Archive for July, 2018
Nicaragua in ‘Undeclared State of Siege’ as Hooded Gunmen Rule the Streets
July 26th, 2018Via: McClatchy: They ride in the back of Toyota double-cabin pickup trucks, assault rifles slung over their shoulders. No one knows their identities. They always wear black ski masks or hoods. The gunmen — between 1,000 and 1,500 of them, according to some estimates — are part of a recently formed paramilitary force protecting the […]
Facebook Down 20%
July 26th, 2018Via: BBC: Facebook shares opened sharply lower on Thursday, after the social media network warned investors of slowing revenue gains and increased spending. The firm’s shares opened down nearly 20%, a drop that wiped more than $100bn (£76bn) off Facebook’s market value. The fall also dragged down the tech-rich Nasdaq share index, which was almost […]
Liquid Water ‘Lake’ Revealed on Mars
July 25th, 2018Via: BBC: Researchers have found evidence of an existing body of liquid water on Mars. What they believe to be a lake sits under the planet’s south polar ice cap, and is about 20km (12 miles) across. Previous research found possible signs of intermittent liquid water flowing on the martian surface, but this is the […]
Google Cars Self-Drive to Walmart Supermarket in Trial
July 25th, 2018Via: BBC: Google’s sister-company Waymo has announced a trial in which its self-driving cars will ferry shoppers to and from a nearby Walmart store to pick up their groceries. For now, the pilot is being restricted to 400-plus members of its early rider programme in Phoenix, Arizona.
Quantum Benchmark Finds and Suppresses Errors in Calculations Performed by Quantum Computers
July 24th, 2018Disclosure: I am long Quantum Resistant Ledger. — Via: The Record: A startup says it has solved a huge problem for quantum computers, unlocking the potential of these experimental machines to become the most disruptive technology of the 21st century. Working out of a small office on Breithaupt Street in Kitchener, the team at Quantum […]
More and More of What We Do Depends on Government Permission
July 24th, 2018Via: Reason: Do you have permit for that? If you want to keep that permit, you’d better do as you’re told. Increasingly, that’s the theme of modern America. More and more of what we do is dependent on permission from the government. That permission, unsurprisingly, is contingent on keeping government officials happy. Rub those officials […]
Why Some PhDs Are Quitting Academia for Unconventional Jobs
July 24th, 2018“Why did they accept so many of us into this program when there are no jobs?” The answer is simple: Universities profit handsomely from graduate student slave labor. It’s a similar model that of prison industries, where convicts are paid pennies per hour to manufacture a wide variety of products. Instead of goat cheese, or […]
Face Scanning at NYC Toll Plazas
July 23rd, 2018Via: New York Post: Big Governor is watching you. Facial-recognition cameras at bridge and tunnel toll plazas across the city are already scanning drivers’ visages and feeding them into databases to catch suspected criminals, Gov. Andrew Cuomo revealed Friday. “When it reads that license plate, it reads it for scofflaws .?.?. [but] the toll is […]
Doctors Give Patients 11 Seconds to Explain Reason for Visit Before Interrupting
July 20th, 2018Via: StudyFinds: Ever feel like your doctor is in a rush to get you out the door when you come in for a visit? You’re not just imagining things. A new study finds physicians give a patient an average of just 11 seconds to describe their issue before cutting them off. Researchers from the University […]
Now Is The Time to Be a Cockroach
July 20th, 2018I definitely wouldn’t count on banks and cash, as she suggests, but this is an OK article to share with your “normal” family and friends who might perceive the current economic situation as A-OK. Once people understand that things are not A-OK, that would be a good time to explain what a bail-in is. Via: […]
