World News Links - September 30, 2017

From the Syrian Observatory For Human Rights:

[In] 39 months of its “Caliphate”, the “Islamic State” organization executes about 2750 civilian citizens in its controlled areas in Syria[.]
[.]
[The number of executions] reached 2747, the number of civilians, including 105 children and 148 women, who were executed by the “Islamic state” organization by shooting, beheading, stoning, throwing off high place or burning[.]

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The Guardian:  Boris Johnson, UK Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, accused of "incredible insensitivity".

...he recited part of a colonial-era Rudyard Kipling poem in front of local dignitaries while on an official visit to Myanmar in January.
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Britain colonised [sic] Myanmar from 1824 to 1948 and fought three wars in the 19th century, suppressing widespread resistance.

Johnson’s impromptu recital was so embarrassing that the UK ambassador to Myanmar, Andrew Patrick, was forced to stop him.
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In London last year [Johnson] stood alongside former US secretary of state John Kerry and was asked about describing Hillary Clinton as looking “like a sadistic nurse in a mental hospital”.

Boris gets it right 50% of the time. Give him a break.
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IBT: Michael Bolton, no, not the singer, banished by entering over 1,400 UK supermarkets:

A 51-year-old man from Surrey has been banned from shopping in more than a thousand supermarkets across the UK after a magistrate found that he had "engaged in behaviour that caused or was likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress" to others.
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On top of the ban, the criminal order also prohibits Bolton from exposing his genitals or urinating in public[.]

Heh - the wording of the story makes it sound as if, except for Bolton, it's okay for everyone else to do what he did.
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Metro: Female gangs going through garbage.

Gangs of women pictured going through people’s bins are suspected of trying to steal documents and paperwork.

Two women appeared to be working together (Picture: Terry Harris/PaperPix)

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The Daily Star: Guys, just click the link. You'll be glad you did.
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The Independent: Man beats daughter's boyfriend to death.

An Oklahoma man has been arrested for allegedly beating to death his daughter’s abusive boyfriend, police said.
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The victim’s family said the couple were expecting a child next month.

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Radio Australia:

Barcelona resembles a war zone ahead of banned independence vote[.]
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Thousands of national police are patrolling Barcelona's streets as the city prepares to defy the Spanish Government's orders not to vote in an independence referendum this weekend.

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The Telegraph: This shows the radioactive cloud if NK were to detonate a nuke in the Pacific.
 

"Hypothetical atmospheric burst" Credit: @SinaZerbo/Twitter

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Market Oracle: Is Bitcoin just Fool's Gold?

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The Independent: Ex Pres' Clinton, Bush & Obama avoid Trump at President's Golf Tourney.

Trump is scheduled to attend the multi-day event on 1 October but it is unclear if he was not invited to attend with the other presidents or busy with White House meetings.

If we don't know if Trump was or wasn't invited that day, it's really a stretch to claim the Ex Pres' avoided him.
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The Atlantic: The Software Apocalypse is coming.

It’s been said that software is “eating the world.” More and more, critical systems that were once controlled mechanically, or by people, are coming to depend on code. This was perhaps never clearer than in the summer of 2015, when on a single day, United Airlines grounded its fleet because of a problem with its departure-management system; trading was suspended on the New York Stock Exchange after an upgrade; the front page of The Wall Street Journal’s website crashed; and Seattle’s 911 system went down again, this time because a different router failed.

Our software (& a lot of hardware) infrastructure is old and needs to be updated.
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The humble Traffic Cone serves multiple purposes. From The Daily Mirror:

...a group of drunken male university students dressed just in their underpants try to break into a female-only halls of residence run by nuns.
[.]
Earlier in the week freshers at the University of Leon in northern Spain were filmed stripping off and dancing naked during a mock student election.

Topless girls were videoed cavorting on stage with their hands covering their breasts.

Men also got involved, with one completely naked while others covered their modesty with traffic cones.

NHL Friday, September 29, 2017; Another Long Boring Hockey Post

On screen: MN Wild

I'd like to live somewhere where, in the middle of winter, I can attend a hockey game in a T-shirt and shorts. I envy the NHL fans in Florida, LA, Dallas, San Jose...where walking down the street wearing a winter jacket with the wind freezing your face as you approach the stadium doesn't exist. Hockey in a warm-winter state...I'm not sure that life gets better than that, at least for me. That, and winning the PowerBall lottery.

Out of the big five sports websites, NO ONE apparently cares to list pre-season scores other than ESPN. Not even our two daily "bird cage liner" newspapers. Oh -- but if it was the MN Twins, the local media would report on the very first moment a player shoved chewing tobacco in his mouth. And if was the Vikings, the local media would be going gaa-gaa, blubbering breathlessly, reporting the unlocking of the gate and opening the fence at training camp.

You can't watch the local news and not hear the news anchor or a sports reporter remark -every single day- on the countdown, " it's only [insert number] days until Minnesota hosts the Super Bowl. " 1) I don't give fuck. 2) The Vikings will not be playing in the Super Bowl. 3) As they are both famous for doing, the Vikings and the Twins will disappoint their fan base by playing well up until playoffs. Then, they'll play as if they've never played the game before and lose.

Our NBA Timberwolves? Feh - don't care. What's the point in watching an entire NBA game? It's a complete waste of time. One need only tune in for the last 2-4 minutes of any game.

31 NHL Teams; Newest Addition: Vegas

But back to the Sport of Kings and its pre-season. Again, all pre-season data I'm using is from ESPN's NHL.

Last Sunday, my first 2017-18 NHL post,  had eight teams undefeated. As of noon today, Friday, only two teams remain undefeated; The Florida Panthers and the NY Islanders, each with a record of 4-0.

Winnipeg and Montreal had not yet won a game last Sunday, but since then, The Jets have scrapped up two wins leaving Montreal the sole win-less team at 0-6. Their next chance of putting up a win is Saturday, the 30th, when they play Calgary with a 2-3 record.

On Sunday, the MN Wild (3-0) occupied the top slot and Colorado (1-2) was the sixth of seven teams in the Central Division. Today (Friday the 29th), The Avalanche climbed up and are number one with the Wild sitting at number 2; each at 4-2; so really, they're tied for top slot. The difference is minor statistical crap.

The NHL's new addition to the family, the Vegas Knights ("Golden" Knights, but that's the final time I note that part of their name...too many keystrokes),  last Sunday were at 2-1 and today 3-2. They occupy the third slot in the Pacific Div with The Oilers on top at 6-1 and LA second at 4-1. Not a bad start for the new team on the block.

Since Sunday, upward moves in the Division standings include Philly, who were #6 and today #3;  the Atlantic Div where Florida occupied #5 and today are on top; Central's Colorado were #6 and (as I mentioned above) are at the top slot; and the Pacific Div is basically unchanged except for Vegas moving up and Anaheim and Arizona trading places for # 6 and #7 respectively.

Toronto went from 4th place to 2nd.

How can you not watch a game that offers action like the below?

Drops include Ottawa, 3-0 and ranked #1 last Sunday who are now 3-2 and sit at 4th place; Metro Div is basically unchanged other than the bump up of Philly. The Islanders and Devils traded places as #1 and #2 with NJ grabbing the top slot and NYI #2. And Ottawa dropped from first to fourth place.

Games tonight include:

Florida - Montreal (I have to think FL takes this game, but nice if Montreal could get their first win).

Islanders - Buffalo; Buffalo is 1-3; NYI 5-1. I'll call this a NYI win, final score 3-2.

Toronto (4-2) - Detroit (2-3); this is a toss up for me. Toronto has the better record but, never ever ever doubt or write-off the Red Wings.

Carolina (4-2) - Washington (1-4); one may think Carolina has the edge here, but The Caps were fierce last season and were in the play-offs. The Caps know they need to get out of their slump. I'm putting this is the "toss up" category.

Happy Pucking!

Friday Morning Music Video Selection (Grab your coffee...)

From 1985: DLR

"Cali Girls" - DLR: "Crazy From The Heat"

Tech News

Webopedia: CTO.
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Information Week: No longer an abundance of IT jobs.
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Digg: There's no embedded code to copy and it's not on You Tube, so check out this video of a kayaker at 40 mph.
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I could link to every update on Freedom To Tinker, it is just a great site. A lot to read, much to absorb, I learn more than one thing on everything they write. Privacy Implications and email tracking. In the near future, the dictionary definition of "privacy" will begin as; "an out-dated and ill-conceived belief by the general pubic who once believed their personal information could be held private."
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TechDirt: FCC won't act on Easily identified fake comments made in the name of others.
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Extreme Tech: Is Donald Trump contributing to a new future of robots?
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PC World: How-To Watch MLB Playoffs and World Series without cable.
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Computer World: It could be just me, but if iPhone X users are obsessed with a bezel or bezel-less interface, it's time to put the phone down. For a long time.

World News Links - September 28, 2017

National Geographic: GIANT RAT falls from tree; dies. But there are more...many more GIANT RATS!

The GIANT Vangunu rat; Photo: Tyrone Lavery, The Field Musuem

 [sic]

I'd like to point out that National Geographic misspelled museum. Not that I'm the grammar / spell-check police. But National G - no proofreader? I am available for the job.
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The Telegraph: Anti-terrorism squad arrest 65 year old British woman for passing secrets to Russia and(or) China.

She was arrested by Scotland Yard's counter-terrorism command on suspicion of an offence under the Official Secrets Act, which covers espionage and passing secrets to an enemy.

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The BBC: Australian blogger fakes cancer for money.

Belle Gibson, 25, gained fame in Australia after she claimed to have beaten brain cancer using natural remedies and nutrition.
[.]
Ms Gibson's app and cookbook, both called The Whole Pantry, made $420,000, and she had promised to deliver a share of the profits to several charities.

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The Daily Mail: Private companies given the power to arrest people?

Private firms may be given new powers to arrest people in a controversial move that has raised alarm.

The proposals would allow, for the first time, staff from companies such as G4S to arrest members of the public for failing to pay fines imposed by the courts.

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IBT: Stories like this make me want to...make the perp "disappear".
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NDTV: Crowd laughs at crying Barack Obama as he leaves Malia's college.

