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Jan 22, 2:09 PM EST Seven-state info store a potent repository of personal data By BRIAN BERGSTEIN AP Technology Writer NEW YORK (AP) -- A federally funded crime database run by seven states, including Connecticut, is looking increasingly to privacy advocates like a potent substitute for the data mining program the Pentagon scrapped after public rebuke. Law enforcement officials and the private company that manages the database, known as Matrix, say it merely streamlines police access to information about suspects that authorities have long been able to get from disparate sources. But newly emerging facts about the program, including documents...

<p>ALLENTOWN, Pennsylvania (AP) -- Long after The Matrix Revolutions morphs itself off the big screen, the eternal battle of reality versus illusion, fate versus free will and good versus evil will rage on in philosophy classrooms everywhere.</p> <p>The third and final installment of the trilogy opened November 5 on more than 10,000 screens at the exact same time, and, in spite of mixed reviews, soared quickly to No. 1.</p>

Spoilers for Reloaded ahead, you have been warned. I had a flash of understanding on the Matrix movies last night and though I'de share. Mind you, I have not seen the 3rd movie yet, so if something in there blows this appart, or clearly confirms it, I don't know about it so cut me some slack, OK? (and I don't want to know about it until I see the movie) The Matrix is NOT the virtual world, that is only a component of the Matrix. Zion, Neo, and the machines are other parts of the Matrix. What the Matrix is,...

Too many of us (accept) the argument that the concept of personal privacy in the Internet era is as outdated as the Model T. Americans can get pretty upset about the ways in which modern technology drives us nuts — such as telemarketers who disrupt our dinner and spam e-mailers who make pornographic sales pitches. But a more insidious invasion of Americans' privacy quietly has taken root in Florida. It has received little attention from the media except in Florida and a handful of other states being recruited to join the enterprise (news - web sites). The project underscores how...

A s the weeks go by and the Democrats focus in on their nomination battle, the candidates are becoming more and more desperate for issues and ways to put themselves out in front of their opponents. Senator Edwards is trying to vault himself to the head of the pack by criticizing Howard Dean for being insensitive towards rednecks, while the Reverend Al Sharpton is showing his gravitas by hosting an episode of Saturday Night Live. But it seems to me that the whole lot of Democrat hopefuls is missing a prime campaign issue: The Matrix. The Matrix III (a.k.a. The...

Walker Percy was fond of describing the south as Christ forgetting and Christ haunted. The much-anticipated final entry in the Matrix trilogy, Matrix Revolutions, a disappointing film roundly and justifiably lambasted by critics, provides evidence that the story of Christ continues to haunt the most unlikely of communities — Hollywood. The problem: Well, the problem is the film, whose narrative is tedious indeed. Neo — identified repeatedly as a Christ figure who must take upon himself the burdens of humanity — comes closest to speaking for all of us long-suffering viewers, when he asks the Oracle, "Where is this going?...

JOSH COOKE DOESN'T REMEMBER what he was thinking at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 17, when he went up to his room after eating dinner with his parents. He remembers what he was listening to on his headphones -- "Bodies," by metal drones Drowning Pool -- and what he did. "I just kinda looked over at my `Matrix' poster," he says, "and then I looked over at my gun." The 19-year-old donned combat boots and a black jacket -- like Neo, the hero of the 1999 movie and its sequels. He filled his pockets with shotgun shells. Then he picked...

.. I had to clear my mind. Zero out the drive with random bits. A movie might help. Went to the mall, stood outside, thought: do I really want to do this? I’ve read the reviews – well, not the reviews themselves; people drop spoilers so casually now. (I should note that I consider anything more detailed than a cast list a spoiler.) But I’d gotten the scent from the headlines and the message boards chatter: Matrix 3 was worse than 2. But I had to see it at some point. Might as well be now. If you recall...

The Matrix: Revolutions" opened Wednesday in a first-ever worldwide debut on 10,013 screens in more than 94 countries and in 43 languages, including Hungarian and Turkish, and has already pulled in over $43 million. Needless to say, the film – the third and final in the "Matrix" series which has brought its creators Andy and Larry Wachowski something like a half billion dollars, throwing in DVD and sundry auxiliary sales – can only add to that figure, possibly setting a record for the movies. The critics, at least the American ones in major media outlets, were lukewarm to downright scornful....

