Shaun Bridges, who is already serving a six-year sentence for nicking Bitcoins from the underground souk, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to stealing a further 1,600 Bitcoin (worth $359,005 at the time and approximately $6.6m today) during a separate investigation.

According to court documents [PDF] Bridges, 35, was probing European Bitcoin trading firm Bitstamp, which led to the US government seizing 1,606,6488 BTC in November 2014. These were transferred into a digital wallet that only Bridges had the access code for.

In March 2015, while under investigation for the Silk Road thefts, Bridges resigned from the Secret Service and in June pleaded guilty to money laundering and obstruction charges. A month later, while still free and awaiting sentencing, he took the Bitcoins seized from Bitstamp and moved them into an account run by the BTC-E exchange.

Source: Disgraced US Secret Service agent coughs to second Bitcoin heist

It turns out they won’t cover the cost of your smartphone breakages, because they are the most popular claims. And if they do cover your tablet, there are surcharges and other difficulties.

Allrisk inboedelverzekeraars hebben zich gewapend tegen kwetsbare smartphones, zo blijkt uit onderzoek van financieel communicatiebureau SevenEight onder 23 grote allrisk inboedelverzekeraars.

Source: Inboedelverzekeraar niet dol op smartphones – Emerce

Anyone can vote in the Stock Stream Twitch Channel on which stocks should be bought or sold. Trades are executed automatically using Robinhood.

How much money is available?

The account is funded with $50,000 though unfortunately, due to FINRA/SEC regulations, trading will halt if the account value falls below $25,000.

Source: Stock Stream – Worlds First Multiplayer Stock Market Game Using Real Money

Unfortunately I haven’t found any figures about how well or badly this is doing

A fired SpaceX worker has accused the company of leaning on its employees to forge test records for parts destined for NASA.

Jason Blasdell told his wrongful firing court hearing in California that although he complained to the HR department about being pressured into creating false test passes, the company ignored him – and he even tried to take matters to CEO Elon Musk in person.

Blasdell told the Los Angeles court that he spoke to SpaceX HR manager Carla Suarez in early 2014 to say he was having problems with his immediate management.

“I told her that in the avionics test lab that managers had been pressuring us, pressuring me, to falsify test documents. And that management is trying to point to me as being the problem instead of acknowledging and discussing actual falsification of documents as being the real problem,” he said, as reported by legal website Law360.

The former US Marine, who was trained in aviation electronics in the service before spending four years at SpaceX, also said that his supervisors would “chastise” him for not signing off parts as having passed required testing in SpaceX’s avionics test lab.

SpaceX managers, his lawyer said, responded to his attempts to escalate his concerns by branding him a “chronic complainer”. In spite of this Blasdell managed to get a personal audience with the president of SpaceX, Gwynne Shotwell.

The technician testified that Shotwell’s response to his concerns was “Don’t tell Elon, do not tell Elon. If he finds out about this, we will all get fired.”

In return, SpaceX’s lawyers told the court that, over time, Blasdell became disrespectful towards colleagues and managers alike and that this made some “afraid for their safety”. The firm also suggested that amphetamines Blasdell was taking for attention deficit disorder may have affected his behaviour, as well as saying he was annoyed at being passed over for promotion.

The firm also stated that Blasdell’s safety-related complaints only emerged after he was fired, stating that until that point his complaints were all about the “inefficiency” of testing

Source: ‘Do not tell Elon’: Ex-SpaceX man claims firm cut corners on NASA part tests • The Register

Code.gov is a platform designed to improve access to the federal government’s custom-developed software.

Source: Code.gov

The US Government is committing to open source in a big way. This is where to find it.

AN FRANCISCO — Wells Fargo may have opened as many as 3.5 million bogus bank accounts without its customers’ permission, attorneys for customers suing the bank have alleged in a court filing, suggesting the bank may have created far more fake accounts than previously indicated.

The plaintiffs’ new estimate of bogus bank accounts is about 1.4 million, or 67 percent, higher than the original estimate — disclosed last year as part of a settlement with regulators — that up to 2.1 million accounts were opened without customers’ permission.

In estimating the higher number of fake accounts, the plaintiffs’ attorneys examined a much longer time period than regulators and the bank had previously addressed, they said in court documents. The attorneys covered a period from 2002 to 2017, rather than the previously scrutinized five-year stretch from 2011 to some time in 2016 in which the bank acknowledged setting up unauthorized accounts. Scrutiny of bank employees’ activity during that five-year period led to the settlement last September, which required the bank to pay $185 million in fines.

Source: Wells Fargo fake accounts scandal appears far bigger than previously thought, attorneys say

What a world we live in – and the banks were too big to fail? Too corrupt to, I think.

When Congress voted in March to block FCC privacy rules and let internet service providers sell users’ personal data, it was a coup for the telecom industry. Now, the nonprofit, pro-privacy group Fight for the Future is publicizing just how much the industry paid in an attempt to sway those votes.

