Kenneth Hobgood Architects have sent us images of the GK House in Chapel Hill, North Carolina — via CONTEMPORIST
A shadowy private security company with deep links to the CIA — and a parent company awarded hundreds of millions of dollars in Australian government transport contracts — is operating a pervasive global surveillance and facial recognition network on behalf of law enforcement.
Over the past few days the internet has been abuzz with revelations regarding TrapWire, an analytical system that integrates with surveillance cameras to capture photographs or video evidence of “suspicious activity”.
The TrapWire story began late last week, when emails from a private intelligence company, Stratfor — originally released as part of WikiLeaks’s Global Intelligence Files in February — appeared online.
The emails and other documentation revealed TrapWire is installed in some of the western world’s most sensitive locations — including the White House, 10 Downing Street, New Scotland Yard, the London Stock Exchange and five hundred locations in the New York subway system. Trapwire is also installed in many Las Vegas casinos — via redwolf.newsvine.com
The Timex Expedition Military Field T498759Jhas a 42mm stainless steel case (only 11mm thick) with a mineral crystal, solid caseback, date display, and 100 metre water resistance rating — via Wrist Watch Review
glamasaurusdeskguardian, originally uploaded by mommysaurus.
As an affirmed Whovian and supporter of all things TARDIS, I feel as though it’s my duty to share with you this clever crocheted TARDIS wormhole lap blanket from Craftster user Brackish Potato — via MAKE
Husqvarna has just set up shop in Bali, which got the boys from Deus’ Canggu outpost all excited. So they got their hands on the World Enduro Championship-winning TE250, a bike designed to spend 90 per cent of its life off-road — via Husqvarna TE250 by Deus Bali
Michael Knight, a house builder in Victoria, BC, Canada, has sent us images of a house designed by Victoria Design Group, that his company has built — via CONTEMPORIST
The vast majority of people taking out small short-term loans are on Centrelink benefits and fewer than half say the loans improve their financial situation in the longer term.
More than half a million Australians use pay-day loans, so named because the loan is made on the security of the borrower’s next pay cheque. At least $500 million is lent a year, most in amounts of $1000 or less and with very high interest rates.
The Caught Short report examined three years of Australia’s burgeoning pay-day lending industry, with funding from the Australian Research Council, National Australia Bank and Good Shepherd Youth & Family Service.
It found almost 80 per cent of those using pay-day loans were on Centrelink or pension payments, and more than 80 per cent of those were living with significant physical or mental health problems. Only 20 per cent of borrowers considered themselves better off after taking out pay-day loans; half said they were worse off — via redwolf.newsvine.com
A pair of coatis debuted at Germany’s Tiergarten Delitzsch this week, providing plenty of entertainment for zoo visitors. After spending the first few months of life secluded in their barn, the baby coatis are just beginning to explore their enclosure — via ZooBorns
Semachrysa jade new lacewing species, originally uploaded by Guek Hock Ping.
One day in May of 2011, Shaun Winterton was looking at pictures of bugs on the Internet when something unusual caught his eye.
It was a close shot of a green lacewing — an insect he knew well — but on its wing was an unfamiliar network of black lines and a few flecks of blue.
Winterton, a senior entomologist at the California Department of Food and Agriculture, has seen a lot of bugs. But he hadn’t seen this species before.
I sent the link to a few colleagues of mine,
Winterton told The Picture Show. They hadn’t seen it either. And I realised: This thing’s new
— via redwolf.newsvine.com
It’s not often you hear words of common sense emanating from Federal Attorneys-General with relation to technological issues — normally they’re far more interested in holding secret Internet piracy meetings without consumer representation, developing plans to monitor all Australian communications, avoiding pesky Freedom of Information requests; you know, the usual humdrum day to day stuff.
But according to the Sydney Morning Herald, the current AG Nicola Roxon may have come to see the light on the unpopularity of her department’s current wide-reaching surveillance package currently before the Federal Parliament’s Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security. The newspaper reports (we recommend you click here for the full article):
A controversial internet security plan to store the web history of all Australians for up to two years has been stalled by the federal government until after the next election
— via redwolf.newsvine.com
Most classic motorcycles simply look old
. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.) But a tiny handful still have the power to stop the traffic, decades after they were built. Brough Superior is one such brand; Crocker is another. This is a 1937 Big Tank
model, and it’s going under the hammer at Bonhams’ Quail Lodge sale on 16 August. The estimate is a staggering US$270,000—340,000 — via Bike EXIF
Stefan Antoni Olmesdahl Truen Architects (SAOTA) have completed the Nettleton 198 house in Clifton, Cape Town, South Africa — via CONTEMPORIST
A Eastern Black Rhinoceros calf was born on 1 July at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, and it’s a boy! The calf weighed about 36 kg at birth and is growing fast. In just four weeks he now tips the scales at about 68 kg. When fully grown he will weigh about 1,360 kg! Animal keepers will give mother and baby time to bond and hope they can be put on exhibit shortly in the Zoo’s African Savanna — via ZooBorns
You lost your wallet in Jakarta. You got hit by a car in Paris. You need to get online in a sketchy internet cafe in Reno. Getting stuck in a strange city with no ID, no money, no credit cards, and no medical or insurance documents can be inconvenient. In a medical emergency, it can be life-threatening. So have a backup plan: a secure flash drive loaded with your most vital documents and details. Here’s how to build your own — via Gizmodo Australia
Alternative health practitioners such as homoeopaths and healers could be fined or jailed for breaching professional standards, under new powers for Victoria’s health watchdog being considered by the state government.
The scheme would allow Victoria’s Health Services Commissioner to ban or restrict alternative therapists’ practices if they breached a statutory code of conduct, and take court action to enforce the orders where necessary.
At present commissioner Beth Wilson is limited in her ability to deal with alternative therapists who behave unethically, because they are not regulated by national boards that can remove their right to practise — unlike doctors, nurses and dentists — via redwolf.newsvine.com
This project [Gus Wüstemann] is not a house but a family sculpture looking for freedom and social interaction. The created sculpture contains family life, where everybody meets and circulates on the first floor, while providing a great view over the lake of Zurich — via ArchDaily
A baby Anteater was born in June at Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida. Keepers are not yet sure if the little one is male or female but once they are able to identify the gender, it will be named. Just over a month old, the pup currently weighs less than 2.26 kg but will grow up to weigh more than 45 kg — just like its parents, Adelhi (mother) and Buddy (father) — via ZooBorns
Researcher Stephanie Bush recently observed Octopoteuthis deletron deep-sea squid detaching their arms when faced with predators or prey (video). The bizarre behaviour is not unknown in the animal world (lizards and octopus are known to jettison limbs), but it is a first for squid. Octopoteuthis deletron are full of surprises—last fall researchers reported same-sex sexual behaviour in the little squid — via Laughing Squid
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