Trump ‘Orders Further China Tariffs’
September 15th, 2018Via: BBC:
US President Donald Trump has instructed staff to move forward with the next round of tariffs on Chinese goods, US media have reported.
The tariffs are expected to apply to about $200bn worth of imports from China, including electronic parts and consumer goods such as handbags.
It remains unclear when the new import taxes – which could be as high as 25% – will go into effect.
Officials are reportedly still working on the final list of products.
President Trump ordered his staff to start preparing the tariffs this summer, escalating a dispute over what the US says are China’s unfair trade practices, such as state subsidies.
The new duties would add to tariffs the US has already imposed on $50bn in Chinese goods as part of that dispute, as well as tariffs that China levied on $50bn in US goods in retaliation.
Friday’s news reports that Mr Trump has ordered the US to proceed with further tariffs quoted administration sources. There has so far been no formal announcement.
Solar Observatory Remains Closed Due to “Ongoing Security Concern”
September 15th, 2018Related? Trump Administration to Send U.S. Cellphones a Test Alert on Thursday
Via: CBS:
An observatory in the mountains of southern New Mexico that is dedicated to unlocking the mysteries of the sun has found itself at the center of a mystery that is creating a buzz here on earth. Authorities remain tightlipped Friday, saying only that an undisclosed security concern was behind the decision to abruptly vacate and lock up the remote facility on Sept 6.
The Sunspot Solar Observatory has been closed for more than a week.
The FBI referred all questions to the group that manages the site, the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy. Officials there say they’re working with authorities.
The association said in an update Friday that it has “decided that the observatory will remain closed until further notice due to an ongoing security concern. The rest of the National Solar Observatory facilities remain open and are operating normally.”
The vagueness continued to fuel speculation on social media.
Related: Definitely Not Aliens
Trump Administration to Send U.S. Cellphones a Test Alert on Thursday
September 15th, 2018Via: Reuters:
The Trump administration will send a message to all U.S. cellphones on Thursday to test a previously unused alert system that aims to warn the public about national emergencies.
The messages will bear the headline “Presidential Alert”, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said in a statement this week. Phones will make a loud tone and have a special vibration, said FEMA, which will send the alert.
The test message, scheduled for 2:18 p.m. EDT on Thursday, will read: “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.”
The test has been scheduled to ensure that the alert system would work in the event of a national emergency. U.S. cellphone users will not be able to opt out.
‘Apple’s Best Product Is Now Privacy’
September 14th, 2018Sadly, Apple is the least bad option for most computer users, no doubt about it.
Please don’t believe that Apple is actually providing anything even remotely close to an objective definition of privacy, and security flaps can be as ridiculous and cringe inducing as on other platforms:
Apple iTunes “Flaw” Allowed Government Spying for 3 Years
Pointless Rant About Hopeless Situation
You Can Log Into macOS High Sierra as Root with No Password
Snowden: FBI’s Claim It Can’t Unlock the iPhone Is ‘Bullshit’
etc. etc.
As bad as Apple is, Microsoft and Google are far worse, and Linux remains mostly a pain in the ass for average users. I do appreciate people who force themselves to use Linux, no matter how terrible the desktop experience is. I’ll probably be there eventually.
If Microsoft goes to some sort of lease thing for individuals running Windows, that will be The End for me. They are going to start demanding a monthly fee from Windows 7 users (who refuse to upgrade) to continue to receive security updates, so they might be coming for the rest of us eventually.
Via: Fast Company:
Under Tim Cook’s leadership, Apple saw just how critical an issue user privacy would become. Now it’s at least as important a feature as shiny industrial design or a nice camera.
Volvo Unveils All-Electric and Autonomous Truck Without a Cab
September 13th, 2018Via: Electrek:
If your truck is completely autonomous, why would you need a cab? Volvo Trucks believes that you don’t and that’s why they built a new all-electric and autonomous truck without a cab called Vera.
SpaceX Announcing Name of Private Individual Who Will Orbit Moon in BFR
September 13th, 2018Via: Ars Technica:
On Thursday evening, without any advance notice, SpaceX tweeted that is had signed the world’s “first private passenger to fly around the Moon aboard our BFR launch vehicle.” Moreover, the company promised to reveal “who’s flying and why” on Monday, September 17. The announcement will take place at the company’s headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif.
There were only two other clues—tweets from Musk himself. Was the rendering of the Big Falcon Spaceship in SpaceX’s tweet new? Yes, Musk said. And was he the passenger? In response to this, the founder of SpaceX simply tweeted a Japanese flag emoji. This would seem to be strong clue that the passenger is from Japan. Or maybe Musk was enjoying the epic Seven Samurai movie at that moment.
Related: Amazon’s Rising Stock Gives Jeff Bezos ‘Financial Muscle’ in Outer Space Equal to Whole Countries
Qanon Subreddits Banned
September 12th, 2018Via: /r/conspiracy:
Looks like r/greatawakening was just banned.
9/11: What 17 Years of Lies Have Done to Us
September 12th, 2018Via: Richard Dolan:
Bay Area City Blocks 5G Deployments Over Cancer Concerns
September 10th, 2018Via: TechCrunch:
The Bay Area may be the center of the global technology industry, but that hasn’t stopped one wealthy enclave from protecting itself from the future.
The city council of Mill Valley, a small town located just a few miles north of San Francisco, voted unanimously late last week to effectively block deployments of small-cell 5G wireless towers in the city’s residential areas.
Through an urgency ordinance, which allows the city council to immediately enact regulations that affect the health and safety of the community, the restrictions and prohibitions will be put into force immediately for all future applications to site 5G telecommunications equipment in the city. Applications for commercial districts are permitted under the passed ordinance.
The ordinance was driven by community concerns over the health effects of 5G wireless antennas. According to the city, it received 145 pieces of correspondence from citizens voicing opposition to the technology, compared to just five letters in support of it — a ratio of 29 to 1. While that may not sound like much, the city’s population is roughly 14,000, indicating that about 1% of the population had voiced an opinion on the matter.
Tooth Radios for Military
September 10th, 2018Via: Defense One:
The future of battlefield communications is resting comfortably near your back gums.
Next time you pass someone on the street who appears to be talking to themselves, they may literally have voices inside their head…and be a highly trained soldier on a dangerous mission. The Pentagon has inked a roughly $10 million contract with a California company to provide secure communication gear that’s essentially invisible.
Dubbed the Molar Mic, it’s a small device that clips to your back teeth. The device is both microphone and “speaker,” allowing the wearer to transmit without any conspicuous external microphone and receive with no visible headset or earpiece. Incoming sound is transmitted through the wearer’s bone matter in the jaw and skull to the auditory nerves; outgoing sound is sent to a radio transmitter on the neck, and sent to another radio unit that can be concealed on the operator. From there, the signal can be sent anywhere.
