Today
Google Demonstrates New AI Having Phone Conversations with Humans
Via:
Guardian: Google’s virtual assistant can now make phone calls on your
behalf to schedule appointments, make reservations in restaurants and
get holiday hours. The robotic assistant uses a very natural speech
pattern that includes hesitations and affirmations such as “er” and
“mmm-hmm” so that it is extremely difficult to distinguish from an
actual human […]
How Silicon Valley Elite Store Billions of Dollars Worth of Bitcoin
Via:
Bloomberg: Behind the guards, the blast doors and down corridors of
reinforced concrete, sit the encrypted computer servers — connected to
nothing — that hold keys to a vast digital fortune. Argentine
entrepreneur Wences Casares has spent the past several years persuading
Silicon Valley millionaires and billionaires that Bitcoin is the global
currency of […]
May 07
South Wales Police Facial Recognition System Generated 92% False Positives at Soccer Match
Via:
Engadget: Ask critics of police face recognition why they’re so
skeptical and they’ll likely cite unreliability as one factor. What if
the technology flags an innocent person? Unfortunately, that caution
appears to have been warranted to some degree. South Wales Police are
facing a backlash after they released data showing that their face
recognition […]
U.S. Navy Resurrecting Second Fleet
Via:
Independent: The US Navy is resurrecting its Second Fleet to counter
the renewed threat from Russia. Admiral John Richardson, chief of naval
operations, said the reformed group would control ships, aircraft and
landing forces on the East Coast and north Atlantic Ocean. “Our National
Defense Strategy makes clear that we’re back in an era […]
Oil Rises Past $70
Via:
Reuters: The dollar rose to fresh 2018 highs on Monday while oil prices
surged to their highest since late 2014, driven by declining Venezuelan
crude production and worries the Unites States could re-impose
sanctions on Iran. … U.S. crude rose 73 cents to $70.45 a barrel, while
Brent gained $1.22 to $76.09.
Australian Government Launches Urgent Fuel Security Review as Reserves Dip Below 50 Days
Via:
New Zealand Herald: Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg has ordered an
urgent review of Australia’s liquid fuel reserves as the country dips
below 50 days, but says it should “not be construed as Australia having a
fuel security problem”, reports news.com.au. The International Energy
Agency mandates that countries hold at least 90 days’ supply, but […]
May 05
More than 1,600 Arrested Amid Protests Against Putin in Russia
Via:
CBS: Russians angered by the impending inauguration of Vladimir Putin
to a new term as president demonstrated throughout the country on
Saturday. Police responded by reportedly arresting more than 1,600 of
them, including protest organizer Alexei Navalny, the anti-corruption
campaigner who is Putin’s most prominent foe. Police seized Navalny by
the arms and legs […]
May 04
New Zealand: Final Splice of Hawaiki Cable Complete; End-to-End Connectivity Confirmed
Via:
Hawaiki Cable Press Release: Hawaiki Submarine Cable LP and TE SubCom, a
TE Connectivity Ltd. company and an industry pioneer in undersea
communications technology, today announced that the final splice of the
Hawaiki Submarine Cable has been made and the system is on schedule to
be in service in June 2018. With the final […]
Volkswagen Doubles EV Battery Order To $48 Billion
Via:
Fortune: A few hours after Elon Musk berated analysts for what he
perceived as unimaginative questions, Volkswagen AG said it was writing a
check for batteries that almost match Tesla’s entire market value. VW
has awarded battery-purchasing contracts worth 40 billion euros ($48
billion), double from just a few weeks ago. The deals take […]
May 03
Giuliani: Trump Reimbursed Michael Cohen for Hush-Money Payment to Porn Star
Via:
NBC: Federal investigators have wiretapped the phone lines of Michael
Cohen, the longtime personal lawyer for President Donald Trump who is
under investigation for a payment he made to an adult film star who
alleged she had an affair with Trump, according to two people with
knowledge of the legal proceedings involving Cohen. It […]
CIA Emails to Journalists Don’t Have to be Released to Public, Judge Rules
Via:
McClatchy: The CIA can selectively divulge classified information to
selected reporters in emails yet withhold that information from other
journalists or members of the public when they seek the same information
under the Freedom of Information Act, a federal judge in New York has
ruled. … Judge Colleen McMahon of the Southern District of […]
Mercedes Gives Up on Home Energy Storage, Can’t Compete with Tesla
Man
oh man. Nobody said it was going to be easy. Via: GTM: Mercedes-Benz
will stop manufacturing residential batteries and dissolve its U.S.
energy subsidiary, ending a short-lived challenge to Tesla’s energy
storage empire.
May 02
Jeff Bezos Dreams of a World with a Trillion People Living in Space
My
guess is that he plans to ride out TEOTWAWKI in a personal submarine.
