One step closer to Skynet
“This is a clear step towards one of the main goals of the US Army’s Future Combat Systems project, which aims to make a single soldier the nexus for a large scale robot attack. Independently, ground and aerial robots have been tested together and once the bits are joined, there will be a robot force under command of a single soldier with potentially dire consequences for innocents around the corner.”
Sounds like fun.
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And here’s some background on Skynet for those who missed out the 80’s.
Original post by Brendan
Elderly man scared of technology, News at 11
State Rep John Binienda makes news today with a plan to track who’s buying pre-paid cell phones in an effort to show criminals we’re tough on crime. Apparently by showing criminals we really don’t understand technology.
“There has always been a concern that prepaid services in general enable anonymity in wireless usage and that’s in part a concern because it lends to its use by criminals,” said Fedor Smith, an analyst who monitors the prepaid cellphone industry for Boston-based consulting and research firm Atlantic-ACM. “If you’re calling other prepaid wireless costumers, there’s a completely anonymous network of people.”
Government has officially become your mom, searching through your sock drawer every day after you leave for school because Phil Donahue convinced her you were smoking dope.
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This comes only a week after Governor Patrick signed into law H. 4811, Massachusetts version of Jessicas Law, which along the way picked up this amendment (which has […]
Original post by Brendan
The smartest dumbphone in town
Dumbphone probably shouldn’t be a word, but it seems to be picking up usage with people dumping their smartphones (Blackberys, iphones, Windows Mobile devices, ect) in favor of a ‘less is more’ device. I became one of those people a few weeks back.
My love affair with smartphones has progressed through a SMT5600
Treo 650
and most recently a Tmobile Dash
Now I’m using a Motorola F3 that was designed for developing nations, cost under $40 with no contracts to get locked into and isn’t much more advanced than the Motorola MicroTac Elite I bought in 1994.
I’m in love. The battery lasts a week, its one of the smallest and lightest phones I’ve used and most importantly, I’m not getting pinged 24hrs a day with email that 99% of the time can wait till I get to a computer. It’s a phone, that’s it. No camera, no calendar, no media […]
Original post by Brendan
Massachusetts still the most tech savvy state
Congratulations, Massachusetts.
Massachusetts remains the “gold standard” for other states thanks to its institutions, cutting-edge firms, and ability to retain a skilled work force.
1. Massachusetts
2. Maryland
3. Colorado
4. California
5. Washington
6. Virginia
7. Connecticut
8. Utah
9. New Hampshire
10. Rhode Island
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Original post by Brendan
Is Charter Communications violating MA state law?
Over the last few weeks on 508, Mike Benedetti and I have been discussing Charter Communications plans to begin monitoring customer web traffic to better target advertising. And examining the process used by the company they’ve contracted with on this, NebuAd, has raised more questions than it’s answered. After reading Ryan Singels take on the opt-out process over at WIREDs Threat Level, another question seems to be floating out there. Is any of this even legal? Now, Singel is talking about federal wiretap law, but for those of you who have been following this story on a local level here’s the language in the MGL regarding wire taps. I’d love to hear people’s thoughts as to how Charters plan would or would not be a violation of MGL Chapter 272: Section 99 which reads in part:
D. Exemptions.
1. Permitted interception of wire or oral communications.
[…]
Original post by Brendan
Sirius/XM Merger approval
I can’t express how thrilled I am with this. Since I first subscribed to Sirius two years ago it’s been my primary source of entertainment, I’ve written about it briefly here in the past. So lets just say I was thrilled to see that the year long merger with XM satellite radio has cleared the federal approval process. This really is a great thing for any entertainment fan, the quality of programing one can have for relatively short money remains pretty staggering.
But this isn’t about the rather boring process of federal antitrust clearance. It’s about the cost of a congressman. I’m always shocked to see just how inexpensively one can purchase a congressman of his/her own. You would think with inflation, owning a lawmaker in the worlds greatest superpower would be quite an expensive proposition. Not so. Congressman Edward Markey of the Massachusetts […]
Original post by Brendan
Free online writing courses
Here’s a great list of 10 universities offering writing courses for free, online.
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Original post by Brendan
Vertical Farming and my brush with genius
Two weeks ago I was driving down the pike and the idea of converting large, multi-level commercial buildings into indoor farms hit me like an all too obvious ton of bricks. Apparently, I must have fallen asleep during some obscure discovery channel documentary and picked up the idea in a half daze, since the BBC […]
Original post by Brendan