Archive for the 'Technology' Category
Government Accessing Data on Individuals Stored by Corporations
May 8th, 2013Via: The Atlantic: Our government collects a lot of information about us. Tax records, legal records, license records, records of government services received– it’s all in databases that are increasingly linked and correlated. Still, there’s a lot of personal information the government can’t collect. Either they’re prohibited by law from asking without probable cause and […]
‘Syria Has Largely Disappeared from the Internet’
May 8th, 2013Via: Washington Post: Both Google and a Web security company called Umbrella Security Labs are indicating that the entire country of Syria may have been severed from the Internet. The outage appears to have begun at 2:45 p.m. Eastern time, or 9:45 p.m. in Syria. According to a blog post by Umbrella’s chief technology officer […]
Breakthrough In Solar Panel Technology Wasn’t Expected for Another Decade
May 6th, 2013Via: Sydney Morning Herald: Australian scientists have found a way of hugely increasing the efficiency of solar panels while substantially reducing their cost. The University of NSW researchers have come up with improvements in photovoltaic panel design that had not been expected for another decade. The breakthrough involves using hydrogen atoms to counter defects in […]
Lenticular Photo Used To Secretly Convey Hot Line Number To Abused Kids
May 6th, 2013I wonder if states have targeted children with this technology… You can imagine how some of these might read in the U.S. Via: DIY Photography: The ANAR Foundation is a Spanish organization which helps kids in risk. They Operate a unique phone number – 116 111 – where minors at risk can get aid and […]
This Is The World’s First Entirely 3D-Printed Gun (Needs a Nail for the Firing Pin)
May 5th, 2013Via: Forbes: Eight months ago, Cody Wilson set out to create the world’s first entirely 3D-printable handgun. Now he has. Early next week, Wilson, a 25-year-old University of Texas law student and founder of the non-profit group Defense Distributed, plans to release the 3D-printable CAD files for a gun he calls “the Liberator,” pictured in […]
Former FBI Agent: U.S. Government Recording All Telephone Calls, Internet Activity; ‘There’s a Way to Look At Digital Communications in the Past… No Digital Communication Is Secure’
May 5th, 2013Well, Cryptogon readers have only been aware of this for about a decade. Via: Guardian: The real capabilities and behavior of the US surveillance state are almost entirely unknown to the American public because, like most things of significance done by the US government, it operates behind an impenetrable wall of secrecy. But a seemingly […]
RoboBee
May 3rd, 2013It requires a tether for power and control, but who knows how long that constraint will last… Via: Christian Science Monitor: The successful controlled flight of the tiny RoboBee – designed by a team at Harvard – represents a key step in the development of insect-size drones with a range of potential uses. A robotic […]
Digital Camera System Based on Insect Eyes
May 3rd, 2013Via: The Verge: Samsung may claim its smartphones are inspired by nature, but researchers at the University of Illinois are taking that concept much farther — they’ve designed a new digital camera system that draws from the eyes of insects. The system, which relies on a large range of miniscule focusing lenses and detectors arranged […]
Printable ‘Bionic’ Ear Melds Electronics and Biology
May 3rd, 2013Creepy pic at link. Via: Physorg: Scientists at Princeton University used off-the-shelf printing tools to create a functional ear that can “hear” radio frequencies far beyond the range of normal human capability. The researchers’ primary purpose was to explore an efficient and versatile means to merge electronics with tissue. The scientists used 3D printing of […]
FinFisher Now Used in 36 Countries
May 2nd, 2013Via: Quartz: A new report from Citizen Lab, a Canadian research center, shows surveillance software sold by FinFisher, a “governmental IT intrusion” company owned by the UK-registered Gamma International, is now active in 36 countries. That’s up from the 25 countries reported two months ago. Gamma’s product, which it sells exclusively to governments, infects computers […]
