Ken Garen, CPA, Co-Founder and President, UBCC

S Korea introduces fastest wireless network PUBLISHED: 26 JUN 2013 18:28:28 | UPDATED: 26 JUN 2013 20:52:34 South Korea's largest mobile operator is launching what it says is the world's fastest wireless network. SK Telecom has launched a new generation mobile network that offers speeds twice that of its existing long-term evolution (LTE) network and 10 times that of 3G services. The new LTE-Advanced, which will be immediately available in Seoul and 40 other cities, will allow users to download an entire movie in about 40 seconds. The network was launched on Wednesday in conjunction with a new LTE-A capable version of Samsung's flagship Galaxy S4 smartphone, and SK Telecom said half-a-dozen other compatible smartphones were expected to be offered in the second half of 2013. "LTE-A will ... give birth to new mobile value-added services that can bring innovative changes to our customer's lives," said Park In-Sik, president of network bus...

Google does not have to delete sensitive information, says European court European court of justice adviser says Google is not obliged to delete content even when it damages an individual's reputation Juliette Garside guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 25 June 2013 08.43 EDT Google is not obliged to delete personal information from its search results, even when that information damages an individual's reputation, an adviser to the European court of justice has decided. In a long-running case about the "right to be forgotten" by search engines, judges have been asked to rule on whether Google should be treated under law as a publisher of information or simply a host. The case is based on a complaint by Mario Costeja, a Spaniard who made a Google search of his name and found a newspaper announcement from 15 years earlier saying a property he owned was up for auction because of non-payment of social security contributions. Costeja asked for the sensitive ...

Google told to delete Street View payload data or face UK prosecution Information commissioner's office says it will launch contempt of court proceedings if data is not deleted within 35 days Josh Halliday guardian.co.uk, Friday 21 June 2013 07.45 EDT Google has been threatened with criminal proceedings by the information commissioner's office (ICO) over data secretly collected by its Street View cars in the UK. The privacy watchdog said it would prosecute the US firm under the contempt of court act if it failed to delete private information it gathered from public Wi-Fi networks. The ICO has served Google with an enforcement notice ordering it to delete the data within 35 days or face criminal proceedings. Stephen Eckersley, the ICO's head of enforcement, said: "Today's enforcement notice strengthens the action already taken by our office, placing a legal requirement on Google to delete the remaining payload data identified last year wit...

It's over: All private data is public By Roger A. Grimes Created 2013-06-18 03:00AM This is not another article explaining that Google and Facebook already know everything about us or that our governments sniff all our Internet transmissions [1]. That's true, but it's just the tip of the iceberg. This article represents my own realization of the incredibly poor state of data security and what that means about our privacy and data privacy laws. If you're looking for an upbeat article with feel-good solutions, stop reading now. [ The NSA upshot: We're finally taking Internet privacy seriously [2]. | Learn how to secure your systems with the Web Browser Deep Dive PDF special report [3] and Security Central newsletter [4], both from InfoWorld. ] I'm pretty sure I'm not the first person to have this epiphany, but I'm happy enough with myself that I'm going to call this Grimes' Second Corollary. My first corollary [5] states: ...

Google challenges U.S. gag order, citing First Amendment By Craig Timberg, Tuesday, June 18, 12:39 PM E-mail the writer Google asked the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on Tuesday to ease long-standing gag orders over data requests it makes, arguing that the company has a constitutional right to speak about information it’s forced to give the government. The legal filing, which cites the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech, is the latest move by the California-based tech giant to protect its reputation in the aftermath of news reports about sweeping National Security Agency surveillance of Internet traffic. Google, one of nine companies named in NSA documents as providing information to the top-secret PRISM program, has demanded that U.S. officials give it more leeway to describe the company’s relationship with the government. Google and the other companies involved have sought to reassure users that their privacy is being protected from unwarr...

Tech companies jockey to seem the most transparent       By Sam Gustin, Time updated 11:33 AM EDT, Tue June 18, 2013 Fearful of a backlash over surveillance, Facebook, Google and other tech companies deny giving the NSA access to their servers. STORY HIGHLIGHTS Big Internet companies are tripping over themselves to bolster their public image Apple, Facebook, Google and others deny giving the NSA access to their servers The tech companies have released aggregate numbers of total U.S. data requests But the disclosures skirt around the central issue of the NSA-snooping controversy (Time) -- Trust us, we're from Silicon Valley. America's largest Internet companies are tripping over themselves to bolster their public image following blockbuster disclosures about their role in the U.S. government's controversial data-gathering program. Ever since news reports suggested that major tech firms — including Apple, Google, Facebook and Yah...

