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About – The New Jim Crow

Posted on February 21, 2019 by Danzig

The New Jim Crow is a stunning account of the rebirth of a caste-like system in the United States, one that has resulted in millions of African Americans locked behind bars and then relegated to a permanent second-class statusdenied the very rights supposedly won in the Civil Rights Movement. Since its publication in 2010, the book has appeared on theNew York Timesbestseller list for more than a year; been dubbed the secular bible of a new social movement by numerous commentators, including Cornel West;and has led to consciousness-raising efforts in universities, churches, community centers, re-entry centers, and prisons nationwide. The New Jim Crow tells a truth our nation has been reluctant to face.

As the United States celebrates its triumph over race with the election of Barack Obama, the majority of black men in major urban areas are under correctional control or saddled with criminal records for life. Jim Crow laws were wiped off the books decades ago, but today an extraordinary percentage of the African American community is warehoused in prisons or trapped in a parallel social universe, denied basic civil and human rightsincluding the right to vote; the right to serve on juries; and the right to be free of legal discrimination in employment, housing, access to education and public benefits. Today, it is no longer socially permissible to use race explicitly as a justification for discrimination, exclusion, and social contempt. Yet as civil-rights-lawyer-turned-legal-scholar Michelle Alexander demonstrates, it is perfectly legal to discriminate against convicted criminals in nearly all the ways in which it was once legal to discriminate against African Americans. Once labeled a felon, even for a minor drug crime, the old forms of discrimination are suddenly legal again. In her words, we have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it.

Alexander shows that, by targeting black men through the War on Drugs and decimating communities of color, the U.S. criminal justice system functions as a contemporary system of racial control, even as it formally adheres to the principle of colorblindness.

The New Jim Crowchallenges the civil rights communityand all of usto place mass incarceration at the forefront of a new movement for racial justice in America.

Click here to read an excerpt from the Introduction.

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About - The New Jim Crow

Environmental Crimes – UNICRI

Posted on February 21, 2019 by Danzig

Environmental crimes

UNICRI considers environmental crime, including its links with other forms of crime, a serious and growing danger for development, global stability and international security.

Since 1991, UNICRI has contributed to combating crimes against the environment and related emerging threats through applied research, awareness and capacity-building initiatives. UNICRI has built a strong international network of experts and practitioners from major international organization, law enforcement agencies, NGOs and academic entities active in the field.

Environmental crimes encompass a broad list of illicit activities, including illegal trade in wildlife; smuggling of ozone-depleting substances (ODS); illicit trade of hazardous waste; illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing; and illegal logging and trade in timber. On one side, environmental crimes are increasingly affecting the quality of air, water and soil, threatening the survival of species and causing uncontrollable disasters. On the other, environmental crimes also impose a security and safety threat to a large number of people and have a significant negative impact on development and the rule of law. Despite these issues, environmental crimes often fail to prompt the appropriate governmental response. Often perceived as victimless and incidental crimes, environmental crimes frequently rank low on the law enforcement priority list, and are commonly punished with administrative sanctions, themselves often unclear and low.

The involvement of organized criminal groups acting across borders is one of many factors that have favoured the considerable expansion of environmental crimes in recent years. Led by vast financial gains and facilitated by a low risk of detection and scarce conviction rates, criminal networks and organized criminal groups are becoming increasingly interested in such illicit transnational activities. These phenomena fuel corruption and money-laundering, and undermine the rule of law, ultimately affecting the public twice: first, by putting at risk citizens health and safety; and second, by diverting resources that would otherwise be allocated to services other than criminal activities.

The level of organization needed for these crimes indicates a link with other serious offences, including theft, fraud, corruption, drugs and human trafficking, counterfeiting, firearms smuggling, and money laundering, several of which have been substantiated by investigations. Therefore, environmental crimes represent today an emerging form of transnational organized crime requiring more in-depth analysis and better-coordinated responses at national, regional and international levels.

The first research projects conducted by UNICRI addressed the issue of environmental law, and in particular explored the limits and potentials of applying criminal law in crimes related to environment. In June 1998, UNICRI organised in Rome a seminar on international environmental conventions and the administration of criminal law. Since then, the Institute has focused on the involvement of organized criminal groups in environmental crime.

To increase awareness of the threat of environmental crime, UNICRI contributed to the organization of the conference entitled Illicit trafficking in waste: a global emergency (Rome, December 2011), with the participation of the Ministry of the Environment of Italy, parliamentarians, international partners such as the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), and many stakeholders involved in countering trafficking in and dumping of toxic waste. To enhance understanding of the dynamics of environmental crime, the Institute implemented a research and data collection project focused on the dumping of illegal waste and hazardous materials, including e-waste, and the involvement of organized crime.

In partnership with several research institutes, civil society organizations, and municipalities, UNICRI has launched a process for consultation at the international level on the involvement of organized crime in environmental crime, with a view to identify a set of recommendations for more effective policies and actions at the national, regional and international levels. To that end, the Institute, in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), has organized an international conference in Italy on 29 and 30 October 2012 (see dedicated section).

UNICRI has implemented several international and regional applied-research projects related to the illegal trade and trafficking goods having an adverse impact on the environment, including e-waste, illicit pesticides and precious metals (see dedicated sections).

Excerpt from:

Environmental Crimes - UNICRI

Political crime – Wikipedia

Posted on February 21, 2019 by Danzig

In criminology, a political crime or political offence is an offence involving overt acts or omissions (where there is a duty to act), which prejudice the interests of the state, its government, or the political system. It is to be distinguished from state crime, in which it is the states that break both their own criminal laws or public international law.[1]

States will define as political crimes any behaviour perceived as a threat, real or imagined, to the state's survival, including both violent and non-violent oppositional crimes. A consequence of such criminalisation may be that a range of human rights, civil rights, and freedoms are curtailed, and conduct which would not normally be considered criminal per se (in other words, that is not antisocial according to those who engage in it) is criminalised at the convenience of the group holding power.

Thus, there may be a question of the morality of a law which simply criminalises ordinary political dissent,[2] even though the majority of those who support the current regime may consider criminalisation of politically motivated behaviour an acceptable response when the offender is driven by more extreme political, ideological, religious or other beliefs,

At one extreme, crimes such as treason, sedition, and terrorism are political because they represent a direct challenge to the government in power. Espionage is usually considered a criminal act.[3] But offenders do not have to aim to overthrow the government or to depose its leaders to be acting in a way perceived as "political". A state may perceive it threatening if individuals advocate change to the established order, or argue the need for reform of long-established policies, or engage in acts signifying some degree of disloyalty, e.g. by burning the nation's flag in public. But the scope of such crimes can be rather less direct.

Structural functionist criminologists recognise that states invest their resources in maintaining order through social conformity, i.e. a particular culture is encouraged and maintained through the primary social discourses which may include religious, economic, social, or other less formal concerns. Any interference with the media of communication or the sets of meanings embedded in the communications themselves may be perceived as a threat to the political authority of the state. Hence, whether in hard copy or electronically, if individuals distribute material containing uncensored information which undermines the credibility of state-controlled news media, this may be considered threatening.

