Apr 05 2013
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The Pursuit of Happiness

The New Sony Walkman: A Review (Part I)

Disclaimer: I received the Meb Keflezighi Special Edition NWZ-W262 Walkman as a free gift from Sony by way of Klout. As such, you should take this review with a huge grain of salt, even though I’ll do my darnedest to be fair and balanced.

There are a lot of options out there for listening to music while you exercise, most of which involve carrying around a device to which a pair of headphones are attached via a cable. If you’re made of money (and have the right device), you can get bluetooth headphones that are cable free, but you still have to carry around the device. Sony’s solution to this duality problem is its latest generation of the Walkman, the NWZ-W262, which is the subject of this two-part review. In Part I, I’ll unbox the device and give you my impressions as I run down the features and try it at my desk. In Part II, I’ll report on how well it did after I’ve used it under various conditions in the field.

Unboxing

The Walkman arrived in handsome and well-constructed retail packaging, which is pleasing, if not particularly unusual.

The Walkman in its original packaging.

The first thing I did was to flip it over and look at the description on the back. What I saw was disheartening, as I’m an Apple user, and the (ridiculously long and specific) System Requirements indicated that I’d need Windows to make it work.

System Requirements

Fortunately, this turned out not to be the case, as I’ll explain later on.

Opening the box didn’t require any special tools or cutting through plastic (huzzah!). It contained a micro-B USB cable (about 2′ long), the usual array of ear gels in various sizes, a small plastic holder, the typical safety/warranty/quick-start literature, and a separate pink sheet warning that it’s water resistant, not water proof. (The IPX5 rating that it meets is for resistance to jets of water, but not total immersion; that’s IPX7 or higher. Ergo, I wouldn’t recommend using it in the pool.) There was also a nice booklet about training for running, written by Meb Keflezighi, right on top.

InThePackage

The booklet has a lot of information and tips that sound logical to me, but I’m not a distance runner, so I can’t really cast an expert’s eye on it. If you are a runner, however, you’ll probably find it more interesting than you’d expect. (And lest you think some guy in Sony’s marketing department actually did the writing, it’s worth noting that Meb graduated from UCLA, where he majored in communications studies with a business focus.)

The headphones themselves have a bit of weight to them that gives them ‘feel’, which I liked, though it could conceivably be a distraction (I’ll let you know in Part II.) The design is handsome, though not extraordinary – Each side vaguely resembles a bluetooth headset, with a bit of decorative flair.

Headphones

The wire connecting the two halves rests the whole thing very comfortably around your neck when you take them out of your ears. This beats the dockers off of dealing with dangling earbuds and tangled cables, and I instantly appreciated why they came up with this particular product the first time I took them off.

A Note About the Systems Requirements

As I mentioned, my concerns about the system requirements specified on the box were largely unfounded. After I plugged the Walkman into my MacBook Pro, it showed up as a mass storage device in the Finder, with a folder labeled MUSIC that was pre-populated with set of mp3 files labeled “Tip1_join_a_Team”, “Tip2_Training_Routine”, and the like. (As it turns out, these files were recordings of Meb’s suggestions for being a successful runner. Having no interest in being a runner, I deleted them.) I opened iTunes, selected the songs I wanted in my library, and dragged them to the MUSIC folder in the Finder. They were automatically copied to the Walkman, and all of them played flawlessly without any further manipulation, with one exception. I did some analysis, and it turns out that one exception was copied over in Apple’s lossless ALAC format, rather than AAC, even though it was in the same type of container (MPEG-4) as some of the other songs I transferred that did play. (The box specified that the Walkman “Plays back MP3, WMA, AAC, [and] Linear PCM Audio Files”.) I used iTunes to create an mp3 version of the same song, transferred it over, and wallah! It played, though for some users, this extra step may be an annoyance. I also discovered by experimentation that I could create different playlists (also referred to as “folders” in the instructions) by creating sub-folders inside the MUSIC directory and populating them with songs.

Performance

The device has around 2GB of storage available, which strikes me as plenty for its intended purpose. I played songs from a couple of genres (rock and a capella), and the sound quality was excellent from my perspective, though I don’t consider myself to be an audiophile; i.e., your mileage may vary. The controls were very cleverly designed, with the play/pause button and a skip forward/back rocker below the right earpiece, and a playlists/shuffle button and a volume lower/higher rocker on the left.

