Fake Mobile Base Stations in Center of Oslo, Norway
December 13th, 2014Via: Aftenposten:
Investigations made by Norwegian daily Aftenposten during the past weeks have revealed a number of fake base stations on several locations, in and around the Norwegian capital. They were detected around the parliament building Stortinget, near several ministries and the prime minister’s residence in Parkveien.
Conversations and data may be monitored
The fake mobile base stations, known as IMSI-catchers, may be used for listening in on conversations and monitoring all kinds of mobile activity in the areas affected. The person running the equipment may in principle register anyone entering parliament or the government offices. The operator can easily select certain persons for eavesdropping.
National Security Authority also found «something»
After being alerted by Aftenposten the Norwegian National Security Authority (NSM) started their own investigation. On Friday they confirmed that they had found traces of «something».
– We have found something. All the data are not ready yet, but we have also found signals from IMSI-catchers in Oslo, says Hans Christian Pretorius, department head in NSM.
Very Fun Toy Quadcopter: Syma X5C-1
December 13th, 2014Do you know a child or adult who wants to try out a quadcopter, but not interested in spending hundreds of dollars to give them them the opportunity?
I bought a Syma X5C-1 for myself and it’s pretty incredible. It’s very smooth and stable, but also capable of quick maneuvers in high gain mode.
I read online that it performs best with the camera removed. I’m way too much of a camera snob to bother with something as cheap as what comes with this quadcopter anyway, so I just took it off.
The result is a very satisfying flying experience for about $65. Also, the Chinglish manual is so hilarious and entertaining that it almost feels like a bonus:
“This R/C flying model is a high dangerous commodity. Please make sure that it should be flied far away from the crowd. Please also pay more attention to the phenomenon such as incorrect assembly or damaged model or incorrect connection of electronic control equipment. Please also pay attention to the flying safety when operating and know more about the accident that may be happened due to your own negligence.”
I’d strongly recommend getting a few extra batteries because the flight time is about six to seven minutes, but it takes over an hour to charge the battery that comes in the box. I head out to fly with a pocket full of charged batteries.
My sons love it. My oldest boy (age 7) tries to shoot the thing down with his Nerf rifle. He hasn’t had any luck yet.
Syma X5C-1
Monster Storm Probably Going to Take Out Our Electricity
December 13th, 2014We’re about to get dumped on really hard. The power is on now, but if history is any indication, it won’t be for long. The red blob will be over our house by around 4am NZ time.
Anyway, no updates means that our electricity is out.
—
SEVERE WEATHER WARNING.
ISSUED BY MetService AT 8:23 pm 13-Dec-2014
Heavy rain for northern New Zealand on Sunday
A low is expected to approach the Far North tonight (Saturday), then move slowly across Northland during Sunday. A frontal system associated with the low should bring a period of heavy rain as it crosses northern New Zealand. The heaviest falls are expected in Northland during Sunday morning, where 140mm could accumulate in a 12 hour period. Meanwhile, for northern Auckland and also about the Coromandel Peninsula, 80 to 100mm could accumulate during Sunday.
People are advised that streams and rivers are likely to rise rapidly, and heavy rain could cause surface flooding, slips and make driving hazardous.
HEAVY RAIN WARNING
AREA/S AFFECTED
Northland
FORECAST
Rain is expected to become heavy tonight and should ease around midday Sunday. In the 12 hours from midnight Saturday to midday Sunday, expect 100 to 140mm to accumulate, especially about the eastern hills. Peak intensities of around 35mm per hour are possible early morning with thunderstorms.
Sony Suspends Filming After Hackers Hit Payments
December 12th, 2014Via: The Times:
The Hollywood studio that made the James Bond and Spider-Man films has abandoned shoots after hackers crippled its computer network, and leaked four films and thousands of documents.
Agencies filming for Sony Pictures have cancelled shoots because the problems have left it unable to process payments, a source told The Times.
Persistent Associations Between Maternal Prenatal Exposure to Phthalates on Child IQ at Age 7 Years
December 12th, 2014Via: PLOS One:
Child full-scale IQ was inversely associated with prenatal urinary metabolite concentrations of DnBP and DiBP: b = ?2.69 (95% confidence interval [CI] = ?4.33, ?1.05) and b = ?2.69 (95% CI = ?4.22, ?1.16) per log unit increase. Among children of mothers with the highest versus lowest quartile DnBP and DiBP metabolite concentrations, IQ was 6.7 (95% CI = 1.9, 11.4) and 7.6 (95% CI = 3.2, 12.1) points lower, respectively. Associations were unchanged after control for cognition at age 3 years. Significant inverse associations were also seen between maternal prenatal metabolite concentrations of DnBP and DiBP and child processing speed, perceptual reasoning and working memory; DiBP and child verbal comprehension; and BBzP and child perceptual reasoning.
