spencerackerman

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    Facebook should know by now what's news and what's spam

    by 
    Nicole Lee
    Nicole Lee
    01.29.2016

    Late last week, The Guardian published an interview with a survivor of Obama's first drone strike, which occurred in tribal Pakistan on his third day as president. It detailed the impact the attack had and raised concerns over the civilian damage these drone strikes can cause. But as important as this story sounds, you would not have been able to share it on Facebook. If you tried to do so, Facebook would have blocked you.

  • Pain Gun vs. Reporter round two, reporter left feelin' hot, hot, hot (video)

    by 
    Daniel Cooper
    Daniel Cooper
    03.13.2012

    You may not recall when 60 Minutes' David Martin took a shot at the Pain Gun, but it didn't end well for the fleshy anchorman. Now Wired's Spencer Ackerman's having a go, with similarly one-sided results. The Pentagon's sanguinely-named Active Denial System turns electricity into millimeter-wave radio frequency, silently pumping out 95GHz of searing hot agony from distances of 2,500 feet. The project's still got a few issues, namely that it takes 16 hours to boot up, uses a heck of a lot of energy and stops working if it's raining, snowing or dusty. But, you know, it'll be back when the air clears up, and you probably don't want to be around when it arrives. If you'd like to see the score go 2-0 to the weaponized microwave, head on past the break.