Pretty cool use of tech serving multiple functions at once.

(Image is in the Public Domain)

Not long ago, we learned that CAPTCHAs were being broken by people using pornography to motivate live humans to enter code after code. While very annoying, it was a very clever way of defeating the CAPTCHAs and made spammers day.

Now we see another brilliant use of CAPTCHAs in the restoration of old text too obscured for machines to read

A team of computer scientists has taken a common Internet tool for screening out spam and adapted it to help convert text from old books and manuscripts into electronic files. The effort might not put professional transcribers out of business, but it could cut the cost of creating digital libraries After a year of operation, reCAPTCHA has helped resolve about 440 million words for client users that are digitizing newspaper and document archives; von Ahn says his team just completed the entire 1908 archive from The New York Times, for example.

This is a very clever use of what would normally be wasted time similar to the idea of distributed computing as in the SETI@home project.

Wireless passports. Who could have guessed they'd have security problems.

(Image is used under the Pixabay license)

So much for "Fakeproof". Of course, anyone who knows about RFID and the way they work could see this coming.

You might not know who's watching

(Image is in the Public Domain)

It's important to know that in this case, the spy had physical access to the machine and there was a light that came on to tell the victim that the webcam was active. However, you should always be careful if you have a webcam installed to cover or turn it when not in use.

Watch out for unexpected surprises.

(Image is used under the Pixabay license)

I have always said that the more someone knows about you the easier it is to destroy you. Hence we have an example of people defrauding lonely love seekers through e-dating sites.

It's easy to manipulate if you know a few personal details about someone. Salespeople have been doing it for as long as there's been salespeople.

GPS

(Image used under: Creative Commons 2.0 [SRC])

Here's a new twist on how having a tracking GPS in your car can be a GOOD thing. A teenager who was pulled over for speeding was able to prove that he was following the speed limit using the tracking data from his GPS unit.

(Image is used under the Pixabay license)

Using a advances in medical science, soon we may see athletes altering their mood or even their DNA to get the edge in sports.

(Image is used under the Pixabay license)

It's about damn time. Some say the only reason we haven't gone to hydrogen cars already is because it would cost more than gas so maybe the recent gas prices will be the trigger that tips us into a better technology.

eBay

(Image used under: Creative Commons 3.0 [SRC])

If you buy an item that typically is involved with a contract like cell phones or, in this case, a TiVO unit, you may end up getting screwed.

Don't worry, it's not real

(Image used under: Fair Use doctrine)

I haven't gotten around to making a module on digital imaging, but when I do, I'll definitely be covering the issue of fake photos and how to spot them. For now, here's a link with some tips.

China has history, but the recent part isn't so good.

(Image is in the Public Domain)

The Fourth Amendment prohibition against illegal search and seizure made it into the U.S. Constitution precisely because its drafters understood that the power to snoop is addictive. Even if we happen to trust in the good intentions of the snoopers, the nature of any government can change rapidly — which is why the Constitution places limits on the tools available to any regime. But the drafters could never have imagined the commercial pressures at play today. The global homeland-security business is now worth an estimated $200 billion — more than Hollywood and the music industry combined. Any sector of that size inevitably takes on its own momentum. New markets must be found — which, in the Big Brother business, means an endless procession of new enemies and new emergencies: crime, immigration, terrorism.

We're in very real danger of what they have over there being implemented here. And it's already begun.