Month: April 2014

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Disruptive Tech: Monolayer Etching Makes 3-Atom Wide Wires

Wires 3 atoms wide and 1 atom thick have been constructed from monolayers perfected in the lab at Vanderbilt U by PhD candidate Junhao Lin. This means in a few tech generations, apps with paper thin and bendable screens for computers, television, movies, you name it. And because monolayers offer the world’s most conductive medium, only our imaginations limit other applications. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/04/30/grad_student_creates_worlds_thinnest_wires_just_three_atoms_wide/

So what’s a monolayer, most of us might wonder. Answer: A monolayer is a slab of material just one atom thick. Obvious next question: How does anyone make a monolayer? Not so obvious answer: Mix either of two metals, molybdenum or tungsten, with either of two other substances, sulfur or selenium, and through a beam of electrons focus transition-metal dichalcogenides to create one atom layer substance. Read more from the original paper published in Nature.

Analysts at HamiltonFinanceServices.com predict new disruptive technologies from monolayers using Junhao Lin’s technique can and will shift all digital devices known today and those yet unknown onto a quantum level higher than anything seen today. What do you think?

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Using old IE browser? Change NOW to avoid cyber attack.

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Switch Browsers Now, If in wrong half of user population

Anyone using Internet Explorer, versions 6 to 11, to browse the web: Switch browsers NOW. That means about 55 percent of all users browsing the Internet on any day should find a safer browser, according to the US Department of Homeland Security. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/28/us-cybersecurity-microsoft-browser-idUSBREA3Q0PB20140428

Homeland Security’s United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) says a sophisticated group of skilled cyber punks has targeted the most commonly used browser to launch attacks against defense and finance organizations in the United States. http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/internet-explorer-bug-used-by-hackers-to-attack-u-s-firms-1.2624032

Carnegie Mellon’s Software Engineering Institute reports that no solution to the weakness in the affected browsers has yet been developed. The institute plans to host a conference on this and related topics within a few weeks. http://www.sei.cmu.edu/community/writ2014/

“Operation Clandestine Fox,” the name of the cyber attack against affected IE browsers, has been under investigation by cyber security firms such as FireEye Inc through its Mandiant division. http://www.fireeye.com/blog/

HamiltonFinanceServices.com analysts observe that IE versions 6 through 11 run mostly on old XP systems, so those who moved on to Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8 have no risk from Operation Clandestine Fox, and now perhaps would be a good time to abandon XP altogether, for the rest of us. What do you think?

 

 

 

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Brazil Offers Internet Constitution to the World

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Yesterday Brazil’s Senate passed ‘Marco Civil da Internet,’ to many known as the Internet Constitution. The Congress, a separate Brazilian legislative body, had passed that bill by the end of last month, so now President Dilma Vana Rousseff’s promised signing will soon make it the law of the land. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/23/us-internet-brazil-idUSBREA3M00Y20140423

 

The Internet Constitution arose from the ashes of Edward Snowden’s disclosure of NSA spying on President Rousseff, in 2013, and she took just six months to fast-track a comprehensive balance between corporate, government, and public interests in the Internet. The most controversial provision, to make Google and Facebook keep all data about Brazilian citizens on servers housed within Brazil, ultimately was stricken from the text of the bill. In place the Congress and Senate agreed to extend Brazilian legal jurisdiction worldwide when Brazilian citizens’ data is involved. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Civil_da_Internet

 

HamiltonFinanceServices.com analysts note that German Chancellor Angela Merkel, also a target of NSA spying, promised in October 2013 before the UN General Assembly to take the idea of the Internet Constitution to the rest of the world. Tim Berners-Lee, one of the inventors of the Internet and a leader of world policy on how the Internet should evolve to maintain its autonomy and decentralized structure, has already voiced key support for the Internet Constitution. Perhaps the Brazilian model will lead the world to policies that fulfill Tim Berners-Lee’s dream. What do you think?   

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US Supreme Court Lets Michigan Voters Abolish Racial Preferences

b2ap3_thumbnail_Hmmm.jpgToday the US Supreme Court ruled against a federal judge by agreeing that the majority of voters in Michigan should decide whether they need affirmative action.  Those voters strongly agreed that all decisions of state institutions should apply equal rights to everyone, meaning that no racial preferences should be permitted.  http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20140422-709228.html 

To the analysts at HamiltonFinanceServices.com, the ruling is overdue.  States should have been deciding from the beginning what they need to apply laws equally to every member of society within their borders out of recognition that each state faces unique sets of challenges.  What do you think?

