Easily digestible tech news... http://www.techdirt.com/ en-us http://www.techdirt.com/images/td-88x31.gifhttp://www.techdirt.com/ Mon, 1 Apr 2013 17:00:00 PDT Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090508/2316154813/dailydirt-actual-theft-underground-economies.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090508/2316154813/dailydirt-actual-theft-underground-economies.shtml unemployment or GDP are more than just slightly off. Here are just a few interesting stories related to some fairly sizable underground economies.

• An underground economy of off-the-book businesses could account for trillions in commerce and employ nearly half of all workers. This gray market called "System D" could be worth $10 trillion per year, making it the biggest economy after the US (which itself has an underground economy estimated to be about 10-20% of its GDP). [url]
• A real-life heist involving about 8 men posing as police officers made off with about $50 million in diamonds from a plane headed for Zurich, Switzerland. It might be difficult for these robbers to sell these diamonds through legitimate routes, so the jewels will probably become part of an underground currency. [url]
• Surprisingly, Tide detergent isn't just soap; it's also used as a currency for buying drugs. Procter & Gamble hasn't seen much of a negative effect on its brand, so bottles of liquid Tide will likely continue to be part of the black market. [url]

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]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20090508/2316154813 Tue, 5 Mar 2013 17:00:00 PST Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101208/01354312183/dailydirt-do-not-pass-go-do-not-collect-200.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101208/01354312183/dailydirt-do-not-pass-go-do-not-collect-200.shtml

Anheuser-Busch InBev and SABMiller own a lot of beer companies, and Anheuser-Busch InBev wants to buy up Grupo Modelo next. If the deal goes through, 46% of the US beer market would be controlled by a single company. [url]

Eyeglasses aren't exactly hard to make, but they can be surprisingly expensive for a few grams of plastic. Luxottica is the company behind the glasses that about half a billion people wear, but maybe that will change when Google starts selling its fancy eyewear.... [url]

If you've ever bought (or tried to sell) a diamond, you've probably run across a little company called De Beers. Chemistry professors should curse De Beers for the broadly held myth that a diamond is forever... diamonds are not the most thermodynamically stable form of carbon by a long shot. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.

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]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20101208/01354312183 Wed, 12 Dec 2012 17:00:00 PST Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101104/03571611721/dailydirt-caring-our-pets.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101104/03571611721/dailydirt-caring-our-pets.shtml

An organization in New Zealand is teaching dogs how to drive cars. Imagine the traffic problems if someone shouts, "Squirrel!" [url]

Cats and dogs are training their owners to respond to their wishes, just like human babies do. Can you resist a cat's solicitation purr? [url]

The technology for turning departed loved ones (humans) into diamonds has been around for several years, but pet diamondification is where the synthetic diamond memorialization market is heading. A diamond really isn't forever, but nobody wants to hear about the actual thermodynamic stability of diamonds. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.

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]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20101104/03571611721 Thu, 4 Oct 2012 17:00:00 PDT Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101004/02180911273/dailydirt-diamonds-diamonds-everywhere.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101004/02180911273/dailydirt-diamonds-diamonds-everywhere.shtml Aluminum used to be the most expensive metal in the world... but it's no longer as highly regarded as it once was. Here are just a few links on one of our favorite allotropes of carbon.

• Forget OxiClean. The "power of diamonds" can help clean away tough stains in every laundry load. Nanodiamond particles in laundry detergents can dislodge dirt from fabrics without using hot water -- saving energy and adding some sparkle. [url]
• There's a recently de-classified deposit of impact diamonds in Russia -- and it's so big that it's estimated that this resource could serve the world's diamond needs for 3,000 years. These impact diamonds are twice as hard as traditional gemstones because they're formed when a carbon-rich meteor collides with the earth and the resulting explosion creates this unique material. [url]
• Diamonds aren't as rare as most people think they are -- if you're willing (or able) to travel a few thousand light years, you can find a whole planet made of diamond. A carbon-rich planet that is probably crystalline (and hence diamond-like) orbits the pulsar J1719-1438, and it's the most dense planet seen so far. [url]

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]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20101004/02180911273 Mon, 11 Jun 2012 17:00:00 PDT Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100707/11020210105/dailydirt-bring-out-your-dead.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100707/11020210105/dailydirt-bring-out-your-dead.shtml

Elvis Presley's original crypt is being auctioned off, and a really big fan of Elvis will be able to rest in peace where Elvis once did. The bidding starts at $100,000 -- but as the saying goes, "You can't take it with you..." [url]

There are a bunch of companies that will turn ashes of loved ones (human or pet) into diamonds. Maybe they'll start engraving decoded genomes onto the diamonds, and that'll help preserve even more of our dearly departed. [url]

Actor James Doohan, who played Scotty on the original Star Trek series, has been launched into orbit to his final resting place -- as (some of) his ashes were aboard the second stage of the SpaceX rocket that met up with the International Space Station. Celestis is the company that provided the service for Doohan, and it usually charges about $3,000 for a gram of ashes to reach Earth orbit. [url]

To find some more bizarre/crazy stuff, check out some things that other StumbleUpon users have found. [url]  

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]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20100707/11020210105 Mon, 2 Apr 2012 17:00:00 PDT Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100406/1506138901/dailydirt-diamonds-with-lucy-sky.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100406/1506138901/dailydirt-diamonds-with-lucy-sky.shtml

The world's first all-diamond ring -- no setting needed, but it's kinda difficult to re-size -- weighs in at about 150 carats and $68 million. And if it gets stuck on your finger, it'll be really hard to cut off without taking your finger with it.... [url]

The 45-carat Hope Diamond could provide some insights on the geology of the Earth, but it's not easy to conduct science on famous museum artifacts. Scientists are looking at how boron makes blue diamonds blue, and they're etching off a few atomic layers of the diamond to determine how much boron is in it. [url]

Diamonds can store qubits at room temperature for at least a couple seconds -- a pretty long time in the world of quantum physics. This discovery might lead to more practical quantum computers -- but general quantum computing is still a long way from becoming as useful as traditional computing. [url]

To discover more interesting science-related stuff, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]  

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]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20100406/1506138901 Thu, 3 Nov 2011 17:00:00 PDT Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20111007/14242116258/dailydirt-diamonds-dont-just-look-pretty.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20111007/14242116258/dailydirt-diamonds-dont-just-look-pretty.shtml

Chemical impurities locked inside diamonds could help clarify some major geological processes. We don't know much about how the carbon cycle from the ocean floor mixed with the Earth's mantle, but superdeep diamonds could give us some clues. [url]

About 4,000 contact lenses with embedded gold flakes and diamonds will be made available for sale in India. "Your optometrist must have been a thief because he stole some gold and diamonds and put them in your eyes..." [url]

De Beers is investing in artificial diamond manufacturing for the semiconductor industry. In a few years, maybe marriage proposals will include microchips that are graded on their color, cut, clarity, etc... [url]

To discover more interesting science-related stuff, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]  

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]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20111007/14242116258