We're a bit frightened by the fact that high-ranking political officials are told to leave their BlackBerrys outside in an unguarded basket during high-level meetings (really, it's "common practice"), but nevertheless, one chap who tried to take advantage of the situation didn't quite make it out undiscovered. During a recent political meetup in New Orleans, a Mexican press attaché managed to slip a half dozen or so BlackBerrys into his pocket before darting to the airport with visions of black market markups in his head. Before he could exit the country, however, Secret Service had tracked him down after catching him via surveillance footage. As it stands, the responsible individual has been fired from his post, but there's been no word on whether the US will take any further actions. Reevaluating the whole "leaving them out in the open" practice may be a good start -- just sayin'.

[Via The Boy Genius Report]

Sure, electronic voting has had its fair share of troubles, but there's no denying that it's the wave of the future -- and we're always intrigued by plans like the one being floated in Poland right now that would allow citizens to vote online from their homes, since that seems like a great way to increase participation. Of course, some people are just never going to get it, and it looks like former Polish prime minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski is the latest Luddite curmudgeon to risk your ire, saying that he's not exactly thrilled with the idea of a "young person sitting in front of a computer, watching video clips and pornography while sipping a bottle of beer and voting when he feels like it." Kaczynski went on to say that as a whole, Internet users are "the easiest group to manipulate, to suggest who to vote for" -- which probably means that in addition to not using a cell phone or having a bank account (true!), he's never actually been on the Internet either. Tell you what, Minister: you come in here and successfully manipulate a Mac vs. PC flamewar, maybe we'll talk. Deal?

Sure, it's important to know Candidate A's position on the environment or how Candidate B plans to handle our international affairs, but when it comes to the issue of character, we'll suggest that there is no single attribute more telling than a presidential hopeful's electronic devices of choice. For instance, an Xbox-lover might engage the country even more deeply in the gears of war, while a Roomba owner would likely work to ensure the cleanliness of our national roads and parks. So what, then, does the AP's poll of the 2008 presidential candidates' favorite gadgets say about this current crop of potential world leaders? Unfortunately, that they're a pretty boring bunch: six of the nine respondents could only manage to come up with run-of-mill iPods and BlackBerries (and couldn't anyone at least give us some model names to work with -- we can't live without knowing if Hillary prefers the 3G nano to the 2G). Only Republicans Giuliani, Huckabee, and McCain strayed from the pack here, although America's Mayor seems a little behind the times with his "CD player," and Senator McCain certainly won't be getting much work done with one hand on his cherished TV remote. Anyway, all of this has got us wondering: what do you think that some of today's popular gadgets might indicate about their owner's character?

[Thanks, Mike T.]

Chinese astronauts want to turn the vast emptiness of space a disturbing shade of red -- and steal the solar wind's precious bodily fluids -- by establishing a space station, along with its very own branch of the Communist Party of China. China's still a long way from setting up its own space station, so General Ripper hasn't got anything to worry about just yet, although next year the country will send a three man crew into space: let us remind you that China is only the third nation on earth to achieve the feat of sending people into space. Anyway, once these "space communists" manage to set up shop in orbit, they'll be looking forward to activities such as "learning the Party's policies and exchanging opinions on the Party's decisions"; potentially including discussion of the Party's decision to send people 200 miles up, only to require they spend the whole time talking about politics.

[Image credit, thanks Ebbe!]

In what's being hailed as "one of the first public uses of quantum cryptography," Genevian voters who take part in the upcoming national elections can rest assured that their votes will remain a secret. Reportedly, the "city-state will use quantum technology to encrypt election results as they are sent to the capital on October 21st." A computer, provided by id Quantique, will be set up in Geneva to "fire photons down a fiber-optic link to a receiver 62-miles away," which should be sufficient to keep any potential eavesdroppers at bay. 'Course, where there's a will, there's typically a way.

While a great many individuals have an (understandable) beef with North Korea's polarizing leader, there's a decent chance that even more people would scoff at his latest comment. During summit talks this week with South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, Kim Jong Il called himself an "internet expert," after which we assume the entire room erupted with laughter. Granted, the guy must have some sort of outside connection to still receive his tunes and booze once the US got involved, but suggesting that "only the industrial zone" be wired for web access is questionable at best.

Talk about getting into some hot water. Reportedly, some 14 implike squirrels were recently "arrested by Iranian authorities for espionage," as the critters were apparently found to have various amounts of "spy gear from foreign agencies" on (er, in) their bodies. Some reports even mention that the animals were sporting embedded GPS sensors, but due to the high level of secrecy surrounding the capture, things are still a bit foggy. Nevertheless, Iran has apparently claimed that the "rodents were being used by Western powers in an attempt to undermine the Islamic Republic," and while it doesn't seem that anyone is really aware of the squirrels' fates, it looks like sending in the animals to do a human's dirty work isn't as effective as it once was.

[Via DailyWireless, image courtesy of UMT]

The days of countermining caller ID systems could be coming to an end, at least for those who prefer to live life lawfully. A recent bill introduced in the US Congress, dubbed the "Truth in Caller ID Act of 2007," seems to have ripped a line from Suncom commercials of days past, and also seeks to "make it unlawful for any person in the United States, in connection with any telecommunications service or IP-enabled voice service, to cause any caller ID service to transmit misleading or inaccurate information." Of course, the bill definitely leaves loopholes for those involved in law enforcement, but for folks just horsing around, you could face penalties "of up $10,000 for each violation." Leave it to The Man to inhibit our fun.

