SoylentNews

anubi writes:

From TechnologyReview.com:

It may not look like much at first glance, but a map created by University of Wisconsin computer science professor Paul Barford and about a dozen colleagues took around four years to produce. He believes it could make the Internet more resilient to accidents, disasters, or intentional attacks.

The map shows the paths taken by the long-distance fiber-optic cables that carry Internet data across the continental U.S. The exact routes of those cables, which belong to major telecommunications companies such as AT&T and Level 3, have not been previously publicly viewable, despite the fact that they are effectively critical public infrastructure, says Barford.

The Department of Homeland Security is making the map and data behind it available through a project called Predict, which offers data relevant to Internet security to government, private, and public researchers. "Our intention is to help improve security by improving knowledge," says Barford. "I think the map highlights that there are probably many opportunities to make the network more robust."

Does this map map us stronger, or just give our enemies a knowledgeable place to be able to strike and cripple our infrastructure?

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

New work from an international team including Carnegie's Ken Caldeira demonstrates that the planet's remaining fossil fuel resources would be sufficient to melt nearly all of Antarctica if burned, leading to a 50- or 60-meter (160 to 200 foot) rise in sea level. Because so many major cities are at or near sea level, this would put many highly populated areas where more than a billion people live under water, including New York City and Washington, DC. It is published in Science Advances.

"Our findings show that if we do not want to melt Antarctica, we can't keep taking fossil fuel carbon out of the ground and just dumping it into the atmosphere as CO2 like we've been doing," Caldeira said. "Most previous studies of Antarctic have focused on loss of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Our study demonstrates that burning coal, oil, and gas also risks loss of the much larger East Antarctic Ice Sheet."

Original Submission

HughPickens.com writes:

Allison Schrager has an interesting article about how marketplaces for contraband drugs have existed for about four years on the dark web, but they've made inroads fast with about 10%-15% of drug users in the UK, US, and Australia having bought drugs off the net. According to Schrager, these marketplaces look remarkably similar to their counterparts on the "clearnet", or regular internet. Users leave detailed reviews on the quality of a vendor's product, speed of delivery, and how secure the shipping method was. There's information on where vendors are located and where they'll ship to. Some even post their refund and exchange policies. The websites are clean, well organized, and easy to navigate; there are icons for online support, shopping carts, and order status. The bitcoin/dollar/euro exchange rate is often featured on a banner, much like a price ticker on a finance website. Purchasing meth from a dealer in the Netherlands feels as familiar and mundane as buying sheets from Macy's. The dark web makes transactions safer. Thanks to the ratings systems, the product is more reliable and both sides are accountable. You can deal anonymously, and you don't have to meet potentially dangerous clients or vendors in person.

All the same there are risks that Macy's customers don't run. Because there's no legal protection for illegal purchases, the bitcoin payments sit in escrow until the goods have been delivered and both parties are satisfied. That exposes the seller to exchange-rate risk, because bitcoin is an extremely volatile currency. And there is one other big source of risk: the point where the virtual world of the dark web and the world of physical reality intersect. In other words, getting drugs delivered. The market is also limited in the kinds of drugs it can trade effectively. Drugs like heroin and cocaine already have established distribution and production channels that the web in its current form can't disrupt. Opium poppies and coca leaves are grown in only a few developing countries, and turning those commodities into consumable drugs, transporting them, and distributing them is the domain of large, well-organized, powerful and very profitable cartels who, so far, don't benefit from participating in dark web markets. Similarly, the dark web is ill-suited to drugs like heroin or meth, whose heavily addicted users usually can't wait the relatively long times—often weeks—it takes from purchase to delivery, nor have the mental energy to deal with bitcoins. In summary, the web will probably not alter the entire market but will at most it will further segment it. Certain drugs like MDMA and LSD may move mostly online. And the web may become the preferred source for affluent users and small-time pot dealers.

Original Submission

The Mighty Buzzard writes:

Fresh from the Gallup poll-monkeys:

Three in four Americans (75%) last year perceived corruption as widespread in the country's government. This figure is up from two in three in 2007 (67%) and 2009 (66%).

While the numbers have fluctuated slightly since 2007, the trend has been largely stable since 2010. However, the percentage of U.S. adults who see corruption as pervasive has never been less than a majority in the past decade, which has had no shortage of controversies from the U.S. Justice Department's firings of U.S. attorneys to the IRS scandal.

These figures are higher than some might expect, and while the lack of improvement is somewhat disconcerting, the positive takeaway is that Americans still feel fairly free to criticize their government. This is not the case in some parts of the world. Questions about corruption are so sensitive in some countries that even if Gallup is allowed to ask them, the results may reflect residents' reluctance to disparage their government. This is particularly true in countries where media freedom is restricted.

