Daily Archives: July 12, 2015

NSA tracking cellphone locations worldwide, Snowden …

Posted: July 12, 2015 at 2:44 pm

Video: The National Security Agency gathers location data from around the world by tapping into the cables that connect mobile networks globally and that serve U.S. cellphones as well as foreign ones.

The National Security Agency is gathering nearly 5billion records a day on the whereabouts of cellphones around the world, according to top-secret documents and interviews with U.S. intelligence officials, enabling the agency to track the movements of individuals and map their relationships in ways that would have been previously unimaginable.

The records feed a vast database that stores information about the locations of at least hundreds of millions of devices, according to the officials and the documents, which were provided by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. New projects created to analyze that data have provided the intelligence community with what amounts to a mass surveillance tool.

(Video: How the NSA uses cellphone tracking to find and develop targets)

The NSA does not target Americans location data by design, but the agency acquires a substantial amount of information on the whereabouts of domestic cellphones incidentally, a legal term that connotes a foreseeable but not deliberate result.

One senior collection manager, speaking on the condition of anonymity but with permission from the NSA, said we are getting vast volumes of location data from around the world by tapping into the cables that connect mobile networks globally and that serve U.S. cellphones as well as foreign ones. Additionally, data are often collected from the tens of millions of Americans who travel abroad with their cellphones every year.

In scale, scope and potential impact on privacy, the efforts to collect and analyze location data may be unsurpassed among the NSA surveillance programs that have been disclosed since June. Analysts can find cellphones anywhere in the world, retrace their movements and expose hidden relationships among the people using them.

(Graphic: How the NSA is tracking people right now)

U.S. officials said the programs that collect and analyze location data are lawful and intended strictly to develop intelligence about foreign targets.

Robert Litt, general counsel for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which oversees the NSA, said there is no element of the intelligence community that under any authority is intentionally collecting bulk cellphone location information about cellphones in the United States.

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NSA tracking cellphone locations worldwide, Snowden ...

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A Few Thoughts on Cryptographic Engineering: On the NSA

Posted: at 2:44 pm

Let me tell you the story of my tiny brush with the biggest crypto story of the year.

A few weeks ago I received a call from a reporter at ProPublica, asking me background questions about encryption. Right off the bat I knew this was going to be an odd conversation, since this gentleman seemed convinced that the NSA had vast capabilities to defeat encryption. And not in a 'hey,d'ya think the NSA has vast capabilities to defeat encryption?' kind of way.No, he'd already established the defeating. We were just haggling over the details.

Oddness aside it was a fun (if brief) set of conversations, mostly involving hypotheticals. If the NSA could do this, how might they do it? What would the impact be? I admit that at this point one of my biggest concerns was to avoid coming off like a crank. After all, if I got quoted soundingtoo much like an NSA conspiracy nut, my colleagues would laugh at me. Then I might not get invited to the cool security parties.

All of this is a long way of saying that I was totally unprepared for today's bombshell revelationsdescribing the NSA's efforts to defeat encryption. Not only does the worst possible hypothetical I discussed appear to be true, but it's true on a scale I couldn't even imagine. I'm no longer the crank. I wasn't even close to cranky enough.

And since I never got a chance to see the documents that sourced the NYT/ProPublica story -- and I would give my right armto see them-- I'm determined to make up for this deficit with sheer speculation. Which is exactly what this blog post will be.

'Bullrun' and 'Cheesy Name'

If you haven't read the ProPublica/NYT or Guardian stories, you probably should. The TL;DR is that the NSA has been doing some very bad things. At a combined cost of $250 million per year, they include:

How to break a cryptographic system

There's almost too much here for a short blog post, so I'm going to start with a few general thoughts. Readers of this blog should know that there are basically three ways to break a cryptographic system. In no particular order, they are:

So which code should we be concerned about? Which hardware?

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A Few Thoughts on Cryptographic Engineering: On the NSA

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Second Amendment – Text, Origins, and Meaning

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Dieter Spears/Photodisc/Getty Images

Text of Amendment:

Origins:

Having been oppressed by a professional army, the founding fathers of the United States had no use for establishing one of their own. Instead, they decided that an armed citizenry makes the best army of all. General George Washington created regulation for the aforementioned "well-regulated militia," which would consist of every able-bodied man in the country.

