Blackhacker

When the iPhone becomes available in June, you’ll be able to buy ringtones through iTunes. I came to that conclusion when I read this :

IPhone Fans and Foes Clash Online - WSJ.com
What will be missing from Apple’s iPhone — in spite of its cooperation with Cingular — is Media Net, Cingular’s wireless portal, where phone users can browse the Web and buy ringtones and games. Mr. Siegel declined to comment on what kind of features will eventually be available on the iPhone.

… And the sheep will actually pay for them. $.99 rigtones has GOT to be the biggest scam in the world. You pay the SAME price you would for a full length song but only get 20 sec. Anyway, your gonna pay 5 or 6 hundred dollars to Apple for phone, don’t give them any more. The article linked uses Audacity but if you have an iPhone, you probably have a Mac, which means you probably have iLife, which means you probably have GarageBand, which probably a MUCH better choice for editing audio files.

Few things in this world get me to cussing. When a grown man gets into my personal business is one of them.

AT&T rewrites rules: Your data isn’t yours
AT&T has issued an updated privacy policy that takes effect Friday. The changes are significant because they appear to give the telecom giant more latitude when it comes to sharing customers’ personal data with government officials.

Let’s understand. Who I call is only the business of me the person I call and those entities THAT I HIRE make the call possible. Being that I am the customer I feel those ENTITIES in my employ are are obliged to keep that information to themselves. THEY ONLY exception to this rule is when ordered by a court to do otherwise. I expect that their policies and practice to reflect these ideal. Anything less is a betrayal.

I suppose it is a good thing I am not a customer if AT&T. Verizon, this is for you TOO.

In case you hadn’t heard yet.

USATODAY.com - NSA has massive database of Americans’ phone calls
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.

The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren’t suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.

I understand that this kind of data mining (and that is what it is, in spite of what the President says. He either doesn’t really understand what data mining is or is lying) is necessary to uncover and apprehend loosely couple decentralized organization like Al Qaeda, but there was NO OVERSITE. Where was the check? Where was the balance? The President says, “I can do This cause that is how I interpret the constitution. I Don’t have to do that ’cause that’s how I interpret the constitution. ”

Well Mr. Bush, IT AINT YOUR JOB TO INTERPRET THE CONSTIUTION. THAT IS THE JOB OF THE COURTS.

Kudos to QUEST for telling the government NO. Thanks for having a spine.

Spy Court Judge Quits In Protest
Jurist Concerned Bush Order Tainted Work of Secret Panel

By Carol D. Leonnig and Dafna Linzer
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, December 21, 2005; Page A01

A federal judge has resigned from the court that oversees government surveillance in intelligence cases in protest of President Bush’s secret authorization of a domestic spying program, according to two sources.

If they don’t need you … might as well go home.