Bullets, Bomb Blasts, and Barbeque: Top Tech For Independence Day!

Alright, look.  It's the 4th of July weekend in America right now, and we are gonna celebrate some freedom in the manner that befits us best...mayhem.

America the Beautiful...bless it with fire!
(Image courtesy pinterest.com.)

Rad Habits: New App To Aid Small-Scale Scheduling For Self-Improvement

Do you need to be reminded/guilt-tripped into maintaining healthy habits, but don't want to have to ask your friends and loved ones to publicly shame you?  No worries...a new app can keep you on task, and to the rest of the world you'll actually appear to have motivation.

The sticky notes aren't enough to save your slackadaisical self, and you know it.
(Image courtesy blog.contagiouscompanies.com.)

Gliders From Mars: New Prototype Aircraft To Analyze Red Planet

While Mars One has gone suspiciously silent about their gambit to land on the Red Planet, NASA has been working all the while to plot a mission that will, you know, actually work.  Their latest plan to scan the Martian terrain to find some suitable digs for human adventurers now includes an outstandingly-observant glider plane...

Between the orbiters, rovers, and this new boomerang-drone, we'll have much of Mars mapped out.
(Image courtesy scitechdaily.com.)

Reznor Helms New Beats 1 Radio Launch; Brings Listeners Closer To God

And you can have it all.  His empire of...well, a lot more than dirt.  Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor wants to help music fans find new artists to aurally appreciate, as well as enjoy classics, with the new Beats 1 radio program by Apple...

Despite previous claims, his intent is neither to let you down, nor to make you hurt.
(Image courtesy knowyourmobile.com.)

Prize In The Skies: Solar Plane Set To Cross Pacific, Break World Record

With solar technological innovations progressing every day, and with powerful supporters claiming it will be the energy of our future, solar power is rapidly eclipsing all that oil has to offer.  Now, a solar-powered plane is poised to make history, if only it can keep the lights on to cross the Pacific...

Could there be a bright future in store for solar planes?  The Solar Impulse 2 will help find out!
(Image courtesy industrie-techno.com.)

Space Station Sunday: "Space Is Hard"

Good afternoon, space fans!  It's been a difficult day for spacefaring, but rocket science rocks on...

NASA astronaut Scott Kelly tweeted this image of the SpaceX rocket explosion as seen from above,
along with text including, "Space is hard."
(Image courtesy Scott Kelly.)

Nothing to Hide: Privacy and Surveillance in New York City

"If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to be afraid of." This is perhaps the most well known slogan of anti-privacy advocates and would-be totalitarians the world over. At one and the same time, this simple statement both criminalizes the practice of privacy while excusing some of the most heinous attacks on the rights and liberties of individuals by governments and corporations.

Of course, the notion that "if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to be afraid of" is absurd on its face, at least in any society that is predicated upon the civilizational principle separating the public and private spheres. Perhaps the simplest way to undermine this dangerous idea is to ask some rather simple questions of those who espouse it. For example: What is your name? What is your Social Security Number? What is your bank account number? What is the password to your main email account?

Recently, we decided to head out onto the streets of New York City with actor and comedian Adrian Sexton to ask folks if they agreed with the statement "if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to be afraid of." And if they answered in the affirmative, we then asked them to provide us with rather sensitive information. Some of the replies were rather surprising. Check it out below: