Maxim Bange

Last week, dozens of people, including Google energy chief Rick Needham and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, trekked out to the California-Nevada border in middle of the Death Valley to dedicate what is believed to be the world's largest solar thermal facility in the world.

At 392 megawatts, the Ivanpah solar thermal plant will be able to power 140,000 homes — the equivalent of all of Newark (averaging two people per household).

We covered the project when BrightSource, the main developer behind the project, first put up a stunning 3-D tour of the site.

But for all its scale and beauty, in terms of the future of renewables, Ivanpah is already irrelevant.  

Solar thermal creates electricity by using mirrors to direct intense amounts of heat at a centralized collector, which is used to heat a substance like water to create steam power. Solar photovoltaic, meanwhile, directly converts solar energy into electricity through semiconductors.

If solar thermal sounds unnecessarily complicated, you're right. Solar photovoltaic has seen explosive growth in the past few years thanks to plummeting material costs, state incentives, and eco-conscious homebuyers putting up panels on their roofs. But solar thermal growth has stalled, and is expected to continue to do so. Ivanpah cost $2.2 billion. Warren Buffett paid the same amount for the world's largest photovoltaic plant just up the road outside Bakersfield. That plant will generate 1.5-times as much power as Ivanpah. 

As the New York Times' Diane Cardwell and Matt Wald wrote Friday, Ivanpah probably represents an end, not a beginning. 

"When BrightSource and other companies asked [investor] NRG to invest in a second thermal project, said David Crane, NRG’s chief, he responded: 'We’ve got $300 million invested in Ivanpah — let me see that work for a few months and then we’ll decide whether we want to be involved in more.' "

And here's what Lux Energy analyst Matthew Feinstein told them:

“I don’t think that we’re going to see large-scale solar thermal plants popping up, five at a time, every year in the U.S. in the long-term — it’s just not the way it’s going to work... Companies that are supplying these systems have questionable futures. There’s other prospects for renewables and for solar that look a lot better than this particular solution.” 

It's not that Ivanpah itself won't be cost-effective. BrightSource locked in a 20-year power purchase agreement with local utilities that includes fixed pricing, and the vast majority of costs were borne up front, according to Shayle Kann, director of GTM Research. That means the Energy Department, which lent the project $1.6 billion, and Google, which put up $168 million, will likely see a decent return. 

"So it's not so much an issue for Ivanpah as it is for any future solar thermal project," he told us in an email.

But it's a sign of how fast renewable energy technology is moving these days.

SEE ALSO: China Will Take First Place In The 2014 'Solar Olympics'

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BEIJING (Reuters) - China rejected what it said was "unreasonable criticism" of Beijing in a new U.N. report on human rights abuses in North Korea, but it would not be drawn on whether it would veto any proceedings in the Security Council to bring Pyongyang to book.

North Korean security chiefs and possibly even Kim Jong Un, the leader of the country, should face international justice for ordering systematic torture, starvation and killings comparable to Nazi-era atrocities, U.N. investigators said on Monday.

The unprecedented public rebuke and warning to a head of state by a U.N. inquiry is likely to further antagonize Kim and complicate efforts to persuade him to rein in his isolated country's nuclear weapons program and belligerent confrontations with South Korea and the West.

The U.N. investigators also told China, the North's main ally, that it might be "aiding and abetting crimes against humanity" by sending migrants and defectors back to North Korea to face torture or execution, a charge that prompted a sharp rebuke from Beijing.

"Of course we cannot accept this unreasonable criticism," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a briefing on Tuesday. "We believe that politicizing human rights issues is not conducive towards improving a country's human rights.

"We believe that taking human rights issues to the International Criminal Court is not helpful to improving a country's human rights situation."

Hua would not answer what she said was a "hypothetical question" on whether China would use its veto powers if the report was brought to the U.N. Security Council for further action. Diplomats have said China will most likely block any such proceedings.

Asked why China blocked U.N. investigators from going to the North Korean border, across which many North Koreans cross illegally, Hua said she could not comment and would have to look into the matter.

"These people are not refugees. We term them illegal North Korean migrants," she added.

China deals with these people appropriately "in accordance with international and domestic laws and the humanitarian principles", Hua said, declining to provide an estimate for how many of these people have cross into China.

The investigators told Kim in a letter they were advising the United Nations to refer North Korea to the International Criminal Court to make sure any culprits "including possibly yourself" were held accountable.

In a statement in Geneva, North Korea "categorically and totally" rejected the accusations set out in the 372-page report, saying they were based on material faked by hostile forces backed by the United States, the European Union and Japan.

RIGHT TO RULE

"The world is finally waking up to the fact that North Korea is a far-right state, in that the regime derives its right to rule from a commitment to military might and racial purity," said Brian Myers, a South Korea-based North Korea expert.

"But for that very reason, the regime has never felt very embarrassed by criticism of its human rights record, and has reported sneeringly on that criticism to its own people. Perhaps it will realize that it cannot keep attracting investors and collaborators without making more of a pretence to progressive or leftist tendencies."

The findings came out of a year-long investigation involving public testimony by defectors, including former prison camp guards, at hearings in South Korea, Japan, Britain and the United States.

Defectors included Shin Dong-hyuk, who gave harrowing accounts of his life and escape from a prison camp. As a 13-year-old, he informed a prison guard of a plot by his mother and brother to escape and both were executed, according to a book on his life called "Escape from Camp 14".

The investigators said abuses were mainly perpetrated by officials in structures that ultimately reported to Kim - state security, the Ministry of People's Security, the army, the judiciary and Workers' Party of Korea.

The team recommended targeted U.N. sanctions against civil officials and military commanders suspected of the worst crimes. It did not reveal any names, but said it had compiled a database of suspects from evidence and testimony.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Additional reporting by James Pearson in SEOUL)

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In September of 2013, it was reported the US Navy's largest unclassified computer network was hacked by a group either "working directly for Iran's government [or] acting with the approval of Iranian leaders." Now US officials say that the network infiltration was far more extensive than previously thought, and lasted much longer than previously reported. According to The Wall Street Journal, it took the Navy four months — until November 2013, after initial news of the hack was published in late September — to purge the hackers from the network.

The Wall Street Journal says the hackers targeted the Navy Marine Corps Internet, and were able to access through "a security gap" in one of the Navy's public-facing websites. Although...

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In somewhat good news, Bitcoin exchange MtGox has announced that users will soon be able to make withdrawals again.

 "We apologize for the inconvenience caused by the recent suspension of external bitcoin transfers," they said in a statement on Monday. "Fortunately, as we announced on Saturday we have now implemented a solution that should enable withdrawals and mitigate any issues caused by transaction malleability."

"With this new system in place, MtGox should be able to resume withdrawals soon. At the beginning we will do so at a moderated pace and with new daily/monthly limits in place to prevent any problems with the new system and to take into account current market conditions."

MtGox halted withdrawals after it discovered an exploitable glitch in its software.

"Thanks to our friends at Blockchain.info, MtGox now has a workaround that will use a unique identifier created by Blockchain to show whether transactions have been modified or not," they said. "This will prevent any fraudulent use of the malleability issue and protect the assets of our customers."

Unfortunately, damage has been done to the already fragile relationship the world has with the unconventional currency.

"Bitcoin evangelists are surely deluding themselves if they think this week's hacks were anything less than a huge setback for widespread Bitcoin adoption," argued Business Insider's Rob Wile.

Things are worse for MtGox, the once dominant Bitcoin exchange, where trading volume has dried up and prices trade at a significant discount relative to peers.

Currently, Bitcoin trades at around $365 on MtGox (see chart below). Other exchanges like Bitstamp has it at closer to $645.

SEE ALSO: FINANCE PROFESSOR: Bitcoin Could Evolve Into An Existential Threat Worthy Of A Science Fiction Movie

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By Gabriela Baczynska and Adrian Croft

MOSCOW/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Russia and NATO are drawing up plans for a rare joint naval operation in the Mediterranean to protect the U.S. ship that will destroy Syria's deadliest chemical weapons, officials and other sources said.

The operation would be a symbolic breakthrough at a time when NATO-Russian relations are strained over NATO's anti-missile shield and East-West tensions are running high over Ukraine.

It would also signal strong global backing for the U.S.-Russian agreement last August to destroy Syria's chemical weapons stockpile, a deal that averted the threat of U.S. military strikes on Syria.

Under the plan being discussed, NATO and Russian warships would share the task of protecting the Cape Ray, a U.S. cargo ship that will process at sea about 500 tonnes of chemicals that are too dangerous to deal with on land.

NATO and Russia are still trying to iron out some technical hitches, but NATO sources say a deal could be announced as early as next week.

NATO and Russian warships would provide strong protection to a ship carrying some of the world's most dangerous cargo.

