Millions of Americans Raiding Their Retirement Savings
September 23rd, 2015Via: Money:
With the effects of the financial crisis still lingering, 30 million Americans in the last 12 months tapped retirement savings to pay for an unexpected expense, new research shows. This undercuts financial security and underscores the need for every household to maintain an emergency fund .
Boomers were most likely to take a premature withdrawal as well as incur a tax penalty , according to a survey from Bankrate.com. Some 26% of those ages 50-64 say their financial situation has deteriorated, and 17% used their 401(k) plan and other retirement savings to pay for an emergency expense.
DHS Wants Boeing to Test a Brain Chip in Firm’s Self-Destructing ‘Black’ Spyphone
September 23rd, 2015Via: NextGov:
The Department of Homeland Security is funding a Boeing company to create a “brain chip” for its self-destructing Black smartphone that could be adapted for any device, DHS officials say.
The technology powering the devices potentially could identify the user’s walking style, for example. Officials would be alerted if the gait does not match the authorized user’s walk – a red flag the phone might have fallen into the wrong hands, officials said.
The “secret sauce” of the mobile device is a so-called neuromorphic computer chip that simulates human learning, Vincent Sritapan, the program manager for DHS’ mobile device security program, told Nextgov.
Gait recognition — driven by the phone’s accelerometer, GPS and the chip — is but one of many kinds of continuous ID verification intended to tighten access controls on mobile devices.
Boeing and HRL Laboratories, a software firm jointly owned by Boeing and General Motors, are partnering under a DHS project worth $2.2 million over 2.5 years.
The One About David Cameron and the Pig
September 22nd, 2015If you’re sick of this story, I’ll apologize right away.
Very briefly, my guess about this story is that it’s a warning to Cameron about something he has done, is about to do, or is refusing to do. It’s a strong warning. Maybe other photos exist of Cameron; much more shocking photos.
The reason these guys are allowed into positions of apparent power is because their tickets can be punched at any time should the need arise.
Maybe that’s what’s happening here. Again, just a guess.
Via: Independent:
Ashcroft writes: “[Cameron] also got involved in the notorious Oxford dining society, the Piers Gaveston, which specialises in bizarre rituals and sexual excess.
“A distinguished Oxford contemporary claims Cameron once took part in an outrageous initiation ceremony involving a dead pig. His extraordinary suggestion is that the future PM inserted a private part of his anatomy into the animal’s mouth.”
Ashcroft said the source was an MP who first made the allegation at a business dinner in June 2014 – saying he had seen photographic evidence of the “disgusting ritual”.
Ashcroft said he is aware that the MP made the allegation on two separate occasions, providing more detail, including “the dimensions of the alleged photograph” and the “name of the individual who he claims has it in his keeping”.
Homeless Tech Bus Drivers Live in Cars
September 21st, 2015Via: NBC:
Drivers of Silicon Valley’s tech bus shuttles might not earn enough pay to have a stable place to live in the Bay Area.
San Francisco Chronicle reported that two Apple shuttle bus drivers live in their own vehicles, though one would only speak anonymously.
“Living in a car is hard,” Scott Peebles, 53, said on the record. He has lived in his car for two months while continuing to drive Apple employees to the company campus. “I don’t care who you are. . . It’s too small of a space.”
Apple’s Electric Car: 2019
September 21st, 2015Via: Wall Street Journal:
Apple Inc. is accelerating efforts to build an electric car, designating it internally as a “committed project” and setting a target ship date for 2019, according to people familiar with the matter.
The go-ahead came after the company spent more than a year investigating the feasibility of an Apple-branded car, including meetings with two groups of government officials in California. Leaders of the project, code-named Titan , have been given permission to triple the 600-person team, the people familiar with the matter said.
Apple has hired experts in driverless cars, but the people familiar with Apple’s plans said the Cupertino, Calif., company doesn’t currently plan to make its first electric vehicle fully autonomous. That capability is part of the product’s long-term plans, the people familiar with the matter said.
Apple’s commitment is a sign that the company sees an opportunity to become a player in the automotive industry by applying expertise that it has honed in developing iPhones—in areas such as batteries, sensors and hardware-software integration—to the next generation of cars.
Real Headline: “Marines Test Google’s Latest Military Robot”
September 21st, 2015Via: PC World:
The latest version of a walking, quadruped battlefield robot from Boston Dynamics, the military robotics maker owned by Google X, was tested by U.S. Marines last week.
