#DataDump: Inception, Recognition, Space Sugar and more

Researchers Hack Brainwaves to Reveal PIN Numbers, Personal Data*
Inception helmet creates alternative reality*
Twitter Fights Back to Protect 'Occupy Wall Street' Protestor*
Russia’s Former Spooks Invest In Social Networking Propaganda Bots*
FBI to Share Facial Recognition Software with States*
Dotcom’s Frozen Funds Partially Thawed by New Zealand Court*
Wiper Malware That Hit Iran Left Possible Clues of Its Origins*
Toyota Contractor Accused of Sabotaging Company Network, Stealing Data*
Qatari Gas Company Hit with Virus in Wave of Attacks Targeting Energy Companies*
EFF Sues to Get Secret Court Rulings Showing Feds Violated Spy Law*
Storms spoil NASA second bid to launch satellites to Earth's radiation belts; next try Sunday*
UK Govt. Employee Arrested for Downloading Surveillance Footage of Couple Having Sex*
Topless UFO Enthusiasts Return to the White House Sunday*
Sugar Found In Space: A Sign of Life? ... floating in the gas around a star some 400 light-years away*

The Program (Stellar Wind)

from nytimes.com:National Security Agency whistleblower William Binney explains how the secretive agency run its pervasive domestic spying apparatus in a new piece by Laura Poitras.

Binney - one of the best mathematicians and code breakers in NSA history, worked for the Defense Department's foreign signals intelligence agency for 32 years before resigning in late 2001 because he "could not stay after the NSA began purposefully violating the Constitution."

In a short video called "The Program" Binney explains how the agency took part of one of the programs he built and started using it to spy on virtually every U.S. citizen without warrants under the code-name Stellar Wind.

Binney details how the top-secret surveillance program, the scope of which has never been made public, can track electronic activities—phone calls, emails, banking and travel records, social media and map them to collect "all the attributes that any individual has" in every type of activity and build a profile based on that data.

Blue Moon on August 31

It's a Blue Moon on August 31st! What's a Blue Moon? It's a Blue Moon, according to Wikipedia, if it's "the third full moon in a season with four full moons, or the second full moon in a month. Most years have twelve full moons that occur approximately monthly. In addition to those twelve full lunar cycles, each solar calendar year contains roughly eleven days more than the lunar year of 12 lunations. The extra days accumulate, so every two or three years (7 times in the 19-year Metonic cycle), there is an extra full moon." It's a Blue Moon tomorrow but you may appreciate the Elvis Presley rendition of "Blue Moon," even more than the science. It's Elvis taking you back to 1956 with Blue Moon! You can take in full science@NASA Blue Moon coverage below the fold.

Will.i.am's New Single Debuts On #Mars

Establishment Shill Rewarded for #Obamessiah, #ClimateControl Work*
from latimesblogs.latimes.com: For will.i.am, what started as a fascination with space turned into a history-making song that was transmitted earlier this week from the Mars rover Curiosity... Times Science Writer Amina Khan discussed how will.i.am came to write the song and how NASA came to use the music as part of the Mars mission. “There’s no words to explain how amazing this is,” the singer, of Black Eyed Peas fame, said to the gathered audience, standing on stage with NASA astronaut Leland Melvin, the agency’s associate administrator for education. The song, called “Reach for the Stars,” was beamed back to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge, where will.i.am took the stage to answer questions from students from Boyle Heights, where he grew up. The song features a 40-piece orchestra and isn’t your standard urban hip-hop anthem, the singer pointed out, because it’s meant to weather the test of time and be easily translated across cultures. “I know that Mars might be far, but baby it ain’t really that far / Let’s reach for the stars (reach for the stars),” will.i.am sings on the track.

