Network Archives

Tiny Device Will Detect Domestic Drones

"A Washington, D.C.-based engineer is working on the 'Drone Shield,' a small, Wi-Fi-connected device that uses a microphone to detect a drone's 'acoustic signatures' (sound frequency and spectrum) when it's within range. The company's founder, John Franklin, who has been working in aerospace engineering for seven years, says he hopes to start selling the device sometime this year. He is using the Kickstarter-like IndieGoGo to finance the project. The device will cost $69 and will be about the size of a USB thumb drive. He says he imagines that people will attach the Drone Shield to their fences or roofs to protect their home from surveillance." Continue reading →

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IRS Takes A Bite Out Of Bitcoin

"Bitcoin is virtual currency much in the news these days. It’s peer-to-peer so there’s no central bank or government. But if you think that means the IRS won’t get a piece, think again. The IRS already gets a piece where you swap one product or service for another, as the IRS explains at its Bartering Tax Center. Soon the IRS may have a Bitcoin Center too. The Treasury unit called FinCEN, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, already has rules about Bitcoin and the IRS is likely to follow. In the meantime, the tax rules seem pretty clear. If you provide services or sell goods for Bitcoin, you have income." Continue reading →

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Living On Bitcoin For A Week: The Journey Begins

"On Tuesday morning, I emptied my wallet of all of the cash and credit cards before I left my house. Many journalists have been writing about the mechanics of buying Bitcoin and the resulting heart palpitations as they watched the dramatic rises and falls in the digital currency’s worth over the last few weeks. But that’s just a story about gambling. My editor issued a different challenge to test the currency’s legitimacy: 'Don’t just buy Bitcoin. Live on it for a week.'" Continue reading →

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Turkey Said to Sign Oil Deal With Kurds, Defying Baghdad

"Iraq’s Kurdish region has signed a landmark agreement with Turkey to supply it directly with oil and gas, two people familiar with the matter said. The accord was signed last month when Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met Iraqi Kurdish Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani in Ankara. The Kurdish government will sell oil and gas directly to Turkey in a deal that so far has bypassed the Iraqi government in Baghdad, which has warned the Kurds not to sign separate energy accords. Turkey may also take the Kurdish government’s stake in concessions operated by Exxon Mobil Corp. on the enclave’s border with the rest of Iraq." Continue reading →

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Banking Crisis Awakens Hopes for Cyprus Reconciliation Between Turks and Greeks

"In 2008, when the Greek part of the island adopted the euro, the Turkish inhabitants of the northern part of the island felt duped. And, of course, this makes their schadenfreude regarding the southern part's current economic woes all the greater. 'With the referendum, the Greeks left us out in the cold. They wanted to profit from the euro by themselves,' says Efem Okiran, who runs a flower store in Gemikonagi. But now his neighbors can see what good that's done for them -- and where they've ended up. 'For 10 years, they made money thanks to the EU,' Okiran adds. 'And now they're supposed to bleed for 10 years.'" Continue reading →

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Expat exodus from Spain as new tax law takes effect

"New Spanish tax laws affecting an estimated 200,000 British expats, have sparked panic, prompting some to leave the country or hand in their residence cards at town halls before today's deadline (30 April), fearing a Cyprus-style money grab. Opponents, including Spanish politicians, have branded the new asset declaration law discriminatory, and fear an exodus of EU residents from the fragile economies of the coastal towns. The Spanish government requires that any resident with an overseas asset worth more than €50,000 and who lives in Spain at least six months (183 days) of the year is affected – and must declare what they own abroad." Continue reading →

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U.S. officials arrest Swiss banker on vacation

"U.S. officials have arrested a former UBS (UBSN.VX) banker working for the Swiss operations of Coutts, the private banking division of Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc (RBS.L), sources told Reuters. The arrest comes as U.S. authorities crack down on tax evasion and has revived Swiss bankers' fears that they could face detention if they travel to the United States and are suspected of helping people hide money in offshore accounts. Coutts notified staff in Geneva on Friday that one of its private bankers had been arrested last week when he entered the U.S. for a vacation, a source familiar with the situation said." Continue reading →

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Junior mining stocks see record insider buying

"Those looking for even more evidence that corporate executives are smelling bargains in the junior mining sector should consider this: Insider buying on the TMX Venture exchange is near a record high. INK Research’s Venture indicator is at 715 per cent today, just 20 percentage points below its record peak of 735 per cent set on Oct. 27, 2008. That means there are more than seven stocks listed on the exchange with insider buying for every one seeing selling. Such a high level of buying interest among officers and directors within their own businesses in the resource sector has correctly foreshadowed a recovery in share prices in the past." Continue reading →

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