Controversy:

The Second Amendment holds the distinction of being the only amendment to the Bill of Rights that essentially goes unenforced. The U.S. Supreme Court has never struck down any piece of legislation on Second Amendment grounds, in part because justices have disagreed on whether the amendment is intended to protect the right to bear arms as an individual right, or as a component of the "well-regulated militia."

Interpretations of the Second Amendment:

There are three predominant interpretations of the Second Amendment:

Where the Supreme Court Stands:

The only Supreme Court ruling in U.S. history that has focused primarily on the issue of what the Second Amendment really means is U.S. v. Miller (1939), which is also the last time the Court examined the amendment in any serious way. In Miller, the Court affirmed a median interpretation holding that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to bear arms, but only if the arms in question are those that would be useful as part of a citizen militia. Or maybe not; interpretations vary, partly because Miller is not an exceptionally well-written ruling.

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Second Amendment - Text, Origins, and Meaning

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First Amendment | United States Constitution | Britannica.com

Posted: at 2:44 pm

First Amendment,Bill of RightsNational Archives, Washington, D.C.amendment (1791) to the Constitution of the United States, part of the Bill of Rights, which reads,

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The clauses of the amendment are often called the establishment clause, the free exercise clause, the free speech clause, the free press clause, the assembly clause, and the petition clause.

The First Amendment, like the rest of the Bill of Rights, originally restricted only what the federal government may do and did not bind the states. Most state constitutions had their own bills of rights, and those generally included provisions similar to those found in the First Amendment. But the state provisions could be enforced only by state courts.

In 1868, however, the Fourteenth Amendment was added to the U.S. Constitution, and it prohibited states from denying people liberty without due process. Since then, the U.S. Supreme Court has gradually interpreted this to apply most of the Bill of Rights to state governments. In particular, from the 1920s to the 40s the Supreme Court applied all the clauses of the First Amendment to the states. Thus, the First Amendment now covers actions by the federal, state, and local governments. The First Amendment also applies to all branches of government, including legislatures, courts, juries, and executive officials and agencies. This includes public employers, public university systems, and public school systems.

The First Amendment, however, applies only to restrictions imposed by the government, since the First and Fourteenth amendments refer only to government action. As a result, if a private employer fires an employee because of the employees speech, there is no First Amendment violation. There is likewise no violation if a private university expels a student for what the student said, if a commercial landlord restricts what bumper stickers are sold on property it owns, or if an Internet service provider refuses to host certain Web sites.

Legislatures sometimes enact laws that protect speakers or religious observers from retaliation by private organizations. For example, Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 bans religious discrimination even by private employers. Similarly, laws in some states prohibit employers from firing employees for off-duty political activity. But such prohibitions are imposed by legislative choice rather than by the First Amendment.

The freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and petitiondiscussed here together as freedom of expressionbroadly protect expression from governmental restrictions. Thus, for instance, the government may not outlaw antiwar speech, speech praising violence, racist speech, procommunist speech, and the like. Nor may the government impose special taxes on speech on certain topics or limit demonstrations that express certain views. Furthermore, the government may not authorize civil lawsuits based on peoples speech, unless the speech falls within a traditionally recognized First Amendment exception. This is why, for example, public figures may not sue for emotional distress inflicted by offensive magazine articles, unless the articles are not just offensive but include statements that fall within the false statements of fact exception.

The free expression guarantees are not limited to political speech. They also cover speech about science, religion, morality, and social issues as well as art and even personal gossip.

Freedom of the press confirms that the government may not restrict mass communication. It does not, however, give media businesses any additional constitutional rights beyond what nonprofessional speakers have.

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First Amendment | United States Constitution | Britannica.com

