Archive for January, 2017
Trump Backs Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipelines
January 24th, 2017Via: BBC: US President Donald Trump has infuriated environmentalists by signing executive orders that support two controversial oil pipelines. The new Republican president backed the Keystone XL and Dakota Access projects, provided American steel is used. The Obama administration in late 2015 halted Keystone, which would carry crude from Canada to Texas. The Army decided […]
Trump Pulls U.S. Out of TPP
January 24th, 2017Via: Reuters: U.S. President Donald Trump formally withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal on Monday, distancing America from its Asian allies, as China’s influence in the region rises. Fulfilling a campaign pledge to end American involvement in the 2015 pact, Trump signed an executive order in the Oval Office pulling the […]
This Company Has Built a Profile on Every American Adult
January 24th, 2017Via: Bloomberg: Every move you make. Every click you take. Every game you play. Every place you stay. They’ll be watching you. Forget telephoto lenses and fake mustaches: The most important tools for America’s 35,000 private investigators are database subscription services. For more than a decade, professional snoops have been able to search troves of […]
South Korea Plans Near-Supersonic, ‘Hyper-Tube Train’
January 24th, 2017Via: South China Morning Post: South Korea is seeking to develop a train-like public transport concept that is almost as fast as the speed of sound reaching 1,000km/h, the Korea Railroad Research Institute (KRRI) said Tuesday. The state-run institute will join forces with other research groups and Hanyang University to build the near-supersonic “train”, which […]
When Their Shifts End, Uber Drivers Set Up Camp in Parking Lots Across the U.S.
January 24th, 2017In, 8 Men as Rich as Half the World, I joked, “Get yourself a side hustle and a podshare.” And now… Via: Bloomberg: The vast majority of Uber’s full-time drivers return home to their beds at the end of a day’s work. But all over the country, there are many who don’t. These drivers live […]
Not The Onion: Cambridge Scientists Consider Fake News ‘Vaccine’
January 24th, 2017Via: BBC: The appearance of fake news on websites and social media has inspired scientists to develop a “vaccine” to immunise people against the problem. A University of Cambridge study devised psychological tools to target fact distortion. Researchers suggest “pre-emptively exposing” readers to a small “dose” of the misinformation can help organisations cancel out bogus […]
Silicon Valley Billionaires Prepping for Collapse Caused by Machines Eliminating Jobs
January 23rd, 2017Mmm hmm. Via: Recode: One of the more peculiar hobbies popular among the Silicon Valley elite is an obsession with preparing to survive for end times; its adherents are commonly called “preppers.” It’s the topic of an essay in the New Yorker this week, “Survival of the Richest” by Evan Osnos, which delves into why […]
Southern California Edison 80 MWh Tesla Powerpack Station Online
January 23rd, 2017Via: Electrek: After announcing the project back in September, we have now learned that Tesla and Southern California Edison (SCE) have completed the massive 80 MWh energy storage station using Tesla’s new Powerpack 2 at the Mira Loma substation. There are a few bigger projects in various phases of development, but it looks like this […]
Western Union Admits to Aiding Wire Fraud, to Pay $586 Million
January 23rd, 2017Via: Reuters: Western Union Co, the world’s biggest money-transfer company, agreed to pay $586 million and admitted to turning a blind eye as criminals used its service for money laundering and fraud, U.S. authorities said on Thursday. Western Union, which has over half a million locations in more than 200 countries, admitted “to aiding and […]
Trump Tells Business Leaders He Wants to Cut Regulations by 75% or ‘Maybe More’
January 23rd, 2017Via: CNBC: President Donald Trump on Monday told a range of business leaders that he believes his administration can cut regulations by 75 percent or “maybe more.” At the White House with 10 senior executives, he repeated his campaign pledges to roll back rules on companies, arguing that they have “gotten out of control.” A […]
