Deeplinks – LAPD Requested Ring Footage of Black Lives Matter Protests

Feb 182021
 

Along with other civil liberties organizations and activists, EFF has long warned that Amazon Ring and other networked home surveillance devices could be used to monitor political activity and protests. Now we have documented proof that our fears were founded.
According to emails obtained by EFF, the LAPD sent requests to Amazon Ring users specifically targeting footage of Black-led protests against police violence that occurred in cities across the country last summer. While it is clear that police departments and federal law enforcement across the country used many different technologies to spy on protests, including aerial surveillance and semi-private camera networks, this is the first documented evidence that a police department specifically requested footage from networked…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/02/lapd-requested-ring-footage-black-lives-matter-protests

 2021-02-18  Comments Off on Deeplinks – LAPD Requested Ring Footage of Black Lives Matter Protests

Jacobin – Joe Biden Spread COVID Misinformation in Last Night’s Town Hall. The Media Praised Him for It.

Feb 172021
 

In a viral moment last night, Joe Biden told an eight-year-old girl at a CNN town hall that kids rarely contract or transmit the coronavirus. But the science says otherwise — yet the media recklessly let Biden get away with spreading misinformation.
President Joe Biden is not leveling with the public about the severity of the COVID crisis. (Drew Angerer / Getty Images) Last night’s CNN town hall with Joe Biden had a number of notable moments: the president predicting the pandemic could subside by Christmas, offering to personally help a woman secure a vaccine for her son, or brusquely replying that he was “tired of talking about Donald Trump” —…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://jacobinmag.com/2021/02/joe-biden-misinformation-covid-19-media-town-hall/

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Streetsblog.org – Op-Ed: Highway Expansion Would Take Md. in the Wrong Direction

Feb 172021
 

Eyal Li, Union of Concerned Scientists
It’s well known to sustainable transportation advocates that our transportation sector is the largest source of carbon emissions in the United States — and cars and small trucks account for the largest share of this pollution. Still, people frustrated with congestion on their commutes often clamor for building more and bigger highways. The reality is that these projects usually increase emissions without making getting around any easier, yet elected officials keep forging ahead with them.
Gov. Larry Hogan’s proposed managed lane expansions to I-495 and I-270 is a textbook example. The stated purpose of this project is to reduce congestion. But studies show that highway expansions don’t really relieve traffic — they can…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://usa.streetsblog.org/2021/02/15/op-ed-highway-expansion-proposal-would-take-md-in-the-wrong-direction/

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The Onion – Something About The Way Society Was Exposed As Complete Illusion Over Past Year Really Getting Man Down Today

Feb 172021
 

VANCOUVER, WA—Unable to shake off an overall negative feeling he couldn’t attribute to anything in particular, local man Paul Carpenter confirmed Monday that something about the way society was exposed as a complete illusion over the past year was really getting him down today. “Maybe it’s just quarantine talking, but…

Read more…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://local.theonion.com/something-about-the-way-society-was-exposed-as-complete-1846251067

 2021-02-17  Comments Off on The Onion – Something About The Way Society Was Exposed As Complete Illusion Over Past Year Really Getting Man Down Today

The Daily WTF – The Therac-25 Incident

Feb 172021
 

A few months ago, someone noted in the comments that they hadn’t heard about the Therac-25 incident. I was surprised, and went off to do an informal survey of developers I know, only to discover that only about half of them knew what it was without searching for it.
I think it’s important that everyone in our industry know about this incident, and upon digging into the details I was stunned by how much of a WTF there was.
Today’s article is not fun, or funny. It describes incidents of death and maiming caused by faulty software engineering processes. If that’s not what you want today, grab a random article from our archive, instead.

