Amazon Is Developing High-Tech Surveillance Tools for an Eager Customer: America’s Police
August 8th, 2019Via: NBC:
Amazon, known mainly for its online consumer marketplace, is becoming a potent resource for federal, state and local authorities, peddling an array of tools that harness the power of cloud-based computing, artificial intelligence and video analysis.
Some of the products seem mundane, offering agencies a relatively cheap method of storing, sharing and crunching data through networks of remote web servers known as the cloud. Others are contentious, making it easier for police to identify and monitor people. Together, they show how one company has broadened its influence by supplying law enforcement with technology that has modernized crime-fighting but is evolving too fast for government oversight to keep up.
JFK Files Reveal U.S. Planned to Buy Soviet Planes to Carry Out False Flag Attacks
August 7th, 2019Via: SputnikNews:
“There is a possibility that such aircraft could be used in a deception operation designed to confuse enemy planes in the air, to launch a surprise attack against enemy installations or in a provocation operation in which Soviet aircraft would appear to attack US or friendly installations in order to provide an excuse for US intervention,” the document reads.
Air Force Set To Deploy Drone Killing Laser Weapon On Military Dune Buggies
August 7th, 2019Via: ZeroHedge:
Raytheon published a company press release last week that detailed how it “will deploy two prototype high energy laser weapon systems” to the Air Force for a 12-month in-field operation against enemy drones.
The $23 million contract for two of Raytheon’s High Energy Laser Weapons Systems (HELWS) will be used by the Air Force in an unknown warzone overseas, most likely Syria for about one year.
Gold: $1500
August 7th, 2019Via: MarketWatch:
Gold prices on Wednesday jumped above an important psychological level at $1,500 amid a round of easy-money policies that helped to stoke fresh appetite for the perceived safety of precious metals.
The 10-year U.S. Treasury note’s TMUBMUSD10Y, -4.93% fall to new lows not seen since 2016 below 1.7%, also helped to drive demand for bullion.
December gold GCZ19, +2.43% on Comex added $21.70, or 1.5%, at $1,506 an ounce in recent trade, marking the highest level for the precious metal since 2013 based on most-active contracts, according to Dow Jones market data.
Off Topic: 3.5mm Audio Port Almost Gone from High End Phones, Consider Samsung Note 9
August 7th, 2019Off Topic – First World Problems
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Update: Samsung, You’ve Let Yourself Down, You’ve Let Us Down
Via: Android Authority:
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Update: Samsung Is Hiding Its Ads That Made Fun of Apple’s Removal of Headphone Jack
Via: Android Authority:
Yesterday, Samsung made the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10 Plus official. The release of the two new flagships is bittersweet for many Note fans, though, because neither device comes with a headphone jack. It appears Samsung wants to gloss over this fact by not only declining to mention it at all during yesterday’s launch event but by also attempting to hide its past advertisements.
The company’s decision to remove the much-beloved smartphone port isn’t too surprising considering multiple other OEMs — including Huawei, OnePlus, Google, and obviously Apple — have already done so. However, Samsung was the longest holdout and also the most vocal critic of those other OEMs and their choice to ditch the port, especially when it comes to Apple.
Over the past few years, there have been multiple high-profile Samsung ads that heavily criticized Apple’s iPhone design limitations, specifically towards the removal of the headphone jack and the notched display on the iPhone X and XS. These ads are no longer on Samsung’s official United States YouTube channel and appear to be erased from other official sources as well.
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A retailer in NZ (Noel Leeming) recently had a two day, deep discount sale on Samsung Note 9 smartphones. I bought one, along with a lot of other people, and we completely cleared them out of stock.
I’ve only ever owned two smartphones before the Samsung Note 9; a Samsung Note 4 and a Samsung Note 2. While the Note 4 is getting very long in the tooth, it’s pretty much ok for what I need it to do, and that’s even after Samsung crippled the Note 4 with an over the air update a couple of years ago.
Why buy a Note 9 if the Note 4 is adequate?
As the years passed, I’ve watched the headphone jack disappear from more and more phones. Despite manufacturers trying to convince people that this is, “Progress,” I like the headphone jack, I want the headphone jack. Most importantly, I won’t buy a phone without the headphone jack.
As a Samsung user, I didn’t care too much about the silly trend of manufacturers removing the headphone jack from phones, because Samsung seemed committed to including it on even their flagship phones. I planned to keep using my ancient Note 4 until it physically broke or apps started crashing because the Android version was so old. I’d then go out and buy whatever the latest Samsung Note happened to be (during the clearance sales before the next one was announced, of course) and continue on as before…
Now, like every (Northern Hemisphere) summer, it’s Samsung Note announcement season. The Note 10 will be announced later today in New York.
With Samsung — the last major holdout — seemingly on board with the effort to kill the 3.5mm headphone jack, the war on the headphone jack is effectively over, and the dongles have won.
The Note 10 will also have an annoying hole punch/camera cutout on the display, similar to the S10 phones.
I refuse to use a dongle in order to listen to my outstanding Beyerdynamic DT770 or Tin Audio T2 headphones. I also refuse to use wireless headphones. Samsung has avoided Apple’s shit for brains dongle insanity for years, but that changes today.
Well, Samsung, you did it. You got my money one last time because I want a great camera AND a 3.5mm port. As far as I can tell, if those are the criteria, the Samsung S10 variants and the Note 9 are pretty much it. However, the S10 devices all have that asinine hole punch front camera design.
Anyway, in case you care about such things, the Note 9 is probably your last chance to get a high performance phone with a 3.5mm audio port (and without a hole punch display):
Samsung Galaxy Note9 N960U 128GB Unlocked 4G LTE
As people have figured out that newer doesn’t mean better with the Note 10, prices on remaining Note 9 phones have been increasing. The Amazon price (link above) fluctuates wildly.
For reference, I spent NZ$849 (US$546) on my Note 9, factory unlocked, brand new, sealed retail box. That was, by far, the cheapest the phone ever sold for new in NZ, and probably the cheapest it will ever sell for here. If you can get one for under US$550 new, that would be a good deal.
Finally, I’d suggest using a protective cover with this phone. I chose the Samsung Galaxy Note9 Rugged Protective Cover with Kickstand, EF-RN960CBEGUS. It’s perfect. Highly recommended.
Florida Governor Orders State Criminal Probe Into Jeffrey Epstein Case
August 6th, 2019Via: Miami Herald:
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has ordered a state criminal probe into the actions of the Palm Beach sheriff and the former Palm Beach state attorney for their handling of the Jeffrey Epstein underage sex trafficking case.
DeSantis’ move comes as Sheriff Ric Bradshaw has come under increasing scrutiny for his decision in 2008 to give Epstein, a politically connected multimillionaire, unusually lenient work release privileges even though Epstein was a convicted sex offender who had been accused of molesting dozens of underage girls.
State Sen. Lauren Book, a Democrat from Plantation, collected more than 4,000 signatures on a petition demanding that the Republican governor ask the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to undertake the investigation. Ultimately it was Bradshaw who requested the inquiry, although only after several days of mounting pressure.
Swiss Post Suspends Drone Delivery Service After Second Crash
August 5th, 2019Via: IEEE:
For about a year, Swiss Post and Matternet have been collaborating on a drone delivery service in three different cities in Switzerland, with drones ferrying lab samples between hospitals far faster and more efficiently than is possible with conventional ground transportation. The service had made about 3,000 successful flights as of last January, but a January 25th crash into Lake Zurich put things on hold until April.
A second crash in May caused Swiss Post to suspend the service indefinitely, and a recently released interim report published by the Swiss Safety Investigation Board provides some detail on what happened—and a reminder that for all the delivery drone hype, there are some basic problems that are still not totally solved.
China Allows Devaluation of Yuan as Trade War Worsens
August 5th, 2019Via: Reuters:
China let the yuan breach the key 7-per-dollar level on Monday for the first time in more than a decade, in a sign Beijing might be willing to tolerate more currency weakness that could further inflame a trade conflict with the United States.
The sharp 1.4% drop in the yuan comes days after U.S. President Donald Trump stunned financial markets by vowing to impose 10% tariffs on the remaining $300 billion of Chinese imports from Sept. 1, abruptly breaking a brief ceasefire in a bruising trade war that has disrupted global supply chains and slowed growth.
Some analysts said the yuan move could unleash a dangerous new front in the trade hostilities – a currency war.
Power Restored After Tens of Millions Hit by Indonesia Power Blackout
August 4th, 2019Via: AFP:
Power was mostly restored in Jakarta and Indonesia’s heavily populated Java island after a widespread electricity outage Sunday that the state utility PLN blamed on disruptions at several power plants.
Tens of millions of people were affected by the blackout which plunged buildings in the sprawling capital — home to about 30 million people — into darkness and forced the temporary closure of its new mass rapid transit system.
Passengers were safely evacuated from several MRT carriages when the power went out, according to the system’s operator, while commuter trains were also affected.
Electricity was restored by around 11:00 pm local time (1600 GMT) in most parts of the capital, nearly 12 hours after disruptions started. While the megacity has been hit by blackouts before, Sunday’s shutdown was unusually long.
The Military-Style Surveillance Technology Being Tested in American Cities
August 4th, 2019Via: The Atlantic:
In the eyes of the law, there’s no difference between a photo taken by a smartphone through an airplane window and one taken by an ultrapowerful camera in a helicopter hovering over your backyard.
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Capitalizing on this gap, as some might call it, in standing privacy law, wide-area-camera manufacturers and users often turn the all-seeing eye on peacetime populations in the United States and elsewhere without their knowledge. PV Labs, a Canadian firm, has flown a “persistent surveillance” camera over various U.S. cities, including Charlotte and Wilmington, North Carolina. The Australian Department of Defence has tested a wide-area camera in exercises over Adelaide and Montreal. The Air Force has spent hours recording Ohio State University’s campus in Columbus.
Such flights continue to this day. In the summer of 2017, the Air Force 427th Special Operations Squadron’s top-secret WAMI airplane spent more than 50 hours flying orbits over Seattle, in some cases loitering over a single neighborhood (Bellevue and Renton were favorites) for four or five hours at a time.
When it comes to law enforcement, police are likewise free to use aerial surveillance without a warrant or special permission. Under current privacy law, these operations are just as legal as policing practices whereby an officer spots unlawful activity while walking or driving through a neighborhood. Say an officer sees marijuana plants through the open window of a house. Because the officer is in a public space—a road or sidewalk—he or she doesn’t need permission to see the illicit plants, or a warrant to photograph the scene.
