This Is Extremely Dangerous to Our Democracy
April 1st, 2018
Via: Sinclair Broadcast Group:
Ever Record a Video on Facebook? Facebook Still Has It.
March 31st, 2018Via: New York Magazine:
Have you downloaded your Facebook data archive yet? Facebook makes it easy to obtain a ZIP file of all the data it has on you: your status updates, your friend list, your messages … and, as I and several people I spoke with were surprised to discover, every video you ever filmed on the platform — including videos you never published.
Israeli Forces Kill Seven Palestinian Protesters on Gaza Border; Hundreds Injured
March 30th, 2018Via: Reuters:
At least seven Palestinians were killed and hundreds injured by Israeli security forces confronting one of the largest Palestinian demonstrations along the Israel-Gaza border in recent years, Gaza medical officials said.
One of the dead was aged 16 and most of the casualties were struck by gunfire, according to Palestinian medics who estimated the number of wounded at around 500 by mid-afternoon.
The Israeli military said that its troops had used “riot dispersal means and firing towards main instigators” and that some of the demonstrators were “rolling burning tires and hurling stones” at the border fence and at soldiers.
Palestinian health officials said Israeli forces used mostly gunfire against the protesters, in addition to tear gas and rubber bullets. Witnesses said the military had used a drone in at least one location to drop tear gas.
VW Diesel Graveyards
March 30th, 2018Pretty wild video.
Via: Reuters:
Volkswagen AG has paid more than $7.4 billion to buy back about 350,000 U.S. diesel vehicles through mid-February, a recent court filing shows. The German automaker has been storing hundreds of thousands of vehicles around the United States for months.
Volkswagen has 37 secure storage facilities around the United States housing nearly 300,000 vehicles, the filing from the program’s independent administrator said. The lots include a shuttered suburban Detroit football stadium, a former Minnesota paper mill and a sun-bleached desert graveyard near Victorville, California.
VW spokeswoman Jeannine Ginivan said in a statement on Wednesday that the storage facility in Victorville, California, is one of many “to ensure the responsible storage of vehicles that are bought back under the terms of the Volkswagen” diesel settlements.
Cult Leader Charged with Sex Trafficking
March 29th, 2018Via: BBC:
Keith Raniere, the leader of an elusive US self-help group, has been arrested by the FBI in Mexico and charged with sex trafficking.
Federal prosecutors allege Mr Raniere oversaw a “slave and master” system in his group called Nxivm, where female members were expected to have sex with him and were branded with his initials.
He is expected to appear in court on the charges in Texas on Tuesday.
Mr Raniere left the country last year after former members spoke to US media.
A number of women came forward for an investigation published in the New York Times newspaper in October, which led to the United States attorney’s office in Brooklyn opening an investigation into the group.
After the piece, a letter by Mr Raniere denied any such practices were sanctioned by the group and said an independent investigation found “no merit” to the allegations.
What is Nxivm?
On its website Nxivm (pronounced nexium) describes itself as a “community guided by humanitarian principles that seek to empower people and answer important questions about what it means to be human.”
Based in Albany in upstate New York, the group was founded as Executive Success Programs in 1998 and says it has worked with more than 16,000 people.
Members of the group are reported to include wealthy heiresses, the son of a former Mexican president and Hollywood actresses.
Research Credit: Eileen
U.S. to Seek Social Media Details From All Visa Applicants
March 29th, 2018Via: Bloomberg:
The State Department wants to require all U.S. visa applicants to submit their social media usernames, previous email addresses and phone numbers, vastly expanding the Trump administration’s enhanced vetting of potential immigrants and visitors.
In documents to be published in Friday’s Federal Register, the department said it wants the public to comment on the proposed new requirements, which will affect nearly 15 million foreigners who apply for visas to enter the U.S. each year. Previously, social media, email and phone number histories were only sought from applicants identified for extra scrutiny, such as those who have traveled to areas controlled by terrorist organizations. An estimated 65,000 people per year are in that category.
The new rules would apply to virtually all applicants for immigrant and non-immigrant visas. The department estimates it would affect 710,000 immigrant visa applicants and 14 million non-immigrant visa applicants, including those who want to come to the U.S. for business or education, according to the documents.
Microsoft Edges Closer to Quantum Computer Based on Elusive Particle
March 29th, 2018Disclosure: I am long Quantum Resistant Ledger (QRL).
—
Via: Bloomberg:
At Microsoft Corp.’s Dutch research facility at the Delft University of Technology, several large cylindrical metal tubes hang from the ceiling.
Each tube – a dilution refrigerator used to cool circuits down to temperatures colder than deep space – costs more than $500,000, and has helped Microsoft’s researchers create an elusive subatomic particle that the company hopes will serve as the building block of its effort to create commercially-viable quantum computers.
The scientists say they have clear evidence of the creation of Majorana fermions – an elementary particle that its own anti-particle –in a tiny wire that is composed of both semiconducting and superconducting materials, according to research published in the journal Nature Wednesday.