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News International: India won't deploy troops to Afghanistan.
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SMH: Woman unrecognizable after partner attacks her with a hammer.
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SMH: English cricket player Ben Stokes throws 15 Punches in one minute:

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Copenhagen Post: Copenhagen cops use motorcycles to battle gangs:

Copenhagen Police recently revealed it had obtained a new weapon in its conflict with the gangs: off-road motorcycles.
[.]
[The] new BMW F700Gs bikes are capable of travelling [sic] on a variety of terrain, including gravel, grass, pavements and even stairs.

The BMW F700G. Image: Copenhagen PD

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Belfast Telegraph: Bouncer knocks student to pavement. (Video clip at link).
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Argentina News Net: member of Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte's security force found dead under mysterious circumstances.
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CBC: Nashville Predator player and Toronto native P.K. Suban says he'll never kneel for "The Star-Spangled Banner" because he has too much respect for the American flag.  ( I said as much;   that you're never going to see an NHL player acting like an NFL'er or NBA'er).
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Red Orbit: Eels are "electrifying."

Large eels ‘more powerful’ than ‘a law enforcement Taser’.

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Courthouse News Service:  Enviro-Earth-Humpers seek "personhood" for Colorado Eco System.
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Phys.Org: Vacuum cleaner-maker Dyson to make electric cars by 2020.
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Maybe this is old news to you. It's a bit over five years old. I'd never heard of THIS STORY before. From CBC.com...just click the link. And I'd thought I'd heard it all...
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Scientific American: Male Ducks have penis envy...or, maybe male ducks are attracted to other male ducks?
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Spelling fix 9/28/2017

A College Basketball Scandal? How Could THAT Happen?

From MSN:

...the Department of Justice announced fraud and corruption charges had been brought against 10 people involved in the world of college basketball -- including four coaches.

I'll go out on a limb here and predict it's a matter of time that, at some point in the near future, Congress will drop everything and form committees and sub-committees in a never-ending investigation because we all know that a scandal in college basketball is the most serious and challenging issue facing America, if not the world. Congress has to do something.

Cluck Schumer: "Wealth-fare for the country clubs and board rooms."

From US News:

"It seems that President Trump and Republicans have designed their plan to be cheered in the country clubs and the corporate boardrooms," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the Senate floor Wednesday, describing the proposal as "wealth-fare."

Schumer, puts on his "I hate corporations" public face, but he certainly hasn't refused taking their campaign donations: The Hill; April 2015:  

Sen. Chuck Schumer, who will become the Senate’s top Democrat in 2017, could become one of the greatest fundraisers of all time.

The New York Democrat has developed a reputation as a tenacious money magnet who doesn’t take no for an answer. When handed a $25,000 check, he’s been known to respond, “You can do a little better than that.”
[.]
Schumer is constantly looking for new donors, and will even badger Republicans for cash[.] (Lunch money? - DD)

Center for Responsive Politics / Open Secrets:

Combined contributions for both Campaign Committee & PACs (all the below for years 2013-2018):

Schumers' top four campaign contributors

* Paul Weiss Co.
* Lockheed Martin
* Deloitte LLP
* NorPAC

The top four donor business sectors

* Securities & Investment
* Law firms
* Real Estate
* Insurance

[The majority of his campaign donations, over $17.6 Million is from large dollar contributors and comprises 75.5% of total raised. His campaign contributions from small donors (under $200), is $401,976, a paltry 1.72% of total raised.]

 On PAC money only:

His top four PAC contributors

* Google
* Lockheed Martin
* Aetna
* AFLAC

The top four PAC industry sectors

* Securities & Investments
* Insurance (BIG BAD EVIL INSURANCE?!?!?! -DD)
* Pharmaceuticals / Health Products (EVIL BIG PHARMA?!?!?!-DD)
* Health Professional

From the not-leaning-to-the-Right CBS News, in June, 2011:

Yet outside the public eye, Schumer was one of the biggest beneficiaries of Wall Street money that Congress had ever seen.

Is lowering the corporate tax rate going to result in an improved economy and create jobs? (Big Breath...)...and you already know the answer, " it depends. " 

Schumer was there in 2008, eager to bailout his Wall Street cronies.   The NY Times, December 2008:

As the financial crisis jolted the nation in September, [Schumer]  -  became one of the first officials to promote a Wall Street bailout. He spent hours in closed-door briefings and a weekend helping Congressional leaders nail down details of the $700 billion rescue package.

Schumer isn't unique in politics to play all sides for the benefit of self-interest. That he does it so blatantly, with such avarice ("You can do better than that.") and such sanctimony and no shame, is simply amazing. Schumer knows the country clubs and boardrooms just as well as the "corporatists". I think he'd accept campaign cash from Kim Jong-Un if he could.

Tech News

ArsTechnia: 15 year comatose patient gains some degree of consciousness after vagus nerve stimulation.

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ArsTechnia again: MicroSoft embraces quantum computing.  (Several Patches will follow, I'm sure).

It is a good article and explains quantum computing without being overly technical:

... traditional digital computers are made from bits, each bit representing either a one or a zero, quantum computers are made from some number of qubits (quantum bits). Qubits represent, in some sense, both one and zero simultaneously (a quantum superposition of 1 and 0). This ability for qubits to represent multiple values gives quantum computers exponentially more computing power than traditional computers.

