Entrepreneurship

Targeted booze strikes: Aerial drone drops beer at South Africa music festival

"Revellers at a South African outdoor rock festival no longer need to queue to slake their thirst — a flying robot will drop them beer by parachute. After clients place an order using a smartphone app, a drone zooms 15 metres (50 feet) above the heads of the festival-goers to make the delivery. Carel Hoffmann, director of the Oppikoppi festival held on a dusty farm in the country’s northern Limpopo province, said the app registers the position of users using the GPS satellite chips on their phones. 'The delivery guys have a calibrated delivery drone. They send it to the GPS position and drops it with a parachute,' he explained." Continue reading →

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SpaceX to launch radar satellite network for Germany

"Privately owned Space Exploration Technologies won a two-flight contract to launch a radar satellite network for Germany, the company announced on Thursday. SpaceX will launch a trio of spacecraft that comprise a radar reconnaissance network for Germany’s defense department. The company’s Falcon 9 rocket so far has flown five times – all successfully – including three missions to launch cargo capsules to the International Space Station for NASA. The privately owned firm, founded and operated by Internet entrepreneur Elon Musk, also is competing to provide flight services for NASA astronauts to and from the station." Continue reading →

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Facing pressure from U.S., encrypted email service Lavabit shuts down

"An encrypted email service believed to have been used by US leaker Edward Snowden shut down on Thursday apparently as a result of pressure from US authorities. Lavabit owner Ladar Levison posted a message at the website telling users that the he was pulling the plug on the secure email service launched in Texas nearly a decade ago. Levison lamented that he was barred from sharing details of what prompted Lavabit’s demise. US law allows national security officials to make requests to companies that come with the caveat they must be kept secret." Continue reading →

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On Life Remotely: An Interview with Jessica Mans

"Jessica Mans, one of the people who runs Life Remotely, which opened my eyes to just how, well … really cool this lifestyle can be, graciously took some time to talk about location independence with us. Life Remotely is a great resource for everything from planning your own extended trips to just living vicariously through the experiences of three people who got a taste of travel and living abroad and decided a taste wasn’t enough. They’ve just wrapped up an epic drive from Seattle to Patagonia (yup, you read that right) and have put out one of Amazon’s Best Books of 2013: Don’t Go There. It’s Not Safe. You’ll Die." Continue reading →

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Interview with Slashdot founder Rob Malda

"The stuff that’s interesting has as much to do with the technology as the information. I’m interested in the technology the government uses to spy on me. I’m interested in the fact of the anonymous file-sharing network that made the Manning stuff possible. That’s the stuff that gets to my soft, gooey center. The policy parts, I don’t feel like I have a say in that. I don’t have a voice there. I know what I want to see happen. But I don’t feel like I have a say or a voice so I choose to be interested in the technology and think about where that’s going to take us next. All that stuff never would have existed 20 years ago." Continue reading →

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Out of the box: UPS Stores to offer 3D printing

"Stratasys will provide its uPrint SE desktop machines to six UPS Stores in America for a trial programme. These machines will allow customers to bring their designs to the store and have them printed out as objects—in much the same way as people take two-dimensional digital documents to the store and have them printed on paper. The uPrint machines can produce items in plastic in a range of colours and make bigger objects in finer detail than consumer-level 3D printers. UPS expects designers, entrepreneurs, start-ups and architects seeking models to be among its customers for 3D printing services." Continue reading →

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Atlanta Pursues Scorched Earth Policy Against Street Vendors, Loses

"On June 27, IJ asked the court to clarify that Atlanta does indeed have a vending law in place under which the vendors can work. Shortly thereafter, we helped more than 75 vendors and their supporters march on City Hall. Three major civil rights groups joined us, as did most of Atlanta’s major media outlets who covered the protest. The very next day, the court clarified that the law authorizing the vending monopoly was 'wholly void' and should be treated 'as if it were never passed.' Because that law repealed an earlier vending ordinance, its invalidation meant that the old ordinance, which allows public property vending, was once again the law of the land." Continue reading →

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Poolfa.com: Evidence of an Expanding Iranian Bitcoin Community

"As Bitcoin has proven to be an asset to Iranians whose rial is suffering from high inflation and an oppressive government, it will be interesting to see how successful additional alternative cryptocurrencies fare in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Through serving the Iranian people as a news blog, forum, wiki page, pool for mining, exchange and translation service, Poolfa is in turn contributing to the Bitcoin community as a whole. With an expanded and empowered user base, Bitcoin will continue to grow in prominence in Iran, the Middle East, and the rest of the world." Continue reading →

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BitPay Partners with 3dcart, Giving 16,000 Online Merchants the Ability to Accept Bitcoin

"In a strategic move that could more than double the number of bitcoin merchants on its roster, BitPay has announced a partnership with 3dcart, a well-established eCommerce platform for online store owners. The partnership gives some major online merchants – including Bubba Gump Shrimp, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, and The New York Times – the option (not obligation) to enable bitcoin payments directly through 3dcart back-end tools. BitPay gives merchants the option to accept bitcoin payments and instantly convert all, some, or none of the bitcoins into a bank deposit that clears in one business day." Continue reading →

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Coinlab to incubate Bitcoin startups

"Venture-backed Bitcoin exchange CoinLab has announced it will start to incubate new Bitcoin businesses, starting with enterprise-scale mining company Alydian. CoinLab won't be providing any capital or mentoring to existing businesses. Instead it will come up with new ideas for businesses internally, and recruit external management talent to develop the ideas. The first portfolio company CoinLab is launching is Alydian, which is the first company to offer 'multi-terahash-speed' mining systems. CoinLab has recruited former Pixelworks CEO Hans Olsen to head up the business." Continue reading →

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