Homeland Security to Open Silicon Valley Office
June 17th, 2015Via: USA Today:
The Department of Homeland Security plans to open a satellite office in Silicon Valley, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson told a crowded hall at RSA, the world’s largest computer security conference, on Tuesday.
It’s also pushing back against moves by tech companies to digitally encode computer traffic to protect it from prying eyes.
Research Credit: almaverdad2
Man Faced 20 Years in Prison For Clearing Web Browser History
June 17th, 2015Via: Alternet:
Khairullozhon Matanov, a former taxi driver, is scheduled to appear in US Federal Court next week to face sentencing on charges of obstruction of justice related to the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing.
Matanov did not participate in or have any prior knowledge of the bombings, according to U.S. authorities. However, those facts are irrelevant.
Matanov could be locked in a cage for 20 years because he cleared his browser history in the days following the attacks.
A Grand Jury indictment issued on May 29, 2014, states that Matanov “deleted a large amount of information from his Google Chrome Internet cache” following the bombing, including “references to the video of the suspected bombers [later identified as the Tsarnaevs],” “two of the photographs of the bombers released at approximately the same time,” and “a photograph of Officer Sean Collier, who had been allegedly killed by Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev.”
For those who may be unfamiliar, if you browse the web, you have a cache. A cache is a repository for stored data that is used to expedite the process of retrieving data. Caches are used to speed up a process so that data does not have to be recomputed or fetched from its original location and, therefore, saves time.
Because Matanov deleted his cache, he was charged with “Destruction, Alteration, and Falsification of Records, Documents, and a Tangible Object in a Federal Investigation” which could land him in a cell for 20 years.
…
Fakhoury said that the government’s “underlying theory” is this:
“Don’t even think about deleting anything that may be harmful to you, because we may come after you at some point in the future for some unforeseen reason and we want to be able to have access to that data. And if we don’t have access to that data, we’re going to slap an obstruction charge that has as 20-year maximum on you.”
Research Credit: alvinroast, almaverdad2
Milwaukee County Residents Behind on Taxes and Fines Could Owe an Extra 15% to Pay for Sports Arena
June 17th, 2015Via: Journal Sentinel:
Milwaukee County residents behind on their property taxes or court fines would be charged an additional 15% under a proposal to use public money to pay for half the cost of a new arena for the Milwaukee Bucks.
Research Credit: bretwalda
GM, Nissan Will Offer Old Electric Car Battery Packs for Stationary Energy Storage
June 17th, 2015The aftermath of the Tesla Powerwall announcement has been pretty hilarious. Now everyone is coming out with stationary batteries for home and business use. However, nobody besides Tesla is willing to say how much their systems will cost.
Via: MIT Technology Review:
The Nissan Leaf went on sale in December 2010, which means that the batteries in the earliest models of the world’s most popular electric vehicle need, or will soon need, to be replaced. Those batteries are not necessarily bound for the recycling bin, though: on Monday Nissan announced the first commercial arrangement to use “second-life batteries,” recovered from EVs, in stationary energy storage systems.
Nissan formed a joint venture with Sumitomo Corp. to develop second-life battery applications not long after the Leaf first appeared. The automaker is working with energy storage supplier Green Charge Networks to redeploy the used batteries in systems for commercial and industrial customers. The announcement from the Japanese automaker came the day before GM unveiled its own battery reuse program: an administration building at GM’s Milford Proving Grounds in Michigan is now equipped with an energy storage system that uses batteries collected from Chevrolet Volts. GM made its announcement Tuesday at the Advanced Automotive Battery Conference in Detroit.
New Zealand: Electricity Cartel Might Double Transmission Costs for Far North, West Coast
June 16th, 2015Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand.
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“Changes could come in by early 2018.”
That’s nice.
I wonder if the Tesla Powerwall will be on the second or third version by then.
Via: Stuff:
The prospect of power bills jumping 10 per cent in Northland and the West Coast and almost 5 per cent in Auckland is “shocking”, according to energy campaigner Molly Melhuish.
Under one of the options being considered by the Electricity Authority for power grid transmission prices, some households in the Far North and West Coast could see yearly power bills rise by $200 to $250 a year.
Auckland prices could rise about $100 a year.
But in some areas including Wellington, power bills could fall about 2 per cent.
And for the Tiwai smelter, transmission costs could fall $50m a year which analysts said would mean the smelter was more likely to stay open, but Melhuish called it more “corporate welfare”.
…
One option is “Application A” which would essentially double the transmission costs part of the bill for households on the West Coast and in the Far North.
There would be a smaller, 4.5 per cent lift for Auckland for customers of the Vector lines network and for other areas including the Kapiti Coast (Electra) and Marlborough Lines.
The Electricity Authority put its options paper out for consultation with interested groups on Tuesday, with a final proposal expected next year. Changes could come in by early 2018.
…
“People will use less power, there will be more disease and more people will end up in hospital, (from cold homes),” Melhuish said.
There was also the risk that the industry would try to get rid of low fixed daily lines charges, which may rise from 33c a day to $2 a day, she said. Those charges were “coming under discussion” and such a move would mean an unavoidable cost that looked like a “tax”.
“You pay it, whatever”
But eventually people were likely to revolt from higher prices, and move off the national grid by using solar power panels and even batteries because they resented high power prices.
