月份: 2018 年 3 月

Facebook has come under fire recently for privacy after the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Cambridge Analytica was a firm which accessed data of tens of millions of Facebook users, without their explicit consent, and used it to sell their ad targeting capabilities to political entities.  The firm was recently caught boasting about their tactics, including extortion, bribery and entrapment by a Channel 4 documentary in the UK.

In response to this, Brian Acton, WhatsApp co-founder, has tweeted that users should delete Facebook, and take advantage of more private solutions, like Signal. Acton previously sold WhatsApp to Facebook for $19 billion dollars in 2014.

While Acton’s interest in Signal seems quite self-interested on the face of it, Facebook really has stepped in it this time. The company is facing summons and inquiries from both US and European legislators, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been absent from the conversation.

Similarly, many tech publications have taken advantage of the zeitgeist, with how-to guides urging users to delete Facebook.
Facebook might end up inadvertently shape the future of privacy on social media, and push it into a more private sphere than it had previously existed in.

According to public documents the mining giant based out of Beijing, Bitmain Technologies, is allegedly building a data facility near Port Walla Walla, Washington called ‘Ant Creek.’

Also read: Washington Politicians Defend Regulations as Cryptocurrency Exchanges Flee

Is Bitmain Quietly Constructing a Large Mining Facility in Washington State?

The mining company and device manufacturer Bitmain has been quietly developing some sort of data facility based near the Port Walla Walla in Washington state. According to registration documents online, Ant Creek LLC is a firm based in Tumwater, Washington, and the active company was logged as an LLC on June 28, 2017. The for-profit Washington company’s record ownership is filed under Jihan Wu’s name.

Washington state in the U.S. has seen a surge of interest over the past few months due to cheaper electricity rates. News.Bitcoin.com recently reported on a small town called Wenatchee which is three hours from Seattle that’s becoming a mining epicenter. Allegedly the small town is home to a dozen miners, and over 75 have inquired with the head of the local power utility, Steve Wright. Chelan County in Washington is considering hosting mining operations in that area as well.

Ant Creek to Provide Millions in Private Revenue and Full Time Jobs

As far as Bitmain’s Ant Creek is concerned the Port of Walla Walla’s Executive Director, Patrick Reay tells the regional publication the Union Bulletin that he has been working with Ant Creek for roughly six months. Reay explains the development is a “blockchain facility.” The town of Port Walla Walla is considering the lease of 40 acres of land between two industrial parks. According to the local news and the Port’s bureaucrats, the “bitcoin mining” project could produce $7-10 million in private revenue and 15-20 full-time jobs.

“Our purpose is to generate assessed value and create jobs,” Reay explains in an interview.

The Port’s Director details that the lease will be roughly $4,166 USD per month and a $535 state leasehold tax. Further Ant Creek will help develop certain property requirements like storm drainage, and water lines in line with the Walla Walla County building statutes. Bitmain Technologies is also strategically setting up facilities in Canada and Switzerland this year.

Are you running late for work and blaming your electric alarm clock?

The real reason may lie in a dispute between Kosovo and Serbia, which has affected Europe’s power grid.

Entsoe, the body representing electricity transmission operators across 25 European countries, said bedside clocks had slowed down by up to six minutes since mid-January.

Central heating timers and oven clocks are also affected – but not computers or smart phones.

Countries from Spain to Turkey and from Poland to the Netherlands are part of a large area in Europe linked together into an electricity grid that operates at a synchronised frequency. This frequency regulates time-keeping in certain devices.

The UK and some Nordic countries are not affected.

During the crisis period, Kosovo did not generate enough electricity to meet its needs.

According to Entsoe, Serbia is legally obliged to meet Kosovo’s demand to keep the European grid stable.

But because Kosovo and Serbia are in dispute over the issue – and many more related to Kosovo’s unilateral secession from Serbia 10 years ago – Serbia did not step in.

This failure to act on time forced the frequency to “deviate” – and the drop affected the clocks. Other countries that lost reserves amounting to 113 GWh are seeking compensation.

“The deviation stopped yesterday [Tuesday] when Kosovo generated the energy it needs,” Entsoe spokeswoman Susanne Nies told the BBC.

Surplus energy would need to be generated and fed into the system over time for the balance to be redressed across the continent, Ms Nies said.

So yes, you can manually adjust your clocks – but they will automatically stop losing time once the grid stabilises.

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