6.1 Earthquake Rocks San Francisco Bay Area
August 24th, 2014Via: CBS:
A strong magnitude 6.1 earthquake rocked the San Francisco Bay Area early Sunday morning, injuring at least 89 people in Napa, severely damaging historic buildings in downtown Napa, rupturing gas lines and water mains across Napa, Sonoma, and Solano Counties leading to multiple fires, plunging entire communities into darkness and buckling and cracking roadways on Highway 37 and State Routes 12 and 121.
Over 66 aftershocks were recorded following the tremor, the largest quake to hit the Bay Area since the 6.9 magnitude quake hit Loma Prieta nearly 25 years ago. Initial reports had the earthquake measuring 6.1 magnitude before revising it to 6.0, and then upgrading it back to 6.1.
NATO Claims Russian Artillery Units Are Firing at Ukrainian Soldiers
August 22nd, 2014Via: Time:
Artillery units being operated by Russian soldiers have crossed into Ukraine and are firing on Ukrainian forces, Western officials said Friday, in an apparent escalation of the ongoing conflict along the border.
“We have seen the use of Russian artillery in Ukraine in the past days,” U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes told reporters Friday, calling it part of “a pattern whereby we’ve seen firing from within Russia into Ukraine, and we’ve seen a disturbing movement of Russian artillery and military equipment into Ukraine as well.”
Russian “Aid” Trucks Enter Ukraine Without Permission
August 22nd, 2014Via: BBC:
A senior official in Kiev has accused Russia of invading Ukraine after Russian humanitarian aid lorries crossed the border without permission.
Russia began sending in its lorries, stranded at the border for more than a week, after formally accusing Ukraine of unreasonable obstruction.
Valentyn Nalyvaychenko, head of Ukraine’s SBU security service, said it was a “direct invasion”.
The aid is destined for civilians in the east Ukraine war zone.
Reports suggest the lorries are being escorted by rebel fighters.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it was not part of the convoy “in any way”.
Russia’s foreign ministry has warned Ukraine not to take any action against the convoy, without specifying the consequences.
Bots on Patrol: Mobile Security Robot to be Mass Produced
August 22nd, 2014Via: Factor:
In a move that will rock the job security of night watchmen everywhere, the world’s first commercially available security robot is set for mass production in the US.
Designed by Denver-based Gamma 2 Robotics, the robot will now be manufactured entirely in the States, with a process that can be scaled up to full mass production as demand grows.
The robot, which is known as the Vigilant MCP (mobile camera platform), features a digital camera and an array of sensors to detect the presence of unauthorised intruders, and will activate the alarm and send out an alert should it find someone where they shouldn’t be.
It is being pushed as a solution to night security in particular, with proposed industries including retail, warehouses, data centres and convention centres.
Research Credit: Osk
Despite FAA Setbacks, Amazon Prime Air Makes Notable Engineering, NASA And Aerospace Hires
August 21st, 2014Via: TechCrunch:
Something big is going on with Amazon Prime Air, the e-commerce giant’s research project focused on delivering packages in 30 minutes or less using unmanned drones.
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Prime Air is shaping up to be more than a marketing stunt, it seems. The company recently scored a few notable hires for this project, including former aerospace engineers, a NASA astronaut, a number of Microsoft researchers and Bing engineers, and even the co-founder of Keyhole, the original developer of Google Earth (prior to the Google acquisition.)
Prime Air’s more notable hires may not be household names, but are indicative of a project Amazon is taking seriously, after all.
Hagel: Threat Posed by U.S. Funded and Armed Terrorist Organization ‘Beyond Anything We’ve Seen’
August 21st, 2014Mmm hmm.
Via: Reuters:
The sophistication, wealth and military might of Islamic State militants represent a major threat to the United States that may surpass that once posed by al Qaeda, U.S. military leaders said on Thursday.
“They are an imminent threat to every interest we have, whether it’s in Iraq or anywhere else,” Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told reporters at the Pentagon.
Hagel’s assessment of Islamic State, which gained strength during Syria’s civil war and swept into northern Iraq earlier this summer, sounded a note of alarm several days after the group posted a video on social media showing one of its fighters beheading an American hostage kidnapped in Syria.
Asked if the hardline Sunni Muslim organization posed a threat to the United States comparable to that of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Hagel said it was “as sophisticated and well-funded as any group we have seen.”
“They are beyond just a terrorist group. They marry ideology, a sophistication of … military prowess. They are tremendously well-funded. This is beyond anything we’ve seen.”
Hagel spoke as the United States continued attacking Islamic State targets in Iraq. In the past two weeks, U.S. drones and fighter jets have conducted 89 airstrikes against militant targets in northern Iraq.
Related: Militants in Iraq Take Over Four Cities, Make Off with Arms Cache and Nearly Half a Billion Dollars
Amazon Expands Its Cloud Services to U.S. Military
August 21st, 2014Via: DefenseOne:
Amazon Web Services has become the first commercial cloud provider authorized to handle the Defense Department’s most sensitive unclassified data.
Today’s announcement that AWS has achieved a provisional authority to operate under DOD’s cloud security model at impact levels 3-5 is a major win for the company, as it allows DOD customers to provision commercial cloud services for the largest chunks of their data.
Ebola Patients Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol Discharged
August 21st, 2014Via: BBC:
The two US aid workers infected with the Ebola virus in Liberia have recovered and have been discharged from hospital, medical officials have said.
Dr Kent Brantly, 33, thanked supporters for their prayers at a news conference in Atlanta. Nancy Writebol, 59, was discharged on Tuesday.
The two were brought to the US for treatment three weeks ago.
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There is no cure for Ebola, one of the deadliest diseases known to humans, with a fatality rate in this outbreak of 50-60%.
But both Dr Brantly and Mrs Writebol received an experimental treatment known as ZMapp.
The drug, which has only been made in extremely limited qualities, had never been tested on humans and it remains unclear if it is responsible for their recovery.
ZMapp was also given to a Spanish priest, who died, and three Liberian health workers, who are showing signs of improvement.
Bank of America in Record $16.7 Billion Mortgage Settlement
August 21st, 2014If you think that sounds like a big number, notice the part in bold below.
Anyway, what’s the U.S. government going to do with its cut?
Send more tanks to collapsing American cities?
Via: BBC:
Bank of America has agreed to pay a record $16.7bn (£10bn) to US authorities for misleading investors about the quality of loans it sold.
The loans were sold by Countrywide Financial and Merrill Lynch before Bank of America bought them in 2008, at the height of the financial crisis.
The associate attorney general said “no institution is either too big or too powerful to escape” punishment.
The settlement will cut the bank’s third-quarter profits by $5.3bn.
Bank of America will pay a total of $9.65bn in cash and provide consumer relief worth about $7bn, much of which will go towards homeowners struggling with their mortgages.
The cash component consists of a $5bn civil penalty and $4.63 billion in compensation payments.
Private Military Contractor Providing Security for One Person in Ferguson
August 21st, 2014Via: The Verge:
A menagerie of armed state and federal agents have filtered in and out of Ferguson, Missouri for more than a week as unrest has grown there, and now even a private military company is joining the mix. Asymmetric Solutions, a PMC that claims to be “capable of deploying highly qualified former special operations personnel” to “anywhere on the globe in a moments notice” will be providing a security detail to an unnamed individual visiting Ferguson.
Asymmetric Solutions announced the job on Twitter, noting that the assignment is saddening and unexpected.
Research Credit: P7y845W4