NSA admits listening to U.S. phone calls without warrants National Security Agency discloses in secret Capitol Hill briefing that thousands of analysts can listen to domestic phone calls. That authorization appears to extend to e-mail and text messages too. by Declan McCullagh June 15, 2013 4:39 PM PDT The National Security Agency has acknowledged in a new classified briefing that it does not need court authorization to listen to domestic phone calls. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat, disclosed this week that during a secret briefing to members of Congress, he was told that the contents of a phone call could be accessed "simply based on an analyst deciding that." If the NSA wants "to listen to the phone," an analyst ' s decision is sufficient, without any other legal authorization required, Nadler said he learned. "I was rather startled," said Nadler, an attorney and congressman who serves on the House Judiciary committe...

17 tips and tools to make Gmail better Live your life in Gmail? These tricks and add-ons will make Google's email service more powerful, productive, and pleasant to use By JR Raphael, InfoWorld, May 30, 2013 Take control of your inbox For as much time as many of us spend in Gmail, the service is essentially a virtual home. And as any good homeowner knows, there's always something you can do to spruce up your living space and make it work better for you. In Gmail's case, there's a lot of handiwork just waiting to be done -- advanced settings to enable, interesting features to be embraced, and third-party programs to install. Google itself just unveiled a new tabbed interface that can change the way you think about email. But that's barely scratching the surface. So dig in and try a few of these less publicized inbox improvements. Your e-property value will skyrocket -- and your quality of virtual life is guaranteed to improve. HelloSign I...

Google is the General Electric of the 21st century Last updated: June 5, 2013 6:57 pm By John Gapper Larry Page has boundless ambition and the capacity to deliver unexpected products Everywhere one looks, Google is doing remarkable things. It could soon overtake Apple in downloads of applications; it is developing self-driving cars; people wear its kooky augmented reality Glass spectacles; it is signing renewable power deals in South Africa and Sweden. From being a one-product company that tapped a stream of wealth with paid internet search, Google is emerging as the dominant consumer technology company of the early 21st century, along with Amazon. Fred Wilson, a leading New York venture capitalist, accuses it of trying to control the internet, “like Microsoft tried with personal computing ... Who will stop Google?” My answer is: nobody, or not easily. Indeed, the best comparison for Google seems to me not Microsoft in the 1980s but General Electric in the late...

The Wi-Fi in your home can track your moves like Xbox Kinect Devin Coldewey NBC News Want to switch off the living room lights from bed, change channels while washing dishes, or turn the heat up from the couch? A team at the University of Washington has rigged a standard Wi-Fi home network to detect your movements anywhere in the home and convert them into commands to control connected devices. Gesture recognition is the latest fad in games and tech, but even the newest systems require high-tech depth-sensing cameras or other special hardware. Microsoft's new Kinect, for instance, uses a photon-measuring method called "time of flight" sensing that was, until the Kinect was announced, limited to high-tech laboratories. And Kinect isn't small, either. UW computer science students, led by assistant professor Shyam Gollakota, looked at the gesture-detection puzzle another way — specifically, how people affect the environment they're already in. Our ...

France opens new front in war with Internet giants 04 JUNE 2013 French Minister for Culture and Communication Aurelie Filippetti arrives at the Rond-Point theatre in Paris on June 3, 2013. Filippetti has branded online retailer Amazon a "destroyer" of bookshops in the latest confrontation between the Socialist government in Paris and America's giants of the digital economy. AFP - France's culture minister has branded online retailer Amazon a "destroyer" of bookshops in the latest confrontation between the Socialist government in Paris and America's giants of the digital economy. "Today, everyone has had enough of Amazon, which, by dumping, slashes prices to get a foothold in markets only to raise them once they have established a virtual monopoly," Culture Minister Aurelie Filippetti said. "It is destructive for bookshops," the minister told a conference of booksellers Monday in the southwestern city of Bordeaux. ...

Mpls Agency Looking To The Future Through Google Glass May 30, 2013 10:30 PM Reporting Jamie Yuccas MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Google glass is a wearable computer. Developers are getting a chance to try out the futuristic shades first so they can give input and create apps. One Minneapolis digital innovation agency, Space 150, recently had a pair delivered. “We had a number of people gather around [for the opening],” says Marc Jensen, the agency’s president and chief technology officer. Space 150 is the 342nd owner of Google Glass. While the glasses might not look the coolest — with twist on or off lenses and bulky plastic — the way they work is pretty sweet. “You have two different ways to turn it on, you can tip your head up and down, or you can tap it,” Jensen said. Everything is voice or tap activated, but wearing them takes a little getting used to. Right now, the glasses can do the basic functions of your smart phone – take pictures, record vi...