Conclusion
Maternal prenatal urinary metabolite concentrations measured in late pregnancy of DnBP and DiBP are associated with deficits in children’s intellectual development at age 7 years. Because phthalate exposures are ubiquitous and concentrations seen here within the range previously observed among general populations, results are of public health significance.
Britain: Air Traffic Control System Failure
December 12th, 2014Via: Guardian:
London airspace has been severely restricted after a system failure at the main national control centre in Swanick.
Passengers travelling to and from London’s major airports face lengthy delays and cancellations, with European controllers suggesting skies would be restricted until 7pm GMT.
The restriction, which appears to have been sparked by either a computer failure or power outage, is likely to divert and disrupt hundreds of international flights, with aviation experts warning that the knock-on effects would be felt far beyond London.
A spokeswoman for Nats, the air traffic controllers, confirmed there was a technical failure at Swanwick, Hampshire, the major control centre for the southern UK airspace.
She said: “We are in the process of getting the incident response mobilised. We don’t know what the cause is but there is a technical failure.
“We’re sorry if it causes any delays today. Our priority is to understand what has gone wrong and get things working as quickly as possible.”
Repository of Censored and Sensitive Chinese Keywords
December 12th, 2014Via: CitizenLab:
…we have collected 13 lists of sensitive Chinese keywords and aggregated them into a single, sortable, and share-able CSV file (see a Google docs sample, sorted by the number of lists each keyword appears on). This file, along with a description of the 13 lists and their sources/origins, are located in a GitHub repository that will be updated as new Chinese keyword lists are identified.
The 13 lists contain 9,054 unique keywords, including those in Chinese, English, pinyin, or a combination of the three. The lists go back as early as 2004 (the leaked Tencent QQ blacklist) and were produced as recently as November 2014 by Citizen Lab collaborator Jeffery Knockel (University of New Mexico), who extracted 910 keywords from Sina Show.
U.S. PSYOP Funded Anti-Government Hip-Hop Music in Cuba
December 12th, 2014Via: Reuters:
The U.S. government financed a four-year effort to promote Cuba’s rap music scene as part of an effort to promote democracy on the communist-run island, federal officials confirmed on Thursday.
“It seemed like a good idea to support civil society,” said Matt Herrick, spokesman for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which financed the secretive program.
The four-year program which ended in 2012, was revealed by the Associated Press on Thursday, which described it as a largely unsuccessful, “covert” effort run by U.S. government contractors to undermine Cuba’s communist government.
Related? “The Secret Meeting that Changed Rap Music and Destroyed a Generation”
HP: The Machine
December 10th, 2014Via: MIT Technology Review:
Hewlett-Packard will take a big step toward shaking up its own troubled business and the entire computing industry next year when it releases an operating system for an exotic new computer.
The company’s research division is working to create a computer HP calls The Machine. It is meant to be the first of a new dynasty of computers that are much more energy-efficient and powerful than current products. HP aims to achieve its goals primarily by using a new kind of computer memory instead of the two types that computers use today. The current approach originated in the 1940s, and the need to shuttle data back and forth between the two types of memory limits performance.
“Could the U.S. Bail Out Its Own Oil Sector?”
December 10th, 2014Warning: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument.
“…there’s a part of me, a gut feeling, that thinks that the shale apocalypse will just continue on somehow.”
—Oil Down 6.88% On OPEC Strategy to Destroy U.S. Shale Business
My long side trigger finger will start to itch if it gets under $50. Until then, no so much.
Via: CNBC:
An economist who correctly predicted the fall in oil price this year has told CNBC that the U.S. government could look to bail out its energy sector in 2015 as the commodity’s low price starts hitting the country’s economy.
“The U.S. energy sector is clearly important,” Steen Jakobsen, the chief economist at Danish investment bank Saxo Bank, told CNBC Wednesday. “They are paramount to the long-term strategic issue that the U.S. will be self-dependent on oil.”
