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Submission + - NADA Is Terrified Of Tesla

Submitted by cartechboy
cartechboy writes: It's no secret that the National Automobile Dealers Association has been trying to block Tesla from selling cars directly from consumers, but to date, it has been defeated countless times in many states. Now NADA put out a release and promotional video touting the benefits of dealer franchises, something Tesla has shunned. NADA mentions price competition, consumer safety, local economic benefits, and added value. While NADA argues its points, there's no question that Tesla could easily turn around and argue right back with valid counter points. There may be some truth to NADA's claims, but there are some gaping holes in the arguments that can't be ignored, and I'm sure Tesla won't. Hey NADA, you scared?

Submission + - Why China is worried about Japan's plutonium stocks (thebulletin.org)

Submitted by Lasrick
Lasrick writes: A fascinating account of why China is so worried about Japan's excessive plutonium stocks: combined with its highly sophisticated missile program, 'Chinese nuclear-weapons specialists emphasize that Japan has everything technically needed to make nuclear weapons.' It turns out that Japan has under-reported a sizable amount of plutonium, and there have been increasing signs that the country might be moving toward re-militarization. This is a particularly worrying read about nuclear tensions in Asia.

Comment Re:Google wants to pattern your lifestyle... (Score 1) 90

by NeverVotedBush (#47263161) Attached to: Privacy Worries For 'Smart' Smoke Alarms
Google is a surveillance company. That's what they do. That's how they make their money.

I had bought a Nest and two Protects before the sale was announced but I won't buy any more. If it gets discovered that they are harvesting any information from them, I will remove them immediately.

It was a good idea but adding the surveillance and data harvesting aspects makes it something I won't have in my home. Right now they are on probation but it won't take much for me to pull them.

Submission + - AT&T confirms security breach: SS numbers, call records compromised (geekrepublic.org)

Submitted by criticalmass24
criticalmass24 writes: U.S. telecommunications company AT&T has confirmed security breach by its service provider, which compromised personal data of customers such as social security number, call records and more.

AT&T confirmed that the breach occurred between April 9 and April 21, but the company has disclosed the breach to California regulators recently. If such an incident affects at least 500 people, the law in California requires a company to reveal the total number of customers affected by the breach. However, AT&T has not disclosed the number of subscribers whose personal data was compromised as a result of the breach.

Submission + - Chinese-Built Cars Are Coming To The U.S. Next Year

Submitted by cartechboy
cartechboy writes: "Made In China." It's a sticker we all know too well here in the U.S., and yet, it seems not everything we buy is made in China. To date, there haven't been Chinese-built cars in the U.S., but we keep hearing they are coming. Now it seems it's about to become a reality, as Chinese-built Volvos will be arriving in the U.S. as early as 2015. The first model to arrive will be the S60L. The payoff for Volvo if it manages to convince buyers that its cars built in China are just as good as those currently built in Europe is vast. Not only will it save on production costs, but it will help buffer against exchange rate fluctuations. Volvo's planning to make China a manufacturing hub, and that makes sense since it's now owned by Chinese parent company Geely. But will Chinese-built cars be just as good as European-built cars, and will consumers be able to tell the difference?

Submission + - FLIP - US Navy's Oldest, and Most Unusual, Research Vessel 1

Submitted by stephendavion
stephendavion writes: US Navy maintains a research vessel that is designed to be capsized vertically. As a result, most rooms on it have two doors: one to use when the ship is horizontal, another when vertical. Commonly referred to as the FLIP (Floating Instrument Platform) ship, it is actually a 355ft long, spoon-shaped buoy which can be flipped from horizontal to a vertical position by pumping 700t of seawater into the 'handle' end whilst flooding air into the 'cradle', causing it to rise up out of the sea. Once the 28 minute transformation from horizontal to vertical has taken place, 300m of the buoy are submerged underwater, keeping the 700 long-ton mass steady and making it perfect for researching wave height, acoustic signals, water temperature and density, and for the collection of meteorological data.

Submission + - Google and Facebook can be legally intercepted, says UK spy boss (bbc.com)

Submitted by mpicpp
mpicpp writes: The UK government has revealed that intelligence service GCHQ can snoop on British citizens' use of Facebook, Twitter and Google without a warrant because the firms are based overseas.

UK spy boss Charles Farr said that such platforms are classified as external communications.

The policy was revealed as part of an ongoing legal battle with campaign group Privacy International (PI).

PI said the interpretation of the law "patronises the British people".

It is the first time that the UK has commented on how the UK's legal framework allows the mass interception of communications as outlined by US whistleblower Edward Snowden in his leaks about global government surveillance.

The policy was revealed by Charles Farr, director general of the Office of Security and Counter-Terrorism.

According to Mr Farr, Facebook, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and web searches on Google, as well as webmail services such as Hotmail and Yahoo are classified as "external communications", which means that they can be intercepted without the need for additional legal clearance.

Submission + - Wikipedia creates new rules, forcing editors to disclose if they're paid (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by mpicpp
mpicpp writes: The Wikimedia Foundation, a nonprofit which operates Wikipedia and related projects, explained yesterday that it will establish new rules covering paid editing.

