Archive for April, 2014
Apple, Google to Pay $324 Million to Settle Conspiracy Lawsuit
April 25th, 2014Via: Reuters: Four major tech companies including Apple and Google have agreed to pay a total of $324 million to settle a lawsuit accusing them of conspiring to hold down salaries in Silicon Valley, sources familiar with the deal said, just weeks before a high profile trial had been scheduled to begin. Tech workers filed […]
North Dakota Finds More Radioactive Oil Waste
April 24th, 2014Via: AP: North Dakota confirmed Thursday the discovery of a new radioactive dump of waste from oil drilling, and separately a company hired to clean up waste found in February at another location said it removed double the amount of radioactive material originally estimated to be there. The Canadian company hired to clean up the […]
‘Militia’ Groups Fear Infiltration by Feds at Bundy Ranch
April 24th, 2014Via: KLAS: Militia groups are still surrounding the Bundy ranch days after the BLM ended its roundup of cattle. There is concern among some of them that they have been infiltrated by undercover federal agents. Similar: Federal Agents Disguised as Supporters Arrest Ed and Elaine Brown
Feds Beg Supreme Court to Let Them Search Phones Without a Warrant
April 24th, 2014Via: Wired: American law enforcement has long advocated for universal “kill switches” in cellphones to cut down on mobile device thefts. Now the Department of Justice argues that the same remote locking and data-wiping technology represents a threat to police investigations–one that means they should be free to search phones without a warrant. In a […]
Smart Wind and Solar Power
April 24th, 2014Via: MIT Technology Review: Big data and artificial intelligence are producing ultra-accurate forecasts that will make it feasible to integrate much more renewable energy into the grid.
FBI Adds People to No Fly List for Refusing to Become Informants
April 23rd, 2014Via: The Guardian: Naveed Shinwari hasn’t seen his wife in 26 months. He suspects it’s because he refused to become an informant for the FBI. In February 2012 Shinwari, who has lived in the US since he was 14, flew to Afghanistan to get married. He says that before he could get home to Omaha, […]
Washington State School District Sets Up ‘Homeland Security Class’
April 23rd, 2014Via: Storyleak: The Department of Homeland Security is partnering with a Washington state school district to recruit future employees through a new high school curriculum. An employment application posted by Evergreen Public Schools this weekend requests a certified “Homeland Security Instructor” to steer young students into a career with the agency. “Instruct high school juniors […]
#myNYPD Twitter Campaign Backfires, Promotes Photos of Police Brutality Instead of Positive Encounters with Public
April 23rd, 2014Via: New York Daily News: An exercise in social media outreach turned #epicfail Tuesday when users flooded the Twittersphere with some of the NYPD’s most infamous moments of brutality. The NYPD, through its Twitter page, innocuously asked people on to post pictures of themselves interacting with New York’s Finest — complete with the hashtag myNYPD. […]
The Pittsburgh Startup That Has Big Plans for Batteries
April 22nd, 2014Via: Guardian: From cell phones to laptops to electric cars, the world is becoming increasingly dependent on batteries. Unfortunately, this convenience comes at a cost: some common battery materials are toxic and require special treatment after their end of life. A new company is hoping to combat this cycle: It has begun using more benign […]
Introducing AISight: CCTV Network Completely Run by AI
April 22nd, 2014Via: ITProPortal: BRS Labs’ AISight is different because it doesn’t rely on a human programmer to tell it what behaviour is suspicious. It learns that all by itself. The system enables a machine to monitor is environment, and build up a detailed profile of what can be considered “normal” behaviour. The AI can then determine […]
