Book Of Norm

F1 put in testing limits on cars in order to "make things more fair" by decreasing costs to smaller teams. Did it work? No. Unable to give its drivers time in the cars, Ferrari built a monstrosity of a simulator: It took two years to build, is 18-feet high, takes up two stories and received assistance from Moog, a control systems maker primarly known for its work wit the U.S. military's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The sim rests a base that, by itself, weighs two hundred tons, and on top of that are a platform and actuators that support the aluminum and composite driving structure. The driver watches his progress on five displays good for more than 180 degrees of viewing, and hears his progress through a 3,500-watt Dolby 7.1 Surround Sound system. It has ten microprocessors and 60GB of RAM. Oh, and it puts out 130 kW of power. Some perspective: the average American home is said to use 25 kW of power a day. Ferrari will hope it helps power at least one of its drivers to the ...

Extended range offers a number of benefits over pure electric vehicles. One of the most compelling to someone like me (lives north of the 40th parallel, likes/needs to drive in winter and go skiing) is that batteries are terrible when it is cold out. On top of which, in electric vehicles, the heater is run off the battery (think a battery powered hair dryer - not exactly the best combo) whereas in a traditional engine the heat is waste/cooling heat. Now, a er-EV does not solve all these issues, but it does give you a gas engine to make sure that you are never stuck out in the cold, and your car retains somewhat of the same range summer or winter. Get the car going, get the engine running if needed, and you can heat up the whole thing and make it to the mountain. If only the Chevy Volt looked like the original Chevy Volt, not a Chevyfied Prius.... WIN FAIL

I cant even put into words how incredibly stupid this statement is: "The assessment proposed in the Senate is not a new tax; it is the elimination of an existing tax break that is provided to exactly these firms. Under current law, if workers are paid in wages, they are taxed on those wages. But if they receive the same amount of compensation in the form of health insurance, they are not taxed. As a result, the tax code has for years provided a large subsidy to the most expensive health plans -- at a cost to the U.S. taxpayer of more than $250 billion a year . " Turns out the moron is a professor at MIT, so I emailed him. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/27/AR2009122701714.html

Toyota just announced that they wanted to cut their supplier costs by 30% over the next three years. Which means they told their suppliers to cut their prices by 30%... Which means means that the suppliers, already notoriously efficient, will cut costs the only possible way: lowering quality. Or at least, that is where some of the savings will come from, because 30% is a big cut to reach on efficiency gains... The result? I predict a slide in Toyota quality if they go through with this. And the thing is, the main reason that they are doing it, in my opinion, is to compete with lower cost companies, most notably the rapidly growing global powerhouse Hyundai. But it is interesting because the way that Hyundai has been growing has been to vastly increase quality in ever generation of vehicle. Remember how Mercedes was known for durability and quality back in the 80's? Then remember how they cut costs in the 90's and they became known for making completely unreliable luxo barges wh...

Pulled from another site, the map is the best part: Tattoos are reverse time machines: with time travel you can send a warning back to your younger self, with tattoos you send a mistake forward to your older self. Just The Facts Tattoos theoretically could be thoughtful additions to your appearance. Unfortunately there are thousands of tattoo parlors (many open 24 hours) and people just don't have that many thoughts. So most are stupid. Tattoos are permanent. Your motivation/blood-alcohol level is not. Tattoos are now as edgy as a padded watermelon. Who gets tattoos? Tattoos are an excellent way to turn a single drunken decision into a lifetime of disfigurement and regret, which normally requires a car. Tattoos are associated with criminal gangs, the armed forces, and whiny white teenagers desperate for attention. Attempts ...

I like autoblog.com a lot. I read it all the time. Its probably the one thing I read the most on the internet, followed by engadget and the WSJ. But I call fail on this: "Fuel efficient cars are slow, right? Just ask Jeremy Clarkson, who famously pitted a Toyota Prius against a BMW M3 around a test track to prove that the hybrid isn't very efficient when pushed to its limit. While it's true that hybrids and diesels have a reputation for being more than a bit poky in the name of saving a few gallons of gas, each generation seems to improve in that regard, and GM is hoping that the upcoming Chevy Volt will abolish that preconceived notion altogether." What Jeremy Clarkson proved was not that a Prius was slow, everyone already knows that. He proved that at highway speeds, and in spirited driving, a Prius is LESS EFFICIENT than a M3. Not that it is a crappy car to drive. That's a given. I appreciate the JC reference autoblog, but ouch on the logic.