Top Ten Reasons We Should Fear Singularity

Do you have a favorite among the Top Ten Reasons We Should Fear Singularity? The present writer wonders if movement Ray Kurzweil popularized with book, "The Singularity is Near," is just another cover for depriving you of freedom? Artificial Intelligence (AI) leaves mankind in dust and decision made to relinquish controls to machines with super artilects (artificial intellects).  This is topic of discussion in super geek program Singularity 1 on 1, an interview with Hugo de Garis. Program host Socrates discusses with guest de Garis, his  book, "The Artilect War." The discussion centers on what future of AI may look like and your prospects, if you choose to be a "Terran," where humans retain control or a "Cosmist," willing to venture into intellectual frontier of hybridization, transhumanism, etc.. De Garis believes Cosmists will prevail with Socrates less convinced! It's undeniably an interesting program in questionable territory!  The present writer finds "economic collapse" a favorite reason to fear Singularity - if only we could blame machines for lousy economy!  Thanks goes to stevequayle.com for the link!

Electronic Sutures Check For Infections, Help Wounds Heal

from popsci.com.au: Stitches deserve a makeover. We've been using them in some form for thousands of years. So while they've stood the test of time, a researcher from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is wrestling surgical sutures into the future by creating "smart" electronic versions. They can monitor sutured sites for infection, and even help in the healing process.

First reported in the journal Small, the sutures, invented by professor John Rogers, use ultrathin silicon sensors attached to polymer or silk strips. Those sensors, once the sutures have been threaded through the skin, can detect if the would site is above room temperature, an indication of infection. Even better, they can help with that infection by heating the site, which (maybe counterintuitively) has been shown to help heal infections. A silicon diode and platinum nanomembrane resistor are used as the heat sensors; simple gold filaments with a current run through them are the heaters.

To make the tiny sensors, researchers use chemicals to slice a tiny piece of silicon from a silicon wafer, then use a rubber stamp to transfer the nanomembranes to polymer or silk strips. Metal electrodes and wires are added to the top, and the device is covered in epoxy coating.

It's an impressive step forward for an old technology, sure, but it could go even further one day by releasing drugs into a site on command.

Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land On The Moon?

Moon Landing Conspiracy Theories are a cottage industry. Are the theories credible? Bill Kaysing, author of 1974 book "We Never Went to the Moon: Thirty Billion Dollar Swindle," offers persuasive arguments in 2001 Fox Documentary, "Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land On The Moon." Kaysing summarizes observations of pictures and video taken on the Moon: no stars, no thrust crater underneath Apollo Lunar Module (LM) and no apparent thrust on return ascent back to the Command Module. The LM seems pulled up by a cable, adds Kaysing. It's, perhaps, the small details that betray a fake. Kaysing points out lack of any dust on LM's landing pads, although lunar dust observed to be very fine in videos! Astronauts remained healthy never suffering any adverse effects from radiation, despite passing through the Van Allen Radiation Belt. There are good arguments made in the Fox Special, but NASA reps seem detached never responding directly to evidence. NASA may feel more to lose than gain as upwards of 80 percent still believe we went to the Moon?. Physicist Michio Kaku does better job answering Moon hoax criticisms here. The present writer remains skeptical whether LM technically up to the task?   There's nothing to see here.  NASA faked pix and video, but we actually went - just technical difficulty - with pix and video as some argue?

Neil Armstrong, First Man on Moon, Dies at 82

Neil Armstrong, first astronaut to walk on the Moon, dies today from complications of heart bypass surgery. "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," is statement Armstrong made famous as he took first step onto Moon's surface. A short biography of Neil Armstrong is available here.

Retro Sci-Fi Weekend: 'Invasion of the Saucer Men'

