Government opens data to public

An ambitious new website that will open up government data to the public will launch in beta, or pilot, form in December. Reams of anonymous data about schools, crime and health could all be included. Data.gov.uk has been developed by Sir Tim Berners Lee, founder of the web, and Professor Nigel Shadbolt at the University of Southampton. It is designed to be similar to the Obama administration's data.gov project, run by Vivek Kundra. Mr Kundra is Chief Information Officer in the US. The American site, while not yet comprehensive, is already up and running, with improvements fuelled by user feedback. US citizens can either view the data completely raw, or they can access widgets and other tools provided by the site to create their own charts, maps or snapshots of specific information. The British cabinet was briefed in September about data.gov's ambition to be a one-stop-shop for data collected by the government. At the moment a very early beta version is accessible only by a select group. Prime Minister Gordon Brown has voiced his support, and Professor Shadbolt told the BBC he was hopeful that it would "survive" a change of government. Only anonymous data will be made available - there will be no personal information included. Finding patterns "An accountable government needs evidence-based policies," said Prof Shadbolt. "But traditionally only the people seen fit to understand data have been accountants and MPs." Data.gov is built with semantic web technology, which will enable the data it offers to be drawn together into links and threads as the user searches. "During a typhoid outbreak in the nineteenth century a doctor plotted where outbreaks occurred and traced the disease back to one well," explained Professor Shadbolt. "With data.gov we will also be able to look for patterns." Prof Shadbolt also expects that visitors to data.gov will want to make their own mash-ups from the information available. Data hugging It may seem unusual for a new government website to receive such fanfare, but what's interesting about data.gov.uk is the culture change that it represents, say its creators. Traditionally authorities foster a "data hugging mentality", which is wrong argues Prof Shadbolt. "A public body has a duty to publish unless there is a significant reason not to," he said. He cited the census, the land registry and Ordnance Survey data as among the publicly collected information that should be freely available. "What you find if you deal with people in government departments is that they hug their database, hold it really close, so that they can build a beautiful website to present it," said Sir Tim Berners-Lee earlier this year. "I would like to suggest: sure, make a beautiful website, but first, give us - all of us - the unadulterated data. We have to ask for raw data now." (my view)-LOL Do they really expect us to believe they will tell the truth,come on people its the government.....the site will be government run! NEARLY ALL THE DATA WILL BE FAKE TO COVER THEIR LIES,SCANDALS AND STEALING YOUR MONEY

Millions tricked by 'scareware'

Online criminals are making millions of pounds by convincing computer users to download fake anti-virus software, internet security experts claim. Symantec says more than 40 million people have fallen victim to the "scareware" scam in the past 12 months. The download is usually harmful and criminals can sometimes use it to get the victim's credit card details. The firm has identified 250 versions of scareware, and criminals are thought to earn more than £750,000 each a year. Franchised out Scareware sellers use pop-up adverts deliberately designed to look legitimate, for example, using the same typefaces as Microsoft and other well-known software providers. They appear, often when the user is switching between websites, and falsely warn that a computer's security has been compromised. If the user then clicks on the message they are directed towards another site where they can download the fake anti-virus software they supposedly need to clean up their computer - for a fee of up to £60. Con Mallon, from Symantec, told the BBC the apparent fix could have a double impact on victims. "Obviously, you're losing your own hard-earned cash up front, but at the back end of that, if you're transacting with these guys online you're offering them credit card details, debit card details and other personal information," he said. "That's obviously very valuable because these cyber criminals can try to raid those accounts themselves or they can then pass them on or sell them to others who ultimately will try to use that information to their benefit not yours." The findings were revealed in a report written following Symantec analysis of data collected from July 2008 to June 2009. Symantec said 43 million people fell for such scams during that period. It has become so popular that the rogue software has been franchised out. Mr Mallon said some scareware took the scam a step further. "[They] could hold your computer to ransom where they will stop your computer working or lock up some of your personal information, your photographs or some of your Word documents. "They will extort money from you at that point. They will ask you to pay some additional money and they will then release your machine back to you." The scam is hard for police or other agencies to investigate because the individual sums of money involved are very small. Therefore, experts say users must protect themselves with common sense and legitimate security software. 'Steal your identity' Tony Neate, from Get Safe Online, told the BBC the threats presented by the internet had changed in recent years. "Where we used to say protect your PC... we've now got to look at ourselves, making sure we're protected against the con men who are out there," he said. "They want you to help them infect your machine. When they've infected your machine it's possibly no longer your machine - you've got no control over it. "Then what they're looking to do is take away your identity, steal bits of your identity, or even get some financial information from you." He added: "They used to be 16-year-olds in their bedrooms causing damage with viruses. Now those 16-year-olds have grown up [and] they're looking for money, they're looking for information." (my view)-I use (avast)-its free,has 9 stars out of 10(4 stars being norton)-it updates its virus datebase daily,one year of use then all you do is re-register your code-free each year.....thats it:)then after you register-a few seconds later your virus datebase updates then you don't have to register for another year,its ALL FREE here is the link for avast http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html

15 Year Old Disabled Student Beaten Up By Cop

A 15-year-old student at a special needs school got a lesson in police brutality. Marshawn Pitts, who attends the Academy for Learning in the south suburb of Dolton, was slammed into a locker and thrown to the ground by an unidentified police officer as he was taking Pitts to the principals office for an untucked shirt. A security camera installed in one of the schools halls caught the entire confrontation, which ended with a broken nose for Pitts, who lay motionless while the officer sat on him. The fight allegedly broke out after the officer asked the student to tuck his shirt in, a policy enforced in the school. The boys attorney, Ed Manzke, says the video will help Pitts cause. Were fortunate that it [the beating] was caught on videotape, he told the Chicago Tribune. There is nothing [the officer] can say that could justify [the beating]. The video shows the police officer and the student walking down a hall. After saying something to a woman standing there, Pitts is violently pushed against the lockers by the officer, who then proceeds to pin the student to the floor. As the fight starts, students in adjacent classrooms try to walk out of class, but are blocked by other teachers. Once the student is on the floor, two other men run up to the officer, but its unclear if they were trying to block or help him.

The Police Killed Him-FOR NO REASON-and lied about the medics and protesters getting in the way

I took a portion of news(link to this huge article is at the bottom,i know max would like to read)for you to read(read how the police have lied and the killer wore a balaclava and no number-----Initial eyewitness accounts Memorial to Ian Tomlinson outside the Bank of England on 2 April 2009. At the time many believed he had been a protester According to eyewitnesses, reports of missiles raining down while police tried to assist are "completely false." Witnesses say it was protesters, not police, who provided the initial first aid, and who telephoned for medical help, as well as requesting it with a megaphone. "The only attitude of people in the crowd was to help this guy," one eyewitness said. Fran Legg, a politics student at Queen Mary, University of London, told The Evening Standard that it was a friend of hers who put Tomlinson in the recovery position. She said that around eight riot police arrived on the scene with police medics, who stood around Tomlinson. The Standard reported that, "by the time police medics took over from her friend, the man had fallen unconscious." Witnesses stated that one or two plastic bottles were thrown by people who were unaware of Tomlinson's situation, but other protesters told them to stop.[55] The Times wrote that an analysis of television footage and photographs showed just one bottle, that was probably plastic, being thrown in the area.Eyewitness Jasper Jackson, who photographed Tomlinson just before he collapsed, said, "There were a couple of people throwing bottles in the direction. A bottle smashed near a Starbucks. Protesters told them to stop it. In fact they were threatening to kill other protesters if they did anything to disrupt the treatment."-----LINK TO THE ARTICLE - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Ian_Tomlinson