Colonel Sponsz's Shared Items

Original source

Original source cartechboy writes “Texas is known for having the nation’s most draconian anti-Tesla rules, based on intense and cash-rich lobbying and political donations by Texas car dealers. What’s amazing is what would-be Tesla owners still have to do to get their hands on–and maintain–a Tesla Model S. How do you buy a car the laws try to stop you from owning? By jumping through wacky hoops, it turns out. Tesla store staff, for example, can’t tell visitors how much a Model S costs. They can’t give test drives, and they can’t discuss financing options. Tesla service centers are banned from showing the company logo — or advertising that they do Tesla warranty work or service at all. So how have 1,000 Model S cars been sold? That would be sheer persistence.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Original source

Original source

Formation flight Sunday. “FOR ‘IRAQ’S FIRST AIRLINE. – Three “Dragon-Rapides” were flown from Hatfield by pilots of the Royal ‘Iraqi Air Force for the ‘Iraq Aeroplane Company, the first air operating firm in that country to operate.”

Original source rtoz writes “The National Security Agency (NSA ) of United States hacked into the Mexican president’s public email account and gained deep insight into policymaking and the political system. The news is likely to hurt ties between the US and Mexico. This operation, dubbed ‘Flatliquid,’ is described in a document leaked by whistleblower Edward Snowden. Meanwhile U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration is urging the Supreme Court not to take up the first case it has received on controversial National Security Agency cybersnooping.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Original source

Original source

From the Director:
I debated on removing the cigarette, just because it prolonged the scene and smoking isn’t ‘cool’ anymore. But, I’ve had the concept for this opening scene long before El Cuervo even existed. Back then, I used to smoke. The idea came to me while I was having a cigarette on the roof of a parking garage – surprise, surprise.

The scene isn’t anything exciting, but shows you how ideas will often come up during the most mundane and uninteresting situations.

Original source New submitter SanDogWeps writes “Sean Gallagher over at Ars Technica reports that when the U.S.S. Zumwalt (DDG 1000) puts to sea later this year, it will be different from any other ship in the Navy’s fleet in many ways. The $3.5 billion ship is designed for stealth, survivability, and firepower, and it’s packed with advanced technology. And at the heart of its operations is a virtual data center powered by off-the-shelf server hardware, various flavors of Linux, and over 6 million lines of software code. From the article: ‘Called the Common Display System, or CDS (pronounced as “keds” by those who work with it), the three-screen workstations in the operations center are powered by a collection of quad-processor Intel motherboards in an armored case, which gives new meaning to the nautical phrase “toe buster.” Even the commanding officer’s and executive officer’s chairs on the bridge have CDS workstations built-in. Each CDS system runs multiple LynxOS-based Linux virtual machines, which can run on various networks partitioned by security level and purpose. ‘”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Original source

Arzak (click through for super hi-res)

Original source

‘Men and Machine’ by Graeme Hopper was installed on the Lawson Industrial Estate in early 2011.

Funded by Middlesbrough Council in partnership with Groundwork North East.