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Bitcoin Charts / Markets

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USD BitfinexbitfinexUSD 307.43 0 min ago 263.21 44.22 16.80% 837,424.47 220,420,718.58 USD 228.4 316.23 307.41 307.47 304.32 3.11 1.02% 60,827.47 18,511,241.80 USD 291.81 316.23 CNY BTC ChinabtcnCNY 1955.82 0 min ago 1602.13 353.69 22.08% 708,782.51 1,135,561,483.75 CNY 1420 2400 1953.92 1955.82 1915.48 40.34 2.11% 25,533.68 48,909,202.63 CNY 1865.01 1985 USD BitStampbitstampUSD 307.94 0 min ago 261.32 46.62 17.84% 344,441.94 90,010,764.85 USD 228.06 317.99 308.3 308.46 304.87 3.07 1.01% 21,952.49 6,692,563.24 USD 291.64 317.99 USD btcebtceUSD 288.333 1 day, 11 hrs ago 258.37 29.97 11.60% 207,214.04 53,537,465.98 USD 230.22 298.999 287.762 288.99 0.00 0.00 USD USD itBititbitUSD 305.52 14 min ago 261.04 44.48 17.04% 138,102.30 36,050,313.11 USD 228.22 313.5 305.24 305.89 301.38 4.14 1.37% 4,807.74 1,448,972.07 USD 290.7 313.5 EUR KrakenkrakenEUR 275.81428 1 min ago 232.70 43.12 18.53% 113,485.47 26,407,703.46 EUR 200.9 281.21811 274.92537 275.81428 271.98 3.83 1.41% 5,463.28 1,485,904.77 EUR 261.02188 281.21811 USD LakeBTC.comlakeUSD 276.15 6 days, 4 hrs ago 250.95 25.20 10.04% 77,248.24 19,385,204.48 USD 230.24 277.32 275.74 275.98 0.00 0.00 USD PLN BitcurexbitcurexPLN 1134.9197 just now 938.67 196.25 20.91% 30,516.82 28,645,147.15 PLN 837 1152.5 1134.9197 1139.9809 1124.93 9.99 0.89% 422.29 475,053.64 PLN 1090 1152.5 USD ANXanxhkUSD 307.55136 0 min ago 256.99 50.56 19.67% 25,136.20 6,459,867.69 USD 227.03607 315 305.16001 307.63619 300.88 6.67 2.22% 751.61 226,145.16 USD 291.88938 315 SGD ANXanxhkSGD 415.53356 0 min ago 346.35 69.19 19.98% 24,747.91 8,571,378.38 SGD 305.20755 425.59744 404.97512 421.79999 406.49 9.04 2.23% 751.50 305,477.93 SGD 394.27606 425.59744 CAD ANXanxhkCAD 389.28623 0 min ago 321.10 68.19 21.24% 24,746.21 7,945,978.29 CAD 279.6176 398.71442 380.46895 398.39329 380.92 8.37 2.20% 751.50 286,260.69 CAD 369.72724 398.71442 HKD ANXanxhkHKD 2383.92932 0 min ago 1993.46 390.47 19.59% 24,736.77 49,311,660.80 HKD 1760.20064 2441.66612 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1806.83224 1949.94 JPY ANXanxhkJPY 37749.6685 0 min ago 31595.28 6154.38 19.48% 24,701.40 780,447,902.53 JPY 27999.69103 38663.9343 35130.61702 35726.86131 36919.28 830.39 2.25% 751.50 27,744,967.93 JPY 35726.79727 38663.9343 USD hitbtchitbtcUSD 340.03 6 min ago 285.63 54.40 19.05% 22,369.28 6,389,387.68 USD 265.81 366.68 340 359.75 322.57 17.46 5.41% 262.19 84,574.13 USD 311.61 366.68 EUR bitcoin.debtcdeEUR 279.8 2 min ago 233.36 46.44 19.90% 17,628.35 4,113,829.05 EUR 190 400.56 278 279.8 275.67 4.13 1.50% 898.90 247,801.08 EUR 226.66 333.33 EUR itBititbitEUR 277 1 hr, 51 min ago 230.14 46.86 20.36% 16,361.69 3,765,430.89 EUR 203.99 277 275.01 276.88 264.62 12.38 4.68% 