Archive for December, 2015
Amazon Building Its Own Overnight Airfreight Operation
December 18th, 2015Via: Cargo Facts: Amazon.com Inc. is creating a logistics operation that will include overnight air operations in the US domestic market, potentially including the acquisition of at least 20 freighter aircraft, Cargo Facts has learned. Currently, Amazon ships most of its parcels through United Parcel Service, FedEx, and the United States Postal Service. The change […]
The Secret Surveillance Catalogue
December 18th, 2015Via: The Intercept: Concerned about the militarization of law enforcement, a source within the intelligence community has provided The Intercept with a secret, internal U.S. government catalogue of dozens of cellphone surveillance devices used by the military and by intelligence agencies. Some of the devices are already in use by federal law enforcement and local […]
Congress Snuck a Surveillance Bill Into the Federal Budget Last Night
December 18th, 2015StarWarsStarWarsStarWarsStarWarsStarWarsStarWars Via: The Verge: After more than a year of stalemate, Congress has used an unconventional procedural measure to bring a controversial cybersurveillance bill to the floor. Late last night, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) announced a 2,000-page omnibus budget bill, a last-minute compromise necessary to prevent a government shutdown. But while the […]
How Poverty Changes Kids’ Brains
December 16th, 2015Via: Nautilus: When children grow up in poverty, their brains can take a different shape. That’s one of the stark and uncomfortable findings from the lab of Kimberly Noble, a pediatrician and cognitive neuroscientist at Teachers College, Columbia University. Noble has used MRI scans to study the brains of children and found that kids in […]
Guy Builds Self Driving Car in His Garage with Commodity Computer Gear and Linux
December 16th, 2015Via: Bloomberg: Hotz’s approach isn’t simply a low-cost knockoff of existing autonomous vehicle technology. He says he’s come up with discoveries—most of which he refuses to disclose in detail—that improve how the AI software interprets data coming in from the cameras. “We’ve figured out how to phrase the driving problem in ways compatible with deep […]
Why Force Awakens Can’t Hope to Match the Box-Office Power of the Original
December 16th, 2015Via: Bloomberg: What’s stronger than the Force? Inflation.
The Onion on Ergonomics: Health Experts Recommend Standing Up At Desk, Leaving Office, Never Coming Back
December 16th, 2015Ahhyep. Worked for me. Via: The Onion: In an effort to help working individuals improve their fitness and well-being, experts at the Mayo Clinic issued a new set of health guidelines Thursday recommending that Americans stand up at their desk, leave their office, and never return. “Many Americans spend a minimum of eight hours per […]
Smog Choked Chinese Buy Cans of Canadian “Fresh Mountain Air” for $28 Each
December 15th, 2015Maybe it’s time someone wrote the Twelve End Days of Christmas. Just imagine it… The Twelve Days of Christmas using Cryptogon headlines. Via: Independent: As China’s pollution problems continue, a Canadian company has cashed in on the crisis by selling bottles of fresh mountain air to people for up to $28 (£18.50) each. Beijing was […]
Flint, Michigan: State of Emergency Declared Over High Levels of Lead in Children’s Blood
December 15th, 2015Via: Washington Post: For months, worried parents in Flint, Mich., arrived at their pediatricians’ offices in droves. Holding a toddler by the hand or an infant in their arms, they all have the same question: Are their children being poisoned? … The Hurley Medical Center, in Flint, released a study in September that confirmed what […]
All Schools in Los Angeles Unified School District Closed Due to Some Sort of Threat
December 15th, 2015Update: Hoax — Via: ABC7: All Los Angeles Unified School District schools are closed on Tuesday after a threat was made against multiple schools in the district, officials said. LAUSD Superintendent Ramon Cortines said that the district received an electronic threat that mentioned backpacks and other objects. Cortines said the threat was broad and did […]