Just bought the Pentax K-x to replace my broken and very very much loved and missed Canon Rebel EOS 300d. The shutter went on the Cannon, after many months of sounding a little off, and the estimate to fix it > the value of the camera. So I went for a "next generation" camera - that is my opinion on these things. Specifically, I wanted camera-body image stabilization (James just got this on a point and shoot for $100 - Canon and Nikon refuse to put it on their cameras so you buy their stupidly overpriced IS lenses. Jackassery) and HD movie capability. These, in my opinion, are the next generation features which set the Pentax apart from my old Canon. The pixel count is pointless - I have printed off many pics from the Canon at 2ft x 3ft. If I start doing billboards, maybe pixels will matter again. Instead, it has features like high-dynamic-range burst mode, which I will be using a fair deal, rapid burst mode and a big ISO range. And yes - I got it in white. Courtesy of my ...

I dont even watch 24... but this is hilarious.. Merry Christmas all = )

Schumi is moving to Mercedes, which is really Brawn GP, which is really Honda. Or was, a little over a year ago. In other words, the whole F1 world continues to be topsy-turvey, which I think is entertaining. Button will move to McClaren to race along side Lewis Hamilton (winners of the last two years on the same team - should be interesting, also both are Brits!!). The big losers here are.. Ferrari. Because Schumacher has been their global spokesperson the last few years, is most famously associated with the Prancing Horse, and has been the lead on development of a number of Ferrari cars, especially the track focused specials. Its kind of a Green Bay/Favre moment. Thing is though, every trophy Schumi has won has been under the leadership of Ross Brawn, who just proved that he could take over a team, win both titles (constructors/drivers) and generally be a badass while having a limited budget, few sponsors, and what was meant to be a weak team with washed up drivers. Which leads to Cl...

I think this image is pretty funny... and speaks for itself..

I have been trying to avoid reading about Avatar. I hate knowing more than "its good" or "its bad" going into a movie. That said, I think this one-picture plot summary is pretty damn funny:

The BBC gives 8 reasons why Copenhagen failed. Here is #2 "2. THE US POLITICAL SYSTEM Just about every other country involved in the UN talks has a single chain of command; when the president or prime minister speaks, he or she is able to make commitments for the entire government. Not so the US. The president is not able to pledge anything that Congress will not support, and his inability to step up the US offer in Copenhagen was probably the single biggest impediment to other parties improving theirs. Viewed internationally, the US effectively has two governments, each with power of veto over the other. Doubtless the founding fathers had their reasons. But it makes the US a nation apart in these processes, often unable to state what its position is or to move that position - a nightmare for other countries' negotiators." All I can say to that is... THANK GOD. What the article is implicitly saying is that the US is a nightmare to deal with because it is slightly...

I cant wait so see Avatar. It has been a long time since I have said that about a movie. Being a little kid here, I am planning on seeing it at least twice, once in 3d IMAX and once on a regular screen. I think regular screen first. All that said, here is an interesting quote from James Cameron, on Titanic: "If I did Titanic today, I'd do it very differently. There wouldn't be a 750-foot-long set. There would be small set pieces integrated into a large CGI set. I wouldn't have to wait seven days to get the perfect sunset for the kiss scene. We'd shoot it in front of a green screen, and we'd choose our sunset." In some ways, that is kind of sad. The reason it is kind of sad is not because of nostalgia, and it is not because films wont looks a good anymore, because they will look better. Is not even because movies wont be as "real:" it is because we wont believe they are real. To become really invested in a movie, you have to believe it is real. W...

The Democratic party, like Russia invading Georgia, Hitler in the Great Depression, and.. the Democratic party a couple weeks with their defense spending/raise the national debt bill, is determined to push through a unpopular and historically idiotic bill at a time when the nation is distracted. They will, I kid you not, pass ObamaCare on Christmas eve. I will do my best to be among the many who ignore this gutting of America over the holidays, but I will be doing it intentionally, to avoid weeping into my eggnog or spending my time raging against a political machine which exists not for the good of the people but only for the expansion of its own power. If the Republicans had held one more seat, this country would have been so much better off. Change Nobody Believes In A bill so reckless that it has to be rammed through on a partisan vote on Christmas eve. And tidings of comfort and joy from Harry Reid too. The Senate Majority Leader has decided that the last few days before Christmas...

