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Are Rogue Militants Preparing for War on American Soil? N the third day of Operation Jade Helm 15 — the Special Forces training drill this summer that scared the hell out of nearly half of Texas — an ex-Marine named Pete Lanteri was leaning against a pickup truck at a Citgo station in the tiny town of Bastrop, scoping out an airplane high above the Camp Swift military base.

Are Rogue Militants Preparing for War on American Soil?

Lanteri was having a bad couple of weeks. The night before, he drove 16 hours from his home outside Phoenix and spent the morning passed out in his Hummer. Five days earlier, he had taken down his Facebook page after it was viciously attacked by angry liberals. The week before that, his dog had died. Don’t Call Us the Lebanese Kardashians: Abdelaziz Sisters Stir Up the Arab World. BEIRUT—Even in this flashy town, it’s hard to keep up with the Abdelazizes.

Don’t Call Us the Lebanese Kardashians: Abdelaziz Sisters Stir Up the Arab World

Alice, Nadine, and Farah Abdelaziz—three Lebanese beauties—have shot to fame and controversy in the Arab world as stars of a pan-Arab reality TV series, “The Sisters.” Viewers immediately called it a homegrown version of “Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” the American show following three Los Angeles celebrity sisters. Forget that Lebanon hasn’t had a president for over a year because of deep political divisions. The Abdelaziz sisters have Lebanon divided along a new fault line, one where people bicker about how the brunette sisters present this cosmopolitan but still partly conservative Middle East nation to the world. Google Tracker 2015: Everything we know Google is working on for the new year. The new year is almost here, and that means it's time for the bi-annual Google Tracker, our roundup of all of Google's news, rumors, and acquisitions.

Google Tracker 2015: Everything we know Google is working on for the new year

Hopefully it paints a clearer picture of what will happen with the company in the future. We're not really predicting launch dates or guaranteeing that everything in this article will launch in 2015; we're outlining a list of projects and initiatives currently underway at Google HQ. Think of it as a big "to-do" list for Google—things can be delayed, moved around, or canceled, but to the best of our knowledge, this is a good synopsis of the company's current goals.

The 2013-2014 version of the Ars Google Tracker worked out pretty well: Android Wear, Google Play Games, Android One, the Nexus Player, YouTube Music Key, and many features of Lollipop were all represented. So if you pay close attention to Google news, this post should be a good refresher. Most Popular Top 10s of 2014. Tech Etiquette: 21 Do’s and Don’ts for 2015. First almost fully-formed human brain grown in lab, researchers claim.

An almost fully-formed human brain has been grown in a lab for the first time, claim scientists from Ohio State University.

First almost fully-formed human brain grown in lab, researchers claim

The team behind the feat hope the brain could transform our understanding of neurological disease. Though not conscious the miniature brain, which resembles that of a five-week-old foetus, could potentially be useful for scientists who want to study the progression of developmental diseases. It could also be used to test drugs for conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, since the regions they affect are in place during an early stage of brain development. The brain, which is about the size of a pencil eraser, is engineered from adult human skin cells and is the most complete human brain model yet developed, claimed Rene Anand of Ohio State University, Columbus, who presented the work today at the Military Health System Research Symposium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

YCNojkq. Despite Its Beauty, Cuba Isn't Quite Ready For Tourists. In 1959, Fidel Castro imposed a law forbidding the import of foreign cars, so many Cubans drive and maintain older models.

Despite Its Beauty, Cuba Isn't Quite Ready For Tourists

Kate Skogen/JetKat Photo hide caption itoggle caption Kate Skogen/JetKat Photo In 1959, Fidel Castro imposed a law forbidding the import of foreign cars, so many Cubans drive and maintain older models. Uk.businessinsider. Sam Gellman Though American photographer Sam Gellman spends his days working for the transportation technology startup Uber in Hong Kong, he has long been a travel photography nut.

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He has made a habit of traveling to uncommon places that don't usually go on other travelers' radars. When in 2011 he got a chance to travel to North Korea through the Beijing-based Koryo Tours, he jumped. While in the isolated nation, he was ushered around by his North Korean guides, who, in between spouting anti-American rhetoric, made sure that he saw just how well the country was doing. What he found was that, despite the strong antagonism between the US and North Korea, the people were not that much different.

Quora. The core factor of success is focus, and here’s how to get it. Peak performance experts say things like, “You should focus.