So, apparently a quarter of the nation have not brains but moist cow pies in place of them. Honestly, I figured it would be a higher percent but apparently the corruption is bad enough to penetrate even a cow pie if it's not also moist.

Original Submission

eof writes:

A Boston area jeweler has won a bid in court to have Yelp reveal the contact information of a reviewer.

Pageo Jewelry, based in Newton, sued a critic they identified as "Linda G. Doe" for defamation after she accused the store's owners of selling overpriced jewelry and taking advantage of her when she was in dire financial straits. Pageo's lawsuit has sparked news articles – and a flurry of criticism – on several websites.

"George took all the jewelry I had ever bought there and gave me peanuts for it!!" the review reads in part. George Pelz, who co-owns Pageo, responded by calling the reviewer "a Yelp Terrorist."

The store's owners have submitted sworn affadavits [sic] that raise doubts about the post's authenticity, said Tim Lynch, the attorney who represents Pelz and Pam Swartz, a brother and sister who own the store. He said they only filed suit in Boston Municipal Court – and subpoenaed Yelp – after the San Francisco-based website refused to provide the poster's contact information.

In addition to the bad image created by 'Linda G.' among his customers, additional one star reviews have appeared on the site from people who have read about the lawsuit. The Public Citizen lawyer representing Yelp said they would comply with the order and that Linda G. '"passionately believes" in her cause.'

Original Submission

"gewg_" writes:

The European Union's interoperability page reports

The Italian military is transitioning to LibreOffice and the [OpenDocument] Format (ODF). The Ministry of Defense will over the next year-and-a-half install this suite of office productivity tools on some 150,000 PC workstations--making it Europe's second largest LibreOffice implementation. The switch was announced on 15 September by the LibreItalia Association.

The migration project will begin in October and is foreseen to be completed at the end of 2016.

It's the law

Italy's Agency for the Digitalization of the Public Sector (AGID) [...] writes that the switch to LibreOffice is a consequence of a June 2012 law, which says that free and open source [software] should be the default option for the country's public administrations.

The Ministry of Defence is the first central government organisation to switch to an open source office productivity suite. However, there are many regions, provinces and city administrations in Italy that use LibreOffice, including the Regione Emilia Romagna, the provinces of Perugia, Cremona, Macerata, Bolzano, and Trento, [as well as] the cities of Bologna, Piacenza, and Reggio Emilia.

[...] The largest European public administration using free software office suites is the French Interior Ministry, with some 240,000 desktops. In France, many ministries use open source office suites such as LibreOffice.

Original Submission

Two different Anonymous Cowards wrote in to give us an update on the story we ran recently, 9th Grader Arrested for Bringing Homemade Clock to School:

Was the Ahmed Mohamad Clock Story a Hoax?

An Anonymous Coward writes:

By now, you've heard of Ahmed Mohammed, the fourteen year old who was arrested for bringing a homemade clock to his Irving, Texas high school, which was mistaken for a hoax bomb and in violation of Texas Penal Code 46. The media narrative was that a curious kid was arrested due to implied Islamophobia and a highented state of paranoia after the anniversary of 9/11. But analysis of Ahmed's clock reveals that he may not have invented anything at all. An Electronics Engineer from ArtVoice claims, "Ahmed Mohamed didn't invent his own alarm clock. He didn't even build a clock.":

Earlier this year, the City of Irving recently upheld a law banning unlicensed "Sharia Courts" from deciding legal matters, which infuriated Muslim immigrants in the community. Given the political history associated with Ahmed Mohamad's family, is it unreasonable to assume that this was all a hoax, designed to turn American public opinion against a city that had very recently offended its Islamic inhabitants?

Arrested 14 year old boy in Texas didn't invent his own alarm clock.

Amhed's clock was invented, and built, by Micronta, a Radio Shack subsidiary. Catalog number 63 756. So there you have it folks, Ahmed did not invent, nor build a clock. He took apart an existing clock, and transplanted the guts into a pencil box, and claimed it was his own creation. He explains that he closed up the box with a piece of cord because he didn't want it to look suspicious. I'm curious, why would "looking suspicious" have even crossed his mind?
Read on for details...
http://blogs.artvoice.com/techvoice/2015/09/17/reverse-engineering-ahmed-mohameds-clock-and-ourselves/

Original Submission #1  Original Submission #2 

"gewg_" writes:

El Reg reports

A dozen libraries across the US have asked for details on how to host Tor exit nodes following a decision by the small town of Lebanon, New Hampshire, to [forgo] police warnings.

Following a decision by the library's board of trustees earlier this week to put the exit node back online, the founder of the Library Freedom Project, Alison Macrina, said that she had heard from a number of other libraries interested in hosting tor nodes.