Russia has invested heavily in the international deal on Syria's chemical disarmament, which it sponsored from the outset, and does not want to see it fall apart in spite of Damascus falling behind the schedule.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen discussed supporting international efforts to destroy Syria's chemical weapons at talks in Brussels on January 28, both Russia and NATO have said.

After that meeting, Rasmussen "asked NATO's civilian and military experts to prepare a presentation on what the available options are," a NATO source told Reuters.

"We understand the Russians are doing the same thing on their side. We are talking here about a potential joint operation at the sea," the source added.

"They are discussing a joint security operation in the Mediterranean for the Cape Ray, to protect it while it destroys the chemical weapons," said a separate source at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which is supervising the disposal of Syria's chemical arms.

Several NATO sources in Brussels confirmed that an operation to guard the Cape Ray is under discussion.

RARE MISSION

Russian officials had no immediate comment.

But after talks in Moscow on Friday, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told a news conference with Lavrov present that an agreement was on the way under which Russia would take part in protecting the transport of Syrian chemical weapons by a U.S. ship in the Mediterranean.

Diplomatic sources said both sides were willing to go ahead with the mission but some issues remain to be ironed out.

They include, among others, a unified command structure or the so-called "rules of engagement", or response procedures in case the convoy faces danger.

The United Nations/OPCW mission said Syria shipped out a third consignment of chemical weapons materials on Monday and has destroyed some more on its territory.

Under the international agreement, Syria is obliged to transfer all its chemicals to the Mediterranean port of Latakia for removal abroad and destruction aboard the Cape Ray.

The Cape Ray is to pick up the chemicals in Italy and needs an escort in international waters. It docked in the Spanish port of Rota on Thursday en route from Virginia.

The deadline for complete elimination of Syria's chemical arsenal is June 30, a time-frame the head of the international mission has said is still possible.

NATO and Russian defense ministers first discussed the toxins destruction in October, raising the possibility of eventual cooperation.

Moscow is often at loggerheads with the 28-member alliance over issues ranging from the development of the U.S. missile shield system in Europe to discussions of membership prospects for the former Soviet republics of Georgia and Ukraine.

Earlier this month, Rasmussen voiced concern at recent military moves by Russia and urged more constructive engagement.

NATO and Russia hold regular discussions in a body called the NATO-Russia Council, which meets at ministerial or ambassadorial level. The NATO-Russia Council Foreign Ministers issued a joint statement in December supporting the U.N./OPCW mission.

NATO and Russia also cooperate on countering piracy and promoting cyber security and stage joint military exercises, but they very rarely entertain joint military missions.

Russia deployed its vessels twice in 2006 and 2007 to support NATO in patrolling the Mediterranean, a precedent for cooperation between Moscow and the alliance in the area.

Other than that, Russia has also temporarily contributed forces to the NATO mission in Kosovo that started in 1999.

SYMBOLIC

Russia has echoed Damascus in blaming security issues in a war zone for delays in destroying Syria's chemical arms.

Moscow has beefed up its presence in the Mediterranean since the conflict started in March, 2011, with its nuclear-powered warship Pyotr Veliky taking part in the third chemical transport from Syria.

The international community has invested heavily in the operation, providing ships, vehicles, personnel and tens of millions of dollars in donations to OPCW and U.N. funds.

Some sources said that, should the NATO-Russia operation go ahead, its meaning would be largely symbolic, also because the Americans can protect the Cape Ray on their own.

But for NATO such a mission could be a rare success story in strained ties with Russia. From Moscow's point of view, showing off flexibility and determination on the chemical disarmament front would also serve to defuse Western criticism that it is shielding Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

(Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska in Moscow, Anthony Deutsch in Amsterdam, Adrian Croft in Brussels; Additional reporting by Alexandra Hudson; Editing by Giles Elgood)

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In what will go down as one of the more touching moments of the Sochi Olympics, Swiss cross-country skier Dario Cologna won a gold medal and then waited 28 minutes to congratulate last-place finisher Roberto Carcelen of Peru at the finish line.

The 43-year-old Carcelen is Peru's first Winter Olympian and has only been skiing since 2005. He was also competing with broken ribs as the result of a training accident just two weeks before the Olympics.

Cologna did not have an easy race either, having just finished a grueling 39-minute, 15 km course with a close finish at the end.

Like many of the cross-country competitors, he collapsed after crossing the finish line.

You wouldn't have blamed him if he just wanted to celebrate and find a massage therapist.

