Household Debt Surpassed Record Level Reached During the 2008 Financial Crisis
May 18th, 2017Via: CNBC:
The New York Federal Reserve reports that household debt across the nation has hit a dubious milestone in the first quarter: It surpassed the peak debt level of 2008 at $12.7 trillion.
Household debt — including mortgages, auto and student loans, and credit cards — rose $149 billion compared with the last quarter of 2016, with nearly all the gain coming from mortgages.
Reaching the peak raises questions about whether the backdrop exists again for another financial meltdown. But the data show the current structure of debt is substantially different from 2008.
Mortgage debt has fallen from 73 percent to 68 percent of total debt since the peak. That has come along with a rise in auto- and student-loan debt as a percent of the average American’s liabilities.
Firm Thinks Solar Will Attract More Investment Funds Than Coal, Gas and Nuclear Combined in 2017
May 16th, 2017Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand.
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Via: PV Magazine:
A new report by analyst firm Frost & Sullivan projects that in 2017 solar PV will attract more investment than coal, gas and nuclear power combined.
The report, titled the Global Power Industry Outlook 2017, examines power market trends, including investment and regional growth. The report deduces that this year, renewable power investment will reach $243.1 billion globally, with solar PV investment comprising $141.6 billion of that total, followed by wind.
Although solar prices continue to decline, as does the cost of wind power, renewable investment is booming at the expense of traditional power generation because clean energy increasingly offers more profitable project costs and benefits from stable regulatory support across the globe, the report finds.
FDA Approved Drugs Have Nearly 1 in 3 Chance of Having a “Significant Safety Issue”
May 16th, 2017Oh sure, it’s a surprise. *wink*
Via: Los Angeles Times:
Almost one-third of new drugs approved by U.S. regulators over a decade ended up years later with warnings about unexpected — sometimes life-threatening — side effects or complications, according to a new analysis in the Journal of the American Medical Assn.
Researchers looked at potential problems that cropped up during the routine monitoring that’s done once a medicine has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration and is on the market. The results, published Tuesday, covered all 222 prescription drugs approved by the FDA from 2001 through 2010.
The 71 drugs that were flagged included top sellers for treating depression, arthritis, infections and blood clots. Safety issues included risks for serious skin reactions, liver damage, cancer and even death.
“The large percentage of problems was a surprise,” and they included side effects not seen during the review process, said senior author Dr. Joseph Ross, an associate professor of medicine and public health at Yale University.
NASA: Ocean Below Ice Layer on Enceladus Could Hold Life
May 16th, 2017Via: Newsweek:
Today Earthlings came one very giant step closer to finding life elsewhere in our solar system. In the final months of its 20-year mission, the spacecraft Cassini delivered its most noteworthy revelation yet: the ocean of Enceladus, a moon of Saturn, is releasing hydrogen, an energy source for some microorganisms. In other words, that ocean is inhabitable. “Enceladus,” says Cornell University astrophysicist Jonathan Lunine, “is the place to go to look for life.”
Private Investigator Claims Seth Rich Had Contact with WikiLeaks Prior to Death
May 16th, 2017Update: Kim Dotcom Claims Seth Rich was WikiLeaks Source
Via: Kim Dotcom / Twitter:
I knew Seth Rich. I know he was the @Wikileaks source. I was involved. https://t.co/MbGQteHhZM
— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) May 20, 2017
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Update: Family Says Fox Promoting Conspiracy Theories
Via: Independent:
The family of the Democratic National Committee staffer who was murdered last year is fed up with Fox News, and says that the conservative news outlet and other like it are using their tragedy to promote conspiracy theories.
A statement from family spokesman Brad Bauman went after the Fox News network specifically.
“It’s sad but unsurprising that a group of media outlets who have repeatedly lied to the American people would try and manipulate the legacy of a murder victim in order to forward their own political agenda,” Mr Bauman wrote to Jezebel. “I think there is a specific place in hell for people like that.”
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Via: Fox:
It has been almost a year since Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich was murdered in the nation’s capital. There have been no solid answers about why he was killed until now.
Rich was shot and killed last July in Northwest D.C and police have suggested the killing in the District’s Bloomingdale neighborhood was a botched robbery. However, online conspiracy theories have tied the murder to Rich’s work at the DNC.
Just two months shy of the one-year anniversary of Rich’s death, FOX 5 has learned there is new information that could prove these theorists right.