Communists picket Matrix premiere to celebrate revolution Communists picketed the Moscow premiere of The Matrix: Revolutions to celebrate the jubilee of the Russian revolution. A group of 32 youngsters wore red T-shirts, Soviet army helmets and Matrix-style dark glasses outside the Pushkinskiy cinema. They each held up neon-lit letters which spelt out the slogans "We are NEO-communists" and "Destroy the Matrix". According to Communist Party ideologists, the Matrix series' central hero Neo is a genuine communist, reports Kommersant. Oleg Bondarenko, Communist party youth movement leader, said there was "no difference" between Neo and Lenin as revolutionaries. Story filed: 10:17 Friday...

<p>LOS ANGELES — Which way do you spin "The Matrix Revolutions"? The third movie in the cyberpunk trilogy earned $24.3 million at the domestic box office in its first day of release, Warner Bros. said Thursday.</p> <p>That's a great one-day total for any other movie, but it comes in far below what "The Matrix Reloaded" collected in its nationwide debut last spring.</p>

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: State to link up private dataSocial Security numbers, driver's license fingerprints would be part of crime database By DUANE D. STANFORD and JOEY LEDFORD The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Georgia officials plan to contribute confidential driver's license and auto tag information from millions of Georgians to a crime-fighting database even as five other states have backed away because of concerns about cost and personal privacy. The detail in the data is astounding: Past addresses and telephone numbers. Neighbors' addresses and telephone numbers. The make, model and color of registered cars. Business associates. Speeding tickets. Arrests. Marriages and divorces. Names...

Caught in the Matrix?States' data project ignites privacy fearsBy JIM KRANE Associated Press NEW YORK -- While privacy worries are frustrating the Pentagon's plans for a far-reaching database to combat terrorism, a similar project is quietly taking shape with the participation of more than a dozen states -- and $12 million in federal funds.The database project, created so states and local authorities can track would-be terrorists as well as criminal fugitives, is being built and housed in the offices of a private company but will be open to some federal law enforcers and perhaps even U.S. intelligence agencies.Dubbed Matrix, the...

<p>NEW YORK (AP) &#8212; While privacy concerns are frustrating the Pentagon's plans for a far-reaching database to combat terrorism, a similar project is quietly taking shape with the participation of more than a dozen states and $12 million in federal funds.</p>

<p>While privacy worries are frustrating the Pentagon's plans for a far-reaching database to combat terrorism, a similar project is quietly taking shape with the participation of more than a dozen states -- and $12 million in federal funds.</p> <p>The database project, created so states and local authorities can track would-be terrorists as well as criminal fugitives, is being built and housed in the offices of a private company but will be open to some federal law enforcers and perhaps even U.S. intelligence agencies.</p>

And now for something completely different, a depiction of a ping pong match taking place in ... the Matrix: http://www.astercity.net/~tobik/pingpong.html

OAKLYN, N.J. - Matthew Lovett was known as an angry young man: He dressed all in black, drew violent pictures and walked around town with a baseball bat. Acquaintances said he kept a list of people who had teased him as far back as grade school. Early Sunday, Lovett, 18, was arrested with two other teenagers on charges they plotted to kill three teens and open fire randomly on other people with a cache of guns and ammunition they were carrying. Lovett was being held on $1 million bail Monday. Authorities would not discuss a possible motive, but people who...

WASHINGTON – When Tonda Lynn Ansley confessed to shooting her landlord on a crowded street, she cited the movie "The Matrix" as evidence the killing was "morally right." Ms. Ansley, who was found not guilty by reason of insanity last month, told homicide detectives in Hamilton, Ohio, she was living in "The Matrix," a violent movie in which "they commit a lot of crimes" and "you think it's a bad dream." Ansley is not the only defendant to invoke a movie as defense in court. Whether as inspiration or evidence of insanity, movies have been cited by suspects as diverse...

CAIRO (AFP) - The Hollywood science fiction hit movie Matrix Reloaded has been banned in Egypt for threatening to offend traditional religious views on the creation of humankind, the chief censor revealed. The director of artistic censorship, Madkur Thabet, said that "despite its excellent technical level, the film was banned because it deals with subjects like human existence and creation. "And these are questions linked to the three monotheistic religions that we respect and which we believe in," Thabet added. "These questions have in the past provoked crises and tension." He said the decision was taken by a "committee of...

[Wed June 04, 2003 08:57PM] Warner Bros. have revealed the selected IMAX theatres that will be showing The Matrix Reloaded in full IMAX format across the United States and Canada. They have also announced that The Matrix Revolutions will be released simultaneously to normal cinemas and to IMAX cinemas on November 5, a first for an IMAX film. They have also announced that The Matrix Revolutions will be released simultaneously to normal cinemas and to IMAX cinemas on November 5, a first for an IMAX film. Matrix Reloaded IMAX List Opening June 6, 2003 United States Addison, Illinois - Addison...