When you’re strapping a patient…

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jwz – Morph

Feb 172021
 

Morph is composed of 155 touch sensitive and illuminated modules, connected by a flexible and expandable surface. Each module is completely reconfigurable and features six individually addressable LEDs to illuminate the six edges of the hexagonal surfaces.Here’s a much larger and more menacing version 2: If you’re like me, your first thought was, “wait, how did they tile a sphere with hexagons?” And then you notice the pentagons. I think it’s actually a Golderg icosahedron, which is the dual of a geodesic sphere. (And which, incidentally, would have made the Well World map way less stupid.)It kind of feels like my “Splodesic” screen saver came to life!Previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously,…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://www.jwz.org/blog/2021/02/morph/

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TorrentFreak – DISH Secures Patent for Blockchain Based Anti-Piracy System

Feb 162021
 

US-based broadcaster DISH Networks has put a lot of effort into tracking down outfits and individuals who distribute the company’s content without permission.
This has resulted in dozens of lawsuits through which the company won millions of dollars in damages. However, the piracy problem isn’t going away.
Behind the scenes, DISH continues to explore new options to tackle copyright infringement. This includes an entirely novel anti-piracy system where copyrighted content is managed and secured through a blockchain.
Blockchain Anti-Piracy Patent
The company summarized its idea in a patent application filed two years ago. After going through all the necessary processes, the “anti-piracy management” patent is now officially granted. Right on time, it seems.
The broadcaster notes that “millennials” and…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://torrentfreak.com/dish-secures-patent-for-blockchain-based-anti-piracy-system-210213/

 2021-02-16  Comments Off on TorrentFreak – DISH Secures Patent for Blockchain Based Anti-Piracy System

Ars Technica – Facebook has been helping law enforcement identify Capitol rioters

Feb 152021
 

Enlarge / Supporters of former President Donald Trump, including Jake Angeli, a QAnon supporter known for his painted face and horned hat, enter the US Capitol on January 6. (credit: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
Facebook has gone out of its way to help law enforcement officials identify those who participated in the January 6 riot at the US Capitol, the company said in a Thursday conference call with reporters.
“We were appalled by the violence,” said Monika Bickert, Facebook’s vice president of content policy. “We were monitoring the assault in real time and made appropriate referrals to law enforcement to assist their efforts to bring those responsible to account.”
She added that this “includes helping them identify…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://arstechnica.com/?p=1741881

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Ars Technica – Why did the flywheel hybrid system never catch on for road cars?

Feb 152021
 

Enlarge / Why did the flywheel hybrid never catch on for road cars? (credit: GKN/Jonathan Gitlin)
When a Speed network television crew interviewed Margo T. Oge, then-director of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality, during the 10-hour-long 2010 Petit Le Mans Series race at Road Atlanta, Porsche’s experimental 911 GT3 R Hybrid race car held down a top-20 position in the 45-car field.
The broadcast crew took every opportunity to call attention to the presence of the new Porsche. Hybrid street cars were becoming mainstream, and “road relevance” was repeatedly cited by Oge along with energy independence and low carbon emissions as EPA imperatives.
But, like its similarly new Formula One hybrid race car…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://arstechnica.com/?p=1741928

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Hackaday – Truck Bed Liners Improve 3D Prints

Feb 152021
 

There are at least two kinds of 3D printer operators: those who work hard to make their prints look better after they come off the bed and those who settle for whatever comes off the printer. If you are in the latter camp, you probably envy people who have smooth prints with no visible layer lines. But the sanding and priming and multiple coats of paint can put you off.
[Teaching Tech] has a few tricks that might change your mind. He shares his technique for using different coatings for 3D prints that provide good quality with a lot less effort. The coatings in question are polyurethane used for coating pickup truck beds and bitumen rubber used…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://hackaday.com/2021/02/14/truck-bed-liners-improve-3d-prints/

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TorrentFreak – Cox Appeals $1 Billion Piracy Damages Verdict, Doesn’t Have to Pay Yet

Feb 142021
 

Two years ago Internet provider Cox Communications lost its legal battle against a group of major record labels.
Following a two-week trial, a Virginia jury held Cox liable for pirating subscribers which it failed to disconnect, ordering the company to pay $1 billion in damages.
Heavily disappointed by the decision, Cox asked the court to set the jury verdict aside and decide the issue directly. In addition, the ISP asked to lower the “shockingly excessive” damages or allow a new trial. All these efforts failed.
The court was initially open to lowering the amount because there were several overlapping copyrights at play. However, it later backtracked and confirmed the jury’s $1 billion judgment.
Cox Appeals
That was another setback for…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://torrentfreak.com/cox-appeals-1-billion-piracy-damages-verdict-doesnt-have-to-pay-yet-210213/

