'US clamps down on Bitcoin, fears lack of control'
US authorities have frozen the account of the world’s largest Bitcoin exchange, which helps move the customers’ cash online. The booming digital currency has…that is messed up.
And this, children, is what we call a ‘forced monopoly’.
Do you see the oppression of the state now?
More like they the state does not want competition from Bitcoin. The Federal Reserve can’t keep in control if there is competition from other non-central bank currencies. Why the goverment also went after the Liberty Coin a few years back.
(via lifeobservinglife)
How to work amateur radio satellites with your handheld (HT) radio (by moleculo)
California Lawmaker Wants 3-D Printers To Be Regulated - Slashdot
New submitter phrackthat writes with news that California State Senator Leland Yee (D-S.F.) says he wants regulations to track who owns and uses 3-D printers. Yee’s comments come in response to the recent news of Defense Distributed’s successful test-firing of a 3-D printed gun. “He’s concerned that just about anyone with access to those cutting-edge printers can arm themselves. ‘Terrorists can make these guns and do some horrible things to an individual and then walk away scott-free, and that is something that is really dangerous,’ said Yee. He said while this new technology is impressive, it must be regulated when it comes to making guns. He says background checks, requiring serial numbers and even registering them could be part of new legislation that he says will protect the public. Yee added, ‘This particular gun has no trace whatsoever.’”’Basically he believes anyone who owns a 3d printers is automatically a terrorist or a criminal, unless the goverment says otherwise. For our protection. We have to register our property with the goverment and have permission of said goverment to own a 3d printer. What a nice world we live in. Also something I predicted would be tried 3 months ago.
Poor Richard's News: Surprise! Justice Department demands 3D printable gun blueprints be taken offline
Well, that didn’t take long. Just a couple days after Defense Distributed released the plans for a 3D printable gun on the internet, the Obama Justice Department is demanding that the plans be removed from the non-profit company’s website.
from Forbes:
On Thursday, Defense Distributed…
I believe this will be the crony excuse to heavily regulate 3d printers or ban them out right for individual ownership. So we small people wont be able to compete with traditional manufacturing and the goverment.
Like how the RIAA/MPAA if they had the foresight would have banned MP3 players 10 years ago, along with CD-Rs and anything else they considered to be subverting the entertainment industry.
I guarantee the manufacturing world wont be so bureaucratic or slow about it. Just try to ban them sooner then later, and not make the same mistakes the music and movie industries made.
(via anunreliablesource)
State Department Forces Texas Law Student to Take Down Printable Gun Files
“It’s going to be a long time before it’s back online,” says Defense Distributed’s Cody Wilson.Breaking.
Federal judge denies motion to throw out evidence gathered via fake cell tower
In a criminal case on Wednesday, a federal judge denied a motion to suppress evidence gathered with the help of a stingray—a device that can create a false cellphone tower signal.
The use of a stingray allows authorities to determine a specific mobile phone’s precise location. The technology isn’t new and many believe law enforcement agencies nationwide have used them for many years.
» via ars technica
Eric Schmidt: Google Glass Critics 'Afraid of Change,' Society Will Adapt - Slashdot
“Eric Schmidt came to Harvard this week to discuss his new book, but many students really wanted to know more about the implications for privacy and social interaction once Google Glass starts hitting the market. Schmidt cautioned against jumping to the worst conclusions, saying that society always tends to adapt to new technologies — and he’s hoping for etiquette rather than government regulation. Of course, that’s what you would say if you used to run a company that has been fined and paid settlements to regulators for the way it scoops up data and tracks users. But Schmidt also doesn’t have much patience for critics: ‘Criticisms are inevitably from people who are afraid of change, or who have not figured out that there will be an adaptation of society.’”Just like we’ve adapted to drones and paramilitary!
Military grooms new officers for war in cyberspace
Once viewed as an obscure and even nerdy pursuit, cyber is now seen as one of the hottest fields in warfare — “a great career field in the future,” said Ryan Zacher, a junior at the Air Force Academy outside Colorado Springs, Colo., who switched from aeronautical engineering to computer science.
Last year the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., began requiring freshmen to take a semester on cybersecurity, and it is adding a second required cyber course for juniors next year.
The school offered a major in cyber operations for the first time this year to the freshman class, and 33 midshipmen, or about 3 percent of the freshmen, signed up for it. Another 79 are majoring in computer engineering, information technology or computer science, bringing majors with a computer emphasis to about 10 percent of the class.
“There’s a great deal of interest, much more than we could possibly, initially, entertain,” said the academy’s superintendent, Vice Adm. Michael Miller.
» via Yahoo! News
Secretive Spy Court Approved Nearly 2,000 Surveillance Requests in 2012
A secretive federal court last year approved all of the 1,856 requests to search or electronically surveil people within the United States “for foreign intelligence purposes,” the Justice Department reported this week.
The report, released Tuesday to Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader from Nevada, provides a brief glimpse into the caseload of what is known as the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. None of its decisions are public.
The 2012 figures represent a 5 percent bump from the prior year, when no requests were denied either.
» via Wired
CHI 2013: Microsoft IllumiRoom Full Demo
“Our vision for a fully developed IllumiRoom system includes an ultra-wide field of view device sitting on the user’s coffee table, projecting over a large area surrounding the television,” Microsoft Research said in a CHI 2013 document.
“The device would be connected wirelessly to a next generation gaming console as a secondary display. The ultra-wide field of view could be obtained with an ultra-short throw projector, or by coupling a standard projector with a spherical/parabolic mirror. The room geometry could be acquired with a depth sensor or a structured light scan.”
[read more @microsoft] [paper] [via nerdcore]
Report: CIA Wanted To Hack Drug Cartels | Fast Company | Business Innovation
Just wrote for @fastcompany.
Rewriting history with ‘DuckTales Remastered’
DuckTales has been away for a long time. Ever since the animated series ended its run in 1990, we haven’t heard much from Uncle Scrooge and his great-nephews — but Capcom is hoping to change that. The company recently announced that it was working on a remastered version of the beloved NES version of DuckTales, slated to hit the PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii U as a downloadable release sometime this summer. And with the help of Disney and developer WayForward Technologies, the new title is aiming to not only be faithful to the game it’s based on, but also the show. WayForward is working to ensure that the game plays the way you remember it, albeit with a few new twists, while Disney is helping out by providing everything from original art assets to the real voice actors from the show — Alan Young, who plays Scrooge, is on board, despite being in his mid-90s. “We really respect the original vision,” WayForward’s Austin Ivansmith tells The Verge.
Bitcoin crashes after on the same day it reaches its highest value
The digital currency Bitcoin had a topsy turvy day yesterday; having risen to a high of $260 in value, the exchange rate fell to $160. Reports indicate the crash was caused by a redditor under the name of “Bitcoinbillionaire” giving away $12,000 worth of the digital currency.