Do you ever wonder how you came into the world? Or how your parents, or even your grandparents, came about? It may be due to "Invasion of the Saucer Men", "the film was released as a double feature with "I Was a Teenage Werewolf," in 1957, according to Wikipedia. It's Saturday night in Hicksburg begins film, where every young hot-blooded couple drives out to Larkin's Lane, which is located on old man Larkin's Farm. Larkin, played by Raymond Hatton who appeared in 500 films with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, seems under siege by young people. Film implies young people's lack of regard for boundaries. The young interested primarily in their immediate needs, parking or entering Larkin's unlocked farmhouse, when need arises to use a hand crank magneto telephone. The cantankerous old farmer determined to protect his land and cattle, accosts young couples at times with shotgun in hand. The film as sci-fi comedy does good job making excuses such as "it was little green men" seem pertinent to a young viewing audience. Johnny Carter and Joan Hayden, played by Steve Terrell and Gloria Castillo make perfect couple, young stars who offer their "grownups don't believe us" apologies, while framed for death of Joe Gruen (Frank Gorshin), substituted for a dead alien they hit with their car on Larkin's Lane. Gorshin, a unique actor, headlined in Vegas and New York venues as an impressionist, and also, shared a fateful billing on February 9th, 1964 Ed Sullivan Show where Beatles make their American television debut - a watershed event in pop culture!

#DataDump: Balconies, Breaches, Biggest Builds and more

Julian Assange takes aim at US as diplomatic row deepens;
Speech from balcony calls on Obama to abandon witchhunt*

Assange Calls on U.S. to End ‘Witchhunt’ Against WikiLeaks*
Did Bush’s Broadband Deregulation Upend His Own NSA Wiretapping?*
AT&T Claims Charging More for FaceTime is No Net-Neutrality Breach*
Feds Expand Domain Seizures to Mobile App Pirate Sites*
Alexandria 2.0: One Millionaire’s Quest to Build the Biggest Library on Earth*

Dawn Departs Asteroid Vesta Sept 4 for Dwarf Planet Ceres

Dawn spacecraft departs Sept 4th from asteroid Vesta for dwarf planet Ceres. Dawn will skip some final low res. pix due to reaction wheel problem spacecraft experienced previously. Dawn mission scheduled to reach Ceres in February 2015 and end of primary mission slated for July 2015? Why an entire year orbiting a rock while less than half that time around an orb composed of up to 25% water? Where does Dawn venture after July 2015? Does spacecraft stay at Ceres and go offline?

Skilled Work - Without The Workers

Sophisticated robotics replace human workers in manufacturing and distribution around the world

from nytimes.com: At the Philips Electronics factory on the coast of China, hundreds of workers use their hands and specialized tools to assemble electric shavers. That is the old way.

At a sister factory in the Dutch countryside, 128 robot arms do the same work with yoga-like flexibility. Video cameras guide them through feats well beyond the capability of the most dexterous human.

One robot arm endlessly forms three perfect bends in two connector wires and slips them into holes almost too small for the eye to see. The arms work so fast that they must be enclosed in glass cages to prevent the people supervising them from being injured. And they do it all without a coffee break — three shifts a day, 365 days a year.

All told, the factory here has several dozen workers per shift, about a tenth as many as the plant in the Chinese city of Zhuhai.

This is the future.

A new wave of robots, far more adept than those now commonly used by automakers and other heavy manufacturers, are replacing workers around the world in both manufacturing and distribution. Factories like the one in the Netherlands are a striking counterpoint to those used by Apple and other consumer electronics giants, which employ hundreds of thousands of low-skilled workers.

“With these machines, we can make any consumer device in the world," said Binne Visser, an electrical engineer who manages the Philips assembly line in Drachten.

Video game publisher pulls real weapons promotion

from smh.com.au: Electronic Arts has pulled a charity promotion that involved the sale of actual weapons featured in the first-person shooter game Medal of Honor.

This year, the game publishing giant teamed up with weapons manufacturers to create Project Honor - a fund-raiser that aimed to "benefit the families of special operations warriors".

As a part of the deal, arms makers had their weapons featured in the game and also produced merchandise that included actual weapons, the sale of which would benefit various war charities.

Medal of Honor - Warfighter's offical website, originally had links to the arms manufacturers' websites, where people could buy weapons, such as the "Voodoo Hawk" Tomahawk, which features an "extending cutting head". These have since been taken down after numerous complaints from both within and outside the gaming community about the promotion of the sale of deadly weapons on the game's website.

