New Zealand: Solar Battery Packs May Have to Be Stored Outside in Fireproof Enclosure Under Proposed New Rules
August 7th, 2017Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand.
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Behold, the batshit insane machinations of an out of control retail electricity cartel in its death throes.
Via: Stuff:
A new proposed battery safety standard would stop the installation of solar power systems’ battery packs, which have been described as the “future of energy”.
Consultation is open on the standard, which would ban lithium ion batteries inside a dwelling, under the eaves of a house or within a metre of it. Installed beyond that distance, the batteries would have to be in a fireproof enclosure.
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However, there are believed to be no known house fires caused by home-installed lithium ion batteries.
Putting them outside in a purpose-built enclosure would add at least $1000 to the cost of installation, he said.
“The irony is that you can drive into the garage with your electric vehicle and most have a battery that’s three times the size of the Tesla Powerwall. And you can drive into a garage with a 60L tank of petrol.”
The standard would not apply retrospectively, so any installations before it came into force would be allowed to remain.
Solar installer Phil Rumble said the idea was “madness”. “Why don’t they move gas cookers outside?”
Blackwater Founder Wants to Provide a “Turn Key” Mercenary Air Force for Afghanistan
August 6th, 2017Via: The Drive:
Though a debate remains over the exact reasons why, it’s increasingly widely accepted that the United States and its allies are not winning the fight against insurgents in Afghanistan at the moment. One suggestion for how to turn things around – unsurprisingly proffered up by the infamous Erik Prince and Stephen A. Feinberg, the owners of private military company DynCorp – was to dramatically increase the number of contractors supporting Afghan forces. Part of that proposal now reportedly includes setting up a mercenary air wing in the war torn country.
Military Times broke the news that Erik Prince had gone straight to the government of Afghanistan to suggest he could supply a fully-staffed air arm able to provide close air support, intelligence and surveillance, and logistics support functions across the country. Lancaster6, a Dubai-based private military company, would be the actual contractor for this “turn-key composite air wing.”
The new unit would include an unspecified number of A-4 Skyhawk attack jets, LASA T-Bird armed crop dusters, Gazelle and Super Puma helicopters, An-26 light transports, and a drone called Lioneye, which is reportedly a proprietary design belonging to Lancaster6 that can fly for up to 12 hours at a time. Military Times, which did not publish a copy of the proposal itself, did not say where the aircraft would come from, how much the entire package might cost, or how many individuals it would take for the air wing to function as advertised.
This Mysterious Military Spy Plane Has Been Flying Circles Over Seattle For Days
August 5th, 2017Via: The Drive:
A very unique USAF surveillance aircraft has been flying highly defined circles over Seattle and its various suburbs for nine days now. Nobody at the DoD seems to know who the aircraft belongs to or what exactly it is doing flying so many missions over the Seattle area. But based on its visibly exotic configuration, and information collected by open source flight tracking websites, we can get a good idea of its capabilities and guess as to what it’s up to.
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Above all else, these types of surveillance systems are especially good at capturing and monitoring so called “patterns of life” over and around a target area. This is an especially useful tool when collecting intelligence on an enemy target or group of targets over time and can open up new possibilities when it comes to the process of finding, fixing and finishing the enemy.
Simply put, instead of recording a snapshot in time such as what a satellite can furnish, persistent airborne surveillance sensors capture massive amounts of exploitable information over hours and days. So if a picture is akin to a thousand words, this persistent type of wide area aerial surveillance is equivalent to an entire novel or even a series of novels.
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Taken together, these responses would seem to point to what many observers might have already speculated immediately, that this was a mission or training exercise in support of the secretive Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) or a civilian agency such as the Central Intelligence Agency. This particular CN-235, with the serial 96-6042, is one of six that researchers commonly associated with the Air Force’s top secret 427th Special Operations Squadron.
Toyota and Mazda Will Work on Electric Cars Together
August 4th, 2017Via: Reuters:
Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) said on Friday it planned to take a 5 percent share of smaller Japanese rival Mazda Motor Corp (7261.T), as part of an alliance that will see the two build a $1.6 billion U.S. assembly plant and work together on electric vehicles.
The plant was a surprise for investors at a time of cooling U.S. sales, but marked good news for U.S. President Donald Trump who came to office on the back of promises to bring back manufacturing and jobs for U.S. workers. He commented on Twitter that it was a “great investment in American manufacturing”.
