Bitcoin Hits US$10,000
November 28th, 2017Update: Bitcoin Hits US$11,000
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Bitfinex print at US$10,053.
Via: Bloomberg:
Bitcoin surpassed $10,000 for the first time, bringing this year’s price surge to more than 10-fold even as warnings multiply that the largest digital currency is an asset bubble.
The euphoria is bringing to the mainstream what was once considered the providence of computer developers, futurists and libertarians seeking to create an alternative to central bank-controlled monetary systems. While the actual volume of transactions conducted in cryptocurrencies is relatively small, the optimism surrounding the technology continues to drive it to new highs.
Bitcoin has risen by more than 50 percent since October alone, taking off after developers agreed to cancel a technology update that threatened to split the digital currency. Even as analysts disagree on whether the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization is truly an asset, its $167 billion value already exceeds that of about 95 percent of the S&P 500 Index members.
Accounting Error: Pentagon Likely to Acknowledge 2,000 U.S. Troops in Syria
November 24th, 2017I’m so confident that the accurate number is going to be reported now. haha
Via: Reuters:
The Pentagon is likely to announce in the coming days that there are about 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria, two U.S. officials said on Friday, as the military acknowledges that an accounting system for troops has under-reported the size of forces on the ground.
The U.S. military had earlier publicly said it had around 500 troops in Syria, mostly supporting the Syrian Democratic Forces group of Kurdish and Arab militias fighting Islamic State in the north of the country.
Two U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the Pentagon could, as early as Monday, publicly announce that there are slightly more than 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria. They said there was always a possibility that last minute changes in schedules could delay an announcement.
That is not an increase in troop numbers, just a more accurate count, as the numbers often fluctuate.
An accounting system, known as the Force Management Level (FML), was introduced in Iraq and Syria during former President Barack Obama’s administration as a way to exert control over the military.
But the numbers do not reflect the extent of the U.S. commitment on the ground since commanders often found ways to work around the limits – sometimes bringing in forces temporarily or hiring more contractors.
The force management levels are officially at 5,262 in Iraq and 503 in Syria, but officials have privately acknowledged in the past that the real number for each country is more than the reported figure.
Facial Recognition Is Tracking Customers as They Shop in Stores
November 24th, 2017Via: CNBC:
Retailers are using facial recognition to collect data about customers as they shop in stores, according to an IT company with insight into the space.
“One of the big things brick-and-mortar retailers are getting into now is knowing their customers … tracking who’s entering their mall and how they’re behaving,” said Mark Lunt, group managing director at Asia-based Jardine OneSolution.
JOS works with the retail sector on facial recognition to profile customers that enter and track their movements.
The data collected include “how many people are coming in, age, ethnicity, gender — it’s all about knowing the foot traffic better and trying to serve more appropriate offers to those customers,” Lunt said.
Customer identities are kept anonymous and it might even benefit shopping experiences in the long run. According to JOS, its projects include adjusting store music to coincide with the customer’s mood.
Coast To Coast AM – November 21, 2017 UFOs & JFK with Linda Moulton Howe
November 24th, 2017Via: YouTube:
Related: Earth Files and Dark Journalist
Tesla Completes Construction of 129 Megawatt Hour Battery
November 23rd, 2017Via: Independent:
Tesla Inc has completed construction of the world’s largest lithium ion battery in Australia, putting it on track to meet a 100-day deadline for switching the battery packs on, the South Australian government said on Thursday.
Tesla won a bid in July to build the 129 megawatt hour battery for South Australia, the country’s most wind power-dependent state, with a vow from Chief Executive Elon Musk to install it within 100 days of signing a grid connection agreement or give it to the state for free.
When the grid connection deal was signed on Sept 29, Tesla was already half way through installing the battery packs.
The Tesla Powerpacks have now been fully installed at a wind farm run by France’s Neoen, and testing is set to begin to provide grid security services in South Australia.
Ethereum Now Handles More Transactions Than All Digital Currencies Combined
November 23rd, 2017I’ve added an Ethereum address to the Support page, for anyone who wants to help out Cryptogon with Ethereum. And thanks to the people who sent Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash and regular currency contributions recently.
