Nearly $1M worth of cocaine washes up on Florida beaches amid Dorian waves…
September 5, 2019
Twitter disables tweeting via SMS after CEO gets hacked…
September 5, 2019
Twitter says it’s making the change “to protect people’s accounts.” It blamed mobile carriers, saying they need to address vulnerabilities that allow this kind of misuse. Twitter also said it needed to improve its two-factor authentication system, which relies on text messages as well and could be compromised in the same way...
Judge Rules Terrorism Watchlist Violates Constitutional Rights…
September 5, 2019
Being on the watchlist can restrict people from traveling or entering the country, subject them to greater scrutiny at airports and by the police, and deny them government benefits and contracts. In a 32-page opinion, Judge Anthony J. Trenga of United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia said the standard for inclusion in the database was too vague.
“The court concludes that the risk of erroneous deprivation of plaintiffs’ travel-related and reputational liberty interests is high, and the currently existing procedural safeguards are not sufficient to address that risk,” Judge Trenga wrote...
Army Studying Whether M1 Tank Replacement Should Be Driver-Optional…
September 5, 2019
In October, Army program officials of the Next Generation Combat Vehicle are scheduled to see the first bid samples of the Optional Manned Fighting Vehicle from the defense industry... The Next Generation Combat Vehicle is a major Army modernization priority aimed at fielding futuristic vehicles such as the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle beginning in the mid-2020s. The new vehicle will be designed to maneuver a nine-soldier squad through dense urban terrain as well as wooded areas and defeat a near-peer foe such as Russia in close combat, according to the request for proposal the Army released in late March.
Plant-based diets ‘linked to higher stroke risk’…
September 5, 2019
The research, published in the British Medical Journal, looked at 48,000 people for up to 18 years. The vegans and vegetarians had 10 fewer cases of coronary heart disease per 1,000 people compared with the meat-eaters but three more cases of stroke... those on plant-based diets had a 20% higher risk of stroke. The researchers suggested this could be linked to low vitamin B12 levels but said more studies were needed to investigate the connection.
Kroger follows Walmart’s lead in banning open-carry in stores…
September 5, 2019
Reuters is reporting that in an emailed statement from Jessica Adelman, group vice president of corporate affairs, she wrote: “Kroger is respectfully asking that customers no longer openly carry firearms into our stores, other than authorized law enforcement officers."
“We are also joining those encouraging our elected leaders to pass laws that will strengthen background checks and remove weapons from those who have been found to pose a risk for violence.”
The Cincinnati, Ohio-based grocery store chain had already decided to stop selling firearms and ammunition through its Fred Meyer stores...Former first lady of Honduras sentenced to 58 years in jail on charges of fraud and undue appropriation of funds…
September 5, 2019
Bonilla was accused of misusing the equivalent of US$779,000 in funds between 2010 and 2014 that came from international donations and public funds, and which were meant to be used for social programmes, according to an investigation carried out by attorney general’s office and a unit of the Organization of American States.
Bonilla used the money to pay for medical bills, jewellery, tuition for her children and construction work, according to the attorney general’s office.
The court also sentenced Bonilla’s close associate, Saul Escobar, to a 48-year jail sentence for embezzlement of public funds and fraud, said Silva...
Dorian Updates From The National Weather Service
September 5, 2019
Jacob Wohl Charged With Felony in California. He faces one charge of unlawfully selling securities in California…
September 5, 2019
The allegation that Wohl and Johnson unlawfully sold securities centers on one of Wohl’s financial companies, Montgomery Assets... “In 2016 Jacob Wohl and Matthew Johnson represented themselves as members of a company called Montgomery Assets,” the warrant application reads. “On July 27, 2016 through August 27, 2016 Jacob Wohl and Matthew Johnson offered for sale unqualified securities in violation of California Corporations Code 25110 which has a three year statute of limitations and must be tolled by the issuance of an arrest warrant.”...
Facebook’s latest data leak includes records for over 419 million users. It contained phone numbers and users’ names, genders and countries…
September 5, 2019
It appears the data -- which includes phone numbers and Facebook IDs and in some cases users' names, genders and countries -- was scraped from the platform. However, it's not clear who pulled that information from Facebook or why.
The dataset included 133 million records on Facebook users in the US, 18 million on people in the UK and 50 million on users in Vietnam. The researcher, Sanyam Jain, found the databases on an exposed server that wasn't protected with a password. He told TechCrunch he found phone numbers linked to several celebrities...
A Breakthrough for A.I. Technology: Passing an 8th-Grade Science Test…
September 5, 2019
The artificial intelligence system, called Aristo, just passed an eighth-grade science test, a benchmark in AI development that scientists had been aiming to reach for four years... Aristo didn’t just squeak by the test, either. It got an A on the quiz, correctly answering more than 90% of the questions on the test designed for New York students, and then it went on to answer questions on an exam for 12th graders, earning a solid B (80%)... Unlike your average eighth grader, the AI, which was designed by the Allen Institute—the lab founded by the late Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen—was built solely to take multiple-choice tests. According to the Times, the researchers view standardized science tests as a more meaningful AI benchmark than the machine’s ability to play chess, and Aristo passed with flying colors.