Controls

The clever part is that the buttons are shaped differently from one side to the other, so it’s easy to distinguish by feel which is which. The rockers were also oriented in an intuitive way – Pushing the end of the rocker that’s closest to your chest increases the volume (left ear) or goes forward in the song list (right ear); pushing the end of the rocker that’s toward your back does the opposite. That’s one of those little things that makes a HUGE difference in making it easy to use, at least for me. There’s also a pre-recorded voice that tells you what’s going on when you activate some of the major features (e.g., “Shuffle on”, “Playing next folder”), which I found unobtrusive and infinitely more helpful than simple beeps.

The power button and indicator light are on the inside surface of the right ear piece; you have to remove the Walkman to turn it off entirely. (Note: the power light is off in the picture, even though the power switch is on, because the light comes on about every five seconds rather than staying on. I presume this is to conserve power.) The indicator light is supposed to change color as the batteries get low, but you won’t be able to see it when that happens without removing it from your ears, so I don’t think that’s likely to be useful; time will tell.

Power Switch

 

The USB socket is on the back of the right earpiece as well. The cover is easy to remove, and replaces snugly.

USB Port

Putting the Walkman on takes some getting used to, as the feel is completely different from popping in earbuds. I found it easiest to hang it around my neck as though I’d just taken it off, grab each side with my thumbs on the bottoms of the earpieces and put them in my ear canals, then flip the wire over the tops of my ears. I suspect putting it on will become second nature in short order. Once it’s on, it feels firm and steady; not loose at all.

That’s it for my initial impressions! If you have any questions, please post them in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer promptly. Look for Part II of this review after I’ve had a chance to put the Walkman through its paces in the field.

 

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Mar 23 2013
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A Hundred Ways

I think a lot about what I’ve done to with my kids, and whether it will be helpful in bringing them happiness and success in life. And like every parent, I’ve heard lots of sage advice along the way, some of which comes from the strangest places. Consider for example the TV show Falling Skies, which I’ve been watching on Netflix lately. In one particular episode, Tom (played by Noah Wylie) said something really profound to his oldest son Hal about being a parent, and what parents want for their kids: “We don’t want you to be like us. We want you to be better.”

JenAndKids

Now, this isn’t a particularly revolutionary or original idea, but it happened to be the first time I’d heard it expressed out loud so clearly and simply (since I became a dad, anyway), and it got me thinking: How could my kids be better than me? No, not as in ‘how-could-they-be-better-when-I’m-so-great’, but rather, what are some of my weaknesses that have held me back, and that they could improve on?

I’ve been working on a list, and the first hundred ideas* are here. I hope they read it some day, possibly give it some thought, and maybe even think about implementing one or two. I could die happy if they did.