But 28 minutes later, and 11 minutes after every other skier had finished, Carcelen struggled down the final stretch. He was greeted by a standing ovation from the fans and grabbed a Peruvian flag from the crowd.

Carcelen (bib no. 92), who finished 87th, crossed the finish line and was first greeted by Dachhiri Sherpa of Nepal (bib no. 91), who finished 86th in the event.

And then, to the likely surprise of everybody, Cologna appeared, still carrying his skis, to greet both competitors with a handshake. What a great moment and what the Olympics should be all about.

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Venezuela’s government has been trying to silence protests over shortages of basic goods, and that crackdown appears to be extending into the digital realm as well. A Twitter spokesperson tells Engadget and Bloomberg that pictures on its social network are “currently blocked” for at least some users. The country hasn’t confirmed anything, but President Nicolas Maduro has already taken a TV station off the air after it showed unflattering protest footage (pictured here); this may be just a continuation of his policy. Whatever is taking place, Twitter is encouraging Venezuelans to sign up for text message updates to keep the news flowing. And locals can take comfort in knowing that government attempts to censor online content aren’t always effective at crushing dissent — if there’s enough demand for political change, it can happen.

[Image credit: Eduardo Massieu / NTN24, Twitter]

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Source: Twitter Spanish (translated), Bloomberg

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SCHIPHOL - De uitbarsting van de vulkaan Kelud op het Indonesische eiland Java heeft geen gevolgen voor de vluchten van KLM. Alle vluchten naar Indonesië gaan door, zo heeft een woordvoerster van de luchtvaartmaatschappij vrijdag gezegd. KLM vliegt dagelijks op Jakarta, dat op west-Java ligt, en op Denpasar (Bali). In verband met de vulkaanuitbarsting zijn drie luchthavens op Java gesloten: Jokjakarta, Soerabaja en Solo.

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Titanfall is a game that offers many advantages to people who aren’t very good at first-person shooters.

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The Indonesian island of Java has been covered in ash from a volcano that erupted Thursday.

Tens of thousands of people have been forced from their homes and the volcano on Mount Kelud has been spewing ash for days, according to CNN.

Three international airports have been shut down because of the ash.

The volcano last erupted in 2007. Another volcano, Mount Sinabung, has also been erupting for months, adding to the ash. 

Here are some photos of the aftermath:

SEE ALSO: This Map Shows How Incredibly Snowy It Has Been This Year

SEE ALSO: These California Drought Pictures Are Scary, And It’s Only Getting Worse

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It's been almost six months since Microsoft announced its intention to purchase Nokia for $7.2 billion, and today the phone manufacturer reiterated its intention to have the sale complete before this quarter ends. In a press release today, Nokia stressed that an ongoing tax dispute in India over one of the company's factories wouldn't affect the closing of Microsoft's intended purchase.

This statement of confidence comes just a few days after it was revealed that Nokia was petitioning the Indian Supreme Court to reverse a ruling that was initially expected to complicate the deal — however, Nokia has been quick to reiterate that the deal is not in any danger of slipping beyond Q1. Given the statements from new Microsoft CEO Satya...

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alltangledupinblue:

petrichoriousparalian:

tella1985:

artist-refs:

thepeoplesrepublicofheaven:

THANK YOU

I’m still confused ._.

Art Nouveau is flowing like nature. Art deco is rigid and looks more man made.

deco = geometric

nouveau = organic

THANK YOU.  WHY DOES NO ONE ON THE INTERNET ESPECIALLY ON EBAY OR ETSY UNDERSTAND THIS??? (apparently this requires caps lock.)

For those that are confused…

In a pre-emptive strike last night, New York City Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina said that city schools will be open today despite the brutal storm that could bring 8-12 inches to New York.

"Due to anticipated inclement weather conditions, all school field trips will be cancelled tomorrow. Schools will be open," Farina said.

This has led to some predictable grumbling and even outrage, but New York City has a history of actively trying to avoid closing schools. ABC 7 asked Farina today for more clarification on the decision to keep schools open. A big part of the decision, she said, comes down to the fact that if schools are closed, many children don't eat.

"If people can go to work, then kids can to school," she said. "Many of our kids don't get a hot lunch and, in many cases breakfast, unless they go to school. So it's still a parent's decision whether they send their kids to school or not. My decision is where the kids are safest and the most taken care of, and the answer to that is in schools."

She emphasized that parents should make their own decisions on whether they wanted to send their children to school.

