Russia unveils its new cockroach spy robot

The miniature surveillance robot looks just like a cockroach and can be used to spy on enemy activities.

Researchers have previously experimented with the idea of controlling insects using electrodes implanted in their brains, but now scientists in Russia have come up with a unique approach that enables the same type of functionality but without having to involve any live specimens.

Hill abduction case to be made in to a movie

Posted on Sunday, 20 September, 2015

Nobody knows what truly happened to the Hills that night in 1961.

The famous Betty and Barney Hill alien abduction case will soon be making its big screen debut.

It's one of the best known UFO and alien abduction cases in history and now the remarkable experiences of a New Hampshire couple who found themselves being taken aboard an extraterrestrial spacecraft back in 1961 are to become the basis for a new movie.

The live-action adaptation will be based on the 2009 book "Captured" by Stanton Friedman and Kathleen Marden while the screenplay will be penned by Bryce and Jackie Zabel.

New England Legends Television Series on PBS Investigates the Mysteries, Monsters, Ghosts, and History of New England

New series follows author and adventurer Jeff Belanger as he explores the folklore of New England.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – October 22 , 2013 – If we’re to believe the history books, folklore, and thousands of eyewitnesses over the last few centuries, New England is full of ghosts, monsters, and other mysteries that are more than just campfire tales. On October 31st at 10 PM, PBS affiliate WGBY in Springfield will premiereNew England Legends, a new television series that follows adventurer and author Jeff Belanger as he explores these many tales around New England. 

Two half-hour episodes will air back-to-back on October 31st: “The Spooky Berkshires” and “Mysteries in Stone.” “The Spooky Berkshires” examines the tragic history of the Houghton Mansion in North Adams, Massachusetts, and its century-old haunting, then heads up to October Mountain in the Berkshires to chase down stories of Bigfoot sightings, UFOs, and the ghost of a young girl said to haunt an abandoned cemetery somewhere deep in the woods. 

Buhari is not a dictator

A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kogi State, Senator Tunde Ogheha, has disagreed with those describing President Muhammadu Buhari as a dictator.
He said the President’s actions since assuming office has been far from being dictatorial.
Speaking with journalists in Lokoja, Kogi State, the two-term former senator, said it was too early to begin to assess the President, urging Nigerians to wait until after two years before doing that.

Volkswagen’s dirty mission: Where’s the beginning and where’s the end?

Volkswagen’s dirty mission: Where’s the beginning and where’s the end?

 

Ars Technica|Ars Staff

 

Volkswagen finds itself in a snootful of trouble early this week. Last Friday, the EPA revealed that the company will be instructed to recall nearly 500,000 vehicles and face a potential $18 billion in fines. And VW shares plummeted by more than 20 percent—eviscerating $16.9 billion of market value—at European markets' close Monday after the company instructed US dealers to stop selling several 2015 diesel models.

Twitter Makes All Its Shortlinks HTTPS By Default

Twitter Makes All Its Shortlinks HTTPS By Default

 

Techdirt|Mike Masnick

The push to encrypt more and more of the web's traffic will get a nice little boost on October 1st, when Twitter will change its t.co link wrapper/shortner service to go to HTTPS by default:

On October 1 all new links wrapped with Twitter's t.co wrapper will use the https URL scheme. The https scheme helps Twitter securely deliver readers to the intended destination.

FALAE’S ABDUCTION: You’re a joker, M.I Abaga tells Fani-Kayode

By Ikenna Asomba
Chocolate City rapper, Jude Abaga popularly called (M.I), yesterday, took a swipe at erstwhile Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, over his statement that should anything happen to the abducted former Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), and Afenifere chieftain, Chief Olu Falae, the Federal Government will be held responsible and there will be consequences.

MI Abaga

The Nigerian hip hop recording artist, who took to his verified Twitter handle @MI_Abaga said: “Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode (FFK), you are a joker… Instead of being prayerful and hopeful for a statesman’s life, you are making threats against our government… Please!”

Presidential candidate Ben Carson rattles copyright saber at own supporters

Presidential candidate Ben Carson rattles copyright saber at own supporters

Boing Boing|Rob Beschizza

This news of the good doctor's idiocy is a couple of days old, but I'm an aficionado of the little flourishes of smack-talk that lawyers put in their responses to outrageous legal threats and wanted to share it with you.
Carson's lawyers sent this cease and desist letter to CafePress to try and get it to nail people selling "unauthorized" shirts and other tat that tours "Ben Carson For President". A smorgasbord of legal rationales— "Digital Millennium Copyright Act, The Lanham Act, Federal Trademark Infringement, Federal Copyright Infringement, state misappropriation and privacy laws"—is offered without much to support any given one. It comes to K. Clyde Vanel, Esq. of the Public Citizen Litigation Group, to deliver the goods (PDF).

You cannot buy this beautiful TV set from Samsung

You cannot buy this beautiful TV set from Samsung

Boing Boing|Rob Beschizza

Most televisions look terrible. Frankly, the LCD era has only made the situation worse. With old sets, at least there was plenty of surface area for manufacturers to express tastes, good and bad, and foist them upon the public. But now they just pretend the bezel is (or should be) invisible, when neither outcome is the case, and everything looks very much alike.

Afreximbank swears in Oramah as new president

Afreximbank swears in Oramah as new president

BusinessDay|Editor

Nigerian banker Dr Benedict Oramah on Monday in Cairo took over the leadership of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) as the third president of the continental trade finance institution.
The colourful ceremony was presided over by Alexander Chikwanda, Minister of Finance of Zambia and Chairman of the General Meeting of Shareholders of the bank.
Oramah takes over from Jean-Louis Ekra, who has led the institution since 2005.
Ekra replaced Christopher Edordu, the pioneer president, who served terms starting with the bank’s creation in 1993.

In a speech setting out his vision for the bank, Oramah pledged to make the promotion and facilitation of intra-African trade the cornerstone of Afreximbank’s work in the years ahead.
“I believe that intra-African trade holds the key to a technology-driven growth on our continent. The trade will facilitate the attainment of dynamic comparative advantage in the production and export of certain kind of manufactured goods and services and will prepare African firms for better global competition,” Oramah said.