129867398
submission
retroworks writes:
USA and India have run an internationally recognised joint vaccine development programme for more than three decades. They have worked on stopping dengue, enteric diseases, influenza and TB in their tracks. Trials of a dengue vaccine are planned in the near future.
"India is among the largest manufacturer of generic drugs and vaccines in the world. It is home to half a dozen major vaccine makers and a host of smaller ones, making doses against polio, meningitis, pneumonia, rotavirus, BCG, measles, mumps and rubella, among other diseases.
"Now half a dozen Indian firms are developing vaccines against the virus that causes Covid-19."
112019524
submission
retroworks writes:
In today's article "Zoos Call it a Rescue, but are Elephants Really Better Off?" NYT reporter Charles Siebert does much to dispell the idea that zoos are a solution to extinction. In the first half of the article, the cruelty of zoos is in focus. "Neuroimaging has shown that elephants possess in their cerebral cortex the same elements of neural wiring we long thought exclusive to us, including spindle and pyramidal neurons, associated with higher cognitive functions like self-recognition, social awareness and language. "
The second half of the article questions whether any current (expensive) efforts to "save" the elephants offers anything more than window dressing. Privatization advocate Ted Reilly is quoted that, "The greatest threat to wildlife in Africa today is the uncontrolled spread of human sprawl. As far as it sprawls, nature dies. And that’s the reality on the ground. It’s not the nice idea that people cook up and suggest, but that’s the reality. And in my view, an equally important threat, serious threat, is dependence on donor money. If you become dependent on donor money, you will inevitably become dictated to in terms of your policies. And your management integrity will be interfered with. And it’s not possible to be totally free of corruptive influences if you’re not financially independent.”
Does this type of reporting improve the situation, or cause despondence and abandonment of the extinction cause?
107023214
submission
retroworks writes:
Last month, Slashdot reported https://hardware.slashdot.org/... that China's Communist Party surveillance in Western (primarily Muslim) provinces has forced downloads of tracking software into citizens cell phones. Now a Dutch internet security consultant https://www.zdnet.com/article/... reports (via ZDNET and EFF) that he has uncovered one of the servers, giving a rare access to the types of facial recognition software and human tracking systems the government is up to.
Xinjiang is China’s largest province, and home to China’s Uighurs, a Turkic minority group. Here, the Chinese government has implemented a testbed police state where an estimated 1 million individuals from these minority groups have been arbitrarily detained. Among the detainees are academics, writers, engineers, and relatives of Uighurs in exile. Many Uighurs abroad worry for their missing family members, who they haven’t heard from for several months and, in some cases, over a year.
102317850
submission
retroworks writes:
Microsoft Corp said on Monday that it had recently thwarted hackers associated with Russian government attempting to steal user information from conservative groups that promote democracy and advocate for cybersecurity. The company’s digital crimes unit (DCU) acted on a court order last week, disrupting and transferring control of a total of six internet domains created by a group known as Strontium, also known as Fancy Bear or APT28, which is associated with the Russian government, the company said in a blog posted late on Monday night.
“We’re concerned that these and other attempts pose security threats to a broadening array of groups connected with both American political parties in the run-up to the 2018 elections,” Microsoft said.
88321669
submission
retroworks writes:
NYT has an interesting blow-by-blow story on two India Tech Center employees who informed on their call center fraud operation, which targeted Americans (especially recent immigrants) with fraudulent IRS calls and other scams. The building was surrounded by police, phone lines cut. Eventually 630 of the employees were released, and charges were brought against 70 managers and executives of the call center.
The article concludes that while the number of such scam calls fell by 95% following the raid, that even if 400 such centers were raided, that the business was too easy and too lucrative to successfully destroy.
85889191
submission
retroworks writes:
Several scientific journals reported (early 2016) on technological proposals to take the Zika-carrying Aedes aegypti species of mosquito the way of the dodo bird and passenger pigeon. As fear over the spread of the Zika virus spreads (Florida, Singapore), more business journals are exploring private sector investments to eradicate the species of mosquito entirely — an investment itch begging to be scratched. But will business be content with eradication of just "cockroach of mosquitos"? The headline on today's WSJ article begs the question "Why Not Kill Them All?" http://www.wsj.com/articles/mo...