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Love Stinks. Breaking up is a bitch. C|Net: Siri leaves Bing for Google.
(Who, in their wildest imagination, could have envisioned those five words appearing in that order?)

 

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WIRED: More on MSoft and quantum computing.

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I haven't seen it, but TechCrunch calls the new "Star Trek" series murky.

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TechCrunch: device passwords, counter-terrorism and privacy. 

A London court today found Muhammad Rabbani guilty of willfully obstructing the police by failing to hand over device passwords and the PIN code for his smartphone after he had been detained at a UK airport.

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ZD Net: Click this link and watch Robot Dentist.  There's a 10(?) second commercial before the video. Video is 50 seconds.
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Geek: Meet K1, stationary robot that detects concealed weapons.

Okay, some questions:

1) Can the K-series determine who is LEGALLY carrying a concealed weapon from someone illegally carrying a concealed weapon? Can it detect a concealed lead pipe? A blackjack? A box cutter?

2) Can the K-robots be installed at all airports so the TSA can stop GROPING CHILDREN and the rest of us?

The K1. Image: Knightscope

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Gizmodo: This is Bullshit and unacceptable of Showtime and its web affiliates if true:  Your computer may have been used by Showtime websites to mine for crypto-coins while watching "Twin Peaks."
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Beta News: Battery Super-Drain:

... iOS 11 is causing iPhone and iPad batteries to drain faster than ever -- much faster. The difference between iOS 10 and iOS 11 is anything but minor; batteries can drain in half the amount of time following the upgrade.

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Technocracy: Guess which company spends the most on Federal Lobbying? Here's a hint (but I'll bet you don't even need one) - it starts with a "G." 
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New Atlas: Lockheed Martin tests laser weapon. Nails 5 drones with 100% accuracy.  Video below; Lockheed Martin.

The Advanced Test High Energy Asset, aka Athena. (Enough already with the acronyms!)

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TechDirt: Do NOT fuck with the Velcro folks.  They mean business. Really - if you click on only one link, make it this one. The Velcro video is a riot. And they're dead serious!

NASCAR Owners say they will fire Drivers who protest National Anthem

NASCAR doesn't fuck around. They have an expectation that their employees will demonstrate professionalism and civility. From Business Insider:

[NASCAR] team owners said they would come down hard on any drivers who did not stand during the national anthem. That included NASCAR legend Richard Petty, owner of Richard Petty Motorsports.

"Anybody that don’t [sic] stand up for the anthem oughta be out of the country, period," Petty said[.] "What got ’em where they’re at? The United States."

When Petty was asked if his drivers would be fired if they protest during the anthem as Trump called for, Petty emphatically said, "You're right."

Athletes brought criticism upon themselves by visibly protesting the Flag and National Anthem. The issue of protesting "something" by athletes is not new and did not begin with what President Donald Trump said on Friday.

Ask the folks who experienced the recent hurricanes and flooding and fires if they care about the coddled, delicate, highly paid athletes whining about criticism for - really - what is nothing more than asking them to demonstrate a fraction of civility and professionalism.

I can respect an athlete who protests (anything) by not exiting the locker room until the National Anthem is finished. Their actions speak louder than those who feel the need to advertise protesting whatever it is they're protesting.

Cocaine on your fingerprints

This new drug test is pointless. CNBC:

"New drug test can detect cocaine in a fingerprint in seconds"

A team of researchers has developed a simple paper-based test that can in a matter of seconds detect whether a person has recently been using cocaine.
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The test was 99 percent effective.
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The test could potentially be used in any of the usual situations where drug tests are needed, such as workplaces, legal situations, hospitals and treatment centers.

Well, of course the test is going to be 99 percent effective. Who doesn't have traces of cocaine on their finger tips? If you handle currency, you likely have traceable amounts of cocaine on your finger tips. More on that in a second.

And the test doesn't show, nor does it prove, that the person is using, or has used, cocaine. The only thing the paper-based test proves is that there are traces of cocaine on fingertips.

From CNN:

... 90 percent of paper money circulating in U.S. cities contains traces of cocaine.
[.]
...not all bills are involved in drug use; they can get contaminated inside currency-counting machines at the bank.

"When the machine gets contaminated, it transfers the cocaine to the other bank notes," said [Yuegang Zuo, professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth].
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Cocaine binds to the green dye in money, he said.
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[ Adam Negrusz, an associate professor of forensic sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago], said,  "Many of those bills, over 90 percent, are contaminated with cocaine. There is cocaine dust around the machines. These bank tellers breathe in cocaine. Cocaine gets into system, and you can test positive for cocaine."

This new "simple, paper-based test" raise a litany of legal issues and questions on the invasion of personal privacy (think blood sample taken without consent ). It also widens the already-open doorway on the abusive tactics of asset forfeiture  and property seizure  of people suspected, but not convicted, of any offense.

