US-VISIT ready at land borders

The Homeland Security Department has installed biometric entry facilities at all fixed ports of entry as part of the federal government’s program to strengthen border controls for visiting foreigners in the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks, DHS officials said Friday.

Since January 2004, US‑VISIT has processed more than 44 million visitors. It has spotted and apprehended nearly 1,000 people with criminal or immigration violations, according to a DHS press release.

What this article DOES NOT tell you is how much did it cost to "catch" these 1,000 people -- most of whom were guilty of pretty minor offenses. So far the program has spent just over $15 billion. That works out to $15 million for each "criminal". I smell WOFTAM.

Court convicts 'Survivor' winner

Richard Hatch, the first winner of US reality TV show Survivor, has been convicted of not paying taxes on his $1m prize... He now faces up to 13 years in prison and a fine of $600,000 (£336,000)... His lawyer also said Mr Hatch was a bumbling bookkeeper who could not handle so much money.

And this is the best legal defense $1m can buy!?!?

Mass Spying Means Gross Errors

Congress_critters are now trying to look tough on terrorism -- rather than hang Bush for violating federal law (FISA), they want to make illegal eavesdropping legal.

Click the title (above) to read an article by Jennifer Granick. She is executive director of the Stanford Law School Center for Internet and Society, and teaches the Cyberlaw Clinic.

Mass surveillance isn't just illegal, it's probably a bad idea. We need to ferret out real terrorists, not create a smoke screen of expensive and distracting false positives that they can hide behind. More information doesn't make us smarter. We need smarter information.

Great Riches for You!

Greetings my dear friend and potential business partner. I am greatly excited about our correspondence today as it will lead to great riches, fame and power for the both of us.... I know that I can trust you, shrewd titan of business that you are, and I hope that my credentials (successful banker, cousin to a king, nephew of a general, brother to a famed flamenco dancer) will ensure your trust in me.

An excellent piece -- I have all ready turned over my PayPal account.

College students lack literacy

Most students at community colleges and four-year schools showed intermediate skills. That means they can do moderately challenging tasks, such as identifying a location on a map.

Almost 20 percent of students pursuing four-year degrees had only basic quantitative skills. For example, the students could not estimate if their car had enough gas to get to the service station. About 30 percent of two-year students had only basic math skills.

And these are the people who will be selecting our nursing homes....

Stardust Set to Return

In the early morning hours of January 15, 2006, the Stardust mission returns to Earth after a 4.63 billion kilometer (2.88 billion mile) round-trip journey carrying a precious cargo of cometary and interstellar dust particles. Scientists believe Stardust's cargo will help provide answers to fundamental questions about the origins of the solar system.

An Interview with Ilfak Guilfanov

Robert Lemos interviews Datarescue's senior software developer Ilfak Guilfanov, the creator of the unofficial patch for the flaw in the Windows Meta File format that saw tens of thousands of downloads prior to the official patch release by Microsoft. Guilfanov explains why he decided to issue a patch for the vulnerability, how he created the patch, and his thoughts on whether third-party patches are generally a good thing.