Spot weighs about 70kgs, is electrically operated and walks on four hydraulically-actuated legs. It’s controlled via wireless by an operator who can be up to 500 meters away.
It underwent trials and testing at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia as part of evaluations by the Marines on future military uses of robotic technology. In a series of missions, it was evaluated in different terrains including hills, woodlands and urban areas.
Half in U.S. Continue to Say Gov’t Is an Immediate Threat
September 21st, 2015Via: Gallup:
Almost half of Americans, 49%, say the federal government poses “an immediate threat to the rights and freedoms of ordinary citizens,” similar to what was found in previous surveys conducted over the last five years. When this question was first asked in 2003, less than a third of Americans held this attitude.
Low Profile Solar Panels for People Living in Vans
September 21st, 2015Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand.
—
Cops are the biggest problem for people who live in vehicles. Normal solar panels on a van would be a dead giveaway that someone doesn’t have a mortgage or a landlord.
Check out this couple’s almost invisible installation of three Renogy 100 watt flexible solar panels on the roof of their van.
Via: Exploring Alternatives:
Artificial Leaf Harnesses Sunlight for Efficient Fuel Production
September 20th, 2015Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand.
—
I like reading the artificial leaf news, even though there are always tall hurdles ahead of the technology becoming practical. In this iteration of the artificial leaf, for example, the system only works for about 40 hours.
I wondered how much money was being spent on this potentially game changing research. Here you go:
On Monday, April 27, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced a five-year, $75 million renewal of the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP).
That’s a lot of money, right?
In alternative energy research, that’s a decent chunk of change over five years. But relative to other programs, you don’t want to prioritize research into technologies that lead to ubiquitous, clean, cheap energy. Oh hell no. That’s just crazy.
There are much more important programs out there! Take the F-35, for example, where I doubt that $75 million down the gurgler would even register anywhere in the annals of that disaster:
The F-35 has come to symbolize all that’s wrong with American defense spending: uncontrolled bloat, unaccountable manufacturers (in this case, Lockheed Martin), and an internal Pentagon culture that cannot adequately track taxpayer dollars.
…
It’s no small irony that on the same day the change in Air Force strategy was revealed, Winslow Wheeler, a staff member at the Project On Government Oversight and a long-time critic of the F-35 program, reported that American taxpayers will pay between will pay between $148 million and $337 million per jet in 2015, depending on the model.
“A single Air Force F-35A costs a whopping $148 million. One Marine Corps F-35B costs an unbelievable $251 million. A lone Navy F-35C costs a mind-boggling $337 million. Average the three models together, and a ‘generic’ F-35 costs $178 million,” Wheeler wrote.
“It gets worse. These are just the production costs. Additional expenses for research, development, test and evaluation are not included,” he added.
And don’t believe the hype about Air Force contracts changing because of the F-35 debacle, either.
See: Long Range Strike Bomber:
The Air Force plans to purchase 80–100 LRS-B aircraft at a cost of $550 million each, at 2010 prices.
And if those things only wind up costing $550 million each, I’m Santa Claus.
Yep, clean energy is expensive.
Via: Caltech:
Generating and storing renewable energy, such as solar or wind power, is a key barrier to a clean-energy economy. When the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP) was established at Caltech and its partnering institutions in 2010, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Energy Innovation Hub had one main goal: a cost-effective method of producing fuels using only sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide, mimicking the natural process of photosynthesis in plants and storing energy in the form of chemical fuels for use on demand. Over the past five years, researchers at JCAP have made major advances toward this goal, and they now report the development of the first complete, efficient, safe, integrated solar-driven system for splitting water to create hydrogen fuels.
Flying Robots Replace Oil Roughnecks
September 20th, 2015Via: Bloomberg:
Oil rig inspection is a dangerous business. Traditionally roughnecks dangled from a wire, in gale-force winds if needed, to manually log wear and tear on the girders. Assessments include giant chimneys — called flare stacks — that belch fire during million-dollar-a-day shutdowns.
Increasingly the industry has found that swapping abseiling humans for small drones equipped with high-definition and thermal cameras can save time, cut costs and improve safety.
…
The next milestone for inspection drones is automating their flight. “We still have to send out an oil and gas inspection engineer and a drone pilot. Our vision is total automation,” says Blackford.