Most articles seem to find extinction of the indoors attacking, dengue fever and malaria spreading Aedes aegypti a tantalizing prospect (MIT Review title "Humanitarian Cause" — https://www.technologyreview.c...). BBC weighed the approach more carefully, noting that mosquitoes make rain forests uninhabitable (and consequences of human populations in rain forests are usually disastrous). Investment channeling into the eradication of not just the most deadly species of the animal, but all 12 species of human — biting mosquitoes in the world, responsible for 500,000 deaths per year. Will capitalism would make the itch of mosquito bites forgotten... Forever?
http://www.wsj.com/articles/fi...
https://www.technologyreview.c...
https://www.technologyreview.c...
http://www.npr.org/sections/go...
85168131
submission
retroworks writes:
Interpol reports that a Nigerian behind thousands of online scams around the world has been arrested in the southern oil city of Port Harcourt.
The 40-year-old man, known only as "Mike" is alleged to head a network of 40 individuals behind global scams worth more than $60m (£45m).
His operations involved using malware to take over systems to compromise emails, as well as romance scams. Nigeria's anti-fraud agency was also involved in the arrest.
"In one case, a target was conned into paying out $15.4 m (£11m)," Interpol said in a statement. "Mike" also allegedly ran a money laundering network in China, Europe and the US. The network compromised email accounts of small to medium-sized businesses around the world. They would then send fake messages to buyers with instructions to make a payment to a bank account under their control.
84588157
submission
retroworks writes:
Wall Street Journal (may be paywalled), CBS and Marketwatch all lead the morning with stories about the newest method of stealing (late model) cars. No need for hacking off the ignition switch and touching the wires to create a spark (controversial during broadcasts in 1970s television crime criticized for "teaching people to steal cars"). Thieves now use the laptop to access the automobile's computer system, and voila.
"Police and car insurers say thieves are using laptop computers to hack into late-model cars’ electronic ignitions to steal the vehicles, raising alarms about the auto industry’s greater use of computer controls."
"The discovery follows a recent incident in Houston in which a pair of car thieves were caught on camera using a laptop to start a 2010 Jeep Wrangler and steal it from the owner’s driveway. Police say the same method may have been used in the theft of four other late-model Wranglers and Cherokees in the city. None of the vehicles has been recovered."
The article concludes with the example filmed of a break in in Houston.
The thief, says the NICB’s Mr. Morris, likely used the laptop to manipulate the car’s computer to recognize a signal sent from an electronic key the thief then used to turn on the ignition. The computer reads the signal and allows the key to turn.
“We have no idea how many cars have been broken into using this method,” Mr. Morris said. “We think it is minuscule in the overall car thefts but it does show these hackers will do anything to stay one step ahead.”
No details on modifying the program to run on Android or IPhone — there's not yet "an app for that".
Non paywalled (but briefer) story at MarketWatch http://www.marketwatch.com/sto...
81272955
submission
retroworks writes:
Bloomberg columnist Adam Minter takes on Apple's "Error 53 Code" and the precedents being challenged by the Right To Repair movement. Apple claims that bricking the phone if it's repaired by a non-Apple certified repair shop protects you from tampering with, say, the fingerprint scanner. But the column documents how the number of "certified" repair shops is under attack. If you can't open it, do you really own it?
78766451
submission
retroworks writes:
According to a recent tweet from the #OpParis account, Anonymous are delivering on their threat to hack Isis [slashdot http://slashdot.org/?fhfilter=..., and are now flooding all pro-Isis hastags with the grandfather of all 2007 memes — Rick Aston's "Never Gonna Give You Up" (1987) music video, aka “Rick Roll” meme. Whenever a targeted Isis account tries to spread a message, the topic will instead be flooded with countless videos of Rick Astley circa 1987.
Not all are praising Anonymous methods, however. While Metro UK reports that the attacks have been successful, finding and shutting down 5,500 Twitter accounts, the article also indicates that professional security agencies have seen sources they monitor shut down. Rick Aston drowns out intelligence as well as recruitment. http://metro.co.uk/2015/11/22/...
77987539
submission
retroworks writes:
The B-52s currently in use have been flown by 3 generations of American Air Force pilots. B1s and B-2 Bombers are also long in the tooth. Northrup Grumman wins for the NEXT half century, with a major new order for state of the art bomber aircraft. The Atlantic reports "While the current fleet remains useful, the Air Force wants a bomber that can evade the advancing air defenses of Russia and China—if ever the need arises. The long-range bomber would act as a deterrent against actions designed to keep U.S. forces out of a designated area—what the military calls “anti-access aerial denial."”
