Month: February 2017

Everyone Needs to Update their Windows ASAP, or Risk Being Locked Out of Their Computers, Security Experts Say

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The WannaCry virus that shut down the UK health system this week is still making its rounds. It has now reached 150 countries and is continuing to spread.

It is expected that the hackers behind the ransomware will update it Monday, so it will be even more dangerous.

Computer security experts say that everyone should update their Windows OS, and back up all their data, because the virus is one that doesn’t even need computer users to click anything; it is making its way around the internet searching for Windows that aren’t updated. There is a known vulnerability in Windows that was exposed by an FBI data leak earlier this year. It seems hackers have based WannaCry on this known Windows vulnerability.

When a computer gets infected, all the data on it is encrypted and the owner no longer can access their files until they pay $300 in Bitcoin.

North Korea: Unusual Fuel Shortage

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Price hikes and fuel hording are symptoms of what is being rumored to be a China-caused fuel shortage.

Signs have popped up around Pyongyang that restrictions on sales would be in place until further notice.

North Korea gets most of its fuel from its neighbor, China, which has joined the U.S. in a much stronger stance against North Korea’s continued military aggravation.

Alphabet’s (GOOG) 2017 Q1 Earnings Call

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Alphabet’s exec Ruth Porat spoke on a conference call this week about the company’s Q1:

“Our revenues of $24.8 billion in the first quarter demonstrate our broad-based strength globally, with revenues up 22% year on year. In constant currency, our consolidated revenues grew 24% versus 1Q 2016. Growth in advertising revenues was again driven by mobile search, with ongoing strength in YouTube and programmatic. We also had substantial growth in other revenues from Play, hardware, and Cloud. … We realized a negative currency impact on our revenues year over year of $304 million or $87 million after the benefit of our hedging program.”

Island Seeks Women

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The Faroe Islands are experiencing a woman shortage.

The Island’s population is 50,000, and they have a “gender deficit” of 2,000 more men than women.

Increasingly, Faroese men are bringing women in from Asia, and there are currently 300 women from Thailand and the Phillipines, and Asians now make up the largest ethnic minority.

The immigrants are also very active in the Faroes’ work force.

While finding a husband may be fairly easy, the tropical women are having a difficult time with the cold, wet climate, lack of even English speakers, and sometime remote and isolated lifestyles.

Pharmaceutical Ad Spending Up 62% Since 2012

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The U.S. is one of only two countries that allow drug ads on TV (the other is New Zealand), and spending keeps rising. Most other markets have not increased spending since 2012.

$6b was the amount spent last year, mostly on TV, and the ads are shown most heavily during major network’s evening news, Mike & Molly, and General Hospital, according to Kantar Media, a consulting firm that tracks multimedia advertising.

The value of the industry in the U.S. is reported to be $425b nominally; $263b in pharmacy and drug store sales.

While drug ads are legal in American and not in Canada, Canadian authorities have more or less turned a blind eye to illegal ads targeting consumers, at least according to the research of UBS scientists. Plus, it’s always been legal to target health professionals in Canada, and a few years ago “reminder ads” (brand recognition aimed at consumers without any health claims) were made legal.

Facebook: ‘Governments Exploit Us’

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Facebook has acknowledged that they are exploited by governments in manipulating public opinion, and also said they would try to do something about reducing these types of “information operations.”

Governments use Facebook to amplify a view, sow distrust, and spread confusion, according to the company.

Recently, Facebook made an attempt to cut down this use of their platform by suspending 30,000 accounts in France before the French presidential election.

Facebook was a key tool in the campaign of current U.S. President Donald Trump as well, according to his campaign team.

Source: Facebook Newsroom

Female Muslim Clerics Issue Fatwa Against ‘Child Marriage’

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Indonesian female clerics issued a fatwa (nothing legal but a matter of religion) after holding a 3-day meeting.

They also want the government there to make marriage illegal for women under 18. Currently, 16 is the marriage age.

According to the UN, 1/4 of Indonesian women marry before they are 18.

The fatwa is unusual because most are issued by the highest Islamic authority, the Ulema Council, which is mostly men.

Brazil: Nationwide Strikes Crippling Nation

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Protest over President Michel Temer’s austerity measures are crippling public transport in several major cities, and many factories, businesses and schools are closed, including in major tourist areas.

Police have barricaded protesters from entering airports (some flights were delayed and cancelled earlier) and are trying to clear up roadways.

Brazil has not had a nationwide strike in over 20 years. The current protests are not yet at the ‘nationwide strike’ level, but threaten to get there, according to union leaders.

Temer assumed power after former President Dilma Rousseff was ousted. Temer was then vice president.

The cause of the protests: Brazil’s lower house passed a labor reform bill many see as undermining workers’ rights by eliminating payment for their commute from their contractors, reducing compensation for employer abuse, and allowing reduction of salaries and increasing hours.

Police Illegally Obtained Journalist’s Phone Records Under New Metadata Program

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The Australian Federal Police announced this week that they illegally obtained a journalist’s phone records under the Turnbull government’s new metadata retention plan.

The breach was accidental, according to the police, and happened as part of an investigation into a leak of police material.

The journalist was not notified about their data being accessed, due to the sensitive nature of the police work, AFP said.

“This was human error … . There was no ill will or malice or bad intent by the officers involved who breached the Act. But simply it was a mistake.”

AFP said their practices would now see “significant changes.”

NSA Changes Surveillance Policy

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Email and texts will no longer be collected just for mentioning a target of the agency, according to the NSA; only communications sent to and from a target will be collected