Douglas Williams, proprietor of the now defunct polygraph.com, has plead guilty in Federal court to five counts of obstructing justice and a single count of mail fraud on the second day of his trial. Williams had for years dedicated considerable time to the cause of debunking polygraph "lie detection" as a dangerous pseudoscience by coaching applicants for "national security" jobs with the United States Government in ways to pass the tests while providing answers with no connection to actual truth. Continue reading
Monthly Archives: May 2015
US Poultry and Egg Prices Headed To The Moon
A North American outbreak of the H5N2 avian influenza virus is expected to lead to much higher prices of eggs and poultry products as efforts to contain the outbreak so far have been unsuccessful. More than 32 million commercial birds have either been killed by the virus or culled in an attempt to slow its spread and contain the outbreak. The outbreak was first reported to have affected egg producing farms in Iowa, and the disease has since spread to neighbouring Nebraska. Continue reading
Four Australians Among 21 Arrested For Firearm Purchases
Australian newspaper The Herald Sun reports (archive) that four Australians are among 21 people arrested by a joint Australian and American taskforce aimed at curbing the online purchase of firearms with bitcoin on the dark web. Continue reading
Liberland "President" Arrested
Croatian forces have reportedly arrested the founder and "President" of Liberland Vít Jedlička. Jedlička founded Liberland in a disputed stretch of territory along the Danube river between Serbia and Croatia and declared Bitcoin the official currency. The micronation of Liberland has only a month of history and given present opposition it seems unlikely to enjoy the longevity of the Principality of Hutt River or Sealand. Given Liberland's geographic situation prospects for establishing lasting security seem unlikely.
The Chicken Brothers Cook Up Some Ransomware
Bloatware publisher Symantec reports (archive) that a variant of Cryptolocker is infecting numerous computers throughout Australia, demanding a ransom of up to AUD $1,000 or USD $790 payable to none other than Los Pollos Hermanos.
The Breaking Bad branded variant, which encrypts common file extensions such as *.gif, *.doc, *.mp3, *.pdf, *.txt. *.zip, *.xls and so on directs victims to email theonewhoknocks@mailinator.com for support related enquiries, but at this time that inbox is empty. Continue reading
Gavin Backs Off Blocksize: Scapegoats Memory, UTXO Set
Having retreated from the Vessenes Bitcoin Foundation to his new residence at MIT, USGavin, also known as Satoshi dress-up impersonator Gavin Andresen, has given up promoting larger block sizes. Continue reading
UK Man Sentenced To Six Years Prison
A young man from Cambridge (archive) in the UK has been sentenced to prison having plead guilty to charges related to the production of MDMA and the possession of Ketamine and Heroin. 22 year old Callum Fay was first arrested back in June of 2012 after local police were informed by the UK Border Agency that Fay was importing Cocaine from India. Continue reading
Bitcoin ISP Unveiled
Today Mircea Popescu announced the creation of a Bitcoin Internet Service Provider adding to the increasing amount of infrastructure outside of the fiat regime's grasp and available to those aligned with Bitcoin's Most Serene Republic. The Bitcoin Internet Service Provider rather than offering any sort of shared or virtualized product instead offers raw metal, dedicated servers for which customers may have a Linux of their choice provisioned. Any system administration beyond provisioning a server is the responsibility of the customer, though some limited support may be provided and referrals for further service may be offered. Continue reading
ItBit Unveils New Board Confirming Qntra Report
Today New York based ItBit exchange unveiled its new board and charter to operate as a financial services company from the New York Department of Financial Services. ItBit's announcement today confirms Qntra's April 16th report that former Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation chair Sheila Blair has joined ItBit's corporate board. Among those joining Blair is former New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley. ItBit insists its charter from New York allows it to legally operate in all 50 members of the United States in spite of Federalism. CoinBase earlier announced licensing to operate as an exchange in all 50 states, an assertion which was later found to be questionable. Continue reading
Government Funded Exchange BitSpark Shifts To Remittances
Hong Kong based Bitcoin exchange BitSpark has announced (archive) its decision to "temporarily retire" its exchange, opting instead to shift attention to remittances across the Philippines, Indonesia, Australia, Hong Kong and China. As part of that change of direction, BitSpark intends to launch a remittance focused product later this month at the 2015 Innotribe semi finals in Singapore. Continue reading