73558317
submission
retroworks writes:
Josh Horwitz' story in Quartz today reports both the apparent rapid success of Uber adaptation in China, and a queasy footnote for shareholders applauding the rapid growth. While China is a natural ride-sharing haven, it also has a tradition of gaming the western system.
"Accomplices can sit in their apartments, disable location settings, and specify a pickup not far from the actual location of driver’s vehicle, the report said. The driver then accepts the hail, and goes on a trip without a passenger. After the accomplice approves payment, the driver will – hopefully – pay back the fee and share a cut of the bonus. It’s not the most clever get-rich scheme on the planet. But for drivers, it’s better than waiting for a hail in a parking lot."
Uber's spokeswoman told the Quartz writer that the company has an on-the-ground team who investigate into these various type of fraud, then uses "deep analytics, and new tools developed by our Chinese engineers in our dedicated fraud team to combat against such fraud.” The Uber spokeswoman declined to elaborate on the nature of these tools.
73269531
submission
retroworks writes:
Integrated photonic devices are poised to play a key role in a wide variety of applications, ranging from optical interconnects and sensors to quantum computing. However, only a small library of semi-analytically designed devices is currently known. In the article in Nature Photonics, http://www.nature.com/nphoton/... researchers demonstrate the use of an inverse design method that explores the full design space of fabricable devices and allows them to design devices with previously unattainable functionality, higher performance and robustness, and smaller footprints than conventional devices. The designed a silicon wavelength demultiplexer splits 1,300nm and 1,550nm light from an input waveguide into two output waveguides, and the team has fabricated and characterized several devices. The devices display low insertion loss (2dB), low crosstalk (100nm). The device footprint is 2.8×2.8m2, making this the smallest dielectric wavelength splitter.
72204423
submission
retroworks writes:
Two stories appear today which feature close up photos of young African men surrounded by scrap metal in the city of Accra. The headlines state that this is where our computers go to die (Wired). The Daily Mail puts it in even starker terms, alleging "millions of tons" are dumped in Agbogbloshie.
The stories appear the same day as a press release by investigators who returned this week from 3 weeks at the site. The release claims that Agbogbloshie's depiction as the worlds "largest ewaste dump site" to be a hoax. It is a scrap automobile yard which accounts for nothing more than local scrap from Accra. Three Dagbani language speaking electronics technicians, three reporters, Ghana customs officials and yours truly visited the site, interviewed workers about the origins of the material, and assessed volumes. About 27 young men burn wire, mostly from automobile scrap harnesses. The electronics — 20 to 50 items per day — are collected from Accra businesses and households. The majority of Accra (population 5M) have had televisions since the 1990s, according to World Bank metadata (over 80% by 2003).
The investigation did confirm that most of the scrap was originally imported used, and that work conditions were poor. However, the equipment being recycled had been repaired and maintained, typically for a decade (longer than the original OECD owner). It is a fact that used goods will, one day, eventually become e-waste. Does that support a ban on the trade in used goods to Africa? Or, as the World Bank reports, is the affordable used product essential to establish a critical mass of users so that investment in highways, phone towers, and internet cable can find necessary consumers?
70618289
submission
retroworks writes:
Washington Post reporter Caitlin Dewey leads with "Revenge-porn impresario Craig Brittain is learning the hard way that karma is a real witch."
The report states that the Federal Trade Commission has settled a complaint against Brittain, whose defunct site, "Is Anybody Down" was accused of unfair business practices. TFA: "The site paid its bills by soliciting women’s nude photos on Craigslist and/or from their exes, publishing the photos without the women’s permission (and often with their names and phone numbers attached), and then charging fees of $200 to $500 to take the photos down."
Brittain agreed to destroy the image and never operate a revenge porn site again. However, On Feb. 9, "Brittain filed a takedown request to Google, demanding that the search engine stop linking to nearly two dozen URLs — including a number of news articles, and files on the case from the FTC — because they used photos of him and information about him without his permission."
Ars Technica explains. “In this instance,” writes David Kravets, “fair use and general First Amendment principles are on Google’s and the media’s side.”
