Archive for November, 2011
Apple iTunes “Flaw” Allowed Government Spying for 3 Years
November 25th, 2011Via: Telegraph: An unpatched security flaw in Apple’s iTunes software allowed intelligence agencies and police to hack into users’ computers for more than three years, it’s claimed. A British company called Gamma International marketed hacking software to governments that exploited the vulnerability via a bogus update to iTunes, Apple’s media player, which is installed on […]
Robots Will Soon Begin Patrolling South Korean Prisons
November 25th, 2011Via: Telegraph: Robot guards with sensors to detect abnormal behaviour will soon begin patrolling South Korean prisons to ease the burden on their human counterparts, researchers said on Thursday.
ITALIAN DEBT FUNDING COSTS SOAR
November 25th, 2011Via: Reuters: Italy paid a record 6.5 percent to borrow money over six months on Friday and its longer-term funding costs soared far above levels seen as sustainable for public finances, raising the pressure on Rome’s new emergency government. The auction yield on the six-month paper almost doubled compared to a month earlier, capping a […]
The Surveillance Catalog
November 24th, 2011Via: Wall Street Journal: Documents obtained by The Wall Street Journal open a rare window into a new global market for the off-the-shelf surveillance technology that has arisen in the decade since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The techniques described in the trove of 200-plus marketing documents include hacking tools that enable governments […]
Google Quits Plans to Make Cheap Renewable Energy
November 24th, 2011Via: Reuters: Google Inc has abandoned an ambitious project to make renewable energy cheaper than coal, the latest target of Chief Executive Larry Page’s moves to focus the Internet giant on fewer efforts. Google said on Tuesday that it was pulling the plug on seven projects, including Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal as well as […]
Amazon Kindle DX
November 24th, 2011If you have been waiting for an excuse to buy the Kindle DX (the one with the big screen), Amazon just knocked $120 off the regular price. I saw this when I logged into my Amazon Associates account. It said that this promotion ends 11/28.
GERMAN BOND AUCTION FAILS
November 23rd, 2011Via: Reuters: A “disastrous” sale of German benchmark bonds sparked fears on Wednesday the debt crisis was beginning to threaten even Berlin, with the Bundesbank forced to dig deep into its pockets to ensure the auction did not fail. In one of the least successful debt sales by Europe’s powerhouse economy since the launch of […]
Undercover Researchers Expose Chinese Internet Water Army
November 23rd, 2011Via: Technology Review: An undercover team of computer scientists reveals the practices of people who are paid to post on websites. In China, paid posters are known as the Internet Water Army because they are ready and willing to ‘flood’ the internet for whoever is willing to pay. The flood can consist of comments, gossip […]
Canada: G20 Case Reveals ‘Largest Ever’ Police Spy Operation
November 23rd, 2011Via: CBC News: Police organizations across the country co-operated to spy on community organizations and activists in what the RCMP called one of the largest domestic intelligence operations in Canadian history, documents reveal. … In all, the RCMP-led joint intelligence group — a conglomeration of federal, provincial and municipal police tasked with G8/G20 reconnaissance — […]
Malls Track Shoppers with Cell Phone Surveillance Systems
November 23rd, 2011Via: CNN: Attention holiday shoppers: your cell phone may be tracked this year. Starting on Black Friday and running through New Year’s Day, two U.S. malls — Promenade Temecula in southern California and Short Pump Town Center in Richmond, Va. — will track guests’ movements by monitoring the signals from their cell phones. While the […]
