"There's just something about uniforms that garner an almost naïve trust. People trust uniforms. Most of us obey the word of those clad in uniforms to an almost Stanford Prison Experiment-esque degree." Continue reading →
"Microsoft references the WannaCry ransomware's source as an vulnerability known by the NSA, noting that similar security holes were revealed on WikiLeaks in documents stolen from the CIA. It says that the governments of the world should treat the WannaCry attack as 'a wake-up call,' to consider the 'damage to civilians that comes from hoarding these vulnerabilities and the use of these exploits,' and to adopt the 'Digital Geneva Convention' the company first suggested in February. That Convention would have a new stipulation, too: 'a new requirement for governments to report vulnerabilities to vendors, rather than stockpile, sell, or exploit them.'" Continue reading →
"UK hospitals have effectively shut down and are turning away non-emergency patients after ransomware ransacked its networks. Doctors have been reduced to using pen and paper, and closing A&E to non-critical patients, amid the tech blackout. The security hole has been patched for modern Windows versions, but not WindowsXP – and the NHS is a massive user of the legacy operating system." Continue reading →
"The Supreme Court’s decision means that the coins will remain the property of the federal government and will not be returned to the Langbord family, which reportedly discovered the 10 coins in a family safe deposit box in 2003. The family — Joan Langbord and her sons, Roy and David — turned them over to the United States Mint in 2004 for authentication. Mint officials informed the family in 2005 that it was keeping the coins. A legal battle over ownership ensued, with both parties to the suit at different points being awarded the coins." Continue reading →
"Tens of thousands of kids are abducted in China every year and are either sold to foster parents or to more sinister individuals who'd use them for prostitution or child slavery. Baobeihuijia was created to reunite families torn apart by those abductions. For years, its volunteers would painstakingly compare images uploaded by parents against those uploaded by people looking for their families or by concerned citizens one by one. This March, though, Baidu offered the group its cross-age facial recognition technology, which it's been testing since November last year." Continue reading →
"Here’s a short story about how I became a real American: Someone whose debt is gonna take a few years to pay off. 28 months by current count." Continue reading →
"War makes murderers out of otherwise decent people. All wars, and all decent people." Continue reading →
"April 2017 was another month of mass slaughter and unimaginable terror for the people of Mosul in Iraq and the areas around Raqqa and Tabqa in Syria, as the heaviest, most sustained U.S.-led bombing campaign since the American War in Vietnam entered its 33rd month." Continue reading →
"The 90-second video message from Sheriff Peyton Grinnell features a stern message to heroin dealers in his community, as he's flanked by four deputies in body armor and black face masks, who stoically stare into the camera. Some people made comparisons to videos from the Islamic State, the terrorist group also known as ISIS whose propaganda often features masked men delivering fiery statements." Continue reading →
"Not content with having a fleet of insecure surveillance drones, the state of Connecticut wants a fleet of insecure weaponized drones. What could possibly go wrong?" Continue reading →