"Between libraries and community leaders around the country, we've heard from probably about a dozen who are interested in joining this", she told Motherboard.

One of those people was present at the board meeting, having driven two hours to attend. As a library trustee at nearby Reading, she revealed that it was going to have its own meeting on the issue next month.

[...] Macrina now says that the DHS' efforts have put her project on the map. "This has catalyzed additional libraries and community members", she told Motherboard. "Folks have emailed me saying 'We don't care if it gets shut down, we want to push back against [the DHS]'."

Previous: Library Running Tor Exit Node Gets Visit from Cops; Takes it Down
Despite Homeland Security Opposition, Tor is back at New Hampshire Library

Original Submission

In the early 1960s, an engineer and businessman named Ralph Parsons came up with an audacious plan to manage North America's fresh water supply with a system of dams and canals that would stretch from the Yukon River to the Great Lakes to northern Mexico. Parsons was unsuccessfully pushing the project until his death in 1974.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

The Pope is coming to town, and the people need a place to stay:

The pope will be making a whirlwind trip to the U.S. in September and thousands of followers are expected to follow him during his six-day trip. He arrives in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 22. Pope Francis will meet President Obama at the White House on Sept. 23 and offer midday prayer at St. Matthew's Cathedral. In New York, he will address the Joint Session of the U.S. Congress on Sept. 24 and offer evening prayer at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. The next day, he will visit the United Nations General Assembly and hold a multi-religious service at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum and hold mass at Madison Square Garden. He has more scheduled events in Philadelphia on Sept. 26 and 27. (See his full schedule here.)

This has peer-to-peer home rental sites — the two biggest are Airbnb and HomeAway.com — and others, braced for a boost in post-summer interest. "We're going to see an impressive number," says Wrede Petersmeyer, New York City manager at Airbnb. "Having spoken with hosts, they're aware of this and very excited. This is the chance to show visitors an incredible once-in-a-lifetime experience." On HomeAway.com, which only carries listings for entire homes, traveler enquiries in Philadelphia alone are up over 695% compared with last year for Sept. 26 and 27, the period during the pope's visit, although D.C. and New York, already popular destinations among tourists this time of year, are not showing a surge in demand.

[...] Expect most people in town to see the pope to be practicing Catholics, says Andrew Mellen, personal home organizer and author of "Unstuff Your Life!", and hosts should be sensitive to that. "He's a rock star to some people," he says. "The first thing you should do is put away all your sex toys or pornography. Mellen even advises going as far as to create an impartial religious space. "You should neutralize any religious iconography in your home," he says. "Put away the Menorah on your shelf or statue of Buddha. If there's a copy of the Quran lying around, you should probably put that way, too." Whatever you do, put comfort first and commerce second. Ask yourself, "Do I not care as long as their check clears the bank or do I want them to have as nice an experience as possible?" Mellen says. "You will make different decisions if it's based on being a gracious host rather than money alone."

Those in Washington, D.C., New York, and Philadelphia must keep their drones grounded.

Original Submission

basstard writes:

BBC writes that the maker of iOS ad-blocker is showing remorse:

The man behind one of the most popular ad-blocking apps has withdrawn his product from the app store, saying "achieving this much success doesn't feel good."

Marco Arment, the co-founder of Tumblr, released Peace, an ad-blocker that worked on iOS9, the latest iPhone operating system, shortly after Apple enabled mobile blocking apps on the new system. The $2.99 app shot up to the top of the paid app chart overnight, along with ad-blockers Purify and Crystal.

Mr Arment, who also created Instapaper, said Peace brought "quiet, privacy, and ludicrous speed to iOS web browsing." Data, battery life, time, and privacy were being taken from users without their consent, he said in the same blog post. However many criticized ad-blockers for charging for something that simultaneously took money away from publishers who depended on adverts so that they could provide their readers with free content.

Today is national kick an indy web publisher in the groin day, spread the word, wrote Christopher Mims. Others supported the new ad-blockers.

However Mr Arment withdrew his app after just two days and offered those who had bought it a refund.

He wrote in a blog post: "Achieving this much success with Peace just doesn't feel good, which I didn't anticipate, but probably should have. Ad-blockers come with an important asterisk: while they do benefit a ton of people in major ways, they also hurt some, including many who don't deserve the hit.

"Peace required that all ads be treated the same — all-or-nothing enforcement for decisions that aren't black and white. If we're going to effect positive change overall, a more nuanced, complex approach is required than what I can bring in a simple iOS app." He added: "Pulling Peace from the store after just two days is going to be an immensely unpopular move, and subject me to a torrent of unpleasantness. But that'll end soon enough, and that's better than how I'd feel if I kept going."