Got stuck behind this dope on the drive in today. You could not see her brake lights, or indicators. Almost hit her when she turned left. And the thing is, this snow storm in Boston was light, low water-content snow. Honestly all it took was about 10 seconds of brushing to clean off the Tahoe. So.....

We all know that the Copenhagen treaty was a failure. Here might be some things you dont realize: 1) The smaller nations, the G77 bloc, dont care about the climate. They care about money. The EU offered to cut emissions 80% by 2050. The G77 ignored them. "Climate change" is a way to demand money out of the developed world. If anthropogenic climate change is accurate, and the exepected effects are accurate, then the developed world does owe the rest of the world for using up a common good. However, none of that has been proven yet, and all the developed nations want right now is money. 2) The NYT is so partisan and full of BS, I can hardly believe it. Reading this "news story" makes you think Copenhagen was some sort of success. It was worse than the expected worst case of a political agreement - there was no agreement. Developing nations simply "took note" of the accord, and have not agreed to it. Fail. http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2009/12/21/21climatewire...

Comments are one of the big innovations of web 2.0. They let users engage, give feedback, build a forum of ideas and diverse opinions. Yeah. Reading comments is like staring into the sun. I try and avoid it. I know it will be painful and bad for my head. But every once in a while, you just have to do it. For example, this article, then comment: Majority of U.S. Cocaine Supply Cut with Veterinary Deworming Drug Cocaine's a hell of a drug, and even more so when laced with another drug that's commonly used to deworm opossums. Federal agents have found that 69 percent of cocaine shipments seized entering the United States contain levamisole, a veterinary drug linked to serious weakening of the immune system in humans. Here's the real funny part: no one knows why. Rest of article cut, go here if you want to read: http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2009-12/majority-us-cocaine-supply-cut-veterinary-deworming-drug .... Then the comment: yabbahabba 12/18/09 a...

This one really makes me sad. I have a soft-spot for SAABs, as both of my parents had 9000's growing up, and they were great cars. I almost bought a 9000 when the Expedition broke down, but the Tahoe just made more sense. GM announced today that after 20 years of mismanagement and unable to complete a sale within the window they set, Saab will be shut down. Anyway, as a small tribute, here are my all time favorite Saab models: Saab 900 SPG The 80's Saab 900 Convertible, supremely classy and as a friend of mine once put it: "the only car with a collar" The Saab 9000 Turbo The never to see the light of day 2010 Saab 9-5 And this gratuitously awesome Saab photo:

So, had not really paid attention to this one before, but since 2004 Al Gore has been a partner in a private investment fund. The purpose of the fund? To generate returns by investing in companies which are positioned to benefit from a "green" economy. Massive conflict of interest in then being a cheerleader for the effects of climate change? Not exactly from the goodness of his heart... http://www.generationim.com/about/ On a related note, a couple great excerpts from a editorial on Copenhagen etc: "The raid on the Western treasuries is on again, but today with a new rationale to fit current ideological fashion. With socialism dead, the gigantic heist is now proposed as a sacred service of the newest religion: environmentalism. One of the major goals of the Copenhagen climate summit is another NIEO shakedown: the transfer of hundreds of billions from the industrial West to the Third World to save the planet by, for example, planting green industries in the tristes tropi...

This is a pretty amazing phenomenon - in Death Valley there are stones that slide along the valley floor, with no known cause. Check out the article, mostly for the pics, then go here if you want more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sailing_stones The Mysterious Sailing Stones of Death Valley Posted on 17 November 2009 by It is one big mystery that a stone that weighs more or less like a man can move on its own. This has become quite a puzzle for the past decade. The mysterious sailing stones of Death Valley have been discovered to slide over valleys that people do not live in. These valleys are filled with dry cracking muddy ground during summer and ice during winter. Many geologists have gone to all the places in Racetrack Playa and its surrounding. The mysterious sailing stones of Death Valley slide on very smooth ground and leave a trail behind. Some geologists came up with the conclusion that the mysterious sailing stones of death valley move throug...