Via: CNBC: Dreaming big isn’t something Jeff Bezos has a problem with.
And true to form, the multi-billionaire’s vision for the world that his
great-grandchildren’s great-grandchildren will live in is pretty wild to
imagine. The Amazon and Blue Origin boss says […]
Apr 30
Chinese Firms Use ‘Mind-Reading’ Devices to Monitor Workers’ Emotions
As
I’ve always said (recent example) re: EEG data and these sorts of
claims: I doubt it works at all, but the fact that they’re trying is
disturbing enough. Via: Sydney Morning Herald: Workers in China are
being hooked up with brain-reading devices that feed information about
their moods to their employers, raising fears about […]
Drug Users Take Over Corridors of San Francisco Civic Center BART Station
#zombieapocalypse
Via: CBS: Shocking video is calling attention to what’s going on in one
of the busiest BART stations in the Bay Area: drug users blatantly
shooting up out in the open as commuters walk by, others slumped along
filthy corridors. It’s a gauntlet commuters walk through every morning
at the Civic Center BART and […]
Apr 29
Radio Frequency Vehicle Stopper
Via:
Defense One: The Defense Department’s Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Program,
or JNLWD, is pushing ahead with a new direct energy weapon that uses
high-powered microwaves to stop cars in their tracks without damaging
the vehicle, its driver, or anyone else. The jammer works by targeting
the car’s engine control unit causing it to reboot over […]
Britain: Students Can’t Read Analog Clocks, Traditional Clocks, “Could Be a Cause of Unnecessary Stress”
Prediction:
Students won’t be able to write, so they will need screens to take the
exams. Via: Telegraph: Schools are removing analogue clocks from
examination halls because teenagers are unable to tell the time, a head
teachers’ union has said. Teachers are now installing digital devices
after pupils sitting their GCSE and A-level exams complained […]
Apr 28
Dark Journalist X-Series: Pine Gap
Dark
Journalist is slowly and carefully weaving many strange threads
together with his outstanding X-Series. I usually post this sort of
material on the Cryptogon Backchannel, but I’m posting this to the main
page because Pine Gap is a standard Cryptogon topic, in terms of the
surveillance and communications aspects of the facility that we’re […]
Apr 27
Two Koreas Agree to End War This Year, Pursue Denuclearization
Via:
Bloomberg: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President
Moon Jae-in agreed Friday to finally end a seven-decade war this year,
and pursue the “complete denuclearization” of the Korean Peninsula. …
Kim and Moon embraced after signing the deal during a historic meeting
on their militarized border, the first time a North […]
High-Paying Trade Jobs Sit Empty, While High School Grads Line Up For University
Via:
NPR: Like most other American high school students, Garret Morgan had
it drummed into him constantly: Go to college. Get a bachelor’s degree.
“All through my life it was, ‘if you don’t go to college you’re going to
end up on the streets,’ ” Morgan said. “Everybody’s so gung-ho about
going to college.” So […]
Apr 26
Latin America: ‘Breathtaking Homicidal Violence’
Via:
Guardian: Latin America has suffered more than 2.5m murders since the
start of this century and is facing an acute public security crisis that
demands urgent and innovative solutions, a new report warns. “The sheer
dimensions of homicidal violence are breathtaking,” says the report by
the Igarapé Institute, a Brazil-based thinktank focused on security […]
Pig Brains Kept Alive After Decapitation
Via:
MIT Technology Review: In a step that could change the definition of
death, researchers have restored circulation to the brains of
decapitated pigs and kept the reanimated organs alive for as long as 36
hours. The feat offers scientists a new way to study intact brains in
the lab in stunning detail. But it […]
Apr 24
Electric Buses Are Hurting the Oil Industry
Disclosure:
I sell solar power systems in New Zealand. — Where’s the electricity
coming from to charge up those buses? A lot of it is still coming from
coal, but China’s coal use has peaked: The real game changer is clean
energy. The price of solar photovoltaic is at an all-time low, enough to
compete […]
“INTERROGATING ZUCKERBERG” – A Bad Lip Reading
Via: Bad Lip Reading:
Scientists Plan Huge European AI Hub to Compete with U.S.
Via:
Guardian: Leading scientists have drawn up plans for a vast
multinational European institute devoted to world-class artificial
intelligence (AI) research in a desperate bid to nurture and retain top
talent in Europe. The new institute would be set up for similar reasons
as Cern, the particle physics lab near Geneva, which was created after
[…]
World Wine Output Falls to 60-Year Low
DOOOOOOOM!
Via: Reuters: Global wine output fell to its lowest level in 60 years
in 2017 due to poor weather conditions in the European Union that
slashed production in the bloc, international wine organization OIV
said. Wine production totaled 250 million hectoliters last year, down
8.6 percent from 2016, data from the Paris-based International
Organisation […]
Headphones?
