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Vno

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    WTF? (**NSFW**)

    in Squadron Bar

    Posted

    Facebook in talks to acquire drone making company

    (Reuters) - Facebook Inc is in talks to buy drone maker Titan Aerospace for $60 million, according to media reports.

    The high-flying drones would give Facebook, the world's No.1 Internet social network, the ability to beam wireless Internet access to consumers in undeveloped parts of the world, according to the technology blog TechCrunch. TechCrunch first reported the deal late on Monday, citing an anonymous source.

    The effort would help advance Facebook's Internet.org effort, aimed at connecting billions of people who do not currently have Internet access in places such as Africa and Asia.

    Facebook declined to comment.

    Titan Chief Executive Vern Raburn declined to comment on whether Facebook was buying the company or a large order of its planes.

    "I can't comment one way or the other," Raburn said in a telephone interview on Tuesday.

    Titan is developing a variety of solar-powered "atmospheric satellites," according to the company's website, with initial commercial operations slated for 2015. The drones, which fly at an altitude of 65,000 feet and can remain aloft for up to five years and have a 165-foot (50-metre) wingspan, slightly shorter than that of a Boeing 777.

    "What we have is an airplane that's solar-powered, so it doesn't have any fuel and it can climb up to a very high altitude and just stay there. And at that altitude it can do a multiplicity of missions ranging from communications, data, optical, weather sensing," Raburn said.

    "Think of it as a Tesla Model S, with wings," he said, referring to the electric car. Raburn, who was previously the CEO of Symantec Corp and the president of Microsoft Corp's consumer products division, said that Titan has flown a scaled-down prototype of the plane.

    Facebook is interested in having Titan build 11,000 of its Solara 60 model drones for its Internet.org project, according to the TechCrunch report.

    Facebook is not the only Internet company working on bringing wireless Internet access to developing countries. Last year, Google Inc announced Project Loon, which aims to use solar-powered air balloons to beam the Internet to remote regions.

    Providing wireless access could help Facebook ensure that its online social network is among the basic services used by people in developing economies as they start to use Internet-connected mobile phones in coming years.

    Facebook, which has 1.2 billion monthly users, has partnered with numerous wireless providers in recent years to offer free or discounted access to the social network. But some, such as Vodafone, have balked at waiving their wireless data rates for Facebook.

    Gun Talk

    in Squadron Bar

    Posted

    North Dakota passes bill allowing CC in schools.

    The North Dakota House on Monday passed a bill that would allow people with concealed weapon permits to carry guns on school grounds.

    Representatives passed House Bill 1215 by a 60-33 vote after about 20 minutes of debate.

    HB1215 would allow those with concealed weapon permits to carry firearms on school grounds if a school has developed and approved a policy to allow it. Discussion on adopting a concealed firearm policy could be done in executive session. Law enforcement would be notified of who has been granted permission to carry a firearm.

    Part of the debate in opposition to HB1215 centered on the ability of a school to deliberate on a concealed weapon policy in executive session. Rep. Glen Froseth, R-Kenmare, said he didn’t like the idea of allowing more government meetings to be held in private.

    “If you’re a public official and you don’t want the public to know what you’re doing, you probably shouldn’t be doing it,” Froseth said.

    Froseth said he also didn’t agree with an argument made by proponents of the bill that a shooter would specifically target a school with a gun-free policy.

    “I seriously doubt a shooter would go through the minutes of a school board meeting to determine where the guns are,” Froseth said.

    Rep. Dwight Kiefert, R-Valley City, said he was surprised by the opposition to the bill mainly coming from the executive session portion. He added that declaring a school to be a gun-free zone was “like putting a white flag in the air.”

    Rep. Kim Koppelman, R-West Fargo, said some people in the country believe schools are safer if they’re gun-free zones.

    “Tragedy … has proven that to be a fallacy,” Koppelman said.

    HB1215 resolves two questions, Koppelman said. Those questions are whether or not to allow schools to decide if they want their facilities to have additional protection as well as who will be able to make that decision.

    Rep. Bill Amerman, D-Forman, sought to compare having an armed person in a school with trained soldiers. Amerman referenced firefights during his time in the Vietnam War. He said soldiers “trained to kill” would fire, sometimes wildly, in the chaotic moments of a sudden battle. He said compare that to someone in a loud, chaotic scene in a school shooting.

    “It’s not just bad people with guns that kill people, it’s good people with guns,” Amerman said.

    Amerman also questioned the idea that having an armed person in a school would serve as a deterrent for a gunman.

    “They’re not going to worry about whether or not someone there is packing heat,” Amerman said. “They’re going there to die.”

    Kiefert disagreed, saying having an armed person on school grounds is a line of defense before law enforcement arrives. He said the response time for some rural schools could be up to 30 minutes.

    “Give the school board the right to defend themselves,” Kiefert said.

    Sponsors of HB1215 along with Kiefert and Koppelman are Reps. Bette Grande, R-Fargo, Craig Headland, R-Montpelier, Karen Karls, R-Bismarck, Vernon Laning, R-Bismarck, Todd Porter, R-Mandan, and Sens. Kelly Armstrong, R-Dickinson, Dwight Cook, R-Mandan, Dick Dever,R-Bismarck, David Hogue, R-Minot, and Larry Luick,R-Fairmont.

    http://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/north-dakota-house-passes-school-gun-bill/article_c3e0a48e-7f92-11e2-8024-001a4bcf887a.html

    • Upvote 1

    WTF? (**NSFW**)

    in Squadron Bar

    Posted

    modern-living.jpg

    (Editor's note: The following Letter to the Editor, published in the Jan. 23 edition, has gone viral on the Web after a reader linked it to a Fox News Facebook page. It had received more than 4,000 comments and been shared more than 12,000 times by Tuesday morning.)

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