"Parents, as always, should exercise their own judgment with regard to their children. Safety is a top priority for the Department," Farina said.

There has been one snow day during the short administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio. That came on Jan. 3, when snow combined with frigid temperatures in the first "polar vortex" of the year.

The de Blasio administration was criticized for not canceling school on other days, including the Jan. 22 storm that brought about one foot of snow to New York.

According to Gothamist, there have been just six city school closings due to snow over the past 13 years — a March blizzard in 2001, a January 2004 snowstorm, a March 2009 snow storm, two February 2010 storms, and a January 2011 storm.

New York City schools closed for five days in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. But that storm crippled the city's subway system. That's not the case in snowstorms, when the city's subway and bus systems typically run rather smoothly or with slight delays.

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Falling through the ice can be a dangerous prospect for the unprepared, and even then it’s not exactly recommended. The Art of Manliness and Ted Slampyak have produced an illustrated guide on what to do after falling through ice that goes over basic tips and tricks on how to survive like resisting the urge to pull straight up out of the water.

image via The Art of Manliness

via The High Definite

Amsterdammers mogen hun huis voor korte tijd verhuren aan toeristen. De gemeenteraad heeft ingestemd met regels voor deze particuliere vakantieverhuur. Door een recente uitspraak van de rechter was het verhuren via sites als het Amerikaanse Airbnb in veel gevallen verboden. Nu wordt het opnieuw toegestaan.

Het verhuren van particuliere woningen aan toeristen mag voortaan weer als het incidenteel gebeurt. De bewoner mag zijn huis voor maximaal twee maanden per jaar verhuren.

Een andere voorwaarde is dat de verhuurder toestemming moet hebben van de woningcorporatie of vereniging van eigenaren. Verder moet hij toeristenbelasting betalen, en mag de verhuur niet leiden tot onveiligheid, geluidsoverlast of andere klachten.

Short stay

De regels geven ruimte aan mensen die wat bij willen verdienen door hun huis in de vakantie te verhuren, terwijl ze het tegelijk mogelijk maken om illegale hotels aan te pakken.

De Amsterdamse gemeenteraad heeft verder besloten het aantal appartementen dat gebruikt mag worden voor short stay te bevriezen. Bij short stay worden appartementen niet gebruikt voor vaste bewoning, maar telkens voor kortere periodes verhuurd aan toeristen of zakenlieden.

Er zijn in Amsterdam zo'n 800 woningen voor short stay. De bestaande short-stayappartementen mogen blijven bestaan. Nieuwe mogen er alleen komen als andere verdwijnen.

For the first time since 1984, the Winter Olympics have returned to Eastern Europe. 

Those 1984 games were held in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia — a decade before the the city was put under siege in the Bosnian War.

While the city continues to recover, many of the venues from the 1984 Olympics have been abandoned.

The bobsled venue — which served as an artillery stronghold during the war, according to Reuters — is overrun with weeds and graffiti. The ski-jumping venue on the outskirts of the city is similarly decaying.

What will happen to many of the Sochi venues after the Olympics is an open question. These photos from Sarajevo are a dark reminder of just how temporary an Olympic games can be.

The judges' stand at the ski jumping venue.

The medal podium at the ski jump venue.

The abandoned ski jump at Mount Igman.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

The numbers being forecast for the Internet of Things (IoT) are truly mind-boggling.

BI Intelligence finds that the number of everyday and enterprise devices that will soon be connected to the Internet — from parking meters to home thermostats — will be huge. 

• 1.9 billion devices today, and 9 billion by 2018, according to BII estimates, roughly equal to the number of smartphones, smart TVs, tablets, wearable computers, and PCs combined.
• It will drive trillions in economic value as it permeates consumer and business life.

In the consumer space, many products and services have already crossed over into the IoT, including kitchen and home appliances, lighting and heating products, and insurance company-issued car monitoring devices that allow motorists to pay insurance only for the amount of driving they do.  

