124039584
submission
SpaceGhost writes:
Per Engadget, Ms. Eilish and her old brother produced her massively popular album with minimal studio gear out of a bedroom studio in her parents house. They used equipment that many aspiring artists could afford (about $1000 worth of Yamaha monitors for instance, and at first a $100 microphone.)
76591645
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SpaceGhost writes:
The BBC reports that Jake Brewer, a 34 year old senior policy advisor in the White House Chief Technology Office has died while participating in a charity bike race on Saturday. Some of his work included global policy and external affairs at change.org, the White Houses TechHire initiative, and the administration's efforts to expand broadband connectivity.
59479227
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SpaceGhost writes:
The Montgomery County (Texas) Police Reporter reveals that Friday morning a $300K drone was lost by the Sheriffs department in Lake Conroe (just north of Houston.) Divers were searching for the drone, which at 29 pounds is 4 pounds over a recent FAA limit, so shouldn't have been flying. The article goes on to discuss the recently passed Texas Legislature House Bill 912 which restricts the use of drones to observe private property, likely influenced by the January 2012 discovery of illegal pig blood runoff and subsequent indictment.
54821379
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SpaceGhost writes:
The Associated Press reports "The Federal Aviation Administration announced six states on Monday that will develop test sites for drones, a critical next step for the march of the unmanned aircraft into U.S. skies". The sites will be in Alaska, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Texas and Virginia. They quote Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx saying "These test sites will give us valuable information about how best to ensure the safe introduction of this advanced technology into our nation's skies". This is a first step to allowing commercial drone use.
54728487
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SpaceGhost writes:
Associated Press reports that the Houston (Texas) Police will be adding 180 surveillance cameras in the downtown area, bring the total to close to 1000. While most cover public areas (stadiums, theater district) the police suggest that Houston also has more "critical infrastructure" (energy companies) than other cities. Interestingly AP points out that "Officials say data is not kept to determine if the cameras are driving down crime." Didn't London face the same issue?
50659873
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SpaceGhost writes:
Sky News reports that the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) has launched an orbital telescope on a new generation rocket from the Uchinoura Space Centre in Kagoshima, in southwestern Japan. The Epsilon rocket uses an onboard AI for autonomous launch checks by the rocket itself. Focusing on reducing costs, the new vehicle required 2 laptops and a launch team of 8, vs the 150 people needed to launch the previous platform, the M-5. Because of the reduced launch team and ease of construction, production and launch costs of the Epsilon are roughly half of the M-5. The payload, a SPRINT-A telescope, is designed for planetary observation.
43457629
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SpaceGhost writes:
The Washington Post reports that the United States Postal Service has contracted with Wahconah Group, Inc. to produce a line of USPS branded smart clothing. Per USPS Licensing manager Steven Mills “This agreement will put the Postal Service on the cutting edge of functional fashion... The main focus will be to produce Rain Heat & Snow apparel and accessories using technology to create ‘smart apparel’ — also known as wearable electronics.” USPS Spokesman Roy Betts reports that the line will be found in premium department stores and specialty stores starting in 2014. The Washington Post points out that the USPS had done a similar retail line in the 1980s sold exclusively at Post Offices, but the line was discontinued after lobbyists complained of competition with the private sector
20211172
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SpaceGhost writes:
The Houston Chronicle reports "Personal information of about 3.5 million Texans — including names, mailing addresses and Social Security numbers — was posted on a publicly accessible server at the state comptroller's office, much of it for more than a year" The records included retired teachers and the unemployed, and sometimes included DOB and drivers license numbers.
6410413
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SpaceGhost writes:
San Antonio, TX: KENS5 Reporter James Muñoz reports that police have arrested a 16-year-old girl on charges of harassment under a new Texas law that took effect September 1, 2009. H.B. 2003 says a person commits a third degree felony if the person posts one or more messages on a social networking site with the intent to harm, defraud, intimidate or threaten another person. Police say the harassment went on for a few months and involved a dispute over a boy.
5941861
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SpaceGhost writes:
The Houston Chronicle has a story on a Grad student at the University of Houston who has designed a cardboard case for a computer. This is not a new concept, but this one is meant to be used in manufacture. The idea is that it will be faster and easier to produce (no fasteners for example) and dramatically easier to recycle. With computers having such short lifespans nowadays, could this be a good direction to move towards? Or will overclockers burn their house down?
"This isn't built to last",HoustonChronicle,20090917
5796851
submission
SpaceGhost writes:
According to the Houston Chronicle, the Attorney for a Texas man charged in the death of a four-year-old "has asked several local media outlets to provide the names of readers and listeners who commented about his client online", stating that his client "was struck by the conclusions people drew about his client and the specificity of some comments that made it appear they came from people with personal knowledge of the case." Media outlets who have been subpoenaed include The Houston Chronicle, the Conroe Courier, KHOU (Houston area Channel 11, CBS affiliate) and KTRK (Houston area Channel 13, ABC affiliate).
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6603599.html