I am very interested in Detroit, as one of the only modern, and certainly the largest example of a failed city. I have written about this before, and will again, but in the meantime, there is this crazy before and after picture to show just how much Detroit has lost: Before: After:

Yup, Windows Mobile is dying, Palm is breathing but not gaining much as Sprint only, Nokia barely exists in the smartphone world, Blackberry is a Juggernaut even without a useable browswer or fancy multi-touch screen based phones (how many Storms are in use? 15? 20?) and the iPhone is still gaining market share. The battle for the future of the portable computer is well underway, and Microsoft and Nokia (the worlds largest software and phone companies respectively) are way behind the pack. 2010, with Maemo for Nokia, a new Symbian for Nokia, and Windows Mobile 7, should be interesting to watch.

I love Aston Martins. Love them. Want to own one so badly I would consider renting out the basement apartment of my chateau on Lake Constance to pay for one. But not this one. Aston Martin decided to take a Toyota iQ, a little city car, and make the Cygnet, a little city car Toyota made to look sorta like an Aston. This this is real. And they are going to sell it. Now, for minor redemption, they are going to sell it only to those that own real Astons. Thankfully. So basically, what this is is a statement as your drive around the city that "my other Saab is a turbo Aston is a DB9" only this time, it is actually true. Probably. Until someone sells these things on the used market. Also, if I owned an Aston, why the hell would I want to drive this? Then again I have a cousin who had a Porsche 911 GT2, and now a Maserati Quattroporte, along with a Smart Car... so I suppose there might be a market.

Quick little list from a source we use at work. Interesting I think to point out where oil money mostly flows to, and the size of the industry. Exxon, the world's largest public company and the record holder for the most profitable, is the third largest oil company: Saudi Aramco (Saudi Arabia) NIOC (Iran) Exxon Mobil (US) PDV (Venezuela) CNPC (China) BP (UK) Shell (UK/Netherlands) ConocoPhillips (US) Chevron (US) Total (France) I find it amusing that the oil majors get such bad press and general public anger, when it is really the state-owned national oil companies which finance anti-capitalist, anti-American, and anti-democratic policy, terrorism, and radicalism. The more production we can get from Exxon, and the less from PDV (side note: dont buy gas at Citgo), the better off we are.

The cabin crew union of British Airways has voted to strike over Christmas. Their union has told them they will get their pay, plus an extra 30 GBP per day. And they dont see negative consequences. This is why I hate unions in the modern day. They dont lead to rational action in the best interests of their members. They lead to short-sighted irrational action which will eventually destroy their livelihood, or at least curtail it greatly. The automotive industry in the UK? There is now Lotus, Rolls, Aston, and TVR. How many are owned by Brits? None. And they are all tiny. The railroads in the US? Killed by featherbedding and union rules. Instead I have to be almost killed by a 18 wheeler every time I am on long drive. The US auto industry? Peaked in 1972 (not joking - that's the year they made the most cars) and has been on the decline since. Whats good for consumers is that someone else always steps in and picks up the slack. What is sad to see is when unions kill off otherwise goo...

Anyone not following the truly underhanded tactics used by Democrats recently (actually, the Dems have generally been bigger proponents of sleaze, though both parties are guilty) take a look at how Pelosi is planning to increase the cap on US debt. Instead of having any real debate about it, she announced they are going to tack the provision to allow about $1.5 trillion more in debt onto a must-pass military spending bill to pay for the ongoing wars. This comes after things like splitting the health care bill to hide costs, using underhanded committee tactics and cackling with evil laughter when she demands a G5 private jet for her personal use EVERY SINGLE WEEKEND, probably to promote a carbon-neutral lifestyle... she even made the Air Force buy 2 more G5's than they wanted and cut stuff they did want, just to make sure one would be available for her. Ok, that last one was not legistlative at all, but I really cant stand Pelosi.

While not exactly true, the administration has decided that the best way to take money "not needed" for the TARP program (more on that in a minute) should be well, spent. Rather than oh, paid back to the people it was taken from (taxpayers). And there is a difference. The spending will focus on small businesses. Specifically, ones Obama things are what this nation needs to grow. In other words, he has now set himself up as the Investor in Chief, in his omniscience allocating assets from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs to areas which fit with his anti-capitalist and green agenda. As a sidenote, I would like to point out that I am actually a fan of government lead industrialization for developing countries, it is what turned Japan, China, the Asian tigers, and Brazil into what they are today. At the same time, this works when you are a developing, not developed country. As has been proven time and again, the government is terrible at allocating r...