VERY
OFF TOPIC! — I’m going to give my Audio-Technica ATH-M50s to my wife to
replace her 17 year old, nearly-dead-and-not-good-to-start-with
ATH-M20s. I was pretty amazed with the sound of the M50s when I got them
back in 2010—at least for the first few minutes. After that, I went
through multiple phases of modifying the […]
Apr 23
Amazon Designing Some Sort of Home Robot
Via:
Bloomberg: Ten years ago, Amazon introduced the Kindle and established
the appeal of reading on a digital device. Four years ago, Jeff Bezos
and company rolled out the Echo, prompting millions of people to start
talking to a computer. Now Amazon.com Inc. is working on another big
bet: robots for the home. The retail […]
Apr 20
Bill Gates Backs Space Based Video Surveillance System for Entire Planet
Via:
TechCrunch: A new space imaging startup called EarthNow aims to provide
not just pictures of the planet on demand, but real-time video anywhere
a client desires. Its ambition is matched only by its pedigree: Bill
Gates, Intellectual Ventures, Airbus, SoftBank and OneWeb founder Greg
Wyler are all backing the play. Its promise is a […]
Apr 19
New Zealand: Billion-Dollar Soils Washing Into Rivers
Via:
Newsroom: We’re losing soil at an alarming rate, but there are some
gaping holes in our knowledge about why and where from, reports Eloise
Gibson You can’t grow a lot of food without soil, certainly not in a
dairy-, wine- and vege-hungry nation like New Zealand. Yet dirt – the
foundation of our food […]
Palantir Using War on Terror Tools to Track American Citizens
Via:
Bloomberg: The LAPD uses Palantir’s Gotham product for Operation Laser,
a program to identify and deter people likely to commit crimes.
Information from rap sheets, parole reports, police interviews, and
other sources is fed into the system to generate a list of people the
department defines as chronic offenders, says Craig Uchida, whose
consulting […]
Apr 18
Mentally
Ill Woman Wearing a Wig and Carrying a Loaded Gun, a Passport, and
$100,000 in Cash Arrested After Driving to CIA Headquarters
Via:
WTOP: A woman who drove into the CIA headquarters compound in McLean,
Virginia, with a loaded gun, a passport and $100,000 in cash while
wearing a wig is being held without bond. Charging documents said Beth
Huth drove her white Kia Soul onto CIA property in Langley last Friday
afternoon past signs restricting access […]
Arming the World: Inside Trump’s ‘Buy American’ Drive to Expand Weapons Exports
Via:
Reuters: In a telephone call with the emir of Kuwait in January, U.S.
President Donald Trump pressed the Gulf monarch to move forward on a $10
billion fighter jet deal that had been stalled for more than a year.
Trump was acting on behalf of Boeing Co, America’s second-largest
defense contractor, which had become […]
Apr 17
North and South Korea Reportedly Set to Announce Official End to War
Via:
Reuters: North and South Korea are in talks to announce a permanent end
to the officially declared military conflict between the two countries,
daily newspaper Munhwa Ilbo reported Tuesday, citing an unnamed South
Korean official. Ahead of a summit next week between North Korean
premier Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, […]
These Ex-Spies Are Harvesting Facebook Photos For A Massive Facial Recognition Database
Via:
Fortune: When Mark Zuckerberg appeared before the House Energy and
Commerce Committee last week in the aftermath of the Cambridge Analytica
revelations, he tried to describe the difference between “surveillance
and what we do.” “The difference is extremely clear,” a nervous-looking
Zuckerberg said. “On Facebook, you have control over your information…
the information we […]
Apr 16
Plutonium Dust Released from Closed Hanford Nuclear Weapons Site
Via:
Los Angeles Times: As crews demolished a shuttered nuclear weapons
plant during 2017 in central Washington, specks of plutonium were swept
up in high gusts and blown miles across a desert plateau above the
Columbia River. The releases at the Department of Energy cleanup site
spewed unknown amounts of plutonium dust into the environment, […]
Apr 15
Tesla Battery Degradation Less Than 10% After 160,000 Miles
Via:
Electrek: Battery degradation is one of the biggest concerns for
electric car owners and potential buyers, but data from Tesla battery
packs have been very reassuring so far. Now the latest data shows less
than 10% degradation of the energy capacity after over 160,000 miles on
Tesla’s battery packs. A group of Tesla owners […]
Apr 14
Art Bell Dead at Age 72—Days After Supporting a Friend’s Plan to Drive Into Area 51
Art
Bell has been in poor health for decades and he was a heavy smoker, so I
can’t say that his death comes as much of a surprise. But… Just before
he died, Art was supporting radio host Heather Wade in her plan to drive
into Area 51 as an act of civil disobedience. Initially, […]
AI Creates a 3D Model of a Person from Just a Few Seconds of Video
Via:
Science: Transporting yourself into a video game, body and all, just
got easier. Artificial intelligence has been used to create 3D models of
people’s bodies for virtual reality avatars, surveillance, visualizing