Access The Full Report And Data By Signing Up For A Free Trial Today >>

Here are the top business-to-business and government applications for the IOT:

• Connected advertising and marketing. Cisco believes that this category (think Internet-connected billboards) will be one of the top three IoT categories, along with smart factories, and telecommuting support systems.
• Intelligent traffic management systems. Machina research, in a paper prepared for the GSM Association, sees $100 billion in revenue by 2020 for applications such as toll-taking and congestion penalties. A related revenue source will be smart parking-space management, expected to drive $30 billion in revenue.
• Waste management systems. In Cincinnati, residential waste volume fell 17% and recycling volume grew by 49% through use of a “pay as you throw” program that used IoT technology to monitor those who exceed waste limits.
• Smart electricity grids that adjust rates for peak energy usage. These will represent savings of $200 billion to $500 billion per year by 2025, according to the McKinsey Global Institute.
• Smart water systems and meters. The cities of Doha, São Paulo, and Beijing have reduced leaks by 40 to 50% by putting sensors on pumps and other water infrastructure.
• Industrial uses including Internet-managed assembly lines, connected factories, and warehouses, etc.

To access BI Intelligence's full report, Here Comes The Internet Of Things, sign up for a free trial subscription here. Subscribers also gain access to over 100 in-depth reports on social and mobile, and hundreds of charts and datasets. 

 

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The owner of a website does not require authorisation of the copyright holder to link to freely accessible copyright works on another site, even if Internet users get the impression that the work is appearing on the site that contains the link, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) said Thursday.

China's first lunar rover has reportedly started functioning again, one day after officials declared it broken beyond repair. Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported Thursday that the Yuta (Jade Rabbit) spacecraft had "awoken" from its dormant state, with a spokesman saying that the rover "stands a chance of being saved."

The Jade Rabbit first malfunctioned in January, just as it was supposed to enter a two-week dormancy period. At the time, it was feared that the rover did not properly close its solar panels, leaving itself vulnerable to the moon's frigid temperatures. Prospects looked grim until today, when the craft suddenly came back to life and began picking up signals, though there are lingering mechanical issues and its fate...

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Prada's sales have climbed a whopping 9% this year. 

The reason for their smashing success? 

The luxury handbag maker has been limiting selling its product through wholesale channels, reports Kyle Stock at Bloomberg Businessweek. 

Instead, Prada opened 79 retail stores around the world this year.

Apple is most famous for adopting this strategy, according to Businessweek.

"The theory, perhaps best refined by Apple, is that a company with a particularly strong brand can benefit by controlling as much as possible about where and how its products get sold—and to whom," Stock writes. "Selling via a staff that it trains, in a store it designs, insulates such companies and their customers from increasingly mall-like department stores and potentially surly salesmen."

By controlling how and where their bags are sold, Prada is ensuring that the customer experience is impeccable.  

SEE ALSO: Meet The Quirky Victoria's Secret Angel Who Is Taking Over The Brand

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One of the most prestigious scientific publishers is launching a new journal that will be open for everyone to read. Titled Science Advances, it will be the first open-access journal from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the nonprofit publisher behind Science — a journal generally considered to be among the very best in its field. The new publication will debut early next year and cover a broad scope of disciplines, and AAAS plans to broaden Science's scope as well to allow both journals to serve an increasingly broad audience.

Where the two journals will differ distinctly is their publication process. While both journals will make use of peer review and employ editors, Science will continue to publish...

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The European Union is more than a little jittery about a US-centric internet after learning the extent of the country’s mass surveillance. Accordingly, the European Commission has proposed a whole host of measures that would shift control to the international community. It wants a firm schedule for globalizing internet infrastructure, more power for the Internet Governance Forum, fewer conflicts between countries’ internet laws and a venue for improving transparency policies. The regulator doesn’t want to give too much clout to any one group, though — Commission VP Neelie Kroes prefers a “multi-stakeholder” approach that lets innovators move at their own pace. The proposal still needs support from both the Council of the EU and the European Parliament before it can take effect, but it could give Europe a united front when it’s pushing for changes in internet policy.

[Image credit: The Council of the European Union]

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Via: Reuters

Source: European Union

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Klout, a San Francisco startup that quantified people's online influence by assigning it a Klout score, has reportedly been acquired by Lithium Technologies for $100 million. It seemed the service was struggling to build a successful business, and in fact founder and CEO Joe Fernandez blogged publicly about his trials and tribulations. Six days ago Klout launched a major redesign of its website that shifted the focus towards helping users improve their scores, but it seems that the final result was a sale and soft landing.

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LAHORE - De Pakistaanse regering moet nog deze maand op de proppen komen met de vermiste antidrone-activist Karim Khan. Dat heeft een rechtbank in Lahore woensdag bepaald. Kahn, die naar Nederland zou komen, is vermoedelijk opgepakt door de veiligheidsdiensten en sindsdien spoorloos verdwenen.

(via Twitter / sc_mo: Calling all dragon-slayers …)