Additional reading:
The Incarceration of Daniel Chong
Drug-sniffing dogs and false alerts
Reasons for a false-positive cocaine test 
A false-positive tale of terror 

Insomnia? Read Maureen Dowd

Give or take a dozen or so words, it takes a very special talent to write 1,027 words yet say absolutely nothing.  

Roger Goodell is a Cry Baby

From Bleacher Report:

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell released a statement Saturday morning after United States President Donald Trump criticized NFL players kneeling during the American national anthem and the league's effort to remove fierce hits from the sport Friday night.
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"Divisive comments like these demonstrate an unfortunate lack of respect for the NFL, our great game and all of our players, and a failure to understand the overwhelming force for good our clubs and players represent in our communities," [Goodell said].

What a dick!

NFL Cry Baby Roger Goodell

Am I missing something? Did someone say they respect the NFL?

Do you think Roger will get over this outrageous and vehement attack on his precious NFL? Will Roger require counseling and therapy? Is there a "gofundme" page for Roger? Shut up, hike up your skirt and go enjoy, what has to be, a very nice life.

Respect for the NFL...

My First Long Boring Hockey Post for the 2017-2018 NHL Season

On screen: The MN Wild

It seems like it was only yesterday that the Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup. Actually, it was June 13th, - so yeah, almost yesterday. Kind of.

The 2017-2018 NHL Season is here.  Okay, officially it's the Pre-season. I'd hate to be accused of publishing "fake news."

To date, every team has played 1 to 4 games as of Sunday morning. Five games are scheduled for today, Sunday, and at the time of writing this, none of them had a final score or are night games.

I track my own, unofficial "Fantasy NHL" team(s) here, and track my predictions of wins, losses, goals and win/loss in playoff series. Of course I'm a MN WILD fan(atic), but there's really no NHL team I dislike. It's more of which team I want to see win in any particular match-up. And that's always the Wild when they're playing. If you are so inclined, please join in, in the comments section with your NHL thoughts, favorite team(s), predictions, anything. There has to be some NHL fans who stop by here - - join in! Nothing beats hockey talk. Nothing. (Well..."Walking Dead" conversations with other WD-Heads...right up there.)

Newest Addition to the NHL

The following is as of noon, Sunday the 24th (do you realize it's 3 months until Christmas Eve?)

The following teams are undefeated in pre-season games:

Central Div: MN Wild 3-0
Pacific Div: Edmonton 4-0; San Jose 2-0
Atlantic Div: Ottawa 3-0; Florida 1-0;
Metro Div: NY Islanders 3-0; NJ Devils 3-0; Penguins 2-0

Two teams are win-less. Winnipeg (Central) 0-2 and Montreal (Atlantic) 0-4 (ouch!)

What's new, you might ask, this season? Well, a brand spanking shiny new expansion team was added, the Las Vegas Golden Knights. They're in the Pacific Div with 2 wins, 1 loss.

The Metro, Atlantic and Pacific Div's each have 8 teams. The Central Div has 7 teams. Adding Vegas brings the number of NHL teams to a nice, even round number of 31. NHL math...it's so easy.

Back to the newest addition to the league, Vegas. I don't know about you, but the first thing that enters my mind when I think hockey is Las Vegas. How Vegas managed to exist this long without an NHL team is the 8th Great Mystery of the World. I'm joking, I'm happy there's a new team and look forward to watching them play and see how they fare.

Quick recap of last season: The Penguins beat the Nashville Predators taking The Stanley Cup, making it two consecutive wins, something not done since back to back wins by the Detroit Red Wings in 1997-1998. The Preds seemed to float under the radar last year and then boom - were crushing their opponents in every game.

As with all sports, a team is only as good as who is on their injury list. It's way too early to make any predictions, but we can likely expect to see above-average performances by some of The Usual NHL Suspects: The Pens, the Blackhawks, Philly, the Rangers, Boston, Ottawa, LA, Buffalo and one can never dismiss Detroit rocking the ice.

MN Wild owner Craig Leipold said, "anything short of winning the Stanley Cup would be a disappointment." That's jumping the gun. It is not inconceivable that the Wild could win TSC, they played well last season but were eliminated by St. Louis in first round playoffs.

Looking at a list of all the teams, it's just too early to pick who will have a great/good/poor season. I do think we'll see better and improved performances by the Islanders and the Devils, both who had tough seasons last year.

Well, my First Long Boring NHL post is published and the 2017-2018 season is here. Oh yeah, one more thing. You would never see an NHL player diss the American Flag, our National Anthem or an invitation to the White House.

Liberals blame Trump for world not ending on September 23, 2017.

Abundant internet and media stories covered the prediction that Saturday, the 23rd, would be "Doomsday." David Meade recently renewed interest in this theory.  The Sun:

Conspiracies about the mysterious planet named Nibiru, [also known as Planet X],  suggest it could be headed towards Earth to destroy it on September 23.
[.]
[David] Meade buys into the idea that a 2,000-year-old prophecy, which was described in the book of Revelation, will cause an apocalypse.

The world didn't end on Saturday and several Liberal organizations, politicians, scholars and scientists from around the world are blaming President Donald Trump.

The Eritas County Ledger:

UK Prime Minister Theresa May directed her ire at a Trump Twitter Tweet about Planet X. "His Planet X tweet was not helpful, it was not appreciated. This is what happens when America elects an Imperialist," said May.

