Science & Technology

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Apr 12, 2016 - ABC News Report: Data Breaches Bigger, Worse Than You Think In addition to 9 “mega-breaches” of personal data in 2015, tens of millions of personal records were likely exposed or stolen the same year but went unreported because the companies or entities involved chose to keep the size of the breach a secret, The report from California-based Symantec said that the number of companies that refused to report the scope of a data breach jumped by 85 percent last year, what one senior Symantec officer said was a “disturbing trend.” Some 429 million personal records were exposed in 2015 -- many of them through mega-breaches like the Office of Personnel Management hack and one that reportedly hit a huge voter database -- but that number is only based on entities that shared the scope of the breach. Symantec estimates that the real number of exposed or stolen records, including those that went unreported, likely tops half a billion. Senior Vice President at Symantec told ABC News that the research shows cyber-crime has moved on from its “start-up phase.” “As a growth business, these guys have figured out how to make money,”

Growing business has moved on from its “start-up phase.”
A “disturbing trend - a market has evolved to meet demand.”  read more »

Ski touring group climbs adjacent to the Bec des Rosses mountain above the Swiss Alps resort of Verbier.

"Death from overworking" claims hit record high in Japan - legal claims relating to "karoshi" rose to a record high of 1,456 last financial year.

a baby crocodile decided to climb onto the head of a hapless frog

Billions: Sir Richard Branson, head of Virgin Group, said that he felt ‘sadness’ after Virgin America was bought by Alaska Airlines under a $2.6 billion deal.

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Update 15 May 2016 Unlucky woman's GPS led her straight into a lake
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Technology doesn't always love you back.
A woman in Tobermory, Ontario drove down a boat ramp and into Lake Huron last Thursday thanks to faulty directions from her GPS.
The GPS has not yet apologized for its actions.
Luckily, she was able to roll down the window, retrieve her purse and clamber out of the car before it started to sink.
She is reportedly doing just fine, with no injuries other than a few technological trust issues.

26 March 2016
BBC: The company said Google Maps directed them to the wrong address; they were supposed to tear down a home just one block away. Diaz says she has now received a personal apology but hopes the company will change its procedures to ensure addresses are more thoroughly checked before any demolition starts. And she warns against relying on GPS for directions. "I do not like to rely on GPS," she says. "I've had GPS take me to the wrong places also. So I look at the map."

Diaz says the demolition crew, who were still at the site of her home when she arrived, did offer a kind of explanation. One employee told her they had been due to tear down a house at 7601 Cousteau Drive, one street away, but their GPS mapping system had taken them to her home at 7601 Calypso Drive instead - The building, which included two homes, was pummelled in December's tornado but was due to be repaired  read more »

Longfellow once said,
"in character, in manner, in style, in all things, the supreme excellence is simplicity."
And Emerson stated,
"nothing is more simple than greatness; indeed, to be simple is to be great."

So, hard to disagree that the 140-character limit is Twitter’s signature, and Twitter’s legacy.

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Twitter’s 140 characters - It’s staying. Jack Dorsey, CEO of Square and CEO of Twitter, speaks during an interview with CNBC following the IPO for Square Inc., on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange November 19, 2015.

Twitter Inc's 140-character tweets are here to stay, Chief Executive Jack Dorsey said on Friday, ending speculation that the microblogging site might abandon one of its trademark features for a 10,000-character limit.

"It's staying. It's a good constraint for us and it allows for of-the-moment brevity," Dorsey said on NBC's Today Show.

In January, technology news website Re/code reported that Twitter was building a new feature that would allow tweets as long as 10,000 characters.

Twitter has declined to comment on the feature directly. But Dorsey tweeted the day of the report that the company had seen more screenshots of text posted as a way to get around the 140-character limit.  read more »

Primary school students play the board game "Go", known as "Weiqi" in Chinese, during a competition.

Fan Hui makes a move against AlphaGo in DeepMind’s HQ in King’s Cross

AlphaGo versus Lee Sedol match - Go moves 1-99; moves 100-199; moves 200-211:

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March 7, 2016 Recall chicken nuggets: pieces of plastic Applegate Naturals is recalling some of their chicken nuggets because there may be pieces of plastic in the product.

February 23, 2016 Plastic in Snickers bar prompts Mars recall in 55 countries Mars Inc has recalled chocolate bars and other products in 55 countries, mainly in Europe, due to choking risk after a piece of plastic was found in a Snickers bar in Germany.

15-Feb-2016 McCain Foods recalled 25,215 pounds of bacon fritter Frittered: McCain issues recall after customer complaint.  read more »

Captain Eric 'Winkle' Brown discusses Luftwaffe Aircraft - Published on Apr 23, 2014

Readers' comments -
"A great man he was the Last of a rare breed"
"Capt.Brown, a classic sort of guy"
"An amazing man. Superb achievements in pretty much every aspect of his career."
"Thanks for the video. It is good to see the Pilots telling their stories in what they did in the second world war. The real warriors of the sky and the planes they fly."

Vedio: Capt. Eric 'Winkle' Brown: the first Mosquito carrier deck landing, Published on Jul 16, 2015

In March 1944 the De Havilland Mosquito undertook carrier deck landing trials on HMS Indefatigable in the Irish Sea, giving the then Lieut. Brown the chance to make the first deck landing of a British heavy twin-engine aircraft. In this video the Patron of The People's Mosquito talks about the aircraft and the challenges he faced when presented with the task of landing it on deck.

Reader's comment: "Capt Eric 'Winkle' Brown truly is one of the finest examples of the Greatest Generation. What an honour to watch this video."

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