Archive for February, 2017
NSA Contractor Indicted Over Mammoth Theft of Classified Data
February 8th, 2017Via: Reuters: A former National Security Agency contractor was indicted on Wednesday by a federal grand jury on charges he willfully retained national defense information, in what U.S. officials have said may have been the largest heist of classified government information in history. The indictment alleges that Harold Thomas Martin, 52, spent up to 20 […]
Bank of America Opens Branches Without Employees
February 8th, 2017Via: Reuters: Bank of America Corp has opened three completely automated branches over the past month, where customers can use ATMs and have video conferences with employees at other branches, according to spokeswoman Anne Pace. Like many U.S. banks in recent years, Bank of America has been reducing its overall branch count to cut costs […]
Hydrologist Needed
February 8th, 2017A friend, and Cryptogon reader, is behind an effort to protect a valued body of water in New Zealand. She requires an experienced hydrologist for a paid consulting job involving, “A critical review of a critique of a heavily math-based, computer conceptual model.” If you know of a hydrologist who would like a consulting job, […]
Intel to invest $7 Billion in Factory in Arizona, Employ 3,000
February 8th, 2017Via: CNBC: Intel chief executive Brian Krzanich met with President Donald Trump on Wednesday, where the company announced it will invest $7 billion in a factory employing up to 3,000 people. The factory will be in Chandler, Arizona, the company said, and over 10,000 people in the Arizona area will support the factory. Krzanich confirmed […]
Cellphone Spy Tools Have Flooded Local Police Departments
February 8th, 2017Via: CityLab: Major cities throughout the U.S. have spent millions on mobile surveillance tools—but there are still few rules about what happens to the information they capture.
Google’s New AI System Unscrambles Pixelated Images
February 8th, 2017Via: Guardian: Google’s neural networks have achieved the dream of CSI viewers everywhere: the company has revealed a new AI system capable of “enhancing” an eight-pixel square image, increasing the resolution 16-fold and effectively restoring lost data. The neural network could be used to increase the resolution of blurred or pixelated faces, in a way […]
One in 14 Catholic Priests Accused of Abuse in Australia
February 7th, 2017Via: AFP: Seven percent of Catholic priests were accused of abusing children in Australia between 1950 and 2010 but the allegations were never investigated, “shocking and indefensible” data showed Monday during an inquiry into paedophilia in the church. The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse heard that 4,444 alleged incidents of pedophilia […]
Britain: Electric Vehicle Registrations Rise to Record in January
February 6th, 2017Via: Guardian: Alternative fuel vehicles, mainly electric cars, such as the Nissan Leaf, increased by a fifth to reach a record 4.2% share of new vehicle registrations, beating a previous high of 3.6% in November last year. Petrol cars were also up strongly, gaining 8.9%, with diesel car registrations down 4.3%, continuing the fall seen […]
Trump Threatens to Defund ‘Out of Control’ California
February 6th, 2017Via: McClatchy: President Donald Trump is threatening to withhold federal funds from “out of control” California if the state declares itself a sanctuary state. “If we have to, we’ll defund,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News host Bill O’Reilly before the Super Bowl. “We give tremendous amounts of money to California, California in […]
Peak “Sharing” Economy
February 6th, 2017Via: Quartz: We may have already reached peak “sharing” economy. Average monthly earnings on “labor” platforms such as Uber, which use technology to match workers (like drivers) to people who need a service (like riders), peaked in June 2014, according to new data from the JPMorgan Chase Institute, the research arm of JPMorgan Chase. On […]
