Monday, December 25, 2017

25 December - Cryptogon ( from Feedly )

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Today

Hinkley Point: The ‘Dreadful Deal’ Behind the World’s Most Expensive Power Plant
Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand. — Via: Guardian: Hinkley Point, on the Somerset coast, is the biggest building site in Europe. Here, on 430 acres of muddy fields scattered with towering cranes and bright yellow diggers, the first new nuclear power station in the UK since 1995 is slowly taking shape. […]
Julian Assange’s Twitter Account Reappears After Mysterious Absence
Via: CBS: The official Twitter account of controversial WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange — @JulianAssange — is back online after disappearing from the social media platform overnight. It’s unclear whether the account was suspended by Twitter or deactivated by Assange. Representatives at Twitter did not immediately respond to CBS News’ request for comment.

Dec 22

Apple Faces Lawsuits Over Its Intentional Slowing of Older iPhones
Via: Guardian: Apple is facing lawsuits over the revelations that it intentionally slows down older iPhones without user consent. Apple has admitted to slowing down the iPhone 6, 6S, 7 and SE when their batteries are either old, cold or have a low charge to prevent abrupt shutdowns. Two separate class-action lawsuits were filed Thursday, […]
A Fight to the Death for the Elephants
Via: Los Angeles Times: Kambale Mate huddled beneath a tangle of grass, looking up at bright stars in a moonless sky, a tumble of chaotic events cascading through his mind. Where were the other wildlife rangers, Jean de Dieu Matongo and Joel Meriko Ari? Were they alive? He had been a ranger for only five […]
Goldman Is Setting Up a Cryptocurrency Trading Desk
Via: Bloomberg: At least one of Wall Street’s biggest firms is growing more comfortable with cryptocurrencies. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is setting up a trading desk to make markets in digital currencies such as bitcoin, according to people with knowledge of the strategy. The bank aims to get the business running by the end of […]

Dec 20

Plastic Found in Mussels from Arctic to China
Via: Reuters: Tiny bits of plastic are contaminating mussels from the European Arctic to China in a sign of the global spread of ocean pollution that can end up on people’s dinner plates. Mussels in apparently pristine Arctic waters had most plastic of any tested along the Norwegian coast, according to a study this month […]

Dec 18

Canada: Gag Order in CIA Brainwashing Case
Via: CBC News: Forty years after revelations that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency funded brainwashing experiments on unsuspecting Canadians, the Trudeau government is continuing a pattern of silencing the victims, a lawyer for one of the families says. A recent Department of Justice gag order in an out-of-court settlement was designed to avoid responsibility and […]
Cities Face Growing Crisis as RVs Become Homes of Last Resort
Via: East Bay Times: Bay Area cities are coming to realize what Ramirez already knows — parking tickets won’t solve the problem of finding a place to live. From Oakland to San Jose, officials are struggling to cope with a growing influx of RV dwellers seeking a safe, permanent place for the only homes they […]

Dec 17

China: Mass Disappearances
Via: USA Today: Nobody knows what happened to the Uighur student after he returned to China from Egypt and was taken away by police. Not his village neighbors in China’s far west, who haven’t seen him in months. Not his former classmates, who fear Chinese authorities beat him to death. Not his mother, who lives […]
YouTube Removes Health Ranger Podcast that Discusses FBI’s Routine Obstruction of Justice and Forensic Science Fraud
Via: Natural News: Seven weeks after the posting of a podcast that examines the FBI’s corruption and cover-up regarding the Mandalay Bay shooting in Las Vegas, YouTube has threatened to censor the Health Ranger channel for obvious political purposes. It’s part of the worsening pattern of censorship of political speech by YouTube, which is owned […]
California: Don’t Sleep Near Cell Phone or Carry In Pocket
Via: CBS News: California health officials have a new safety message for cellphone users. CBS San Francisco reports that for the first time ever, the California Department of Public Health is releasing guidelines about cellphone radiation and how you can reduce your exposure. “We recognize that there are a lot of people in the general […]
Norway Becomes First Scandinavian Country to Decriminalise Drugs
Via: Independent: Norway is to become the first Scandinavian country to decriminalise drugs as it focuses on treatment rather than punishment. The majority of the Norwegian parliament, the Storting, backed the historic shift which was supported by the Conservatives (Hoyre), Liberals (Venstre), the Labor Party (Ap) and the Socialist Left (SV). They directed the national […]
University of New South Wales: Chip Design Will Allow Quantum Calculations to be Performed Using Silicon
Disclosure: I have invested in technology related to quantum computing. Via: zdnet: A team of engineers from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) has unveiled the design of a working chip that can integrate quantum interactions. According to UNSW, the design, which can be manufactured using mostly standard industry processes and components, comprises a […]

