What Does Your Phone Company Have On You? - VIDEO

What does your phone company have on you? Malte Spitz wanted to find out and received 35,830 lines of code -- "a detailed, nearly minute-by-minute account of half a year of his life."

Watch his TED Talk on self-determination in the digital age, AFTER THE JUMP...

NEWS: Google Spies, Cheney Betrays, Preacher Molests, Spielberg Loses: VIDEO

 In a week, Google will begin to store records of all your Googlings. Here's how to clear your Google records before it happens.

 The Family Research Council is angry with Dick Cheney for supporting marriage equality. Apparently his duty should be to them, not his daughter:

In 2000, Dick Cheney might have considered Philadelphia’s most famous son, Benjamin Franklin. Franklin’s own son was the royal Governor of New Jersey. It was a patronage job Ben had secured for him. When his son remained loyal to the Crown, Benjamin Franklin did not refuse to sign the Declaration of Independence citing a “personal situation.” That’s one of the many reasons why we remember Ben Franklin with admiration and respect.

Dick Cheney is said to be worth hundreds of millions. His family may not suffer the devastation that comes from the breakdown of marriage. But in his recent book, Coming Apart, Charles Murray shows how the loss of marriage for the white working class in America has already had catastrophic consequences. If we seek the reason behind the great disparities in wealth that the Occupy crowd is howling about, we need look no further than the collapse of marriage. In this great cultural clash, Dick Cheney has enlisted with the forces of dissolution.

 Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire calls Obama the "inspiration" for Washington marriage equality:

"I think we probably have succeeded as much as we have because of his leadership. He's used the bully pulpit," Gregoire said at the White House Friday. "He's been the inspiration that allowed the state of Washington recognize that we need to have equality."

"It's because of what he's been able to do that I actually think in large part we were able to achieve what we did. So I don't criticize. To the contrary, I thank the president for his leadership on GLBT issues," she told reporters after a meeting between Obama and Democratic governors.

 Once again, Rick Santorum's old utterances make news:

In remarks last year at the College of Saint Mary Magdalen in Warner, N.H., Santorum had told the crowd of J.F.K.’s famous 1960 address [on the separation of church and state] to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association, “Earlier in my political career, I had the opportunity to read the speech, and I almost threw up. You should read the speech.”

 Fez of The Ron and Fez Show comes out.

 Lucy Lawless arrested in oil ship protest.

 Six simple animations explain the basics of critical thought.

 Teller: What magicians and neuroscientists do and do npt have in common.

 A preacher plead guilty to "lewd conduct" and "lewd molestation," and is no longer allowed to interact with minors. So the church where he preaches did the honorable thing: It banned kids.

 Identified: The remains of the last unaccounted-for service member in Iraq. He was a translator:

The remains of Staff Sgt. Ahmed al-Taie, who was 41 when militiamen seized him on Oct. 23, 2006, were positively identified at the military's mortuary in Dover, Del., the Army said in a statement released Sunday. Army officials said they had no further details about the circumstances surrounding his death or the discovery of his remains.

 (Reading this makes me remember a bone-chilling feature by George Packer about the difficulties faced by Iraqi translators during the war. Definitely one of last decade's best pieces of journalism. It was called "Betrayed." If you haven't read it, find it here.)

 ... and if that depresses you, watch this full-screen, in HD if possible. Music, stars, and time. Beautiful.

 It's Oscar night. Your favorite films probably aren't nominated. The Academy is often crazy. AFTER THE JUMP, watch Steven Spielberg learn he's been snubbed for Jaws. 

Judgment Against Creditor For $1.25 Million In HIV Privacy Case

An Indiana man has been awarded $1.25 million in a case regarding the disclosure of his HIV status by Internal Medicine Associates. When IMA sued the man for a $326 past-due bill, the details of his case became a matter of public record—as did the fact that he is living with HIV.

In the course of the case, IMA sought to find out how many sexual partners the man's had in order to discredit his claim that they've revealed his status to more people than he has. The Bilerico Project has all the details of what would seem to be a precedent-setting judgment.

