Archive for the 'Technology' Category
Bullion and Bandits: The Improbable Rise and Fall of E-Gold
June 9th, 2009Via: Wired: Jackson drew his inspiration from economist Vera Smith’s influential 1936 treatise The Rationale of Central Banking and the Free Bank Alternative, which challenged the tenets of banking. “She wrote in the depths of the Depression, and poses some of the most compelling questions about central banking systems,” Jackson says. “Central banks should attenuate […]
China to to Require Web Filtering Software on All PCs
June 8th, 2009The article doesn’t say this, explicitly, but PCs running this software will almost certainly be owned by the Chinese government. That is, when required, it would be as if a member of the Chinese state security services was sitting at the computer in question. They are a root user on the box. They would have […]
Rik Clay’s Interviews on Red Ice Creations
June 5th, 2009I stumbled across Rik Clay’s interviews on Red Ice Creations. Rik Clay was a blogger and researcher who focused on 2012 issues and the religion of the elite. He was dead about two months after he gave these interviews. Some of you might find these interviews interesting. I did.
Over 90% of the Global Rare Earth Resource Held by Chinese Companies
June 5th, 2009Via: Financial Times: The Chinese acquisition of stakes in Australian rare earth miners Lynas Corporation and Arafura Resources has “caught the rest of the world sleeping,” said Rod McIllree, managing director at Australian-based Greenland Minerals & Energy (GME). Following two acquisitions in the past six months for an aggregate USD 163m, Korean, Japanese and Western […]
Japanese Factories Growing Vegetables in Cleanroom-Like Conditions
June 4th, 2009In a severely space constrained country like Japan, the appeal of the vertical growing arrangement is understandable. The yield per square meter of footprint is certainly many times that of traditional soil farming. Valcent Products, a company that’s developing vertical crop systems, claims a 20X increase in yield over field production. I don’t read Japanese, […]
Mysterious ‘Chip’ is CIA’s Latest Weapon Against al-Qaida Targets Hiding in Pakistan’s Tribal Belt
June 2nd, 2009The ‘chip’ is a bit less mysterious to Cryptogon readers since the DARPA program was mentioned here months ago: Continuous Clandestine Tagging, Tracking and Locating (CTTL). Via: Guardian: The CIA is equipping Pakistani tribesmen with secret electronic transmitters to help target and kill al-Qaida leaders in the north-western tribal belt, in a tactic that could […]
On the Street and On Facebook: The Homeless Stay Wired
June 1st, 2009You’ve got your fast crash. You’ve got your slow crash. But then you’ve got your Snowcrash. Via: Wall Street Journal: Like most San Franciscans, Charles Pitts is wired. Mr. Pitts, who is 37 years old, has accounts on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. He runs an Internet forum on Yahoo, reads news online and keeps in […]
The Ultimate Lock Picker Hacks Pentagon, Beats Corporate Security for Fun and Profit
May 31st, 2009Via: Wired: Between stabs at his salad, Tobias hands me his latest idea of fun: nearly 300 pages of self-published hacker-porn detailing his attack on the allegedly uncrackable Medeco high-security lock. “Trust me, this will cause a goddamned riot!” he says, dabbing at tears of joy with a paper napkin. “Oh yeah, this is way, […]
A Human Language Gene Changes the Sound of Mouse Squeaks
May 31st, 2009Via: New York Times: People have a deep desire to communicate with animals, as is evident from the way they converse with their dogs, enjoy myths about talking animals or devote lifetimes to teaching chimpanzees how to speak. A delicate, if tiny, step has now been taken toward the real thing: the creation of a […]
Eve Ensler Calls for Rape-Free Cellphones
May 29th, 2009Nokia, Apple, Motorola and Samsung do not source coltan from Congo. Via: All Things Digital: On May 13, 2009, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing called “Confronting Rape and Other Forms of Violence Against Women in Conflict Zones.” Its purpose: to end the use of rape as a weapon of war in the […]