Peace had partnered with browser add-on "Ghostery" which blocks adverts and trackers on desktops. This will continue to operate. An Apple spokeswoman said that Apple enabled ad-blocking in the new version of its mobile software to give customers the option to block content "for an improved mobile browsing experience."

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Twitter has added a custom Coca-Cola-themed emoji next to instances of the hashtag #ShareaCoke:

Twitter will only be offering the feature to Coke and others as part of a package deal to its biggest clients that have already committed a certain amount of their ad budgets to Twitter. A typical move by big media companies is to offer sweeteners to major clients.

The San Francisco company worked with Coke for six months on the project and is currently talking to 10 of its biggest brand-name clients about getting in on the frenzy for winky faces and love-struck cats. A Coke spokesman wouldn't say how much the ad deal with Twitter was worth.

Snaps, a startup that aims to help advertisers and publishers navigate the booming mobile-messaging arena and consumers' growing predilection for using pictures over words, has recently raised $6.5 million in funding. It has already helped create digital stickers and emojis for marketers such as Burger King, Victoria's Secret, Sony Pictures Entertainment and the Houston Rockets.

You won't find that emoji in Unicode... yet.

Related: Sugar-Sweetened Beverages, Obesity, Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, and Cardiovascular Disease Risk

Original Submission

An Anonymous Coward writes:

Addiction to heroin and other opiates is a growing problem in the USA, as Presidential hopefuls have learned from Q&A sessions with voters on the campaign trail (previous SN story here).

Tired of encountering dead bodies, the police department of Gloucester, MA (an old city with a large commercial fishing industry) decided to appeal for the public's help in a rather interesting way, via a department Facebook post:

takyon: A newer Facebook post says that Pfizer is in contact with the Gloucester Police Department.

Original Submission

GM pleads guilty but no criminal charges for employees in ignition switch recall

mattTheOne writes:

No GM employees going to jail for failure to fix an engineering problem:

General Motors will pay $900 million to settle criminal charges related to its flawed ignition switch that has been tied to at least 124 deaths. Problems with the ignition switch could shut off the car while it was being driven, disabling the airbag, power steering and power brakes -- and putting drivers and passengers at risk. GM had already admitted that its employees were aware of the problem nearly a decade before it started to recall millions of the cars early last year. That delay is the basis behind the criminal charges.

Sounds like the FORD Pinto...

Volkswagen Busted for Cheating on Emission Benchmarks

Nox Night writes:

Is it time for a DriverGater movement? Cheating on gaming benchmarks has been the raison d'être of the GamerGater movement. All of the major graphics chip manufacturers have been caught cheating on performance benchmarks by including code in the driver to detect benchmark runs and take visual shortcuts that produce better numbers but worse quality.

Now Volkswagen has been caught using the same tactics - to detect when their vehicles are being benchmarked for emissions and to release less nitrogen oxide pollution but operate less efficiently, giving false results.

The recall covers roughly 482,000 diesel passenger cars sold in the United States since 2009. Affected diesel models include the 2009-15 Volkswagen Jetta, 2009-15 Beetle, 2009-15 Golf, 2014-15 Passat and 2009-15 Audi A3.

Friday's notice of violation was the Obama administration's "opening salvo" in the Volkswagen case, said Thomas Reynolds, an E.P.A. spokesman. The Justice Department's investigation could ultimately result in fines or penalties for the company. Under the terms of the Clean Air Act, the Justice Department could impose fines of as much as $37,500 for each recalled vehicle, for a possible total penalty of as much as $18 billion.

Original Submission #1  Original Submission #2 

Phoenix666 writes:

A 24-year-old mother is in custody Saturday after her two young children were found barefoot, dirty and living in a wooden shipping crate in an underground cave on the eastern edge of Kansas City, Missouri.
...
Mugrauer told investigators that her children had been living in the cave for several days and acknowledged leaving them there alone, the probable cause statement says. She was taken into custody Friday afternoon and has not yet appeared in court.
...
The extensive network of caves is the product of massive limestone mining in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Years after the mining operations ceased, companies started finding ways to use the millions of square feet of abandoned underground space. The caves house hundreds of businesses, many of which specialize in storage or warehousing because they are protected from extreme weather and have year-round temperatures of around 70 degrees.
...
Many of the caves feature paved roads, utilities and developed business space, while others, such as the one where the children were found, consist of dirt floors and uncontrolled entrances.

Dirty and alone sounds bad, though many people do that with kids that old. Caves that are "protected from extreme weather and have year-round temperatures of around 70 degrees" sound like a good choice for a city that's in the middle of Tornado Alley.

Original Submission