Dec 16

Absurd Limited Hangout: Glowing Auras and ‘Black Money’: The Pentagon’s Mysterious U.F.O. Program
$22 million. *snort* Trillions of dollars missing, and Tom Delonge, the New York Times and the DoD present to you… Via: New York Times: In the $600 billion annual Defense Department budgets, the $22 million spent on the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program was almost impossible to find. Which was how the Pentagon wanted it. […]
Canadian Police Probe ‘Suspicious’ Deaths of Billionaire Couple
Via: Reuters: Canadian police said they were investigating the mysterious deaths of Barry Sherman, founder of Canadian pharmaceutical firm Apotex Inc, and his wife, Honey, one of the nation’s wealthiest couples whose bodies were found in their mansion on Friday. Police said they learned of the deaths after responding to a midday (1700 GMT) medical […]

Dec 14

Animal Shelter Tried to Use Security Robot to Scare Off Homeless People
Via: The Verge: An animal shelter in San Francisco has been criticized for using a robot security guard to scare off homeless people. The San Francisco branch of the SPCA (the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) hired a K5 robot built by Knightscope to patrol the sidewalks outside its facilities. According to […]

Dec 13

France to Ban Use of Mobile Phones in Schools from September
Via: Guardian: The French government is to ban students from using mobile phones in the country’s primary, junior and middle schools. Children will be allowed to bring their phones to school, but not allowed to get them out at any time until they leave, even during breaks. A proposed ban was included in Emmanuel Macron’s […]

Dec 12

Food Insecurity in Silicon Valley
Via: Guardian: In a region famed for its foodie culture, where the well-heeled can dine on gold-flecked steaks, $500 tasting menus and $29 loaves of bread, hunger is alarmingly widespread, according to a new study shared exclusively with the Guardian. One in four people in Silicon Valley are at risk of hunger, researchers at the […]
‘Here’s How to Shut Down the Internet: Snip Undersea Fiber-Optic Cables’
Via: McClatchy: Hundreds of thousands of miles of fiber-optic cable lay on the ocean floors, a crucial part of the global internet’s backbone, and only rarely do ship anchors, undersea landslides or saboteurs disrupt them. Still, a few voices now call for stronger global mechanisms and even military action to protect the cables against future […]
Screenshots from YouTube’s Video Demonitization Console
Via: TwitLonger: Google, some months ago, put out a job posting which required a number of different people to work on one project. Google claimed in the posting that they needed a third party company to work as “web search evaluators.” My contact worked for the unnamed company that put in for the job and […]

Dec 11

Botched Pipe Bomb Attack in Manhattan Subway Station
Via: Daily Mail: A Bangladeshi national in his 20s has been taken into custody with serious injuries after a suspected pipe bomb he was carrying malfunctioned and exploded prematurely inside a Midtown Manhattan subway station Monday morning. The explosion happened around 7:20am, in an underground tunnel linking the Port Authority Bus Terminal to Times Square. […]
Inside the First Church of Artificial Intelligence
Via: Wired: Anthony Levandowski makes an unlikely prophet. Dressed Silicon Valley-casual in jeans and flanked by a PR rep rather than cloaked acolytes, the engineer known for self-driving cars—and triggering a notorious lawsuit—could be unveiling his latest startup instead of laying the foundations for a new religion. But he is doing just that. Artificial intelligence […]

Dec 09

Quantum Computing Is the Next Big Security Risk
Disclosure: I have invested in technology related to quantum computing. — Via: Wired: The consequences of mastering quantum computing, while not as visual or visceral as a mushroom cloud, are no less significant than those faced by the scientists who lit up the New Mexico sky with the detonation at the Trinity test site 72 […]
One-Third of All Americans Killed by Strangers Are Killed by Police
Via: Granta: Americans are afraid of many threats to their lives – serial killers, crazed gunmen, gang bangers, and above all terrorists – but these threats are surprisingly unlikely. Approximately three-quarters of all homicide victims in America are killed by someone they know. And the real threat from strangers is quite different from what most […]

