Archive for August, 2014
The Recovering Americans and the ‘Top Secret’ Ebola Treatment
August 6th, 2014Via: The Atlantic: In Gupta’s optimistic assessment, Brantly’s “near complete recovery” began within hours of receiving the treatment that “likely saved his life.” Writebol is also reportedly improved since receiving the treatment, known as zMapp. But to say that it was a secret implies a frigid American exceptionalism; that the people of West Africa are […]
The NSA Is Being Sued for Keeping Keith Alexander’s Financial Records Secret
August 5th, 2014Via: Vice: Former NSA Director Keith Alexander’s lucrative entrance into the private sector has raised a heap of ethical questions about the spy chief’s intentions. Now the NSA has yet another dilemma on its hands: Investigative journalist Jason Leopold is suing the agency for denying him the release of financial disclosure statements attributable to its […]
Russian Gang Amasses Over a Billion Internet Passwords
August 5th, 2014Via: New York Times: A Russian crime ring has amassed the largest known collection of stolen Internet credentials, including 1.2 billion user name and password combinations and more than 500 million email addresses, security researchers say. The records, discovered by Hold Security, a firm in Milwaukee, include confidential material gathered from 420,000 websites, including household […]
BMW Launches Its Answer to Tesla’s Supercharger Network
August 5th, 2014Via: Wired: The biggest problem automakers selling electric cars face is limited range. No one wants to get caught without any juice. To get around this concern, Tesla, whose Model S offers the best range (up to 265 miles), is building a vast network of “Supercharger” stations that make it possible to take epic road […]
Extracting Audio from Visual Information
August 4th, 2014Via: MIT Technology Review: Researchers at MIT, Microsoft, and Adobe have developed an algorithm that can reconstruct an audio signal by analyzing minute vibrations of objects depicted in video. In one set of experiments, they were able to recover intelligible speech from the vibrations of a potato-chip bag photographed from 15 feet away through soundproof […]
Elon Musk: AI “Potentially More Dangerous Than Nukes”
August 4th, 2014Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies by Nick Bostrom Via: ExtremeTech: Elon Musk, the mastermind behind SpaceX and Tesla, believes that artificial intelligence is “potentially more dangerous than nukes,” imploring all of humankind “to be super careful with AI,” unless we want the ultimate fate of humanity to closely resemble Judgment Day from Terminator. Personally I think […]
For Whistleblowers, a Bold Move Can be Followed by One to Department Basement
August 4th, 2014Whistleblowers getting the shaft is not a laughing matter. But the guy standing in that empty building, thinking he should have been beamed up to meet his sky god… Oh Lardy, I laughed my ass off. Couldn’t help it. Maybe next week, Walt. Via: Washington Post: In the past, whistleblowers have had their desks moved […]
Israel Mows the Lawn
August 4th, 2014Via: London Review of Books: In 2004, a year before Israel’s unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip, Dov Weissglass, éminence grise to Ariel Sharon, explained the initiative’s purpose to an interviewer from Haaretz: The significance of the disengagement plan is the freezing of the peace process … And when you freeze that process, you prevent […]
Federal Employee Gets Fired After Writing An Article Criticizing Nukes
August 3rd, 2014Via: io9: For 17 years, James Doyle was a nuclear policy specialist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Then he wrote an article that made the case for getting rid of nuclear weapons. After that, his computer was seized, he was accused of releasing classified information, and then he was fired.
NASA Validates ‘Impossible’ Space Drive
August 3rd, 2014Via: Wired: Nasa is a major player in space science, so when a team from the agency this week presents evidence that “impossible” microwave thrusters seem to work, something strange is definitely going on. Either the results are completely wrong, or Nasa has confirmed a major breakthrough in space propulsion. British scientist Roger Shawyer has […]