"We've been working with those partners because we wanted to be authentic, and we wanted to give back to the communities," Medal of Honour executive producer Greg Goodrich told gaming website Eurogamer.

Despite public outcry, it is understood that the partnerships between Electronic Arts and the arms manufacturers are still in place; the weapons are just not being promoted on the Medal of Honour of website.

Related Stories:
Who's Gaming Who? - from The Corbett Report
US military is meeting recruitment goals with video games – but at what cost?

Synthetic Police Arrive 2014!

Your IPhone beeps and on the other end, "please pull over and disengage your vehicle. Do not make a public disturbance, otherwise detention and penalties up to and including death may result!" Robocop, or an updated equivalent, ICop simply wants to "serve you" and not disturb anyone else! It's a new world of synthetic police coming to your community.  Outstanding writer Susanne Posel informs in Activist Post article, "Synthetic Police Are Coming: DARPA Engineering Autonomous Robots," the date of the Humanoid Autonomous Police Robot to arrive is just around the corner, August 2014!  

Retro Sci-Fi Weekend: Phantom from Space

A low budget 1953 sci-fi film, "Phantom from Space," directed by W Lee Wilder, brother to famed directer Billy Wilder, screens story of brief visit by invisible alien,whose spacecraft ditches off California coast.  The film gets panned in reviews, but the present writer had similar experience provided by plot summary at answers.com below: "Phantom from Space is a far better film than its lurid title and skintight budget would indicate. The scene is Santa Monica, where the community is plagued by what seems to be a serial killer. Thanks to a pre-credits sequence, the audience knows that the murderer is a visitor from outer space, who becomes invisible upon shedding his spacesuit. Government agent Hazen (Ted Cooper) teams with LAPD lieutenant Bowers (Harry Landers) to track down the extraterrestrial fugitive. It gradually develops that the space man is not a predator, merely a very frightened and defensive individual, but by the time this realization is made, it's too late for him. Efficiently directed by W. Lee Wilder (Billy's brother), Phantom from Space boasts some very impressive special effects for a film of its type, courtesy of special-effects technician Alex Welden and optical effects specialist Howard Anderson. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi."

In retrospect, most notable character is, perhaps, Noreen Nash as Barbara Randall, woman on DVD cover (picture) and commanded her own Topps magic movie star card (picture, right).  Nash began in Hollywood as a showgirl but catapulted her looks into a career, including author of a 1980 romance novel. Nash has a following due to her movie star good looks. The special effects range from less impressive at movie's start to very good if not excellent by film's end.  The final scenes when alien suffocates in Earth's atmosphere and humanoid form becomes visible to human eye are impressive for its time. It's an entertaining 72 minutes near height of UFO hysteria of early fifties. Admission is free to glimpse a time capsule from fifties below.

X-51A Skips Wave Ride Plummets Into Pacific

A test of X-51A Waverider, an unmanned hypersonic test vehicle, ended in failure on Wednesday off the California coast near Point Mugu.  A control fin problem resulted in failed ignition of vehicle's scramjet just seconds after launch.  "Controllers realised they had a problem just 16 seconds after the Wave- rider’s rocket booster engaged. When it detached 15 seconds later, the machine quickly lost control and disintegrated, sending the remains crashed into an area of the Pacific Ocean north-west of Los Angeles...," reports The Independent."This was third test of hypersonic plane. "The first test flight of the experimental jet in 2010 was largely successful, with the Waverider reaching a velocity of five-times the speed of sound for three minutes. A problem with the rocket booster not separating from the main craft sent the second trial falling into the sea last year...With only four of the X-51A vehicles having been built, it is unclear when or if the final model will be used.," adds article. A previous post provides more coverage on X-51A Waverider. We can only hope military fails in bid to launch weapons at hypersonic speeds to reach targets in literally minutes! Please drop below fold to view animation on how Super Combustion Ramjet (Scramjet) works with no moving parts.

