Archive for February, 2014

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How Covert Agents Infiltrate the Internet to Manipulate, Deceive, and Destroy Reputations

February 26th, 2014

Via: The Intercept: Among the core self-identified purposes of JTRIG are two tactics: (1) to inject all sorts of false material onto the internet in order to destroy the reputation of its targets; and (2) to use social sciences and other techniques to manipulate online discourse and activism to generate outcomes it considers desirable. To […]

DARPA: Dream Research

February 26th, 2014

Via: Medium: Today, Onur Varol and Filippo Menczer at Indiana University in Bloomington, use network science to study the similarities between dreams reported in English, Chinese and Arabic—research that is funded in part by the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency or DARPA. They say their results provide a new window into the cultural links between […]

‘Magic Formula of Physics Moves Every Kind of Animal on Earth’

February 25th, 2014

Via: Houston Chronicle: A magic formula of physics is propelling animals across the planet, from birds and sharks to jellyfish, according to a new discovery by researchers at Texas A&M Univeristy. While people struggle with fixed-wing aircraft and solid propellors, animals triumph with flexible wings, fins and tails and now we know that despite their […]

Electronics Retailer Checks Customers’ Names Against U.S. Watch List

February 25th, 2014

Via: EEV Blog: If your name happens to be fairly common like mine, then you may end up having your orders flagged and put on hold by Element 14, at least here in Australia. Because, well, their system sucks arse, and it seems like they are licking the arse of the United States government to […]

Hopefully, MtGox Is Finally Dead

February 25th, 2014

MtGox has needed to die for years. I sincerely hope they they are down for the count this time. That thing was the bitcoin exchange from hell. Via: cNet: Embattled Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox has largely vanished from the Internet amid accusations that the exchange is insolvent after a years-long theft that resulted in the […]

Comcast’s Deal with Netflix Makes Network Neutrality Obsolete

February 23rd, 2014

Via: Washington Post: For the past two decades, the Internet has operated as an unregulated, competitive free market. Given the tendency of networked industries to lapse into monopoly—think of AT&T’s 70-year hold over telephone service, for example—that’s a minor miracle. But recent developments are putting the Internet’s decentralized architecture in danger. In recent months, the […]

Use of Prescription Drugs in Kentucky and West Virginia [???]

February 23rd, 2014

I was reading this piece about the most miserable states in the U.S. when I came across this sentence in the section on Kentucky: The state’s population was the nation’s most reliant on prescription drugs, with 19.3 prescriptions filled per capita in 2011, tied with West Virginia. 😯 Would that be a world leading statistic? […]

Mysterious Polio-Like Illness Affects Kids in California

February 23rd, 2014

Via: USA Today: A mysterious polio-like syndrome has affected as many as 25 California children, leaving them with paralyzed limbs and little hope of recovery. … While there haven’t been reports of the illness outside California, Van Haren thinks that’s only because no one is looking for it. He believes once doctors nationwide begin to, […]

At Newark Airport, the Lights Are On, and They’re Watching You

February 23rd, 2014

Via: New York Times: Visitors to Terminal B at Newark Liberty International Airport may notice the bright, clean lighting that now blankets the cavernous interior, courtesy of 171 recently installed LED fixtures. But they probably will not realize that the light fixtures are the backbone of a system that is watching them. Using an array […]

St. Mary’s College Considers Basing President’s Salary Off That of Cleaning Staff

February 22nd, 2014

My position on this is here. Via: Washington Post: How much should a college president make compared to the worker who cleans his office? According to a proposal put forward by students and faculty at St. Mary’s College in Maryland, the answer is: no more than 10 times as much. On Thursday afternoon, the faculty […]

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