a $2-billion domestic eavesdropping project known as operation ‘Stellar Wind,'” writes The Blaze’s Scott Baker.
Wired reports: “Almost all details about the building’s soon-to-be inner activities are highly classified and no one is talking – officials in Bluffdale where it is being built and the nearby Salt Lake City are kept in the dark. Still, Wired’s Threat Level has gotten some details on the building and provides analysis on some of its expected activity.”
“The heavily fortified $2 billion center should be up and running in September 2013,” Wired reports. “Flowing through its servers and routers and stored in near-bottomless databases will be all forms of communication, including the complete contents of private emails, cell phone calls and Google searches, as well as all sorts of personal data trails –parking receipts, travel itineraries, bookstore purchases and other digital ‘pocket litter.'”
Yep, a massive data center that will spy and retain everything you do on the Internet, compliments of your tax dollars. And that’s in addition to the CIA’s plan to spy on you through your TV to “transform” surveillance.
Welcome to your Orwellian nightmare.
Print news – “America’s fastest shrinking business”
The U.S. newspaper industry is dying. This past Sunday, when the Parade magazine fell out of the bundle, I was amazed to see how the insert had shrunk in size (an indication of how long it’s been since I’ve read a Sunday paper!).
But the Parade isn’t the only thing that’s on the wane. According to a report in the Financial Times, the networking website LinkedIn and the Council of Economic Advisers reported that “the press is America’s fastest-shrinking industry, measured by jobs lost; the Newspaper Association of America has shown that advertising sales have halved since 2005 and are now at 1984’s level; and the Pew Research Center has found that for every digital ad dollar they earned, they lost $7 in print ads.”
Internet advertising is predicted to surpass newspaper advertising next year worldwide, most especially in the U.S., where Internet penetration is high and newspaper audiences are shrinking. Printed dailies are expected to be gone completely in the next five years.
What’s keeping them alive? Local sports and classified and auto ads. Oh, and fittingly, obituaries.
A study by Nielsen shows that U.S. consumers are the most likely to pay for content on a tablet, but not when it’s news. Not good news for the newspaper industry, which is banking on digitally available pay subscriptions. Read the study.
Another print era is coming to an end with the Encyclopedia Britannica now going digital. The mainstay of many a household prior to the Internet generation, the hardcover source for the past 244 years for information about the world in which we live will now be accessed only online.
CNN Money reported, “Britannica usually prints a new set of the tomes every two years, but 2010’s 32-volume set will be its last. Instead, the company will focus solely on its digital encyclopedia and education tools.”
Movie theater app RunPee
Younger, tech-savvy audiences are getting back into movie theaters with apps like “RunPee” that tell them when’s the best time during a film to hit the restroom! Really? Really.
Other movie lovers’ apps that will enhance your theater-going pleasure include FanDango, MovieNightOut, MoviePal, and Flixster. This article and video explain what the apps do. It’s showtime!
Hollywood really hates new technology until they learn to love it. Here’s why with a little history thrown in for good measure. Remember Jack Valenti?
Apple’s new iPad – New and improved
So, what’s inside the new iPad? The folks at iFixit decided to find out. Take a look.
The new 9.7-inch iPad is a slim 9.4 millimeters thick and 1.4 pounds and has 2048 x 1536-pixel retina display, a 5-megapixel camera (with the same optics sensor from the iPhone 4S) and 1080p video recording capability. Available in black and white, it is powered by A5X chip (with quad-core graphics), the new iPad supports 4G LTE networks. Want more info? Check out this slide show at Mashable.
Wi-Fi-only iPads cost $499 for 16 GB, $599 32 GB and $699 for 64 GB, while 4G versions cost $629 for 16 GB, $729 32 GB and $829 for 64 GB. It is expected that three million iPads will be sold in its first month on the market from its debut on March 16.
Guess who was the first in line at an LA store to get his? This famous name in the computer biz pulled off what might have been a clever marketing ploy. And this other fellow was ahead of the curve, the crowd and the computer guru.
Here a few suggestions for what you can do with your old, still functioning iPad.
Buzzing about TV programs
Twenty TV shows created the most social media buzz last week. Can you guess which ones they were? Here’s a hint: Super edged out the Idol.
Some Breitbart moments that will always be with us
The ACORN Sting. Confronting SEIU protesters – These are just two of six videos The Daily Caller has assembled that illustrate the impact the late Andrew Breitbart had on the traditional legacy media. Breitbart and his investigative journalists uncovered and reported what the MSM would not. What was that we were saying about the shrinking media?
“Start-ups” and why most fail
Imagine all the peeps on the Internet, and a certain percentage of them decide to take the chance and open an online biz. Here’s some useful data for those who are willing to take a chance, gamble on themselves. Something to consider before undertaking the challenge.
Aha! Here’s an organization that can help you make your idea a reality and get it to market. AHHHA!
TV can be improved by Apple or Google – here’s how
Just this past week, I had to call our local cable company to get the TV back on line. It seems we hit the wrong button on our Star Trek-like remote control and had to reprogram the darn thing. Twice.
Why does it have to be so complicated?
Evidently I’m not the only one wondering. Hooray! Here are a couple of suggestions from several we’d like to see, from one writer at the LA Times:
1. One – singular – remote: At our house, turning on the television involves taking one remote and pressing ‘TV’ then “Power” then “Cable” and “Power,” then turning to a second remote that controls the Blu-ray and sound system. If we want to use Netflix, we pull out the remote to our Wii. There has to be a better way!
2. A more intuitive remote: There are way too many buttons on most remotes, and the important ones like “Power” and “Function” are often not in the most obvious places. This needs to change.
Yes! Yes! Yes!
This article explains the remote control challenge (a new entry in the International Olympics?) and what Apple and Google are doing to make TV watching less complicated. Hallelujah! Can’t happen soon enough.