Moreover, even an offence against non-governmental institutions, persons, or practices may be deemed political. Violence or even discrimination against an ethnic or racial group, as well trade union strikes or picketing against private employers, can be perceived as a political crime when those in power see such conduct as undermining the political (and economic) stability of the state. In this context, note that the Law Enforcement Code of Conduct passed by the International Association of Chiefs of Police says in part: "The fundamental duties of a police officer include serving the community, safeguarding lives and property, protecting the innocent, keeping the peace and ensuring the rights of all to liberty, equality and justice" (cited in Robinson, 2002). This code requires that police behave in a courteous and fair manner, that they treat all citizens in a respectable and decent manner, and that they never use unnecessary force. When they do, it is argued that this constitutes a crime (e.g. as an assault) and, if it is institutionalised, then over time, the use of unnecessary force become a state crime.

Marxist criminologists argue that most political crime arises from the efforts of the state to reproduce the structures of inequality: racism, sexism, ethnic preference as well as class advantages. Thus, states will protect property rights and reduce the rights of trade unions to represent the interests of the poor. Even war could be grounded in the problems of local capitalists in wealthy countries in the effort to move raw materials, profits and jobs in a globalised political economy, and opposing such a war will be a political crime. Marxists do not dispute that, for a society to function efficiently, social order is necessary. But they consider that, in all societies, one class, usually characterised as the "ruling class", gains far more than other classes. Marxists agree with functionalists that socialisation plays a crucial role in promoting conformity and order. However, unlike the latter, they are highly critical of the ideas, values and norms of "capitalist ideology". Modern Marxists point to education and the media as socialising agencies, which delude or "mystify" the working class into conforming to a social order, which works against its real interests. Thus, all controls which directly or indirectly explit the criminal law to control access to the discourses are political crimes.

Miller says that one of the defining characteristics of power in modern history has been the rationalisation and bureaucratisation of law. Legal codification, or at least debates over the merits of legal codification, became an almost global phenomenon in the nineteenth century as state power was centralised. In particular, the rationalisation of criminal law standardised not just the concept of crime, but was adopted as the means to eliminate the "deviant" as a threat to a modern, uniform, moral standard. In this, the religious establishment began to play a new role in defining "evil" in which threats to the political or social norm became as dangerous as threats to religious orthodoxy. Thus, political speech became one of the most likely activities to be criminalised. The freedom of association and to meet may also be criminalised if the purpose is to express oppositional political views.

Because a political offender may be fighting against a tyrannical government, treaties have usually specified that a person cannot be extradited for a political offense. Thomas Jefferson wrote:[4]

People convicted or suspected of certain crimes classified as terrorism by the government of their country (or some foreign countries) reject that classification. They consider that their fight is a legitimate one using legitimate means, and thus their crimes should be more appropriately called political crimes and justify special treatment in the penal system (as if they were soldiers in a war and therefore covered by the Geneva Convention). States tend to consider the political nature of the crimes an aggravating factor in the sentencing process and make no distinction between the terrorists and "ordinary" offenders, e.g. the convicted murderers of Action Directe consider themselves political prisoners.

Where there is no clear separation between the state and the prevailing religion, the edicts of the church may be codified as law and enforced by the secular policing and judicial authorities. This is a highly functionalist mechanism for enforcing conformity in all aspects of cultural life and the use of the label "crime" adds an extra layer of stigma to those convicted.

Rainn Wilson Cast in Utopia New Amazon Series | TVLine

Posted on February 21, 2019 by Danzig

The Offices Rainn Wilson has a (dangerous) new day job. The actor formerly known as Dwight Schrute has landed a lead role in Utopia, Amazons forthcoming nine-episode drama series from Sharp Objects and Gone Girl author Gillian Flynn, TVLine has learned.

Adapted from the British series of the same name, Utopia centers on a group of young adults who meet online that are mercilessly hunted by a shadowy deep state organization after they come into possession of a near-mythical cult underground graphic novel. Within the comics pages, they discover the conspiracy theories that may actually be real and are forced into the dangerous, unique and ironic position of saving the world.

Wilson who joins a cast that also includes Sasha Lane (American Honey) will play Michael Stearns, a once promising virologist who has lost his edge. When a nationwide outbreak of a deadly flu arises, Michael offers his expertise, and soon finds he has landed smack in the middle of something much bigger.

In more casting news, Dan Byrd (Cougar Town) will play Ian, who craves a more exciting life and embarks on a mission to uncover the secrets of the graphic novel, our sister site Deadline reports. Additionally, Cory Michael Smith (Gotham) has joined the ensemble as Thomas Christie, a Christie Laboratories employee who tracks down the only copy of the graphic novel for less than benevolent reasons.

Since clocking out of The Office, Wilson has appeared in Foxs Backstrom, Showtimes Roadies and, more recently, HBOs Room 104 and CBS All Access Star Trek: Discovery.

Rainn Wilson Cast in Utopia New Amazon Series | TVLine

Neuromancer – Wikipedia

Posted on February 21, 2019 by Danzig

Neuromancer is a 1984 science fiction novel by American-Canadian writer William Gibson. It is one of the best-known works in the cyberpunk genre and the first novel to win the Nebula Award, the Philip K. Dick Award, and the Hugo Award.[1] It was Gibson's debut novel and the beginning of the Sprawl trilogy. Set in the future, the novel follows Henry Case, a washed-up computer hacker, who is hired by the mysterious master criminal Armitage and the equally mysterious mercenary cyborg Molly Millions for one last job: to help a powerful artificial intelligence merge with its twin into a super consciousness and take control of a virtual reality global network known as "The Matrix".

Before Neuromancer, Gibson had written several short stories for US science fiction periodicalsmostly noir countercultural narratives concerning low-life protagonists in near-future encounters with cyberspace. The themes he developed in this early short fiction, the Sprawl setting of "Burning Chrome" (1982), and the character of Molly Millions from "Johnny Mnemonic" (1981) laid the foundations for the novel.[2] John Carpenter's Escape from New York (1981) influenced the novel;[3] Gibson was "intrigued by the exchange in one of the opening scenes where the Warden says to Snake 'You flew the Gullfire over Leningrad, didn't you?' [sic] It turns out to be just a throwaway line, but for a moment it worked like the best SF, where a casual reference can imply a lot."[1] The novel's street and computer slang dialogue derives from the vocabulary of subcultures, particularly "1969 Toronto dope dealer's slang, or biker talk". Gibson heard the term "flatlining" in a bar around twenty years before writing Neuromancer and it stuck with him.[1] Author Robert Stone, a "master of a certain kind of paranoid fiction", was a primary influence on the novel.[1] The term "Screaming Fist" was taken from the song of the same name by Toronto punk rock band The Viletones.[4]

Neuromancer was commissioned by Terry Carr for the second series of Ace Science Fiction Specials, which was intended to feature debut novels exclusively. Given a year to complete the work,[5] Gibson undertook the actual writing out of "blind animal panic" at the obligation to write an entire novela feat which he felt he was "four or five years away from".[1] After viewing the first 20 minutes of landmark cyberpunk film Blade Runner (1982), which was released when Gibson had written a third of the novel, he "figured [Neuromancer] was sunk, done for. Everyone would assume Id copied my visual texture from this astonishingly fine-looking film."[6] He re-wrote the first two-thirds of the book 12 times, feared losing the reader's attention and was convinced that he would be "permanently shamed" following its publication; yet what resulted was seen as a major imaginative leap forward for a first-time novelist.[1] He added the final sentence of the novel at the last minute in a deliberate attempt to prevent himself from ever writing a sequel, but ended up doing precisely that with Count Zero (1986), a character-focused work set in the Sprawl alluded to in its predecessor.[7]

