Day: April 14, 2021

Show Only ...
Maps - Photos - Videos

Bernie Madoff

|

Bernie Madoff

Despite claiming to generate large, steady returns through an investing strategy called split-strike conversion, which is an actual trading strategy, Madoff simply deposited client funds into a single bank account that he used to pay existing clients who wanted to cash out. He funded redemptions by attracting new investors and their capital, but was unable to maintain the fraud when the market turned sharply lower in late 2008. He confessed to his sons—who worked at his firm but, he claims, were not aware of the scheme—on Dec. 10, 2008. They turned him in to the authorities the next day. The fund's last statements indicated it had $64.8 billion in client assets.

From World War II & Beyond

|

Quonset Hut History: From World War II & Beyond

The George Fuller construction company is credited with being the first company to manufacture Quonset huts on behalf of the US Navy in 1941. The exact inventor or designer isn’t known, but the design is based on the Nissen Hut design that originated from World War I.?

In World War II, the U.S. Navy needed buildings that could be quickly assembled and disassembled but could withstand the rigors of the military and the Quonset hut was created. In essence, the Quonset hut wasn’t necessarily invented but was a vast improvement of the Nissen Hut.?

One of the World’s Largest Collaborative Geospatial Projects – GIS Lounge

|

OpenStreetMap: One of the World’s Largest Collaborative Geospatial Projects – GIS Lounge

OpenStreetMap (OSM) is perhaps one of the largest geospatial collaborative projects in the world, where over 1.5 million contributors have helped to edit over 1 billion features.[1]?The project effectively tries to map the world using a crowdsourcing, collaborative method.??In this MapScaping Podcast episode,?Jennings Anderson, who researches OSM, discusses the benefits of the project.

NPR

|

Falun Gong, Steve Bannon, And The Battle Over Internet Freedom Under Trump : NPR

Of all the disruptions unleashed by the Trump White House on how the federal government typically works, the saga of one small project, called the Open Technology Fund, stands out.

The fantastical tale incorporates the spiritual movement Falun Gong, former White House strategist Steve Bannon, the daughter of a late liberal Congressman, and a zealous appointee of former President Donald Trump.

And specifically, it involves a fierce, months-long battle over whether the U.S. Agency for Global Media and the U.S. State Department should subsidize software developed by adherents of Falun Gong. The decision to prioritize this software stripped money intended for critical apps from a federal fund designed to bolster technology vital to dissidents overseas, officials say. On top of that, once approved for funding, over a six-month period the software served a grand total of four people. That's right, four.