Tag Archives: Technology

Trump doesn’t want ISIS “using our Internet”

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“A week after saying the US should disrupt the Islamic terrorist group ISIS’ online recruiting by ‘closing that Internet up in some way,’ Donald Trump was given a chance to clarify what he meant at last night’s GOP debate. ‘You talk freedom of speech. You talk freedom of anything you want. I don’t want them using our Internet to take our young, impressionable youth,’ Trump said at the debate. Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) criticized Trump’s plan. ‘The question is, how do we keep America safe from terrorism? Trump says we ought to close that Internet thing. The question really is, what does he mean by that? Like they do in North Korea? Like they do in China?’ Paul said.”

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/12/trump-doesnt-want-isis-using-our-internet/

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UK May Approve Bill Allowing Spying on Individuals via Their Kids Toys

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“British government’s new investigatory bill (pdf) has a proposal on making it legal to hack smart toys in order to allow investigators to get to pry on suspects.  This strategy could be one of many measures governments around the world are taking to track down cyber criminals and terrorists.  Furthermore, the bill has also made it a legal duty for all internet service providers to support law enforcement agencies in hacking smart devices like smart toys.  The most important clause the draft bill has is that the government can ask for the break of end-to-end encryption from private companies at any time and the companies have to oblige.”

https://www.hackread.com/uk-investigatory-bill-spying-via-kids-toys/

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Man arrested in toymaker hack that exposed data for millions of kids

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“The breach ultimately exposed data for 11.6 million people, 6.4 million of whom were minors. Personal information for children included their names, gender and birthdates, while details for parents included mailing and e-mail addresses, security questions used for password resets, IP addresses, password data, and download histories. The trove also included headshots and logs of chats between parents and their children. The information was stored in a database for VTech’s Learning Lodge app store, which is used by the company’s electronic toys.  A follow-up article reported that the unidentified hacker had no plans to publish or otherwise share the pilfered data.”

http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/12/man-arrested-in-toymaker-hack-says-he-wanted-to-expose-inadequate-security/

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Cop who wanted to photograph teen’s erection in sexting case commits suicide

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“Detective David Edward Abbott, a member of the Northern Virginia-Washington DC Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, last year had obtained a warrant to inject a young boy with a drug that would cause an erection. Abbott wanted to photograph that erection and compare it with photos found on a 15-year-old girl’s phone. Amid a public outcry, the Manassas City police eventually decided against doing that. The 17-year-old boy got a year of probation for sexting his teen girlfriend.  For at least two years, Abbott had an inappropriate relationship with a boy, now 13, police alleged. He was accused of soliciting sexual acts on the phone, via text messages and social media.”

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/12/cop-who-wanted-to-take-pic-of-erection-in-sexting-case-commits-suicide/

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Banks’ ‘Uber moment’: 100,000 bankers fired in 2015

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“The analysis comes just weeks after Antony Jenkins, who until July was CEO of Barclays, warned in a speech that as much as half of banking jobs could be replaced by apps and algorithms over the next 10 years.  Jenkins’ argument rests on the rise of fintech — financial technology — startups that do things like payments, lending, and investments in a smarter, cheaper, and often faster way. Jenkins believes fintech startups will ‘disrupt’ financial services in the same way Uber has disrupted the taxi industry. That will squeeze profit margins, forcing banks to cut staff, and also force them to compete on technology, another change that will reduce headcount.”

http://www.businessinsider.com/banks-uber-moment-100000-bankers-fired-in-2015-2015-12

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Chicago struggles to auction off taxi medallions

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“Amid the rise of ride-booking services such as Uber, the city’s cab regulator has been unable to close out a sale of taxi medallions more than two years after first taking bids on them.  Back then, the city insisted on minimum bids of $360,000 per medallion, creating the possibility of a windfall worth at least $18 million for the cash-strapped city.  The failure to finish up the auction is another example of how ride-booking firms have upset assumptions about taxi medallions, which permit drivers to operate a licensed cab in the city. As consumers have shifted to Uber and Lyft, pricing for medallions has fallen and lenders that previously made loans into the market have fled it.”

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20151124/NEWS10/151129923/chicago-struggles-to-auction-off-taxi-medallions

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More Fidelity markdowns: Valuations slashed on Zenefits, Blue Bottle Coffee, others

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“Snapchat and Dropbox aren’t the only venture-backed private companies that Fidelity thinks were worth a lot less in September than they were in July.  The Boston mutual fund giant slashed its valuation estimates on Zenefits, Blue Bottle Coffee and others, too.  Fidelity has been one of the most active players in the surge of big late-stage fundings that have helped venture-backed companies build $1 billion-plus valuations without going public or being acquired. But there is growing concern that some of those valuations have gotten ahead of themselves.  A report by Morningstar said Fidelity cut the value of its investment in Snapchat by 25 percent and in Dropbox by 31 percent in the third quarter.”

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/blog/techflash/2015/11/more-fidelity-markdowns-valuations-slashed-on.html

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The $10 Hedge Fund Supercomputer That’s Sweeping Wall Street

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“What’s remarkable about their efforts isn’t that AI science fiction is suddenly becoming AI science fact (sorry, Steven Spielberg). It’s something more mundane: thanks to cloud computing, mind-blowing data analysis is getting so cheap that many businesses can easily afford it.  Sophisticated hedge funds like Renaissance Technologies and tech giants like Google Inc. have been deploying AI and its subset, machine learning, for years. Now data shops like Ufora, which McKee founded in 2011, are leveraging cloud power to help hedge funds and other financial players run complex, big-data computer models. The results are startling.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-20/the-10-hedge-fund-supercomputer-that-s-sweeping-wall-street

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Uber ruling may reverberate through Silicon Valley

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“A U.S. judge expanded the scope of the suit Wednesday, allowing drivers who did not opt out of an arbitration clause to participate.  U.S. District Judge Edward Chen in San Francisco granted the case class-action status in September, but said drivers who had waived their right to class-action arbitration, by not opting out of a clause, could not participate. Wednesday’s news stands to widen the scope of a case that will reverberate through Silicon Valley and the broader sharing, or gig, economy, which connects freelancers with available work and includes everything from car and home sharing to hiring workers to run errands and deliver food.”

http://www.cnbc.com/2015/12/09/uber-ruling-may-reverberate-through-silicon-valley.html

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Elon Musk’s growing empire is fueled by $4.9 billion in government subsidies

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“Tesla Motors Inc., SolarCity Corp. and Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX, together have benefited from an estimated $4.9 billion in government support, according to data compiled by The Times. The figure underscores a common theme running through his emerging empire: a public-private financing model underpinning long-shot start-ups.  The figure compiled by The Times comprises a variety of government incentives, including grants, tax breaks, factory construction, discounted loans and environmental credits that Tesla can sell. It also includes tax credits and rebates to buyers of solar panels and electric cars.”

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hy-musk-subsidies-20150531-story.html

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