How to be Better Than Dear Old Dad: A Hundred Ways

  1. Be punctual.
  2. Be neat and organized.
  3. Find a way to focus on what you’re doing.
  4. Have a plan, with goals, and pursue it.
  5. Practice self-discipline; be willing to delay rewards (a little).
  6. Learn higher level math.
  7. Be a leader.
  8. Be a vocal advocate for world peace.
  9. Never lie.
  10. Strive for immortality by doing great things.
  11. Work toward the betterment of humanity.
  12. Achieve mastery of skill in something you love to do by practicing. A lot.
  13. Don’t waste time.
  14. Save money.
  15. Be prudent in how you use the money you have.
  16. Prepare for disasters you can reasonably anticipate.
  17. Set a good example for your children.
  18. Meditate on a regular basis.
  19. Have lots of children. As in, eight or nine.
  20. Exercise every day.
  21. Read a chapter from a book every day.
  22. Make your bed in the morning.
  23. Avoid taking stupid risks.
  24. Don’t be intimidated by dramatic, public failures. Try again.
  25. Learn how to write humorously, and to tell jokes well.
  26. Become a vegetarian, or hunt your own meat.
  27. Volunteer regularly.
  28. Fulfill your commitments; keep your promises.
  29. Become skilled at verbal reparté; win debates.
  30. Compensate for your weaknesses by learning to overcome them, rather than recruiting others to help.
  31. Stand up for your rights as a consumer, especially if you pay for college.
  32. Enjoy victories, regret defeats, and always be honorable on and off the field.
  33. Express your disappointment with those under you when it’s called for.
  34. Don’t let the weak get cut out from the herd by bullies; stand with them.
  35. Learn chemistry.
  36. Don’t spoil your children; let make them struggle.
  37. Invent something physical that’s genuinely useful to someone else.
  38. Engage in an artistic activity regularly.
  39. Drive conservatively.
  40. Use checklists.
  41. Use a to-do system religiously.
  42. Become a pilot.
  43. Share what you know.
  44. Tell the truth to authority.
  45. If you find out that you’re working for a bully, quit immediately.
  46. Learn to design your own circuits.
  47. Do the dishes every night.
  48. Expect guests, and keep a clean house.
  49. Work ridiculously hard at getting great grades.
  50. Contribute substantial sums to charity.
  51. ALWAYS take appropriate precautions before exposing yourself to potentially dangerous situations or toxic substances.
  52. Never, ever engage in sexting, or knowingly let someone take a picture of you naked, unless you’re willing to deal with the consequences for the next twenty years.
  53. Don’t hoard your stuff.
  54. Do what you can to maintain your senses at peak operating capacity.
  55. Protect your brain from concussions.
  56. Be as good at listening as you are at talking.
  57. Don’t accept responsibility for how other people feel, but do care about their feelings.
  58. Follow the golden rule with vim and vigor.
  59. Respect others’ right to believe whatever they do, whether or not you agree with it.
  60. If you start something, finish it.
  61. Learn to bake.
  62. Spend as little time as possible looking at a screen.
  63. Emulate people who you view as leaders.
  64. Don’t be so concerned about doing things your own way that you miss the boat.
  65. Be willing to follow good advice as soon as it’s given.
  66. What you make will never look perfect to you, so learn exactly when to say ‘good enough’
  67. Go to bed early and get enough sleep.
  68. Don’t believe everything you learn in school – Teachers are human, too.
  69. Don’t drink for the sake of getting drunk, especially at parties.
  70. Eat a Mediterranean diet – Lots of nuts and olive oil, natch.
  71. Always obey the law. If you don’t like the law, work to change it.
  72. Don’t consume candy on anything but rare occasions.
  73. Figure out what you don’t want to learn, and don’t learn it; you can’t be an expert at everything.
  74. Play a sport.
  75. Think carefully about your sexual partners.
  76. Be willing to reconcile with and forgive anyone, even your worst enemies.
  77. Read comic books.
  78. Learn about fashion, and how to stay in it.
  79. Take out the trash (and the recycling) as soon as it’s full.
  80. Don’t let your feelings get in the way of letting your partner/spouse/teammate lead the way; sometimes you just need to support them.
  81. If the weather makes you unusually sad, do something about it. (Your feelings, not the weather. Duh.)
  82. If you don’t agree with your doctor, let her know.
  83. Don’t buy your way out of problems; make do with what you have.
  84. Attend concerts, operas, plays, and live performances as much as possible.
  85. If you like what someone did, tell them. Every time.
  86. Offer empathy before offering a solution.
  87. Don’t offer a solution unless asked.
  88. Don’t offer criticism unless asked, and wrap it on both ends with praise.
  89. If someone asks you a belittling question, don’t be afraid to look them in the eye and answer as best you can.
  90. Look people in the eye when you talk to them.
  91. Wear shoes that make you look taller than you are.
  92. Do your homework, especially when you reach the age that it’s no longer assigned, but expected.
  93. Practice your soccer footwork every day.
  94. Practice presentations before you give them, preferably several times over.
  95. Ending a relationship feels like the end of the world when you’re young. It’s not.
  96. Go to couples therapy before you get married. And after.
  97. Don’t feel embarrassed or awkward when you run into someone with whom you’ve had a difficult history; treat them like someone you just met at a party.
  98. Don’t confuse anger with lack of love; anger is transitory.
  99. Have love for many people, even when you’re in love with one.
  100. Don’t ignore your family, especially when they get old.
  101. Treat all living, breathing things with respect, even insects – They have feelings, too.
  102. Learn what it means to be impulsive, and how to control it.
  103. Take an introductory philosophy course, and a logic course, and don’t bother taking any more classes in that department ever again.
  104. Don’t bother with grad school unless you’re absolutely certain you want and need the degree.
  105. Keep your yard cut and your property in order.

 * See item 6.

 

 

Feb 22 2013
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LIfe, The Pursuit of Happiness

Is Heading the Ball Dangerous?

There’s a new study that purports to show that heading the ball in soccer is equivalent to getting punched by an amateur boxer. The question that’s left unanswered, of course, is whether this causes a concussion, and/or does any lasting damage.