Dec 08

America’s Farmers Killing Themselves in Record Numbers
Via: Guardian: Last year, a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that people working in agriculture – including farmers, farm laborers, ranchers, fishers, and lumber harvesters – take their lives at a rate higher than any other occupation. The data suggested that the suicide rate for agricultural workers in 17 […]
Lincoln Partners with CLEAR for Biometric Security Service
Via: The News Wheel: Lincoln announced a new collaboration with CLEAR, provider of a means to bypass long lines for airport security by way of biometric information. The partnership will see Lincoln customers on the receiving end of complimentary CLEAR membership, which will enable them to skip the line at more than 30 airports and […]
Police Officer Who Executed Unarmed Father of Two Found Not Guilty of Murder
Via: Daily Mail: A former Arizona police officer was found not guilty of murder Thursday of in the 2016 fatal shooting of an unarmed man outside his hotel room, as video of the shocking moment is finally released by officials. Philip Mitchell Brailsford, 27, was found not guilty in the 2016 death of 26-year-old father-of-two […]
Tesla Is Working on Its Own New AI Chip
Via: Electrek: There have been rumors that Tesla is developing its own chip optimized for self-driving applications ever since we reported on the automaker quietly hiring legendary chip architect Jim Keller from AMD last year. Now CEO Elon Musk finally confirmed the rumor – specifying that Tesla is working on its own new AI chip […]

Dec 07

General Electric to Cut 12,000 Jobs in Power Business Revamp
Via: Reuters: General Electric Co (GE.N) is axing 12,000 jobs at its global power business, the struggling industrial conglomerate’s latest effort to shrink itself into a more focused company. The U.S. company launched the cuts to save $1 billion in 2018, saying it expected dwindling demand for fossil fuel power plants to continue. “Traditional power […]

Dec 05

Trump White House Weighing Plans For Private Spies To Counter “Deep State” Enemies
Via: The Intercept: THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION is considering a set of proposals developed by Blackwater founder Erik Prince and a retired CIA officer — with assistance from Oliver North, a key figure in the Iran-Contra scandal — to provide CIA Director Mike Pompeo and the White House with a global, private spy network that would […]
Google AI Spawns Other AIs
Via: Independent: Google has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) system that has created its own “child”. What’s more, the original AI has trained its creation to such a high level that it outperforms every other human-built AI system like it. It’s an impressive achievement, but one that could also trigger fears about what else AI […]

Dec 04

Philippines Orders Probe Into Sanofi Dengue Vaccine for 730,000 Children
Via: Reuters: The Philippines ordered an investigation on Monday into the immunization of more than 730,000 children with a vaccine for dengue that has been suspended following an announcement by French drug company Sanofi (SASY.PA) that it could worsen the disease in some cases.
A Quantum Boost for a Different Kind of Computer
Disclosure: I have invested in technology related to quantum computing. Via: MIT Technology Review: In two papers published today in the journal Nature, a team at MIT and Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and another from the University of Maryland and the National Institute of Standards in Washington D.C., reveal that they have built specialized types […]

Dec 03

Living in Cars, Working for Amazon: Meet America’s New Nomads
Via: Guardian: Millions of Americans are wrestling with the impossibility of a traditional middle-class existence. In homes across the country, kitchen tables are strewn with unpaid bills. Lights burn late into the night. The same calculations get performed again and again, through exhaustion and sometimes tears. Wages minus grocery receipts. Minus medical bills. Minus credit […]

Nov 29

Robots Are Coming for Jobs of as Many as 800 Million Worldwide
Via: Bloomberg: As many as 800 million workers worldwide may lose their jobs to robots and automation by 2030, equivalent to more than a fifth of today’s global labor force. That’s according to a new report covering 46 nations and more than 800 occupations by the research arm of McKinsey & Co. The consulting company […]
You Can Log Into macOS High Sierra as Root with No Password
Via: Register: A trivial-to-exploit flaw in macOS High Sierra, aka macOS 10.13, allows users to gain admin rights, or log in as root, without a password. The security bug can be triggered via the authentication dialog box in Apple’s operating system, which prompts you for an administrator’s username and password when you need to do […]

Nov 28

Bitcoin Hits US$10,000
Update: Bitcoin Hits US$11,000 — 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

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