A grown man who wanted a youngster’s iPad punched an 8-year-old Minneapolis boy in the face.
The boy was following his aunt from a daycare building to the aunt’s car. Aaron Stillday, 32, ran up to the child, punched him in the face, grabbed the iPad and ran up the street.
Stillday, who has been arrested 60 times, made the mistake of attacking the boy in front of Mohammad Armeli.
Armeli had been working at a nearby restaurant when he saw Stillday attack the child. Armeli immediately began to chase the thief and followed him for a half a mile.
When Stillday was caught, he responded by smashing the iPad on the sidewalk before he could be subdued.
“This is the scum of the earth,” Armeli said of Stillday. “You cannot hit a child like that. Don’t hit him for his iPad, or for anything.”
The good news from the incident: the Apple Store in Minneapolis, when they were informed of what happened to the boy, gave him a brand new iPad.
A federal judge’s ruling that the FAA does not have jurisdiction over drone aircraft is already rippling across the United States. In Detroit, a florist has announced they will begin delivery using drone aircraft.
FlowerDeliveryExpress.com, the online unit of a Detroit area florist, originally began testing drone delivery just before Valentine’s Day before being ordered to stop by the FAA.
Federal administrative law judge Patrick Geraghty ruled last week that the FAA’s argument they control anything that flies through the air was so ridiculous that it means the agency could fine someone for throwing a paper airplane or using a balsa wood toy glider.
The government has been calling on the FAA to issue regulations regarding personal use of drones but the agency has been resisting for over three years. Now, with the judge’s ruling, essentially it’s anything goes for personal drone users.
Berry Flowers said they would be testing mostly in the suburban Detroit area until they work the issues out of the drone delivery service before offering it city-wide. The business also delivers flowers nationally through FedEx and other services, so nationwide delivery in the future is a possibility.
The court ruling doesn’t just benefit shop owners. The court’s ruling would allow anyone to use drones to spy on neighbors, business competitors or strangers. Drones could be flown outside someone’s bedroom windows and there would be no way to stop them.
Israel scrambled their jets to the Syrian border after Syrian fighter jets and a helicopter were spotted rushing toward the border.
A report on Israeli TV said that the jets made it to a few hundred meters of the border before they turned back when the Israeli aircraft arrived on site. There was no direct conflict between the two countries’ planes.
A source told Haaretz that while Syrian aircraft in the area is not uncommon, the massive amount of planes in a short time was unusual. The call for the Israeli jets to scramble in response is considered “very rare.”
The report on TV station Channel 2 said that the scrambling of the jets also came because Syria did not notify Israel of increases in plane activity. Syria claims that they need to bring their flights near the border as part of their fight against rebels attempting to overthrow the government.
The Israeli Defense Force said that they spotted terrorists at the Syrian border placing explosives on Friday.
A new study shows the prevalence of smartphones, tablets and laptops are causing a problem among children with sleep patterns and quality.
The devices emit what scientists call “blue light” that works against the sleep process by hampering the body’s ability to produce melatonin, the chemical that causes the body to feel tired and enhances sleepiness.
The National Sleep Foundation has released a study showing that youth who use smartphones or computer devices before bedtime have a lower quality of sleep and sleep less than peers without the heavy use of electronic devices.
“To ensure a better night’s sleep for their children, parents may want to limit their [children’s use of] technology in the bedroom near or during bedtime,” Orfeu Buxton, PhD, of Harvard Medical School told The Fiscal Times.
The study also showed that the sleep patterns of parents have a direct impact on their children. If the parents are using electronic devices in the evening before bedtime, the children will follow their parent’s patterns.
The next time you walk into a building that is lit by an LED lighting system, you might not be simply walking into the light.
Newark Liberty International Airport’s new LED lighting system is actually spying on the passengers that come through the airport before they reach the gates. The lights include computer chips, cameras, sensors and Wi-Fi antennas. They collect data that police can scan in real time to look for possible problems.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the airport, said the special spy lights are currently only in the ticketing area of the airport but they could soon spread to the rest of the complex. The Port Authority claimed the lights were installed as part of a plan to cut energy use within the complex.