The plant, whose location is not yet public, will be able to produce 300,000 vehicles a year, with production divided between the two automakers, and employ about 4,000 people. It will start operating in 2021.
Analysts said the plan was more than a political ploy. The alliance is also an attempt to catch up with rivals in the race for electric car technology, as tighter global emissions rules loom, along with the entry of new players into the market.
Smartphones and Social Media Causing Mental Health Disaster with Children
August 4th, 2017Via: The Atlantic:
Even when a seismic event—a war, a technological leap, a free concert in the mud—plays an outsize role in shaping a group of young people, no single factor ever defines a generation. Parenting styles continue to change, as do school curricula and culture, and these things matter. But the twin rise of the smartphone and social media has caused an earthquake of a magnitude we’ve not seen in a very long time, if ever. There is compelling evidence that the devices we’ve placed in young people’s hands are having profound effects on their lives—and making them seriously unhappy.
Jim Marrs Died
August 4th, 2017Via: Jim Marrs / Facebook:
From the family of Jim Marrs: Jim died today from a heart attack. We will celebrate his life next month with a Texas size wake at our house.
Slain Activist’s Lawyers Latest Known Targets of Spyware Sold to Mexican Government
August 2nd, 2017Via: CBC:
At first glance, the text messages looked innocuous enough. One was a simple “service message,” the sort you might get from your cellular provider, with a link to more information.
Another was more serious; the person who sent it said their father had died, and included a link to “dates for the wake.”
But had Karla Michelle Salas or David Pena clicked on either of those links, their iPhones would have been directed to a specially crafted webpage designed to silently infect their devices with powerful surveillance software. Once in place, the attackers would have unfettered access to their targets’ contacts, messages, phone calls and more.
The spyware was developed by an Israeli company called NSO Group, a secretive dealer of so-called “cyber arms.” It was no coincidence that Salas and Pena, both Mexican lawyers, found the spyware attempting to worm its way into their phones.
According to a new report from researchers at the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab, released today, both Salas and Pena appear to have been targeted because of their roles investigating suspicious execution-style killings in Mexico, in what has become a disturbing trend among activists, journalists, lawyers and even scientists who similarly oppose or criticize the country’s government.
In recent months, Citizen Lab has publicly identified 21 cases in Mexico where NSO spyware has been used against members of civil society.
GCSB ‘Had No Idea’ Spy Gear Was Still Targeting Kim Dotcom
August 2nd, 2017Oh sure.
Via: New Zealand Herald:
THE GCSB lost control of its surveillance technology and wasn’t aware its systems continued spying on Kim Dotcom, according to new documents from the spy bureau.
It claimed that it turned off all surveillance systems targeting Dotcom and others but
found out more than a year later that surveillance continued without its knowledge.
The details in the documents have led Dotcom to state that there is now evidence the United States’ National Security Agency was carrying out surveillance on him.
Dotcom, who should have been protected from GCSB surveillance as a New Zealand resident, said the GCSB did not know because its equipment was being used by the NSA, which was “directly involved”.
“New Zealanders must know how much power a foreign state holds over their private information,” he told the New Zealand Herald.
Putin Bans VPNs to Stop Russians Accessing Prohibited Websites
August 1st, 2017Via: BBC:
Vladimir Putin has banned virtual private networks (VPNs) and Tor in a crackdown on apps that allow access to websites prohibited in Russia.
The law, signed by President Putin, was passed by Russia’s parliament last week and will come into force on 1 November.
A second law to ban anonymous use of online messaging services will take effect on 1 January next year.
Plastic Garbage Patch Bigger Than Mexico Found in Pacific
July 31st, 2017The ground up plastic is turning up in sea salt that people are eating now.
Via: National Geographic:
Water, water, everywhere—and most of it is filled with plastic.
A new discovery of a massive amount of plastic floating in the South Pacific is yet another piece of bad news in the fight against ocean plastic pollution. This patch was recently discovered by Captain Charles Moore, founder of the Algalita Research Foundation, a non-profit group dedicated to solving the issue of marine plastic pollution.
Moore, who was the first one to discover the famed North Pacific garbage patch in 1997, estimates this zone of plastic pollution could be upwards of a million square miles in size. (Read: A Whopping 91% of Plastic Isn’t Recycled.)
The team is currently processing the data and weighing the plastic so they can get a handle on exactly how much garbage they’ve discovered in this area off the coast of Chile and Peru.