 2021-02-14  Comments Off on TorrentFreak – Cox Appeals $1 Billion Piracy Damages Verdict, Doesn’t Have to Pay Yet

World Socialist Web Site (en) – CDC pushes US schools to reopen “at any level of community transmission”

Feb 132021
 

On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released unscientific, politically motivated guidelines intended to justify school reopenings everywhere.

External feed Read More at the Source: http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/02/13/scho-f13.html

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Deeplinks – Virginians Deserve Better Than This Empty Privacy Law

Feb 132021
 

A very weak consumer data privacy bill is sailing through the Virginia legislature with backing from Microsoft and Amazon, which have both testified in support of the bill. The bill, SB 1392 and its companion HB 2307, are based on a Washington privacy law backed by tech giants that has threatened for two years to lower the bar for state privacy bills. If you’re a Virginia resident who cares about privacy, please submit a comment to the House Committee on Technology, Communications, and Innovation before it meets on Monday, Feb. 15.
EFF has long advocated for strong privacy legislation. Consumer privacy has been a growing priority for legislatures across the country since California in 2018 passed the…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/02/virginians-deserve-better-empty-privacy-law

 2021-02-13  Comments Off on Deeplinks – Virginians Deserve Better Than This Empty Privacy Law

Boing Boing – Charges dropped against cops who shoved elderly man over and cracked his skull

Feb 132021
 

Martin Gugino spent nearly a month in hospital after a Buffalo cop pushed him over, cracked his head on the pavement and left him to bleed there with a fractured skull. Though charged after the incident, officers Robert McCabe and Aaron Torgalski are off the hook: the charges have now been dropped. — Read the rest

External feed Read More at the Source: https://boingboing.net/2021/02/12/charges-dropped-against-cops-who-shoved-elderly-mans-head-and-cracked-his-skull.html

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PopularResistance.Org – Border Agents Can Search Phones Freely Under New Circuit Court Ruling

Feb 132021
 

A US appeals court has ruled that Customs and Border Protection agents can conduct in-depth searches of phones and laptops, overturning an earlier legal victory for civil liberties groups. First Circuit Judge Sandra Lynch declared that both basic and “advanced” searches, which include reviewing and copying data without a warrant, fall within “permissible constitutional grounds” at the American border.

Lynch ruled against a group of US citizens and residents objecting to invasive searches of their electronic devices. The group includes Sidd Bikkannavar, a NASA scientist who was detained and pressured to unlock a secure government-issued phone.

The post Border Agents Can Search Phones Freely Under New Circuit Court Ruling appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

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Ars Technica – Report: NASA’s only realistic path for humans on Mars is nuclear propulsion

Feb 132021
 

Enlarge / NASA originally studied nuclear thermal propulsion in the 1960s. Here is concept art for the Nuclear Energy for Rocket Vehicle Applications (NERVA) program. (credit: NASA)
Getting humans to Mars and back is rather hard. Insanely difficult, in fact. Many challenges confront NASA and other would-be Mars pioneers when planning missions to the red planet, but chief among them is the amount of propellant needed.
During the Apollo program 50 years ago, humans went to the Moon using chemical propulsion, which is to say rocket engines that burned liquid oxygen and hydrogen in a combustion chamber. This has its advantages, such as giving NASA the ability to start and stop an engine quickly, and the technology…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://arstechnica.com/?p=1741878

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Ballot Access News – Federal Election Commission Asks U.S. Supreme Court Not to Hear Presidential Debates Case

Feb 132021
 

On February 12, the Federal Election Commission filed this brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in Level the Playing Field v FEC, 20-649. This is the lawsuit over who can be included in general election presidential debates. … Continue reading →

External feed Read More at the Source: http://ballot-access.org/2021/02/12/federal-election-commission-asks-u-s-supreme-court-not-to-hear-presidential-debates-case/

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