Finally, a story for resident conspiracy theorists that has truth behind it, an impact on the world, and may actually mean something.

TrueCrypt, the standout semi-open source multiplatform full-disk-encryption software package, has acted all squirrelly and more or less shut the the project down, blaming it, somewhat hilariously, on the end of Microsoft's Windows XP support. All this while a paid (and long awaited) audit of TrueCrypt has been nearing completion.

Discussed at lots of places including lifehacker , Slashdot , SoylentNews , and reddit .

This is really troubling for lots of reasons. The audit was deemed necessary because TC's authorship and operation were shrouded in mystery. (the two main developers are anonymous and go by the pseudonyms "ennead" and "syncon") This doesn't help any in that regard. What happened? Loss of control of the domain? Website defacement? Warrant canary?

While Google's previous self-driving vehicles have been either a converted Toyota Prius or a Lexus SUV, their new prototype uses a new self-manufactured design that looks like a golf cart.

Unlike previous models, these cars won't have human drivers monitoring them at all times. Google said the cars can detect objects up to 200 yards away in all directions and adjust their speed, turns and braking accordingly.

Highlights include:

• No steering wheel or pedals
• Emergency stop button
• Top speed of 25 MPH (40 KPH)
• 2 seats
• Electric drive

The corporate overlords of SandForce SSD controllers have changed hands again. Seagate, who was missing an SSD controller of its own, will become the new home. The following list gives a brief history of the numerous mergers involved:

• 1999 - HP's non-computing products division spun out as Agilent
• August 2005 - Agilent semiconductor products group spun out as Avago
• January 2012 - SandForce sold to LSI ($370 million)
• 2014 - LSI sold to Avago ($6.6 billion)
• May 2014 - Avago SSD division sold to Seagate ($450 million)

Because of easy licensing and not being tied to a particular NAND manufacturer, SandForce SSD controllers are very popular and have found their way into many product lines , including:

• Intel 520, 530, 535, 330, 335
• Kingston HyperX, HyperX 3K, SSDNow E100, SSDNow KC100, SSDNow V+200, SSDNow V300
• Corsair Force Series
• OCZ Vertex 3, Agility 3, RevoDrive
• And many others...