NOVA - The Spy Factory - The New Thought Police
PBS reports: "The National Security Agency (NSA) is developing a tool that George Orwell's Thought Police might have found useful: an artificial intelligence system designed to gain insight into what people are thinking."

My Way News - Do you know where your kid is? Check Google's maps
AP reports: "With an upgrade to its mobile maps, Google Inc. (GOOG) (GOOG) hopes to prove it can track people on the go as effectively as it searches for information on the Internet. The new software released Wednesday will enable people with mobile phones and other wireless devices to automatically share their whereabouts with family and friends."

ninemsn - Humans 'will be implanted with microchips'
9NEWS reports: "All Australians could be implanted with microchips for tracking and identification within the next two or three generations, a prominent academic says."

My Way News - Indonesia scraps plans to tag HIV patients
AP reports: "An Indonesian province beleaguered by a spiraling HIV infection rate scrapped plans to implant microchips in those with full-blown AIDS on Tuesday, following strong opposition from government officials, health workers and rights activists."

Comment: I was watching this story to see how it developed, to see if a government in the world right now had the power to impose mandatory chip implants. Looks like the answer is no.

China Is Said to Restore Blocks on Web Sites - NYTimes.com
The New York Times reports: "The Chinese government has quietly begun preventing access again to Web sites that it had stopped blocking during the Olympic Games in Beijing in August, Internet experts said on Tuesday."

NYT - Thieves Winning Online War, Maybe Even in Your Computer
The New York Times reports: "With vast resources from stolen credit card and other financial information, cyberattackers are handily winning a technology arms race.

Ynetnews - Smart ID project underway
Israel News reports: "The bill suggests Israel make the switch to 'smart' identification methods, using fingerprints and digital photographs on documents such as identification cards and passports; making them harder to forge."

CNN - Behavioral screening -- the future of airport security?
CNN reports: "Several Israeli-based technology companies are developing detection systems that pick up signs of emotional strain, a psychological red flag that a passenger may intend to commit an act of terror. Speedier and less intrusive than metal detectors, these systems may eventually restore some efficiency to the airplane boarding process."

Comment: Well, this can't be good for nervous travelers. I wonder how the system would take into account that fact that many people experience emotional strain from the modern travel experience? There's nothing relaxing about going to an airport these days and a system that focuses on signs of emotional stress is bound to have many false positives, I can't see this being very helpful from a security standpoint.

My Way News - British government's identity card plan begins
AP reports: "The British government began its identity card program for foreign nationals Tuesday - six years after heated debate over whether the costly plan is an effective tool against terrorism, identity theft and welfare fraud. [...] The cards will contain a computer chip with fingerprint information and other data, including date of birth and nationality, but will not contain religious or ethnic data."

My Way News - Indonesian AIDS patients face microchip monitoring
AP reports: "Lawmakers in Indonesia's remote province of Papua have thrown their support behind a controversial bill requiring some HIV/AIDS patients to be implanted with microchips - part of extreme efforts to monitor the disease."

Comment: I think this is part of a larger trend of tech diffusion in which these things start out in small and powerless populations (children, the sick, the elderly, pets) before expanding to the larger population. It will be interesting to see if the Indonesian government is able to force people to get chipped against their will. You don't have to be a Christian to find that idea troublesome.