The core factor of success is focus, and here’s how to get it

You need to eliminate the distractions. Commit to one thing and become great at that thing.” This is good advice. The more I study successful people from all walks of life—artists, athletes, entrepreneurs, scientists—the more I believe focus is a core factor of success. A new game will let you experience the Titanic's sinking in real time. Have you ever wanted to be on the Titanic while it was sinking?

A new game will let you experience the Titanic's sinking in real time

If so, now’s your chance. A new video game is currently being funded on Indiegogo that's attempting to bring the final two hours and 40 minutes of the Titanic’s sinking to gamers. The team wants to create an adventure-style game in which you play the ship's captain and try to decide who to save, as well as hunt down a murderer on the ship. Health Agency Says Widely Used Herbicide Likely Carcinogenic. Silicon Valley executives taking extreme measures to keep their homes secret. Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan at their wedding ceremony in Palo Alto, California in 2012 (AP) Such confidentiality agreements have previously only been employed by a few of the biggest names in Hollywood, but now figures in the tech industry; from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg right down to little-known company CEOs and mid-ranking engineers at firms such as Twitter and Google, are demanding them.

Silicon Valley executives taking extreme measures to keep their homes secret

Their widespread use, and the industry’s obsessive desire for discretion, was last week revealed in court documents filed in a lawsuit against Mr Zuckerberg, whose social media firm has previously been accused of violating users' privacy in order to sell more adverts. The 30-year-old entrepreneur is being sued by Romanian developer Mircea Voskerician, who claims he was duped into selling Mr Zuckerberg the rights to buy a property overlooking the CEO’s home in Palo Alto he shares with his wife Priscilla, for a reduced price. New data uncovers the surprising predictability of Android lock patterns.

The abundance of password leaks over the past decade has revealed some of the most commonly used—and consequently most vulnerable—passphrases, including "password", "p@$$w0rd", and "1234567".

New data uncovers the surprising predictability of Android lock patterns

The large body of data has proven invaluable to whitehats and blackhats alike in identifying passwords that on their face may appear strong but can be cracked in a matter of seconds. Now, Android lock patterns—the password alternative Google introduced in 2008 with the launch of its Android mobile OS—are getting the same sort of treatment. The Tic-Tac-Toe-style patterns, it turns out, frequently adhere to their own sets of predictable rules and often possess only a fraction of the complexity they're capable of. How Technology Grows Up. There is an important observation to be made about the life cycle of technology.

It relates to how a technology is born, goes through predictable stages of development, then reaches maturity. With the coming of the Apple Watch, it seems a good time to shed light on how this process works. As we look back at the earliest computing products, from PCs, early tablets, cell phones, smartphones, and more, we often take for granted how much evolution took place over many years as the product took “baby steps” over the course of time to get to where it is today. Think about the first PCs. If someone was to launch a PC that looked like this today, no one would take it seriously. Which Jobs Have the Highest Rates of Depression? Sometimes when I observe someone doing their job, I can't help but think, "Man, that must be hard. " Maybe it's a retail worker dutifully leading a customer to the linens aisle for the umpteenth time.

Maybe it's a cab driver who's shuttling passengers around at 5 a.m. It's always hard to say who truly has it harder; perhaps that retail worker and that cab driver have themselves come away from other interactions thinking the same thing I did. Now, some psychiatrists have spoken on which jobs are actually more of a grind, at least from the standpoint of mental health. A study published last month in the journal Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epistemology suggests that some jobs have much higher rates of depression than others. I am actor Patrick Stewart of Yorkshire, X-Men, Star Trek and Blunt Talk. AMA! : IAmA. MIT claims to have found a “language universal” that ties all languages together.

Language takes an astonishing variety of forms across the world—to such a huge extent that a long-standing debate rages around the question of whether all languages have even a single property in common. Well, there’s a new candidate for the elusive title of “language universal” according to a paper in this week’s issue of PNAS. All languages, the authors say, self-organise in such a way that related concepts stay as close together as possible within a sentence, making it easier to piece together the overall meaning. Language universals are a big deal because they shed light on heavy questions about human cognition. The most famous proponent of the idea of language universals is Noam Chomsky, who suggested a “universal grammar” that underlies all languages. Uk.businessinsider. What Is Going To Happen. Yesterday I wrote a post summing up what happened in 2014.

