Archive for November, 2018
Pentagon Fails Its First-Ever Audit
November 16th, 2018Shocker. Via: Reuters: The Pentagon has failed what is being called its first-ever comprehensive audit, a senior official said on Thursday, finding U.S. Defense Department accounting discrepancies that could take years to resolve. Results of the inspection – conducted by some 1,200 auditors and examining financial accounting on a wide range of spending including on […]
Why Sleep Apnea Patients Rely on a CPAP Machine Hacker
November 16th, 2018Via: Vice: An Australian hacker has spent thousands of hours hacking the DRM that medical device manufacturers put on CPAP machines to create a free tool that lets patients modify their treatment.
The U.S. Military Testing Stratospheric Balloons That Never Have to Come Down
November 15th, 2018Via: MIT Technology Review: DARPA, the US military’s research arm, thinks it may have cracked the problem. It is currently testing a wind sensor that could allow devices in its Adaptable Lighter-Than-Air (ALTA) balloon program to spot wind speed and direction from a great distance and then make the necessary adjustments to stay in one […]
FCC Approves SpaceX Application for Massive Satellite Constellation
November 15th, 2018Via: Ars Technica: SpaceX today received US approval to deploy 7,518 broadband satellites, in addition to the 4,425 satellites that were approved eight months ago. The Federal Communications Commission voted to let SpaceX launch 4,425 low-Earth orbit satellites in March of this year. SpaceX separately sought approval for 7,518 satellites operating even closer to the […]
Japan’s Cyber-Security Minister Has ‘Never Used a Computer’
November 15th, 2018Via: BBC: Japan’s new cyber-security minister has dumbfounded his country by saying he has never used a computer. Yoshitaka Sakurada made the admission to a committee of lawmakers. “Since I was 25 years old and independent I have instructed my staff and secretaries. I have never used a computer in my life,” he said, according […]
U.S. Has Spent Nearly $6 Trillion on War Since 9/11
November 14th, 2018WAR is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives. A racket is best described, I believe, as […]
Volkswagen to Devote 3 German Plants to Electric Car Push
November 14th, 2018Via: AP: German automaker Volkswagen will convert three factories in Germany to manufacture electric cars, ramping up production of zero-local emission cars ahead of tougher European emissions standards, the company said Wednesday. Wolfsburg-based Volkswagen said Wednesday that it would begin local production of electric-powered vehicles at its facilities in Emden and Hannover in 2022. A […]
How ZTE Helps Venezuela Create China-Style Social Control
November 14th, 2018Via: Reuters: Chinese telecoms giant ZTE is helping Venezuela build a system that monitors citizen behavior through a new identification card. The “fatherland card,” already used by the government to track voting, worries many in Venezuela and beyond. … The card is increasingly linked by the government to subsidized food, health and other social programs […]
NGO Teaching Migrants to Lie to Border Guards
November 13th, 2018Via: Russia Today: A group that helped over 15,000 refugees and migrants to get into Europe has been caught on tape admitting to systematically training asylum seekers to exploit screening interviews by feigning trauma and persecution. Ariel Ricker, the executive director of Advocates Abroad, a major non-profit NGO which provides legal aid to migrants, has […]
After Conquering the World, Smartphone Faces Uncertain Future
November 12th, 2018The last phone I bought was a heavily discounted Samsung Galaxy Note 4. It’s fine. I have no plans to upgrade. I’d consider buying a “modern” flagship-grade phone if it included a 3.5mm headphone jack and an easily removable back and battery. There are no high end phones with easily removable batteries and the 3.5mm […]
