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Patriots

Is Google lining up Republicans against antipiracy bill?

Few companies are as closely aligned with the Obama administration or the Democratic Party as Google.

Google managers and employees gave generously to President Barack Obama's candidacy. Chairman Eric Schmidt stumped for the president and is a member of the White House council for science and technology. Marissa Mayer, a Google vice president, hosted an Obama fundraiser. Former Google employees now hold high-ranking positions with the administration.

Despite those close ties, Google is now taking a much more bipartisan approach than before. Word coming out of Washington last week was that leading up to a September 21 appearance by … Read more

Patriot WildFire SSD review: Mostly wild

Of all SATA 3-based solid-state drives (SSDs) CNET has reviewed, the Patriot WildFire offers the wildest performance.

On the one hand, it didn't excel in file-transferring tests where we time how long a drive takes to copy files from one place to another. But on the other, it did much better with application performance than its peers. This singles the drive out from the rest and means that when used as the main drive that hosts an operating system and applications, the WildFire increases the overall performance by reducing the time needed for an application to load and finish … Read more

Patriot Act renewed despite warnings of 'secret' law

news analysis The U.S. Congress has approved a four-year extension of the Patriot Act despite warnings from senators that the Justice Department has twisted the 2001 law into a "secret" surveillance mechanism far broader than Americans realize.

"I believe that when more of my colleagues and the American public come to understand how the Patriot Act has actually been interpreted in secret, they will insist on significant reforms too," said Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat who tried to block the renewal. Sen. Mark Udall, a Colorado Democrat, offered a similar warning.

The cautionary note … Read more

How bin Laden and 9/11 attacks shaped electronic privacy

Nearly 10 years ago, Osama bin Laden changed the way many of us lived.

The coordinated suicide attacks on September 11, 2001, began what would become known as the War on Terror. They led directly to the invasion of Afghanistan and the formation of the Department of Homeland Security, and indirectly to the Guantanamo Bay prison and a rise in government centralization and secrecy.

What's not as obvious is how al Qaeda's attacks, at least in technology and political circles, shifted the discussion from protecting electronic privacy to facilitating government surveillance.

Bin Laden was killed yesterday in Pakistan … Read more

Obama's attorney general pick: Good on privacy?

Eric Holder, President-elect Barack Obama's pick for attorney general, drew applause from liberal Democrats earlier this year when he denounced the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program.

A review of Holder's public statements, speeches, and testimony when he was a top Justice Department official in the Clinton administration, however, reveals a more nuanced record on privacy. His remarks indicate support for laws mandating Internet traceability, limits on domestic use of encryption, and more restrictions on free speech online. He also called for new powers for federal prosecutors, some of which became law under President Bush as part of … Read more

TigerDirect.com has the Patriot Xporter XT Boost 16GB USB Flash Drive for $24.99, after $20 Instant savings and $15 mail-in rebate.

TigerDirect.com has Patriot Xporter XT Boost 16GB USB Flash Drive for $24.99, after $20 Instant savings and $15 mail-in rebate. >> Regular price is $59.99 >> Sale price is $24.99 >> Savings $35 (58.34%) >> Click here for deal

Two 'Metal Gear Solid 4' PS3 bundles are arriving in June--but only one's a good deal

By most accounts, the release of Grand Theft Auto IV helped move quite a few game consoles--both Xbox 360s and PlayStation 3s--in the past few weeks. But there's another four--Metal Gear Solid 4--that's eagerly anticipated by many gamers as well. No, MGS4 isn't going to shatter sales records like GTA did, but it's safe to say that Konami's PS3 exclusive is the reason that many forward-looking gamers chose Sony's console over that of archrival Microsoft. And with the game's June 12 release date fast approaching--after a hype buildup that stretches back to at least 2005--the waiting for those faithful PlayStation fans is almost over.

But what about those gamers who still haven't taken the next-generation plunge?… Read more

FBI rescinds secret order for Internet Archive records

The FBI has backed down on a secret request for information about a user of the Internet Archive digital library, thanks to a legal challenge from two prominent advocacy groups.

The case, which was brought by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the archive, dates to last year but only became public on Wednesday. That's because the type of request involved, known as a national security letter (NSL), is accompanied by a gag order that forbids the recipient from disclosing its existence or discussing it with anyone except his attorneys, who are … Read more

Red heart spreads as MSN and QQ symbol of Chinese patriotism

Xinhua and a Zhejiang province news website report on the spread of "Red Heart China" on IM and e-mail platforms.

The Zhejiang News Center link, auto-translated here, says the word is spreading via QQ, a top instant message platform in China.

Hexun.com carries step-by-step instructions in how to inscribe your MSN account with slogans declaring "I love the Olympics" and encouraging them to go on strongly.

This is all part of an extensive reaction to foreign press coverage on the recent events in Tibet. Other websites, including anti-cnn.com, have emerged to point out examples … Read more