Mainstream News

With Bullets Scarce, More Shooters Make Their Own

"Gun stores around the country have had difficulty keeping up with demand for ammunition in recent months. Fears of government tightening of gun and ammunition controls have meant that retailers, from Wal-Mart to mom-and-pop gun shops, haven't been able to keep bullets on the shelves. Shopper Robert Nicholson, like thousands of other shooters, is going a different route. He's making more of the bullets he shoots. Shop owner Cliff Poser says the scarcity of ready-made bullets has frustrated shooters to the point they're spending between $200 and $1,000 to get into the hobby known as 'reloading.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWith Bullets Scarce, More Shooters Make Their Own

Glenn Greenwald: The NSA’s mass and indiscriminate spying on Brazilians

"The NSA has, for years, systematically tapped into the Brazilian telecommunication network and indiscriminately intercepted, collected and stored the email and telephone records of millions of Brazilians. All of this bulk, indiscriminate surveillance aimed at populations of friendly foreign nations is part of the NSA's 'FAIRVIEW' program. Under that program, the NSA partners with a large US telecommunications company, and that US company then partners with telecoms in the foreign countries. Those partnerships allow the US company access to those countries' telecommunications systems, and that access is then exploited to direct traffic to the NSA's repositories." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGlenn Greenwald: The NSA’s mass and indiscriminate spying on Brazilians

Polish PM laments opinion impasse keeping Poland out of Eurozone

"Because opposition conservatives reject the European single currency, the government lacks the two-thirds parliamentary majority needed to push through necessary constitutional changes. Central Europe’s largest economy, Poland has maintained growth each year since it shed communism two decades ago. It is the only EU member to have done so through the 2007-2009 financial meltdown and the ongoing eurozone crisis, thanks in part to the zloty easing in value against the euro. Opinion polls show most Poles are opposed to adopting the euro." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPolish PM laments opinion impasse keeping Poland out of Eurozone

Edward Snowden: NSA ‘in bed together with’ other Western states

"Fugitive intelligence leaker Edward Snowden said the US National Security Agency operates broad secret spying partnerships with other Western governments now complaining about its programmes, in an interview published Sunday. In remarks published in German, Snowden said an NSA department known as the Foreign Affairs Directorate coordinated work with foreign secret services. The partnerships are organised so that authorities in other countries can 'insulate their political leaders from the backlash' if it becomes public 'how grievously they’re violating global privacy,' he said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEdward Snowden: NSA ‘in bed together with’ other Western states

Professor in Jesus-stomping controversy reinstated, will teach online courses

"Non-tenured communications instructor Deandre Poole will teach online courses this summer and in the fall. Poole endured quite a lot last semester after then-junior Ryan Rotela, a devout Mormon, was suspended from class because he complained about one of Poole’s assignments. According to a letter written by FAU associate dean Rozalia Williams, Rotela faced several possible charges including 'acts of verbal, written or physical abuse; threats, intimidation, harassment, coercion; or other conduct which threaten the health, safety or welfare of any person.' The charges against Rotela were apparently hastily dismissed at some point." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingProfessor in Jesus-stomping controversy reinstated, will teach online courses

A Rich Fantasy Life: Sports Fans Dream of Making a Living Off Games

"Friday is Drew Dinkmeyer's last day of work. Mr. Dinkmeyer, a 31-year-old Florida investment analyst, is leaving the finance industry altogether. He is becoming a full-time fantasy sports player. Daily-fantasy games, which condense full-length seasons into nightly competitions, were responsible for $492 million of the $1.7 billion spent on fantasy sports in 2012. There are more than 30 million fantasy-sports players in the U.S., and almost 25% dabble in daily games, the FSTA found in a report released this month. Up to 100 people earned at least $40,000 in 2012, industry experts estimate. The market is lucrative enough to support some full-time players." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingA Rich Fantasy Life: Sports Fans Dream of Making a Living Off Games

Las Vegas Sands’ Sheldon Adelson ‘Morally Opposed’ to Online Betting

"Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Sheldon Adelson is 'morally opposed' to online gambling, calling it a 'toxin' that will rob the young and poor. Adelson, who controls the world’s biggest casino company by market value, also outlined his objections to online gambling in an opinion piece in Forbes yesterday. The Internet betting option is gaining momentum as U.S. states seek to tax a business forecast to generate billions of dollars. In February,New Jersey became the most-populous U.S. state to legalize online gambling, following Nevada and Delaware." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLas Vegas Sands’ Sheldon Adelson ‘Morally Opposed’ to Online Betting

Boston University sues Apple claiming it stole professor’s 1997 idea

"Theodore Moustakas, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Boston University, published a patent for 'highly insulating monocrystalline gallium nitride thin films' in November 1997 The patent is set to expire in 2015. Boston University has not made a comment as to why the university chose this time to file on Mr. Moustakas' behalf. BU has asked Apple to halt the sales of the iPhone 5, iPad, and MacBook Air, and has asked for damages. Apple has sold more than 100 million iPads and 55 million copies of the iPhone 5." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBoston University sues Apple claiming it stole professor’s 1997 idea

Bitcoin Trade Group Bites Back at California

"The Bitcoin Foundation is defending the virtual currency to California’s banking department, explaining bitcoin doesn’t qualify as a payment instrument under the state’s money-transmission rules. In a lengthy letter addressed to Tara Murphy, an assistant attorney general in the California Department of Financial Institutions, the Washington-based group also stuck up for itself, saying it doesn’t sell or exchange the virtual currency. California is known to be particularly aggressive in enforcing money-transmission rules. In the letter, the foundation made it clear that it doesn’t even operate in California." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBitcoin Trade Group Bites Back at California

Your Computer Is Watching You: AOL Rolls Out Emotion Tracking

"One of the fastest growing areas in neuromarketing is webcam-based emotion tracking. The popularity of this technique is underscored by AOL’s new partnership withRealEyes. Be On, an AOL unit that offers advertisers branded video, will provide their customers with quick feedback on how viewers reacted to their videos. The emotions are determined by automated analysis of facial expressions captured by webcam. Regular users don’t need to worry about being secretly analyzed, at least for now. Only panels of subjects that have explicitly consented to participate in the expression monitoring activity will be tested." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingYour Computer Is Watching You: AOL Rolls Out Emotion Tracking