FBI tracking device found; disassembled

[ifixit] has apparently grown tired of tearing apart Apple’s latest gizmos, and their latest display of un-engineering has a decidedly more federal flair. You may have heard about Yasir Afifi’s discovery of a FBI-installed tracking device on his car back in October of last year. Apparently, the feds abandoned a similar device with activist Kathy Thomas. Wired magazine managed to get their hands on it, and gave it to ifixit to take apart. There’ve even posted a video.

The hardware itself isn’t that remarkable, it’s essentially a GPS receiver designed before the turn of the century paired with a short range wireless transceiver. The whole device is powered by a set of D-sized lithium-thionyl chloride batteries which should be enough juice to run the whole setup for another few decades–long enough to outlast any reasonable expectations of privacy, with freedom and justice for all.

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels Signs NRA-Backed “Firearm Preemption Reform” and “Firearm Transport Permit Reform” Bills Into Law!

ndiana Governor Mitch Daniels Signs NRA-Backed “Firearm Preemption Reform” and “Firearm Transport Permit Reform” Bills Into Law!

Yesterday, Governor Mitch Daniels signed the “Firearm Preemption Reform” bill and the “Firearm Transport Permit Reform” bill into law!

 

Senate Enrolled Act 292, the “Firearm Preemption Reform” bill, passed the General Assembly on the final day of Indiana’s legislative session. SEA 292 passed by a 38 to 12 vote in the state Senate and a 77 to 21 margin in the state House. Senate Bill 292 would mandate a strong and meaningful statewide standard for all firearm laws in Indiana. 

 

This bill was authored by state Senator Jim Tomes (R-49) and was coauthored by Senators Jim Smith (R-45), Scott Schneider (R-30), Jim Banks (R-17), Brent Waltz (R-36), Brent Steele (R-44), Dennis Kruse (R-14), John Waterman (R-39), Brandt Hershman (R-7), and NRA Board Member Senator Johnny Nugent (R-43). The measure was sponsored in the House by state Representative Mike Speedy (R-90) and cosponsored by Representatives Sean Eberhart (R-57), Eric Koch (R-65), Heath VanNatter (R-38) and Terry Goodin (D-66).


Senate Enrolled Act 506, the “Firearm Transport Permit Reform” bill, passed in the Indiana Senate by an overwhelming bi-partisan 43 to 7 vote. This bill then passed in the House of Representatives with comparably strong support in an 84 to 13 vote. This bill would make important reforms to Indiana’s current “transport permit” requirement. It is currently illegal to transport a handgun in your vehicle without some form of state-issued permit for any reason unless driving from the point of purchase to your home or to your fixed place of business, or from your home or fixed place of business to a gunsmith for repair.

 

SEA 506 was authored by state Senator Jim Tomes (R-49) and coauthored by Senators Dennis Kruse (R-14), Jim Smith (R-45), Scott Schneider (R-30), Brent Waltz (R-36), Michael Young (R-35), John Waterman (R-39), Travis Holdman (R-19), Jim Banks (R-17) and NRA Board Member Johnny Nugent (R-43). The measure was sponsored in the House by state Representative Heath VanNatter (R-38) and cosponsored by Representatives Sean Eberhart (R-57) and Robert Morris (R-84).

 

2011 marked one of the most successful pro-gun legislative sessions in the Hoosier State’s history, with five NRA-backed firearm bills passing in the Indiana General Assembly an being signed into law by Governor Mitch Daniels.

New theory suggests some black holes might predate the Big Bang

This is just awesome, p.s. I love PhysOrg.com

Cosmologists Alan Coley from Canada's Dalhousie University and Bernard Carr from Queen Mary University in London, have published a paper on arXiv, where they suggest that some so-called primordial black holes might have been created in the Big Crunch that came before the Big Bang, which lends support to the theory that the Big Bang was not a single event, but one that occurs over and over again as the universe crunches down to a single point, then blows up again, over and over.

The idea is based on the fact that the Earth, and the rest of the known universe is occasionally bombarded with unexplained bursts of ; something that could, according to Coley and Carr, be the result of primordial black holes running out of energy and disintegrating.

See the rest HERE