Topic: SECURITY - on June 3, 2016 at 10:23:00 PM CEST
Jacob Appelbaum leaves the Tor Project
Long time digital advocate, security researcher, and developer Jacob Appelbaum stepped down from his position at The Tor Project on May 25, 2016.
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Topic: WEB - on June 3, 2016 at 10:20:00 PM CEST
Google pulls Chrome extension used to target Jewish people
Following a detailed investigation by Mic, Google has pulled a Chrome extension that was used by racists to identify and track Jewish people online. The plugin, called "Coincidence Detector," added a series of triple parentheses around the surnames of Jewish writers and celebrities. For instance, visiting the page of Mic writer Cooper Fleishman, you'd see his surname presented as (((Fleishman))) -- turning the symbol into the digital equivalent of the gold star badge used to identify Jews in Nazi Germany. Until Google banned it for violating its policy on hate speech, the plugin had just under 2,500 users and had a list of 8,768 names that were considered worthy of tracking.
The plugin was created by altrightmedia, with no one person yet coming forward to claim authorship of the program.
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Topic: COMPUTER - on June 3, 2016 at 6:18:00 PM CEST
I live in the Central African bush. We pay for slow satellite internet (per MB d/l).
Just ONE of our computers has secretly d/l'ed 6GB for Windows 10. We track & coordinate anti-poaching rangers in the field with these PC's + GPS. F* You Microsoft!
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Topic: SECURITY - on June 3, 2016 at 4:58:00 PM CEST
Streisand-Effekt
Als Streisand-Effekt wird ein Phänomen bezeichnet, wonach der Versuch, eine unliebsame Information zu unterdrücken oder entfernen zu lassen, öffentliche Aufmerksamkeit nach sich zieht und dadurch das Gegenteil erreicht wird, dass nämlich die Information einem noch größeren Personenkreis bekannt wird. Seinen Namen verdankt das Phänomen Barbra Streisand, die den Fotografen Kenneth Adelman und die Website Pictopia.com 2003 erfolglos auf 50 Millionen US-Dollar verklagte, weil eine Luftaufnahme ihres Hauses zwischen 12.000 anderen Fotos von der Küste Kaliforniens auf besagter Website zu finden war. Damit stellte sie aber erst die Verbindung zwischen sich und dem abgebildeten Gebäude her, woraufhin sich das Foto nach dem Schneeballprinzip im Internet verbreitete. Adelman argumentierte, er habe den Strand fotografiert, um die Küstenerosion für das California Coastal Records Project zu dokumentieren.
Streisand Silence censorship. Automate the effect. The Internet can be a little unfair. It's way too easy for ISPs, telecoms, politicians, and corporations to block access to the sites and information that you care about. But breaking through these restrictions is tough. Or is it?
Introducing Streisand A single command sets up a brand new server running a wide variety of anti-censorship software that can completely mask and encrypt all of your Internet traffic.
The impossible task of creating a “Best VPNs” list today
From a technical point of view, I think the most underrated vulnerabilities are network leaks in the client-side VPN software,” said Campbell. Even after a user has connected to a VPN server, a few outgoing packets may not be using the VPN tunnel, which could compromise their privacy. “That could be life threatening. VPNs have been rightly criticized about this vulnerability by many in the security/anonymity community.
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Topic: WEB - on June 3, 2016 at 2:56:00 PM CEST
Chrome-Plugin zeigt Neonazis "jüdisch klingende" Namen an
Markiert mit antisemitischer Liste abgeglichene Namen mit drei Klammern, um "Muster aufzuzeigen" Neonazis haben begonnen, jüdisch klingende Namen im Netz mit drei Klammern hervorzuheben. Das Symbol geht laut OpenMic auf den rechtsextremen Podcast "The Daily Shoah" zurück, der es als "Echo" bezeichnete. Es wird sowohl benutzt, um Nutzer zu beleidigen als auch "ernsthaft": Manche Antisemiten wollen so eine angebliche "jüdische Weltverschwörung" aufdecken.
