Archive for the 'Technology' Category
DEA Runs Massive Surveillance Operation to Record Movement of Americans with License Plate Readers
January 27th, 2015Via: ACLU: The Drug Enforcement Administration has initiated a massive national license plate reader program with major civil liberties concerns but disclosed very few details, according to new DEA documents obtained by the ACLU through the Freedom of Information Act. The DEA is currently operating a National License Plate Recognition initiative that connects DEA license […]
Snowden: iPhone Includes Surveillance App
January 24th, 2015Shocker. Via: Sputnik News: Former US National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden never uses an iPhone as this device has software able to collect personal information regarding its owner, the whistleblower’s lawyer said Monday. “Edward never uses an IPhone, he’s got a simple phone… The iPhone has special software that can activate itself without […]
Scientists Attempt to Create Kill Switch for Genetically Modified Bacteria
January 24th, 2015Pay close attention to the use of unlikely and undetectably small escape rate in the piece below. Wow. Of all the places to encounter weaseleze… I think seeing it in the one about the GMO kill switch has to take the cake. Via: Discovery: As genetically-modified microbes take on ever more tasks – from creating […]
Google and Fidelity Invest $1 Billion in SpaceX
January 20th, 2015Via: cnet: Google is cementing its interest in outer space. The company, along with investment firm Fidelity, is pumping $1 billion into SpaceX, the rocket company co-founded by billionaire Elon Musk. The deal, confirmed on Tuesday by SpaceX, is just the latest bet Google has made on space technologies. The company has recently made investments […]
New Police Radars Can ‘See’ Inside Homes
January 19th, 2015Via: USA Today: At least 50 U.S. law enforcement agencies have secretly equipped their officers with radar devices that allow them to effectively peer through the walls of houses to see whether anyone is inside, a practice raising new concerns about the extent of government surveillance. Those agencies, including the FBI and the U.S. Marshals […]
The Birth of D Weapons
January 17th, 2015Via: Spiegel: According to top secret documents from the archive of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden seen exclusively by SPIEGEL, they are planning for wars of the future in which the Internet will play a critical role, with the aim of being able to use the net to paralyze computer networks and, by doing so, potentially […]
Robots Roam Hallways of San Francisco’s Newest Hospital
January 16th, 2015Via: cnet: Meet Eve, a short, refrigerator-wide robot. While it doesn’t have arms, or a head, its portly frame can haul heavy loads, dispense supplies and travel long distances. Eve is one of 25 autonomous robots programmed to help the staff of San Francisco’s newest hospital. When the University of California, San Francisco, Medical Center […]
Elon Musk Plans to Build Hyperloop Test Track
January 16th, 2015Via: cnet: Billionaire and entrepreneur Elon Musk is getting more hands-on with the Hyperloop. Musk, who heads up both space transportation outfit SpaceX and electric-vehicle maker Tesla Motors, casually announced via Twitter on Thursday that he’s decided to help accelerate development of his vision for near-supersonic tube transportation, first outlined in August 2013. Musk said […]
GM Bolt: Pure EV, 200 Mile Range, $30,000, 2017
January 16th, 2015Via: MIT Technology Review: GM today unveiled an all-electric concept car, called the Bolt, which it says will have a 200-mile range. That’s comparable to the range of Tesla’s electric luxury cars, but the Bolt will cost around $30,000 (while a Tesla will sell for between $70,000 and $94,000). The Bolt, a compact hatchback, will […]
A Cyberattack Has Caused Confirmed Physical Damage for the Second Time Ever
January 16th, 2015Via: Wired: Amid all the noise the Sony hack generated over the holidays, a far more troubling cyber attack was largely lost in the chaos. Unless you follow security news closely, you likely missed it. I’m referring to the revelation, in a German report released just before Christmas (.pdf), that hackers had struck an unnamed […]
