Archive for the 'Technology' Category
Apple Makes Huge Solar Power Investment
February 11th, 2015Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand. And I’m holding one almost worthless February 27th put option on Apple. — Huge? Huge, in terms of the solar industry? Yes. Huge. But is it huge in terms of Apple? This story is being reported all over the place, but consider that $850 million represents […]
Judge Rules for NSA in Warrantless Search Case
February 11th, 2015Via: Reuters: A U.S. judge on Tuesday ruled in favor of the National Security Agency in a lawsuit challenging the interception of Internet communications without a warrant, according to a court filing. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White in Oakland, California wrote the plaintiffs failed to establish legal standing to pursue a claim that the government […]
U.S. to Establish New Cybersecurity Agency
February 10th, 2015Via: Reuters: The U.S. government is creating a new agency to monitor cybersecurity threats, pooling and analyzing information on a spectrum of risks, a senior Obama administration official said on Tuesday. The Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center (CTIIC) will be an “intelligence center that will ‘connect the dots’ between various cyber threats to the nation […]
Introducing Spot
February 10th, 2015Via: Boston Dynamics (Google):
Life Inside a Secret Chinese Bitcoin Mine
February 8th, 2015Via: Vice:
New High-Tech Farm Equipment Is a Nightmare for Farmers
February 5th, 2015Via: Wired: Aside from using it, there’s not much you can do with modern ag equipment. When it breaks or needs maintenance, farmers are dependent on dealers and manufacturer technicians—a hard pill to swallow for farmers, who have been maintaining their own equipment since the plow. “[DIY repair] is cheaper than calling out the technician. […]
The World’s Email Encryption Software Relies on One Guy, Who Is Going Broke
February 5th, 2015If anything is real in this area, it’s GPG. It’s a shame that most people can’t or won’t use it, even now that mass surveillance is mainstream knowledge. Via: ProPublica: The man who built the free email encryption software used by whistleblower Edward Snowden, as well as hundreds of thousands of journalists, dissidents and security-minded […]
An Alloy of Iron and Aluminum Is as Good as Titanium, Tenth the Cost
February 5th, 2015Via: The Economist: The obvious way out of this is to alloy steel with a lighter metal. And the obvious one to choose is aluminium, which is, like iron (steel’s principal component), cheap and abundant. An alloy of iron, aluminium and carbon (steel’s other essential ingredient) is too brittle to be useful. Adding manganese helps […]
Alibaba Tests Drone Deliveries in China
February 4th, 2015Via: Forbes: Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos is not the only one with a drone-delivery dream. Alibaba’s billionaire founder Jack Ma is also testing drone-delivery services, as the company races to overcome logistics barriers in the country. The initial scope of Alibaba’s experiment is small. The company’s online Taobao bazaar is inviting 450 shoppers in […]
Massive Worldwide Layoff Underway At IBM
February 4th, 2015Via: IEEE: Project Chrome, a massive layoff that IBM is pretending is not a massive layoff, is underway. First reported by Robert X. Cringely (a pen name) in Forbes, about 26 percent of the company’s global workforce is being shown the door. At more than 100,000 people, that makes it the largest mass layoff at […]
