Edward Snowdon is often referred to as a fugitive. This came about because he leaked information from top secret National Security Agency documents. However, he recently spoke at the annual music, film and interactive conference (SXSW) which took place in Austin. Edward Snowden called for an overhaul of the spy programs in the United States.

Snowden has been granted temporary asylum in Russia and this is where he spoke from. This is the first time that the former NSA officer has spoken to American citizens since he fled with many secret papers. This man is facing numerous charges including felony and espionage, and he has always said that he would never return to the USA until current "whistle-blower" laws were changed.

YOU ARE ONE OF 50,000,000 AMERICANS WHO MUST FILL OUT AN INCOME TAX RETURN BY MARCH 15. FILE YOURS EARLY. - NARA - 516201 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In 2015 taxes may be a lot easier to file, and millions of Hispanic Americans will be able to appreciate one of the newest mobile applications from TurboTax. SnapTax lets you file your tax return in English or Spanish, and TurboTax intends to reach the 52 million individuals who may welcome this streamlined way of filing.  

A language barrier may create an additional challenge to filing a simple tax return, but SnapTax will eliminate this barrier for millions of tax filers. SnapTax is free of charge, and a cell phone is all you need to get your 1040EZ/A filing started.

Optical Character Recognition allows you to photograph your W-2 and enter the information onto your tax return. There are a few questions to answer afterwards, but you can file your simple return electronically in approximately ten minutes.

Edward Snowden's revelations about the extent of NSA snooping activities led to a strong clamor for greater transparency. The giants of Silicon Valley have had to cooperate with the government whenever there was a request for data but now they are emboldened to push back. They demand clearer guidelines on what can constitutes a legal request. They also want to be able to reveal the exact number of US surveillance requests, their nature, and the scope of their effects on users.

In a landmark deal, the companies and the government agreed on a compromise solution in which the public may be informed of information requests but only under layers of obstruction.
The figures cannot be given in exact form but rather in a range that is narrowed down to the nearest thousands. The kinds of data being asked cannot be revealed. There will also have to be a significant delay between the sending of the requests and the publishing of these quantities. Right now, this stands at six months.

After a long wait, there is already a released process to jailbreak io6 device, which includes the new iPhone 5. If you are looking for steps on how to jailbreak your iPhone, then the answer is already at hand. This answer is in the form of a tool called the evasiOn. This tool is actually a lot easier to use compared to the iOS 5.1.1 jailbreak. Aside from this, it is also faster since it only has a few simple steps. If you have a computer at home, all you have to do is to click a few buttons and tap the iOS phone in order for you to qualify in operating evasiOn.

However, you should be careful with jailbreaking because there are times that things would go wrong. It is not the intention of Apple to have this kind of process. This may eventually end up causing you to restore the device through the DFU mode. So before starting with the jailbreak, it is necessary to have a recent back up of your iOS device. This is necessary in order not to lose any of your important data.

Hacking Government Systems goes Undetected for Over One year

According to a recent ABC News report, the hacking of the U.S Office of Personnel Management, which was discovered in April went undetected for over 12 months and the hackers could have accessed more information than previously thought.

The hack, which may have originated from China, is believed to have accessed more data, including forms used for background investigations, known as SF-86's. These forms may contain names of college roommates, so it's not just the personnel data that was accessed.

Lycos was a search engine in 90s that is now a news and entertainment site with a brand new wearable technology side. Ybrant purchased Lycos in 2010 and is using the name now to brand its new digital products, the Lycos Ring and Band. The fitness band will run $125 retail with the smart ring costing users $60. They both utilize near-field communication to provide data to your smart phone or allowing the transfer the transfer of data to other devices.

The fitness band tracks your steps, watches your heart rate and monitors your sleep. A couple features that make it different include a 14 day battery and security features to store passwords and unlock your phone. The Ring has the tap-to-transfer features and the security options.

A federal court complaint says that Paypal has misled consumers with a credit product on its popular online payment service. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is looking for $15 million for consumers and a $10 million fine against Paypal. You may have seen the Buy It Later option when you went to pay for an item online with Paypal. I guess some consumers didn’t view this option as credit. Richard Cordray of the CFPB thinks that is the case.

In December, Facebook started testing classified ads and now you can search across groups (public and subscribed to) and within categories. This feature should be released in the next few weeks with an a sales group link in the left pane. Users can post items by going into groups and selecting on 'Sale and Item' next to 'Write a Post'. Users will need to enter some information similar to an eBay auction to list their item for sale to the group.

Timeful is a very useful application for your smartphone that uses artificial intelligence to find ways for users to fit more into their daily schedules. The only issue the company faced was getting users to switch from their current calendar applications and use the new features. But with news today that Google will acquire the company, these advanced features will now be implemented within Google calendar and other Google productivity apps. The current app for iOS and the iPhone will continue to be available but all new development will be on Google products.

If you have tried to send a message using your Facebook app recently, you noticed that the company wants you to download Facebook Messenger first. This new Facebook app has become popular with both Apple iPhone users and Google Android users. Using the app you can chat with your Facebook friends using your phones instead of their built in messaging apps.