China’s New Crystals Could Finally Make Laser Weapons a Thing…
September 5, 2019
- Converting low-energy beams into high-energy emissions is crucial to making laser weapons practical. But it's currently unmanageable.
- CBGO crystals promise to make that conversion with unparalleled efficiency. But Chinese scientists face the same struggle their American counterparts do in controlling thermal management.
- There's a global race for better laser crystal technology, a race in which China has invested heavily.
The Fastest Spacecraft Ever Zips Past the Sun for a Third Time. It’s on a mission to reveal the sun’s long-held secrets…
September 5, 2019
At its closest, a point called perihelion, Parker was just 15 million miles away from the sun’s surface, according to a NASA press release. The probe was traveling approximately 213,200 miles per hour. During this flyby, mission scientists and engineers turned on Parker’s instruments far sooner than in previous flights. Now, it’s time to crunch the data...
Nunes files $9.9M suit against firm behind Steele dossier, saying it tried to obstruct Russia probe…
September 5, 2019
8chan founder: Current owner will ‘lie’ during congressional testimony…
September 5, 2019
8chan's founder, Fredrick Brennan, has disavowed Watkins and his site since the string of terror attacks. Brennan has said the website devolved into a place where "tech savvy white nationalists celebrated and planned shootings while quickly archiving and disseminating the shooter's message."
"He has no rules against inciting violence or celebrating mass shootings," Brennan told NBC News, adding that Watkins and his son, Ron Watkins, have refused to take down the politics-focused part of 8chan where shooters posted their screeds.
Brennan said Ron Watkins "continues to stand behind 'embrace infamy.'"
On 8chan, the tagline "embrace infamy" was featured on the top of the website, which many users used as a rallying cry to refer to the act of committing a mass shooting...
Scientists have found the first genetic instructions hardwired into human DNA that are linked to being left-handed…
September 5, 2019
The instructions also seem to be heavily involved in the structure and function of the brain - particularly the parts involved in language. The team at the University of Oxford say left-handed people may have better verbal skills as a result. But many mysteries remain regarding the connection between brain development and the dominant hand...
Alex Jones loses appeal in Texas lawsuit with Sandy Hook father…
September 5, 2019
... the judge hearing the case agreed with Heslin that Infowars’ efforts to delete content relevant to his case had hampered his ability to respond to Infowars’ motion to dismiss... A judge extended the hearing date on Infowars’ motion to dismiss and ordered Infowars to respond to discovery requests, according to the website, but when the deadline for discovery approached, Infowars made clear it did not intend to cooperate. Heslin then filed a motion for contempt of court. Lawyers for Infowars argued that because defendants had appeared in court regarding their motion to dismiss, they were not required to comply with the discovery process, according to Right Wing Watch. But The Texas Court of Appeals disagreed with Infowars’ interpretation of Texas law and tossed the appeal...
NASA satellite spots a mysterious green light that quickly disappeared…
September 5, 2019
NASA's NuSTAR X-ray observatory has spotted something a little weird. While imaging the Fireworks galaxy, NuSTAR spotted several mysterious bright sources of X-ray light, appearing as green and blue spots. Within days, the blobs had disappeared... It's possible the light was from a black hole consuming another object like a star, the study suggests. When objects get too close to a black hole, they can get torn apart by gravity, and their debris is pulled into a close orbit around the black hole. Material at the disk's inner edge moves so quickly that it "heats up to millions of degrees and radiates X-rays," NASA says. For reference, the surface of the sun is around 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
A Brooklyn Man Has Been Indicted for Allegedly Being an ISIS Sniper and Recruiter…
September 5, 2019
Ruslan Maratovich Asainov, also known as Suleiman Al-Amriki, allegedly traveled to Istanbul, Turkey — which the Department of Justice says is a “common transit point to obtain entry into Syria” — in December 2013. From there, he went to Syria and joined ISIS as a sniper, eventually becoming an “emir” responsible for training other members of the organization, according to the criminal complaint against him.
Asainov, a naturalized U.S. citizen who reportedly immigrated to the U.S. from Kazakhstan in 1998, sent threatening text messages to people outside the terror group, prosecutors say. “You will be fucking scared for the rest of your life,” he wrote to an unidentified recipient in January 2015... He also allegedly attempted to recruit new members via text, which ultimately led to his arrest.
Islamic State fighters reportedly using cows strapped with bombs for their suicide missions…
September 5, 2019
At least two cows were seen with explosive vests in the south eastern village of Al Islah, Iraq, where they were then remotely detonated when they were close to homes, a provincial police commander said, according to The Times. The cows, which fetch a price of around $1,200, were killed and homes were damaged. No humans were reportedly harmed in the incident.