Those who oppose the Michigan majority of voters insist that the best and brightest members of minority groups cannot compete against the majority without racial preferences.  http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/22/us-usa-court-race-idUSBREA3L0Y820140422

Here at HFS we rhetorically pose the question, Why can’t the best and brightest compete?  Of course they can, if they’re truly the best and brightest of  a society.  What racial preference leads to is more racial division, the very opposite of what America considers the ideal worth fighting wars about.  That the HFS view, at least.

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Russia suffers third meteor strike in last 14 months

b2ap3_thumbnail_RussianMeteor.jpgToday Another Meteor Hits Russia

 

One of the worst aspects of being the geographically largest nation on the planet: Meteors will most likely hit that nation. That’s what happened today, and not for the first time. http://www.reuters.com/video/2013/02/15/meteor-hits-central-russia-400-hurt?videoId=241140683

 

Hundreds of citizens suffered the consequences of the latest impact. Yet, the crash two months ago and the other crash a year before, suggest a pattern of sorts. http://www.space.com/24714-russian-meteor-blast-chelyabinsk-anniversary.html   Even if everyone knew where the impact might occur, little can be done besides wholesale flight from that area. The power of a meteor impact leaves no options for any human defense against them.

 

 

HFS analysts wonder aloud whether the planet might witness impacts in more populated areas in Europe, Asia, and the USA. Has Russia suffered enough and is it probably time for the rest of the world now? What do you think?

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On Wisconsin! Thanks for Showing the World what needs to be done with adoption laws

b2ap3_thumbnail_adopt.jpgWisconsin Leads US With Law Limiting Private Adoption

 

Wisconsin, USA, state representative Joel Kleefisch pushed a new law that Governor Scott walker signed into effect yesterday that imposes criminal sanctions for those who advertise or carry out private adoptions. The new law offers the first in the USA of its kind as a strong attack against uncontrolled adoptions. Those adoptions have lead to some disastrous results, including for example, one mother advertising online and then meeting the pedophile (unknown to her, presumably) to whom she gave her nine year old son. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/16/us-wisconsin-adoption-idUSBREA3F1VS20140416

 

Representative Kleefisch cited numerous “pratfalls” first reported by the Reuters news service. Those pratfalls seem to HFS analysts more like cases of gross or criminal neglect. The rise of social media in every corner of the world facilitates quick, unregulated adoptions, so the new Wisconsin law on adoptions might appeal to many governments both within the USA and abroad. http://time.com/66171/wisconsin-adopted-children-rehoming/

 

Without federal laws in the USA to control this obvious gap in adoption laws, the time required to press the laws across the nation to every state seems daunting. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/04/18/wisconsin-becomes-first-state-to-ban-advertising-adopted-kids-online/

 

HFS analysts urge a close examination of the private adoption process in every place on the planet, perhaps looking to Wisconsin as a model for the rest of the world’s governments. What do you think?

 

 

 

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Google Everywhere Just Got Real

b2ap3_thumbnail_AtmosphericSatelliteByTitan.jpgTitan Atmospheric Satellite & Google Team Up

 

Google’s purchase of Titan Aerospace will bring Internet to remote locations. At least that’s what some say. http://www.reuters.com/video/2014/04/15/reuters-tv-titan-aerospace-a-sky-high-platform-for?videoId=310012780&videoChannel=118065  Costs of operation of Titan’s high flying drone will offer satellite coverage worldwide at 1/100th the cost of present day satellites.

 

Titan also offers high flying giant helium balloons as part of its Project Loon, although no one seems quite as enthusiastic in comparison to cheers for the solar powered, forever flying drone airplane, known in Titan circles as an ‘atmospheric satellite’ that will possibly fit in with Google’s plans to bring the net to all. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/04/14/google-buys-drone-maker-titan-aerospace-2

 

 

HFS analysts note that Facebook, the lead suitor for Titan until Google swooped in to offer more money last week, might have had similar plans. The competition for the future Internet seems to be unfolding right before the eyes of the world. What do you think?

