Even as US authorities are getting pretty damn sure who’s behind the high-level hacking attempts from the other month , and that they were launched from the Shanghai Jiaotong University and Lanxiang Vocational School, China’s all “Nuh uh, eff you guys.” I mean, that really is the essence of their rebuttal. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said that “Reports that these attacks came from Chinese schools are totally groundless and the accusation of Chinese government involvement is also irresponsible and driven by ulterior motives.” And that’s that, I’m sure . [ The Hill ]

Betcha didn’t know that USB flash drives weren’t allowed in the US military. Or maybe you did — you know, considering that one with Japan-US troop deployment maps went missing in mid-2008. Oops . At any rate, the Department of Defense has reportedly lifted said ban, but as with anything related to The Man, gobs of red tape will be involved. For starters, they won’t be reintroduced “wholesale,” instead being reserved for “mission essential applications.” We’re also told that the drives themselves must contain specific security features, and administrators will be able to track the use of ‘em from the outset. For those unaware, the ban was originally put into place just over a year ago after virus-laden USB keys disrupted military networks, presumably flashing Blingee’d faces of Kim Jong-il onto CIA surveillance screens.

Leave it to Google to make even the FCC ’s ambitions look meager. But hey, for the vast majority of Americans who will never have access to an ISP with 1Gbps , we’ve got nothing but kudos to send to Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski. As the story goes, the FCC has unveiled a plan this week that would “require” internet service providers to offer “minimum home connection speeds by 2020,” with a delectable 100Mbps figure being throw around. Currently, US internet speeds average just under 4Mbps, and the nation as a whole ranks 19th in the world. Naturally, companies that provide internet are balking at the idea, suggesting that consumers would revolt if they were forced to pick up the tab for all the network improvement efforts that would have to take place. Of course, Cisco Systems now appears to be the FCC’s best bud, but we’re guessing we don’t have to explain the logic behind that one.

Portland, Oregon is so into the green movement that they’re going to cover their federal building from floor to ceiling with a 200-ft. wall made from living, breathing vegetation. The living wall is more than just a pretty facade, however, as city officials claim it will lead to savings of about $280,000 per year in energy costs. Add in some solar panels (also part of the overall $133 million plan), and the building will use about 60-65% less energy than a similar-sized office.

We know he’s a BlackBerry fanboy , an international iPod evangelist , and a prolific YouTube vlogger , and a general nerd , but now we have a new label for our POTUS: Internet addict . In 2010, to “use the internet like a normal adult” is to give in to a terrible, emotionless symbiosis from which you can never withdraw, so what’s said here—that the president reads blogs, that he spends a lot of his day online, that he’s the first president to have an internet connection at his desk—is less interesting that what’s left unsaid: Does he laugh at memes? Does he comment? Does he troll ? And as the WaPo ’s anonymous source so obviously wanted the world to ask, or else he/she would have worded things differently: Porntube or xHamster? [ Washington Post via Ed Bott ]

We know he’s a BlackBerry fanboy , an international iPod evangelist , and a prolific YouTube vlogger , and a general nerd , but now we have a new label for our POTUS: Internet addict . In 2010, to “use the internet like a normal adult” is to give in to a terrible, emotionless symbiosis from which you can never withdraw, so what’s said here—that the president reads blogs, that he spends a lot of his day online, that he’s the first president to have an internet connection at his desk—is less interesting that what’s left unsaid: Does he laugh at memes? Does he comment? Does he troll ? And as the WaPo ’s anonymous source so obviously wanted the world to ask, or else he/she would have worded things differently: Porntube or xHamster?

Current NASA Administrator and former astronaut Charles Bolden, speaking a few weeks ago at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society, explained how our nation’s space program is at a crossroads and pledged to continue manned missions into space. A combination of the federal budget deficit and a number of successful unmanned space endeavors—think Hubble, Mars Rovers—has dimmed Dubya’s plan to put man back in space in a big way. Bolden, however, refuses to let the Astronaut die on his watch. “I do not see this president being the president who presides over the end of human spaceflight,” he said.

The White House iPhone app is mostly a pretty package of feeds and photos, but the actually interesting part is that it streams live video of White House events, starting with the State of the Union address next week. Of course, most of us will be pre-occupied with a different keynote speech on Wednesday. A mobile version of WhiteHouse.gov for other, non-iPhone phones is supposedly on the way, if you’re feeling slighted. [ White House , iTunes ]

This isn’t quite on par with Finland’s contention that 1Mb broadband is a “right,” but UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has pledged

Yesterday, Obama’s Chief Technology Officer went to Vegas to hang out with Blam, Chen, Frooch, et al. And what did he get from Consumer Electronics Association head honcho? Not a request for POTUS’s cell number, but a bollocking. A light bollocking, admittedly, but Gary Shapiro called him out on what he sees as the Government’s inability to encourage tech entrepreneurship.