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I read about that here. I'm not sure what benefit blockchain brings to the table here. Nothing in the description of how it works is particularly groundbreaking - it requires users to upload identification to prevent sockpuppet accounts, it ties tickets to individual purchasers, etc, all good features but nothing exclusive to blockchains. Not sure what this company is doing that can't be done faster and better with web services and RDBMSs.

They thought the google street view cars are on the prowl catching escaped prisoners. May be that caused the laxed security. "Where can they hide? Google will find them!" must have been the attitude of the wardens. http://www.psfk.com/2012/08/un...

- snip - I remember reading something about bacteria living in trash dumps, and supposedly breaking down plastic.

As I recall, there was an article on the /.'s a while back touting a Yale university that had a crew in the Amazon rain forests and found a mold or something that was feeding on plastic. Might have required an anaerobic environment, but I do not recall all the details. The googles took me to this: http://www.psfk.com/2012/03/pl...

But he also thought we'd have a colony on the moon, be living under a global population control regime, eating at multi-flavored algae bars, and letting machines prepare us personalized meals

multi-flavor algae: Sodium alginate is a major food additive. many flavors.

  global population control regime:
        china we all know about:
        uzbekistan: forced sterilization or IUD.
        india: more than two children and you can't particiapte in many elective offices
        iran: manadatory contraception to obtain marriage lic.
      USA: ask Sarah Palin what she thinks of Title X
      Israel: ordered sterilizations.

Auomated custom meal preparation robots:
          http://www.psfk.com/2012/11/burger-making-robot.html#!rgOyn

Automated labor sparks malaise:
        Foxcon suicide fences. no layoffs just repetitive work that machines won't do.

Example 1: http://www.psfk.com/2013/10/3d-printed-bread-pasta.html

What a ridiculous argument. This isn't even an article. It's 2 paragraphs which just say that in future, we might be able to print pasta or dough.
You're wasting your time with this crap.

You haven't been keeping up with 3d printer developments. It can already print food. It's just a matter of time before it can do so cheaply. It's the next big thing every kitchen will have. Making something for dinner will have a whole new meaning. Example 1: http://www.psfk.com/2013/10/3d-printed-bread-pasta.html Example 2: http://3dprintingindustry.com/2012/11/18/video-3d-printing-chocolate/

Earth Hour has a symbolic element but it also has a real and profound positive environmental effect which lasts for exactly 1 hour. Like air pollution, light pollution is a "slow boiled frog" problem. Ask a kid in Beijing what color the sky is and he might say brown or yellow-orange or grey but probably not blue. If things don't improve, the next generation of kids have no idea that the sky is supposed to be blue. Ditto for kids in NYC, Los Angeles, Brussels and thousands of other cities where people have seen stars on TV and movies, maybe even planetariums but never in real life. A well organized Earth Hour can temporarily change that giving the next generation a glimpse of what the night sky is supposed to look like. After seeing that, they'll be less likely to accept McDonalds Laser french fries and other pollution of our night sky with moving, flashing gyrating annoying projected night sky advertising which is sure to come unless enough people say "Not on MY planet!".

I don't quite get the problem here.

There's an individual outside of his home, who is accessing the wifi *in* his home.

Everyone is talking about potential countermeasures.

What about the obvious ones?

1) wire everything. That doesn't work so good for tablets, laptops in random places, etc.

2) Make it so he can't connect. Reduce the power (if possible). Pick a noisy channel, so he'll get too much interference. Shield the antenna from the direction the intruder is.

I've had to move so many access points, because people put them under desks, or with something in between Point A and B. Nope, RF doesn't pass very well through the refrigerator, filing cabinet, or the other numerous things they love to put in the way to complain. Detune it. Put the AP under the desk, so there's just enough power to reach the couch (or wherever).

Worst case, anti-wifi wallpaper, or even the always stylish wire screen or aluminum foil.

I vote for an all-out Faraday cage. Not only will it stop the wifi thief, but it'll keep the government mind control out... :)

Time to create an open source skype alternative. We have the technology, knowhow and codecs necessary to make this happen.

What we don't have are 660+ million registered users. Landline and mobile access. Clients available now for every platform. PC. Tablets. Phones. TV sets. Video game consoles. Automobiles. GM Lets You Skype From Your Car

Did you know that Neanderthals had bigger brains than we do?
Do you know why? Because they had a working memory!

"Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are trying to push 3-D printing technology even further. Their goals: create whole working machines and perhaps even buildings. Thus far, 3D printing has been used to make shapes of plastic or metal that can be assembled later. "

Right. How about this:
  http://www.physorg.com/news190873132.html -- printing structures on the moon.
  http://www.blueprintmagazine.co.uk/index.php/architecture/the-worlds-first-printed-building/
  http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/09/16/173210/Printing-a-Building?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Slashdot%2Fslashdot+(Slashdot)

Functional Machines:
  http://www.psfk.com/2011/03/3d-printing-a-lightweight-super-strong-bicycle.html
  http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=01e_1310566165

The list goes on...

(And -- RIght-on Nimbius!)
 

Should do what Hong Kong's PCCW did with theirs - they turned the booths into Wi-fi hotspots.

Makes much more sense if you ask me.