Unfortunately, a link to the original research paper isn’t yet available, so it’s hard to draw definitive conclusions about what the study results really mean. However, I play a lot of soccer, and I can tell you the following from direct personal experience:

Heading the ball can indeed cause concussions. I’ve had the distinct displeasure of ‘missing’ while heading a hard-kicked ball. In one particularly memorable instance, a cross-field zinger partly hit my left eye socket, I wasn’t positioned properly despite having plenty of time, and I was seeing stars and feeling woozy afterward. I’ve had enough concussions in my life (at least three that knocked me out entirely, as well as several others) to have a pretty good idea what they feel like, and this was it.

Good technique greatly moderates the effect of the impact. When I’ve headed the ball with proper technique, I’ve noticed a significant decrease in the ‘jarring’ sensation that inevitably accompanies heading a ball. Even under these ideal conditions, however, it’s currently impossible to know with certainty whether the brain is striking the inside of the skull. (Mythbusters – Are you paying attention?)

Good technique isn’t easy, and isn’t implemented effectively by everyone. To learn to head the ball correctly, you need to know what proper technique looks like, and practice it repeatedly under reasonably safe conditions. Most of us learned heading early in life from parent coaches, who may not know good technique, or who may not be able to teach it effectively. And some of us may not have the depth perception and sense of timing needed to head the ball well every time. (I certainly don’t.) This increases our odds of injury when we choose to head the ball.

With all that in mind, consider that…

It’s just a freakin’ game. I love soccer, and I’ve been seriously injured playing it, but unless you’re playing pro ball, it’s better to live with the dirty looks of your teammates than to take a chance on a poorly-executed header that might give you brain damage. And make sure you (and your soccer-loving kids) know proper heading technique.

Update 2013-3-8:  A new study shows even light soccer headers cause declines in cognitive function, at least in the short term. Long term effects are as yet unknown.

Feb 21 2013
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LIfe

Why Not Use Tracers in Fracking?

I know relatively little about fracking. I’m not a geologist, environmental activist, petroleum industry magnate (or employee), or hydrologist. However, I get the impression that there are a lot of people concerned that fracking is putting toxic chemicals into the water supply (among other things.) I’m still agnostic on this issue, but I would like to know with some degree of certainty why some people can ignite the water coming from their faucets, and how many wells are faulty. So why not use chemical tracers in fracking to attribute sources of pollution?

There are a number of companies that provide the needed technology. Consider for example Chemical Tracers Inc, Environmental Tracing Systems LTD, and others. If they can produce tracers that are A) uniquely identifiable, B) not naturally occurring, and C) compatible with fracking fluid mixes, they could be mixed into the fracking fluid at the well site. This would give each well a ‘fingerprint’ that would allow us to ‘see’ whether fluid from any particular well was getting into the water supply by simply looking for the chemical tracers in the water. Wallah! Instant attribution.

All of us should have a stake in implementing this idea. The oil companies want to show that their fracking wells aren’t polluting aquifers, and the rest of us want to know that fracking wells aren’t polluting aquifers. And many of us on either side of this issue are going to have grandkids living near fracking wells some day; I for one would like to know that they’re not going to get sick from one of the best national water systems on the planet.

 

Feb 06 2013
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LIfe, The Pursuit of Happiness

I’ll Take My Self-Driving Car Now, Please

I can’t wait to own a self-driving vehicle. I wish Google (and the competition coming a bit later to the game) would hurry their asses up and get them on the market. I know some people don’t like giving up the sense of control, or are worried about being involved in a massive pile-up due to getting BoD’d, but to my way of thinking, the ability to read the paper or burn through some email on the way into work is the ultimate in luxury living.

Google_car

Consider for example the years I spent commuting to downtown DC on a train, the original self-driving car. Every day, I’d take Amtrak from the station in Laurel down to Union Station, right in the heart of the capitol, and I loved every minute of it. Wide, comfy seats with lots of legroom, and I didn’t have to worry about traffic conditions,  accidents, or getting there on time – In my experience, the trains were rarely off schedule. And the best part was being able to do a crossword, read the news, chat with the person next to me, or whatever else I felt like doing within the confines of the seat and public propriety. (I’d have done stuff on my iPad, but this was before they existed.)

