An Alexa device recorded private conversations and sent them over the net to an acquaintance in their contact list.

Amazon said this was due to a bug, and I suppose that is true.

However, if the device has a universal back door, Amazon could alter anyone's machine at any time so that it will listen and snoop. Maybe various government agencies could, too.

Meanwhile, I wonder what is in the logs that the Amazon engineer was able to access. Can they access such logs in every Alexa device? At any time?

Arizona has deleted the word "evolution" from its educational standards.

Rich, hereditary Canadian politician Doug Ford is spreading trumpery, pretending to be on the side of the non-rich while promoting policies to destroy nature to extract fossil fuels.

Seeing that the UK government is desperate to build nuclear plants whose electricity will be so expensive that it will need a subsidy, Hitachi is now demanding direct subsidies as well.

Nuclear power not only has a risk of a meltdown that will destroy the reactor (and maybe spread fallout), not only produces waste that we don't know a safe way to store — it is too expensive even if everything goes well. Kill these projects, and build renewable power!

Those dying because the NHS is being strangled and support for the disabled and unemployed is being cut now see where that money is going.

Progressive congresscritters warn that connecting thugs' body cameras to face recognition will turn them into vicious surveillance devices.

My proposal to control their activation would reduce the effects of that, but we really need laws against allowing face recognition systems to know about anyone's face except for court-designated targets.