fashion, or movies. But it typically requires special camera equipment
to detect depth or to view someone from multiple angles. A new algorithm
[…]
China Is Nationalizing Its Tech Sector
Via:
Bloomberg: As Bloomberg News reported this week, a key stumbling block
in trade negotiations between China and the U.S. has been Beijing’s
extensive support for its technology firms. But if President Donald
Trump’s administration thinks that will change any time soon, it hasn’t
been paying attention: Far from reducing support for the tech sector,
[…]
Donald Trump Claims ‘Mission Accomplished’
Via:
Independent: Donald Trump has claimed “mission accomplished” over the
raids on Syria – echoing the ill-fated words of George W Bush fifteen
years earlier when he spoke about Iraq. Speaking hours after US, UK and
French forces hit three targets in Syria they said were associated with
the production, storage and use of chemical […]
Apr 13
China Sending Plants, Insects to the Moon
Via:
Quartz: Almost half a century ago, the first human landed on the moon,
marking “a giant leap for mankind.” This year, China is sending seeds of
plants and insects there. Seeds of potatoes and arabidopsis—a small
flowering plant belonging to the mustard family—along with silkworm
cocoons, will hitch a ride with the Chang’e-4 lander […]
U.S., Britain And France Attack Syria
Former
Head Of British Armed Forces In Iraq Tells Truth About Syria, Is Cut
Off By Sky News: While every politician in the world and their
mainstream media lackeys are chomping at the bit to “unleash hell” on
Assad and Syria, there are some that are willing to question the “Assad
chemically attacked his own […]
Apr 12
Woman Behind Effort to Stop Release of Genetically Engineered Mosquitoes Found Dead in Swimming Pool
Via:
MemoryHole: On Tuesday, April 10 Washington DC authorities recovered
the body of Key West-based environmental activist Milagro de Mier from
the pool of a hotel close to the DC Convention Center . de Mier was in
the nation’s capital to raise awareness and petition the US Food and
Drug Administration and Environmental Protection Agency […]
‘Semi-Infinite’ Trove of Rare-Earth Metals Found in Japanese Seabed
Via:
CNBC: Researchers have found hundreds of years’ worth of critical
rare-earth metals beneath Japanese waters — enough to supply to the
world on a “semi-infinite basis,” according to a study published on
Tuesday. The materials sit in a roughly 965-square-mile Pacific Ocean
seabed near Minamitorishima Island, which is located 1,150 miles
southeast of Tokyo, […]
Apr 11
Los Angeles: “Guest Houses” in Backyards — For Homeless People
Via:
Los Angeles Times: “Not in my backyard” protests helped block homeless
housing in Temple City, delayed it in Boyle Heights and, last month,
killed Orange County’s plan to relocate homeless people to shelters.
Now, Los Angeles officials want to turn NIMBYism on its head — by paying
property owners to put houses for homeless […]
Syria War: Trump Says Missiles ‘Will Be Coming’
Wow.
This is very nuts: Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired
at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new
and “smart!” You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who
kills his people and enjoys it! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
April 11, 2018 Via: […]
Apr 10
Facebook Donated to 46 of 55 Members on Committee That Will Question Zuckerberg
Via:
USA Today: Members of the House and Senate committees that will
question Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg about user privacy protection next
week are also some of the biggest recipients of campaign contributions
from Facebook employees directly and the political action committee
funded by employees. The congressional panel that got the most Facebook
contributions is […]
Apr 09
FBI Raids Offices, Home of Trump’s Personal Lawyer
Via:
Reuters: The Federal Bureau of Investigation on Monday raided the
offices and home of U.S. President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer
Michael Cohen, law enforcement sources said, in a dramatic new
development in a series of probes involving close Trump associates.
Cohen’s lawyer, Stephen M. Ryan, said that U.S. prosecutors conducted a
search that was […]
California: SB-1424 Internet: Social Media: False Information: Strategic Plan
Via:
Jon Rappoport: This bill would require any person who operates a social
media, as defined, Internet Web site with a physical presence in
California to develop a strategic plan to verify news stories shared on
its Web site. The bill would require the plan to include, among other
things, a plan to mitigate the […]
Apr 08
CRISPR’d Food, Coming Soon to a Supermarket Near You
Via:
Wired: FOR YEARS NOW, the US Department of Agriculture has been
flirting with the latest and greatest DNA manipulation technologies.
Since 2016, it has given free passes to at least a dozen gene-edited
crops, ruling that they fall outside its regulatory purview. But on
Wednesday, March 28, the agency made its relationship status official;
[…]
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