technology

Can fracking cause bigger, more frequent earthquakes?

"The most striking indication of human-induced earthquakes is provided by the graph below, which shows the cumulative number of earthquakes in the central and eastern US that were greater than or equal to magnitude 3.0 on the Richter scale. The clear increase from 2005 coincides with the rapid increase of shale gas wells and associated increased, deep waste-water injection. Between 2005 and 2012, the shale gas industry in the US grew by 45 percent each year. Three reports have been published this month in Science that add to our limited but growing data on the causal link between fluid injections and earthquakes." Continue reading →

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“What Is That Box?” — When The NSA Shows Up At Your Internet Company

"They came in and showed me papers. It was a court order from the FISC (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court) for the intercept, with the agent’s name… and the court’s information. I think it was three or four pages of text. They wouldn’t let met me copy them. They let me take notes in regards to technical aspects of what they wanted to do. We had to facilitate them to set up a duplicate port to tap in to monitor that customer’s traffic. It was a 2U (two-unit) PC that we ran a mirrored ethernet port to. [What we ended up with was] a little box in our systems room that was capturing all the traffic to this customer. Everything they were sending and receiving." Continue reading →

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The Mind-Boggling Implications of a Bitcoin Economy

"While much has been said and written about the nascent crypto-currency's underlying technology and recent volatility, one nagging question remains: what if Bitcoin emerges as a viable and sound currency, just as the world's central banks reduce their notes to confetti? If this simple question doesn't inspire chills, perhaps it should, given Bitcoin's potential to overwrite the matrix of the world's ailing currency system even faster than the internet went mainstream. This will be among the topics of discussion this October at an unusual gathering of libertarians, economists, and computer scientists in Atlanta for the first ever Crypto-Currency Conference." Continue reading →

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NFC Ring can be used to unlock doors, mobile phones and to transfer information and link people

"The NFC Ring can be used to unlock doors, mobile phones, transfer information and link people. Best of all the NFC Ring glides right onto your finger - no updates, no charging, and no fuss. When you take your phone out of your pocket, just slide your hand under and the NFC Ring will unlock it. It couldn't be more simple! A third party application is required for this, various exist so you can pick your own from the Google play store. You can use your NFC Ring to share WiFi information, links to websites, contact information or whatever you think is suitable to be passed securely to your friends, smartphones and tablets." Continue reading →

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Jeffrey Tucker: Bitcoin Thwarts America’s Roman Decline

"As the dollar continues to shed its value, and to lose credibility as the world's reserve currency, countless people -- including governments, investors, and common citizens -- are looking to alternatives. These include gold and silver, which are time-honored as stores of value -- but there are other candidates as well. What are some of the alternatives to the fiat dollar? Is the dollar doomed? If it is, what will replace it? And why does government have to be involved in money at all? We'll discuss these questions with economist and historian Jeffrey Tucker, the executive editor of Laissez Faire Books and a Distinguished Fellow for the Foundation for Economic Education." Continue reading →

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$25 gadget lets hackers seize control of a car

"Spanish engineers Javier Vázquez Vidal and Alberto Garcia Illera will give a demonstration at the Black Hatsecurity conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. They have built a $25 device that lets them bypass security in a car's electronic control unit. Vázquez Vidal and Garcia Illera will show how their device – which they claim uses a $1 chip to break encryption – can read from and write data to the flash memory of commonly used ECUs, made by Bosch of Germany. 'And it would take no time to gain total control over a vehicle – deploying an airbag, activating the brakes, or immobilising a car at any moment,' says Vázquez Vidal." Continue reading →

Continue Reading$25 gadget lets hackers seize control of a car

$25 gadget lets hackers seize control of a car

"Spanish engineers Javier Vázquez Vidal and Alberto Garcia Illera will give a demonstration at the Black Hatsecurity conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. They have built a $25 device that lets them bypass security in a car's electronic control unit. Vázquez Vidal and Garcia Illera will show how their device – which they claim uses a $1 chip to break encryption – can read from and write data to the flash memory of commonly used ECUs, made by Bosch of Germany. 'And it would take no time to gain total control over a vehicle – deploying an airbag, activating the brakes, or immobilising a car at any moment,' says Vázquez Vidal." Continue reading →

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Banks Get One Last Mulligan in Payments

"In true startup fashion, the bank-owned card brands of Visa and MasterCard eventually had successful IPOs. The inspiration is clearly there. But where are the visionaries in banking now? With the breakthrough development of cryptographic money, banks appear paralyzed about understanding and harnessing its transformative power. This does not bode well for the future of banks. Just as they block and freeze the accounts of competitive money transmitters in the U.S., banks routinely freeze the bank accounts of innocent bitcoin exchanges, hiding behind the rationale that they are being watchful of and adhering to regulator guidelines." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBanks Get One Last Mulligan in Payments

Banks Get One Last Mulligan in Payments

"In true startup fashion, the bank-owned card brands of Visa and MasterCard eventually had successful IPOs. The inspiration is clearly there. But where are the visionaries in banking now? With the breakthrough development of cryptographic money, banks appear paralyzed about understanding and harnessing its transformative power. This does not bode well for the future of banks. Just as they block and freeze the accounts of competitive money transmitters in the U.S., banks routinely freeze the bank accounts of innocent bitcoin exchanges, hiding behind the rationale that they are being watchful of and adhering to regulator guidelines." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBanks Get One Last Mulligan in Payments

New trust wants to protect digital Bitcoins like physical gold: In vaults

"A U.S. regulatory filing for a Bitcoin investment trust from the Winklevoss twins said they will protect the virtual currency like gold bars—in vaults. Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, famous for their early association with Facebook, are selling the trust as a way for institutional and retail investors to invest in bitcoins without dealing with the hassle of exchanges and the thorny security problems around storing bitcoins. In a 74-page document filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, the twins write they will use a network of secure vaults around the U.S. to store their investors' bitcoins." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNew trust wants to protect digital Bitcoins like physical gold: In vaults