I speak of course of Tigers love of big fake gaudy round ornamentation totally out of proportion to the body. In other words: the rims on his car. Yeah. Forget the 294,590 women who have had an affair with Tiger. Take a look at this thing: Notice anything stupendously wrong about it? Look at those rims... not only are they huge and gaudy... they are well, just ugly. First, ultralight rims with low-profile tires on a SUV just look dumb. It means you bought a huge truck that you can no longer use as a truck. Stupid. Its the same as putting offroad gear on a sports car... like this: (full disclosure - I think if I owned a shitmaro like the one above, I might just have to do this to it, because it would be hilarious) Back to the original thread - the 'Sclade with dubs is just not a good look. It had its time. 10 years ago. Maybe 5 years ago. Today, if you want a truck, buy a truck, keep it as a truck. The big wheels are just tacky. Bad form Tiger, very bad form.

"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." -Churchill

Hilarious.. read all the way through.. this is what makes woot so fantastic: Thermor BIOS Home Weather Station $ 29.99 + $5 shipping Condition: New Product: 1 Thermor BW970 BIOS Home Weather Station I Want One! Discussion on Today's Woot Got something of value to say about today's Woot? You'd be the first. Somebody, anybody, give us a quality post. We're dying here. Join This Discussion 32 comments ...

Pretty hilarious spoof video from The Onion.. the best line for me was this: "the insecure Uggs boots over jeans girls union.." classic...

In-line advertisements. Thats all I have to say. YouTube, you are dying to me...

Just an interesting note here, not much to actually comment on, good stuff from Nat Geo: Ancient Gem-Studded Teeth Show Skill of Early Dentists May 18, 2009— The glittering "grills" of some hip-hop stars aren't exactly unprecedented. Sophisticated dentistry allowed Native Americans to add bling to their teeth as far back as 2,500 years ago, a new study says. Ancient peoples of southern North America went to "dentists"—among the earliest known—to beautify their chompers with notches, grooves, and semiprecious gems, according to a recent analysis of thousands of teeth examined from collections in Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (such as the skull above, found in Chiapas, Mexico). Scientists don't know the orig...

Chrysler is dying. Honda now has a 200,000 car lead to take over as the 4th largest US automaker. This means that the "Big 3" are now "Three of the top Five" with Chrysler quickly slipping into the rearview mirror of the leaders, and under assault from Hyundai and Nissan. They also announced they would be extending their holiday shutdown, due the oversupply of cars. They have also formally apologized for the PT Crusier, Dodge Nitro, Chrysler Aspen, Dodge Caliber, Dodge Dakota, Jeep Compass/Patriot, Dodge Avenger, 2nd generation Dodge Durango (have you had your fugly today?), Dodge Journey, Chrysler Crossfire and Chrysler Sebring. Sebring... *shudder* Ok, the apology is a lie, but as I was thinking about all the terrible cars Chrysler currently (or very very recently) makes, I realized I included, well, pretty much every car Chrysler makes. Exceptions are as follows: 300c, Challenger, Charger, Ram, Viper, Grand Cherokee, Liberty, Patriot, Wrangler, and amazingly the ...

Forwarded from Frankie, this is pretty classic: “Good news is that I truly out did myself this year with my Christmas decorations. The bad news is that I had to take him down after two days. I had more people come screaming up to my house than ever. Great stories. But two things made me take it down. First, the cops advised me that it would cause traffic accidents as they almost wrecked when they drove by. Second, a 55 year old lady grabbed the 75 pound ladder almost killed herself putting it against my house and didn’t realize that it was fake until she climbed to the top (she was not happy). By the way, she was one of the many people who attempted to do that. My yard couldn’t take it either. I have more than a few tire tracks where people literally drove up my yard.”

The World Cup draw is out, and the good news is that the UK should absolutely advance to the second round, and the US should too, and they are in the same group. The other two in the group are Algeria and Slovenia, both teams that just made it into the finals. The opening game of the group is the US vs. the UK, which I look forward to watching, and am confident the UK should win. In other placements, France gets a pretty cushy spot, which really is BS given that they only are in the finals because of a uncalled handball that would have put Ireland in instead if the refs were not either paid off or suffering from sudden myopia.

