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Wednesday, February 20, 2013
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The Mystery of Israel's 'Prisoner X'
February 20th, 2013Top StoryThe Mystery of Israel's 'Prisoner X'By Adrian Chen
The story, or at least what we know of the story for sure, starts in December 2010, when 34-year-old Australian-Israeli Ben Zygier was found dead in the shower after allegedly hanging himself with a bedsheet in the most secure section of Israel's most secure prison. Zygier had disappeared the prior February and been imprisoned in Ayalon Prison's infamous Unit 15, a solitary confinement unit that was originally built to house Yigal Amir, Yitzhak Rabin's assassin. Zygier had been held under the utmost secrecy—even his jailers didn't didn't know his identity, referring to him only as "Prisoner X." The first hints of Zygier's case emerged in the summer of 2010, when Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot posted a tantalizing wisp of a story about Prisoner X. "He is in absolute isolation from the external world," a prison source told the paper. "I'm not aware of any other prisoner held in such grave conditions of isolation." The post was quickly removed. According to the Israeli affairs blogger Richard Silverstein, the Israeli press had been put under a strict gag order regarding Prisoner X, forbidden even to report the existence of the blackout. The Israeli press is subject to official censorship, where any story on matters of national security must be approved by the military censor's office. But a few foreign news outlets picked up the story. Silverstein, a harsh critic of Israeli censorship policies, persisted in hunting down the identity of Prisoner X, at one point mis-identifying him as an Iranian general. Then in December of 2010, shocking news emerged that Prisoner X had committed suicide, again published and removed by an israeli newspaper within minutes. Still, the identity of the man remained a mystery. Finally, last week, the Australian Broadcasting Company named Prisoner X: He was Ben Zygier, a 34-year-old married father of two, and he was a Mossad agent suspected of unspecified serious crimes against Israel. Yet even after the ABC broke the news, the Israeli government tried to maintain a strict blackout. Israeli news stories about the ABC report were pulled down as soon as they were posted. An emergency meeting of Israel's "editors committee"—an informal organization that works with the government to self-censor Israel's media—was called, and editors were reminded not to report on the story which could "severely embarrasses" the country.
So Zygier was a spy. But the mystery of what went wrong still remains. What sort of crime could he have been accused of to warrant such extreme secrecy and seclusion? Conspiracy theorists have had fertile soil to till, and the rumor mill has been fed by Israel's dogged attempts to suppress the story: Some speculate that Zygier had acted as a double agent for Australian intelligence services. He was reportedly linked to Mossad's dramatic 2010 Dubai assassination of a Hamas gun runner. In that case, four of the 29 suspected agents used fake Australian passports to travel to the site of the hit, much to the Australian government's chagrin. Perhaps Zygier was revealing to Australian authorities details about the operation even as he helped accomplish it. The ASIO had "interrogated him (Zygier), they suspected him, they knew many things," a security official told The Australian. Others speculate he may have been about to reveal that the government of Abu Dhabi was complicit in the assassination. Still others say it had to do with spilling secrets about Israel's sabotage of Iran's nuclear program. And of course there's the nagging question of whether Zygier really managed to kill himself in the most secure prison in Israel, or maybe had some help, indirectly or otherwise. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu has defended Israel's handling of the case and denied that Zygier may have been turned by the Australians. Curiously, Zygier's family isn't talking. When they were notified of Zygier's imprisonment by Israel in 2010 they did not request help from the Australian government. And when Zygier killed himself that December, they had his body flown back to Australia where they quietly buried it in a Jewish cemetery in the Melbourne suburbs. The real story behind Prisoner X may have been buried with him. [Image by Jim Cooke]  |
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Sony Will Announce The PlayStation 4 Tonight. Here's Everything We Know So Far.
