Monthly Archives: March 2014

BBT Episode 13: 12x R9 270 Twin Frozr Cross Compare – Cryptocurrency of the week: Vertcoin – Video

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BBT Episode 13: 12x R9 270 Twin Frozr Cross Compare - Cryptocurrency of the week: Vertcoin
BEST VIEWED IN 1080p HD (once post processing completed!) In this episode the BBT sets out to identify if two different PC configurations yet, same graphics ...

By: Bits Be Trippin #39;

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BBT Episode 13: 12x R9 270 Twin Frozr Cross Compare - Cryptocurrency of the week: Vertcoin - Video

CyberPowerPC joins Bitcoin craze with Mega Miner desktop series

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Summary: The latest PCs designed for cryptocurrency mining feature AMD Radeon R9 graphics cards and start at $989.

What's good enough for boutique PC builder iBuyPower is usually good enough for CyberPowerPC -- and vice versa. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that a few weeks after the iBuyPowerCoinMine desktops, designed for Bitcoin mining, were released, CyberPower has responded with its new Mega Miner family of PCs, also for cryptocurrency mining.

The Mega Miner lineup consists of three lines, which can be further customized from their base configurations. All feature AMD Radeon R9 graphics cards, which appear to be the coin mining card of choice.Starting at $989, the Mega Miner 100 comes with an AMD FX-4300 quad-core processor, 4GB of RAM, 500GB hard drive, DVD burner, and a pair of Radeon R9 270X video cards. The next step up is the Mega Miner 200, which offers similar specs except it adds a trio of R9 280X cards instead -- and bumps the price to $1,929.

For $2,569, the Mega Miner 300 switches to an Intel Core i3-4130 Haswell CPU, doubles the hard drive space, and features a trio of R9 290 graphics boards. It also deals with the heat from those powerful cards with a Corsair liquid-cooling solution -- the 100 and 200 models only include fan-based cooling, though various liquid-cooling kits are available as options. The systems come withThermaltake DPS power supplies that monitor the electricity usage all of your mining is costing you.

These new PCs, along with other projects like the Dopamine Bitcoin PC case, suggest the continued popularity of cryptocurrency mining, even as troubles like the recent Mt. Gox fiasco dog the nascent industry. Do you use your PC to mine cryptocurrency? Would you buy a new system like the Mega Miner to perform Bitcoin mining? Let us know in the Talkback section below.

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CyberPowerPC joins Bitcoin craze with Mega Miner desktop series

» About Chelsea Manning Chelsea Manning Support Network

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If you had free reign over classified networks and you saw incredible things, awful things things that belonged in the public domain, and not on some server stored in a dark room in Washington DC what would you do?

God knows what happens now. Hopefully worldwide discussion, debates, and reforms I want people to see the truth because without information, you cannot make informed decisions as a public.

-Quotes from an online chat attributed to PVT Manning

The trial of military whistle-blower and democracy advocate Chelsea Manning (known as Bradley Manning untilher Aug 22, 2013 announcement)finished on August 21st. After a prosecution which starkly showcased US government officials misplaced priorities when it comes to human rights, Army whistleblower PVT Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison. This case sets a dangerous precedent for the first amendment, opening whistle-blowers and those who help them to extreme prosecution. However, as we enter the appeals process, [Chelsea] Mannings story is far from over.

The information that Manning gave to the public exposed the unjust detainment of innocent people at Guantanamo Bay, shown us the true human cost of our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and changed journalism forever. There is no evidence that anyone died as a result of the leaked information. Through WikiLeaks Manning revealed:

Read more about what was revealed in these documents.

