Health & Lifestyle

"Grant self and others Dignity and Decency. High technology is not invented to destroy privacy or nobility, nor is Golden Rule disposable, ever." - Editor

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Topless Princess Kate Pics Spur Privacy Issues
A French magazine has published photos of the Duchess of Cambridge topless, causing a new scandal for the royal family. The Duchess and her husband Prince William were on private property at a French resort when they were photographed presumably off-limits to the public. But in today's world of hidden cameras and powerful zoom lenses, there's really no place for a celebrity to hide from determined paparazzi.

Report raises privacy concerns about the use of cameras in bathrooms, changing rooms at UK schools - 'a shock to many parents' 825 cameras reportedly located in the toilets or changing rooms of 207 schools across England, Scotland and Wales

RAINFORD High has been named on a list of school's using CCTV cameras in toilets and changing rooms. The school has SEVEN cameras installed in either toilets or changing rooms. It is one of only 207 schools across the country and the only school in St Helens to engage in the controversial practice.  read more »

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...there were around 136 bikesharing programs in 165 cities around the world, such as in the countries of Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Albania, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Korea, Japan, Germany, Greece,Ireland, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK...

Bike sharing finally making it to the U.S.  read more »

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She has been arrested 40 or 50 times for acts of civil disobedience and once served six months in prison. In the Nevada desert, she and others knelt down to block a truck rumbling across the government’s nuclear test site, prompting the authorities to take her into custody.

Now, Sister Megan Rice, 82, a Roman Catholic nun of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, and two male companions have carried out what nuclear experts call the biggest security breach in the history of the nation’s atomic complex, making their way to the inner sanctum of the site where the United States keeps crucial nuclear bomb parts and fuel.

“Deadly force is authorized,” signs there read. “Halt!” Images of skulls emphasize the lethal danger. With flashlights and bolt cutters, the three defied barbed wire as well as armed guards, video cameras and motion sensors at the Oak Ridge nuclear reservation in Tennessee early on July 28, a Saturday. They splashed blood on the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility — a new windowless, half-billion-dollar plant encircled by enormous guard towers — and hung banners outside its walls.

“Swords into plowshares,” read one, quoting the Book of Isaiah. “Spears into pruning hooks.” The plant holds the nation’s main supply of highly enriched uranium, enough for thousands of nuclear weapons.  read more »

*update* Dec. 01, 2012
The first-ever flying drone competition “In the next few years the idea of drones will dramatically change. You no longer need a PhD... The same functions every Web programmer uses to build apps can now make drones navigate, take pictures, find people, fly through windows, play games, and so on. When the low level control of hardware comes built-in, hobbyists can focus on writing algorithms and routines." "Autonomous Flight, with a Few Lines of Javascript"

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July 4, 2012 U.S. drone 'hijackings' - University of Texas professor and grad students manipulate unmanned crafts' flight paths...even able to make them land

Thousands of drones are destined for US skies. The use of drones is taking off in America. Local governments and private businesses see them as a cheap and effective way of maintaining an eye from the sky.

But will the drones be fully under their control? A college professor and his students say not necessarily.

A civilian drone aircraft was "hijacked" by Professor Todd Humphreys and his graduate students at the University of Texas at Austin. They were able to hack into the drone's GPS signals. Later, in an exercise done in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security at White Sands, N.M., they were even able to make the drone land.  read more »

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Västra Hamnen, also known as the City of Tomorrow, was transformed from a former shipyard in 2001 and is now home to 4,000 people.

Europe’s ‘First Carbon-Neutral Neighborhood’: Western Harbour
With a smart heating and cooling system and renewable energy, the city district of Västra Hamnen (Western Harbor), in Malmö, Sweden has established itself as the first carbon-neutral neighborhood in Europe, says Malmö mayor Ilmar Reepalu.

Västra Hamnen, also known as the City of Tomorrow, was transformed from a former shipyard in 2001 and is now home to 4,000 people.

The district uses an aquifer thermal energy storage system to store water collected during the summer 70 meters (230 feet) underground and pump it up with wind energy to heat the homes during the winter. The chilled water is then reused to cool buildings in the summer. “There’s no need for air-conditioners in the district,” Reepalu proudly told the audience at the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize Forum, held during the World Cities Summit on July 2 in Singapore.  read more »

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"What we are concerned about is that Mother Earth is not for sale. Mother Earth is not a commodity to be traded on the trading system. The trees are not for sale."  read more »