“They just want to get out,” she said.
Gunmen Attack Dallas Police Headquarters in Texas
June 13th, 2015Suspect Shot Dead by Police Sniper
Via: USA Today:
The gunman who riddled Dallas police headquarters with gunfire early Saturday and planted pipe bombs is believed to be dead after being shot by a sniper.
After leading officers on a 10-mile chase in an armored van, the sniper opened fire through a windshield after parking near a Jack-in-the-Box restaurant in the town of Hutchins, located about 12 miles south of Dallas, Police Chief David Brown said.
Brown said police feared the gunman, who had fired repeatedly at officers, would try again and could hit a nearby neighborhood. Negotiations deteriorated into “rants” from the gunman — who became “increasingly angry and threatening” — over a child custody issue before talks broke off altogether, police said.
“He expressed that he had C-4 (military grade explosives) on the van,” Brown said. “That’s our biggest concern. We don’t want to call his bluff.”
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Jade Helm, is that you?
Via: Stuff:
Multiple gunmen toting automatic weapons opened fire on officers outside Dallas Police headquarters early Saturday morning, before one man fled the scene being chased by police in what witnesses described as an armoured van.
Dallas Police Chief David Brown told reporters that witnesses said as many as four suspects were involved in the incident, which began around 12.30 am (local time) when the suspects parked in front of the building located south of downtown and began firing.
He said at least one of the suspects fled the scene in a van that rammed a police cruiser before leading police on a chase that ended in an ongoing standoff at parking lot in Hutchins, where additional gunfire was exchanged.
As Currency Dies, Zimbabweans Will Get $5 for 175 Quadrillion Zimbucks
June 12th, 2015Via: Reuters:
Zimbabweans will start exchanging ‘quadrillions’ of local dollars for a few U.S. dollars next week, as President Robert Mugabe’s government discards its virtually worthless national currency, the central bank said on Thursday.
The southern African country started using foreign currencies like the U.S. dollar and South African rand in 2009 after the Zimbabwean dollar was ruined by hyper-inflation, which hit 500 billion percent in 2008.
At the height of Zimbabwe’s economic crisis in 2008, Zimbabweans had to carry plastic bags bulging with bank notes to buy basic goods like bread and milk. Prices were rising at least twice a day.
From Monday, customers who held Zimbabwean dollar accounts before March 2009 can approach their banks to convert their Zimbabwean dollar balance into dollars, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Governor John Mangudya said in a statement.
The process will legally end the local currency. Zimbabweans have until September to turn in their old bank notes, which some people sell as souvenirs to tourists.
Bank accounts with balances of up to 175 quadrillion Zimbabwean dollars will be paid $5. Those with balances above 175 quadrillion dollars will be paid at an exchange rate of $1 to 35 quadrillion Zimbabwean dollars.
The highest – and last – bank note to be printed by the RBZ in 2008 was 100 trillion Zimbabwean dollars. It was not enough to ride a public bus to work for a week.
More U.S. Troops to Iraq
June 11th, 2015Via: CNN:
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey said Thursday that the U.S. military strategy in Iraq could require opening multiple outposts at Iraqi bases near the front lines of battle, which would mean sending hundreds of additional troops to the region to help fight ISIS.
Dempsey told reporters aboard a plane with him in Italy that the plan the White House announced earlier this week to establish a base at Taqaddam could be replicated in other parts of Iraq. He said they are considering bases that he described as “lily pads” near the front lines that would support Iraqi troops.
The White House announced Wednesday plans to deploy up to 450 additional U.S. forces to Iraq, largely to train Sunni tribes’ fighters, as well as plans to send weapons to Sunni tribes and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters to help them combat ISIS. Officials are considering sending up to 1,000 troops to the area, according to the Associated Press.
Texas Kids Told ‘It’s Illegal’ to Sell Lemonade Without a Permit
June 11th, 2015Kafkaesque
adjective Kaf·ka·esque \?käf-k?-?esk, ?kaf-\
Definition of KAFKAESQUE
: of, relating to, or suggestive of Franz Kafka or his writings; especially : having a nightmarishly complex, bizarre, or illogical quality
Via: ABC:
Two young sisters with an “entrepreneurial spirit” set up a lemonade stand in Overton, Texas, to raise money for their dad’s Father’s day gift, their mom said.
But Andria and Zoey Green’s business closed abruptly Monday after police came by to tell them their stand was illegal without a city Peddler’s Permit, according to Overton Police Department Chief Clyde Carter.
“It’s illegal to sell lemonade without a permit,” Carter told ABC News today. “But we didn’t tell them to shut down, we just asked them to get a permit.”
The girls’ mother, Sandi Evans, said they went to try to get a Peddler’s Permit at City Hall, but found out they’d have to get licensed by the Rusk County Health Department before being allowed a Peddler’s Permit.
The Rusk County Health Department did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for additional information including specific details about the process for getting a permit to sell lemonade.
Hackers Have Personnel Data on Every U.S. Government Employee
June 11th, 2015Via: AP:
Hackers stole personnel data and identity numbers for every federal employee, a government worker union said Thursday, saying that the cyber theft of U.S. employee information was more damaging than the Obama administration has acknowledged.
