technology

Bitcoins Soar In Value In Argentina Due To Capital Control Laws

"With the Peso undergoing yet another period of severe inflation at a rate of 20%, and now President Kirchner’s attempt to lure citizens back into the banking system over which they have absolutely no trust, by attempting to repatriate the US dollars held overseas or in hidden accounts by citizens in exchange for the domestic Cedin, the demand for Bitcoins has rocketed. Compared to Argentina’s much more freedom-orientated neighbor Uruguay, values of Bitcoins in Buenos Aires are between 30% and 40% higher than just 75 kilometers away in Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay according to Argentinian Bitcoin expert Mauro Betschart." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBitcoins Soar In Value In Argentina Due To Capital Control Laws

Rogue Employee Fired for Turning Game Network Into Bitcoin Mining Colony

"In April, ESEA (the E-Sports Entertainment Association) admitted that its software — which serious Counter-Strike players use to play each other in anti-cheating modes — had been altered to secretly mine Bitcoins. At the time, ESEA blamed an unidentified staffer. Now, as the company faces a class action lawsuit, it says that employee has been axed. Class action lawyers are trying to help them out. So far the company has resolved 275 claims from customers who say they were damaged by the mining software, and the company is working to resolve another 15, Levine said. The Bitcoin-mining update may have been installed on as many as 14,000 computers." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRogue Employee Fired for Turning Game Network Into Bitcoin Mining Colony

Bitcoin developer Jeff Garzik on Satoshi Nakamoto and the future of Bitcoin

"The core developers carry ultimate veto, and they’re notoriously cautious. 'In general, the devs try to be very conservative. Typically, we don’t introduce new features. We just try to ensure that the existing ones work.' That isn’t to say that new features can’t happen. There’s a mechanism called the Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BPI) used to put forward proposed new features for the protocol. But it’s controlled by the core devs. 'If we want to extend it, we’ll write up a BIP and publicise it through blogs, and we just try to judge through user feedback whether they like the feature, or don’t understand it, or things of that nature.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBitcoin developer Jeff Garzik on Satoshi Nakamoto and the future of Bitcoin

3D Printer for $1,000

"A British firm is selling a 3D printer for home use for about $1,000. It’s for people who are technologically savvy, and who want to be on the cutting edge. Watch it build a gadget. This is the equivalent of the Altair 8800 microcomputer in 1975. Soon, there will be an Apple I, then a TRS-80. Then a PC. Then there will be the equivalent of Visicalc, a 'killer app' for business. That is when this technology will get into the general population. This will change the world. It will take a decade or two, but we can see what’s coming. When a home brew version starts out at $1,000, the cost will fall, and capabilities will increase." Continue reading →

Continue Reading3D Printer for $1,000

Federal judge orders Secret Service to release files on Internet activist Aaron Swartz

"U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly issued her ruling in response to a lawsuit filed by Wired reporter Kevin Poulsen, who is investigating the reasons for the heavy-handed prosecution that spurred Swartz to commit suicide. Swartz, who helped create the first RSS protocol at age 14 and co-founded the popular websites Reddit and Demand Progress, was charged in 2011 of stealing data from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology after he accessed a secure database of academic papers. Prosecutors threatened him with up to 30 years in prison, and Swartz committed suicide by hanging in January, at just 26 years old." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFederal judge orders Secret Service to release files on Internet activist Aaron Swartz

A Constitution-Free Zone Where Officials Can Grab Your Computer And Copy Your Hard Drive

"Did you know that the U.S. government considers the U.S. border to be a 'constitution-free zone'? Did you know that customs officials can take your computer away from you, keep it for 30 days or more, and make a copy of everything that is on your hard drive? Sadly, this is actually true. According to the government, when you choose to cross the U.S. border you temporarily give up your constitutional rights. They can look at anything on your computer that they want to, and if they find anything that violates any law, they can use it against you in court. You may think twice about taking your computer out of the country after you read the rest of this article." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingA Constitution-Free Zone Where Officials Can Grab Your Computer And Copy Your Hard Drive

Kim Dotcom: All Megaupload servers ‘wiped out without warning in data massacre’

"Kim Dotcom has accused the US government and Leaseweb, one of the hosting providers of former file-sharing site Megaupload, of deleting millions of personal files 'without warning.' The information stored on the dormant servers – 'petabytes of pictures, backups, personal & business property' – was what Dotcom called evidence in the case US authorities launched against him in January 2012. Dotcom is wanted in the US on criminal charges for facilitating copyright fraud on a massive scale. 'This is the largest data massacre in the history of the Internet,' Dotcom wrote on Twitter." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingKim Dotcom: All Megaupload servers ‘wiped out without warning in data massacre’

Somali American caught up in a shadowy Pentagon counterpropaganda campaign

"With the Iraq war over and U.S. combat operations scheduled to finish in Afghanistan by the end of next year, the Pentagon has begun shifting psy-ops missions to other parts of the world to influence popular opinion. In the past, psychological operations usually meant dropping leaflets or broadcasting propaganda on the battlefield. Today, the military is more focused on manipulating news and commentary on the Internet, especially social media, by posting material and images without necessarily claiming ownership. Much of the work is carried out by military information support teams that the Special Operations Command has deployed to 22 countries." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSomali American caught up in a shadowy Pentagon counterpropaganda campaign

UK moves forward with three-parent IVF treatment

"The British government has said it will pursue a radical fertility technique that uses DNA from three parents to create an embryo. The IVF-based technique is designed to avoid serious mitochondrial diseases inherited on the maternal side, such as muscular dystrophy. Mitochondria are the structures within cells that convert energy from food into a form that the body can use. The technique would replace some of the unhealthy DNA with healthy DNA from the so-called 'third parent'. Politicians are due to debate the regulations in parliament next year, setting the stage for Britain to become the first country to offer the treatment." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUK moves forward with three-parent IVF treatment