The Day The Grid Failed: The Seventeen Minutes That Exposed The Fragile Foundations Of Modern Civilization

US Charges Google Employee With Pocketing Millions From Insider Trading Bets On Polymarket Authored by Stephen Katte via CoinTelegraph.com, US authorities have charged a Google employee with allegedly using information from the company to make bets on Polymarket and profit $1.2 million. The Justice Department said on Wednesday that it unsealed charges against Google software engineer Michele Spagnuolo, accusing him of accessing unreleased internal information at Google and placing 25 bets worth $2.7 million on markets related to the most searched individuals on Google in 2025. Prosecutors said Spagnuolo owned the Polymarket account “AlphaRaccoon”, which...

"Worst Is Yet To Come": Global Smartphone Shipments Crash 22% As Memory Crisis Squeezes Consumers Technology research firm IDC's latest report confirms our warning earlier this week of "more pain to come," with global smartphone shipments plunging in the third quarter as rising memory chip costs squeeze margins, boost handset prices, and make these devices more expensive than ever. Preliminary data from the advisory firm show worldwide smartphone shipments plunged 22% year over year to 255.3 million units in the third quarter, as the AI-related memory chip shortage sent component costs...

NY State Loses $73 Million In Federal Highway Funding Over Failed CDL Revocations Authored by Bryan Hyde via American Greatness, Over $73 million in federal highway funds are being withheld from New York state after an audit found more than half the state’s commercial drivers licenses (CDL) were issued to foreigners illegally. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced yesterday that the state failed to revoke “illegally issued nondomiciled commercial learner’s permits and commercial driver’s licenses.” According to a December press release from the U.S. Dept. of Transportation, a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) nationwide audit of non-domiciled commercial...