Rod Wheeler, a private investigator hired by the Rich family, suggests there is tangible evidence on Rich’s laptop that confirms he was communicating with WikiLeaks prior to his death.
Now, questions have been raised on why D.C. police, the lead agency on this murder investigation for the past ten months, have insisted this was a robbery gone bad when there appears to be no evidence to suggest that.
Wheeler, a former D.C. police homicide detective, is running a parallel investigation into Rich’s murder. He said he believes there is a cover-up and the police department has been told to back down from the investigation.
“The police department nor the FBI have been forthcoming,” said Wheeler. “They haven’t been cooperating at all. I believe that the answer to solving his death lies on that computer, which I believe is either at the police department or either at the FBI. I have been told both.”
When we asked Wheeler if his sources have told him there is information that links Rich to Wikileaks, he said, “Absolutely. Yeah. That’s confirmed.”
Wheeler also told us, “I have a source inside the police department that has looked at me straight in the eye and said, ‘Rod, we were told to stand down on this case and I can’t share any information with you.’ Now, that is highly unusual for a murder investigation, especially from a police department. Again, I don’t think it comes from the chief’s office, but I do believe there is a correlation between the mayor’s office and the DNC and that is the information that will come out [Tuesday].
Microsoft Releases WannaCry Patch for PCs Running Old Operating Systems
May 14th, 2017I’m responsible for protecting some organizations from stuff like this. Here’s what I do:
#1 If Windows is used, only operating systems currently supported by Microsoft are allowed. Even though I personally don’t use Macs, I encourage companies to use them and welcome those users who do use Macs. If you don’t know anything about computer security, and don’t require the fastest hardware, my advice to you would be to use a Mac. MacOS isn’t bullet proof, but it’s not worth attacking as much as Windows because A) It’s actually a harder target to begin with and B) not many people use it (relative to Windows).
#2 Windows PCs are set to download and install updates automatically.
#3 No non-IT staff have administrative accounts and the minimum number of applications required for the job are installed.
#4 Windows PCs run antivirus scans every 24 hours.
#5 All PCs are behind hardware firewalls running updated firmware. Do not trust Microsoft’s built in firewall and never expose a Windows PC directly to the Internet or DMZ.
#6 Local and offsite backups every 24 hours. I’ve set automated backups to run on the local network AND offsite using crashplan.com every day.
#7 Two factor authentication is forced for all employees using cloud services, i.e. Google Apps (now calling itself G Suite).
Even though I don’t really do much IT work anymore, I’ve noticed that wherever people are using Windows, there are people having problems with Windows. And this has nothing to do with the fact that the U.S. Government is stockpiling cyber weapons based on zero day exploits that it keeps secret—until the “hackers” get a hold of them… *haha* *sigh*
What I describe above would be the minimum defensive posture I’d suggest for a business, or anyone needing to protect their systems and data. This is maybe a 3 or 4 on a scale of 10 in terms of paranoia, yet it’s almost infinitely more secure than most people are running on a day to day basis.
Via: PC World:
Users of old Windows systems can now download a patch to protect them from this week’s massive ransomware attack.
In a rare step, Microsoft published a patch for Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and Windows 8—all of them operating systems for which it no longer provides mainstream support.
Users can download and find more information about the patches in Microsoft’s blog post about Friday’s attack from the WannaCry ransomware.
New Zealand: High Levels of E-Coli Found in Creek that Runs Into Treasured Springs
May 14th, 2017Disclosure: I am involved with the effort to bring attention to the pollution and water take issues at Te Waikoropupu Springs Reserve.
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There is video of the manure slurry feeding into the crystal clear water over SOSGoldenBay.nz. Scroll down to the 28 April entry, if you dare.
Via: Stuff:
High E-coli levels have been found in a creek that flows into the reserve that holds the country’s largest freshwater springs.
The monitoring of Fish Creek, which flows into Te Waikoropupu Springs Reserve in Golden Bay, revealed the water is subject to severe levels of pollution from dairy farm runoff during rain events.
Te Waikoropupu Springs is the southern hemisphere’s largest coldwater springs and has some of the clearest waters ever measured on earth.
High E-coli levels have been found in a creek that flows into the reserve that holds the country’s largest freshwater springs.
The monitoring of Fish Creek, which flows into Te Waikoropupu Springs Reserve in Golden Bay, revealed the water is subject to severe levels of pollution from dairy farm runoff during rain events.
