Day: July 13, 2019

Microsoft Office 365: Banned in German schools over privacy fears

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Schools in the central German state of Hesse have been have been told it’s now illegal to use Microsoft Office 365. The state’s data-protection commissioner has ruled that using the popular cloud platform’s standard configuration exposes personal information about students and teachers “to possible access by US officials”. That might sound like just another instance Read more about Microsoft Office 365: Banned in German schools over privacy fears[…]

Microsoft tells resellers: ‘We listened to you, and we have acted’ (PS: Plz keep making us money)

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Faced with continued rumbles of discontent from its reseller network on the eve of its Inspire conference, Microsoft has climbed down from plans to pull free software licences from its channel chums. Doubtless fearful of a keynote sabotaged by a baying mob of angry resellers, Microsoft corporate veep for commercial partners Gavriella Schuster was tasked Read more about Microsoft tells resellers: ‘We listened to you, and we have acted’ (PS: Plz keep making us money)[…]

Bitpoint cryptocurrency exchange hacked for $32 million

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Japan-based cryptocurrency exchange Bitpoint announced it lost 3.5 billion yen (roughly $32 million) worth of cryptocurrency assets after a hack that happened late yesterday, July 11. The exchange suspended all deposits and withdrawals this morning to investigate the hack, it said in a press release. Thoroughly compromised In a more detailed document released by RemixPoint, Read more about Bitpoint cryptocurrency exchange hacked for $32 million[…]

FTC Fines Facebook $5 Billion for Cambridge Analytica – not  very much considering earnings – and does not curtail future breaches

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The Federal Trade Commission, which has been investigating Facebook in the wake of its massive Cambridge Analytica scandal, has voted to approve levying a massive $5 billion fine against the social media giant, according to reporting in both the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post. It’s the single largest fine against a tech company Read more about FTC Fines Facebook $5 Billion for Cambridge Analytica – not  very much considering earnings – and does not curtail future breaches[…]

Palantir’s Top-Secret User Manual for Cops shows how easily they can find scary amounts of information on you and your friends

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Through a public record request, Motherboard has obtained a user manual that gives unprecedented insight into Palantir Gotham (Palantir’s other services, Palantir Foundry, is an enterprise data platform), which is used by law enforcement agencies like the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center. The NCRIC serves around 300 communities in northern California and is what is Read more about Palantir’s Top-Secret User Manual for Cops shows how easily they can find scary amounts of information on you and your friends[…]

It turns out Bystanders do Help Strangers in Need

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Research dating back to the late 1960s documents how the great majority of people who witness crimes or violent behavior refuse to intervene. Psychologists dubbed this non-response as the “bystander effect”—a phenomenon which has been replicated in scores of subsequent psychological studies. The “bystander effect” holds that the reason people don’t intervene is because we Read more about It turns out Bystanders do Help Strangers in Need[…]

Carbon nanotube device channels heat into light, could increase solar panel efficiency

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The ever-more-humble carbon nanotube may be just the device to make solar panels—and anything else that loses energy through heat—far more efficient. Rice University scientists are designing arrays of aligned single-wall carbon nanotubes to channel mid-infrared radiation (aka heat) and greatly raise the efficiency of solar energy systems. Gururaj Naik and Junichiro Kono of Rice’s Read more about Carbon nanotube device channels heat into light, could increase solar panel efficiency[…]