Monthly Archives: September 2013

So Congress has to vote for war to prevent it from happening?

Interesting situation for Obama: more than before he needs congressional support for a strike to keep pressure on Syria. One of the most twisted developments in modern diplomacy started with a jet-lagged Secretary of State who thought he asked for … Continue reading

Posted in Politics | Tagged | 24 Comments

Syria agrees to handover control over chemical weapons

Did John Kerry get trapped in his own rhetorics? This morning he announced that a strike could be averted if Syria handed over all chemical weapons. A few hours later the State Department hastily added that this was 'rhetorical' and … Continue reading

Posted in Politics | Tagged | 52 Comments

And then there were none: the story of an optimist

Obama came back a satisfied man. Let's look at a countdown of the 20 countries and their ”agreement” on Syria. What really happened at the G20 summit. All 20 members agreed that chemicals have been used in Syria in some … Continue reading

Posted in Politics | Tagged | 10 Comments

The civil war on Americans: Bullrun NSA program breaks encryption

One of, or probably the most revealing insight to come out of the Snowden material: the NSA is much further in decrypting than hitherto was assumed by the cryptographic community. The 'Bullrun' program, a reference to an important battle during … Continue reading

Posted in Politics, Tech Posts | Tagged | 67 Comments

First device to ship with new Intel tablet chip announced by Toshiba

The Windows 8.1 tablet (full version) has a 8" screen, 1280×800 resolution and most important it will use the new Intel SoC covered in my post earlier today. Price will be 329$/329E. The Toshiba Encore features an 8 megapixel camera … Continue reading

Posted in Tech Posts | 20 Comments

Intel strikes back: low-power tablet CPU brings desktop performance

Benchmark shows speed comparable with a 2010 MacBook Air top of the line model. With just one week to go until the official announcement, Intel released a stunning benchmark showing full desktop capable performance. The new Clover Trail+ Atom is … Continue reading

Posted in Tech Posts | 9 Comments

Hipster material or do the eighties want their watches back?

It's huge, it's smart, it's digital and no doubt extremely useful as a companion to a large Galaxy Note III, but is it stylish enough? Oh, it is a Galaxy Gear and being a smart watch is has specs: 320×320 … Continue reading

Posted in Tech Posts | 33 Comments

'Term "drone strikes'" too loaded: public might think victims can't respond

An US intelligence report about al-Qaeda's attempts to stop the continuous drone attacks, explains that there is concern that public opinion could turn against the drone killings. One unclassified report said the phrase “drone strike” should never be uttered, calling … Continue reading

Posted in Politics | 23 Comments

Plague Doctors: Founding Fathers of Inspirational Images?

It used to be a short-lived, but profitable job with an avant la lettre steampunk outfit. The beak was filled with aromatic herbs and straw to protect against the Black Death. Didn't work when the plague finally swept over Europe, … Continue reading

Posted in Social Media | Tagged | 7 Comments