Thursday, September 5, 2013

Google, Twitter push to reveal number of national security related requests separately

Google, Twitter push to reveal number of national security related requests separately data = {blogUrl: "www.engadget.com",v: 315};when = {jquery: lab.scriptBs("jquery"),plugins: lab.scriptBs("plugins"),eng: lab.scriptBs("eng")}; var s265prop9 = ('20622958' !== '') ? 'bsd:20622958' : ''; var postID = '20622958'; var modalMNo = '93319229', modalVideoMNo = '93320648', modalGalleryMNo = '93304207'; when.eng("eng.omni.init", {pfxID:"weg",pageName:document.title,server:"acp-ld39.websys.aol.com",channel:"us.engadget", s_account: "aolwbengadget,aolsvc", short_url: "",pageType:"",linkInternalFilters:"javascript:,",prop1:"article",prop2:"internet",prop9:s265prop9,prop12:document.location,prop17:"",prop18:"",prop19:"",prop20:"", prop22:"richard-lawler", prop54:"blogsmith",mmxgo: true }); adSendTerms('1')adSetMOAT('1');adSetAdURL('/_uac/adpagem.html');lab._script("http://o.aolcdn.com/os/ads/adhesion/js/adhads-min.js").wait(function(){var floatingAd = new AdhesiveAd("348-14-15-14d",{hideOnSwipe:true});}); onBreak({980: function () { adSetType("F");htmlAdWH("93319229", "LB", "LB"); adSetType("");}}); EngadgetMenu NewsReviews Features Galleries VideosEventsPodcasts Engadget ShowTopics Buyers Guides Sagas Store HD Mobile Alt Announcements Cameras Cellphones Desktops Displays Gaming GPS Handhelds Home Entertainment Household Internet Laptops Meta Misc Networking Peripherals Podcasts Robots Portable Audio/Video Science Software Storage Tablets Transportation Wearables Wireless Acer Amazon AMD Apple ASUS AT&T Blackberry Canon Dell Facebook Google HP HTC Intel Lenovo LG Microsoft Nikon Nintendo Nokia NVIDIA Samsung Sony Sprint T-Mobile Verizon About UsSubscribeLike Engadget@engadgettip uswhen.eng("eng.nav.init")when.eng("eng.tips.init") onBreak({980: function () {htmlAdWH("93308280", "215", "35",'AJAX','ajaxsponsor');}});Google, Twitter push to reveal number of national security related requests separatelyBypostedJun 15th, 2013 at 12:46 AM 0

While Microsoft and Facebook have both published information tonight about how many requests for customer info the government made over a six month period, Google and Twitter are apparently hoping to take a different route. As Google told AllThingsD and Twitter legal director Benjamin Lee tweeted, "it's important to be able to publish numbers of national security requests-including FISA disclosures-separately." Google went further, claiming that lumping the number of National Security Letters together with criminal requests would be a "step backwards." Clearly this post-PRISM revelations battle for more transparency on just what the government is doing behind the scenes isn't over, we'll let you know if any of the parties involved have more information to share.


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Microsoft releases government data request stats: over 6,000 in six months

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Like Facebook earlier, Microsoft has revealed some details about the number of government requests for data that it receives, and is for the first time including national security requests in the total count. Also similar to Facebook, Microsoft says the requests cover a tiny fraction of the accounts it serves, with between 6,000 and 7,000 criminal and national security requests covering between 31,000 and 32,000 accounts received over the last six months. Microsoft also noted precisely what it can reveal (included below), adding the numbers between all agencies, all company consumer services, in bands of 1,000 and for the period between July and December last year. Microsoft also parroted Facebook's hope that the government would allow "greater steps" in allowing transparency in the future. Returning to a previous Microsoft transparency report, Reuters points out it indicated receiving requests concerning 24,565 accounts in 2012 -- by halving that number it roughly estimates national security requests are touching the majority of the accounts counted.

Here is what the data shows: For the six months ended December 31, 2012, Microsoft received between 6,000 and 7,000 criminal and national security warrants, subpoenas and orders affecting between 31,000 and 32,000 consumer accounts from U.S. governmental entities (including local, state and federal). This only impacts a tiny fraction of Microsoft's global customer base.

We are permitted to publish data on national security orders received (including, if any, FISA Orders and FISA Directives), but only if aggregated with law enforcement requests from all other U.S. local, state and federal law enforcement agencies; only for the six-month period of July 1, 2012 thru December 31, 2012; only if the totals are presented in bands of 1,000; and all Microsoft consumer services had to be reported together.

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Amazon lists multiple PlayStation 4 bundles with release day guarantee

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Amazon list multiple PlayStation 4 bundles with release day guarantee?

If you managed to snag one of those "Launch Edition" PS4s, consider yourself officially on the ball. If not, then not only will we not judge you, but you might actually have a different set of bragging rights. Amazon's currently listing four new bundles for the console. The Knack and Watch Dogs editions come with their respective games included for $460, while the Battlefield 4 and Killzone launch bundles toss in one year of PlayStation Plus -- nudging the price up to just 10 cents shy of $500. Perhaps of more importance, however, is that unlike the Standard listing, all the bundles carry that guarantee of release day availability, which -- for gaming cred at least -- is arguably priceless.