Henry Dorsett Case is a low-level hustler in the dystopian underworld of Chiba City, Japan. Once a talented computer hacker, Case was caught stealing from his employer. As punishment for his theft, Case's central nervous system was damaged with a mycotoxin, leaving him unable to access the global computer network in cyberspace, a virtual reality dataspace called the "matrix". Case is unemployable, suicidal, and apparently at the top of the hit list of a drug lord named Wage. Case is saved by Molly Millions, an augmented "street samurai" and mercenary for a shadowy US ex-military officer named Armitage, who offers to cure Case in exchange for his services as a hacker. Case jumps at the chance to regain his life as a "console cowboy," but neither Case nor Molly knows what Armitage is really planning. Case's nervous system is repaired using new technology that Armitage offers the clinic as payment, but he soon learns from Armitage that sacs of the poison that first crippled him have been placed in his blood vessels as well. Armitage promises Case that if he completes his work in time, the sacs will be removed; otherwise they will dissolve, disabling him again. He also has Case's pancreas replaced and new tissue grafted into his liver, leaving Case incapable of metabolizing cocaine or amphetamines and apparently ending his drug addiction.

Case develops a close personal relationship with Molly, who suggests that he begin looking into Armitage's background. Meanwhile, Armitage assigns them their first job: they must steal a ROM module that contains the saved consciousness of one of Case's mentors, legendary cyber-cowboy McCoy Pauley, nicknamed "Dixie Flatline." Armitage needs Pauley's hacking expertise, and the ROM construct is stored in the corporate headquarters of media conglomerate Sense/Net. A street gang named the "Panther Moderns" is hired to create a simulated terrorist attack on Sense/Net. The diversion allows Molly to penetrate the building and steal Dixie's ROM with Case unlocking the computer safeguards on the way in and out from within the matrix.

Case and Molly continue to investigate Armitage, discovering his former identity of Colonel Willis Corto. Corto was a member of "Operation Screaming Fist," which planned on infiltrating and disrupting Soviet computer systems from ultralight aircraft dropped over Russia. The Russian military had learned of the idea and installed defenses to render the attack impossible, but the military went ahead with Screaming Fist, with a new secret purpose of testing these Russian defenses. As his team attacked a Soviet computer center, EMP weapons shut down their computers and flight systems, and Corto and his men were targeted by Soviet laser defenses. He and a few survivors commandeered a Soviet military helicopter and escaped over the heavily guarded Finnish border. The helicopter was shot down by Finnish defense forces mistaking it for a hostile aircraft, and everyone aboard was killed except for Corto, who was seriously wounded and disfigured. After some months in the hospital, Corto was visited by a US government official, who returned him to the United States to receive computer-aided psychotherapy and reconstructive surgery and to be able to provide what he came to realize was false testimony, designed to mislead the public and protect the senior military officers who had covered up knowledge of the EMP weapons. After the trials, Corto snapped, killing the official who had first contacted him and then disappearing into the criminal underworld, becoming Armitage.

In Istanbul, the team recruits Peter Riviera, an artist, thief, and drug addict who is able to project detailed holographic illusions with the aid of sophisticated cybernetic implants. Although Riviera is a sociopath, Armitage coerces him into joining the team. The trail leads Case and Molly to Wintermute, a powerful artificial intelligence created by the Tessier-Ashpool family. The Tessier-Ashpools spend most of their inactive time in cryonic preservation in a labyrinthine mansion known as Villa Straylight, located at one end of Freeside, a cylindrical space habitat at L5, which functions primarily as a Las Vegas-style space resort for the wealthy.

Wintermute's nature is finally revealedit is one-half of a super-AI entity planned by the family, although its exact purpose is unknown. The Turing Law Code governing AIs bans the construction of such entities; to get around this, it had to be built as two separate AIs. Wintermute (housed in a computer mainframe in Berne, Switzerland) was programmed by the Tessier-Ashpools with a need to merge with its other half, Neuromancer (whose physical mainframe is installed in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). Unable to achieve this merger on its own, Wintermute recruited Armitage and his team to help complete the goal. Case is tasked with entering cyberspace to pierce the Turing-imposed software barriers using a powerful icebreaker program. At the same time, Riviera is to obtain the password to the Turing lock from Lady 3Jane Marie-France Tessier-Ashpool, an unfrozen daughter clone and the current CEO of the family's corporation, Tessier-Ashpool SA. Wintermute believes Riviera will pose an irresistible temptation to her, and that she will give him the password. The password must be spoken into an ornate computer terminal located in Villa Straylight, and entered simultaneously as Case pierces the software barriers in cyberspaceotherwise the Turing lock will remain intact.

Armitage's team attracts the attention of the Turing Police, whose job is to prevent AIs from exceeding their built-in limitations. As Molly and Riviera gain entrance to Villa Straylight, three Turing officers arrest Case and take him into custody; Wintermute manipulates the orbital casino's security and maintenance systems and kills the officers, allowing Case to escape. Armitage's personality starts to disintegrate and revert to the Corto personality as he relives Screaming Fist. It is revealed that Wintermute had originally contacted Corto through a bedside computer during his original psychotherapy, eventually convincing Corto that he was Armitage. Wintermute used him to persuade Case and Molly to help it merge with its twin AI, Neuromancer. Finally, Corto breaks through the remains of the Armitage personality, but he is uncontrollable, and Wintermute kills him by ejecting him through an airlock into space.

Inside Villa Straylight, Riviera meets Lady 3Jane and tries to stop the mission, helping Lady 3Jane and Hideo, her ninja bodyguard, to capture Molly. Worried about Molly and operating under orders from Wintermute, Case tracks her down with help from Maelcum, his Rastafarian pilot. Neuromancer attempts to trap Case within a cyber-construct where he finds the consciousness of Linda Lee, his girlfriend from Chiba City, who was murdered by one of Case's underworld contacts. Case manages to escape after Maelcum gives him an overdose of a drug that can bypass his augmented liver and pancreas. Then, with Wintermute guiding them, Case goes with Maelcum to confront Lady 3Jane, Riviera, and Hideo. Riviera tries to kill Case, but Lady 3Jane is sympathetic towards Case and Molly, and Hideo protects him. Riviera blinds Hideo with a concentrated laser pulse from his projector implant, but flees when he learns that the ninja is just as adept without his sight. Molly then explains to Case that Riviera is doomed anyway, as he has been fatally poisoned by his drugs, which she had spiked with a lethal toxin to ensure he would never survive the mission, regardless of the outcome. With Lady 3Jane in possession of the password, the team makes it to the computer terminal. Case enters cyberspace to guide the icebreaker to penetrate its target; Lady 3Jane is induced to give up her password, and the lock is opened. Wintermute unites with Neuromancer, fusing into a superconsciousness. The poison in Case's bloodstream is washed out, and he, Molly, and Maelcum are profusely paid for their efforts, while Pauley's ROM construct is apparently erased, at his own request.

In the epilogue, Molly leaves Case. Case finds a new girlfriend, resumes his hacking work, and spends his earnings from the mission replacing his internal organs. Wintermute/Neuromancer contacts him, saying that it has become "the sum total of the works, the whole show," and has begun looking for other AIs like itself. Scanning old recorded transmissions from the 1970s, the super-AI finds an AI transmitting from the Alpha Centauri star system. In the matrix, Case hears inhuman laughter, a trait associated with Pauley during Case's work with his ROM construct, thus suggesting that Pauley was not erased after all, but instead transformed and exists in the matrix.

