United States Archives

by geekslopJune 10, 2020

The United States typically fell within the top 10, albeit not the top position as you'd expect from the country that invented the damn thing. But that changed with the latest analysis. The US now sits in the 11th position with 25% of US households having access to speeds of up to 25 Mbps or less.

08Jan

Politics

Full text of ICA-2017-1 – Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections (with annotations)

by geekslopJanuary 8, 20170 comment

The following was released to the general public on January 6, 2017 by the DNI (Director of National Intelligence). In short, the release accuses Russia of attempting to influence the US's 2016 election using a persona known as Guccifer 2.0 to release stolen (hacked) documents via Wikileaks. Regular readers will not be surprised by the findings as I drew this same conclusion in this article a few weeks ago.

30Nov

Hacking and Security

Rule 41 changes pass – long live legalized electronic eavesdropping of all Americans!

by geekslopNovember 30, 20160 comment

The new Rule 41 dictate is going to be law and it's a doozy, both mind-boggling (for its stupidity) and stomach-churning (for its stupidity) at the same time. Effectively, what the law does is allow any judge, anywhere (including Podunk, Texas), to grant a warrant for electronic surveillance of any US citizen. If you thought the NSA spying fiasco was bad – you ain't seen nothing yet.

21Sep

Hacking and Security

How to tell if you’re on a government watchlist (and how to get on and off the wild ride)

by geekslopSeptember 21, 20160 comment

People often wonder if their names have somehow made it to the “the list”, that watchlist of US citizens whom the government suspects may be up to something. I would venture to say, the best way to know if you’re on the watchlist would be to recognize how often you find yourself forced into unique situations that fall far beyond the norm.

08Aug

Politics

WTF?!? Trump finally releases economic plan in Detroit and his minions are gonna riot

by geekslopAugust 8, 20160 comment

Harsh agitations aside, a lot of what Trump says makes sense – a least to some degree. Then he goes and does something goofy like releasing an economic plan that to his minions, must feel like a punch in the face. Here’s what Trump plans to do and why it’s so outrageously bizarre.

16Dec

Politics

Really? Paul Ryan snuck the full text of the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act into the emergency budget bill last night

by geekslopDecember 16, 20150 comment

I suspect this will be big news over the course of the next few days and rightfully so. With the threat of government shutdown looming, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan introduced a 2,000-page “omnibus” budget bill as a last-minute compromise. Most of the bill looks fairly legit until you get to page 1,728 where you find the full text of the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act embedded in the bill.

07Dec

Politics

Obama’s address to the nation – Is the US government attempting to calm the public or instill more fear?

by geekslopDecember 7, 20150 comment

The president’s speech last night was long, dry, and full of fluff. I’ve taken the time to transcribe the speech and inject quick summaries after each paragraph so you can skip the mumbo-jumbo and get to the gist of the message.

16Nov

Hacking and Security

The United States is outsourcing its Cyberspace (Cyber Command) Operations – really?

by geekslopNovember 16, 20150 comment

It’s a draft title Task Order Request for Cyberspace Operations Support Services in support of United States Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM). Oh, brother. That means the U.S. has bungled their cybersecurity so badly they’re now willing to outsource, and trust, this critical national security task to an outside contractor. Even a partner outside of the U.S. if they’re trusted status.

06Nov

Hacking and Security

Probe finds that contractors working on military code outsourced some tasks to Russian coders

by geekslopNovember 6, 20150 comment

After conclusion of a four-year probe, contractors who worked on U.S. military code are being fined a combined $12.75 million. As it turns out, some contractors outsourced coding tasks to Russian. No words can convey the level of stupidity here (hey, let's get Al-Qaeda to build US airplanes!).

04Nov

Military

Meet the badass Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) – set to replace the Humvee currently used by U.S. military

by geekslopNovember 4, 20150 comment

The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) pictured above is the United States military truck set to replace the Humvee currently used by the U.S. Army and U.S. Marines. The Oshkosh was selected on August 25, 2015 and awarded a $6.75 billion contract for 16,901 vehicles to be delivered sometime around 2018 (although we all know they are already being tested on the battleground *somewhere*).

05Jun

Hacking and Security

Winds of change – Britain toughens up cyberattack laws – life sentences for some hackers

by geekslopJune 5, 20140 comment

The UK government has said it wants to hand out life sentences to anyone found guilty of a cyberattack that results in loss of life, serious illness, serious injury, or serious damage to national security (or a “significant risk thereof”. The plan, which frighteningly, is broadly written, is proposed as an update to Britain’s Computer Misuse Act 1990 and would also hand out harsher sentences to any hacker carrying out industrial (commercial) espionage. Even minor hacking crimes can result in sentences up to 14 years.