Via: Trusted Nodes:
Ethereum, the barely two years old digital currency, now processes more transactions than all other digital currencies combined, including bitcoin.
Ethereum currently processes 52.3% of all cryptocurrency transactions, followed by bitcoin at 33%, while Bitcoin Cash, currently third in market cap, is handling only 1.8% as pictured above.
More than half a million transactions were processed yesterday by ethereum, a level that is now becoming common for the platform, rising considerably since early last year when it stood at just 10,000.
While bitcoin is currently processing around 330,000 transactions, with no change in volumes for an entire year despite considerable growth and a claimed increase in capacity.
Bitcoin’s transaction levels have been moving very much in a straight line due to a limited 1MB capacity. Although segregated witnesses (segwit) claimed to double it, in effect it has added as good as no capacity since its activation in August 2017.
‘American Mercenaries Are Torturing’ Saudi Elite???
November 23rd, 2017It’s the Daily Mail, so…
Via: Daily Mail:
Saudi princes and billionaire businessmen arrested in a power grab earlier this month are being strung up by their feet and beaten by American private security contractors, a source in the country tells DailyMail.com.
The group of the country’s most powerful figures were arrested in a crackdown ordered by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman three weeks ago as he ordered the detention of at least 11 fellow princes and hundreds of businessmen and government officials over claims of corruption.
Just last month, the Crown Prince vowed to restore ‘moderate, open Islam’ in the kingdom and relaxed a number of its ultra-conservative rules, including lifting a ban on women driving.
DailyMail.com can disclose that the arrests have been followed by ‘interrogations’ which a source said were being carried out by ‘American mercenaries’ brought in to work for the 32-year-old crown prince, who is now the kingdom’s most powerful figure.
‘They are beating them, torturing them, slapping them, insulting them. They want to break them down,’ the source told DailyMail.com.
‘Blackwater’ has been named by DailyMail.com’s source as the firm involved, and the claim of its presence in Saudi Arabia has also been made on Arabic social media, and by Lebanon’s president.
The firm’s successor, Academi, strongly denies even being in Saudi Arabia and says it does not engage in torture, which it is illegal for any U.S. citizen to commit anywhere in the world.
The Saudi crown prince, according to the source, has also confiscated more than $194 billion from the bank accounts and seized assets of those arrested.
Scientists Zapped People’s Brains with Magnetic Pulses and It Changed Their Taste in Music
November 23rd, 2017Via: Independent:
Stimulating someone’s brain with magnetic pulses is enough to change their taste in music, according to new research.
Using a non-invasive technique called transcranial magnetic stimulation, Scientists managed to change the enjoyment of music felt by their subjects.
Not only did the treatment alter the way participants rated music, it even affected the amount of money they were willing to spend on it.
Apple iPhone X Is Reportedly Assembled with Illegal High-School Student Labor
November 21st, 2017Via: CNBC:
Apple supplier Foxconn has been employing students illegally work overtime to help assemble the iPhone X, the Financial Times reported Tuesday.
Six high school students told the Financial Times they would usually work 11-hour shifts to help manufacture Apple’s flagship phone at a factory in Zhengzhou, China. The long hours breach Chinese laws regarding student interns.
The report said the six students interviewed were among a group of 3,000 students from Zhengzhou Urban Rail Transit School. The high schoolers said they had been sent to work at a local factory run by Taiwan-based supplier Hon Hai Precision Industry — better known as Foxconn — in September.
Apple, in a statement, said that it took action once it discovered the students were working overtime.
MI6’s Secret ‘Multi-Million Pound’ Cold War Slush Fund
November 21st, 2017Via: BBC:
What was it for? C’s answer in 1952 is revealing. “He thought it right to have a large sum to meet such contingencies as (a) a very large inducement to some person in an absolutely key position, or (b) the Vote for the Service being drastically cut in some political emergency in a way which would make it impossible to carry on the Service in the way it was necessary.”
Option (a) means an incredibly large bribe for some foreign official, and Option (b) seems to refer to the possibility that politicians might cut MI6’s budget, as they did at the end of World War One.
Research Credit: WS
