Topic: SECURITY - on August 28, 2013 at 3:52:00 PM CEST
Amazon alters strategy to win landmark CIA contract
Winning a huge CIA deal was a coming-of-age moment for Amazon Web Services, the kind of contract that serves as a proof point it can provide mission-critical computing. Now it’s fighting to keep that business.
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Topic: W A R - on August 28, 2013 at 3:49:00 PM CEST
US Targets in Syria Mapped
It seems more and more likely that the United States will take some kind of military action against the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad. On Aug. 26, Secretary of State John Kerry all but said the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad has used chemical weapons to kill hundreds of civilians, a move the Obama administration says it will not tolerate. Kerry's words came days after the U.S. announced it is stationing four guided missile destroyers off the Syrian coast.
The goal of the attacks is unclear. But one of the suggested aims is to stop the Assad government from using chemical weapons. If that's the case, the American military may well find itself going after everything from chemical plants to arms depots to airfields in an effort to sever the the Syrian military's ability to make, store and fire its deadly sarin, mustard, and VX gas stockpiles.
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Topic: LEGO - on August 28, 2013 at 3:45:00 PM CEST
Unofficial LEGO ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’ Playsets
Erlangen, Germany LEGO builder Adam Monostori (aka “Rifiröfi“) has created a brilliant series of unofficial LEGO playsets based on scenes from the 1975 British comedy film Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
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Topic: MUSIK - on August 28, 2013 at 3:42:00 PM CEST
72 minutes of Patti Smith talkin’ about art, life and rock and roll
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Topic: DRUGS - on August 28, 2013 at 3:41:00 PM CEST
Meet The Dread Pirate Roberts, The Man Behind Booming Black Market Drug Website Silk Road
An entrepreneur as professionally careful as the Dread Pirate Roberts doesn’t trust instant messaging services. Forget phones or Skype. At one point during our eight-month preinterview courtship, I offer to meet him at an undisclosed location outside the United States. “Meeting in person is out of the question,” he says. “I don’t meet in person even with my closest advisors.” When I ask for his name and nationality, he’s so spooked that he refuses to answer any other questions and we lose contact for a month.
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Topic: DRUGS - on August 28, 2013 at 3:39:00 PM CEST
The 1960s high schoolers who started a major pot smuggling empire
Joshua Bearman (who wrote the "Argo" story for Wired that was turned into a terrific movie) has a story in the July 2013 issue of GQ called "Coronado High." Josh told me, "The story is an epic tale about a group of friends from Coronado High in the 1960s who started the first major pot smuggling empire, with the help of their former Spanish teacher. What started as a bunch of hippies swimming small bales across the border with surfboards turned into a super sophisticated operation, bringing in Moroccan hash, Mexican grass, and Thai stick by the ton. They made more than $100m over a decade, and lived the life of Riley until it all came crashing down.:
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Topic: DRUGS - on August 27, 2013 at 5:43:00 PM CEST
14.000 Pflanzen: Marihuanaplantage in Spanien entdeckt
Spaniens Polizei hat nach eigenen Angaben die größte Marihuanaplantage in der Kriminalgeschichte des Landes entdeckt.
Wie das Madrider Innenministerium heute mitteilte, stellten die Drogenfahnder auf einer Farm in Puerto Lumbreras bei Murcia im Südosten des Landes mehr als 14.000 Cannabispflanzen sicher. Ihr Schwarzmarktwert wurde auf 15 Millionen Euro geschätzt.
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Topic: SECURITY - on August 27, 2013 at 5:18:00 PM CEST
Open Secret About Google’s Surveillance Case No Longer Secret
The Justice Department recently won a court battle to keep an Internet company from talking about federal demands for user data, arguing that even disclosing the company’s name would damage national security.
But then, after months of arguments, the department appears to have been foiled by its own redaction process, which left the name “Google” on one page that was posted Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The case and GoogleGOOG -1.18%’s role in it underscore a tension between some Silicon Valley companies and the government over national security surveillance and the secrecy surrounding it.
Google has been pushing back against data-gathering tools called national security letters in two federal courts since this spring.
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Topic: POLITIK - on August 27, 2013 at 5:01:00 PM CEST
FDP. NPD. Quark. Same, same, no difference…
"Seid ihr noch wach? Schaut euch das mal an." Eine E-Mail mit diesem Betreff schrieb Markus Brendel, Co-Inhaber der Stuttgarter Werbeagentur "die wegmeister", in der Nacht von Montag auf Dienstag an seine Geschäftspartner Oliver Woye und Steffen Hagdorn.
Es war weit nach Feierabend, aber diese Entdeckung konnte nicht bis zum nächsten Morgen warten. Beim nächtlichen Zappen war der schlaflose Werber beim neuen Wahlkampfspot der FDP mit Spitzenkandidat Rainer Brüderle hängengeblieben. Den hatte die Partei gerade erst stolz präsentiert.
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Topic: SECURITY - on August 27, 2013 at 3:51:00 PM CEST
Former Wikileaks ISP Nominates Edward Snowden for Nobel Peace Prize
The Swedish internet service provider that once hosted the machines behind Wikileaks is nominating NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Bahnhof, a builder of futuristic-looking data centers based in Stockholm, will make the purely symbolic nomination in its latest quarterly financial report, set to be released when European financial markets open on Tuesday.
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Topic: EU - on August 27, 2013 at 3:06:00 PM CEST
Bienensterben: Chemieunternehmen klagt gegen Pestizid-Beschränkung
EU-Kommission beschloss, Einsatz von Nervengiften für zwei Jahre einzuschränken
Basel - Syngenta ficht den EU-Entscheid an, wegen des weltweiten Bienensterbens den Gebrauch bestimmter Pestizide stark einzuschränken: Das Unternehmen, dessen Stoff Thiamethoxam betroffen ist, hat bei der EU-Kommission Klage eingereicht, wie es am Dienstag mitteilte.
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Topic: NATURE - on August 27, 2013 at 2:53:00 PM CEST
Rome: new fumarole near Fiumicino airport
What appears to be a new fumarole appeared near Rome's International Fiumicino airport Saturday morning. A vent producing small geyser-like fountains of steam, water and mud was suddenly opened in the ground near a road crossing near Fiumicino. Geologists are currently examining the phenomenon.
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