151.15 39,998.12 EUR 261.43 277 SGD itBititbitSGD 414.56 2 hrs ago 366.01 48.55 13.27% 13,576.43 4,969,087.84 SGD 305.94 414.56 404.64 412.46 404.59 9.97 2.46% 2,165.13 876,000.96 SGD 392.01 414.56 PLN BitBaybitbayPLN 1124 1 min ago 970.84 153.16 15.78% 12,429.33 12,066,890.97 PLN 840.01 1271.57 1124 1128 1113.92 10.08 0.91% 581.95 648,242.11 PLN 1075 1146.99 RUB btcebtceRUR 17370 1 min ago 14171.48 3198.52 22.57% 12,371.23 175,318,637.16 RUB 12225 20669 17370.00001 17490.1915 16948.54 421.46 2.49% 600.38 10,175,513.25 RUB 16301 17670 PLN BitMarket.plbitmarketplPLN 1119.99 4 min ago 983.56 136.43 13.87% 10,942.58 10,762,668.89 PLN 842.0001 1157 1119.99 1129.9999 1123.65 -3.66 -0.33% 676.38 760,015.17 PLN 1075 1157 CAD Canadian Virtual ExchangevirtexCAD 388.08 7 min ago 335.59 52.49 15.64% 9,868.22 3,311,663.99 CAD 281.51062 398.98869 388.08 388.58 384.01 4.07 1.06% 1,625.45 624,186.76 CAD 355 398.98869 GBP CoinfloorcoinfloorGBP 198.9 51 min ago 165.80 33.10 19.96% 9,076.62 1,504,911.97 GBP 148.25 204.73 198.2 199.32 199.21 -0.31 -0.16% 310.84 61,921.45 GBP 189.75 204.73 AUD btcmarketsbtcmarketsAUD 402.07 7 min ago 341.81 60.26 17.63% 8,075.92 2,760,445.98 AUD 7 424 401.52 404.48 398.79 3.28 0.82% 210.04 83,760.80 AUD 388.98 406 EUR hitbtchitbtcEUR 304.99 just now 267.05 37.94 14.21% 7,957.37 2,124,991.63 EUR 233.01 305 304 305 286.08 18.91 6.61% 1,297.58 371,213.54 EUR 275.26 305 EUR BitcurexbitcurexEUR 271.8894 just now 228.70 43.19 18.89% 7,447.48 1,703,239.13 EUR 202.0522 280.9073 271.8894 280.8279 271.49 0.40 0.15% 104.98 28,500.02 EUR 263.1955 280.9073 IDR bitcoin.co.idbtcoidIDR 4098900 0 min ago 3383537.96 715362.04 21.14% 5,378.97 18,199,942,145.21 IDR 3041500 4254000 4052100 4052200 4003249.87 95650.13 2.39% 274.77 1,099,971,937.89 IDR 3831000 4254000 LTC KrakenkrakenLTC 60.09234 0 min ago 56.41 3.68 6.53% 4,621.57 260,709.02 LTC 31.12245 130.5 60.09234 61.05314 60.46 -0.37 -0.61% 251.68 15,216.81 LTC 52.84352 73.29916 EUR btcebtceEUR 267.8 2 min ago 238.54 29.26 12.27% 3,468.85 827,443.61 EUR 200.5 275 268.10002 269.79999 268.99 -1.19 -0.44% 227.00 61,061.19 EUR 260.335 275 EUR The Rock Trading CompanyrockEUR 273.93 5 min ago 227.86 46.07 20.22% 3,027.64 689,886.51 EUR 201.42 280 273.94 275.81 270.40 3.53 1.31% 99.75 26,972.23 EUR 260.07 280 BRL Mercado BitcoinmrcdBRL 1000 0 min ago 820.99 179.01 21.81% 2,792.09 2,292,266.03 BRL 724.99998 1000 987.3548 1000 987.76 12.24 1.24% 51.54 50,906.76 BRL 970 1000 USD KrakenkrakenUSD 308 3 min ago 262.00 46.00 17.56% 1,668.88 437,252.36 USD 226.14462 316.01249 308.2825 308.7925 304.56 3.44 1.13% 163.56 49,814.69 USD 291.69255 316.01249 THB LocalBitcoinslocalbtcTHB 8790.91 5 days, 12 hrs ago 8450.56 340.35 4.03% 1,287.06 10,876,347.20 THB 6961.18 11082.38 10144.24 9148.19 0.00 0.00 THB USD bitKonanbitkonanUSD 232 2 days, 8 hrs ago 253.11 -21.11 -8.34% 