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Comment Re:In Communist Europe... (Score 3, Interesting) 217

I wonder if it would be cost effective for utility companies to get into the cryptocurrency mining business? Surely it would help avoid situations like this where they actually lose money (temporarily) by adding green power to the grid.

If they had 40 foot shipping containers filled with cryptocurrency mining computers that could be moved around by truck and plugged into the grid as needed, it might help offset costs. Obviously it would be smarter to use electric car fleets to absorb the extra capacity, but maybe this would help too?

Even if it only helped to make bitcoin mining less cost effective in coal powered regions of the grid, it might still be worth doing.
 

Comment Why aren't 12V Lithium car batteries more popular? (Score 5, Interesting) 145

I've noticed that replacement lithium polymer battery packs for hybrid cars sell often sell for less than $1000 on eBay, while much smaller lithium based 12v batteries for conventional cars (with starter motors) often sell for more. As an example, here is a battery suitable for starting a small V8 that sells for $1600.00 http://www.jegs.com/i/Lithium-...

I would assume that it would be much easier to manufacture conventional 12v starter batteries in volume due to the ability to put them in many more different models of vehicles.

The ability to shave off 30+ lbs of weight from racecars would be enormous, so the demand is there, but why not the supply?

Submission + - Tinder and Grindr dating apps linked to more than 500 UK crimes (mirror.co.uk)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: Data compiled by almost three-quarters of police forces across England and Wales listed 523 crimes from the past five years where official logs included the words Tinder or Grindr.

It comes after serial killer Stephen Port was jailed last month for the murders of four young men, including Daniel Whitworth, he met on gay websites and apps including Grindr. Lib Dem leader Tim Farron warned: “I worry that these shocking figures could just be the tip of the iceberg.”

Submission + - Firefox 52 Borrows One More Privacy Feature from the Tor Browser (bleepingcomputer.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Mozilla engineers have added a mechanism to Firefox 52 that prevents websites from fingerprinting users using system fonts. The user privacy protection system was borrowed from the Tor Browser, where a similar mechanism blocks websites from identifying users based on the fonts installed on their computers, only returning a list of "default fonts" per each OS.

While sabotaging system font queries won't stop user fingerprinting as a whole, this is just one of the latest privacy-related updates Mozilla has added to Firefox, taken from Tor. Back in July 2016, Mozilla engineers started the Tor Uplift project, which aims to improve Firefox's privacy features with the ones present in the Tor Browser.

Submission + - Robot lie detector being tested by Canada (phys.org)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: What could possibly go wrong? Canada’s border police are currently testing a robot lie-detector that would be used to screen travelers and flag those whose answers it doesn’t like.

AVATAR is a kiosk, much like an airport check-in or grocery store self-checkout kiosk,” said San Diego State University management information systems professor Aaron Elkins. “However, this kiosk has a face on the screen that asks questions of travelers and can detect changes in physiology and behavior during the interview. The system can detect changes in the eyes, voice, gestures and posture to determine potential risk. It can even tell when you’re curling your toes.”

Here’s how it would work: Passengers would step up to the kiosk and be asked a series of questions such as, “Do you have fruits or vegetables in your luggage?” or “Are you carrying any weapons with you?” Eye-detection software and motion and pressure sensors would monitor the passengers as they answer the questions, looking for tell-tale physiological signs of lying or discomfort. The kiosk would also ask a series of innocuous questions to establish baseline measurements so people are just nervous about flying, for example, wouldn’t be unduly singled out.

Once the kiosk detected deception, they would flag those passengers for further scrutiny from human agents.

This Elkins guy fits perfectly the 1960s stereotype of the scientist who is so caught up with the coolness of his invention that he is completely oblivious to its moral and ethical short-comings. Sadly, he appears to be finding lots of governments interested in buying his product.

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