In the end, while logged into the matrix, Case catches a glimpse of himself, his dead girlfriend Linda Lee, and Neuromancer. The implication of the sighting is that Neuromancer created a copy of Case's consciousness. The copy of Case's consciousness now exists with that of Linda's and Pauley's, in the matrix. As promised there has been change, but what that change means is left ambiguous.

Neuromancer's release was not greeted with fanfare, but it hit a cultural nerve,[10] quickly becoming an underground word-of-mouth hit.[2] It became the first novel to win the Nebula, the Hugo, and Philip K. Dick Award for paperback original,[11] an unprecedented achievement described by the Mail & Guardian as "the sci-fi writer's version of winning the Goncourt, Booker and Pulitzer prizes in the same year".[12] The novel thereby legitimized cyberpunk as a mainstream branch of science fiction literature. It is among the most-honored works of science fiction in recent history, and appeared on Time magazine's list of 100 best English-language novels written since 1923.[13] The novel was also nominated for a British Science Fiction Award in 1984.[14]

Neuromancer is considered "the archetypal cyberpunk work".[15] and outside science fiction, it gained unprecedented critical and popular attention,[1] as an "evocation of life in the late 1980s",[16] although The Observer noted that "it took the New York Times 10 years" to mention the novel.[17] By 2007 it had sold more than 6.5million copies worldwide.[11]

The novel has had significant linguistic influence, popularizing such terms as cyberspace and ICE (Intrusion Countermeasures Electronics). Gibson himself coined the term "cyberspace" in his novelette "Burning Chrome", published in 1982 by Omni magazine,[18] but it was through its use in Neuromancer that it gained recognition to become the de facto term for the World Wide Web during the 1990s.[19][20] The portion of Neuromancer usually cited in this respect is:

The matrix has its roots in primitive arcade games. Cyberspace. A consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions of legitimate operators, in every nation, by children being taught mathematical concepts. A graphic representation of data abstracted from banks of every computer in the human system. Unthinkable complexity. Lines of light ranged in the nonspace of the mind, clusters and constellations of data. Like city lights, receding.[21]

The 1999 cyberpunk science fiction film The Matrix particularly draws from Neuromancer both eponym and usage of the term "matrix".[22] "After watching The Matrix, Gibson commented that the way that the film's creators had drawn from existing cyberpunk works was 'exactly the kind of creative cultural osmosis" he had relied upon in his own writing.'"[23]

In his afterword to the 2000 re-issue of Neuromancer, fellow author Jack Womack goes as far as to suggest that Gibson's vision of cyberspace may have inspired the way in which the Internet developed (particularly the World Wide Web), after the publication of Neuromancer in 1984. He asks "[w]hat if the act of writing it down, in fact, brought it about?" (269).

Norman Spinrad, in his 1986 essay "The Neuromantics" which appears in his non-fiction collection Science Fiction in the Real World, saw the book's title as a triple pun: "neuro" referring to the nervous system; "necromancer"; and "new romancer". The cyberpunk genre, the authors of which he suggested be called "neuromantics", was "a fusion of the romantic impulse with science and technology", according to Spinrad.

Writing in F&SF in 2005, Charles de Lint noted that while Gibson's technological extrapolations had proved imperfect (in particular, his failure to anticipate the cellular telephone), "Imagining story, the inner workings of his characters' minds, and the world in which it all takes place are all more important.[24]

Lawrence Person in his "Notes Toward a Postcyberpunk Manifesto" (1998) identified Neuromancer as "the archetypal cyberpunk work",[15] and in 2005, Time included it in their list of the 100 best English-language novels written since 1923, opining that "[t]here is no way to overstate how radical [Neuromancer] was when it first appeared."[13] Literary critic Larry McCaffery described the concept of the matrix in Neuromancer as a place where "data dance with human consciousness... human memory is literalized and mechanized... multi-national information systems mutate and breed into startling new structures whose beauty and complexity are unimaginable, mystical, and above all nonhuman."[1] Gibson later commented on himself as an author circa Neuromancer that "I'd buy him a drink, but I don't know if I'd loan him any money," and referred to the novel as "an adolescent's book".[25] The success of Neuromancer was to effect the 35-year-old Gibson's emergence from obscurity.[26]

In 1989, Epic Comics published a 48-page graphic novel version by Tom de Haven and Bruce Jensen.[27][28] It only covers the first two chapters, "Chiba City Blues" and "The Shopping Expedition", and was never continued.[29]

In the 1990s a version of Neuromancer was published as one of the Voyager Company's Expanded Books series of hypertext-annotated HyperCard stacks for the Apple Macintosh (specifically the PowerBook).[30]

A video game adaptation of the novelalso titled Neuromancerwas published in 1988 by Interplay. Designed by Bruce J. Balfour, Brian Fargo, Troy A. Miles, and Michael A. Stackpole, the game had many of the same locations and themes as the novel, but a different protagonist and plot. It was available for a variety of platforms, including the Amiga, the Apple II, the Commodore 64, and for DOS-based computers. It featured, as a soundtrack, a computer adaptation of the Devo song "Some Things Never Change."

According to an episode of the American version of Beyond 2000, the original plans for the game included a dynamic soundtrack composed by Devo and a real-time 3d rendered movie of the events the player went through.[citation needed] Psychologist and futurist Dr. Timothy Leary was involved, but very little documentation seems to exist about this proposed second game, which was perhaps too grand a vision for 1988 home computing.

The BBC World Service Drama production of Neuromancer aired in two one-hour parts, on 8 and 15 September 2002. Dramatised by Mike Walker, and directed by Andy Jordan, it starred Owen McCarthy as Case, Nicola Walker as Molly, James Laurenson as Armitage, John Shrapnel as Wintermute, Colin Stinton as Dixie, David Webber as Maelcum, David Holt as Riviera, Peter Marinker as Ashpool, and Andrew Scott as The Finn. It can no longer be heard on The BBC World Service Archive. [1]

In Finland, Yle Radioteatteri produced a 4-part radio play of Neuromancer.

Gibson read an abridged version of his novel Neuromancer on four audio cassettes for Time Warner Audio Books (1994). An unabridged version of this book was read by Arthur Addison and made available from Books on Tape (1997). In 2011, Penguin Audiobooks produced a new unabridged recording of the book, read by Robertson Dean.