Our Science Czar (whatever the hell that means) was implicated in some of the CRU emails. Along with other Democrats, specifically senators, he would like the whole thing to go away and is thus ignoring it. To do so he came out and said that the disputed emails cover only a fraction of accepted climate science, completely missing the point that the emails point to a endemic problem of lies and manipulation. If we had more emails (go Anonymous go) then we would, I am quite sure, have more lies and fraud. Interestingly, here are some other opinions held or previously held (as in published in a book) by Obama's top science adviser: • Women could be forced to abort their pregnancies, whether they wanted to or not; • The population at large could be sterilized by infertility drugs intentionally put into the nation's drinking water or in food; • Single mothers and teen mothers should have their babies seized from them against their will and given away to other couples to raise; • Pe...

This is a quick vid I made of last weekend, opening day up at Bretton Woods, where topher and I did a little hiking and a lot of ripping fresh tracks (people, thankfully, were sticking to the groomers). I was rocking skinny sticks, so could not go switch in the heavy snow, but topher shredded it on his new Elizabeths.

At first, it seems like a good deal. Dig a little deeper, and it seems like a terrible deal. Dig a little deeper, and it seems like a loan. Basically, GM has agreed to sell 1% of its 50/50 JV with SAIC in China - which has been a major source of growth recently - for 20% of the value of the JV. While this is a good way for GM to raise money, it means ceeding control of one of its most important development opportunities. But, the agreement also has a provision that GM can buy back the 1% in the future "at a premium price." In other words, this is just a loan. GM is obviously hurting for cash, so this is not a bad idea. But specifically, they have been told that they cant use their US $ from the Govt. etc to prop up Daewoo, which went belly up with bad debt earlier in the year. So, the China money will be used for Daewoo, while the US money goes towards freeing the company from the jackheel of the administration, something GM wants done as soon as possible.

"If we have clear command from the President, the nation will follow" -Sec Def. Gates The comment was made to back up Obama's recently announced surgedrawl. Which I find hilarious, because the command is anything but clear. We are sending more troops, but have set a definite date for the Tailban to break out the champagne We are meant to send troops as soon as possible and on a rush schedule, but Obama took 3-4months to make this decision We are fully committed to winning the war, fully committed to bringing our troops home, and fully committed to handing the war over to the Afghan "army" The plan is meant to cost $30 billion, estimated by congress to cost $40 billion, and Obama forgot to ask Congress for any funding before announcing the plan. Wouldn't want to ruin the surprise. We will start withdrawals in July 2011, but will review the situation in December 2010, and will not withdraw if we have not me our targets and Afghanistan has not met theirs. So w...

Pretty hilarious, even though this one of the first and only times I will comment on gossip, this was too good to pass up. Jesper Parnevik set up Elin Nordegren and Tiger Woods as she had been working as a nanny for Jesper and his wife. His comment on the whole debacle: "I'm kind of filled with sorrow for Elin since me and my wife are at fault for hooking her up with him, and we probably thought he was a better guy than he is. "I would probably have to apologize to her and hope she uses a driver next time instead of a three-iron."

I find it hilarious that the media made such a big deal over Condi Rice and other Bush advisers not wanting to testify in front of congress on issues that were national security concerns and where Bush needed frank, honest, and direct advice without advisers looking over their shoulders the whole time. Remember the firestorm about them refusing to testify? It was a big 'ol constitutional battle. Now, in the vein of expanding all of the worst traits of his predecessors, the Obama camp is using the same constitutional argument to prevent Desiree Rogers from testifying on how she totally F*ed up the White House state dinner for India with the party crashers. Because, you know, party invitations are an area where congressional oversight would leave the POTUS without effective and incisive opinion from advisers. Yeah... hilarious.

This from engadget, and very not cool. There is of course no mention of how many times the other carriers handed out data, so there is no comparison, but I have to say I am pretty bothered by this. Sprint handed customer GPS data to law enforcement over 8 million times last year By Joseph L. Flatley posted Dec 2nd 2009 3:51PM Privacy advocates and career criminals alike are in a lather over reports that between September 2008 and October 2009, Sprint Nextel ponied up customer location data to various law enforcement agencies more than 8 million times. Speaking at ISS World 2009 (a conference for law enforcement and telecom industry-types responsible for "lawful interception, electronic investigations and network Intelligence gathering"), Sprint Nextel's very own Paul Taylor, Manager of Ele...