579.67 146,719.38 USD 229.99 299.99 231.01 288 0.00 0.00 USD NZD bitNZbitnzNZD 441 40 min ago 384.86 56.14 14.59% 504.38 194,117.48 NZD 328 441 413 444.5 433.04 7.96 1.84% 5.48 2,373.52 NZD 412 441 ILS Bit2Cbit2cILS 1130 16 min ago 957.78 172.22 17.98% 474.42 454,394.11 ILS 850 1173 1125 1161.99 1136.91 -6.91 -0.61% 31.52 35,833.19 ILS 1050 1173 XRP KrakenkrakenXRP 35498.758 1 hr, 16 min ago 25845.00 9653.75 37.35% 356.35 9,209,854.62 XRP 20500.001 39000 36049.026 37151.357 35879.19 -380.44 -1.06% 18.98 680,964.51 XRP 33967.392 39000 NOK LocalBitcoinslocalbtcNOK 2317.3 5 days, 19 hrs ago 2040.27 277.03 13.58% 320.79 654,505.77 NOK 1737.58 2470.68 2970.41 2143.29 0.00 0.00 NOK USD CoinTradercotrUSD 314 1 hr, 44 min ago 249.88 64.12 25.66% 308.49 77,084.26 USD 224.76 314 311 313.62 306.53 7.47 2.44% 6.60 2,021.88 USD 295 314 PLN LocalBitcoinslocalbtcPLN 1108.89 5 days, 19 hrs ago 899.92 208.97 23.22% 287.98 259,154.17 PLN 760.97 1162.79 1171.19 1061.14 0.00 0.00 PLN SEK FYB-SEfybseSEK 2660 47 min ago 2250.99 409.01 18.17% 284.99 641,499.32 SEK 1911.88 2660 2582.64 2660 2582.35 77.65 3.01% 15.78 40,760.88 SEK 2531 2660 USD The Rock Trading CompanyrockUSD 295.68 2 hrs, 15 min ago 255.41 40.27 15.77% 272.18 69,516.93 USD 228.53 304 296.55 314.23 285.00 10.68 3.75% 5.40 1,539.02 USD 269.01 304 USD Camp BXcbxUSD 310 7 min ago 260.54 49.46 18.98% 226.47 59,004.39 USD 228.03 312.99 310 312.99 310.42 -0.42 -0.14% 8.59 2,666.14 USD 290.11 312.99 SGD FYB-SGfybsgSGD 429.99 2 hrs, 4 min ago 343.43 86.56 25.20% 218.96 75,198.90 SGD 250 429.99 410 419.99 404.32 25.67 6.35% 13.72 5,548.17 SGD 390 429.99 USD BitBaybitbayUSD 292.62 2 days, 4 hrs ago 427.41 -134.79 -31.54% 193.97 82,905.36 USD 237.9 4767 264.66 283.14 0.00 0.00 USD BRL LocalBitcoinslocalbtcBRL 900.01 5 days, 16 hrs ago 802.31 97.70 12.18% 189.59 152,108.52 BRL 721.89 1556.87 1049.87 895.08 0.00 0.00 BRL NMC KrakenkrakenNMC 322.9376 3 hrs, 18 min ago 379.56 -56.62 -14.92% 91.10 34,579.63 NMC 210 735.507 336.06956 352.42899 374.94 -52.00 -13.87% 6.69 2,507.36 NMC 308.182 419.43949 CZK LocalBitcoinslocalbtcCZK 6499.54 5 days, 21 hrs ago 5792.01 707.53 12.22% 80.10 463,942.36 CZK 5369.48 6899.41 7367.16 6631.37 0.00 0.00 CZK EUR BitBaybitbayEUR 235 6 days, 6 hrs ago 252.04 -17.04 -6.76% 30.60 7,713.51 EUR 214.75 699 237.01 494.99 0.00 0.00 EUR DKK LocalBitcoinslocalbtcDKK 2026.45 6 days, 2 hrs ago 1742.65 283.80 16.29% 25.45 44,347.36 DKK 1280.23 2026.45 1952.93 1823.51 0.00 0.00 DKK USD VircurexvcxUSD 359.9388104 2 hrs, 21 min ago 330.33 29.61 8.96% 16.38 5,411.21 USD 270 399 301.00082775 359.93881 341.06 18.88 5.54% 0.00 1.30 USD 301.000027 359.9388104 GBP IBWTibwtGBP 180 1 day, 23 hrs ago 154.38 25.62 16.59% 3.74 577.75 GBP 146 180 950 0.00 0.00 GBP USD IBWTibwtUSD 500 4 days, 18 hrs ago 0.85 499.15 58411.69% -11.99 -10.25 USD 1 500 1200 0.00 0.00 USD