[Via Slashdot]

While we've seen everything from brilliant engineering to run-of-the-mill hacks enable vehicles to squeeze every last inch out of a tank of fuel, it looks like the Senate is taking larger strides in order to raise the MPG bar. The US Senate has reportedly passed an energy bill that would raise fuel efficiency standards to an average of 35 miles-per-gallon, create additional provisions that make it unlawful to charge "unconscionably excessive" prices for oil products, and establish new appliance and lighting efficiency standards to accelerate the use of more efficient lighting in public buildings. Lastly, there was purportedly verbiage that provided "grants, loan guarantees, and other assistance to promote research into fuel efficient vehicles." Of course, the bill still has quite a ways to go before it gets set in stone, and while upping the standard sure seems novel, a quick glance around existing lots will show that quite a few whips sold today aren't quite living up to the 22.7 mpg standard that's already in place.

[Via Digg, image courtesy of MPGStickers]

Just as soon as we finished cheering for the Texas Legislature's stance on those pesky speed cameras, the state's Department of Transportation is apparently trying to override their good will. According to a June 10th filing, the Texas DOT is looking to install "turnkey automated speed notification services" on Highway 10 in Hudspeth County and Highway 6 near College Station (watch those lead feet, Aggies). Reportedly, this project is simply to "assess and evaluate all elements" of such a system, but it doesn't take a genius to guess that money's on the brain. Notably, the "quality assurance" section of the plan points out that these suckers will be accurate to within two miles-per-hour in either direction, so your wiggle room is sliced dramatically. Of course, we can all hope that Texas' iteration of the SPECS-style camera is as easy to circumvent as those in Britain.

[Via FARK]

Ah, the day we've all been waiting for has finally arrived -- well, sort of. Yeah, it is still a bill, but it's a refreshing start on a long overdue amendment. While content guardians (we're looking your way, MPAA / RIAA) have done their fair share of beating around the issue and insisting that DRM-laced content was the only way to go, consumers haven't exactly been thrilled about such limitations since day one. In yet another glorious case of red and blue coming together for the good of mankind, Rich Boucher (D-Va.) and John Dolittle (R-Calif.) introduced a breath of fresh air they call FAIR USE, or Freedom and Innovation Revitalizing U.S. Entrepreneurship. The idea, of course, is to simply "make it easier for digital media consumers to use the content they buy" by amending the Digital Millennium Copyright Act; according to the duo, the DMCA simply "goes too far by dramatically tilting the copyright balance toward complete copyright protection at the expense of the public's right to fair use." Boucher further substantiates his case for the most down-to-earth politician of all time by suggesting that if the DMCA remains unadulterated, "individuals will be less willing to purchase digital media" due to the unacceptable restrictions that come along with it. We'd ask for an amen, but we don't want to set off any minor earthquakes.

[Thanks, Kevin M.]

If you've ever wondered what happens when you run an entire nation into the ground, bar almost every type of contact with the outside world, launch nuclear bomb tests against the orders of outsiders, and still try to order an iPod, well, now you know. North Korea's highly dodgy Kim Jong-Il will reportedly be "doing without luxuries" such as iPods, jet skis (saywha?), jewelery, designer clothes, and fine wines as the US implements an all-out ban against selling these goods to the power-trippin' leader. The nation's elite often enjoy lavish luxuries of first-world countries while the vast majority of its people are left without bare necessities, and apparently, new sanctions are trying to put an end to it. While this case has certainly been made before, individual countries were previously allowed to "make their own decisions," however the United States has now taken a stand by barring all luxury sales to Mr. Kim and his constituents -- which will probably do nothing outside of producing a sudden swell in iPod knockoff orders to the DPRK, unfortunately.

[Thanks, SRW985]

Although bribery isn't exactly smiled upon here in the States, we've got a hunch that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam political party in India is on to something. In news likely to cause turmoil (or not) among culturally-planted Americans, the DMK promised a bevy of new electronics to folks who cast their vote for them, and apparently, it worked. After falling from power in 2001, the party has stormed back into prominence by offering poor citizens niceties (such as stoves and TVs) which most could never afford on their own. By wording the goodies as "social welfare" benefits, the sets they hand out supposedly aid the voters in receiving news critical to their life, health, and work, which in turn benefits society the DMK as a whole. While America hasn't had the best luck so far with all these e-voting implementations, and considering a good few don't even cast a passing glance at anything political, we'd bet a "Free HDTV" campaign would result in surefire admission into the Oval Office.

[Via Fark]

We have to admit that we didn't really think they'd be able to pull it off, and we're still not sure this is going to win any hearts and minds, but the intellectual property mavens over at IPac have managed to send their first batch of iPods to members of the US Senate. The first 12 Senators to receive iPods include both Republicans and Democrats, and were apparently chosen based on committee assignments and legislation they've sponsored. Recipients include Republican Gordon Smith of Oregon, who is helping to draft Broadcast Flag legislation, Democrat Ben Nelson of Nebraska who "asked good questions" at recent Broadcast Flag hearings, and Republican John Ensign of Nevada, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Technology, Innovation, and Competitiveness. Each iPod was preloaded with public domain and Creative Commons-licensed content, including text, music, photos and a video of Lawrence Lessig discussing the importance of a progressive approach to intellectual property. We'll have to check back with the Senators in a month and find out if they've actually watched or listened to any of this -- of if they've handed off the iPods to interns and grandkids, who've refilled them with the latest from the Pussycat Dolls and Kelly Clarkson.

[Via iLounge]