Norway

Facebook is being probed by the Norwegian Data Protection Authority over concerns regarding its facial recognition tool that automatically suggests people's names to tag in pictures. Facebook started rolling out the Tag Suggestions feature worldwide in June 2011, and ever since has faced backlash from privacy groups in Europe.

When you upload new photos, Facebook uses software similar to that found in many photo editing tools to match your new photos to other photos you're tagged in. Similar photos are grouped together and, whenever possible, Facebook suggests the names of your friends in the photos. In other words, … Read more

The man accused of the attacks in Norway last Friday that left dozens of people dead is the latest target of the "hacktivist" group Anonymous.

In an attempt to discredit the manifesto of accused murderer Anders Behring Breivik, Anonymous has unveiled its own campaign known as Operation UnManifest. The hactivist group's latest action is aimed at hacking into and modifying Breivik's "European Declaration of Independence" with the goal of republishing fake editions of the so-called manifesto everywhere online, thus turning Anders into a "joke."

As part of Operation UnManifest, Anonymous also is … Read more

What's being described as the most violent day in Norway since the Second World War unfolded today for so many via social media.

Having seen early reports concerning an afternoon bombing attack outside government offices in Oslo, I sought out news outlets such as local broadcaster NRK to see if any live footage was coming from the scene.

There was, and though I don't speak a word of Norwegian, I was able to piece together a narrative showing Norway suffering through its own 9/11 moment. There were even very early reports that some Muslim men who had … Read more

General Electric has plans to install four 4-megawatt wind turbines off the coast of Norway, and one in Sweden.

In March GE said it would invest $450 million over the next 10 years to expand its European wind turbine business. At that time the company said its investment would include plans to install its largest megawatt offshore wind turbines to date, but few details were released.

On Tuesday, GE announced that four 4-megawatt wind turbines will be installed in Rogaland County, on the southwest coast of Norway, in conjunction with the Norwegian energy companies Statoil and Lyse. Assuming that environmental … Read more

The iPad might be a fine alternative to a laptop for simple tasks, but can it really be relied upon to run an entire country? Norway Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg certainly thinks so.

Stoltenberg--stranded in New York City because of a volcanic eruption in Iceland entering European airspace and disrupting travel--has been using the iPad to get his daily work done, according to a CNN report. The network said that it spoke with the prime minister, who said it's business as usual for his government.

"It's very normal for a prime minister to travel abroad, so this … Read more

AT&T announced they're going to help San Francisco and New York with data coverage, but then blamed the children for all their bandwidth problems. We also take Facebook to task for their privacy handling. Nothing new there. And is the Apple Tablet coming in the spring? Will it be $1,000?

Facebook details new privacy settings http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10411418-2.html

… where the default setting is “everyone” http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/20091209/facebook-rolls-out-new-privacy-settings-encourages-users-to-abandon-privacy/

Apple tablet set for spring … Read more

Norway opened on Tuesday the world's first osmotic power plant, which produces emissions-free electricity by mixing fresh water and sea water through a special membrane.

State-owned utility Statkraft's prototype plant, which for now will produce a tiny 2 kilowatts to 4 kilowatts of power or enough to run a coffee machine, will enable Statkraft to test and develop the technology needed to drive down production costs.

The plant is driven by osmosis that naturally draws fresh water across a membrane and toward the seawater side. This creates higher pressure on the sea water side, driving a turbine and … Read more

My blog theme last week dealt with videos featuring redneck cars and racing. This week my blog goes transcontinental by taking a look at World Rally Championship (WRC) and their many exciting races.

First, a little background info: WRC is organized by the FiA (The F?d?ration Internationale de l'Automobile), which is regarded as the official governing body for many racing events (especially in Europe). The FiA established World Rally Championship in 1973, and the series consists of 12 different three-day events at locations throughout Europe focusing on closed roads featuring varying types of road conditions and driving … Read more

Norwegian high school students can now use state-provided laptops during exams. But they'd better not access notes, chat with friends, or surf the Web. Cheating will be detected immediately.

The system that will check on the students was originally developed to monitor corporate and government employees for productivity. As British security company 3ami, which created the software, puts it: "If you do not monitor, you do not know if they are doing any work."

The software, called "Monitoring and Audit System" or MAS, is now available in an Education Edition being pioneered by the Norwegian … Read more