1994 National Weather Service UFO Tapes: ‘My God, What Is This?’
August 17th, 2020I’d never heard of this one.
Via: It’s [redacted]:
Why Americans Should Adopt the Sweden Model on Covid-19
August 17th, 2020Via: Mises Institute:
Sweden has been unfairly criticized for its policy despite having an outcome more favorable than places with authoritarian lockdown policies. Sweden did not close its schools. Other than stopping gatherings of more than fifty people, the Swedish government left decisions of closing businesses, using masks, and social distancing to the Swedish people. The government encouraged the use of masks and social distancing, but there were no requirements and there were no penalties for those who declined to follow the advice. Mortality attributed to covid-19 hit a peak value of 11.38 deaths per day per million population on April 8, 2020. This mortality was matched on April 15, and mortality has decreased since then. Daily mortality has been less than one death per day per million population for the previous eighteen days. Cases are very low. For all practical purposes, the covid-19 epidemic is over in Sweden.
Oil Major Chevron Invests in Nuclear Fusion Startup Zap Energy
August 17th, 2020Via: Reuters:
Oil major Chevron Corp said on Wednesday it is investing in Zap Energy Inc, joining Italy’s ENI and Norwegian state oil company Equinor who have also backed nuclear fusion startups to reduce their carbon footprint.
This Smartphone Has Physical Kill Switches for Its Cameras, Microphone, Data, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi
August 17th, 2020Via: Android Police:
Once you open up the PinePhone, you get access to six induvidual dip switches that control the modem, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, microphone, rear camera, front camera, and even the headphone jack.
Security Leak Reveals Chinese Government Surveillance of More Ethnic Minorities
August 17th, 2020Via: Sky News Australia:
Microsoft Put Off Fixing Zero Day for 2 Years
August 17th, 2020Via: Krebs on Security:
A security flaw in the way Microsoft Windows guards users against malicious files was actively exploited in malware attacks for two years before last week, when Microsoft finally issued a software update to correct the problem.
One of the 120 security holes Microsoft fixed on Aug. 11’s Patch Tuesday was CVE-2020-1464, a problem with the way every supported version of Windows validates digital signatures for computer programs.
Code signing is the method of using a certificate-based digital signature to sign executable files and scripts in order to verify the author’s identity and ensure that the code has not been changed or corrupted since it was signed by the author.
Microsoft said an attacker could use this “spoofing vulnerability” to bypass security features intended to prevent improperly signed files from being loaded. Microsoft’s advisory makes no mention of security researchers having told the company about the flaw, which Microsoft acknowledged was actively being exploited.
In fact, CVE-2020-1464 was first spotted in attacks used in the wild back in August 2018. And several researchers informed Microsoft about the weakness over the past 18 months.
SpaceX Starlink Beta Users Getting Download Speeds of 11 to 60Mbps
August 16th, 2020While these speeds are nowhere near the 1 Gbit/sec that had been mentioned with Starlink, this was already enough to cause me (someone who has struggled with rural Internet access since 2006) to go bug-eyed:
Wow.
Forget existing satellite based ISPs. They’re dead. And good riddance. *spit*
But I do hope that other rural Internet providers are paying attention. If numbers like this are already possible over Starlink, rural ISPs that use wi-fi, and even companies that provide decent xDSL connections could be in trouble unless they improve their offerings.
We don’t know anything about Starlink service tiers or pricing. Man oh man. What is it going to cost??? (Rumor: US$80 per month.)
Not long to wait now.
Via: Ars Technica:
Beta users of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite-broadband service are getting download speeds ranging from 11Mbps to 60Mbps, according to tests conducted using Ookla’s speedtest.net tool. Speed tests showed upload speeds ranging from 5Mbps to 18Mbps.
The same tests, conducted over the past two weeks, showed latencies or ping rates ranging from 31ms to 94ms. This isn’t a comprehensive study of Starlink speeds and latency, so it’s not clear whether this is what Internet users should expect once Starlink satellites are fully deployed and the service reaches commercial availability.
Historic Exodus from San Francisco
August 16th, 2020Via: SFGate:
A new report confirms what many have been talking about for weeks: There is an exodus out of San Francisco, and the numbers are staggering.
Online real estate company Zillow released new statistics shining a stark light on the issue this week. Their “2020 Urban-Suburban Market Report” reveals that inventory has risen a whopping 96% year-on-year, as empty homes in the city flood the market like nowhere else in America.
The reason for this change is likely a combination of a few unprecedented factors that have collided this summer, resulting in a historic shift in the city.
The astronomical cost of owning a home in the San Francisco city limits — which has been sky high for over a decade now, since the second tech boom — had to break at some point, and the coronavirus seems to be the straw that broke the camel’s back. The pandemic soon led to tech giants like Google, Facebook and Twitter rethinking what work looks like, as many have allowed employees to work remotely for the foreseeable future, and maybe forever.
This, combined with the fact that most entertainment venues, eateries and bars in the city have closed, has given many residents — particularly tech employees and transplants — little reason to stay, when more spacious, literally greener pastures beckon in (relatively) less costly regions in California such as Lake Tahoe or Palm Springs.
Related: Hollywood’s Apocalypse NOW: Rich and famous are fleeing in droves
ShadowGate
August 15th, 2020Under normal circumstances, before posting this, I probably would have sifted through it for a couple of days to try to verify the main points.
But…
Millie Weaver, the independent reporter who produced and directed the film, has just been indicted and arrested in Ohio:
According to the information I obtained through my investigative inquiries (and partially detailed in the video of her arrest), she was indicted by a grand jury seated in Ohio. The indictment was sealed until served. The nature of her alleged offenses appears to be “process crimes” (e.g. Obstruction of Justice, Tampering with Evidence). It remains unclear whether her indictment is related to her investigation that culminated in today’s release of her investigative documentary ShadowGate, although the timing is more than curious and must not be ignored.
The full film was posted by Tore, one of the whistleblowers in the film, after Weaver was arrested.
Source 1:
Source 2:
Source 3:
Source 4:
‘Pentagon Is Forming New Task Force to Investigate UFO Sightings Over U.S. Military Bases’
August 14th, 2020Mmm hmm.
Via: Daily Mail:
The Pentagon is forming a new task force to investigate UFO sightings over US military bases, according to defense officials.
Two defense officials told CNN the task force will hunt and investigate UFOs that have been seen by military aircraft and will be headed up by Deputy Secretary of Defense David Norquist.
The task force will be officially announced over the next few days, they added.
This comes just weeks after it emerged the Pentagon’s once secret UFO hunting department continued to operate over the past decade despite claims it was disbanded in 2012.
US senators have demand more transparency from the Pentagon over mysterious encounters in the skies.