Neuromancer the Opera is an adaptation written by Jayne Wenger and Marc Lowenstein (libretto) and Richard Marriott of the Club Foot Orchestra (music). A production was scheduled to open on March 3, 1995 at the Julia Morgan Theater (now the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts) in Berkeley, California, featuring Club Foot Orchestra in the pit and extensive computer graphics imagery created by a world-wide network of volunteers. However, this premiere did not take place and the work has yet to be performed in full.[31]

There have been several proposed film adaptations of Neuromancer, with drafts of scripts written by British director Chris Cunningham and Chuck Russell, with Aphex Twin providing the soundtrack.[32] The box packaging for the video game adaptation had even carried the promotional mention for a major motion picture to come from "Cabana Boy Productions." None of these projects have come to fruition, though Gibson had stated his belief that Cunningham is the only director with a chance of doing the film correctly.[33]

In May 2007, reports emerged that a film was in the works, with Joseph Kahn (director of Torque) in line to direct and Milla Jovovich in the lead role.[34] In May 2010 this story was supplanted with news that Vincenzo Natali, director of Cube and Splice, had taken over directing duties and would rewrite the screenplay.[35] In March 2011, with the news that Seven Arts and GFM Films would be merging their distribution operations, it was announced that the joint venture would be purchasing the rights to Neuromancer under Vincenzo Natali's direction.[36] In August, 2012, GFM Films announced that it had begun casting for the film (with offers made to Liam Neeson and Mark Wahlberg), but no cast members have been confirmed yet.[37] In November 2013, Natali shed some light on the production situation; announcing that the script had been completed for 'years', and had been written with assistance from Gibson himself.[38] In May 2015, it was reported that movie got new funding from Chinese company C2M, but Natali is no longer available for directing the movie.[39]

In August 2017, it was announced that Deadpool director Tim Miller was signed on to direct a new film adaptation by Fox, with Simon Kinberg producing.[40]

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Neuromancer - Wikipedia

Immortality | VS Battles Wiki | FANDOM powered by Wikia

Posted on February 21, 2019 by Danzig

Summary

Immortality is the ability to simply not die by natural means for any number of reasons, ranging from simply having no limit to your lifespan, being able to regenerate from wounds that would normally be lethal, or being protected by a higher being, among other possible reasons. It should be noted that no Immortality is truly perfect, and no matter how much a character's immortality is hyped up within their own setting, it is very, very unlikely that they are truly completely unkillable when matched up against characters from other fictions.

1: Eternal Life: Characters gifted with this type of immortality cannot die from natural causes, such as old age or conventional illness, but can be killed by unnatural causes. To clarify, this type of immortality can include both those who do not age at all, and those who still grow old, but will never die of old age. However, in the case of the latter it should be made clear that this is not justLongevity, ascharacters with that ability will eventually die of old age, as opposed to Eternal Life, for which dying of old age is not possible.

2: Resilient Immortality: Characters with this degree of immortality can survive injuries that would otherwise be lethal to a normal person, without needing to heal from it.

3: Immortality via regeneration: Characters with this type of immortality can simply regenerate from wounds that would normally be lethal, though its effectiveness depends on the degree of the regeneration.

4: Immortality via reincarnation or resurrection: Characters that are immortal because, whenever they die, they will simply reincarnate within another body or resurrect themselves at a later point in time.

5: Deathless Immortality: Characters who exist unbound by conventional life or death, or do not exist at all, and thus cannot be traditionally killed. Typically, abilities such asExistence Erasureare needed to destroy them.

6: Parasitic: The character is able to attain a sort of immortality by abandoning bodies whenever necessary to transfer their consciousness to another body, whether they are possessing someone else or switching to a backup body.

7: Undead: Characters who cannot die due to technically being already dead, often overlapping with other forms of immortality.

8: Reliant Immortality: The character cannot die as long as a certain being, object, or even concept exists.

9: Transcendental Immortality: Characters whose true selves exist independently from the plane where they can be killed.

10: Meta-Immortality: Entities that are not alive or dead in a conventional sense, standing outside the ordinary laws of reality, temporality, and dimensionality (of any number). If it is possible to destroy such a character, it can only be accomplished by a being of a similar or higher existence.

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Aerospace Products and Solutions | Eaton

Posted on February 21, 2019 by Danzig

Eaton is a world leader and premier innovator in aerospace. Eaton designs, manufactures and integrates the industrys most advanced products and technologies for:

Hydraulic SystemsFuel and Inerting SystemsMotion ControlEngine Solutions

Eatons comprehensive portfolio of components consistently sets the industry standard for engineering excellence, resulting in superior systems design and integration capability. These products power hundreds of military and commercial aircraft platforms with a focus on improved reliability, weight reduction and fuel efficiency.

Eaton balances growth with individualized customer attention. Eaton has the resources and capabilities required to customize solutions for todays industry needs while developing new technologies for next-generation aircraft designs.

And every one of Eatons customer solutions includes comprehensive service and aftermarket support. Eaton staffs a 24/7 global network of technical, product and system support experts and service centers to immediately address operational issues anytime and anywhere in the world.

Eaton's portfolio includes fuel pumps, valves, sensors, and accessories, as well as all the components to build fuel conveyance and delivery sub-systems from the tank to the engine.

Eaton designs and delivers the broadest range of aerospace conveyance and propulsion systems, components and capabilities.

Eaton is the leading global supplier of hydraulic power generation and fluid distribution components and systems.

Motion Control is where the most innovative and creative engineering in aircraft design takes place. Aircraft platform manufacturers are looking for more optimized systems with less weight, greater performance and more reliability.

Aircraft On Ground (AOG) contacts listed per product family.

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Aerospace Products and Solutions | Eaton

AEROSPACE – PPG – Paints, Coatings and Materials

Posted on February 21, 2019 by Danzig

Businesses

PPG's aerospace business is a leading manufacturer of TRANSPARENCIES, SEALANTS, and COATINGS, and provider of electrochromic window systems, surface solutions, PACKAGING, and CHEMICAL MANAGEMENT SERVICES, delivering new technologies and solutions to airframe manufacturers, airlines and maintenance providers for the commercial, military and general aviation industries globally.

VisitPPG's Aerospace Web Site

Sylmar, CAPPG Aerospace Transparencies Research and Technology Center12780 San Fernando RoadSylmar, CA 91342USATel: 818-362-6711

Allison Park, PAPPG Coatings Innovation Center4325 Rosanna DriveAllison Park, PA 15101USATel: 412-492-5200Fax: 412-492-5221

Harmar, PAPPG Coatings Innovation Center400 Guys Run RdCheswick, PA 15024USATel: 412-820-8500

United KingdomPPG Sealants and CoatingsDarlington RoadShildon Co Durham DL4 2QPUnited KingdomTel: 44 (0) 1388 772541Fax: 44 (0) 1388 774373

FrancePPG Aerospace Coatings7 Alle de la PlaineGonfreville lOrcher76700 HarfleurFranceTel: 33 (0) 235 53 54 00Fax: 33 (0) 235 53 54 02

PPG Aerospace CoatingsPPG Industries France S.A.S.3, Z.A.E. Les Dix Muids B.P. 8959583 MarlyCedex, FranceTel: 33 (0) 327 19 35 00

PPG operates aerospace facilities worldwide with manufacturing sites and regional sales offices located in every region.

Packaging and Application Systems deliver custom solutions for single and multi-compoenent adhesives, sealants, coatings, and lubricants.

PPG'sgoal is to bring more effective management of chemicals through the entire product life cycle, thus reducing the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for our customers.

Alteos is registered trademark of PPG Industries Ohio, Inc.

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Bankruptcy – Investopedia

Posted on February 21, 2019 by Danzig

What is Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy is a legal term for when a person or business cannot repay their outstanding debts. The bankruptcy process begins with a petition filed by the debtor, which is most common, or on behalf of creditors, which is less common. All of the debtor's assets are measured and evaluated, and the assets may be used to repay a portion of outstanding debt.

Bankruptcy offers an individual or business a chance to start fresh by forgiving debts that simply cannot be paid, while offering creditors a chance to obtain some measure of repayment based on the individual's or business's assets available for liquidation. In theory, the ability to file for bankruptcy can benefit an overall economy by giving persons and businesses a second chance to gain access to consumer credit and by providing creditors with a measure of debt repayment. Upon the successful completion of bankruptcy proceedings, the debtor is relieved of the debt obligations incurred prior to filing for bankruptcy.