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Meet Tom Bachik, the Celebrity Nail Artist Dad

Tom Bachik looks like a SoCal skater dude, so it's surprising when he shows up and does red-carpet manicures for Anne Hathaway, J.Lo, Victoria Beckham, Zooey Deschanel, and tons of other Hollywood women. He wins nail art competitions. He was Chanel's first celebrity nail artist. He's currently L'Oréal's global spokesperson. And the former graphic designer, who switched to painting nails in the mid-aughts, is a regular on editorial shoots for Elle, Harper's Bazaar, and Vogue. He calls himself the Man-icurist.

He also happens to be a dad, to his two college-aged sons and his 14-year-old-daughter, Zoie. It's her small fingers that he uses to test out concepts for all of the above, plus other nail looks that they dream up. He posts all these on his Twitter and Instagram accounts along with pictures of, say, Lopez's delicate hands. It's really the sweetest thing. "I travel a lot, so Zoie will call me while I'm away and we'll make plans to do her nails," he cheerfully says. "It's our time to spend together."

Before he was nail-famous, Bachik, married to wife Liz (another nail art testee), remembers coming home once to a beautiful disaster of nail polish and glitter. "Zoie was about 5 or 6 years old at the time, and she had glued little [fake] nails to a nail file and painted them," he recalls. "That's how I used to practice painting nails, so she had seen me and was just copying what I did; she had even glued on all these little pearls I had just gotten from Japan." Like that lanyard keychain you once made for your own dad, Bachik held onto and still cherishes his daughter's first attempt at nail art. As she's gotten a bit older, he's mostly painting her nails for various teenage events. "It's a collaboration, but she usually lets me do whatever I want," he says. "She won't say she doesn't like it directly, but I'll ask what she thinks of it and she'll just nod and say, 'Uh-huh,' which means that she doesn't love it; she's a polite kid." 

Here, Tom breaks down some of their father-daughter moments from Instagram:

"She actually didn't like the purple and yellow combo at first. But the thing is, we got her and her friend tickets to the Justin Bieber concert and I had looked at his website earlier and saw all this Lakers [basketball] stuff all over his fan page. So that's where the yellow and purple come from, so when we finally showed her the tickets and Lakers jerseys to wear to the show, she saw that and then loved it."

"I think that was for her seventh grade winter dance. She had a dark-colored dress with a little pink and lace. So for nails, we both agreed that it should be dark ,so we just went with this purple color."

"I had just gotten Ciate's chalkboard nail kit, so I was just testing them out on Zoie. I'm interested in product development, so I'm always checking out what other people are doing."

While Zoie has no plans yet to follow in her father's footsteps ("It's just something fun for her and her friends to do"), she's just recently realized  how cool her dad's job is, or at least that he hangs out with famous people. "They've never really asked about it; I think they just thought I worked in a salon or something, but a couple of years ago they realized who my clients were," says Bachik. "We've seen the Spice Girls concert because of Victoria Beckham, No Doubt because of Gwen Stefani, and we've been backstage with Jen [Lopez] for American Idol," he notes, before adding: "Even the boys think this is cool now." 


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Latest leak suggests Nokia EOS to pack 41MP camera, possible metallic variant also spotted

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Latest leak suggest Nokia EOS PureView to pack 41MP camera, possible variant also spotted

We gotta say, originally we weren't very confident in the above alleged spy shots of the rumored Nokia EOS smartphone, but after talking to the leakster from Sina Weibo, we think we got this figured out. First of all, there are two parts here: the paint-less camera cover plate that now says "41 MEGA PIXEL" -- the same camera resolution featured on the 808 PureView -- instead of "XX MEGA PIXEL," and a metallic chassis of the EOS phone. But the latter (pictured center and right) looks slightly different to the other leaks we've come across so far: the bump is significantly smaller, and the holes inside don't match the ones on the cover plate. If you look even closer, the pin hole for what seems to be a SIM slot at the top is now on the other side of the slot.

Judging by his background and track record so far (he claims he also leaked the red EOS factory photos), we have reason to believe that this leakster does have a good source on the factory floor. Hence our two assumptions: either this chassis is an early engineering sample, or that this is a metallic variant of the plastic EOS. You know, like what the Lumia 925 is to the Lumia 920. We've been promised a few more photos in the coming days, and hopefully they'll unravel more mystery before Nokia lets the cat out of the bag next month.

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Acer won't do Windows Phone this year, wants Microsoft to pick up the pace

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Acer won't do Windows Phone this year, asks Microsoft to pick up the pace

It's been a long, long time since Acer launched a Windows Phone... and from all indications, we're going to keep waiting. The company's Allen Burnes tells Pocket-lint that Windows Phone 8 is good, but "not the right decision" for Acer in 2013. His firm is concerned with boosting sales volume, and the Liquid series of Android phones are currently better for that task, Burnes says. In his mind, Microsoft has to make a stronger case for Windows Phone -- Acer will come back to the OS once there's improved marketing and (hopefully) more demand. We aren't entirely surprised that Acer is holding off when it's already reluctant to back Windows RT, but the cautious attitude is still a disappointment for those who want a little more diversity in Microsoft's mobile ecosystem.

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