"We're pissed," said Kuamthra Zdgit-Kvortkllor, a Berkeley professor of Eschatology.

"It's that damn Trump. He's the one who stopped this much needed destruction of the Earth," said Zdgit-Kvortkllor. He also blamed the failure of the collision on, "The collective arrogance of skeptics, Republicans, Tea Party'ers [sic], people who actually think for themselves and that Trivago guy.  We were on our way to destroying our filthy, over-populated, disgusting, putrid world. That it didn't happen is devastating."

Theresa May

French President Emmanuel Macron commented, "How can Socialism be expected to thrive and prosper unless our loathsome and repugnant planet is completely eliminated from the solar system?"

The Southern Poverty Law Center blamed Trump, but also lashed out at Planet X. Howard Stuff, Director of Communications at the SPLC said, "see - had the planetary collision taken place, world poverty and  hunger would have been eliminated on Saturday. Due to Nibiru's failure to deliver devastation as promised, the SPLC has placed Planet X at the top of our Hate List."

Vermont U.S. Senator and 2016 Democrat presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, told reporters, "I tell ya, the world not ending on Saturday is the worst thing ever that could happen. Ever, I tell ya. Ever! Everything would have been great had planet Nurimbuyov...Nurumumburu...Nommerbimmer...whatever the hell it's called, smashed right into us. That would've solved everything, I tell ya.  But because the Russians hacked our election and Trump is in the White House, our damn planet is still here. It's a conspiracy between Trump and that Russian guy, Vladamir Butrin. Butrin? Huh? Butrin? I think that's the guy."

Bernie Sanders on Nibiru, Planet X

John Kasich, 2016 presidential candidate and Governor of Ohio, was the lone voice within the Republican party blaming Trump for  stopping Planet X.  "I'm the Governor of Ohio, but had I been elected president, I would have made sure that Planet X pummeled our planet into dust. If I was the president, instead of being Governor of Ohio, I would have directed NASA to steer earth right into a collision course with Planet X." he said. Kasich continued, "speaking as a regular guy, who is also the the Governor of Ohio, all I can add is that we will continue suffering through life on earth because of that guy in the White House. Being the Governor of Ohio, the most I could do is direct the Ohio National Guard to do all they could to move Ohio into the path of Planet X and, being the Governor of Ohio, I did just that. But it  was unsuccessful and I say this on the record as the Governor of Ohio."

President Trump's Controversial Planet X tweet.

"There is still hope our planet will be destroyed soon," said astrophysicist Klarv Ernstschmidt of the Institute For the Advancement of Interplanetary Destruction headquartered in Baden-Baden, Germany. "Right behind the path of Planet X is Planet Y. We are almost certain Planet Y is on a direct collision course with earth and the catastrophic impact will occur next Saturday. So get ready to kiss your ass good-bye on September 30th."

9/23/2017: The World Isn't Ending Today...

...but in case it does...(which it won't)......

 Clip from: "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb"

Song: "We'll Meet Again," sung by Vera Lynn.
 

We'll meet again,
Don't know where, don't know when,
But I know we'll meet again, some sunny day.

Keep smiling through,
Just like you always do,
Till the blue skies drive the dark clouds, far away.

So will you please say hello,
To the folks that I know,
Tell them I won't be long,
They'll be happy to know that as you saw me go
I was singing this song.

We'll meet again,
Don't know where, don't know when,
But I know we'll meet again, some sunny day.

Don't cancel your plans for Sunday, the 24th.

Friday Morning Music Video Selection; with Coffee

From 1988: Robert Palmer (1949-2003)

"Simply Irresistible"

Tech News

(I've been updating less over the last few days. I just don't have it in me right now to write on current events, politics and serious stuff.)

My heart and prayers go out to those affected by hurricane Maria.

How to help those affected by Maria and the other hurricanes. 

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Extreme Tech: The World is not ending this coming Saturday, nor is it the beginning of the countdown to 'Doomsday'.

In the extreme case, yet tiny percent chance that it does happen, we know who to blame: Russia.
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I LOVE BetaNews. (It's Tech dopamine for the IT crowd.) The Librem 5 smart phone has both GNOME and Purism in its corner in developing a PRIVACY BASED cell phone.

Via: Beta News

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Gizmodo: Equifax Has Been Sending Consumers to a Fake Phishing Site for Almost Two Weeks.

Equifax’s response to its data breach has been a total shitshow, [sic] something the company seems determined to remind us of each and every day.

For nearly two weeks, the company’s official Twitter account has been directing users to a fake lookalike website, the sole purpose of which is to expose Equifax’s reckless response to the breach.
[.]
After announcing the breach, Equifax directed its customers to equifaxsecurity2017.com, a website where they can enroll in identity theft protection services and find updates about how Equifax is handing the “cybersecurity incident.”

But the decision to create “equifaxsecurity2017” in the first place was monumentally stupid. The URL is long and it doesn’t look very official—that means it’s going to be very easy to emulate. Fake versions of the site could be used to phish Equifax customers and steal their personal information, again. A much safer choice would have been to create a subdomain on the Equifax website (equifax.com) and direct users there.

