Hacked Russian Documents: Dark Side of the Kremlin
January 26th, 2019Via: The Hill:
A group of transparency advocates released a massive number of hacked and leaked Russian documents on Friday in what is being viewed as retaliation against Russia’s sharing of hacked Democratic National Committee (DNC) emails to influence the 2016 presidential campaign.
The documents, totaling 175 gigabytes in data, were shared on DDoSecret website and on Internet Archive around the same time on Friday. The scope of the documents shared is far larger than the total known material Russian officials obtained from the DNC and then-Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
The collection of material, called “The Dark Side of the Kremlin,” includes insider information such as “hundreds of thousands of messages and files from Russian politicians, journalists, oligarchs, religious figures, and nationalists/terrorists in Ukraine,” according to the group that posted the documents.
‘Scientists Are Working On a Pill for Loneliness’
January 26th, 2019Mmm hmm.
Via: Guardian:
Modern life has led to greater isolation, which can fuel an array of disorders. If there are medications for social pains like depression and anxiety, why not loneliness?
EU Adds Saudi Arabia to Draft Terrorism Financing List
January 25th, 2019
Via: Reuters:
The European Commission has added Saudi Arabia to an EU draft list of countries that pose a threat to the bloc because of lax controls against terrorism financing and money laundering, two sources told Reuters on Friday.
Trump Agrees to End Shutdown (for Three Weeks) Without Border Wall Money
January 25th, 2019Via: Reuters:
President Donald Trump agreed under mounting pressure on Friday to end a 35-day-old partial U.S. government shutdown without getting the $5.7 billion he had demanded from Congress for a border wall, handing a political victory to Democrats.
The three-week spending deal reached with congressional leaders, quickly passed unanimously by the Republican-led Senate and heading to the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives, paves the way for tough talks with lawmakers about how to address security along the U.S.-Mexican border.
The Republican president’s agreement to end the shuttering of about a quarter of the federal government without securing wall money – an astonishing retreat for a president who usually gives no ground – came three days after he had insisted “We will not Cave!”
But Trump vowed that the shutdown would resume on Feb. 15 if he is dissatisfied with the results of a bipartisan House-Senate conference committee’s border security negotiations, or he would declare a national emergency to get the wall money.
Democrats remained unyielding in their opposition to a wall, one of his signature campaign promises that they call ineffective, costly and immoral. Trump has said it is needed to curb illegal immigration and drug trafficking.
Chefs and Truck Drivers Beware: AI Is Coming for Your Jobs
January 24th, 2019Via: Newsweek / AP:
Robots aren’t replacing everyone, but a quarter of U.S. jobs will be severely disrupted as artificial intelligence accelerates the automation of existing work, according to a new Brookings Institution report.
The report, published Thursday, says roughly 36 million Americans hold jobs with “high exposure” to automation — meaning at least 70 percent of their tasks could soon be performed by machines using current technology. Among those most likely to be affected are cooks, waiters and others in food services; short-haul truck drivers; and clerical office workers.
“That population is going to need to upskill, reskill or change jobs fast,” said Mark Muro, a senior fellow at Brookings and lead author of the report.
Amazon Starts Testing ‘Scout’ Delivery Robots Near Seattle
January 24th, 2019Via: Bloomberg:
Amazon.com Inc. will use robots to deliver packages in the suburbs north of Seattle, its latest experiment to automate the last-mile of delivery that’s a labor-intensive and costly component of buying products online.
The e-commerce giant on Wednesday announced a trial of “Amazon Scout,” autonomous delivery devices the size of a cooler that roll along sidewalks at a walking pace. It will use six robots, which are designed to navigate around obstacles such as people and pets, to deliver packages in Snohomish County. The robots will be used to make deliveries Monday through Friday during daylight hours.
Using robots to make deliveries outside on city streets will be much more challenging than most current common uses, such as moving items around in warehouses, hospitals and hotels that are well-lit and have level floors, said Dan Kara, vice president of robotics at WTWH Media. Outside, robots encounter extreme weather conditions, steep inclines, curbs and other problems that present significant engineering challenges.
“These might work in a brand new neighborhood that is well lit and has new sidewalks, but most of the world isn’t like that and neither is most of the United States,” Kara said. “Congratulations for experimenting, but in terms of full implementation, I don’t see that any time soon.”
South Koreans Pamper Pets Instead of Having Kids
January 23rd, 2019Via: Reuters:
Kang Sung-il buys Sancho, his Pomeranian, a toy every business trip and this Lunar New Year holiday will dress him up in a new $50 suit to visit ‘grandma’, Kang’s mother.
Kang and his wife say children are too expensive and bring too much pressure. Instead they have opted to shower Sancho with love and gifts.
They are not alone. South Korea’s pet industry is booming, fueled by the same factors that have made the country’s birth rate, at 1.05 births per woman, the lowest in the world: the high cost of education and housing as well as extremely long working days.
Possible U.S. Backed Coup Underway in Venezuela
January 23rd, 2019Via: Reuters:
Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president on Wednesday, winning the backing of Washington and many Latin American nations and prompting socialist Nicolas Maduro, who has led the oil-rich nation since 2013, to break relations with the United States.
U.S. President Donald Trump formally recognized Guaido shortly after his announcement and praised his plan to hold elections. That was swiftly followed by similar statements from Canada and a slew of right-leaning Latin American governments, including Venezuela’s neighbors Brazil and Colombia.
Google Will Limit Ad Blockers on Chrome
January 23rd, 2019For safety.
*snort*
Via: Register:
Google engineers have proposed changes to the open-source Chromium browser that will break content-blocking extensions, including various ad blockers.
Adblock Plus will most likely not be affected, though similar third-party plugins will, for reasons we will explain. The drafted changes will also limit the capabilities available to extension developers, ostensibly for the sake of speed and safety. Chromium forms the central core of Google Chrome, and, soon, Microsoft Edge.
In a note posted Tuesday to the Chromium bug tracker, Raymond Hill, the developer behind uBlock Origin and uMatrix, said the changes contemplated by the Manifest v3 proposal will ruin his ad and content blocking extensions, and take control of content away from users.
John McAfee Plans to Run for President ‘In Exile’ on His Boat
January 23rd, 2019
Via: Cnet:
The crypto-enthusiast has donned a wig, jumped on a boat and is now on the run from the IRS. But that won’t stop his 2020 presidential campaign.