Te Waikoropupu Springs is the southern hemisphere’s largest coldwater springs and has some of the clearest waters ever measured on earth.
Here Comes the War for Commercial Drone Dominance
May 14th, 2017Via: Bloomberg:
At some point in the not-too-distant future, fleets of commercial drones are expected to swarm across American skies. Companies in a wide range of industries will employ unmanned vehicles for tactical advantage—inspecting infrastructure, surveying crops, maybe even estimating how much your new roof will cost.
And when these drones fly, a torrent of data will follow them like an invisible contrail.
“Data is the new oil,” Intel Corp. Chief Executive Officer Brian Krzanich said this week at the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International’s annual Xponential conference in Dallas, the industry’s top trade show. He cited a growing competitive “separation” between companies that collect and understand their data and those that don’t. A single autonomous car can generate the same data trove as 3,000 people surfing the internet, while a small drone fleet could easily create 150 terabytes of data per day, he said (1,000 gigabytes equals 1 terabyte). “The data rate is going to explode on us in the next few years,” Krzanich said.
In Cashless Sweden, Even God Now Takes Collection Via an App
May 14th, 2017Reverend Wayne’s Pearly Gates open 24/7.
Via: Bloomberg:
In the most cashless society on the planet, even God now accepts digital payments.
A growing number of Swedish parishes have started taking donations via mobile apps. Uppsala’s 13th-century cathedral also accepts credit cards.
The churches’ drive to keep up with the times is the latest sign of Sweden’s rapid shift to a world without notes and coins. Most of the country’s bank branches have stopped handling cash; some shops and museums now only accept plastic; and even Stockholm’s homeless have started accepting cards as payment for their magazine. Go to a flea market, and the seller is more likely to ask to be paid via Sweden’s popular Swish app than with cash.
“Fifteen years ago I would withdraw my entire salary and put it in my wallet, so I knew how much I had left, but these days I never really carry cash,” said Lasse Svard, the acting vicar at the parish of Jarna-Vardinge, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of Stockholm.
An NSA-Derived Ransomware Worm Is Shutting Down Computers Worldwide
May 12th, 2017I don’t know what it’s going to take to convince people to stop using abandoned versions of Windows, but if this doesn’t do it, nothing will.
Via: Ars Technica:
A highly virulent new strain of self-replicating ransomware shut down computers all over the world, in part by appropriating a National Security Agency exploit that was publicly released last month by the mysterious group calling itself Shadow Brokers.
The malware, known as Wanna, Wannacry, or Wcry, has infected at least 75,000 computers, according to antivirus provider Avast. AV provider Kaspersky Lab said organizations in at least 74 countries have been affected, with Russia being disproportionately affected, followed by Ukraine, India, and Taiwan. Infections are also spreading through the United States. The malware is notable for its multi-lingual ransom demands, which support more than two-dozen languages.
Wcry is reportedly causing disruptions at banks, hospitals, telecommunications services, train stations, and other mission-critical organizations in multiple countries, including the UK, Spain, Germany, and Turkey. FedEx, the UK government’s National Health Service, and Spanish telecom Telefonica have all been hit. The Spanish CERT has called it a “massive ransomware attack” that is encrypting all the files of entire networks and spreading laterally through organizations.
The virally spreading worm was ultimately stopped when a researcher who uses the Twitter handle MalwareTech and works for security firm Kryptos Logic took control of a domain name that was hard-coded into the self-replicating exploit. The domain registration, which occurred around 6 AM California time, was a major stroke of good luck, because it was possible only because the attackers had failed to obtain the address first.
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Another cause for concern: wcry copies a weapons-grade exploit codenamed Eternalblue that the NSA used for years to remotely commandeer computers running Microsoft Windows. Eternalblue, which works reliably against computers running Microsoft Windows XP through Windows Server 2012, was one of several potent exploits published in the most recent Shadow Brokers release in mid-April. The Wcry developers have combined the Eternalblue exploit with a self-replicating payload that allows the ransomware to spread virally from vulnerable machine to vulnerable machine, without requiring operators to open e-mails, click on links, or take any other sort of action.
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People who have yet to install the Microsoft fix—MS17-010—should do so right away. People should also be extremely suspicious of all e-mails they receive, particularly those that ask the recipient to open attached documents or click on Web links.