#DataDump: Airspace, Appeals, Algorithms and more

Unblinking surveillance stare:
Army’s 7-story flying football field-sized blimp*

FAA Documents Raise Questions About Safety of Drones in U.S. Airspace*
Air Force's hypersonic X-51A Waverider test fails*
Morpheus Moon Lander Crashes; unmanned lander crashed and burned during engine test*
Annual Perseid meteor shower has begun; sky show lasts until Aug. 23*
Director of the Missile Defense Agency: Who Is James Syring?*
Appeals Court OKs Warrantless, Real-Time Mobile Phone Tracking*
Google Pays Record $22.5 Million Fine for Privacy Violations*
Google Gives Big Content an Olive Branch in Search Algorithm Change*
Judge Sanctions Would-Be Facebook Owner — Again*
Germany Says Facebook must destroy facial recognition database*
George Soros 'likes' Facebook with $10m investment*
New Zealand Judge Orders US to Disclose Megaupload Evidence*
#TrapWire: The CIA-Connected Global Suspicious Activity Surveillance System*
Video: TrapWire Exposed with Andrew Blake*

Stratfor Emails Reveal Widespread TrapWire Surveillance System

US Govt Secretly Spying On Everyone Using Civilian Security Cameras*

from rt.com: Former senior intelligence officials have created a detailed surveillance system more accurate than modern facial recognition technology — and have installed it across the US under the radar of most Americans, according to emails hacked by Anonymous.

Every few seconds, data picked up at surveillance points in major cities and landmarks across the United States are recorded digitally on the spot, then encrypted and instantaneously delivered to a fortified central database center at an undisclosed location to be aggregated with other intelligence. It’s part of a program called TrapWire and it's the brainchild of the Abraxas, a Northern Virginia company staffed with elite from America’s intelligence community. The employee roster at Arbaxas reads like a who’s who of agents once with the Pentagon, CIA and other government entities according to their public LinkedIn profiles, and the corporation's ties are assumed to go deeper than even documented.

The details on Abraxas and, to an even greater extent TrapWire, are scarce, however, and not without reason. For a program touted as a tool to thwart terrorism and monitor activity meant to be under wraps, its understandable that Abraxas would want the program’s public presence to be relatively limited. But thanks to last year’s hack of the Strategic Forecasting intelligence agency, or Stratfor, all of that is quickly changing.

Constellation: Manned Mission to Mars

It's a trip to Mars in less than nine minutes! You Tube video provides animation how Project Constellation would have taken Man to Mars by the 2030s! Obama may have effectively killed funding in 2010 for the project, but video still relates concepts universal to any trip!  Please enjoy a free trip to Mars, tonight!

Fifties Retrovision: Mars and Beyond

Mars and Beyond is an hour program by Walt Disney aired originally in 1957. There's technical reporting in these early television programs that don't seem to make it into programs from subsequent decades!  The program provides overview of  space- ship and trip to Mars, would look like:  "...a trip to Mars would entail for a space crew and its vessels. Contributor/spacecraft designer Ernst Stuhlinger presents his design and details regarding a unique umbrella-shaped MarsShip: the top portion is a revolving outer quarters ring providing artificial gravity for the crew of 20, under "parasol" coolant tubes. At the other end is a sodium-potassium reactor to provide power to the midsection electric/ion drive. Attached upright is a chemically-fueled winged tail-lander. The mission shown involves six MarsShips, ultimately reaching 100,000 MPH, taking a 400-day spiral course to Mars where they would spend 412 days on the surface before returning," according to Wikipedia.  There's also a discussion of "life on Mars,"  but you'll have to watch to find out!  

Police Embrace Emerging Social Media Tool Nixle

from newsday.com: Across the country, law officers are adding a new form of social media to their arsenal of crime fighting tools. Almost 6,000 law enforcement agencies are now deploying the public notification service Nixle to provide residents with real-time alerts on crimes in progress, traffic messes and missing children. Previously, the service has helped police in Amarillo, Texas, capture a fugitive wanted for aggravated robbery and probation violation; and authorities in Fayetteville, N.C., nabbed a suspect wanted for armed robbery soon after a Nixle alert was sent to residents. With the San Francisco-based service approaching 1 million subscribers, with police departments participating in major cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles, Baltimore and Dallas, it is part of what one expert calls a new "blue wave" of electronic community policing that lets cops reach out directly to the public. The International Association of Chiefs of Police recently found in a survey of 800 law enforcement agencies that nearly nine out of 10 use some form of social media and more than half reported that social media have helped solve crimes.

