Archive for the 'Technology' Category
New Leaks Show Germany’s Collusion with NSA
June 22nd, 2014Via: Deutsche Welle: This week German news magazine Der Spiegel published the largest single set of files leaked by whistleblower and former US National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. The roughly 50 documents show the depth of the German intelligence agencies’ collusion with the NSA. They suggest that the German Intelligence Agency (BND), the country’s […]
Elon Musk on Artificial Intelligence: “I Think There Is Potentially a Dangerous Outcome There”
June 20th, 2014Via: Guardian: Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk worries about a “Terminator” scenario arising from research into artificial intelligence. Musk was an early investor in AI firm DeepMind, which was later acquired by Google, and in March made an investment San Francisco-based Vicarious, another company working to improve machine intelligence. Speaking to US news channel CNBC, […]
Florida: Cops Hid Use of Phone Tracking Tech in Court Documents at Feds’ Request
June 20th, 2014Via: Ars Technica: On Thursday evening, the ACLU published a 2009 e-mail exchange (PDF) between police departments in Sarasota, FL and North Port, FL indicating that local law enforcement had concealed the use of cell phone-tracking Stingray devices in court documents. Stingray is a trademark, but it has come to generally mean devices that can […]
D-Wave’s “Quantum Computer” Isn’t Any Faster Than a Normal PC
June 19th, 2014There have been skeptics on this thing from the start. They were right. Via: Christian Science Monitor: A team of researchers compared the performance of a D-Wave Two device to that of a classical computer on a specific set of problems, and failed to find evidence that the quantum computer was faster. “We do not […]
“Got Fiber?” Countries Outside of Five Eyes Network Working with NSA
June 19th, 2014Via: First Look: Huge volumes of private emails, phone calls, and internet chats are being intercepted by the National Security Agency with the secret cooperation of more foreign governments than previously known, according to newly disclosed documents from whistleblower Edward Snowden. The classified files, revealed today by the Danish newspaper Dagbladet Information in a reporting […]
Harley-Davidson Refining Electric Motorcycle Design
June 19th, 2014Via: AP: Harley-Davidson will unveil its first electric motorcycle next week, and President Matt Levatich said he expects the company known for its big touring bikes and iconic brand to become a leader in developing technology and standards for electric vehicles. Harley will show handmade demonstration models Monday at an invitation-only event in New York. […]
Elon Musk Needs a Very Big Factory for His New Solar Technology
June 19th, 2014Via: MIT Technology Review: Billionaire, Tesla founder, and private space entrepreneur Elon Musk announced yesterday that Solar City, the solar installation company where he is chairman, plans to acquire a startup called Silevo for $200 million (plus up to $150 million more if the company meets certain goals). And with typical bravado, he also said […]
It’s Complicated: Facebook’s History of Tracking You
June 18th, 2014Via: ProPublica: For years people have noticed a funny thing about Facebook’s ubiquitous Like button. It has been sending data to Facebook tracking the sites you visit. Each time details of the tracking were revealed, Facebook promised that it wasn’t using the data for any commercial purposes. No longer. Last week, Facebook announced it will […]
South Africa: Riot Control Drone Can Fire a Variety of Ammunition to Subdue Unruly Crowds
June 18th, 2014“Payload capacity of the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is 40 kg” 40KG? Via: Defense Web: South African company Desert Wolf yesterday unveiled its Skunk riot control drone at the IFSEC security exhibition outside Johannesburg. Armed with four paintball guns, it can fire a variety of ammunition to subdue unruly crowds. The Skunk is designed to […]
UK Intelligence Forced to Reveal Secret Policy for Mass Surveillance
June 17th, 2014At least the wholly domestic traffic isn’t going down the gurgler too. *wink* Via: Privacy International: Britain’s top counter-terrorism official has been forced to reveal a secret Government policy justifying the mass surveillance of every Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Google user in the UK. This disturbing policy was made public due to a legal challenge […]