To illustrate how idiotic Equifax’s decision was, developer Nick Sweeting created a fake website of his own: securityequifax2017.com.

(I can't see Equifax being a viable company for much longer. And - if I were TransUnion and Experian - I'd be target marketing businesses that use Equifax and make every attempt to make that customer mine.)
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Via TechNews World,  from E-Commerce Times:  The Internet of Things is a Boon for B2B business. No doubt - this is a hugely untapped market.
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Attention Gamers...From PC World: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW about the new XBox One X.
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Security Week: Apple issuing security patches.   (Looks like Apple is going to give MicroSoft some competition in issuing patches):  

Apple this week announced the availability of 8 security patches for its iPhone 5s and later, iPad Air and later, and iPod touch 6th generation users, released as part of the iOS 11 platform upgrade.

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 C|Net: $126,000 and change will buy you the 2017 Jaguar F / SVR. Full review of the Jag HERE.

I keep my distance until a straightaway comes up, then cross over the dashed line and unleash the 575-horsepower fury of the F-Type SVR's supercharged V8, sport exhaust turned on for maximum effect.
[.]
 It manages to mute vibration even on rough back roads, letting me enjoy the beautiful diamond upholstery on seats and door panels, along with the excellent audio quality from the Meridian-branded 12 speaker 770-watt audio system.

The Jag. Image via C|Net.

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WIRED: Fake meat...that bleeds. 

...in a lab-kitchen hybrid in a Silicon Valley office park, [a] company called Impossible Foods has over the last six years done something not quite impossible, but definitely unlikely: Engineering a plant-based burger that smells, tastes, looks, and even feels like ground beef.

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C|Net: Facebook enabled marketers to target ads to "Jew-Haters."
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TechCrunch: Tech giants asked to remove extremism content at a faster pace.

...fining social media firms which fail to meet collective targets for illegal content takedowns has also been floated by the heads of state. Earlier this year the German government proposed a regime of fines for social media firms that fail to meet local takedown targets for illegal content.

The Guardian reports today that the UK government would like to see the time it takes for online extremist content to be removed to be greatly speeded up — from an average of 36 hours down to just two.

That’s a considerably narrower timeframe than the 24 hour window for performing such takedowns agreed within a voluntary European Commission code of conduct which the four major social media platformed signed up to in 2016.

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Nextgov:  Federal Agencies bewildered by Blockchain. Good!
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New Atlas: Hypersonic flight. Threat or opportunity?

Fly faster! Image: NASA

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Via Information Week;  at Dark Reading:  

1.9 Billion Data Records Exposed in First Half of 2017

Every second, 122 records are exposed in breaches around the globe, a new report shows. And that's doesn't even include the new Equifax breach data.

More than 10 million data records are pilfered or lost every day around the world, a rate of more than 7,000 per minute: and that's only the numbers from breaches that go public.

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WebProNews: Amazon foments bidding wars in 100 cities.

Amazon has publicly solicited bids from cities to become the location of its second home, dubbed as “HQ2.” As a result, cities are now trying their best to outdo each other to come up with enough enticing perks to woo the internet firm.

Yeah, that tiny, small market, start-up company...Amazon and it's alien-human hybrid leader Jeff Bezos, need financial business incentives and perks in order to be profitable.

Bezos. A human-appearing robot made in Westworld.

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ArsTechnia: Man holds website hostage, demands $10 Grand. They don't pay so he re-directs their URL to a gay p0rn site.

An Arizona man was sentenced Monday to four years of federal probation after he pled guilty to effectively holding a corporate website hostage and redirecting it to a gay porn site for several days in 2015. The defendant, Tavis Tso, was also ordered to pay over $9,000 in restitution.
[.]
...Tso told company staffers that he could help them fix the problem—for the low price of $10,000.

When they refused, he redirected the site to a gay pornographic website. Somehow, after several days—court documents are vague on this point—the company’s site was returned to normal.

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ArsTechnia: Mysterious flesh-eating bacteria in Australia on the rise. Big Time.

The infections are caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans, a slow-growing bacterium that causes gaping, palm-sized ulcers. Sometimes called Buruli ulcers, the lesions seem to dissolve skin and gnaw away at tissue. The bacteria are known to lurk around Victoria, but experts don’t know where it lives or how it spreads.

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TechCrunch link fixed 9/21/2017

Hillary Clinton is, "A direct threat to our democracy." She said so herself. "Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose."

Contesting the 2016 election results means Hillary Clinton is a "direct threat to our democracy." She said so herself.

Hillary Clinton won't exclude the  legitimacy of the 2016 presidential election. 

Hillary Clinton was for accepting the election results before she was against it: "Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose."

World News Links

Metro: Skunky, Potent, Gorilla Glue a Hit in Britain. Where wouldn't it be a hit?
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The Scotsman: Number of Armed Patrols increased following London train bombing.
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Herald de Paris: Indian government raids NDTV:

[The homes of the founders of NDTV were raided by the Bureau of Investigation] accusing them of failing to repay a multi-million-dollar bank loan.