28Oct

Hacking and Security

Syrian Electronic Army declares war on U.S. – hijacks President Obama’s Twitter and Facebook feeds

by geekslopOctober 28, 20130 comment

The Syrian Electronic Army (SEA) is back in the news today, this time after tweets from the @BarrackObama Twitter account and posts to the President’s Facebook fan page contained links to SEA YouTube content. At this time it is not believed that the President’s Twitter nor Facebook page was hacked but rather SEA has gained access to the backend third-party (i.e. customized) link shortener allowing them to redirect the U.S. Organizing for Action links to SEA links. How the link shortener functions and where it is hosted is not known at this time.

15Oct

Politics

The “new American center” (not as split as we thought) – new NBC survey hints that new political party is desired

by geekslopOctober 15, 20130 comment

Today, NBC News and Esquire magazine released the results of a survey that they conducted to measure the “national sentiment” of Americans. The results of the survey show that the United States may not be as divided as we think. Typically characterized as a nation with beliefs that fall strictly in line with Republican and Democrat ideals, this new survey shows that “at the center of national sentiment there’s no longer a chasm but a common ground where a diverse and growing majority is bound by a surprising set of shared ideas.”

08Oct

Politics

Forget Occupy Wall Street, protesters are swarming cities across the country in response to government shutdown

by geekslopOctober 8, 20130 comment

The United States government shutdown, now in its second week, has sparked swarms of angry protesters to descend upon the U.S. Capitol - and that’s not the only place to see protest action. Nearly 100 government employees rallied in downtown Chicago at Federal Plaza to protest the shutdown. Meanwhile, in Lafayette, dozens gathered outside Rep. Todd Rokita’s Lafayette office to protest the government shutdown and thousands crossed the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday to protest the stoppage. Protests were also reported in Dallas, Phoenix, Detroit, Tallahassee, Boston, Philadelphia, Houston, Denver, Oklahoma City, Albuquerque, and other cities across the U.S.

06Oct

Politics

NYT reveals Republican plan to undo Affordable Care Act by shutting down the government has been in play since February 2013

by geekslopOctober 6, 20130 comment

To many Americans, the shutdown of the United States government came out of the blue. Today, the New York Times has revealed that the Republican plan to tie defunding of the federal government to the Affordable Care Act (e.g. Obamacare) has been planned since February 2013 and has been waged by a well-funded “galaxy of conservative groups with more money, organized tactics and interconnections than is commonly known.”

03Oct

Politics

Through their eyes – how the rest of the world views the United States government shutdown

by geekslopOctober 3, 20130 comment

So how does the rest of the world see the United States government shutdown? From the outside, do we appear to be a bunch of buffoons too intent on losing face at the expense of productive legislative discussion? Is the shutdown feared as a threat to the world economy or as a precursor to the apocalypse? Or does the rest of the world simply not care about the private problems of the United States and our government leaders' inability to work together? Below is a collection of news snippets from countries around the world which mention or discuss the shutdown of the United States government.

united states

Here are the Internet speeds ranked by country. And no, the USA is not in the top ten.

Full text of ICA-2017-1 – Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections (with annotations)

Rule 41 changes pass – long live legalized electronic eavesdropping of all Americans!

How to tell if you’re on a government watchlist (and how to get on and off the wild ride)

WTF?!? Trump finally releases economic plan in Detroit and his minions are gonna riot

Really? Paul Ryan snuck the full text of the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act into the emergency budget bill last night

Obama’s address to the nation – Is the US government attempting to calm the public or instill more fear?

The United States is outsourcing its Cyberspace (Cyber Command) Operations – really?

Probe finds that contractors working on military code outsourced some tasks to Russian coders

Meet the badass Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) – set to replace the Humvee currently used by U.S. military

Winds of change – Britain toughens up cyberattack laws – life sentences for some hackers

Syrian Electronic Army declares war on U.S. – hijacks President Obama’s Twitter and Facebook feeds

The “new American center” (not as split as we thought) – new NBC survey hints that new political party is desired

Forget Occupy Wall Street, protesters are swarming cities across the country in response to government shutdown

NYT reveals Republican plan to undo Affordable Care Act by shutting down the government has been in play since February 2013

Through their eyes – how the rest of the world views the United States government shutdown

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