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Bitcoin Charts / Markets

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Transhumanism Archives – h+ Mediah+ Media

Posted: at 2:43 pm

Peter July 10, 2015 273 Views

At the opening of Camp Alphaville 2015, the Financial Times Cardiff Garcia talks to Zoltan Istvan, transhumanist, futurist and The Transhumanist Partys 2016 US presidential candidate. He explains his vision of a technologically enhanced human species and The Case for Transhumanism.

New testament scholar and retired bishop N.T. Wright, billionaire Peter Thiel, and moderator Ross Douthat share a discussion of hope, technology, politics, and theology at the Veritas Forum.

What is the science behind the movie Self/Less starring Ryan Reynolds and Sir Ben Kingsley?

During much of the transhumanist movement, advocates of Christianity have rightly opposed supporters of transhumanism because of ideological differences.

Dr. Max More, President & CEO of Alcor Life Extension Foundation, on Cryonics & the Future of Emergency Medicine.

Deciding whether something is really an enhancement depends on what you measure, when, where, and how you measure it. This is The Measurement Problem of Transhumanism.

Invoking Mary Shelleys myth of Frankenstein is standard fare in arguments over controversial science.

'Chappie' (2015) surprised me with the most pro-transhumanist message I've seen in a major film.

BioViva, is an ambitious biotech startup that aims to cure diseases using gene therapy. It is also perhaps the first company to recognize aging as a disease and tackle it at the genetic level. And in case that wasn't enough to get you interested, BioViva CEO Liz Parrish states that the company also want to make you "smarter, stronger, faster and more visually accurate".

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Transhumanism Archives - h+ Mediah+ Media

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Why Christians Should Embrace Transhumanism

Posted: at 2:43 pm

May 31, 2015|10:45 pm

Transhumanism, by definition, is a worldwide cultural and intellectual endeavor that has the end objective of transforming humanity by developing and extensively providing technologies that significantly enhance the intellectual, physical and psychological capacities of human beings. During much of the transhumanist movement, advocates of Christianity have rightly opposed supporters of transhumanism because of ideological differences. But the time has come for Christians to embrace transhumanism.

Much of the distress about transhumanism by Christians in the past surrounds its proponent's vocal Atheistic attempts to define the prefix "trans" in ways that advocate individual enhancement through technological means to become "post" human. Many of these perspectives tend to lend themselves to the narcissistic hubris associated with Nietzschean self-actualization that forsakes the needs of the whole of humanity in exchange for self-glorification and exclusive personal gain. Anyone, with even the slightest sensitivity to past events in world history, can appreciate why those who advocate peace and justice would not want to support such behavior. It is understandable then, why Christians have appropriately reacted with caution and concern.

And while certainly such trepidations are not without legitimacy, there is larger concern that should be considered. Mainly that, by not embracing transhumanism, Christianity may be "throwing out the baby with the bathwater." That is because the aforementioned interpretation of transhumanism is not the only or legitimate understanding of what the movement is or could be in the future.

For instance, a more nuanced meaning of the prefix "trans" is one that implies traversing "across" the scope of what it might mean to be human. Such an understanding does not signify a forfeiture of our humanity but a collective bettering of it. This view of transhumanism thus empowers Christians to advocate for the development and utilization of technology for the intentional goal of participating in Christ's redemptive purposes for humanity and all of creation. In doing so, we may then be able to continue to technologically enhance humanity in ways that honor God, helping us to more fully flourish as human beings made in God's Image.

Moreover, as we are living in the highest point of technological development in human history, followers of Christ have a moral responsibility, as good stewards, to help guide the direction of this exponential technological growth for the betterment of humanity and the world. It has always been the goal of Christians to care for and heal the sick, give sight to the blind, help deaf to hear, the lame to walk, give voice to the mute and guide persons toward holistic betterment in community. Disease (Cancer, AIDS, Ebola, Alzheimer's, Malaria etc.) and death are humanity's enemies and, in and through Christ, using the technological gifts that we have been given, Christians should continue to work diligently to better humanity by overcoming them. Transhumanism shares all of these technological goals, and as such, Christians should embrace it.