The group unveiled four billboards, targeting Reps. Marsha Blackburn and John Rutherford, as well as Sens. Jeff Flake and Dean Heller. All four billboards, which were paid for through donations, were placed in the lawmakers’ districts. “Congress voting to gut Internet privacy was one of the most blatant displays of corruption in recent history,” Fight for the Future co-founder Tiffiniy Cheng said in a statement on the project.

The billboards accuse the lawmakers of betraying their constituents, and encourage passersby to call their offices.

The Verge

Last fall, Shearer filed a $125 million lawsuit against Vivendi – the company that owns This Is Spinal Tap – for financial misappropriation and launched a website called Fairness Rocks explaining his lawsuit. He alleged that the company says the four creators between them have only earned $81 in merchandizing income and $98 for their contributions to the movie’s soundtrack over a 22-year period
[…]
Unfortunately, “Hollywood accounting” isn’t a practice confined to California. Within the success story that is the European film and television industry, which generated €122 billion in 2013, less than one-third of 1 percent[1]was shared with the writers and directors of the works created. A peculiar definition of “fairness,” you might say.

Under French law, filmmakers should be paid a fee for their work plus an ongoing remuneration proportionate to the exploitation of their creation. In reality, less than 3 percent of French writers and directors receive anything more than the initial payment of that minimum guarantee.[2]And 70 percent of all European film directors are asked to defer a proportion of their original fees (as we, the creators of This is Spinal Tap, originally agreed to do).

Source: Harry Shearer: Why My ‘Spinal Tap’ Lawsuit Affects All Creators

This happens to rock stars too 🙁 Good luck guys!

The Kerala government has made a saving of Rs 300 crore through introduction and adoption of Free & Open Source Software (FOSS) in the school education sector, said a state government official on Sunday.

IT became a compulsory subject in Kerala schools from 2003, but it was in 2005 only that FOSS was introduced in a phased manner and started to replace proprietary software. The decision made by the curriculum committee to implement it in the higher secondary sector has also been completed now.

K. Anwar Sadath, executive director IT@School, said they have been entrusted the job for easy classroom transaction of chapters including customisation of applications, teachers’ training, and video tutorials.

“The proprietary version of this software would have incurred a minimum cost of Rs 150,000 per machine in terms of licence fee. Hence, the minimum savings in a year (considering 20,000 machines) is Rs 300 crore. It’s not the cost saving that matters more, but the fact that the Free Software licence enables not only teachers and students but also the general public an opportunity to copy, distribute and share the contents and use it as they wish,” he said.

Source: Kerala saves Rs 300 crore as schools switch to open software

Even though cash payments have decreased to 49% of our daily payments, people in the eurozone still think cash is important and shouldn’t be banned.

DNBulletin: Contant betalen moet mogelijk blijven

Source: DNBulletin: Contant betalen moet mogelijk blijven

There has been a movement to try to shame cash payments, into creating a shady overtone to them. In fact it’s none of anyones’ business what you are spending your money on and being able to monitor your expenditure is shameless. For the banks you become the product, for the government you fall more under their control.

This site has a good list of items they link to on Amazon which are cheaper than the best item you could have gotten. It also compares the items on a few points they think are important, so you know why you are saving all the money. You don’t always need the best of the best!

Source: Outsmart Big Brands and Save Money

Religion in the United States is worth $1.2tn a year, making it equivalent to the 15th largest national economy in the world, according to a study.

The faith economy has a higher value than the combined revenues of the top 10 technology companies in the US, including Apple, Amazon and Google, says the analysis from Georgetown University in Washington DC.

The Socioeconomic Contributions of Religion to American Society: An Empirical Analysis calculated the $1.2tn figure by estimating the value of religious institutions, including healthcare facilities, schools, daycare and charities; media; businesses with faith backgrounds; the kosher and halal food markets; social and philanthropic programmes; and staff and overheads for congregations.

Co-author Brian Grim said it was a conservative estimate. More than 344,000 congregations across the US collectively employ hundreds of thousands of staff and buy billions of dollars worth of goods and services.

More than 150 million Americans, almost half the population, are members of faith congregations, according to the report. Although numbers are declining, the sums spent by religious organisations on social programmes have tripled in the past 15 years, to $9bn.

Twenty of the top 50 charities in the US are faith-based, with a combined operating revenue of $45.3bn.

Source: Religion in US ‘worth more than Google and Apple combined’ | World news | The Guardian

Threatening file-sharers with high fines or even prison sentences is not the best way to stop piracy. New research published by UK researchers shows that perceived risk has no effect on people’s file-sharing habits. Instead, the entertainment industries should focus on improving the legal options, so these can compete with file-sharing.

Source: Stop Piracy? Legal Alternatives Beat Legal Threats, Research Shows – TorrentFreak

The movie industry understood this better than the music industry. The music industry decided to try to sue everyone on the planet (including, funnily enough, themselves). The movie industry solution involved releasing movies on the same day globally, going to DVD faster after movies were out of the cinema and decreasing the price of DVDs (with them going on sale fairly quickly after). Netflix etc are also part of this flexible policy.

