Open Thread: Trump Wiretap Claims
March 6th, 2017I haven’t posted anything about this because I have no idea what all the fuss is about.
Where is the uproar over the spook’s data center in Utah? Man, if you think that place is only used to store information gleaned from taps on foreigners, I’ve got a bridge to sell you. Retroactive surveillance? Remember that one? It was a warning about what evil regimes would do with increasingly powerful—but cheaper—surveillance technology. And then we had parallel construction, which was met with a collective yawn and then quickly washed away down the memory hole.
Anyway, Trump’s tapped, you’re tapped, I’m tapped. We’re all tapped.
The news is almost unreadable because of this Trump wiretapping flap. All of my feeds are polluted with it. I’m ready wind down with green tea and an audiobook. Maybe you guys have something to add.
TSA Warns Local Police About Its New Airport Pat-Downs
March 6th, 2017Via: Bloomberg:
The U.S. Transportation Security Administration has declined to say exactly where—and how—employees will be touching air travelers as part of the more invasive physical pat-down procedure it recently ordered.
The most important business stories of the day.
But the agency does expect some passengers to consider the examination unusual. In fact, the TSA decided to inform local police just in case anyone calls to report an “abnormal” federal frisking, according to a memo from an airport trade association obtained by Bloomberg News. The physical search, for those selected to have one, is what the agency described as a more “comprehensive” screening, replacing five separate kinds of pat-downs it previously used.
The decision to alert local and airport police raises a question of just how intimate the agency’s employees may get. On its website, the TSA says employees “use the back of the hands for pat-downs over sensitive areas of the body. In limited cases, additional screening involving a sensitive area pat-down with the front of the hand may be needed to determine that a threat does not exist.”
Automated Mining Will Cost Jobs and Tax Income
March 6th, 2017And the remaining employees, living in “company-run mining camps” are to be monitored by the same sensor technology used to monitor the machines:
Thousands of Rio Tinto personnel live in company-run mining camps, spending not just work hours but leisure and home time in space controlled by their employer – which in this emerging era of smart infrastructure presents the opportunity to hoover up every detail of their lives.
Rio Tinto is no stranger to using technology to improve efficiency, having replaced human-operated vehicles with automated haul trucks and trains controlled out of a central operations centre in Perth.
The company is embarking on an attempt to manage its remaining human workers in the same way, and privacy advocates fear it could set a precedent that extends well beyond the mining industry.
Via: Guardian:
From a distance, everything looks normal at Rio Tinto’s Yandicoogina and Nammuldi mines in Pilbara, Western Australia. Huge trucks trundle along the mines’ reddish-brown terraced sides laden with high-grade iron ore. Back and forth, almost endlessly.
Watch for long enough, however, and you’ll see that no-one ever steps out of the cab. No lunch stops. No toilet breaks. No change of shift. That’s because these house-sized trucks are being remotely operated by ‘drivers’ based 1,200 kilometres away in Perth.
Automation is fast becoming a reality in the world of mining. Rio Tinto is reportedly trialling driverless trains and robotic drilling at its Pilbara sites too. Tele-remote ship loaders, automated rock breakers and semi-autonomous crushers are just some of the high-tech equipment now being rolled out by the sector’s leading edge companies.
Canada: No Plans to Clamp Down at Border to Deter Illegal Immigrants Fleeing U.S.
March 6th, 2017I’m no rocket scientist, but if “hundreds” are willing to take the shoe leather express to Canada in February and March, what’s going to happen when the snow melts?
Via: Reuters:
Canada will not tighten its border to deter migrants crossing illegally from the United States in the wake of a U.S. immigration crackdown because the numbers are not big enough to cause alarm, a government minister said on Saturday.
Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said the issue had not risen to a scale that required hindering the flow of goods and people moving across the world’s longest undefended border.
Hundreds of people, mainly from Africa and the Middle East, have defied winter conditions and walked across the border, seeking asylum. They are fleeing President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, migrants and refugee agencies say.
It is not common to have so many asylum seekers in the United States looking for refuge in Canada over such a short period. The influx poses a political risk for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who faces pressure from the left, which wants more let in, and from the right, which fears an increased security risk.
Russia: Small House 3D Printed in Place in 24 Hours
March 6th, 2017Via: Mashable:
Located in Russia, this 400-square-foot home (37 square meters) was built in just a day, at a cost of just over $10,000.
3D-printing company Apis Cor built the house using a mobile printer on-site.
Company Website: ApisCor
Britain: Surge in Children Being Admitted to Hospital for Sleeping Disorders
March 5th, 2017Via: Telegraph:
Three times as many children under 14 are being admitted into hospital with sleeping disorders than ten years ago as technology keeps many awake at night.
Households where both parents work are also pushing bedtimes later, with a lack of sleep raising fears of poor school performance and later life health woes.
It puts children at greater risk of developing mental health issues, catching viruses and becoming obese, according to past research. Studies have also linked a lack of sleep to low levels of emotional control.
Specialists fear the problem could worsen unless it is addressed now, and believe moves should be made to tackle it on the public health agenda.
Aussie’s Weird Immigration Interview in the U.S.
March 5th, 2017Via: news.com.au:
“Have you been here before?”
“Yes.”
“How long are you here?”
“10 days.”
“What will you be doing?”
“Vacationing.”
Thornton told news.com.au he got the sense he was about to be allowed in, so he picked up his bags as the officer asked one last question.
“What do you do for a living?”
“I told him I’m a software engineer. He asked if I knew Python code, and I said yes. It’s a programming language, like C or Java, and it’s pretty standard,” Thornton said.
The follow-up question was something he’d ever been asked before.
“‘I’ve got a problem, I’m trying to write a computer program, can you help me?’”
Thornton said he was so surprised he didn’t know what to think.
“I was a little bit taken aback, because I thought I was going to get straight in.
“He started to read off his computer, and I got the feeling he was trying to trick me. I just wanted to get into the US, so I said: ‘Of course’.”
He said the officer appeared to be mid to senior level, and there’s no chance the conversation would have been overheard by anyone else in line.
For the next few minutes, he was forced to prove his worth — even given a pen and paper to record his answers.
“He administered a literal computer science test. It wasn’t a savant-level one like you hear of at Google, but it was definitely a test.
“The vibe I got was weird. He asked me a question, then asked me a follow-up question to prove I wasn’t lying.
“Do they not allow bad software engineers into the United States?” Thornton joked.
Electronic Energy Meters’ False Readings Almost Six Times Higher Than Actual Energy Consumption
March 4th, 2017Via: Science Bulletin:
Some electronic energy meters can give false readings that are up to 582% higher than actual energy consumption. This emerged from a study carried out by the University of Twente (UT), in collaboration with the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (AUAS). Professor Frank Leferink of the UT estimates that potentially inaccurate meters have been installed in the meter cabinets of at least 750,000 Dutch households. The is published in the scientific journal IEEE Electromagnetic Compatibility Magazine.
In the Netherlands, traditional energy meters (kWh) — the familiar energy meter with a rotating disc — are being increasingly replaced by electronic variants (which are also known as ‘static energy meters’). One well-known variant of the latter is the ‘smart meter’. The Dutch government wants smart meters in every household by 2020.
…
The meters were connected, via an electric switchboard, to a range of power-consuming appliances, such as energy saving light bulbs, heaters, LED bulbs and dimmers. The researchers then compared the actual consumption of the system with the electronic energy meter’s readings.
582 percent
In the experiments (which were entirely reproducible), five of the nine meters gave readings that were much higher than the actual amount of power consumed. Indeed, in some setups, these were up to 582 percent higher. Conversely, two of the meters gave readings that were 30 percent lower than the actual amount of power consumed.
The greatest inaccuracies were seen when dimmers combined with energy saving light bulbs and LED bulbs were connected to the system. According to Mr Keyer (lecturer Electrical Engineering at the AUAS and PhD student at the UT) “OK, these were laboratory tests, but we deliberately avoided using exceptional conditions. For example, a dimmer and 50 bulbs, while an average household has 47 bulbs.”
U.S. Airport Pat-Downs Are About to Get More Invasive
March 4th, 2017Via: Bloomberg:
While few have noticed, U.S. airport security workers long had the option of using five different types of physical pat-downs at the screening line. Now those options have been eliminated and replaced with a single universal approach. This time, you will notice.
The new physical touching—for those selected to have a pat-down—will be be what the federal agency officially describes as a more “comprehensive” physical screening, according to a Transportation Security Administration spokesman.
Denver International Airport, for example, notified employees and flight crews on Thursday that the “more rigorous” searches “will be more thorough and may involve an officer making more intimate contact than before.”
The Master Microfixer Teaching the World to Fix iPhones
March 2nd, 2017Idea for a great little business.
Via: Motherboard:
