Archive for March, 2013
Cost of America’s Latest War in Iraq Could Grow to More than $6 Trillion
March 18th, 2013Via: Reuters: The U.S. war in Iraq has cost $1.7 trillion with an additional $490 billion in benefits owed to war veterans, expenses that could grow to more than $6 trillion over the next four decades counting interest, a study released on Thursday said. The war has killed at least 134,000 Iraqi civilians and may […]
EU: GOVERNMENT THEFTS FROM BANK ACCOUNTS MAY HAPPEN IN OTHER COUNTRIES
March 17th, 2013The Washington Post took the words right out of my mouth: The best the rest of the world can hope for is that Cyprus’s case is sufficiently unique that it won’t spark panic in Athens and Madrid (or in Lisbon, Dublin and Rome). Via: New York Times: In a move that could set off new […]
The Internet Is a Surveillance State
March 17th, 2013Via: CNN: The Internet is a surveillance state. Whether we admit it to ourselves or not, and whether we like it or not, we’re being tracked all the time. Google tracks us, both on its pages and on other pages it has access to. Facebook does the same; it even tracks non-Facebook users. Apple tracks […]
Power Out
March 17th, 2013Update: Power On Again — We’ve just had the first good rain in months and the power got knocked out. If updates lag, you’ll know why.
CYPRUS: GOVERNMENT TAKES UP TO 10% OF INDIVIDUALS’ FUNDS ON DEPOSIT WITH BANKS AS PART OF BAILOUT AGREEMENT
March 16th, 2013Via: BBC: People in Cyprus have reacted with shock to news of a one-off levy of up to 10% on savings as part of a 10bn-euro (£8.7bn; $13bn) bailout agreed in Brussels. Savers could be seen queuing at cash machines amid resentment at the charge. The deal reached with euro partners and the IMF marks […]
Carnegie Mellon’s Human-Scale CHIMP Robot Has Four Limbs, But Moves on Treads Like a Tank
March 16th, 2013Via: CMU: A team from Carnegie Mellon University’s National Robotics Engineering Center is building a new class of robot to compete in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Robotics Challenge — a human-size robot that moves, not by walking, but on rubberized tracks on the extremities of each of its four limbs. Though the […]
Oregon Company to Sell Drone Defense Technology to Public
March 16th, 2013Any guesses as to what this is? Maybe… Blind the drones’ cameras with lasers? They would have to be sure they weren’t lasing something with a human pilot, though. Hmm. Via: U.S. News and World Report: Do you want to keep drones out of your backyard? An Oregon company says that it has developed and […]
What’s a Good Google Reader Alternative for Android?
March 16th, 2013Several months ago, I bought a Samsung Galaxy Note II to deal with customer service issues related to a business that my wife and I run. Yes, knowing everything I know about these devices, I use one anyway. People in New Zealand aren’t accustomed to good customer service. I’ve found that when I reply to […]
FEDERAL JUDGE FINDS NATIONAL SECURITY LETTERS UNCONSTITUTIONAL, BANS THEM
March 16th, 2013Via: Wired: Ultra-secret national security letters that come with a gag order on the recipient are an unconstitutional impingement on free speech, a federal judge in California ruled in a decision released Friday. U.S. District Judge Susan Illston ordered the government to stop issuing so-called NSLs across the board, in a stunning defeat for the […]
Austria: Poll Reveals Worrying Views About Banned Nazi Party
March 16th, 2013Via: Independent: As Austria prepares to mark the anniversary of its annexation by Nazi Germany, an opinion poll has shown that more than half of the population think it highly likely that the Nazis would be elected if they were readmitted as a party. A further 42 per cent agreed with the view that life […]
