Archive for August, 2015
The Covert World of People Trying to Edit Wikipedia—for Pay
August 11th, 2015Via: The Atlantic: Can the site’s dwindling ranks of volunteer editors protect its articles from the influence of money?
Google Creates New Company Called Alphabet, Restructures Stock
August 11th, 2015Via: Bloomberg: Google Inc. is reorganizing into a holding company that gives its main Web operations greater independence while offering investors more visibility into ambitious plans to expand new businesses, including health and Internet access. Alphabet Inc. will be name of the new conglomerate. Google Inc., along with YouTube, Android mobile software and other Web-based […]
Yuan Devaluation
August 11th, 2015Via: Bloomberg: China devalued the yuan by the most in two decades, a move that rippled through global markets as policy makers stepped up efforts to support exporters and boost the role of market pricing in Asia’s largest economy. The central bank cut its daily reference rate by 1.9 percent, triggering the yuan’s biggest one-day […]
Web’s Random Numbers Are Too Weak, Researchers Warn
August 9th, 2015Low entropy. Via: BBC: The data scrambling systems used by millions of web servers could be much weaker than they ought to be, say researchers. A study found shortcomings in the generation of the random numbers used to scramble or encrypt data. The hard-to-guess numbers are vital to many security measures that prevent data theft. […]
Brazil: Radio Journalist Critical of Government Killed During Live Broadcast
August 9th, 2015Via: Fox Latino: A well-known radio journalist in Brazil who repeatedly denounced political corruption was gunned down Thursday in the middle of one of his broadcasts. Gleydson Carvalho was a dogged journalist who had received death threats on Facebook. Carvalho, police said, was in the middle of his broadcast in Camocim, in the state of […]
Secret Sanctions Revealed Against University Hosting $1.25 Billion Bio Lab
August 8th, 2015Via: USA Today: Kansas State University — where a controversial $1.25 billion biosecurity lab facility is under construction — secretly faced federal sanctions last year after repeatedly violating safety regulations during its research with bioterror pathogens, records obtained by USA TODAY show. Kansas State’s “history of non-compliance” during four consecutive inspections over two years shows […]
Windows 10 Is Possibly the Worst Spyware Ever Made
August 8th, 2015Via: Network World: The usual bumps of an OS launch are understandable and forgivable, but some of the terms of the end user service agreement for Windows 10 put the NSA to shame. Microsoft is already getting heat after it was found that Windows 10 was being auto-downloaded to user PCs without warning, and more […]
The No Download List
August 8th, 2015Via: The Register: Software export controls are being applied to blacklisted people as well as countries: and these controls apply to routine security packages such as freebie antivirus scanning software, as well as more sensitive technologies, El Reg has concluded. We’ve come to this way of thinking after investigating why Reg reader Hasan Ali was […]
Typhoon Soudelor Kills 6 in Taiwan and Leaves Millions Without Power
August 8th, 2015Via: New York Times: A powerful typhoon pummeled Taiwan on Saturday, dumping rain, toppling trees and leaving millions without electricity as strong winds ripped across the island. At least six people were killed, Taiwan’s Interior Ministry said, including in its count people who had died Thursday and Friday as the storm approached. Five people were […]
NZ Milk Price Gapdown: Fonterra Slashes Farmgate Milk Price to $3.85
August 6th, 2015Break even price for many farmers: $5.70. Via: NZ Herald: Fonterra – New Zealand’s biggest exporter – has lowered its farmgate milk price for 2015/6 to $3.85 a kg of milksolids, down from a previous forecast of $5.25 a kg. The co-op said its forecast total payout for the 2015/6 season would be $4.25-$4.35 a […]