All bankruptcy cases in the United States are handled through federal courts. Any decisions over federal bankruptcy cases are made by a bankruptcy judge, including whether a debtor is eligible to file or whether he should be discharged of his debts. But sometimes, administration over bankruptcy cases is handled by a trustee, someone appointed by the United States Trustee, an officer of the Department of Justice, to represent the debtor's estate in the proceeding. There is usually very little contact between the debtor and the judge, unless there is some objection made in the case by a creditor.

Bankruptcy filings in the United States fall under one of several chapters of the Bankruptcy Code: Chapter 7, which involves liquidation of assets; Chapter 11, which deals with company or individual reorganizations; and Chapter 13, which is debt repayment with lowered debt covenants or payment plans. Bankruptcy filing specifications vary among states, leading to higher and lower filing fees depending on how easily a person or company can complete the process.

Individuals or businesses with few or no assets file Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The chapter allows individuals to dispose of their unsecured debts, such as credit cards and medical bills. Individuals with nonexempt assets, such as family heirlooms (collections with high valuations, such as coin or stamp collections),second homes and vehicles,and cash, stocks or bonds, must liquidate the property to repay some or all of their unsecured debts. So, you're basically selling off your assets in order to clear away your debt.Consumers who have no valuable assets and only exempt property, such as household goods, clothing, tools for their trades and a personal vehicle up to a certain value, repay no part of their unsecured debt.

Businesses often file Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the goal of which is to reorganize and once again become profitable. Filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy allows a company to create plans for profitability, cut costs and find new ways to increase revenue. For example, a housekeeping business filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy might increase its rates slightly and offer more services to become profitable. Chapter 11 bankruptcy allows a business to continue conducting its daily operations without interruption, while working on a debt repayment plan under the court's supervision. In rare cases, individuals file Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Individuals who make too much money to qualify for Chapter 7 bankruptcy may file under Chapter 13. The chapter allows individuals and businesses to create workable debt repayment plans. In exchange for repaying their creditors, the courts allow these debtors to keep all of their property including nonexempt property.

The discharge of a Chapter 7 is usually granted about four months after the debtor files to petition for bankruptcy. For any other type of bankruptcy, the discharge can occur when it becomes practical. The Chapter 15 was added to deal with cross-border cases which involve debtors, assets, creditors and other parties who may be in more than one country. This type of petition is usually filed in the debtor's home country.

When a debtor receives a discharge order, he is no longer legally required to pay any of the debts on that order. So, any creditor listed on that discharge cannot legally undertake any type of collection activity (making phone calls, sending letters)against the debtor once the discharge order is enforced. Therefore, the discharge absolves the debtor of any personal liability for the debts specified in the order.

But not all debts qualify to be discharged. Some of these include tax claims, anything that was not listed by the debtor, child support or alimony payments, personal injury debts, debts to the government, etc. In addition, any secured creditor can still enforce a lien against property owned by the debtor, provided that lien is still valid.

Debtors do not necessarily have the right to a discharge. When a petition for bankruptcy has been filed in court, creditors receive a notice and can object if they choose to do so. If they do, they will need to file a complaint in the court before the deadline. This leads to the filing of an adversary proceeding in order to recover monies owe orenforce a lien.The discharge froma Chapter 7 is usually granted about four months after the debtor files to petition for bankruptcy. For any other type of bankruptcy, the discharge can occur when it becomes practical.

While it may relieve you of your legal obligation to repay your debts, filing for bankruptcy does have consequences. Depending on the kind of petition, a bankruptcy will hurt your credit rating. If you're trying to figure out if you should file, your credit is probably already damaged. A Chapter 7 filing will stay on your credit report for 10 years, while a Chapter 13 will remain there for seven. Any creditors you hit up for debt (a loan, credit card, line of credit or mortgage) will see the discharge on your report, which will prevent you from getting any credit.

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Users of Crypto Site Where Dead CEO Lost $196M Are Preparing Suit

Posted on February 20, 2019 by Danzig

QuadrigaCX has about two weeks left to its stay to raise the money it owes before anyone can sue, but a judge just appointed law firms to its customers.

Making Moves

Remember that cryptocurrency exchange that said it lost $196 million of its customers’ money when CEO Gerald Cotten died — prompting conspiracy theories Cotten faked his own death?

Well, those 115,000 customers just lawyered up.

Ticking Clock

Michael Wood, a justice on Nova Scotia’s Supreme Court, issued a ruling Tuesday that QuadrigaCX customers would be represented by two law firms, Miller Thomson as well as Cox & Palmer, in the event of a class-action lawsuit, according to CoinDesk.

So far, no one has filed suit against QuadrigaCX — though the users’ new lawyers can start preparing one, according to CoinDesk. On Feb. 5, the courts approved a 30-day stay at the company’s request. That leaves QuadrigaCX with about two more weeks to settle the matter and come up with $196 million on its own before anyone can sue.

Next Steps

Once the stay expires on March 7, the crypto exchange may try to have it extended. But that appeal would come before Judge Wood.

Given his move to prepare QuadrigaCX customers for a potential lawsuit, Wood may decide that QuadrigaCX was given enough time and open up the floor to any lawsuits.

READ MORE: Judge Appoints Law Firms to Represent QuadrigaCX Customers [CoinDesk]

More on QuadrigaCX: Indian Hospital Fires Back at Rumors That Crypto CEO Faked Death

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Users of Crypto Site Where Dead CEO Lost $196M Are Preparing Suit

Lab-Grown Meat Could Be Worse for the Environment

Posted on February 20, 2019 by Danzig

The benefits of lab-grown meat will depend on scientists' ability to produce it sustainably, and right now, we don't know if that's even possible.

Growing Change

Meat farming is a major contributor of the greenhouse gases driving climate change. To ensure we never have to choose between a livable planet and a juicy hamburger, scientists are attempting to efficiently grow convincing imitation meat in the lab using everything from volcano-dwelling microbes to stem cells.

But new research suggests the efforts of those scientists might be in vain — it turns out that growing meat in the lab might actually do more damage to the environment than producing it the traditional way.

Meat Market

For their study, published Tuesday in the journal Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, researchers from the Oxford Martin School compared the potential impact on the global temperature over the next 1,000 years of three cattle farming methods and four potential methods for growing meat in the lab.

Their comparison revealed that yes, lab-grown meat could be better for the environment — but it won’t be better by default.

“The climate impacts of cultured meat production will depend on what level of sustainable energy generation can be achieved, as well as the efficiency of future culture processes,” researcher John Lynch told the BBC. “If the lab-grown meat is quite energy intensive to produce then they could end up being worse for the climate than cows are.”

Apples and Oranges

The methane emitted by cattle also has a different kind of impact on the environment than the carbon dioxide that scientists might pump into the atmosphere while producing meat in the lab.

“Per tonne emitted, methane has a much larger warming impact than carbon dioxide,” researcher Raymond Pierrehumbert said in a press release. “However, it only remains in the atmosphere for about 12 years whereas carbon dioxide persists and accumulates for millennia.”

Ultimately, this research reveals that it’s still too soon to know whether lab-grown meat could actually solve our agriculture-caused climate woes — which means we might still be headed toward a future in which we need to trade at least some of our steaks for salads.

