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Appeals Court Asks the Right Questions in NSA Surveillance Case On Monday, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York held argument in United States v. Hasbajrami , an important case involving surveillance under Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act . It is only the second time a federal appeals court has been asked to rule on whether the government can collect countless numbers of electronic communications—including those of Americans—and use these communications in criminal investigations, all without a warrant. In a lengthy and engaged argument [.mp3], a three-judge panel of the Second Circuit heard from lawyers for the United States and the defendant Agron Hasbajrami, as well as from ACLU attorney Patrick Toomey representing ACLU and EFF, which filed a joint amicus brief in support of the defendant. As we explained to the court in our amicus brief and at the argument, this surveillance violates Americans’ Fourth Amendment rights on a massive scale. Hasbajrami is a ...

We’ve seen lithium-ion battery adoption grow at a rapid rate over the last couple of years. In fact, Bloomberg New Energy Finance report forecasts that 40% of data center battery backup will be lithium-ion by the year 2025. Among hyperscale data centers, this forecast is even greater at 55%. We know valve regulated lead acid (VRLA) is a less expensive battery solution on day one, so what’s driving this rapid growth for lithium-ion? Lithium-ion Capex Costs Continue to Decline There have been significant improvements with chemistries and technologies of lithium-ion batteries that have made them appealing for UPS applications. The Electrical Voltage (EV) industry is largely to thank for these advances. As adoption grows and the technology continues to mature, costs per kWh are declining. They still have a higher capex than VRLA batteries, but only by a factor of 1.5x to 2x today. So still, we asked what’s the main reason for lithium-ion adoption? TCO savings. The Data Center Science C...