As far as I’m concerned, the day I can relax and let a computer do the driving can’t come soon enough.

photo credit: MarkDoliner via photopin cc

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Jan 17 2013
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LIfe

Why Teaching To The Test May Not Be So Bad After All

Despite my background in tests and measures, I’ve been virulently opposed to the whole concept of standards-based education in public schools. To my way of thinking, that approach is about teaching kids how to do well on tests, rather than how to do well in life, which are two completely different things. Worse, if the US is going to compete internationally on the basis of test results, we will lose. It’s impossible for us to overcome the phenomenal discipline parents in other cultures apply to drive their children toward test success. Americans (by and large) just aren’t that way, and that’s served us to our advantage time and time again. (For a clear, if fictional, illustration of this principle, see Kirk’s answer to the Kobayashi Maru. If you need a ‘real life’ example, look to MacAruthur’s return to the Phillipines.)

Exam Sign

However, I’ve just had an insight from some recent reading. It might, possibly, may be that teaching to the test isn’t all bad, if it gives teachers a challenge; a purpose; a result on which to focus their efforts, one which is more concrete and apparent than producing ‘a well-rounded student’.

Consider for example the profile and tweets of the Sylvania Schools’ Assistant Director of Curriculum, Julie Sanford. I realized after reading her statement that “CURRICULUM IS FUN!” (capitalization is hers) that having a meaningful educational agenda to work on, even if that curriculum is oriented toward the result of producing test-compliant kids, may supply a sense of purpose for teachers in the classroom. This, in turn, may yield the well-rounded students we’re actually trying to produce. The last time we (as a country) had such clarity and urgency in teaching, especially in the areas of science, math, and engineering, was when we were in the Space Race with the Soviet Union, and look how that turned out.

photo credit: Blue Square Thing via photopin cc

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Jan 15 2013
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Liberty, LIfe

On Newtown, and Non-Lethal School Defenses

Here’s an email I sent recently to Brad Rieger, the Superintendent of Sylvania Schools (and an all around pleasant and very smart fellow.) I thought it was worth sharing:

Hello Brad,

I’ve been giving some thought to the Newtown tragedy, and to the debate about whether to allow arming of teachers or posting of armed security guards in schools. In my opinion as a parent and CCW permit holder, there may be safer and more cost-effective means of defending a school against an armed assailant than firearms. I thought I’d run this suggestion by you to get a professional educator’s opinion, and in the hopes you’d spread this idea among your colleagues to solicit their opinions as well.

In particular, I’m thinking of devices such as the Torch, the Inferno (also see Wired’s article), the Dazzler (or an open-source variant), “less lethal” weapons or paintball markers, and others. These devices can be quite inexpensive — For example, the Torch is $199 and puts out 4400 lumens. (350 lumens is enough to blind an attacker for a second or two after exposure, even in broad daylight.) They also have other notable advantages, in particular, they are easier to aim for effect than a firearm, they require little (if any) specialized training, and they pose little or no threat of permanent injury or death to the students. If devices like these were placed in strategic locations throughout a school, the entire staff and/or student body could actively participate in their own defense against an armed intruder.

Please let me know what you think about this general idea when you get the chance. I’ll be looking forward to hearing from you.

Cheers,
Bill

Update: The WP put up an article a few days back on Pennsylvania schools hiring armed security guards.

Update: The Toledo Blade put up a similar article about the schools in Montpelier, Ohio arming their janitors.

Newtown Memorial

photo credit: NorthEndWaterfront.com via photopin cc

Nov 16 2012
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LIfe, The Pursuit of Happiness

On Learning From Mistakes. And Successes.

Doh!They say you can learn more from your mistakes than your successes. I’ve recently come to the conclusion that this is bullshit. In my experience, if you’re motivated, you can learn as much from what you do right as from what you do wrong by deliberately thinking about what just happened. In the case of physical activities, the sooner you do so, the better.

Consider for example an athletic endeavor, say, soccer. If you kick the ball, and it falls short or curves the wrong way, you can learn by pausing and saying to yourself:

“Ok, self, what just happened? How was my body positioned? What was the angle of my foot, leg, my hips, and my chest? How much force did I apply? Where were my arms? Where was I looking? And which one of those things will I change to try making the next kick better?”

On the other hand, if you kick the ball and it goes precisely where you wanted it to and with just enough power to get the job done, you can learn by pausing and saying to yourself:

“Ok, self, what just happened? How was my body positioned? What was the angle of my foot, leg, my hips, and my chest? How much force did I apply? Where were my arms? Where was I looking? And which of all those things should stay the same to make the next kick just as good?”

