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Tech NewsCommerceAmazon Says It Lost $10 Billion Military Contract Because Trump Wanted to ‘Screw’ Jeff Bezos
Amazon thinks it lost a military cloud computing contract worth $10 billion to rival Microsoft because our vendetta-addled president wanted to personally “screw” CEO Jeff Bezos, court documents show. Per the New York Times, Amazon wrote in a federal court complaint unsealed on Monday that Pentagon officials reviewed outdated Amazon submissions for the Joint Enterprise … Continued
By Tom McKay -
Tech NewsLack of Right-to-Repair Protections Is Even Screwing With the U.S. Military
A glaring lack of right-to-repair protections touches just about everyone, from consumers to farmers and independent repair shops. But a new op-ed explains how this form of corporate greed even impacts the United States military. Captain Elle Ekman, a logistics officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, penned an opinion column on the right-to-repair issue within … Continued
By Catie Keck -
Tech NewsPoliticsMicrosoft Beats out Amazon for Pentagon’s $10 Billion Cloud Computing Contract
The Pentagon’s $10 billion deal to provide cloud computing services to the Department of Defense officially went to Microsoft Friday. The news came as an upset to Amazon, whose competing bid appeared to be the frontrunner for most of the contract’s deliberations. Throughout the yearlong process, President Donald Trump has repeatedly rebuked Amazon’s prospects, which … Continued
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Tech NewsRaytheon Delivers First Anti-Drone Laser Weapon to U.S. Air Force
Raytheon has announced that it delivered the first publicly acknowledged anti-drone laser weapon to the U.S. Air Force earlier this month. The military contractor said the Air Force will deploy the weapon in a year-long experiment overseas in order to train people how to use it and test its effectiveness out in the real world. … Continued
By Matt Novak -
io9Books & ComicsDallas Cop Seen Wearing Punisher Logo During Altercation at Community Oversight Meeting
At the first public meeting of Dallas’s newly formed Community Police Oversight Board earlier this week, dozens of residents who came to share their concerns about law enforcement were surprised to learn the board had no intention of letting anyone from the community actually make a comment. And at least one officer wearing the symbol … Continued
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Tech NewsU.S. Air Force Tests Unarmed Nuclear Missile Following North Korea’s Latest Missile Launch
The U.S. military launched an unarmed nuclear-capable missile from Vandenberg Air Force Base at 4:13 am ET/1:13am PT this morning, right on the heels of North Korea’s latest missile test overnight. U.S.-based missile tests are scheduled months, if not years, in advance, but the timing is one hell of a coincidence. The Air Force’s Minuteman … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsGadgetsGarmin Adds a Tacticool Military-Style Option to Its Luxury Smartwatch Line
Garmin’s MARQ line was designed to bridge the gap between stylish time pieces from companies like Omega or TAG Heuer and smartwatches that typically focus on function over form. The MARQ collection is now expanding with a sixth addition to the line designed for those serving in the military—or at least those who fantasize about … Continued
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Tech NewsNaruto Run! Some Guy Who’s Probably Going to Get Himself Killed Is the First ‘Storm Area 51’ Meme
The original “Storm Area 51″ Facebook invitation encouraged people to break into the secret government facility by doing a Naruto run. And now that the event is here (it’s supposed to happen today), it looks like some people are taking the instructions literally. Some random guy was seen on local TV news in Las Vegas … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsWhy Does Darpa Need a Huge Underground Facility by Friday?