But Christians should also not be nave in this pursuit either, because for most post-human transhumanists the ideological battle for intellectual ownership of transhumanism is presently occurring. And those who want it for their exclusive gain are seeking to discredit Christian theology's practical value to humanity hoping that, by doing so, they can actualize their personal goals by minimizing Christian concern for the corpus of humanity in need.

Fortunately, Christians have a numerical advantage against such adversarial factions in most places in the world. Which means that the only thing truly delaying the development and utilization of technology for Christ's redemptive purposes is Christians' failure to advocate for such goals. As such, it is time for Christians to embrace a proper understanding of transhumanism, and in so doing, to actively help to bring to fruition, though Jesus, the redemption and betterment of humanity and the world.

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Why Christians Should Embrace Transhumanism

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Where is the International Space Station? / International …

Posted: at 2:43 pm

Where is the International Space Station?

The International Space Station with ESAs Columbus laboratory flies 400 km high at speeds that defy gravity literally. At 28 800 km/h it only takes 90 minutes for the weightless laboratory to make a complete circuit of Earth. Astronauts working and living on the Station experience 16 sunrises and sunsets each day.

The tracker above, developed by ESA, shows where the Space Station is right now and its path 90 minutes ago and 90 minutes ahead. Due to Earth's rotation the Station seems to travel from west to east over our planet. Below the map of Earth you can see where the Station is flying directly above. You can see the International Space Station with your own eyes from here by looking up at the right time.

Below is a live view of Earth taken by a camera on the International Space Station, a view similar to that astronauts get from above. Without Earths atmosphere to protect us, people and equipment endure the full barrage of cosmic rays and solar radiation. The images are part of the NASA HDEV experiment that is looking at how fast these harmful rays degrade the image through camera and equipment damage. Sometimes the image is black because the Space Station does not have continuous radio contact with ground control. In that case, check back later.

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Where is the International Space Station? / International ...

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Lunar Colony Island Guide Poptropica Help Blog :: cheats …

Posted: at 2:43 pm

Walkthrough written by Cool Bite andSlanted Fish Pictures by PopBuddies &Stealth Komodo

The first step is to arrive on Lunar Colony Island via the blimp.Run all the way to the right and go to Mission Control. Enter the Poptropica Academy for Space Exploration building (PASE a parody of NASA). Talk to the old guy. Then a flight director will come in and ask you to find something for the astronauts stomach.

Exit the building and go back left to where you came from (Cape Carpenter on the Map). The astronauts table now only has a lone bottle of Ginger Ale for you to take.

Now go back right to Mission Control and head straight to the elevator. Push the down button and the elevator will quickly arrive in front of you. Hop on and push the up button and up, up, up you go to the spaceship.

Theres a sick astronaut in the spaceship. Give him the Ginger Ale, and hell feel better. He leaves the ship and locks you in. Pick up the mic on the right and flight director will talk to you. You dont know how to fly a spaceship, but dont worry, hell give you instructions. Sit tight cause this is gonna be a bumpy ride!

You first have to adjust the booster rockets. Set each to 4,150 pounds of thrust.Fuel tank 1 running low. When it reaches 5%, activate fuel tank 2 and release fuel tank 1.

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Lunar Colony Island Guide Poptropica Help Blog :: cheats ...

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UCLA Human Genetics

Posted: at 2:42 pm

The Department of Human Genetics is the youngest basic science department in the Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. When the Department was launched just prior to the sequencing of the human genome, it was clear that the practice of genetics research would be forever changed by the infusion of massive amounts of new data. Organizing and making sense of this genomic data is one of the greatest scientific challenges ever faced by mankind. The knowledge generated will ultimately transform medicine through patient-specific treatments and prevention strategies.

The Department is dedicated to turning the mountains of raw genetic data into a detailed understanding of the molecular pathogenesis of human disease. The key to such understanding is the realization that genes not only code for specific proteins, but they also control the temporal development and maturation of every living organism through a complex web of interactions.

Housed in the new Gonda Research Center, the Department serves as a focal point for genetics research on the UCLA campus, with state of the art facilities for gene expression, sequencing, genotyping, and bioinformatics. In addition to its research mission, the Department offers many exciting training opportunities for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and medical residents. Our faculty and staff welcome inquiries from prospective students. We also hope that a quick look at our web pages will give you a better idea of the Department's research and educational activities.

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UCLA Human Genetics

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