For her actions, PVT Manning has received the following honors and awards:Sam Adams Award (2014) Sam Adams Associates for Integrity in Intelligence Sean Macbride Peace Prize(2013) International Peace Bureau In His Footsteps Award (2013)- Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club Nobel Peace Prize nominee (2014, 2013 & 2012) Movement of the Icelandic Parliament, Oklahoma Center for Conscience and Peace Research, and former Nobel Laureate Mairead Maguire Person of the Year (2012)- UK Guardian 2013 Peace Prize US Peace Memorial Foundation Peacemaker of the Year (2013) The Peace & Justice Center of Sonoma County Hero of Peace Award (2013) Eisenhower Chapter of Veterans for Peace SF Trans March Award (2013) San Francisco Trans March SF Pride Grand Marshal Runner-Up (2013) SF LGBT Pride former Grand Marshals Peoples Choice Human Rights Award (2012)- Global Exchange

More About the Trial On July 30, 2013, PVT Manning was found not guilty of the most serious charge against her, that of Aiding the Enemy. However, she was convicted of 20 offenses, including 6 under the Espionage Act. On August 21, 2013 she was sentenced by military judge Col. Denise Lind to 35 years in prison -less than the 60 years requested by the government, yet still an unusually harsh sentence for a non-violent crime. The New York Times Editorial Board published the following in response:

35 years is far too long a sentence by any standard. In more than two weeks of hearings, government lawyers presented vague and largely speculative claims that Private Mannings leaks had endangered lives and chilled diplomatic relations. On the other hand, much of what Private Manning released was of public value

Human Rights Watch general council Dinah PoKempner stated that:

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» About Chelsea Manning Chelsea Manning Support Network

As Snowden roams free in robot form, our cyborg future has arrived

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I take it back I take it all back.

The Beam teleconference robot is not the douchiest product of all time, as I so cynically claimed after seeing it in action during the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show. In fact, its amazing so amazing that its use by NSA whistleblower and eloquent fugitive badass Edward Snowden at this weeks TED Talks made me realize an idea that is both astonishing and, somehow, already a normal part of 21st century life: Thanks to technology, we are not longer merely humans at all. We are cyborgs. The line has been crossed.

Using Beams keyboard-powered interface, Snowden wheeled around the stage, giving himself a better look at the audience.

Beam, if you havent yet encountered it, is a remote presence system made by Suitable Technologies, and first launched in 2012. The $16,000 contraption has an iPad-like screen for a face, multiple Internet-connected cameras, and has wheels that allow users to pilot around a room (or, in Snowdens case, a conference center).

The company touts many uses for Beam eliminating the need for business executives to travel to international offices, allowing doctors to better treat quarantined patients, remote learning for university students all of which I dismissed as secondary to Beams eerie presence after experiencing it on the show floor of CES. In retrospect, I realize that I was simply being an unimaginative jerk.

The next time I came across a Beam was this week, while streaming TED Talks to my TV with Google Chromecast. (Highly recommended, FYI.) Thanks to the Beam, Snowden appeared on stage in Vancouver for a 35-minute interview with TED head Chris Anderson. Using Beams keyboard-powered interface, he wheeled around the stage, giving himself a better look at the audience. He shifted his digital gaze to have a quick chat with Sir Tim Berners-Lee, father of the Web, who had a brief on-stage cameo. He wore, below his screen, a big name tag that read Edward Snowden, citizen.

Seeing as this is a TED, home of next-generation ideas and thinking, it is easy to take this futuristic scene for granted. But lets just pause for a moment to reflect on what took place: From a secret remote location in Russia, Snowden, one of the most sought-after fugitives from the U.S. government, gave an interview, chatted with the inventor of the Web, tooled around on a stage some 5,000 miles away, then mingled with the TED crowd, and even had his picture taken with Googles Larry Page.

That is goddamn incredible.

Without the Beam, most of that would have been impossible. Yes, he could have still done the interview part, like he did at SXSW. But he certainly couldnt have taken selfies with TED-goers. And, I imagine, it wouldnt have felt like he was really there. Even from my remote location (on my couch), Beam-Snowden seemed like a person, like a living being occupying space around other living beings. He wasnt just a face on a screen.

This idea that we are already cyborgs an interdependent mix of man and machine is not new. But it is part of our reality. Just snatch a smartphone away from a 16-year-old, and youll see that neither function well without the other. Nor is it novel that technology allows us to do things that were previously impossible thats the point. But Beam-Snowden is something different; he (it, whatever) existed in a place outside his body. He did, in fact, go to Canada.

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As Snowden roams free in robot form, our cyborg future has arrived