February 20th, 2013Top StorySony Will Announce The PlayStation 4 Tonight. Here's Everything We Know So Far.By Jason Schreier
At 6pm Eastern, Sony will hold a big event in New York City to announce the highly-anticipated PlayStation 4. Kotaku will be in attendance, and we'll be reporting everything that happens as it happens. But for now, what should expect from the next next-generation? Let's look back at everything we've heard about Sony's next console. It's codenamed Orbis. At least internally. Developers and publishers all across the world refer to Sony's new machine by the codename Orbis, a Latin word meaning circle, ring, or orbit. Combine that with Vita—the name of Sony's handheld—and you have Orbis Vita: the circle of life. Though we don't know what Sony is *officially* calling the next PlayStation, some have theorized that it might not be called the PlayStation 4, as four is an unlucky number in Japan. So maybe they'll stick with Orbis? It does have a nice ring to it. Some other suggestions: PlayStation U, Pl4yst4tion, Return Of PlayStation, PlayStation 5, PlayStation: The Next Generation, 2 Play 2 Station, Xbox. It's probably out this holiday season. Yesterday we heard from a reliable source that the next PlayStation will be out this November. This matches up with what we've been hearing since last year: a holiday 2013 release for the new machine. Although a few rumors suggested that the PS4 could be pushed back to early 2014, recent rumors—reported by Kotaku, Edge, and The Wall Street Journal, among others—all point to this year. We probably won't hear every detail tonight. Sony would be insane to play all of their cards on a random Wednesday in February. Expect them to reserve at least a few major details—final release date, pricing, launch lineup—for E3 this June and possibly another big event this fall. Maybe history can shed some light on what will be revealed tonight? Check out our full rundown on what Sony announced at past hardware events. The prototype controllers look like this. Leaked from various sources, here are photos of the prototype PS4 controller that developers have been playing around with: We don't know if the final controller will look exactly like the prototype, but it's safe to expect that it will be similar. The middle touchpad—not a touchscreen, but a touchpad—matches up with rumors we've heard and reported. We can't see any "share" button, but... The console will support sharing in some way. Orbis documentation seen by Kotaku suggested that the PS4's controller will have a "share" button, and Edge took our reports one step further, saying they've heard that the PS4 will automatically record gameplay so you can share it with all of your Twitter followers or Facebook friends or other denizens of the Internet. While it's possible Sony has changed their plans, it's likely that Sony's next console will allow you to share videos and screenshots of your games in some fashion. Maybe you'll be able to upload video footage directly to YouTube? Maybe you'll be able to watch 12-year-olds call you racial slurs in real time? Anything's possible with PlayStation™! The console will feature cloud gaming. Last year, when Sony bought the cloud gaming company Gaikai, everyone assumed that they would incorporate cloud gaming in some fashion. And sure enough, Sony recently registered domains for something called PlayStation Cloud. So what does all of that mean? One report says you'll be able to stream PS3 games. Likely you'll be able to store save files and downloadable games on the cloud as well. Some of the games are already announced. Gamers aren't the only ones twiddling their thumbs and waiting impatiently for Sony and Microsoft to open up about their new consoles—even the people who make games can't seem to hold back. Ubisoft's Watch Dogs stole the show at E3 2012, and last week we showed you a poster that essentially identifies the open-world cyberpunk game as a next-gen title. Maybe we'll see more footage of that game tonight. Polish developer CD Projekt Red announced The Witcher 3 for a 2014 release on "all high-end platforms"—subtle, right?—and we expect to see some Battlefield 4 tonight as well. Then of course there's the curious case of The Phantom Pain, the non-game game that stars a man who looks a lot like Solid Snake, and is developed by an enigmatic studio that may have ties to Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima. (It's Metal Gear Solid 5.) Tonight, the puzzles will finally end. Publishers can stop trying to find sneaky ways to announce their next-gen games. The PS4 is coming. We're very excited to see what Sony reveals tonight, but it's worth keeping in mind that these shows are always packed full of sizzle reels that might not actually reflect reality. Smoke and mirrors. Still, we're about to enter the next next next next next generation. I say bring it on.  |
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How to Conduct Scientific Research On the Internet (Without Getting Duped)
February 20th, 2013Top StoryHow to Conduct Scientific Research On the Internet (Without Getting Duped)By Alan Henry
The internet is full of useful, well-documented information, and all of it is right at our fingertips. The problem is that the signal-to-noise ratio can be pretty low. Most search engines try to separate the real science from unsourced opinions and so-called "experts" only interested in selling books, but it's not enough to guarantee validity. With these tips, you'll learn how to quickly cut through the weeds and get to the good stuff in no time. Recognize Your Two Biggest Research Enemies
