An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Intercept: After years of backlash over controversial government work, Google technology will be used to aid the Trump administration’s efforts to fortify the U.S.-Mexico border, according to documents related to a federal contract. In August, Customs and Border Protection accepted a proposal to use Google Cloud technology to facilitate the use of artificial…
Tag: towers
French President Emmanuel Macron Compares 5G Opponents To Amish
neutrino38 writes: “France is the country of the Enlightenment, it is the country of innovation […] We are going to debunk all false ideas. Yes, France is going to take the 5G turning point because it is the turning point of innovation,” Macron insisted in front of a hundred French Tech entrepreneurs gathered at the Elysee. “I hear a lot of…
Qualcomm Doubles 5G mmWave Range To 2.36 Miles For Broadband Modems
As 5G networks have continued to spread across the world, the biggest issue with ultra-fast millimeter wave (mmWave) towers has been their short transmission distance, which is generally measured in city blocks rather than miles. Today, Qualcomm announced a breakthrough in mmWave transmission range, successfully achieving a 5G data connection over a 3.8-kilometer (2.36-mile) distance — over twice the range originally…
Report: Massive US Spy Satellite May ‘Hoover Up’ Cellphone Calls
Launching today is America’s classified NROL-44 spy satellite, which German public broadcaster DW calls “a massive, open secret”: NROL-44 is a huge signals intelligence, or SIGINT, satellite, says David Baker, a former NASA scientist who worked on Apollo and Shuttle missions, has written numerous books, including U.S. Spy Satellites and is editor of SpaceFlight magazine. “SIGINT satellites are the core of…
China Secretly Built a Vast New Infrastructure To Imprison Muslims
In a series of investigations, BuzzFeed News used satellite images to reveal 268 newly-built internment camps for Muslims in the Xinjiang region. Longtime Slashdot reader wiredog shares the reports with us. Part 1: China Secretly Built A Vast New Infrastructure To Imprison Muslims
Part 2: What They Saw: Ex-Prisoners Detail The Horrors Of China’s Detention Camps
Part 3: Blanked Out Spots On China’s…
‘Landlord Tech Watch’ Site Lets You Report Landlords Using Tech To Screw Over Tenants
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Motherboard: A group of activists have released Landlord Tech Watch, a site that allows anyone to report where this “landlord tech” is being used and plot it on a map — like a version of Nextdoor that turns the tables to hold property owners and real estate companies accountable. The project is the effort…
The NSA’s Guidelines for Protecting Location Data
American’s National Security Agency (NSA) “has shared new guidance with U.S. military and intelligence personnel, suggesting they take additional precautions to safeguard their location data,” reports Engadget. “The agency argues the information devices and apps collect can pose a national security threat.” Ars Technica reports:
The National Security Agency is recommending that some government workers and people generally concerned about privacy turn…
Arecibo Observatory damaged by broken lashing cable
The new damage to Arecibo, caused by the heavy cable, happened while repairs from 2017’s Hurricane Maria were still ongoing. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/arecibo-observatory-damaged-by-broken-lashing-cable…
‘5G Just Got Weird’
SuperKendall (Slashdot reader #25,149) shared this review of the recent 5G standards codified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) in Release 16 (finalized on July 3). “5G just got weird,” writes IEEE Spectrum: 4G and other earlier generations of cellular focused on just that: cellular. But when 3GPP members started gathering to hammer out what 5G could be, there was…
PlayStation’s Secret Weapon: A Nearly All-Automated Factory
According to Nikkei Asian Review, much of the PlayStation’s success can be attributed to an unassuming factory in Japan that is almost entirely operated by robots. From the report: On the outskirts of Kisarazu, a large, white building towers over an otherwise suburban landscape. Once inside, visitors are greeted by the whirring of motors as dozens of robots seamlessly churn out…