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Topic: WEB - on June 3, 2016 at 2:47:00 PM CEST
(((Echoes))), Exposed: The Secret Symbol Neo-Nazis Use to Target Jews Online
In the early days of the social web, putting someone's name in multiple parentheses was meant to give that person a cute virtual hug. Today, it's something far more sinister. Neo-Nazis, anti-Semites and white nationalists have begun using three sets of parentheses encasing a Jewish surname — for instance, (((Fleishman))) — to identify and target Jews for harassment on blogs and major social media sites like Twitter. As one white supremacist tweeted, "It's closed captioning for the Jew-blind."
mic.com via "Coincidence Detector": The Google Chrome Extension White Supremacists Use to Track Jews
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Topic: EU - on June 3, 2016 at 2:44:00 PM CEST
European Commission's Hate Speech Deal With Companies Will Chill Speech
A new agreement between the European Commission and four major U.S. companies—Facebook, Google, Twitter, and Microsoft—went into effect yesterday. The agreement will require companies to “review the majority of valid notifications for removal of hate speech in less than 24 hours and remove or disable access to such content,” as well as “educate and raise awareness” with their users about the companies’ guidelines. The deal was made under the Commission’s “EU Internet Forum,” launched last year as a means to counter what EDRi calls “vaguely-defined ‘terrorist activity and hate speech online.’” While some members of civil society were able to participate in discussions, they were excluded from the negotiations that led to the agreement, says EDRi.
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Topic: DRUGS - on June 3, 2016 at 2:42:00 PM CEST
Software for the marijuana industry set to yield high returns
Is there software in the burgeoning legal marijuana industry? Just a dab. With four states offering legal marijuana, and more than 20 with medical or decriminalized cannabis laws, the business of selling the plant and its derivatives is growing every year. Naturally, software developers, vendors and startups alike are all looking to cash in on the boom. Silicon Valley, itself located in a state with legalized medical marijuana, has even produced a few pot startups.
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Topic: WEB - on June 3, 2016 at 2:39:00 PM CEST
Lies, damned lies and ad blocking statistics
Spoiler alert: Ad blocking is a serious problem; it’s just a little unclear exactly how big of one. Take Britain. If you look at the IAB’s figures, which it conducted with YouGov, 22 percent of U.K. adults are blocking ads. Wait a minute, market research company GlobalWebIndex says the figure is 37 percent. According to Pagefair and Adobe’s 2015 report, it was already at 20 percent in the second quarter last year. U.S. ad blocking firm Optimal puts U.K. ad-block rates at 16 percent.
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Topic: logisch - on June 3, 2016 at 2:38:00 PM CEST
How a good night's sleep became the ultimate status symbol
Arianna Huffington espouses the virtues of eight hours and luxury products promise rejuvenating rest, but who can really afford to sleep safe and sound?
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Topic: COMPUTER - on June 3, 2016 at 2:33:00 PM CEST
The ECHO IV Home Computer: 50 Years Later
This year we celebrate the 50th anniversary of a home computer built and operated more than a decade before ‘official’ home computers arrived on the scene. Yes, before the ‘trinity’ of the Apple II, the Commodore PET and the Radio Shack TRS-80–all introduced in 1977—Jim Sutherland, a quiet engineer and family man in Pittsburgh, was building a computer system on his own for his family. Sutherland configured this new computer system to control many aspects of his home with his wife and children as active users. It truly was a home computer—that is, the house itself was part of the computer and its use was integrated into the family’s daily routines.
The System
Sutherland’s computer was called the ECHO IV – the Electronic Computing Home Operator. ECHO IV comprised four large (6’ x 2’ x 6’) cabinets weighing approximately 800 lbs and included a central processing unit (CPU) constructed from surplus circuit modules from a Westinghouse Prodac-IV industrial process control computer; magnetic core memory, I/O circuitry and power supplies. With the permission of his employer, Westinghouse, Sutherland took these modules home and designed and built the ECHO IV in less than a year.
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