In other words, if you’re motivated to learn, your relative success or failure on any particular effort does not matter. What does matter is what you do with the information you’ve gained.

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Aug 07 2012
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The Pursuit of Happiness

Google’s Brilliant Employment Strategies

Hiring is a difficult and laborious process, generally because it’s very hard to determine which particular person will actually perform well on the job. (I spent years studying this in grad school, and have spent years implementing it in my office. Believe me – It’s very, very hard.) However, research suggests that there’s one trait that universally predicts job performance better than any other, and that’s general intelligence. Basically, the smarter you are, the better you’re likely to do on performance ratings. As such, companies that select staff based on how smart the applicants are will have employees with higher performance ratings, and if performance ratings are correlated with the marketplace performance of the company, hiring and retaining smart people should result in a stronger bottom line.

Consider for example how Google goes about getting new crew members: They hire brilliant people. Not only do they want to know where you went to school and if you graduated with a degree, they want to know what your GPA was while you were there. (Fortunately for my ego, I haven’t put in a resume.)

Picture of one of Google's self-driving cars

Credit: Google

 

Once they’re on board, Google keeps their brilliant people entertained with personal projects. “Google screws around with a lot of far out, even cockamamie projects — well, because it can and it’s fun. Two good reasons that few can fault.” It’s not hard to imagine that having one out of every five days of work to devote to your own ideas would be very intellectually stimulating for someone with the brainpower to have brilliant ideas.

Google provides services on campus so that their brilliant people don’t get distracted by the everyday minutiae like getting their oil changed or their hair cut. And they require all employees to get at least 120 hours of training and development every year, to keep them abreast of what’s going on in their field. (There’s also the unlimited sick leave and 27 days of paid vacation every year. And don’t get me started on the free gourmet lunches and dinners.) You put all these factors together, and you get a gigantic company staffed entirely by brilliant people that repeatedly gets acknowledged as one of the best companies to work for in America. ‘Nuff said.

 

Apr 10 2012
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Liberty

How Less Government Is Actually More Government

It used to be that the government did things itself. Put a man on the moon? Form NASA and get to work. Spy on the Soviets? Create the CIA and start sending fake nuns to St. Petersburg (Leningrad for you historical types.) Foment a revolution? Send the marines into the Bay of Pigs. (Oh, wait — That one we didn’t do ourselves. Sorry.)

The U.S. Capitol buildingOne of the big, highly unappreciated advantages of this approach is that, regardless of the inefficiency and red-tape inherent in the process, it provides accountability, both before and after the fact. If the NSA or the FBI or anyone else in the employment of government wants to directly collect information about American citizens, they have to deal with pesky things like warrants, court orders, and civil rights lawsuits.

Nowadays, however, the government is doing far, far less in the way of project execution itself, and the implications should be deeply troubling to anyone who doesn’t want the NSA looking at pictures of their butt taken the last time they were on the crapper. Why? Because the NSA doesn’t have to take the pictures, of course! Not only are big companies like Google, Apple, Facebook, and every other one you’ve heard of collecting this data in massive quantities and providing it to the government, they’re actively discouraged from admitting they’re doing so. The NSA is even building a massive data center in the middle of the country, right next to twelve major data centers and several cross-country fiber optic networks, to make it easy for these companies to send the data their way.

But wait! There’s more!

Because these are private companies we’re talking about, they’re not acting as government agents. Ergo, all those little annoyances like search warrants and civil liberties are completely obviated. And as it turns out, they’re even willing to collaborate with their competitors to make it easier for the government to do one-stop-data-shopping.

Consider for example this article about U.S. mobile phone carriers planning a massive centralized database of cell phone numbers and IDs. The purpose is ostensibly to make it easy to shut off services to a phone reported as stolen. However, it wouldn’t surprise me if this system were also used by the government to quickly and easily find any particular cell phone user in the country, without having to figure out which carrier he or she is using. (Also note how this article hit the papers shortly after the government lost the ability to do warrant-less location tracking via GPS device, which will likely eliminate their ability to do so via the victim’s suspect’s cell phone.)

I’m all in favor of a smaller, less expensive federal government. However, if we don’t introduce some accountability into this system of the feds using private companies to do their dirty work, we’re all going to live in a far less free society in the very near future.

4/27/2012 UPDATE: Slashdot is covering a story about how the FBI has an office located inside a non-profit whose specific mission is to pass information about us and our online activities from private companies to the feds.

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