In it I promised a post on what is going to happen. What I did not specify was how far forward I am going to look. It’s a lot easier to predict the future without a timeline on it. I think we all know, for example, we are going to have driverless cars. Atoning for a Genocide - The New Yorker. When I try to imagine my grandfather, the face that appears to me is a variation of a pencil drawing that hangs in my parents’ house. The drawing captures the earliest image of him that we have in our family. He appears to be in his thirties, and he stares down from the wall with a serious countenance, a sharply groomed mustache, a tall, stiff collar, a tie pin. He seems like a self-possessed man, with an air of formality: a formidable person.

I never had the chance to meet him. The 10 most important life lessons to master in your 30s. Crimea Pivotal In Ukraine-Russia Peace Deal - Business Insider. A step toward a potential anti-aging drug. Medieval peasants got a lot more vacation time than you: economist. My favorite face paints i have done! Asked for new hats, Grandma did not disappoint! How to Read People Like Sherlock Holmes: 4 Insights From Research.

The most important cardboard box ever? History, Travel, Arts, Science, People, Places. Theconversation. Three Things People Look for When Forming a First Impression Of You. The price of life in Singapore, city of rules: 'It’s a Faustian deal' Never Buy a Phone Again. What the World Will Speak in 2115. Childhood Guilt, Adult Depression? - The Atlantic. Uk.businessinsider. How Often You Really Need To Shower (According To Science) Regular naps are 'key to learning' Bored ... And Brilliant? A Challenge To Disconnect From Your Phone : All Tech Considered. The health benefits of happiness.

Relationships/Hormones. The Best Moves to Make So a Nursing Home Doesn’t Bankrupt You. How to Get Rid of 'Mommy Guilt' (or Daddy Guilt) Once and For All. Ditching Your Commute Is the Happiness Equivalent of a $40,000 Raise. Weird things start to happen when you stare into someone's eyes for 10 minutes. Making A Brain Map That We Can Use : 13.7: Cosmos And Culture. Uk.businessinsider. G6mCaiV.jpg (JPEG Image, 640 × 478 pixels) The future of books looks a lot like the past. Top 10 Difficult Decisions You'll Make in Life (and How to Make Them) 8 Science-Backed Reasons to Read a (Real) Book. Trade Secrets. Why the modern world is bad for your brain. Eb764DD.png (PNG Image, 640 × 623 pixels)

Nine Quotes from Stoic Philosophers for Happier Days. Ages of Revolution: How Old Were They on July 4, 1776? Ageing research: Blood to blood. History, Travel, Arts, Science, People, Places. This is the most crystal-clear image of space ever taken. Atoms can be in two places at the same time. Best Cities To Live In - Business Insider. hClOzhD. Uk.businessinsider. History, Travel, Arts, Science, People, Places. The Ethics Of The 'Singularity' : 13.7: Cosmos And Culture. Telomere extension turns back aging clock in cultured human cells, study finds. Wine-tasting: it's junk science. Snowden: iPhones Have Secret Spyware That Lets Govt's Monitor Unsuspecting Users. Millions of German workers in poverty. Where do the wealthiest 1% live? If you don’t understand how people fall into poverty, you’re probably a sociopath.

This is what the world looks like if you scale countries by population. 10 Engagement Ring Alternatives You Should Consider. Dust-Proof Your Home With a DIY Fabric Softener and Water Solution. I7JBdla. Public and scientists express strikingly different views about science-related issues. What If America Had Never Invaded Afghanistan? As an engineer this is very relevant. There's No Perfect Age to Find a Husband - Phoebe Maltz Bovy. The Mystery of Autism.

"Study Less, Study Smart": The Best Ways to Retain More in Less Time. Your college major is a pretty good indication of how smart you are. Why testosterone is the drug of the future. The dark side of being the ‘gifted kid’ GqGkvi1.jpg (JPEG Image, 1000 × 667 pixels) Dropping a ball in fine sand (x-post r/gifs) How Motion Picture Film is Made. Scientists Confirm Institute of Medicine Recommendation for Vitamin D Intake Was Miscalculated and Is Far Too Low. A Clever Way to Tell Which of Your Emails Are Being Tracked. Saudi Arabia's new desert megacity. Why modern fiction has turned its back on friendship. Judge orders release of detainee photos. Businessinsider. Ask Ethan #80: Can space expand faster than the speed of light? — Starts With A Bang! What the Hell Is the Purpose of Hell? Technologies Smart Enough to Exploit Human Nature. The best eight young adult books – and why grownups should read them, too. Old age is getting younger.