Huawei: The Company that Spooked the World
August 6th, 2012Via: The Economist:
BANBURY, a little English town best known for a walk-on part in a nursery rhyme and as the eponymous origin of a fruitcake, is an unlikely fulcrum for the balance of power in the world of telecoms. But the “Cyber Security Evaluation Centre” set up there by Huawei, a Chinese telecoms giant, in 2010 marks a new way of persuading purchasers, and the British government, that equipment from the manufacturer that runs it can be trusted. It operates in close co-operation with GCHQ, Britain’s signals-intelligence agency, located conveniently just over the Cotswolds in Cheltenham. Its security-cleared staff, some of whom used to work for GCHQ, are responsible for making sure that the networking equipment and software that the Chinese firm wishes to sell to British telecoms companies are reliable, will only do what customers want them to do and cannot be exploited by cybercriminals or foreign spies—including Chinese ones.
Facebook: ‘Dark Profiles’
August 6th, 2012Via: Washington Post:
Another time, Losse cringed when she learned that a team of Facebook engineers was developing what they called “dark profiles” — pages for people who had not signed up for the service but who had been identified in posts by Facebook users. The dark profiles were not to be visible to ordinary users, Losse said, but if the person eventually signed up, Facebook would activate those latent links to other users.
Facebook Bears Garner 500% Profit From Structured Product Bets
August 6th, 2012Via: Bloomberg:
Facebook Inc. (FB)’s 45 percent drop since its initial public offering generated returns of more than 500 percent for European investors that bought structured products benefiting from the stock’s decline.
A put warrant, a security for speculating on the future direction of a company’s share price, which predicted Facebook would be at $22 by March, cost 6 euro cents ($0.07) to buy in the week after Facebook went public with an initial price of $38. Today, with Facebook trading at $21.10, the warrant is worth 37 euro cents, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Vast International Child Abuse Network
August 6th, 2012Don’t casually click through to this one. This is a bad one. If you take care of children, and you want to know what’s lurking out there, by all means, read it.
My goal, however, is not to traumatize you when you show up here for something to read as you drink your coffee. So just know that this one is as bad as anything I’ve ever posted on here.
Via: ABC News:
The still-widening investigation has been code-named Holitna, after a river in Alaska with many tributaries.
Some Tributaries: Politicians, Billionaires, ISGP
Sikh Temple Shooter Served in U.S. Army Psychological Operations Unit
August 6th, 2012Wade Michael Page Was White Supremacist
Via: CBS News:
Before he strode into a Sikh temple with a 9mm handgun and multiple magazines of ammunition, Wade Michael Page played in white supremacist heavy metal bands with names such as Definite Hate and End Apathy.
The bald, heavily tattooed bassist was a 40-year-old Army veteran who trained in psychological warfare before he was demoted and discharged more than a decade ago.
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Page joined the military in Milwaukee in 1992 and was a repairman for the Hawk missile system before switching jobs to become one of the Army’s psychological operations specialists assigned to a battalion at Fort Bragg, N.C.
As a “psy-ops” specialist, Page would have trained to host public meetings between locals and American forces, use leaflet campaigns in a conflict zone or use loudspeakers to communicate with enemy soldiers.
He never deployed overseas while serving in that role, Pentagon spokesman George Wright said.
Page was demoted in June 1998 for getting drunk while on duty and going AWOL, two defense officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release information about the gunman.
Page also received extra duty and was fined. The defense officials said they had no other details about the incident, such as how long Page was gone or whether he turned himself in.
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Page Served in U.S. Army Psychological Operations Unit
Via: CBS News:
CBS News reports that Page enlisted in the Army in April 1992 and was given a less-than-honorable discharge in October 1998. He was last stationed in Fort Bragg, N.C., serving in the psychological operations unit.
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Wade Michael Page
Via: CBS:
The suspect in a shooting that left six people dead at a Sikh temple in suburban Milwaukee on Sunday has been identified as Wade Michael Page.
Authorities confirmed to CBS News on Monday that Page was the suspect in the shooting. He was killed outside the temple in a shootout with police officers after the rampage that left terrified congregants hiding in closets and others texting friends outside for help.
Multiple sources tell CBS News that Page was a former member of the U.S. military, but he was no longer serving actively. It was not immediately clear under what circumstances Page left the military.
Officials had previously described the suspect as a heavy-set, 40-year-old Caucasian with numerous tattoos.
Sources tell CBS News some unspecified evidence suggests race or ethnicity may have played a role in the violence, but no links to extremist groups have been confirmed.
Local police called the attack an act of domestic terrorism, but other sources tell CBS News correspondent Bon Orr it may be more accurate to refer to “an investigation into a possible hate crime.”
Neither the local nor the federal sources provided further details or suggested a possible motive, including whether the suspect specifically targeted the Sikh temple.
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CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy reports Page is only believed to have lived at the residence for two weeks, according to neighbors.
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Suspect Lived on Holmes Avenue
In other Holmes news: Colorado Movie Theater Massacre.
Via: Journal Sentinel:
Law enforcement personnel from various departments and agencies are on the scene at E. Holmes Ave. in Cudahy, where police were searching a house after Sunday’s mass shooting.