READ MORE: Cultured Lab Meat May Make Climate Change Worse [BBC]

More on lab-grown meat: To Feed a Hungry Planet, We’re All Going to Need to Eat Less Meat

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Lab-Grown Meat Could Be Worse for the Environment

Scientists Found a “River of Stars” Flowing Through the Milky Way

Posted on February 20, 2019 by Danzig

New research has uncovered a stellar stream comprising 4,000 stars flowing through the Milky Way remarkably close to the Earth.

Flow On

The Milky Way is home to a variety of star clusters. Most of the time, its gravity quickly pulls these clusters apart, but some clusters have enough mass to remain stuck together, and sometimes the clusters form stellar streams, which are river-like stretches of stars that orbit the galaxy.

Now, researchers have identified a billion-year-old stellar stream comprising nearly 4,000 stars — and it’s remarkably close to our Sun.

Close Encounter

In a study published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics on Thursday, a team from the University of Vienna details its discovery of this new stellar stream, which is approximately 1,300 light-years long and 160 light-years wide.

The team discovered the stream using data from the European Space Agency’s Gaia satellite, and according to researcher João Alves, it’s been hiding in plain sight.

“Astronomers have been looking at, and through, this new stream for a long time, as it covers most of the night sky, but only now realize it is there,” he explained in a press release.

“As soon as we investigated this particular group of stars in more detail, we knew that we had found what we were looking for: A coeval, stream-like structure, stretching for hundreds of parsecs across a third of the entire sky,” researcher Verena Fürnkranz said. “It was so thrilling to be part of a new discovery.”

Down River

The researchers are already looking ahead to what new insights they may be able to glean from this river of stars, positing that it could lead to new information on how galaxies gain their stars, the discovery of new exoplanets, and an improved understanding of the Milky Way’s mass and gravitational field.

“Finding things close to home is very useful,” Alves said. “It means they are not too faint nor too blurred for further detailed exploration, as astronomers dream.”

More on stellar streams: Dark Energy Survey Discovers Remnants of Other Galaxies Within Our Own

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Japan Sends Robot Into the Nuclear Hell of the Fukushima Reactor

Posted on February 20, 2019 by Danzig

A robot just physically examined the radioactive fuel at the damaged Fukushima Nuclear Reactor. It's the first step toward an ongoing cleanup mission.

Nuclear Probe

The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) just sent a robot into one of the reactors of the Fukushima nuclear power plant, which was destroyed by a tsunami back in 2011.

The robot made contact with the melted fuel, picking it up and putting it back down to determine whether it was solid enough to cart away during a future mission, according to Ars Technica.

The Claw

Fukushima won’t be fully decommissioned for another 30 to 40 years. But this robotic mission is the first step toward determining how other robots will go about cleaning it up.

In this case, the robot was able to pick up small chunks of the radioactive fuel at five of the six test sites, all of which were located inside one of the power plant’s three damaged reactors. TEPCO published a video of the process taken by the robot’s built-in camera, in which you can see a robotic claw position itself around and pick up small pieces of fuel.

Catch and Release

None of the radioactive fuel left the reactor along with the robot when the mission was over. But that wasn’t the plan. Rather, this mission marks the first time that a robot has been able to physically examine Fukushima’s fuel.

The team hopes to start retrieving some of the deadly fuel in 2021, now that they know it can be physically lifted.

READ MORE: Japanese utility makes first contact with melted Fukushima fuel [Ars Technica]

More on Fukushima: A $320 Million Ice Wall Still Can’t Contain Radioactive Water Near Fukushima

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WHO Says UN Should Reclassify Marijuana as Less Dangerous

Posted on February 20, 2019 by Danzig

New Class

Marijuana could soon be reclassified on an international scale.

In 1948, the United Nations (UN) established the World Health Organization (WHO) to serve as its conduit to all things health-related. Now, the agency is recommending that the UN reclassify marijuana to a less restrictive narcotics schedule — a move that could have a huge impact on public health worldwide.

Narcotics Treaty

Under the UN’s Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, an international treaty that regulates the production and sale of certain drugs, cannabis is listed as a Schedule IV drug. That‘s the most restrictive class, reserved for drugs that have “particularly dangerous properties.”

Earlier this month, the WHO published new recommendations to the UN regarding the classification of marijuana in the medical journal The BMJ. According to the WHO, there’s growing evidence that cannabis has medical applications, and the UN should reschedule the plant to take into account these applications.

Medical Marijuana

The WHO’s proposal to reclassify marijuana could go before the UN’s Commission on Narcotic Drugs as soon as March, at which point 53 countries will have the option of voting on it.

Although a vote to reclassify wouldn’t make cannabis legal everywhere overnight, it would mark a major shift in how political leaders view the drug — which could have a huge impact on the drug’s use for medical purposes.

Scientists have already noted potential uses for cannabis to treat everything from psychosis and epilepsy to heart disease and Alzheimer’s, but researching these links hasn’t been easy given marijuana’s legal status.

If governments decide to revisit their cannabis laws in the wake of a UN reclassification, it might be easier for researchers to gain approval — and funding — for their marijuana-focused studies, meaning we could see a dramatic increase in the number of cannabis-based medical treatments in the future.

More on marijuana: New Senate Bill Would Legalize Marijuana Nationwide

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Trump Signs Directive: Space Force Will Be Run By Air Force

Posted on February 20, 2019 by Danzig

President Donald Trump signed Space Policy Directive 4 (SPD-4) today, organizing all military space functions under a new Space Force.

Space Force 2.0

U.S. President Donald Trump signed a directive today that organizes all military space functions under a new Space Force. The Space Force will be run entirely under the current U.S. Air Force — at least for the time being.

That means a future Space Force would function more like the Marine Corps, which is part of the Navy, than an entirely separate branch of the military — which is what the Trump administration first suggested back in June.

A More Popular Approach

The news comes after Trump signed an executive order in December, calling for the creation of a “U.S. Space Command” to streamline and consolidate space operations.

The plans still have to receive Congress approval before its creation, but organizing it under the Air Force could be a way to warm lawmakers up to the idea, as Defense News suggests.

Agreeable Idea

The Washington Post points out that the Directive could also be a more agreeable idea to the Pentagon as it would create far less bureaucracy.

Today’s news doesn’t necessarily rule out future plans for a standalone Space Force military branch. But it could save military officials a headache in the near future.

More on Space Force: The US May Soon Have The World’s First Space Force

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Elon Musk: Bitcoin Is “Brilliant” And “Paper Money Is Going Away”

Posted on February 20, 2019 by Danzig

Tesla CEO Elon Musk shared his thoughts on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies during a podcast interview with ARK Invest.

“Seriously?”

Elon Musk is talking cryptocurrency. The real Elon Musk, not one of those Twitter scammers.

On Tuesday, Tesla’s CEO sat down for a podcast interview with ARK Invest, a tech investment firm. In addition to chatting about electric vehicles and self-driving cars, the interviewers decided to throw Musk an “off-topic” question about cryptocurrencies.

After an initially incredulous response — “Crypto, seriously?” — Musk went on to elaborate on his thoughts about crypto and Bitcoin in particular — and while he sees the value in both, don’t expect Tesla to get involved in the space any time soon.

Pros and Cons

During the interview, Musk admitted that he thinks “the Bitcoin structure is quite brilliant” and that there might be “some merit to Ethereum as well and maybe some others.”

