flights
Threshold for Getting Onto No-Fly List Lowered
The government has lowered the criteria for putting someone on a watch list or no-fly list, and has revoked several U.S. visas as a result, according to CNN. The action will result in more people being grounded from flights or undergoing secondary screening at airports.
Continue reading »Report: Programmer Conned the CIA, Pentagon Into Buying Bogus Anti-Terror Code
A programmer who claims he produced software that detected hidden terrorist messages in Al Jazeera broadcasts was responsible for a false alert in 2003 that grounded international flights and raised the government’s security level, according to a remarkable story published by Playboy . The developer also allegedly faked software demonstrations and conned the Pentagon and others into investing in a program that fellow workers suspect never existed or couldn’t do what the developer claimed. In December 2003, DHS secretary Tom Ridge announced a terror alert based on intelligence from “credible sources” about imminent attacks that “could either rival or exceed what we experienced on September 11.” Dozens of French, British and Mexican commercial “flights of interest” were canceled, and news agencies were reporting that the threats extended to “power plants, dams and even oil facilities in Alaska.” Playboy says the source of the intelligence was never revealed publicly.
Continue reading »Computer ‘Glitch’ Grounds Air Traffic
An unspecified computer glitch is being cited as the cause for commercial flights being canceled or temporarily delayed on Thursday. The glitch was related to a key Federal Aviation Administration flight-processing system, according to ABC News . The problems were first reported at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Georgia.
Continue reading »When algorithms attack, does Google hear you scream?
Inside Google’s search penalties gulag Analysis One day in June 2006, search startup Foundem vanished from Google. Foundem is the developer of a “universal vertical search” technology, and currently offers comparison shopping across a range of consumer and travel categories by drilling down into vendor sites and returning details of actual flights and products. But on 26 June 2006, Google flipped a switch and all of the obvious comparison shopping keywords no longer applied for the company.… ?
Continue reading »