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Amazon 3-d Phone, Really?

b2ap3_thumbnail_bgr-a-phone-1.jpgGlimpse of Amazon 3-D Phone

 

Exclusive reports by BGR Blog disclose photos of the coming Amazon 3-D phone. http://bgr.com/2014/04/15/amazon-smartphone-photos-specs-kindle-phone-exclusive/

 

The prototype appears to offer six cameras to generate a 3-dimensional image. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/15/amazon-phone-photos_n_5154196.html?utm_hp_ref=technology

 

 

HFS analysts note that no official statements by Amazon have been issued yet, so some question should persist about how legitimate the photos might be. Nonetheless, speculation and anticipation clearly have been sparked by the blog post. What do you think?

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What Does the Video of Syrian Rebels Say About US TOW Rockets?

b2ap3_thumbnail_TOW_rockets.jpgUS Anti-tank Rockets On Video of Syrian Battle

 

An undisclosed source released video footage showing US antitank rockets today, possibly the first clear sign of US support through provision of arms for Syrian rebels. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/charles-lister/american-anti-tank-weapon_b_5119255.html

 

Some speculate that the US ally, Saudi Arabia, leaked the video with US agreement. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/15/us-syria-crisis-arms-usa-idUSBREA3E0RZ20140415

 

In the unconfirmed video, BGM-71 TOW rockets clearly appear to be used. These rockets, part of the US arsenal and made by the US company Raytheon, might be from any of 15 nations that also include them in their inventory. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BGM-71_TOW

 

 

To HFS analysts, the video raises many questions, but it offers small insight into the US role in the region. The US has declined to offer any comments about the video or rumors of its supplying weapons to Syrian rebels. Due to history of the BGM-71 TOW (tube-launched, optically-tracked, wire-guided) rocket since its inception by Hughes Aircraft in 1970 and the present widespread inclusion of this rocket in many other nations’ arsenals, more information should be considered before jumping to any conclusion about what support the US has provided. The Syrian rebels share Islamic roots with the Syrian government, even if different branches of Islam, so neither the rebels nor the current government offer any significant hopes to Americans of a future democracy or even mere sympathy for western interests. Possibly another party seeks to link the US with the Syrian rebels’ rockets. What do you think?

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Major Tipping Point Reached In Cattle Protest

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Yesterday afternoon, David Livingston, a member of the Arizona legislature, said we have reached a major tipping point. He was talking about range cattle owned by Clive Bundy. Clive grazes his 900+ herd near his ranch located roughly 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas, but since 1993 he declines to pay the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) fee of about $1.35 US per cow-calf pair to feed on the 600+ acre range near Clive which was taken over by the BLM years ago. http://www.infowars.com/bundy-demands-sheriff-disarm-blm-as-showdown-looms/

 

In Nevada and other western states, the BLM claims it owns 158,000,000+ acres of range land, and it manages 18,000 permits for leases of that land. However, numerous law suits have been filed by BLM against ranchers who refuse to pay the federal range fees, leaving the matter to the courts. Clive Bundy’s range fees plus penalties and costs amount to more than $1,000,000.00 US. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/10/us-usa-ranchers-conflict-idUSBREA390QI20140410

 

To press its claims, the BLM used helicopters and range riders to confiscate Clive’s cattle, based on a court order. Clive and about 1000 armed supporters from the area road in on horseback and land rovers to re-take the cattle, starting last Friday. By Saturday the BLM workers blinked, and by Sunday the cattle were re-taken without a shot being fired. BLM says it feared for the safety of its workers, so it gave in to the rebels. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/14/us-usa-ranchers-nevada-idUSBREA3B03Q20140414

 

 

HFS analysts note that the ‘Sagebrush Rebellion’ began around 1970 and has been continuing in the western US for the past 45 years. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagebrush_rebels Some rebellious tax refuseniks in the wild west of the US have fomented a growing protest, even baring arms to emphasize their sincerity, over cattle grazing and wild horses, for several generations justified under the concept of states’ rights. The US federal government disagrees. So do environmentalists striving to protect endangered turtles on the land. Sunday’s small victory for Clive and his supporters constitutes a tiny tactical turn in a primarily peaceful protest. HFS analysts expect that with legislators from 11 states persistently pushing, the case seems set on US Supreme Court cert. What do you think?