Archive for the 'Dictatorship' Category
Russian Space Agency Bans Employees from Traveling Abroad
December 21st, 2011The past is never dead. It’s not even past. —William Faulkner Coming up next: Consequences for the families of those who leave anyway. Via: AFP: They may be working to reach the final frontier, but employees of Russian space agency Roscosmos face going no further than Russia for their holidays. Roscosmos’ new chief Vladimir Popovkin […]
Gigapixel Photography of Crowds
December 20th, 2011If you thought the one of Obombya’s inauguration was impressive/terrifying, try zooming in on this one. Via: gigapixel.com: The Vancouver Canucks Fan Zone along Georgia St. for Game 7 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final was captured at 5:46 pm on June 15, 2011. It is made up of 216 photos (12 across by 18 […]
Programmers Win DARPA Prize for Reconstructing Shredded Documents
December 20th, 2011Make sure to keep reading to the end… Via: Bloomberg: To most people, 10,000 slivers of shredded paper are as good as trash. To three coders in San Francisco, they’re a challenge—especially when the jumbled mass of paper once made up five classified government documents. The trio were not hackers trying to steal state secrets, […]
Swedes Arrested for Butter Smuggling
December 19th, 2011Via: Telegraph: Two Swedes have been arrested by Norwegian police for smuggling more than 250kg of butter into the country, offloading one consignment for more than £25 a packet. The two men, from the Northern city of Umea, managed to make their first delivery before a police patrol stopped their van on Saturday evening. “They […]
North Korean Leader Kim Jong-il Dead
December 19th, 2011Via: Reuters: North Korean leader Kim Jong-il died of a heart attack while on a train trip, state media reported Monday, sparking immediate concern over who is in control of the reclusive state and its nuclear program. … South Korea, still technically at war with the North, placed its troops and all government workers on […]
Homeland Security: Paying with Cash?:
December 19th, 2011Via: YouTube:
Egypt Intensifies Crackdown on Street Protesters
December 19th, 2011WARNING: EXTREME VIOLENCE. Via: Sydney Morning Herald: Egypt’s military rulers escalated a bloody crackdown on street protesters over the weekend, chasing down and beating unarmed civilians, even while the Prime Minister was denying in a televised news conference that soldiers were using any force. In a highly incendiary development, video cameras captured soldiers stripping the […]
UMG Claims “Right to Block or Remove” YouTube Videos it Doesn’t Own
December 17th, 2011Via: Ars Technica: Universal Music Group has responded to Megaupload’s request for a temporary restraining order barring the music giant from further interference with the distribution of its “Mega Song.” UMG insists that it had a right to take down the video—not under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, as Megaupload had assumed, but under a […]
Coming Soon: Retroactive Surveillance on Anyone
December 17th, 2011Via: Network World: As the price of digital storage drops and the technology to tap electronic communication improves, authoritarian governments will soon be able to perform retroactive surveillance on anyone within their borders, according to a Brookings Institute report. These regimes will store every phone call, instant message, email, social media interaction, text message, movements […]
Russia: Founder of Newspaper That Investigated Government Corruption Shot Dead
December 16th, 2011Via: Guardian: The founder of a newspaper that investigated government corruption has been shot dead outside the newspaper’s office in Russia’s North Caucasus region, police say. A gunman shot Gadzhimurat Kamalov as he was leaving the offices of the newspaper Chernovik in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan province, shortly before midnight on Thursday, the regional […]