Darpa is often described as the “mad science” wing of the Defense Department. They’re the ones who have a history of working on cutting edge technology for the military like virtual fences, disaster relief robots, and the invention of the internet itself. They even tried to build Skynet in the 1980s. But Darpa sent out … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsRussian Health Officials Blame ‘Fukushima Crabs’ for Cesium-137 Exposure After Mysterious Accident
A doctor who treated survivors of a mysterious nuclear accident in Russia was told that the radioactive isotope cesium-137 must have made its way into their body due to “Fukushima crabs,” according to CNN. The August 8 incident at the Nyonoksa testing range on a platform in the White Sea has not yet been fully … Continued
By Tom McKay -
EartherClimate ChangeThe Navy Created the Pentagon’s First Climate Task Force—Now It’s Dead
In a move that fails to surprise anyone, the U.S. Navy has killed its Task Force Climate Change. This happened back in March but remained mostly a rumor until E&E News reported the news Wednesday. The U.S. Navy Task Force Climate Change was the first of its kind for the Department of Defense. The Obama administration … Continued
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Tech NewsFrance Announces Plan to Launch Satellites With Defensive Lasers, Possibly Submachine Guns
An inventor buzzing around on a flyboard clutching a rifle and subsequently borking an attempt to cross the English Channel isn’t the only mildly science fiction-y development concerning the French military lately. In the past week, French Defense Minister Florence Parly said that the country would launch miniature surveillance satellites brimming with defensive weaponry in … Continued
By Tom McKay -
Tech NewsCommerce
Oracle Document Claiming an Amazon ‘Conspiracy’ to Win Military Contract Makes It to Trump’s Desk
Aides to Donald Trump presented him with a document identical to one created by a top Washington lobbyist for cloud-computing giant Oracle, Kenneth Glueck, implying that competitor Amazon is only a favored contender for a major contract with the U.S. military due to a far-ranging “conspiracy” orchestrated by Jeff Bezos, CNN reported on Saturday. According … Continued
By Tom McKay -
Tech NewsNorth Korean State Media Posts Photos of Kim Jong Un Touring ‘Newly Built’ Submarine
North Korean strongman Kim Jong Un, whose lineage is well known as the world’s foremost lookers at things, has toured a “newly built” submarine, the country’s state-run media Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) wrote in a release. The KCNA report was light on details, other than that the craft received Kim’s “special attention” and the … Continued
By Tom McKay -
Tech NewsPrivacy & SecurityHackers Reportedly Break Into SyTech, a Contractor for Russia’s Federal Security Service
Hackers breached servers at a contractor for Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), SyTech, and stole about 7.5 terabytes of data after gaining access to the company’s entire network earlier this month, ZDnet reported on Saturday. According to ZDNet, the hacking crew in question goes by the name 0v1ru$ and also defaced the Sytech website with … Continued
By Tom McKay -
Tech NewsIran Denies Claim That U.S. Military Destroyed Drone in the Strait of Hormuz
The government of Iran has denied reports that the U.S. shot down an Iranian drone this week in the Strait of Hormuz, contradicting claims by the U.S. military and President Donald Trump that an enemy drone had been destroyed. “We have not lost any drone in the Strait of Hormuz nor anywhere else,” Iran’s Deputy … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsHow to Infiltrate Area 51 Like a Pro
Amid renewed interest in UFOs following a series of articles detailing strange sightings by U.S. military pilots—and recognitions of those concerns by the Navy—over 1.2 million have signed up for a “Storm Area 51, They Can’t Stop All of Us” Facebook event slated for Sept. 20, 2019. Attendees are asked to breach security at the … Continued
By Tom McKay -
Tech NewsFacebook Board Member Peter Thiel Calls Google ‘Treasonous’ and Says CIA Should Investigate
Billionaire Peter Thiel has called for a federal investigation into Google’s refusal to work with the U.S. military and says that the tech giant’s relationship with the Chinese military is “treasonous,” according to a new report from Axios late Sunday. Thiel, a Facebook board member, wants the FBI and CIA to ask questions of Google, … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsGadgetsFrench Inventor Totes Rifle While Flying Turbine-Powered Flyboard at Bastille Day Celebrations
European leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron were treated to a demonstration of the Flyboard Air, a sort of gas turbine-powered jetpack/hoverboard/flying platform originally invented by jetski champ Franky Zapata, during Bastille Day festivities in Paris on Sunday. Zapata carried what certainly appeared to be an unloaded rifle (or a replica of such) as he … Continued
By Tom McKay -
Tech NewsArmy to Test New Helluva Way to Die: Robotic Combat Vehicles
The U.S. Army—which has already been testing robotic squad vehicles like the Multi-Utility Tactical Transport (MUTT) and semi-autonomous targeting systems like the Advanced Targeting and Lethality Automated System (ATLAS)—says it will conduct live-fire testing of a new Robotic Combat Vehicle (RCV) built on M113 armored personnel carrier chassis next year. As first flagged by the … Continued
By Tom McKay