Author: admin

Government Legal Story

Wiki Weapon Project takes aim at gun control proposals with 3D printed ‘high-capacity’ magazine

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As reported on The Verge. By Adi Robertson Defense Distributed, a group dedicated to making viable 3D printed firearms, has enjoyed increasing publicity during the recent debates over gun control. Now, it’s directly addressing efforts to ban one of the most frequently criticized components: rifle magazines holding over ten rounds, often referred to as “high-capacity” magazines, like those used at the attack in Newtown, CT. In a video posted yesterday, the groupdemonstrated shooting from a 30-round AR-15 magazine…

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Story

Swartz suicide puts the focus on over-aggressive prosecutor

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As reported on The Verge. By Bryan Bishop The family of Aaron Swartz pulled no punches in their comments after the 26-year-old’s suicide, blaming a “criminal justice system rife with intimidation and prosecutorial overreach.” Assistant United States Attorney Stephen Heymann is one of the individuals that’s been named in particular — and it turns out Swartz isn’t the first subject of a Heymann investigation that’s taken his own life. Buzzfeed reports that in 2008 Jonathan James also committed suicide two weeks…

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Hacking Internet Story Tech

‘Red October’ malware has been stealing government and industrial secrets for 5 years

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As reported on The Verge. By Jeff Blagdon Kaspersky Labs reports that over the past five years, a co-ordinated malware campaign called “Rocra” (short for “Red October”) has been funneling classified information and geopolitical intelligence from diplomatic, governmental, and scientific research systems all over the world. It uses known exploits in Microsoft Word and Excel documents to gain access to users’ systems, relying on a targeted social engineering or “spear phishing” element in order to trick users…

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Space Story

Astronomers have found the largest structure in the universe

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As reported on The Verge. By Ben Kersey An international team of astronomers led by the University of Central Lancashire in the UK has discovered “the largest known structure in the universe.” The team says that the recently observed large quasar group — comprised of dozens of highly energetic star-like objects — has a typical size of 500 Megaparsecs, but the size of the cluster is closer to 1200 Mpc at its widest point. To put…

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Application Social Networking

Can Facebook bring the magic back?

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As reported on The Verge. By Ellis Hamburger It’s time for Mark Zuckerberg to turn his focus back on users, not just investors We’ll be live blogging Facebook’s event tomorrow starting at 10AM PT / 1PM ET. Check it out here! There’s no numerical evidence that Facebook has “lost its cool,” but you can feel it. You hear people talking about it. Instead of seeing Facebook blue illuminating the phones of fellow subway and bus riders, you…

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Application Business Microsoft

Microsoft Launches “Next App Star” Competition For Windows Phone Developers

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As reported on TechCrunch. by FREDERIC LARDINOIS You know a mobile app store is still young and needs more content when the company behind it still writes its own blog posts when interesting new apps appear in it. With 150,000 apps, the Windows Phone store isn’t actually quite as empty as the Windows 8 store, but Microsoft could sure use some marquee apps for its mobile platform. To get developers and consumers a bit more excited about it, the company…

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Business

10 Reasons Why 2013 Will Be The Year You Quit Your Job

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As reported on TechCrunch. by JAMES ALTUCHER Editor’s note: James Altucher is an investor, programmer, author, and several-times entrepreneur. His latest books are I Was Blind But Now I See and 40 Alternatives to College. Please follow him on Twitter @jaltucher. People read TechCrunch because they want to create something, they don’t want to follow orders all of their lives, and they want financial freedom. I’m being blunt. The above three items feel good. God bless you. Hopefully once you get the three things above,…

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Education Story Tech

How California’s Online Education Pilot Will End College As We Know It

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As reported on TechCrunch. by GREGORY FERENSTEIN Today, the largest university system in the world, the California State University system, announced a pilot for $150 lower-division online courses at one of its campuses — a move that spells the end of higher education as we know it. Lower-division courses are the financial backbone of many part-time faculty and departments (especially the humanities). As someone who has taught large courses at a University of California, I can assure readers that…

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Culture Internet Story

China adds 51 million internet users in one year, mobile numbers increase by 18.1 percent

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As reported on Engadget. By Mat Smith China’s internet dealt with 564 million users during 2012, increasing its user base by 10 percent. Despite continued efforts to monitor residents and restrict access to subversive content, these substantial gains were apparently driven by mobile internet access, with the number of Chinese users tapping into the web from phones and tablets rising by 18.1 percent, now totaling 420 million. That’s 75 percent of all internet users.

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Business

HMV goes bankrupt after 91 years in the disc-selling business

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As reported on Engadget. By Sharif Sakr  The first time we mentioned HMV on Engadget was back in 2009, when the British retailer discounted the PSP Go — ironically, one of the earliest devices to do away with disc-shaped media. As the picture above shows though, HMV’s history goes back much further than that. Its first store opened in 1921 under an elaborate neon sign featuring the company’s emblem of a dog listening to a gramophone beneath the words…

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