TowleTech V. 36

A rare white dolphin called a Baiji which lives in the waters of China has been declared extinct this week after scientists spent six weeks searching the waters with zero sightings. A similar search in 1997 turned up 13 sightings, showing that the dolphin was on the verge of extinction. According to the website of the conservation group involved with the search, the Baiji's death marks a more than disturbing turn of events: "Regarded in China as the 'goddess of the Yangtze', the 20 million year old river dolphin was one of the world's oldest species. The Baiji is the first large mammal brought to extinction as a result of human destruction to their natural habitat and resources."

Brian Lam put himself and the popular tech blog for which he writes on the line with a surprising claim: that he not only has seen an iPhone, but that it will be announced on Monday. The full text of the post reads: "Gizmodo Knows: iPhone Will Be Announced On Monday. I guarantee it. It isn't what I expected at all. And I've already said too much." Will Apple announce a cell phone Monday or was Gizmodo just trying to get a few extra votes in the Weblog Awards? I suppose one thing is for sure: only Gizmodo knows. Meanwhile Business 2.0 has an insightful article on why the iPhone might not ever happen.

Sunspot 930 is at it again! The flamboyant spot sent up a massive solar flare earlier this week that caused a sizable geomagnetic storm here on the blue planet, according to an advisory issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The storm can cause damage to power grids or communication systems, but can also lead to stunning auroras.

VoIP provider Skype done gave the world free unlimited calling earlier this year, but it was only ever meant to be temporary and now this year is about over. Still, the flat rate of $29.95 for a year of phone service is a pretty fair deal, and signing up before January cuts that in half for the first year.

After reports of damage caused by flying Wii controllers, Nintendo recalled the strap on the wireless remote, offering to replace it with a sturdier version. As GayGamer.net notes, the company also took the chance to remind users of a little common safety sense when playing. "Hold the Wii Remote firmly and do not let go. For example, in Wii Sports bowling, the proper way to let go of the ball while bowling is to release the "B" button on the Wii Remote—DO NOT LET GO OF THE Wii REMOTE ITSELF."

Cingular is testing out a new cell phone in the Big Apple that includes a handy little feature: your credit card. Forget camera or MP3 player -- these new phones have an embedded MasterCard PayPass, which uses RFID that lets you pay by waving the phone in front of a sensor. PayPass sensors are built into registers at McDonalds and AMC theaters and even some Coca-Cola vending machines.

One of the reasons that Google is a billion-something dollar a year company is the fact that they sell their internet search technology to businesses for use on their private "intranets." Meanwhile the Goog has made plenty of enemies giving away high-quality products that its competitors were previously charging for, but now Yahoo has stepped up to give them a taste of their own medicine. Yahoo teamed up with IBM to offer a free business-level search tool for private intranets, which can index and search up to 500k documents.

XM Radio launched a new seasonal station that offers an alternative to the barrage of Christmas music that takes over at this time of year. For 8 days starting tonight, Radio Hanukkah will play Hanukkah-themed songs with interludes by Jewish celebrities. "This could be refreshing. Who knows? Maybe non-Jews will start loving these songs too," said one fan.

UCLA alerted 800,000 students, faculty, and alumni to a data breach this week after it was discovered that "a sophisticated computer hacker" illegally accessed a database of personal information that included social security numbers and birthdates.

Photographer and freelance tech writer Jason Rowan posts an efficient write up of the new Nokia N93, a cell phone that includes a 3.2 megapixel digital camera. Said Rowan: "After you get over the techno-lust and nervous fumbling the N93 inspires I started to find the old Ready Steady Pendergrass touch coming back to me."

Two major Anti-Virus software makers issued dire warnings about the state of malicious internet attacks and scams in 2007. While email has been the most common avenue to personal data, mobile devices, IM, and social  networking sites all offer new ways to steal identities and scam users, according to Trend Micro and McAffee spokespersons. If my theory that the majority of these evil online deeds are a conspiracy by the companies that sell people protection against them, then surely they're the ones who would know.

Daniel Williford is our TowleTech correspondent.
You can visit him at his blog, Until Today...