Dutchsinse Explains Louisiana Sinkholes

Dutchsinse sees big trouble in Louisiana salt domes used by petroleum and gas industry to store liquid butane! The unparalleled radar reader checks his screens to observe high frequency of earthquakes along Pacific "ring of fire," in past week,  exerting pressure on North America.  The HAARP radar ring wizard suggests recent booms in Midwest these past few months, may be related to this type of seismic activity?  The quarter hour radar read monologue is an eye-opener!

Retro Sci-Fi Weekend: Not of This Earth

The setting is fifties California, where homes come equipped with basement incinerators?  Women wear bathing caps with their one piece swimsuits.  Kids jump in and out of MG roadsters, spouting beat generation lingo.  Roger Corman produced and directed, "Not of This Earth," a sci-fi film with plenty of creep factor even for California.  Paul Birch stars in lead role, playing an alien from a world called Davanna, who suffers terminal blood disease.  Birch plays role admirably as out-of-place alien, who takes name Paul Johnson while on mission to save his kind.  Johnson is conspicuous for his ever-present sunglasses, sensitivity to loud noises, lack of social savvy and demand for immediate blood transfusions.  Nadine, a nurse played by Beverly Garland, quickly gets hired to tend to the alien's blood needs to stem "evaporation" of blood.  Suspicions are aroused when visitors never seem to leave the Johnson home, while incinerator blows smoke!   Johnson blocks mind of subhuman Dr Rochelle, who researches disease to aid the alien.   The doctor concludes later, Johnson is not human when another female alien with shades and same blood disease dies and  bizarre alien eyes are uncovered.   Johnson dispatches Dr Rochelle by deploying strange creature to terminate the doctor.  As the situation is lost Johnson commands Nadine with his alien mental power to transport herself to Davanna as he deals with cycle cops sent to stop him.  The alien is only stopped by blare of police siren, crashing his car.  Nadine snaps out of spell inside alien transporter in time to escape!  The final scene shows another similarly attired individual coming up from behind upon the alien gravesite, whose epitaph reads, "Here Lies A Man Who Was Not Of This Earth."   It's a solid 67 minutes of entertainment!  You may begin watching below the fold!

1980 Cash Landrum UFO a WASP II Test Craft?

UFO Hunters examine Betty Cash, Vickie Landrum 1980 close encounter. "On December 29, 1980, Betty Cash, Vickie Landrum and Colby Landrum took a drive that would soon become a life-changing nightmare. At approximately 9PM, driving through the Piney Woods of Texas, they observed a huge diamond-shaped object flying low above the isolated road, expelling flame and emitting significant heat. That night, all three experienced horrible physical symptoms--nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, weakness, and burning sensations all over their bodies. Betty Cash's symptoms soon worsened, and a few days later, she was sent to the emergency room, unable to walk, and losing large patches of skin and clumps of hair," according to caption provided below You Tube video. Betty Cash became disabled and died 18 years later. Dr Brian McClelland, who treated Betty for years, remains convinced she succumbed to effects of radiation poisoning. Vickie Landrum died just a few years ago. The victims sued the US government for $20 million but their case was dismissed.

