Synthetic biology will lead to new forms of bioterrorism.
Computer-designed viruses that cure disease, new bacteria capable of synthesizing an unlimited fuel supply, new organisms that wipe out entire populations and bio-toxins that target world leaders may sound like devices restricted to feature-film script writers, but it is possible to create all of these today, using the latest advances in synthetic biology.
Jordan Weismann of the Atlantic puts together a graph that shows how construction had the worst percentage loss of jobs in the country, over one in four jobs lost in total. He writes…
Debt collectors have found a way to help lenders get their money after the debtor has died.
Linda Long’s husband died of colon cancer in 2010. After his death the phone calls poured in. Linda is a 68-year-old retired office worker o whsays she got as many as 10 calls a day from a debt-collection firm asking for $16,651.52 that her husband, Millard, had racked up on a Bank of America Corp. credit card.
More than 5 percent of the approximately 650 military dogs deployed by American combat forces are developing canine PTSD.
Many soldiers leave the battlefield suffering deeply painful psychological traumas after returning home. And unfortunately, the same pattern of psychic trauma seems to apply for the dogs that help provide essential services for military men and women.
The Carrier IQ app not only tracks everywhere you go it also records all of your keystrokes.
A clandestine application called Carrier IQ, was recently discovered by an Android developer. The application is built into most smartphones and it doesn’t just track your location; it secretly records your keystrokes, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Is it time to put on a tinfoil hat? That depends on how you feel about privacy.
Where are you going and where have you been? No need to tell me, I already know.
With mobile phone privacy in the forefront of our minds, it was a bit disconcerting to hear that this holiday season (Black Friday through New Years) certain malls will be tracking shoppers’ phones. Right now, just two US malls have said they will be anonymously tracking visitor’s phones, the Promenade Temecula in Temecula, California and the wonderfully-named Short Pump Town Center in Richmond, Virginia.
A notice was posted at the Promenade stating that anonymous data will be collected using the signals from visitors’ mobile phones. The data will be anonymized and is collected using a number of “monitoring units” placed around the mall. The purpose of the data collection, according to both the mall’s signage and website is to “enhance the shopping experience,” something we’re not quite sure all the visitors will appreciate as much as the malls might hope…
Futurist Thomas Frey: In 2008 the entire world was beginning to panic as our global financial systems teetered ever so close to total meltdown. Major banks were either failing or near failure and the entire house of cards seemed to be one 10 of clubs away from becoming a meaningless flat stack in the middle of the table.
Nicko from the Sunlight Foundation sez, “Before Americans open their wallets for Black Friday (and Cyber Monday), the Sunlight Foundation encourages consumers to first explore the connection between their spending and politics in Washington. Checking Influence, a secure bookmarklet that analyzes financial statements with one click, exposes the lobbying activities and campaign contributions of companies you frequent. ”
24 percent said they had ever been “harassed” by texting. That was up from about 14 percent in a survey of the same kids the year before.
More and more kids in the U.S. say they have been picked on via text messaging, while there has been little change in online harassment, researchers reported Monday.
