Archive for March, 2016
$1400 Device Can Cause LTE Mobile Phones to Use Compromised 2G Networks
March 13th, 2016Via: Bloomberg: Phones now operate on more sophisticated 3G and 4G (also known as LTE) networks. In theory, IMSI catchers can pinpoint only the location of these phones, not listen to calls or read texts. But none of that matters if the IMSI catcher in question can just knock a phone call back down to […]
The Secrets of Surveillance Capitalism
March 12th, 2016Via: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: Governmental control is nothing compared to what Google is up to. The company is creating a wholly new genus of capitalism, a systemic coherent new logic of accumulation we should call surveillance capitalism. … “Most Americans realize that there are two groups of people who are monitored regularly as they move […]
One of ISIS’s Top Commanders the U.S. Likely Just Killed Was a ‘Star Pupil’ of U.S. Special-Forces Training
March 10th, 2016Via: Business Insider: During Shishani’s four years in the military, from 2006 to 2010, his unit received some degree of training from American special-forces units. “He was a perfect soldier from his first days, and everyone knew he was a star,” an unnamed former comrade still active in the Georgian military told McClatchy DC. “We […]
Tesla Hires Former LEGO Executive, Expert in Fully Automated Manufacturing Methods
March 9th, 2016Via: electrek: An interesting fact about lego bricks: the first hands to touch a Lego brick are the hands of a customer since the entire manufacturing process is automated. Granted, plastic blocks are significantly less complicated than li-ion battery cells, but since Tesla hired a long-time Lego manufacturing executive to lead the Gigafactory effort, it […]
Britain: Number of Children Prescribed Anti-Depressants Increases by 50% in Seven Years
March 9th, 2016Fill children with metals, feed them GMO food, sit them in classrooms for most of the day, make them do lots of homework at night, which does nothing except make them hate school… And then, when little Johnny is feeling a bit down… Via: Independent: The number of children in the UK prescribed anti-depressants increased […]
Google AI Beats World’s Best Human Go Player
March 9th, 2016Update: Google AI Up Wins Second Match — Via: Independent: A computer programme has won a game of Go against the world’s best player, in a huge breakthrough for artificial intelligence. Google’s AlphaGo computer has beaten South Korean human and Go champion Lee Sedol in the first of five matches. The Deepmind-based computer’s victory in […]
Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant Leaking Tritium Into Biscayne Bay
March 9th, 2016Via: Miami Herald: A radioactive isotope linked to water from power plant cooling canals has been found in high levels in Biscayne Bay, confirming suspicions that Turkey Point’s aging canals are leaking into the nearby national park.
U.S. in Talks to Base Long-Range Bombers in Australia
March 9th, 2016In other news, Australian Democracy Faces ‘Corrosive’ Decline. Via: Reuters: The United States is in talks to base long-range bombers in Australia, U.S. defense officials said, within striking distance of the disputed South China Sea, a move that could inflame tensions with China. The deployments could include B-1 bombers and an expansion of B-52 bomber […]
Chinese Exports Plunge 25% in February
March 9th, 2016Via: BBC: Chinese exports have seen their sharpest drop in almost seven years, adding to concerns over the health of the world’s second largest economy. Exports dropped sharply by 25.4% from a year earlier, while imports fell 13.8%. The weak data comes on the heels of Beijing registering the slowest economic growth in 25 years.
Bezos Plans Off World Colonies
March 9th, 2016Via: al.com: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ vision of “millions of people living and working in space” drives his space company Blue Origin. … “We’re not going to find another Earth,” Bezos said, “and we can’t cover the whole surface of the Earth with solar cells. We only have a few hundred years to figure this […]