#DataDump: #Mars, Meteorite, Mystery and more

Curiosity Lands Safely on Mars -
"most high-tech interplanetary rover ever built sent a signal to Earth"*

Man will walk on Mars within a generation, says Astronomer Royal*
14-year-old hit by 30,000 mph space meteorite*
Opening the X-Files in Australia*
Proposed Privacy Law Demands Court Warrants for Cloud Data*
Appeals Court OKs Warrantless Wiretapping*
Flame and Stuxnet Cousin Targets Lebanese Bank Customers,
Carries Mysterious Payload*
Man Orders TV from Amazon, Gets Assault Rifle*
FTC Dings Google $22.5M in Safari Cookie Flap*
There’s a Good Chance Your Friends Are Phonies*
Satire Video: Facebook users "overestimated"*

Internet Archive unleashes 1PB of data through BitTorrent

from computerworld.com: The Internet Archive, a non-profit project established to act as an online library of that preserves digital information, has to date offered up nearly a petabyte of content via the BitTorrent file-sharing site.

In a blog post, The Internet Archive said it is offering 1.5 million torrents including live music concerts, the Prelinger movie collection, the librivox audio book collection, feature films, old time radio, more than 1.2 million books, and "all new uploads from patrons who are into community collections." 

The Internet Archive said it will continue to grow the content it serves up from the controversial peer-to-peer file sharing site. The California-based non-profit organization set up the site to store Internet images, video, audio and webpages for posterity. 

BitTorrent has been at the center of copyright infringement lawsuits. The example, the founders of The Pirate Bay, one of the more popular search engines for BitTorrent content, were found guilty of crimes against copyright laws.

Related Story: Is "Demonoid" shut down a gift for U.S. Govt?

Mt Sharp: Postcard From Mars

Curiosity, NASA's latest Mars rover, successfully landed in Gale crater, earlier this week.  The Mars rover already sent back a postcard perfect picture of Mt. Sharp (picture, left).  Mt.Sharp rises 18,000 ft above Martian surface.  A comparison provided (picture, right) shows Mt. Sharp would inspire if located on Earth as it towers higher than Mt. Rainier.   The NASA team will learn to operate SUV-sized Mars rover for next 90 Martian days, according to WashPO story.

How Apple/Amazon Security Flaws Led to Epic Hacking

How Not to Become Mat Honan: A Short Primer on Online Security*
from wired.com: In the space of one hour, my entire digital life was destroyed. First my Google account was taken over, then deleted. Next my Twitter account was compromised, and used as a platform to broadcast racist and homophobic messages. And worst of all, my AppleID account was broken into, and my hackers used it to remotely erase all of the data on my iPhone, iPad, and MacBook. In many ways, this was all my fault. My accounts were daisy-chained together. Getting into Amazon let my hackers get into my Apple ID account, which helped them get into Gmail, which gave them access to Twitter. Had I used two-factor authentication for my Google account, it’s possible that none of this would have happened, because their ultimate goal was always to take over my Twitter account and wreak havoc. Lulz. Had I been regularly backing up the data on my MacBook, I wouldn’t have had to worry about losing more than a year’s worth of photos, covering the entire lifespan of my daughter, or documents and e-mails that I had stored in no other location. Those security lapses are my fault, and I deeply, deeply regret them. But what happened to me exposes vital security flaws in several customer service systems, most notably Apple’s and Amazon’s.

Martin Fleischmann, '#ColdFusion' Pioneer with Pons, Dead at 85

from newenergytimes.com: Martin Fleischmann, co-discoverer with B. Stanley Pons of a phenomenon they initially attributed to nuclear fusion, is dead at 85... Fleischmann was regarded as one of the world’s top electrochemists. He was known for his driving passion for discovery and for breaking new ground, which other scientists then followed to great commercial success... When he and Pons claimed to discover a new, cheaper way to create controlled nuclear fusion energy in a test-tube on March 23, 1989, everything changed for him. The personal and scientific fallout from the announcement was a burden he bore for the rest of his life.

Flashback Video:
"Heavy Watergate - The War Against Cold Fusion"

Curiosity Landing Coverage at Google+Hangout

On August 5, 2012 at 10:31 PM PDT, the SUV-sized Mars Rover Curiosity AKA Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) lands on Mars! A spectacular feat because of special maneuvers to land such a large object successfully on Mars. You may get play-by-play of planetary exploration "Super Bowl" below the fold. Please join Bad Astronomy's Phil Plait, Fraser Cain and Pamela Gay, along with special guests for commentary leading up to touchdown!  MSL is within orbit of outer moon Deimos (14,500 miles) as of this post.  Google+Hangout is below fold to access live coverage.  Thanks goes to Universe Today for access!  Wow!