He went on to discuss the uses of the cryptocurrency with ARK Invest founder Cathie Wood, who noted that “there were $1.3 trillion worth of transactions in bitcoin, and we don’t see it here because it’s not for pizza or Coke.”

“It might be for coke,” Musk deadpanned, in an apparent drug joke, prompting laughs from his interviewers.

“We figure it’s business-to-business in Africa where it is prohibitively expensive to convert from one nation’s currency to another,” Wood continued. “It really is very important. It’s money over IP for them. It’s free transmission of money, and that’s really important to opening up the world.”

“It bypasses currency controls,” Musk said. “Paper money is going away, and crypto is a far better way to transfer value than pieces of paper, that’s for sure. That has its pros and cons.”

Tesla Coin

As for whether Tesla would ever get involved in crypto, Musk doesn’t see that happening any time soon.

His company’s primary goal is to “accelerate the advent of sustainable energy,” according to Musk, and as he noted during the interview, mining cryptocurrencies is computationally energy intensive.

“I’m not sure it would be a good use for Tesla resources to get involved in crypto,” he concluded.

“Just to clarify,” ARK Invest analyst Tasha Keeney asked later, “Tesla’s not going to start selling bitcoin anytime soon?”

“No, we’re not,” Musk replied.

More on crypto: Fake Elon Musks Clutter Twitter With Crypto Scams

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Australian License Plates Can Now Include Emoji

Posted on February 20, 2019 by Danzig

As of March 1, drivers in Queensland, Australia will be able to include one of five emoji in their license plates — a startling break from tradition.

License to Emoji

It’s the natural evolution of the vanity license plate: emoji.

As of March 1, drivers in Queensland, Australia will be able to include one of five emoji in their license plates: laughing out loud, winking face, sunglasses, heart eyes, and the classic smiley face.

“For quite some time we’ve seen that you can support your favourite team or your favourite town with a symbol on your number plate,” Royal Automobile Club of Queensland spokeswoman Rebecca Michael told 7News Brisbane. “And using an emoji is no different.”

Cool Sunglasses Face

If you drive a vehicle in Queensland, you can pre-order your own customized plate right now on the website of government-approved plate vendor Personalised Plates Queensland (PPQ.)

Drivers will like need to pay a fee somewhere between $160 to $500 in Australian dollars to get the new emoji, according to 7News.

Mo’ ‘Mojis, Mo’ Problems

One problem remains: police could be thrown off by the unusual new plates.

“How do you write down the emoji in your number plate after an accident?” Queensland Law Society president Bill Potts asked the Brisbane Times.

READ MORE: Queensland drivers set to get emoji number plates [new.com.au]

More on license plates: A “Smart” License Plate: To Buy or Not to Buy?

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New Gadget Detects Lifeforms From Long Distances

Posted on February 20, 2019 by Danzig

A new tool called the TreePol spectropolarimeter could someday scan for extraterrestrial life without picking up any false positives.

Upgrading SETI

A new scientific instrument with the extraordinary name “TreePol spectropolarimeter” can be used to detect the presence of lifeforms from several kilometers away.

And while right now the device is best used for spotting faraway plants, a high-powered version of the tool could someday serve as the most reliable means of searching for extraterrestrial life to date, according to a press release published Tuesday by The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO).

Advanced Search

Often, when scientists talk about which exoplanets or moons might harbor life, they weigh factors like water, atmospheric oxygen, and the presence of organic molecules. But that opens the door to all kinds of false positives — there’s an underwater lake on Mars, for instance, but that doesn’t mean anything lives there.

But TreePol detects light that’s been rotated after bouncing off molecules found only in living things. The tool was specifically built to detect foliage, but can also detect light that bounced off of most living things on Earth, according to the press release.

Long Shot

It’s possible that the molecules that make up whatever extraterrestrial life might exist out there doesn’t interact with light in the same way as life on Earth. But the important distinction here is that nothing else on Earth does — nothing will trigger TreePol’s sensors except for living things.

Right now, the team is preparing to test whether TreePol could be used to analyze crops from a plane or satellite, slowly ramping up the distance over which TreePol scans. If those tests work, the scientists will investigate whether they can use it to scan the cosmos, perhaps by sending TreePol up to the International Space Station.

More on extraterrestrial life: Scientists Need to Solve These Two Mysteries to Find Life on Mars

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India Just Swore in Its First Robot Police Officer

Posted on February 20, 2019 by Danzig

Indian police just swore in KP-Bot as a sub-inspector. The robot police officer will work behind the front desk and direct visitors as needed.

RoboCop

India just swore in its first robotic police officer, which is named KP-Bot.

The animatronic-looking machine was granted the rank of sub-inspector on Tuesday, and it will operate the front desk of Thiruvananthapuram police headquarters, according to India Today.

Action Figure

The robot was welcomed aboard with a salute from Pinarayi Vijayan, the Chief Minister of Kerala. India Today reports that the robot “responded with a perfect salute,” which presumably just means that it didn’t karate chop its own head off in the process.

Aside from the symbolic gesture of integrating robotics into the police force, KP-Bot doesn’t do much. At the moment, it can sit behind a police station’s front desk, recording complaints and directing visitors to the correct department as needed.

It can also salute at higher-ranked officers, according to India Today. In the future, it may be integrated with facial recognition software or the capability to detect bombs.

Quit While Ahead

KP-Bot is also for some reason gendered, with Assistant Deputy of police Manoj Abraham explicitly declaring that the inanimate object is a woman.

“Women empowerment and gender equality were kept in mind while deciding on the gender of the first robot,” said Loknath Behra, the Director General of Police. “Also, the fact that most front office jobs are managed by women was considered.”

READ MORE: India’s first RoboCop: Kerala Police inducts robot, gives it SI rank [India Today]

More on police robots: Dubai Wants Robots to Make up 25% of Its Police Force by 2030

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India Just Swore in Its First Robot Police Officer

Google: Secret Nest Microphone “Never Intended to Be a Secret”

Posted on February 20, 2019 by Danzig

Earlier this month, Google inadvertently revealed that its home security device, Nest, contained a secret microphone. Now it says secrecy was a

End of an Error

People who use Google’s home security device, Nest Guard, got some surprising news earlier this month when the company announced that the device could now be used as a smart assistant.

That was startling because Google Assistant devices use voice recognition, and the company had never disclosed that Nests had built-in microphones. Now the search giant is admitting they do — and saying its failure to mention the microphone was an “error.”

Telescreen

According to the spokesperson, the microphones were never enabled and had been added to Nest devices in case the company decided to implement sound-based features. The spokesperson described a hypothetical use to Business Insider in which a Nest Guard might detect the sound of broken glass during a break-in.

“The on-device microphone was never intended to be a secret and should have been listed in the tech specs,” a Google spokesperson told Business Insider on Tuesday. “That was an error on our part.”

Ministry of Search

Google has a fraught history with privacy advocates. In 2010, for instance, it got busted sweeping up Wi-Fi data with its Street View cars. And earlier this year, France fined the tech giant $57 million for privacy violations. And now, framing a secret microphone hidden in customers’ homes as an “error,” whether or not the microphone was active, doesn’t click.

Google acknowledging wrongdoing is a nice start, but there are no brownie points to be had for framing the company’s decision as an error only after it came to light anyway.

More on Google: Google Wins Lawsuit Over Facial Recognition Technology

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