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Singapore Star - another knife attack attempt: 

[A] French soldier managed to subdue the suspect near a subway location.
[.]
The man reportedly shouted references to the Islamic State group while attacking the soldier and was quickly arrested.

(Solder unharmed!)
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CTV News: "Mentally Ill" verdict in Slender Man stabbing.
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Gorilla Glue.

- --

France24:  Apple and Dell join to bid buying debt-laden Toshiba's memory chip business.

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Globe and Mail: Britain subway bombing a "new normal." ("New normal"????)

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World News: St. Louis bracing for more protests.
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Sidney Morning Herald: Sky-writing; "Vote No" on same sex marriage. 

Photo: AAP

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Global News:  Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte pulls no punches. Asks the head of the country’s Commission on Human Rights...

“...Why is this guy so pre…suffocated with the issue of young people, especially boys? Are you a pedophile?” Duterte asked, referring to CHR head Chito Gascon.

“Why are you smitten with teenagers? Are you? I’m having my doubts. Are you gay or a pedophile?”

Gascon did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

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BBC: Significant arrest in Parsons Green bombing:

Police have arrested an 18-year-old man on suspicion of a terror offence in connection with Friday's attack on a London Tube train.

Armed police are continuing to search a house in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey.

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RTT News: UPS moves towards all-electric trucks made by Daimler.
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NBC News: Typhoon tears through Vietnam.
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The Robb Report: The Tonino Lamborghini $2,500 luxury cellphone.

Photo: Tonino Lamborghini

Harry Dean Stanton and Frank Vincent; Rest In Peace. (Sometimes 80 and 91 years old are still just too young).

Actor Frank Vincent has died.  Some obits list his age at 78, others mention 80.

Frank Vincent

Vincent appeared in many hit films, including Martin Scorsese's "Casino," Raging Bull," and "Casino."

But perhaps he will be best remembered as ruthless mob boss Phil Leotardo in The Sopranos.

"There's no scraps in my scrap book."

THE NY Daily News:

Scorsese, [remembering Vincent said],  "... he understood the world we were portraying so well that he really didn't appear to be acting at all."

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Harry Dean Stanton  has died at age 91.

Harry Dean Stanton 1926-2017

Stanton's film and television credits are many; the guy was always working. He appeared in many films of David Lynch,   playing characters that only he could do.

Lynch, paying tribute to Stanton said: EW:

“The great Harry Dean Stanton has left us. There went a great one. There’s nobody like Harry Dean. Everyone loved him. And with good reason. He was a great actor (actually beyond great) — and a great human being — so great to be around him!!! You are really going to be missed Harry Dean!!! Loads of love to you wherever you are now!!!”

From Showtimes' "Twin Peaks," - Keep The Blood scene:

From Allmusic.com:

[Stanton said]  "... I had to decide if I wanted to be a singer or an actor. I was always singing."

Dean's "Blue Eyes Crying in The Rain":

And, a very nice tribute to Harry Dean at Threedonia.

Tech News

The Ig-Nobel Prizes have been awarded. From ArsTechnia: Musical vaginas; are cats solids, liquids or both; and where did they find four people who are "disgusted by cheese"?
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C|Net: Goodbye Cassini.
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At WIRED. You need to see this video.

A man dressed as a car seat to fool pedestrians and drivers into believing his van was driving itself.

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TechCrunch: South Park's Cartman trolls Alexa. And yes, it's exactly what we expect from SP.
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Mel Magazine: The history of the recliner.

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BetaNews: Hurricanes lead to drop in malware infections[.] It's not BetaNews that sounds...stupid...they're quoting from Enigma Software Group, [showing that computer infections and malware] in the Houston area showed a 52.5 percent drop from the average on August 29th[.]

Yeah - and other scientific studies, conducted over several decades, show that Water-skiing drastically declines during winter months.

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PC World: If you're a Gamer, this story is for you.

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Gizmodo: Google's Chrome browser will soon block autoplay videos and those annoying ads with sound. I like the idea of blocking autoplays - but - it's Google. You know it's going to have a down side.
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 Who is watching and listening to you? Do you have any real remaining privacy? TechNewsWorld:

...new technologies became an accepted part of life.
[.]
Over time, we've been learning to accept every invasion of privacy, step by step.

Someone knows about every TV show we watch, every place we drive in our car, and every phone call we make, either wire line or wireless.

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ZD Net: It's a Penclic. A mouse that's a pen.   I like this idea.
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BGR: Orbit Litter; lots of it.

via NASA

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PR News Wire: Bathroom "odors" eliminated:

The user-activated ActiFresh technology features a high-powered fan that pulls odors from within the bowl through the rim holes, passing the air through a filter for purification. The ActiFresh filter contains active charcoal that captures odor particles — similar to the way an air filter traps dust — catching the elements that cause the unpleasant smell. Fresh air is then released back into the environment, leaving the bathroom smelling fresh and clean.

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Phys.org: China [building] the world's first unhackable [quantum computer network].

"We plan to use the network for national defence, finance and other fields," [said Zhou Fei, assistant director of the Jinan Institute of Quantum Technology].
[.]
It will be the world's longest land-based quantum communications network, stretching over 2,000 km.