AT&T ends tracking of customers by "supercookie"

By Elizabeth Weiss  |  USA Today  |  November 15, 2014


AT&T has ended a controversial program that used hidden "super cookies" to track smart phone users as they surfed the web.

The program added a hidden and undeletable tracking number into all the Web traffic on a users' cell phone.

The news site ProPublic reported Friday that AT&T had ended the practice.

Verizon Wireless, the country's largest mobile firm, said Friday it still uses this type of tracking. There has been no evidence that Sprint and T-Mobile have used such codes.

Verizon, AT&T tracking their users with ‘supercookies’

By Craig Timberg  |  Washington Post  |  November 3, 2014

Verizon and AT&T have been quietly tracking the Internet activity of more than 100 million cellular customers with what critics have dubbed “supercookies” — markers so powerful that it’s difficult for even savvy users to escape them.

The technology has allowed the companies to monitor which sites their customers visit, cataloging their tastes and interests. Consumers cannot erase these supercookies or evade them by using browser settings, such as the “private” or “incognito” modes that are popular among users wary of corporate or government surveillance.

Verizon and AT&T say they have taken steps to alert their customers to the tracking and to protect customer privacy as the companies develop programs intended to help advertisers hone their pitches based on individual Internet behavior. But as word has spread about the supercookies in recent days, privacy advocates have reacted with alarm, saying the tracking could expose user Internet behavior to a wide range of outsiders — including intelligence services — and may also violate federal telecommunications and wiretapping laws.

One civil liberties group, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, says it has raised its concerns with the Federal Communications Commission and is contemplating formal legal action to block Verizon. AT&T’s program is not as advanced and, according to the company, is still in testing.

Welcome Back to America, Mr. President

By Robert Charles  |  American Thinker  |  November 12, 2014

So, the Republicans win big across the United States – regaining control of the U.S. Senate, adding seats in the U.S. House, capturing new governorships, preserving old ones, and winning countless (or at least uncounted) dog-catcher posts. Why? Because the nation finally realized (as many polls confirm) that “the country is on the wrong track,” and properly blamed the first uncompromisingly liberal president from leading us down this dead-end alley.

Now comes President Obama’s November 5th press conference. Members of both parties, and even the White House Press Corps, scratch their heads. As if living in some alternate universe, the president seems to run away from the referendum on himself, rejecting the national repudiation as a misunderstanding, indicating his message never got out, blaming everyone except himself.

More than this, he remains locked on the failed track that brought him -- and us -- to this bizarre impasse in national policy -- instead of recognizing that Americans do not want higher taxes, a weak defense, more federal control over their lives, higher healthcare premiums and reduced coverage, and lack of accountability from the Department of Veterans Affairs to the Internal Revenue Service, from the State Department to the Pentagon, from the NSA to the DOJ to the EPA, he just plowed on as if no one had corrected him.

Instead of recognizing the public’s revulsion from high-handed executive orders, open borders and the cheapening of American residency and citizenship, indifference to drug crime and racial division, he doubled, then tripled down. His press conference and all utterances since have made him seem not just tone deaf, but pathologically deaf. So much so that, far from expecting compromise, many officials in and out of government, along with Americans from across the country, party lines, and professions, wonder what is going on.

ObamaCare Lies and Democracy

By Jonathan S. Tobin  |  Commentary Magazine  |  November 11, 2014

In a video that has gone viral over the last few days, one of the principal architects of ObamaCare confessed at an academic conference that the law was drafted in such a manner as to deliberately deceive both the Congressional Budget Office and the American people. MIT Professor Jonathan Gruber tried to walk back his October 2013 remarks in a softball interview with Ronan Farrow on MSNBC this afternoon yet there’s no denying that his embarrassing moment of candor in which he said the bill passed because of a “lack of transparency” and the “stupidity of the American voter” will influence the ongoing debate about the law. But while the mainstream media has spent the years since the misnamed Affordable Care Act passed mocking its conservative opponents, this ought to be a moment when Americans take stock of the corrosive impact on our democracy of the cynicism to which the president and his congressional allies sank during the campaign for his signature health-care legislation.

In a sense, Gruber’s statement doesn’t exactly break new ground. After all, if then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi could say that ObamaCare had to be passed before its contents could be understood, it’s not much of a revelation if one of its designers fesses up about the deceptions involved in the project and the breathtaking cynicism of its Democratic backers. Like the president’s repeated lies about consumers being able to keep their existing health insurance and doctors if they liked them, Gruber’s confession makes it clear that deception was at the heart of the debate on a law that overturned a key sector of the American economy.

The 12 Most Popular Free Online Courses For Professionals

By Maggie Zhang  |  Business Insider  |  July 8, 2014

Want to gain an edge in your working life? Learning new skills online doesn't cost you anything but time.

Based on data from online education platform Coursera, we compiled a list of the 12 most popular, free online classes for working professionals.

Here they are, ranked by popularity:

1. Wesleyan University's "Social Psychology"

Coursera's most popular course offers an introduction to classic and contemporary social psychology, covering topics such as decision making, persuasion, group behavior, personal attraction, and factors that promote health and well-being.

Starts July 14

2. University of Maryland's "Programming Mobile Applications for Android Handheld Systems"

This is an introduction to the design and implementation of applications for handheld systems, such as smartphones and tablets, running the Android platform. It is part of a larger sequence of specialization courses called Mobile Cloud Computing with Android.

Starts September 26

3. Duke University's "Think Again: How to Reason and Argue"

This course will teach you how to reason well. You will learn how to understand and assess arguments by other people and how to construct persuasive arguments of your own.