Wiltshire Crop Circle: Polar Clock With August 4th Date?

Will August 4, 2012 pass uneventfully? The present writer hopes so.  On June 2, 2012 another Wiltshire crop circle (Manton Drove) appeared not far from 2008 Avebury Manor site, it sent a message of catastrophic events for 2012.  The Avebury Crop Circle provided illustrations of solar system where Sun expands and nearly engulfs Earth!  An approaching Nibiru is illustrated as apparent cause for Sun's change.  A June blog entry, "Latest Wiltshire Crop Circle Gives TIME and DATE! – but what does it mean?" believes Manton Drove crop circle resembles a polar clock and time revealed:  19:43:53 on Saturday, 4th August 2012.  It appears already passed by the time for any significance at 2012 London Olympics, but plenty of time remains in Western Hemisphere?  It may seem silly, but wonder when messages supply specific information?  Temporary Temples, a UK website, reports on latest crop circles.

Clinton Wants New Drones To Hunt Kony

from infowars.com: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Friday, endorsed the advancement of drone surveillance technology to aid the US in capturing fabled enemy Joseph Kony.

Clinton was in Uganda speaking to president Yoweri Museveni and surveying the current use of US drones being used by the Ugandan military in Somalia to reportedly fight al-Qaida-linked militants.

“Now we have to figure out how we can see through thick vegetation to find Joseph Kony,” she said speaking openly about the US’s need to improve drone surveillance capabilities.

The Secretary is riding the wave caused by the controversial “Kony 2012” documentary released in March 2012 that to date has more than 92 million views.

The film, which was created in order to spur widespread outrage and garner support for an invasion of Africa, depicted Kony as a ruthless African warlord that would kidnap children, butcher victims, and take women as sex slaves.

#DataDump: Dossiers, Dismissed and more

Despite i9/11 Threat, Lawmakers Punt Cyber Security Bill*

Does Cybercrime Really Cost $1 Trillion?*
‘Crisis’ OS X Trojan made by lawful intercept vendor, HackingTeam*
NSA Chief Tells Hackers His Agency Doesn’t Create Dossiers on All Americans*
Former NSA Official Disputes Claims by NSA Chief*
Feds: We Can Freeze Megaupload Assets Even if Case Dismissed*
All systems go for Curiosity rover landing Monday morning*
#Audio #Satire: New Hubble Peephole Can See Into Women's Showers*

Celestial Wars: 'Worlds In Collision' by Immanuel Velikovsky

Immanuel Velikovsky recedes into memory and few recall controversy first caused by his 1950 book, "Worlds in Collision," (pdf), that discusses literary and mythical records of "Venus" and "Mars" catastrophes.  "The book proposed that around the 15th century BCE, Venus was ejected from Jupiter as a comet or comet-like object, passed near Earth...changed Earth's orbit and axis, causing innumerable catastrophes which were mentioned in early mythologies and religions around the world. Fifty-two years later, it passed close by again, stopping the Earth's rotation for a while and causing more catastrophes. Then, in the 8th and 7th centuries BCE, Mars (itself displaced by Venus) made close approaches to the Earth; this incident caused a new round of disturbances and disasters. After that, the current 'celestial order' was established. The courses of the planets stabilized over the centuries and Venus gradually became a "'normal' planet," a brief synopsis of  theory gleaned by Velikovsky from his research, according to Wikipedia.  Velikovsky was marginalized by scientific establishment, but offered his wise view, ancient traditions are best guide to appearance and arrangement of earliest remembered solar system, not computer calculations based upon current knowledge of astronomy.  The above You Tube video is a nice Velikovsky primer in under an hour.  You may learn more at "The Velikovsky Encyclopedia."