"It allows you to easily host your own website, email, 'cloud' and more, all within arm's reach. It does this by interfacing with existing software and allowing the user to easily update and change settings with a graphical interface. No more need to depend on external cloud services, which can be insecure 'walled gardens' that require you to give up control over your data. arkOS will have several different components that come together to make a seamless self-hosting experience possible on your Raspberry Pi. Each of these components will work with each other out-of-the-box, allowing you to host your websites, email, social networking accounts, cloud services, and many other things from your arkOS node." I have to look into this.

And the story just got bigger. The Guardian has more documents up its sleeve, and they reveal that British intelligence agencies also tapped into PRISM for data on citizens. Like the NSA, the British intelligence agencies also hide behind the 'it's all legal'-nonsense. Great.

"If you've been watching the webOS Nation Forums or the webOS community on Twitter, you may have seen the troubling reports that a vital 'root certificate' on webOS devices is due to expire on July 23, 2013. This certificate is responsible for ensuring secure access to HP's webOS cloud services, including backup and the App Catalog, and once it expires, there's no accessing those services. It's a problem, a ticking time bomb, if you will. We've been wondering if or when HP was going to fix the issue, and indeed had heard rumblings that a fix was in the works and due - wait for it - in the coming weeks. Today we got word from HP that the fix is indeed coming. In fact, it's due today, and it's coming in the form of an update to the the webOS App Catalog."

This story is getting bigger and bigger. Even though most Americans probably already knew, it is now official: the United States government, through its National Security Agency, is collecting the communications and data of all American citizens, and of non-Americans using American services, through a wide collaboration with the large companies in technology, like Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and so on. Interestingly enough, the NSA itself, as well as the US government, have repeatedly and firmly denied this massive spying on Americans and non-Americans took place at all.

"The National Security Agency is currently collecting the telephone records of millions of US customers of Verizon, one of America's largest telecoms providers, under a top secret court order issued in April. The order, a copy of which has been obtained by the Guardian, requires Verizon on an 'ongoing, daily basis' to give the NSA information on all telephone calls in its systems, both within the US and between the US and other countries. The document shows for the first time that under the Obama administration the communication records of millions of US citizens are being collected indiscriminately and in bulk - regardless of whether they are suspected of any wrongdoing." Hey Americans, welcome to the club. And here we were, afraid of Google!

"In March we announced that CalDAV, an open standard for accessing calendar data across the web, would become a partner-only API because it appeared that almost all the API usage was driven by a few large developers. Since that announcement, we received many requests for access to CalDAV, giving us a better understanding of developers' use cases and causing us to revisit that decision. In response to those requests, we are keeping the CalDAV API public. And in the spirit of openness, today we're also making CardDAV - an open standard for accessing contact information across the web - available to everyone for the first time." Good move. Great for independent, small projects, specifically.

"Three days into Computex Taipei, Asia's biggest computer show, not a single manufacturer has announced a Windows RT device. Windows RT, the version of Windows 8 designed for more power-efficient ARM processors, made its official debut at last year's show on a convertible tablet by Asus." Not surprising. Windows 8's Metro is pretty terrible in and of itself, and on Windows RT specifically, it's even worse. My Surface RT is very promising, but Windows RT 8.1 better fix the loads of performance issues cripling the operating system.

"The ITC has banned Company X from importing some models of Phone A and Tablet B because they infringe on a Company Y patent. In a cease and desist order issued today, the International Trade Commission ordered Company X to stop importing AT&T models of the Phone A, the Phone B and C, the Tablet A, and the Tablet B into the US." Commentary if you're cheering for Company X: it's entirely unfair to ban entire products just because of infringement on a single patent. The patent system sucks! Commentary if you're cheering for Company Y: Company X are a bunch of thieves who never invent anything on their own. The patent system is a great thing that protects American companies. Up next week: role reversal, regurgitation of the same 'arguments', just the other way around! Ugh.

"Several Android tablets running on Intel Clover Trail+ Atom processors broke cover at Computex Taiwan. Intel's dual-core, 1.6GHz Atom Z5260 is fueling a Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 tablet, as well as Asus's 6-inch Fonepad Note and 10-inch MemoPad FHD10 tablets, while Asus also unveiled a hybrid 11.6-inch Transformer Book Trio, combining an Android slate based on a 2GHz dual-core Atom Z2580 with a keyboard dock running Windows 8 on an Intel Haswell processor."

Apple has released OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.4 - the usual bugfix release, as the version number indicates. You all know how to get it!

First looks at Windows 'Blue' have revealed an upgrade composed of cosmetic fixes, suggesting that Microsoft may be blowing its chance to turn the tide on Windows 8 blow back, and make good on its promise to truly 'rethink' Windows 8 with the release of Windows Blue. As a result, InfoWorld has issued an open letter to Microsoft to consider Windows 'Red' -- what InfoWorld is calling a 'serious plan' to fix the flaws of Windows 8, one that could rescue Microsoft's currently flagging promise to deliver a modern computing experience on both PCs and tablets.

"The entire global supply chain is too complex and overwhelming to be addressed as whole. Which is why we're starting with a single product. One, single, open, high-performance smartphone made as fairly as possible with a transparent supply chain. One step at a time." I love the idea behind the Fairphone (and it's a Dutch project, too), but I'm too much of a realist to think it will truly force large corporations and consumers to change their minds.

Microsoft has detailed some of the business and enterprise features coming to Windows 8.1. "We built Windows 8 to bring the most powerful and modern computing experience to businesses and to help professionals stay connected to their colleagues and clients from anywhere, anytime. Windows 8.1 advances this vision and introduces new manageability, mobility, security, user experience and networking capabilities that will be available later this year."

"Mozilla and Foxconn have officially announced a partnership and confirmed that the two firms are developing at least 5 new devices, including a tablet computer. At a press conference today at Computex 2013 in Taipei, Li Gong, CEO of Mozilla Taiwan, and Young Liu, General Manager of Foxconn innovation Digital System Business Group, unveiled a new tablet prototype model designed for an unnamed OEM."