Archive for the 'Technology' Category
EMP Hardened Data Centers
September 16th, 2014Via: Computerworld: In Boyers, Pa., a recently opened 2,000-sq.-ft. data center has been purpose-built to protect against an electromagnetic pulse (EMP), either generated by a solar storm or a nuclear event. The company that built the facility isn’t disclosing exactly how the data center was constructed or what materials were used. But broadly, it did […]
MIT/DARPA: “Cheetah” Robot Runs and Jumps, Untethered, Across Grass
September 16th, 2014Via: MIT: Speed and agility are hallmarks of the cheetah: The big predator is the fastest land animal on Earth, able to accelerate to 60 mph in just a few seconds. As it ramps up to top speed, a cheetah pumps its legs in tandem, bounding until it reaches a full gallop. Now MIT researchers […]
University of Virginia/MITRE: 3D Printed UAV
September 16th, 2014Via: Wired: We have 3-D printed keys, guns and shoes—now a research team at the University of Virginia has created a 3D printed UAV drone for the Department of Defense. In the works for three years, the aircraft, no bigger than a remote-controlled plane, can carry a 1.5-pound payload. If it crashes or needs a […]
New Zealand’s Prime Minister Isn’t Telling the Truth About Mass Surveillance
September 15th, 2014Via: First Look: Let me be clear: any statement that mass surveillance is not performed in New Zealand, or that the internet communications are not comprehensively intercepted and monitored, or that this is not intentionally and actively abetted by the GCSB, is categorically false. If you live in New Zealand, you are being watched. At […]
New Zealand Launched Mass Surveillance Project While Publicly Denying It
September 15th, 2014Keep smilin’, John. Via: First Look: The New Zealand spy agency, the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB), worked in 2012 and 2013 to implement a mass metadata surveillance system even as top government officials publicly insisted no such program was being planned and would not be legally permitted. Documents provided by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden […]
WikiLeaks Releases Copies of German Malware Used by Intelligence Agencies to Spy on Journalists, Political Dissidents and Others
September 15th, 2014Via: WikiLeaks: Today, 15 September 2014, WikiLeaks releases previously unseen copies of weaponised German surveillance malware used by intelligence agencies around the world to spy on journalists, political dissidents and others. FinFisher (formerly part of the UK based Gamma Group International until late 2013) is a German company that produces and sells computer intrusion systems, […]
Local and State Police Involved in Sensitive Hemisphere Program
September 14th, 2014Via: The Declaration: Federal, state, and local police, with the assistance of phone company employees embedded within DEA narcotics intelligence units, are utilizing an unclassified but “law enforcement sensitive” program, known as Hemisphere, which provides nearly unfettered access to an enormous database containing call records of all telephone calls passing through phone company switches likely […]
Will Superintelligent Machines Destroy Humanity?
September 13th, 2014My money would be on nukes. How about, superintelligent machines somehow in control of nukes? Via: Reason: In Frank Herbert’s Dune books, humanity has long banned the creation of “thinking machines.” Ten thousand years earlier, their ancestors destroyed all such computers in a movement called the Butlerian Jihad, because they felt the machines controlled them. […]
Farmed Artificial Micro Humans
September 13th, 2014Via: IB Times: As an attempt to save millions of animal lives that are lost during laboratory testing, scientists are creating artificial micro humans that would replace these animals. Up to 90 million animal lives are lost each year due to experiments conducted on them. The artificial human machines that are being developed will be […]
Steve Jobs Didn’t Let His Own Children Use iPads
September 13th, 2014Via: New York Times: “So, your kids must love the iPad?” I asked Mr. Jobs, trying to change the subject. The company’s first tablet was just hitting the shelves. “They haven’t used it,” he told me. “We limit how much technology our kids use at home.” I’m sure I responded with a gasp and dumbfounded […]