The company behind the “NetSense” system says that while the idea of putting cameras on light poles isn’t new, the system they’ve developed is unique in that it is turnkey. Anyone can install the lights, plug them in and then observe through a computer.
Personal liberty watchdogs are concerned about a bill working through the California legislature that would require all cell phones to have a “kill switch” that can be activated by law enforcement.
Proponents of the bill say it would allow police or cell phone owners to shut off a device that is stolen so it cannot be used or resold by a thief.
However, critics say that the device could actually be used by authorities as a way to keep citizens from being able to communicate with each other in a time of crisis or as a way to quell dissent in a community.
For example, if police are caught abusing their authority, the police could activate the kill switches to destroy the phones and remove any video evidence of the abuse. It could also stop live streaming of any event authorities do not want to have publicized.
Wireless cell phone manufacturers and carriers have opposed similar measures in other states.
A new technology claims to allow customers to pay for purchases by using a scan of their veins.
The program is called Pulse Wallet and the device is scanner similar to the point of sale devices where you slide your credit or debit card. Pulse Wallet links to a credit card or other payment methods so that a customer can leave all identifying information at home.
The founders say the technology has many benefits.
In addition to being used in retail locations, the device can be used by airlines as a new form of boarding pass. They say because the form and scan of veins is unique to each person…and people don’t really know what the pattern of their veins looks like…it gives them a password that no thief can steal.
The company says that there are no traces for someone to find like fingerprints and the person would have to be alive with the limb attached because blood flow is needed to perform the scan.
Security critics are raising the alarm about a new surveillance system that can track all the citizens and vehicles in a small city at the same time.
Dayton, Ohio based Persistent Surveillance Systems has been demonstrating a system where a low flying aircraft continually monitors traffic and humans in a wide area. While the system cannot show individual details like hair color, the motion of the objects and their travel locations can help police and federal agents identify and track civilians.
The system does not require a warrant from a judge to be used for tracking an individual.
Defense contractors are working on similar systems for military use but the PSS unit is designed to be used by civilian sources as well.
Ross McNutt of PSS says that a single camera from their system mounted on the top of the Washington Monument would allow police to monitor and track every person and vehicle that uses or approaches the National Mall. He says the devices could help police make a significant dent in crime levels.
China has developed the ability for space-based warfare including satellite targeting missiles and other weapons that can destroy the U.S. communication net.
Space warfare experts say that the United States’ dependence on satellites for communications among military units is a weakness that is being targeted by the Chinese in the event of future military conflict.
“The current and evolving counterspace threat posed by China to U.S. military operations in the Asia Pacific theater and outside is extremely serious,” Ashley Tellis, former State Department and National Security Council strategic specialist, told Congress.
The experts believe that in the short term China will focus on producing missiles capable of destroying U.S. satellites in space. They testified that most current models used by the military for potential conflicts assume that their satellite based communication system would not be disrupted.
Robert Butterworth, former chief of strategic planning for Air Force Space Command, said that while war with China is not an imminent threat, Congress needs to remember that China won’t be dissuaded in their efforts by the world reminding them about current norms against weaponizing space.
If you thought your cell phone, laptop or other electronics were draining faster than usual during the unusual bitter cold, you’re not wrong.
Electronic experts say the bitter cold drains batteries faster so people who depend on their cell phones in remote locations need to make sure they recharge often and have chargers in their car in the event of an emergency.
One computer expert said that Apple computers are especially vulnerable to the cold.
“Apple is rated from I believe 32 degrees to roughly 95 degrees,” David Greer of Digital Doc told CBS. “Samsung is rated from minus, negative 4 to up to 128.”
Greer also warned of the importance of not trying to rapidly heat your phone or computer if it’s cold. Greer said you risk major damage to the devices if you do not allow them to slowly reach room temperature.
He suggests making sure you keep your phone in a jacket or close to your body to keep it warm.