The unique properties of these fermions means that they could be used to create quantum computers with much lower error rates than the designs being trialed by rival companies, such as International Business Machines Corp. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google, that are also racing to bring quantum computers to market. Currently, those other designs produce too many errors in their calculations to be useful for practical applications, such as the ability to create new chemical catalysts or break the most popular forms of encryption.
Microsoft will now attempt to braid these tiny fermions to create qubits – the fundamental calculating hardware used in quantum computers. Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s chief executive officer, has said that quantum computing is one of three breakthrough technologies – the others are artificial intelligence and augmented reality – that will be critical to the future of the company. Microsoft hopes to eventually rent time on quantum computers to businesses through its cloud computing network.
Russia Orders Out 60 U.S. Diplomats Over Spy Poisoning Affair
March 29th, 2018Via: Reuters:
Russia expelled 60 U.S. diplomats on Thursday and announced it would eject scores from other countries that have joined London and Washington in censuring Moscow over the poisoning of a spy.
The U.S. ambassador was also ordered to shut the consulate in St Petersburg, in Russia’s retaliation for the biggest expulsion of diplomats since the Cold War.
The White House said Moscow’s decision marked a further deterioration in the U.S.-Russia relationship.
“Russia’s response was not unanticipated and the United States will deal with it,” the White House said in a statement without elaborating.
Related: U.S. Expels 60 Russian Diplomats, Shutters Seattle Consulate
Monero Less Untraceable Than It Seems
March 29th, 2018Via: Wired:
Monero is designed to mix up any given Monero “coin” with other payments, so that anyone scouring Monero’s blockchain can’t link it to any particular identity or previous transaction from the same source. But in a recent paper, a team of researchers from a broad collection of institutions—including Princeton, Carnegie Mellon, Boston University, MIT, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign—point to flaws in that mixing that make it possible to nonetheless extract individual transactions.
That shouldn’t just worry anyone trying to stealthily spend Monero today. It also means evidence of earlier not-quite-untraceable payments remain carved into Monero’s blockchain for years to come, visible for any snoop that cares to look.
Emergency Room Visit for Kidney Stone Situation, Now What?
March 28th, 2018Warning: Nothing that appears on Cryptogon should be viewed as medical advice.
—
Update: Thanks to everyone who wrote in with their experiences and information!
—
At around 2am last night, I experienced a sudden onset of severe pain between my right side and lower back and down into my groin. The pain quickly grew in intensity. I knew that whatever was happening, I was in trouble. I drove myself to the hospital. (In case you’re wondering, paramedics would take 30 to 45 minutes to reach us—best case.)
Hospital staff tried to give me oral pain meds, but I puked them up within a couple of minutes. And I kept puking, shaking and wimpering for them to do something.
I thought that I was going to die.
I was passing a kidney stone.
Wikipedia describes the pain like this:
The hallmark of a stone that obstructs the ureter or renal pelvis is excruciating, intermittent pain that radiates from the flank to the groin or to the inner thigh. This pain, known as renal colic, is often described as one of the strongest pain sensations known.
Yep.
I was muttering incoherently and I remember my pleas going quieter. I think I was blacking out. There was no doctor in the hospital, only a nurse who was in phone contact with a doctor. I heard the nurse say on the phone, “His pain is 10 out of 10.”
The nurse put in an IV line and started injecting stuff into me. I lost track of time. Eventually, she asked me how I was feeling, and I think I said something like, “I’m fucked. It’s game over. Whatever you gave me isn’t working.”
Back on the phone with the doctor.
“He’s still 8 out of 10 at least.”
I can then remember her hooking me up to a bottle of clear liquid. I don’t know what that stuff was, but a half hour later, I had no pain. She asked what my pain level was and I had no pain at all.
Then I fell asleep.
Hours later, the doctor who was calling the shots on the phone was standing beside my bed. She told me about kidney stones and pretty much said that I need to drink a lot more water.
She prescribed two drugs for me to take that she said would, “Help things settle down in the days ahead.”
I was in such a terrified, zonked out state that I said, “Ok, I’ll do anything you say to do.”
The drugs were Doxazosin and Diclofenac.
The label on the Doxazosin says to stop taking it if dizziness occurs. Fair enough. Then I typed it into Google and this is my favorite potential side effect:
“Rarely, males may have a painful or prolonged erection lasting 4 or more hours. If this occurs, stop using this drug and get medical help right away, or permanent problems could occur.”
Wow. That’s just great.
Then there’s this on Diclofenac:
“This medicine may cause life-threatening heart or circulation problems such as heart attack or stroke, especially if you use it long term. Do not use diclofenac just before or after heart bypass surgery (coronary artery bypass graft, or CABG).
Get emergency medical help if you have chest pain, weakness, shortness of breath, slurred speech, or problems with vision or balance.
This medicine may also cause serious effects on the stomach or intestines, including bleeding or perforation (forming of a hole). These conditions can be fatal and can occur without warning while you are taking diclofenac, especially in older adults.”
My question to doctors and people who have gone through this kidney stone situation out there in Cryptogon-land is this:
Do the potential benefits of taking these dangerous drugs outweigh the risks???
