technology

How a total n00b mined $700 in bitcoins

"There is a whirring, whining presence in my dining room. I notice it every time I walk through. Every day, it sucks down about one full kilowatt-hour of electricity. In a year, it will consume almost $100 worth of juice—and that's on top of the $274 it costs to buy the box in the first place. Oh, and it's hot, too. If I moved it into my office and could stand the noise, I could keep a cup of coffee comfortably warm on top of the thing. Why on earth would anyone want such a disagreeable little machine in their home? The short answer: every day, that machine magically generates something like $20 in bitcoins." Continue reading →

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Our Rulers’ $1.5 Billion “Backup Hard Drive”

"The Feds have invested $ 1.5 billion of our money in a 'data farm' in Utah despite all their hype about 'sequestration.' But you may not realize that this boondoggle is even more offensively wasteful than you thought: it is 'essentially the world’s largest backup hard drive… It’ll be one of several data farms that make up the [NSA'a] digital backbone, but information kept there won’t be unique. … Utah’s center will house the most data but everything is networked and if the center goes down, [Lonny] Anderson[, the NSA’s chief information officer] says, no data will be lost.'" Continue reading →

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Here’s What It Looks Like When Two Hacker FBI Informants Try To Inform On Each Other

"The chat log represents a conversation between two FBI informants, both of whom seem to be trying to lure the other into providing evidence they can turn over to their law enforcement handlers–or even into a meeting that could lead to the other’s arrest. Sabu, also known as Hector Xavier Monsegur, had agreed to work as an FBI mole within LulzSec months before his conversation with Thordarson. Thordarson, for his part, tells me he thought he was helping to deliver a 'notorious hacker' to the FBI, and didn’t know he was speaking to a fellow stool pigeon. Monsegur doesn’t show any signs of knowing either." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHere’s What It Looks Like When Two Hacker FBI Informants Try To Inform On Each Other

The Future of Building Your Own Guns

"As more ridiculous anti-gun laws continue to be passed, the future of DIY gun building and parts is looking better all the time. People should always be able to go to the gun store and purchase fully-assembled guns. But, doing this could subject you to invasive scrutiny from government, higher prices, higher taxes, or flat-out denial based on variety of fabricated reasons. On demand CNC parts and 3-D printing services will soon bring the art of building your own guns to a whole new level." Continue reading →

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Survey: Quarter Of US Consumers Has Heard Of Bitcoin — And Majority Of Them Trust It

"When it comes to trusting Bitcoin, U.S. consumers also lag their Argentinian and British counterparts, but trust levels are still apparently running high among U.S. Bitcoin-aware. The survey found 62% of U.S. consumers who are Bitcoin-aware said they trust the currency, vs 73% of Bitcoin-aware Argentinians and 69% of Bitcoin-aware Brits. Greater awareness of Bitcoin appears to help foster greater levels of trust, as you might expect. Trust in Bitcoin is still relatively low when compared to trust in national currencies. Unsurprisingly, Argentinians also come out on top as most likely to trust Bitcoin more than their national currency." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSurvey: Quarter Of US Consumers Has Heard Of Bitcoin — And Majority Of Them Trust It

Innovation in legal highs leaves governments in the dust

"An explosion of hundreds of new 'legal highs' in recent years has left governments around the world in the dust as lawmakers struggle to keep prohibition laws updated as more and more never-before-seen drugs flood the black market. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said Wednesday that more than 251 new psychoactive substances were available on the black market by mid-2012, a growth of more than 50 percent over 2009. The number of new psychoactive substances available on the black market today exceeds the number of controlled psychoactive substances currently prohibited by governments around the world." Continue reading →

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The new-found desire for privacy is what’s driving all of this new business activity.

"Thankfully, there are companies, like those I’ve mentioned, providing private sector responses to these blatant affronts of our basic freedoms. And more have entered the fray, including TextSecure, a mobile app encryption service, and SpiderOak, a DropBox-like service that can’t see the content of user files. I hope that we will let our elected leaders know that spying on its citizens is not acceptable… and that it is no different than what the German government did post-World War II. I’m proud to say that we’ve been way ahead of the curve on matters of liberty, privacy and encroaching government tyranny." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe new-found desire for privacy is what’s driving all of this new business activity.

Steve Wozniak: Snowden ‘Is a Hero Because This Came From His Heart’

"Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is more than a little distressed that the technology he helped develop nearly four decades ago is being used on a massive scale to invade people’s privacy. 'I think he’s a hero,' said the 62-year-old Wozniak, who co-founded Apple Computer with Steve Jobs and invented the Apple I and Apple II personal computers that launched a technological revolution. 'He’s a hero to my beliefs about how the Constitution should work. I don’t think the NSA has done one thing valuable for us, in this whole ‘Prism’ regard, that couldn’t have been done by following the Constitution and doing it the old way.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSteve Wozniak: Snowden ‘Is a Hero Because This Came From His Heart’

Man Indicted In Scheme To Blackmail Romney Over Tax Returns

"The court document says that Brown never compromised the accounting firm's computer systems, 'and falsely stated that he had stolen tax documents for Willard M. Romney and Ann D. Romney for tax years prior to 2010.' Brown then 'demanded US$1 million converted to 'Bitcoin' and instructed that this sum be deposited in a Bitcoin account for which he provide the account number,' according to the document, to prevent the release of the documents. The letters were printed not on Brown's computer but on a friend's, according to the indictment, as Brown had emailed the person to ask to use their printer, using the excuse that his own printer was out of ink." Continue reading →

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With New Initiative ‘Galactic,’ PayPal Wants To Own Payments And Commerce In Space

"In a slightly bizarre announcement today, PayPal is debuting PayPal Galactic, an initiative to own universal payments and commerce in space. Yes, outer space. PayPal is looking to address and solve the problems of what the standard currency looks like in a cash-free interplanetary society, and how banking, risk and fraud management systems will adapt to this. The company says that there is already the need for a galactic payment system. Astronauts inhabiting space stations still need to pay for life’s necessities—from their bills back on Earth to their entertainment, like music and e-books, while in space." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWith New Initiative ‘Galactic,’ PayPal Wants To Own Payments And Commerce In Space