The heart of the change is that anyone who is paid to edit the site must "add your affiliation to your edit summary, user page, or talk page, to fairly disclose your perspective," according to Wikimedia's explanation of the change. The organization has also published an FAQ on paid editing.

The changes come after some high-profile commotions over paid editing. In October, Wikipedia deleted more than 250 accounts believed to be connected to a PR firm that was writing articles on the site. In January, the Wikimedia Foundation fired an employee who was accused of taking paid editing gigs.

Submission + - This top turns see-through if you leave personal data exposed (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by mpicpp
mpicpp writes: A Brooklyn-based designer has created a 3D-printed sculptural boob tube to spark social commentary on the state of privacy in a data-driven world—by making the top gradually more sheer.

X.pose's striking black webbed rubber structure was engineered using a Stratasys printer, molded to the body to ensure comfort and very much inspired by creator Xuedi Chen's previous work, Invasive Growth (moss-grown jewelry based on the parasitic cordyceps fungus). But underneath, its layers tell another story about our lack of control and veritable vulnerability when it comes to who uses our data, what for, and how much they take.

"I wanted to quantify the data exposure physically because that's what people can see," Chen told Wired.co.uk. "Discussions about privacy concerns have been around for ages, but only when it's in your face do people really get a reaction."

"The transparency is dependent upon the location of the wearer. If I'm in a certain neighborhood, the corresponding patch of film will be very active as it fluctuates between opaque and transparent very quickly. The film does cover the whole piece and has some memory. So as you move throughout the day, it shows off a trail of your past locations. Most recent location is most transparent and fades over time back to opaque."

Submission + - Google confirms indie musicians must join streaming service or be removed

Submitted by Sockatume
Sockatume writes: In a statement to the Financial Times and reported by the BBC, Google has confirmed that it will remove the music videos of independent artists unless they sign up to its upcoming subscription music service. Many independent musicians and labels have refused to do so, claiming that the contracts offer significantly worse deals than the likes of Spotify and Pandora, and that Google is unwilling to negotiate on the rates it offers artists. A Google spokesperson indicated that the company could start removing videos within days.

Submission + - Even in digital photography age, high schoolers still flock to the darkroom (betaboston.com)

Submitted by v3rgEz
v3rgEz writes: In the age of camera-equipped smart phones and inexpensive digital cameras, many high schoolers have never seen a roll of film or used an analog camera — much less developed film and paper prints in a darkroom. Among those that have, however,
old school development has developed a serious cult following, with a number of high schools still finding a dedicated audience for the dark(room) arts.

Submission + - Century-old drug reverses signs of autism in mice (sciencemag.org)

Submitted by sciencehabit
sciencehabit writes: A single dose of a century-old drug has eliminated autism symptoms in adult mice with an experimental form of the disorder. Originally developed to treat African sleeping sickness, the compound, called suramin, quells a heightened stress response in neurons that researchers believe may underlie some traits of autism. The finding raises the hope that some hallmarks of the disorder may not be permanent, but could be correctable even in adulthood.

Submission + - The FBI Built the Most Comprehensive List Internet Acronyms Ever

Submitted by Jason Koebler
Jason Koebler writes: Internet slang: Do you use it? If so, do it AYOR (at your own risk), because the FBI knows exactly what you're saying thanks to the agency's insane list of "Twitter shorthand." Rather than just rely on Urban Dictionary or a Google search, the agency has compiled an 83 page list of more than 2,800 acronyms.
The FBI responded to a FOIA request with one of the most illegible scans of a document you'll ever see, embedded on a CD—so maybe the agency isn't all that up on its technology, or maybe it's just doing its best to KTAS (keep this a secret).

Submission + - Ask for the resignation of Tom Wheeler (Head of the FCC) (whitehouse.gov)

Submitted by walterbyrd
walterbyrd writes: It is now clear that Tom Wheeler is not a representative of the people, but corporations. Previously to taking his current position Wheeler was the former head of 2 different lobbying organizations, which represented companies like Verizon, Comcast, and At&t. His actions helped turn them into the monopolies that they are today.

Submission + - Endurance experiment writes one petabyte to six consumer SSDs

Submitted by crookedvulture
crookedvulture writes: Last year, we kicked off an SSD endurance experiment to see how much data could be written to six consumer drives. One petabyte later, half of them are still going. Their performance hasn't really suffered, either. The casualties slowed down a little toward the very end, and they died in different ways. The Intel 335 Series and Kingston HyperX 3K provided plenty of warning of their imminent demise, though both still ended up completely unresponsive at the very end. The Samsung 840 Series, which uses more fragile TLC NAND, perished unexpectedly. It also suffered a rash of cell failures and multiple bouts of uncorrectable errors during its life. While the sample size is far too small to draw any definitive conclusions, all six SSDs exceeded their rated lifespans by hundreds of terabytes. The fact that all of them wrote over 700TB is a testament to the endurance of modern SSDs.

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