Archive for July, 2014
DARPA: .50-Caliber Bullets with Guidance Systems
July 13th, 2014I’d buy that for a dollar. Via: DARPA: For military snipers, acquiring moving targets in unfavorable conditions, such as high winds and dusty terrain commonly found in Afghanistan, is extremely challenging with current technology. It is critical that snipers be able to engage targets faster, and with better accuracy, since any shot that doesn’t hit […]
Binney: “The NSA lies about what it stores.”
July 13th, 2014Via: Guardian: William Binney is one of the highest-level whistleblowers to ever emerge from the NSA. He was a leading code-breaker against the Soviet Union during the Cold War but resigned soon after September 11, disgusted by Washington’s move towards mass surveillance. On 5 July he spoke at a conference in London organised by the […]
A Shortage of Scientists and Techies? Think Again
July 13th, 2014Via: CBS: A common refrain among corporate and political leaders is that the U.S. needs more engineers, scientists and other workers with the kind of specialized expertise needed to boost economic growth. And that assessment plays a part in a range of public policy debates, from how to change the nation’s immigration laws to how […]
Have We Gone From a Post-War to a Pre-War World?
July 13th, 2014Via: Huffington Post: On June 28, 1914, a chauffeur panicked after a failed bomb attack on his boss, took a wrong turn and came to a complete stop in front of a café in Sarajevo where Gavrilo Princip was sitting. Princip, discouraged at the apparent failure of the planned murder, seized the unexpected opportunity and […]
Amazon Quietly Rolling Out Sunday Delivery
July 13th, 2014Via: GeekWire: After starting in selected cities around the country, Amazon and the U.S. Postal Service are closer to rolling out Sunday parcel delivery on a nationwide scale. In recent weeks, Sunday delivery has launched in Seattle and Portland, and various other cities are potentially only weeks from going live — including the Boston area […]
Asian Slave Labor Producing Seafood for Supermarkets in US, UK
July 13th, 2014Via: Guardian: Slaves forced to work for no pay for years at a time under threat of extreme violence are being used in Asia in the production of seafood sold by major US, British and other European retailers, the Guardian can reveal. A six-month investigation has established that large numbers of men bought and sold […]
Banks Dreading Computer Hacks Call for Cyber War Council
July 13th, 2014Via: Bloomberg: Wall Street’s biggest trade group has proposed a government-industry cyber war council to stave off terrorist attacks that could trigger financial panic by temporarily wiping out account balances, according to an internal document. The proposal by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, known as Sifma, calls for a committee of executives and […]
Iraq Tells U.N. that ‘Terrorist Groups’ Seized Nuclear Materials
July 13th, 2014Via: Reuters: Insurgents in Iraq have seized nuclear materials used for scientific research at a university in the country’s north, Iraq told the United Nations in a letter appealing for help to “stave off the threat of their use by terrorists in Iraq or abroad.” Nearly 40 kilograms (88 pounds) of uranium compounds were kept […]
Storm
July 8th, 2014Update 7: Pictures — Update 6: Sunday night NZ time and the electricity is finally back on. Well, that was definitely the longest power outage I’ve ever gone through. You know how I say that our area is in the Do-Last-If-At-All category—Well, maybe not. There are still a few places without power up here, but […]
Can’t Beat Them? Grow Lettuce: In Japan, Idled Electronics Factories Find New Life in Farming
July 7th, 2014Via: Wall Street Journal: Haruyasu Miyabe used to oversee a computer-chip production line at a Fujitsu Ltd. plant here. One day last year, the plant manager told Mr. Miyabe to prepare for a career change. “Starting tomorrow, you are going to make lettuce,” he recalls being told. Amid troubled times in the Japanese electronics industry, […]
