administrator

Links from Monday's episode of Loaded:

Consumer advocates say the Obama administration's blueprint for protecting consumers' privacy online is a good first step, but they will be watching closely to see how it's implemented.

The White House and the Federal Trade Communications today unveiled the "Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights," which will serve as a policy outline for future legislation and public policy that will work to protect consumers' privacy while online from a computer or mobile phone.

The administration also worked with online advertising associations, such as the Digital Advertising Alliance and others, to revive "Do Not Track" technology … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--President Obama knows that unemployment is rampant among disadvantaged teens, and he thinks that the tech industry can help.

Earlier this month, Obama unveiled what is being called Summer Jobs +, which is "a call to action for businesses, nonprofits, and government to work together to provide pathways to employment for low-income and disconnected youth for the summer of 2012." The goal was to get to a commitment level of 250,000 private-section job opportunities by June.

Today, the administration--along with some new private industry partners--doubled down on Summer Jobs +. At an event held today at the … Read more

Although there have been no reports of problems so far, Fisker is recalling 239 Karma plug-in hybrid sports cars due to a high-voltage battery problem that could result in a fire.

The problem with the luxury plug-in hybrid is that certain hose clamps may have been positioned incorrectly during assembly, which could cause a coolant leak near the battery compartment.

According to the the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: "If coolant enters the battery compartment, an electrical short could occur possible resulting in a fire."

Fisker plans to notify customers, and dealerships will replace the high-voltage battery with … Read more

Boeing said today that it has received FAA certification for its flagship 747-8 Intercontinental, putting the plane on course for first delivery to its launch partner Lufthansa "early next year."

The company said the certification from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration "validates that the design of the 747-8 Intercontinental is compliant with all aviation regulatory requirements and the production system can produce a safe and reliable airplane, conforming to the airplane's design."

The aviation giant first unveiled the Intercontinental last February, and the plane made its first flight last March 20.

The new 747 … Read more

LightSquared's planned 4G wireless network caused "harmful interference" to the majority of GPS receivers used in recent government testing of the network, according to reports citing a draft version of the test results.

LightSquared plans to offer network services like wholesale Internet access to companies such as Best Buy, but concerns about the network knocking out personal or military GPS devices have been raised by the Defense Department, the Federal Aviation Administration, and GPS companies and users. The LightSquared network uses frequencies that are near to those used by GPS devices.

In response to earlier tests, the … Read more

PC Brother Software Administrator Free is a free utility for managing programs. It can terminate running processes, perhaps disastrously, and uninstall programs. In fact, it offers to uninstall your free programs and replace them with paid software that's every bit as good, though some of the programs it recommends are inexpensive or free. Many are expensive, though, and the download link doesn't tell you how much a program costs before installing it.

PC Brother Software Administrator Free's interface bears a family resemblance, not just to the developer's other tools but to similar freeware. It has three … Read more

ASPEN, Colo.--A White House aide today previewed the administration's forthcoming approach to Internet consumer protection, saying it will provide "privacy law without regulation."

"Businesses that are engaged in responsible privacy practices today ought not to face any additional burdens," said Danny Weitzner, associate administrator at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) who's on assignment to the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Weitzner suggested during a discussion at a Technology Policy Institute conference here that: "You can have stronger privacy law, clearer rules, clearer principles established in law, … Read more

The Food and Drug Administration is looking for input on a new proposal that would let it regulate certain medical apps that run on mobile devices.

Noting that today's crop of mobile medical apps can perform a variety of tasks, from counting calories to helping people monitor their weight to letting doctors view patient scans, the agency wants to ensure that such apps are safe.

"The use of mobile medical apps on smartphones and tablets is revolutionizing health care delivery," Dr. Jeffrey Shuren, director of the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health, said in a … Read more