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UFO Documentary Film Director’s Father Killed at Sikh Temple
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Via: New York Daily News:
The president of the temple, Satwant Singh Kaleka, 65, was shot while trying to tackle the gunman, CNN reported. Kaleka, a married father of two adult sons, later died, his family told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Kaleka’s son, Amardeep, said he got a call from his father’s cell phone soon after the shooting broke out. It was a priest telling him his father had been shot.
Chemotherapy Can Boost Cancer Growth
August 6th, 2012Now with more, “Completely unexpected.”
Via: AFP:
Cancer-busting chemotherapy can cause damage to healthy cells which triggers them to secrete a protein that sustains tumour growth and resistance to further treatment, a study said Sunday.
Researchers in the United States made the “completely unexpected” finding while seeking to explain why cancer cells are so resilient inside the human body when they are easy to kill in the lab.
They tested the effects of a type of chemotherapy on tissue collected from men with prostate cancer, and found “evidence of DNA damage” in healthy cells after treatment, the scientists wrote in Nature Medicine.
Chemotherapy works by inhibiting reproduction of fast-dividing cells such as those found in tumours.
The scientists found that healthy cells damaged by chemotherapy secreted more of a protein called WNT16B which boosts cancer cell survival.
“The increase in WNT16B was completely unexpected,” study co-author Peter Nelson of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle told AFP.
The protein was taken up by tumour cells neighbouring the damaged cells.
“WNT16B, when secreted, would interact with nearby tumour cells and cause them to grow, invade, and importantly, resist subsequent therapy,” said Nelson.
NASA: Mars Curiosity Livestream
August 6th, 2012Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Captured Image of Curiosity During Parachute Descent
Via: NASA:
An image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance orbiter captured the Curiosity rover still connected to its 51-foot-wide (almost 16 meter) parachute as it descended towards its landing site at Gale Crater.
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They did it.
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More: NASA: Mars Science Laboratory
DARPA Receiver Hits 0.85 Terahertz
August 5th, 2012Via: U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency:
DARPA researchers have created the world’s first solid state receiver to demonstrate gain at 0.85 terahertz (THz). This is the latest breakthrough in the DARPA THz Electronics program in its quest for transistor-based electronics that will enable electronic capabilities at THz frequencies. This represents progress toward the second major technical milestone on the way to 1.03 THz integrated circuits. Previous milestones included demonstrations at 0.67 THz. Operating at these high frequencies enables a host of DoD electronics capabilities such as advanced communication and sensor systems.
“Realizing circuits at 0.85 THz is a remarkable achievement for the program and is the latest success from a long-term investment in frequency-scaled RF transistors,” explained John Albrecht, DARPA program manager. “The ability to coherently process signals at 0.85 THz provides a means to generate and radiate the high frequency signals needed for applications such as DARPA’s Video Synthetic Aperture Radar (ViSAR) program. VISAR seeks to develop and demonstrate a targeting sensor which operates through clouds as effectively as today’s infrared (IR) sensors operate in clear weather. This revolutionary advance would give U.S. warfighters an advantage in an especially challenging portion of the RF spectrum.”
Carole Waugh
August 5th, 2012Was the body locked in a gym bag?
Via: NBC:
A body found in a lock-up garage in New Malden, southwest London, was identified as that of missing oil executive Carole Waugh, the Scotland Yard said Friday.
Waugh, 50, who had previously worked in the oil industry in London and Libya, had not been seen by family or friends since April, when they discussed a planned 50th birthday party for her in June.
Concerns grew last week, when British police said Waugh may have been abducted by a gang of fraudsters who have tried to sell her $1 million London apartment and may have forced her to hand over her bank codes.
Detectives said that an unidentified man impersonating her brother had met people in her apartment in central London’s upmarket Marylebone neighborhood in an apparent attempt to sell the property, The Times reported (site operates behind a paywall).
The man, 47, was initially arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and kidnap, the BBC reported. He was later arrested on suspicion of murder, however, when police decided to treat Waugh’s disappearance as a murder investigation.
The body was found in a Volkswagen Golf parked in a private courtyard, the BBC reported. Waugh’s jewelry and stolen money are still missing.
Detectives believe she may have led a double life. According to the BBC, prostitution was one line of inquiry, along with Waugh’s use of Internet dating sites.
Waugh was single, and police have been trying to trace men she may have met online.
Police officers told The Times that Waugh had been impersonated by at least three women at financial institutions across London. Earlier last week, two women, aged 48 and 50, were arrested on charges of conspiracy to defraud in connection with the case. The 48-year-old has been freed on bail, the newspaper said.
Bailout Funds Recipient Goldman Sachs Invests in New York City Jails Program
August 5th, 2012Via: Reuters:
Goldman Sachs will invest nearly $10 million in a New York City jails program, using an innovative financial instrument in which private investments fund public social services, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said on Thursday.
Goldman will create one of the nation’s first “social service bonds” to help fund a New York City program that aims to lower the 50 percent recidivism rate among youthful offenders jailed at the Rikers Island correctional facility.
Unlike similar proposals being developed elsewhere, most of Goldman’s ‘Rikers bond’ will be guaranteed by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the mayor’s philanthropic group, which will back $7.2 million of the $9.6 million investment the bank plans.