Starts August 25

These 3 Charts Show The Amazing Power Of Compound Interest

By Libby Kane  |  Business Insider  |  July 8, 2014

One of the biggest financial advantages out there is something anyone can access by opening a simple retirement account: compound interest.

Retirement accounts such as 401(k)s and Roth IRAs aren't just savings accounts — they're actively invested, and therefore have the potential to make the most of this benefit.

As Business Insider's Sam Ro explains, "Compound interest occurs when the interest that accrues to an amount of money in turn accrues interest itself."

So why is that so important?

The charts below will show you the incredible impact compound interest has on your savings and why starting to save in your 20s is one of the best things you can do.

25 Things You Should Do Before You Die

By Richard Feloni  |  Business Insider  |  July 11, 2014

It can be easy to get caught up in the routine of life, doing whatever it takes to get from one point to the next, without doing much that's exciting or enriching.

Some Quora users offer a few ideas to break the routine in their responses to the thread: "What is something every person should experience at least once in a lifetime?" 

The responses range from trying an extreme sport to discovering something life-changing about yourself.

We've summarized some of the best answers below. 

1. Live somewhere vastly different from your hometown.

Living in an unfamiliar setting among people with a different worldview from yours can help you become more self-reliant. —Deepthi Amarasuriya

2. Go out of your way to help a stranger.

Put in time and effort to help someone you have "absolutely no social, moral, or legal obligation to help," and don't expect anything in return. —Kent Fung

3. Learn how to appreciate being alone.

Avoid feeling lonely on your own by truly becoming comfortable with yourself. —Barbara Rose

4. Travel without being a tourist.

Go on a trip without feeling the need to take nonstop photos of the biggest tourist attractions. Instead of being a "tourist," be a "traveler" and try to get an idea of how the locals live. —Arya Raje

Obamacare Architect, Jonathan Gruber, Admits To Deceiving Americans To Pass Law

By Vanessa Righeimer  |  OpposingViews.com  |  November 10, 2014

What does it take to convince a nation to pass a law such as the Affordable Care Act? According to MIT health economist and Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber, a “lack of transparency” and the “stupidity of an American voter.”

In a 2013 clip that has been recently brought into focus, Gruber speaks candidly on Obamacare and the role he played. An expert in making predictions on how new laws will play out, specifically in healthcare, Gruber was contacted by the White House in 2008 when it was in need of a consultant, according to the New York Times. It is then that Gruber was able to tell them that, based off his research, they would have to require everyone to buy insurance in order for health care reform to work.

In the recording posted by American Commitment, Gruber emphasizes the importance of a lack of transparency, commenting: “If CBO scored the mandate as taxes, the bill dies. OK, so it’s written to do that. In terms of risk-rated subsidies, if you had a law which said that healthy people are going to pay in – you made explicit healthy people pay in and sick people get money, it would not have passed.”

Gruber's comments blatantly make it known that law makers feared that voters would not pass the bill if they knew their money would be going towards other patients and not directly and positively impacting themselves. Because of this fear, they left out key details, which might have swayed the votes.

Obamacare has statistically been shown not to be favored amongst most Americans, and this recent clip might have added an even more negative opinion of the Affordable Care Act. According to a report released in September by the Kaiser Health Tracking Poll, 47 percent of Americans viewed Obamacare unfavorably. In light of this new information, it will be interesting to see how the Democrats will react, especially leading up to the 2016 election.

10 Financial Terms Every Investor Should Know

By Geoff Williams  |  U.S. News & World Report  |  September 5, 2014

For a novice, it can be intimidating to invest money. There's the anxiety that comes with taking risks and knowing you may not get all of your money back. But arguably, what's even more intimidating is the investing jargon. There are a lot of buzzwords financial advisors and veteran investors use, like expense ratio and asset allocation, that are important for average investors to understand, yet the language can be a barrier.

So if you'd like to invest but feel like you're visiting another country where your money may not be welcome, maybe you just need to learn the language first. This isn't a comprehensive list by any means, but understanding these terms may make you feel more confident about investing.

Asset allocation. This is just a fancy phrase for your investment strategy. There are three general categories where you're going to put your money: cash, bonds and stocks, says Kemberley Washington, an accounting professor at Dillard University in New Orleans and a certified public accountant. "Cash," she says, "is the least risky and would provide the least amount of return … Bonds are generally riskier than cash but less risky than stocks."

Cash. Since Washington brought it up, let's define cash. It's money – you know that – but if a financial advisor suggests you move some of your portfolio into cash, Washington says he or she is probably referring to certificates of deposit, also known as CDs, Treasury bills or money market accounts.

90-year-old among first charged under Fort Lauderdale's strict rules against feeding homeless

By FoxNews.com  |  November 4, 2014

Fort Lauderdale police say Arnold Abbott violated a new city law, but the 90-year-old homeless advocate says his only crime was to “love thy neighbor.”

Abbott was charged Sunday along with two local pastors with violating the city’s new ordinance that effectively bans giving out food in public. He faces 60 days in jail and a $500 fine, and he intends to get cited again Wednesday night, when he sets out to feed some of the Florida city’s estimated 10,000 homeless on a public beach.

“I know that I will be arrested again, and I am prepared for that,” Abbott said by phone from his office at Love Thy Neighbor, Inc., a nonprofit he established in honor of his wife, Maureen, after her death in a car accident 23 years ago. “I am my brother’s keeper, and what they are doing is just heartless.”