Archive for the 'Economy' Category
PayPal Froze Account of Secure Email Startup ProtonMail Due to “Technical Problem”
July 2nd, 2014Via: Gigaom: About 6 weeks ago my colleague Barb Darrow covered a new secure email startup called ProtonMail, which was set up by a bunch of MIT, Harvard and CERN researchers who are annoyed with the NSA’s intrusive ways. The team’s Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign has done pretty well in the last 2 weeks, thus far […]
Argentina at Brink of Default Again
June 30th, 2014Via: Bloomberg: Argentina is poised to miss a bond payment today, putting the country on the brink of its second default in 13 years, after a U.S. court blocked the cash from being distributed until the government settles with creditors from the previous debt debacle. The nation has a 30-day grace period after missing the […]
McDonald’s Testing Order-Ahead and Payments App
June 30th, 2014See: Seattle Hikes Minimum Wage to $15 Per Hour: Cashiers and food service workers: You’re pretty much screwed. … Notice how companies in Seattle have between three and seven years to start paying the $15/hour rate? *wink* Will this be a ready-the-robots phase? I don’t know, but it wouldn’t surprise me if that’s what happens, […]
Fastest-Growing Metro Area in U.S. Has No Crime or Kids
June 30th, 2014Via: Bloomberg: For Jerry Conkle, life in America’s fastest-growing metropolitan area moves as slowly as the golf carts that meander through his palm-lined neighborhood at dusk. Most days, he wakes early, reads the newspaper, and then hops into his four-wheeled buggy for a 20-mile-per-hour ride to one of the 42 golf courses that surround his […]
Google: Better Than 50% Chance That Loon Becomes a Reality
June 30th, 2014They also have drones: Google Buys Drone Maker Titan Aerospace. Via: Wired: Cassidy has always contended that by providing the Internet to unserved areas, his project could help make those dreams achievable. A year after the project’s public launch, he’s confident that Internet service enabled by high-altitude balloons is more than a possibility. “We’ve definitely […]
Google Pulls Robot from Military Competition to Focus on Commercial Product
June 27th, 2014Via: The Verge: The $2 million Robotics Challenge, run by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), is a competition for the most advanced robots in the world. The three-year competition is less than halfway over, but there was already a clear frontrunner: the Japanese team Schaft, which posted videos on YouTube of their incredible […]
Billionaire: When The Pitchforks Come Out, There Won’t Be Time to Board Our Gulfstream Jets for New Zealand
June 27th, 2014There’s another take on this over at Daily Ticker. In short: Wealthy People Should “Chill Out” Because Docile, Bewildered Americans Will Just Keep Watching TV: The rich ought to chill out. While the masses may envy their wealth, there’s no evidence of a revolution brewing, or even a well-behaved civil disturbance. Americans are clearly dismayed […]
Obama Asks Congress for $500 Million for Rebels
June 26th, 2014The ink is hardly dry on this one: Militants in Iraq Take Over Four Cities, Make Off with Arms Cache and Nearly Half a Billion Dollars. So they are backing the good terrorists and the bad terrorists. The amount needed for the good terrorists is interesting, wouldn’t you say? The bad terrorists make off with […]
Massachusetts SWAT Teams Claim They’re Private Corporations, Immune from Open Records Laws
June 26th, 2014Via: Washington Post: As part of the American Civil Liberties Union’s recent report on police militarization, the Massachusetts chapter of the organization sent open records requests to SWAT teams across that state. It received an interesting response. As it turns out, a number of SWAT teams in the Bay State are operated by what are […]
Robot Truck Convoy Tested In Nevada
June 25th, 2014A human steers, but drafting is automated. Via: Popular Science: Like Olympic skiers racing in single file to reduce air resistance, two 18-wheeler trucks in Nevada recently proved that uncomfortably close convoys can save drivers fuel and money. The key, instead of bold Olympic athleticism, is robotic assistance. A computer-assisted truck was able to follow […]