In 2014, San Francisco tech startup Skully raised hype and money to build a Tony Stark-style digitally augmented motorcycle helmet. Almost $2.5 million later, the company’s shutting down. Now a lawsuit from within the company gives us some hints as to why: founders allegedly blew the R&D money on lap dances and fast cars.

Source: Failed HUD Helmet Maker Skully Spent Funding On Strippers And Exotic Cars: Lawsuit

Ars investigates legal advice for hotspot operators—most are ill-informed; the rest invented.
[…]
According to the experts we consulted, anyone attempting to follow the recommendations could in practice be creating data protection liabilities that they’re ill-equipped to discharge. Others may be put off altogether by dire warnings about legal risks that simply don’t exist.

Source: Public Wi-Fi hotspots and you: Busting the many legal myths

Hong Kong bitcoin exchange Bitfinex reported yesterday that hackers had stolen 119,756 bitcoin, which is worth as much as $72 million dollars (with some reports going even higher). News of the hack sent bitcoin tumbling 23 percent, with its current value hovering around $556. Bitfinex confirmed that no other digital currency except bitcoin was targeted in the hack.

Source: Hackers Steal $72 Million in Bitcoin From Hong Kong Exchange

In a closely watched trial by the media community, shortly after 7pm on Friday night, and less than six hours after starting deliberations, the jury sided with ex-pro wrestler Hulk Hogan and awarded him $115 million in his sex tape lawsuit against Gawker Media. The trial lasted two weeks. The award consists of $55 million for economic injuries, and $60 million for emotional distress. It may also mean the end of Gawker.

Source: Gawker Ordered To Pay Hulk Hogan $115 Million In Sex Tape Lawsuit

How on earth did they come up with this astronomical figure? There is no way the Hulk could have sold it himself for anything like $55m and the distress charges are crazy!

Last year we bought 44 per second, but growth has slowed so its frowning time […] Prognostication-producers Gartner reckon the disappointing start to 2016 will continue for smartphone makers, with the year to end a mere seven per cent ahead of 2015.

If it’s accurate, that would translate to 1.5 billion units for the year – a little over 47 units per second, up from 44 units per second for 2015 (1.4 billion devices).

Source: Humanity will only buy 47 smartphones per SECOND in 2016

Again – there is something seriously wrong with people frowning about these figures because growth is low (*cough 7.5%!*). Total business size is absolutely stupendous!

The world’s largest maker of TVs by shipments added new tile ads to the main menu bar of its premium TVs in the U.S. in June 2015 and is planning to expand the program to Europe in coming months, people familiar with the matter said. […] according to one of these people, and by using software updates to retroactively activate tile ads on older smart TV models.

Samsung Adds More Ads to Its TVs – WSJ
http://www.wsj.com/articles/samsung-adds-more-ads-to-its-tvs-1464600977

Because really, people are going to buy hardware that forces unwanted ads down your throats! You don’t buy a TV as a service, you buy an item. Stay off it! The excuse that they are not growing in the TV business is farcical: they sell 50 million TVs per year and make $24.8 billion in revenue from that with slim profit margins – 3 to 5%. Poor Samsung, poor shareholders! I’d say they are indeed in deep shit but instead of pissing off their customers they could give me the industry instead. I wouldn’t complain about the paltry income from it.

So, with the Panama papers, governments are cracking down on tax dodgers. In the Netherlands the minister wants to increase the penalty for giving up your hidden funds to 300% plus back taxes plus interest. The claim is that it’s not fair, because poor people don’t have enough money to dodge taxes and so have to pay the full amount. Not much thought seems to be given anywhere on why there are so many tax dodgers. In the Netherlands there are only 4 tax categories, with the highest starting at € 66.422 and being taxed at 52%. This basically puts everyone in the top tax bracket, where the government takes more of your earnings than you receive yourself. To me this looks like blatant theft. Anyway, after you’ve earned the money and paid the taxes, you’re left with 21% VAT on every purchase you make thereafter. Should you be lucky enough to have some left after this highway robbery, currently they tax you 30% of what you have left. Next year, they will tax small savers less and large savers more. This formula only goes for earnings from salaried income. If you run your own business (which in the Netherlands 9% of the total population does: and which is probably around 30-40% of the total working population) the amount taken from you by taxes is far, far higher and you generally don’t have the social safety net to fall into. Now from where I’m standing, being fleeced by the government again and again and again isn’t particularly fair. Taxing people at the bottom of the earnings scale the same percentage as people at the top isn’t fair – which is why we got rid of poll taxes.

I’m not surprised that people don’t consider it immoral to hide their money from the money grubbing hands of governments who misspend their money on overly huge projects time and again.

In order to solve this problem, the tax system needs a major restructuring, with many many more tax brackets, running up to a maximum fair percentage, taking into account the much larger diversity of incomes since the 1980s. Only then will government highwaymen be able to claim a moral high ground over tax dodgers.