Megaupload closed by the FBI. It reacts Anonymous

A conspiracy of criminals are able to collect a lot of money illegally distributing multimedia content protected by copyright. This is why the FBI sought and obtained the ' arrest of the founder of Megaupload.com Kim Dotcom , stage name of Kim Schmitz , and the closing of the eighteen sites around the world, from Megavideo down, used for sharing of various kinds of files, including music, movies and software protected by copyright. The U.S. Department of Justice has informed a press release that Dotcom was arrested at Auckland, New Zealand (Dotcom is a citizen of Hong Kong and New Zealand), along with three other managers of the group on Jan. 5 against which a grand jury in Virginia had issued a warrant on charges of conspiracy to extortion, money laundering and breach of copyright. The group includes six other people, not American... more
thivest.com

Warning: 50 Minutes with This Daily Gadget Can Alter Your Brain and DNA

•Health Canada is proposing to adopt a precautionary principle approach and guidelines for limited cell phone use. Other countries that have already done so to some degree or another include Russia, the UK, Israel, Belgium, Germany, India, Finland and France.
•In May of 2011, the World Health Organization (WHO)/International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) issued a report admitting cell phones might cause cancer, classifying radiofrequency electromagnetic fields as “possibly carcinogenic to humans” (Class 2B).
•Researchers have identified numerous mechanisms of harm, which explain how electromagnetic fields impact your cells and damages your DNA.
•A study by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) published in JAMA earlier this year, led by leading brain imaging researcher Nora Volkow, found conclusive evidence of altered brain activity after just 50 minutes of cell phone exposure. This study, along with others, decimates the old notion that non-ionizing (non-thermal) radiation is incapable of having a biological effect.
•An important new analysis from Sweden, just published in Neurology & Neurophysiology, projects a very large increase in brain cancer incidence resulting from widespread mobile phone use beginning in approximately 15 years. The projections are based on well-established known effects of this radiation on DNA:that mobile phone use decreases the efficiency of the repair of mutated DNA and that mobile phone use increases the rate of DNA mutations...... more
thivest.com

Egypt: Archaeology vs. Politics?

In August, former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak’s first appearance in court was televised. The world was shocked to see the long-time ruler of Egypt lying on a stretcher in the cage in which defendants in Egyptian courts are held while on trial. A judge has since banned TV cameras from the courtroom and Egypt has held its first democratic elections, with a strong showing for the Muslim Brotherhood. Mubarak’s trial continues this week with his lawyers seeking to prove that he is “neither a tyrant or a bloodthirsty man” but a “clean man” who did not give orders to shoot protesters. Mubarak, they say, did not intervene to stop the killings because he was “unaware” they were occurring. To contradict such claims, prosecutors have offered evidence in the form of autopsy reports with details of protesters who died from bullet wounds.

Meanwhile, the country’s economy is struggling. Tourism revenue in Egypt was $8.8 billion last year, a marked decline from $12.5 billion in 2010. Those who wish to travel to Egypt, where political unrest has been ongoing since the uprising a year ago, had best be “resilient,” says the Financial Times. The top visitors to Egypt in 2011 were Russians who are “far less daunted than others by the upheavals in the country” and have been filling beach resorts. British and German tourists have also still been traveling to Egypt. Tourism in the capital of Cairo and the Upper Egyptian towns of Luxor and Aswan has, though, been “a pathetic 10-15 per cent.”..... more
thivest.com

Umbrellas in the Sky? When and Why Geo-Engineering’s Crazy

Inhabitat ran a post last week entitled “5 Crazy Ways to Stop Climate Change with Geoengineering”. Some of the entries were knowingly silly (see number five: a $350 trillion lens to be built in space, for example), but others seem like the kind of thing a certain kind of politician might get behind. Dealing with our problems via a single grand gesture has a kind of appeal, but most scientists shake their heads at these kinds of solutions. Why is that?

There’s an old short story called: “Watchbird”, by Robert Sheckley. The heroes of his story succeed in creating a law-enforcing drone that is able to detect the particular physiological activity of an individual intent on violence against another human being and to disable an attacker. These birds quickly put police homicide departments out of business, wheeling above in the sky, ready to swoop at a moment’s notice on those with criminal intent..... more
thivest.com