Combined, these two can convince people to believe even the most tenuous claims. We discussed how to beat them back and get to the truth, but n this case, you're starting from scratch and researching a new subject. Just keep them in mind and watch out for anything that seems too good to be true, or doesn't pass the almighty sniff test. Fire Up Your Critical Thinking Skills and Start Searching
Open your favorite search engine, whether it's Google, Bing, or something else, and start looking for the topic you'd like to learn more about. These search engines won't be the end of your search, but they're fine for getting your feet wet. You'll probably find yourself wading through thousands of results from hundreds of sources (and we'll get to how to differentiate the good ones from the bad ones in a moment), but this is a good way to understand the depth of information available for the subject you're researching. It's also a great way to get an overview of what's available so you can refine your searches to get right to what you want to know. Next, try some of these more scholarly search engines as well. They'll lead you to more credible, cited information, along with journal articles and reference material that can help:
Try to avoid second or third party articles that write about studies or research unless they link to or quote the study in question. If they do, go read that instead. Relying on third party articles is like playing the "telephone game"—the actual information from the first party will likely be distorted by the time it gets to you. At best, it's not a problem, but at worst the conclusions of a third-party article or press release can be wildly different from the conclusions in the study itself. Even the most well-intentioned outlets and highly trained journalists suffer from this sometimes. Learn to Differentiate Good Sources from Questionable OnesRemember those "questionable sources" we talked about earlier? When you start your search, you'll need to learn to separate them from the good stuff. Scammers and hoaxsters go out of their way to disguise marketing copy as "journal articles" and "clinical testing." Here are a couple of ways to tell whether the reference you're reading is legitimate:
These tips don't just go for journal articles, they go for articles and entire web sites as well. Granted, third party reporting isn't held to the same standard as peer-reviewed journals, but most well-intentioned publications at least try to cite their sources, offer additional reading, and avoid drawing unfounded conclusions from individual studies. For example, Wikipedia may seem like a good resource, but it's really not. Wikipedia data is too easy to change and the pages often too static and outdated to be useful for reference material. That doesn't make it useless though: Wikipedia is a great place to read up on the basics, and a great jumping-off point for more reading. Wikipedia's real research power is in its own citations—even if an article is out of date or inaccurate, that article's citations are worth reading (and sometimes, citing.) Learn to Read and Understand Journal ArticlesNow that you have a pile of journal articles, it's important to understand exactly what they are and how to read them. First of all, avoid the temptation to assume a journal article is in itself an indisputable fact. Researchers use journal articles to share new research, discuss theory among experts, and as a forum to share knowledge. They are not an end-product, and no lab says "Well, we published a paper, we're done studying cancer!" Reading a paper can often be daunting. Depending on the field you're reading about, you may be awash in language you're not familiar with, or mathematical calculations you're not familiar with. That's okay—this is where you get to cheat a little bit. Read the abstract and introduction first and see if the topic is relevant to what you're researching. Read the conclusions to see how the methodology panned out and what the results of the research were, along with suggested avenues of future study. Then go through the data and the methodology if you can, and try to understand how the study was conducted. What was the sample size? How was the study controlled, if a control was necessary? In good papers, all of these things are discussed openly. The video above does a great job explaining in layman's terms what scholarly journals and academic papers are and how to understand them. Remember, almost every journal article, even if it obtains broad consensus, is a jumping off point for additional study. It's almost never the last word on a topic, and never should be. The beauty of science research is that it's always testing new theories and methods until old patterns and assumptions are either well explained and duplicated or break down entirely. How to Access to Journals, Research Papers, and Well-Sourced Reference Information
The idea that you can't trust the Internet is misplaced. The key is just to find well-sourced, well-cited information on a given topic before you can trust it. It's not even that difficult to do—it's just not something that aligns with the fast-paced world of blog comments and Twitter arguments. Becoming literate in a subject area or even remotely knowledgeable requires time, patience, and a good bit of actual open-minded research. It's not something you can do in time to respond wittily to someone who made you angry on Facebook. That said, it's worth doing every time. You'll benefit with better understanding of a topic, and you'll be more prepared to have an informed dialogue, make better health and wellness decisions, or get excited about new research in the future. Title image made using ostill (Shuttstock).  |
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