Ira Glass arrives on Pandora as This American Life is released on the streaming platform
You may well have heard the popular radio show This American Life. It's broadcast out of Chicago, but syndicated around the US, and perhaps has an even greater footprint thanks to its podcast. Host Ira Glass has taken his idea for a little show and turned it into a force in media.
Despite the name, the shows are very much international, though they usually involve Americans, even in foreign locations. Glass also covers all sorts of incidents from the financial crisis to crimes. Now the long-running show is coming to Pandora, a platform known for its music streaming system.
Malware compromises Swift system -- patch available
The Swift (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) system has apparently fallen victim to the same sophisticated hacking scheme that was used to disrupt the Bangladesh central bank last month.
The cyberattack in Bangladesh resulted in a loss of $951 million from the central bank's account at the Federal Reserve in New York and it now seems likely, thanks to new research from BAE systems, that Swift was also compromised during the attack.
Microsoft makes Xamarin SDKs for Android, iOS and Mac open source
Microsoft's embracing of the open source movement grows ever tighter, and today the company announced that its Xamarin SDKs (available for Android, iOS and Mac) will be open sourced. It's not long since Microsoft bought Xamarin, and just weeks later the SDKs are being opened up.
Announced at the Xamarin Evolve 2016 event, the move sees Microsoft trying to encourage mobile developers. The company says it has already made great strides in this area: "we helped nearly 3.5 times more developers get started building great apps with Xamarin than ever in our history as a company".
Companies invest more in DDoS protection
Pretty much every company out there has been, or will be a target of a DDoS attack. A new report by real-time information services provider Neustar, entitled The Threatscape Widens: DDoS Aggression and the Evolution of IoT Risks, released this month, says it’s no longer the question of "if" or "when" a company will be DDoSed -- it’s how often and how long will it last.
According to the report, 73 percent of companies were attacked in 2015, with 82 percent of those attacked suffering multiple attacks. Out of that number, 45 percent said they were attacked six times, or more. In EMEA, 47 percent of companies were attacked at least five times.
Google antitrust: Getty Images files complaint against search giant for image scraping and piracy promotion
Google is already embroiled in one antitrust case in Europe where the company stands accused of abusing Android's dominance. Now photo agency Getty Images is accusing Google of promoting piracy and engaging in anticompetitive behavior by 'scraping' images from third party sites.
In a familiar-sounding complaint, Getty Images also says that Google skews search results in favor of its own services -- such as Google Images. The photo agency says that this directly impacts upon rival services, but perhaps the big charge is that a change made to Google Images provided access to copyrighted material and "promoted piracy, resulting in widespread copyright infringement".
Why Microsoft remains 'committed' to Windows 10 Mobile
Windows 10 Mobile does not have much of a future. With two very disappointing quarters for Lumia sales, a market share of around one percent, poor vendor support, and no mention of it at Build 2016, this much is clear. You would expect Microsoft to pull the plug any minute now, but the software giant seems to be doing just the opposite.
In an internal email, Terry Myerson is encouraging "certain partners" to continue to pour their resources into the platform. Microsoft's EVP of Windows and Devices Group says that the company is still "committed" to Windows 10 Mobile, claiming that development of its "next generation products" is well underway. It sounds unbelievable, but that is just what you should expect Microsoft to say.
New partnership helps boost eCommerce platform performance
In order to get a competitive advantage, retailers are increasingly looking to deliver a rich, interactive eCommerce experience for their customers. The problem with this is that it can lead to platforms being loaded down with extra functions that result in a drop in performance.
Application delivery specialist InstartLogic has announced that it's partnering with IBM to help retail clients accelerate the performance of their eCommerce platforms.
Win tickets to the Beyoncé Formation World Tour with this Uber promo code
Whenever I go to NYC, I have an internal struggle over transportation. Once I arrive in Penn Station by way of the Long Island Railroad, do I choose a yellow cab, or an Uber ride? Many things weigh on my choice, such as the weather, or a very long wait at the cab line in front of Madison Square Garden.
Now it seems I have yet another factor in my decision -- Beyoncé. How is the superstar singing sensation impacting my choice between yellow cab and Uber? Well, American Express is now offering a chance to win tickets to her sold-out tour. By using a specific promo code when paying for your Uber ride, you could win two tickets to the Formation World Tour. If you win, you will also get round-trip Uber transportation to and from the concert.
Remove CryptXXX ransomware with Kaspersky's free decryption tool
Security firm Kaspersky has released a tool that can be used to decrypt files on computers hit by the CryptXXX ransomware. Rather than paying the ransom demanded to regain access to files, victims are now able to turn to the free RannohDecryptor utility.
CryptXXX had been identified by ProofPoint earlier in the month and described as being closely linked to the Reveton ransomware operation and Angler/Bedep. The ransom of $500 is considered to be quite high, but Kaspersky's free decryption tool means that files can be retrieved without having to part with a cent.
BlackBerry Priv gets Android 6.0 Marshmallow
Android 6.0 launched over half a year ago, but even today there are still lots of devices that have yet to receive the software upgrade to Marshmallow. In fact, at the beginning of this month fewer than one in 20 were running Google's latest mobile operating system.
For BlackBerry Priv users though things are looking up. The Canadian maker has announced the Marshmallow rollout for its first Android smartphone, introducing improvements to the camera, battery, privacy, security, and more.
Can we dispense with the 'Apple is dead' meme -- other CEOs would lose a limb to have a bad quarter like this
Listening to Apple's fiscal second quarter 2016 earnings conference call yesterday was like attending a funeral—where the eulogy is for someone whom you know has gone to Hell. There's no way to sugarcoat that the good days are over and an eternity of burning flesh awaits. I kid you not. Haul over to iTunes and download the replay. You'll feel the grim reaper looking over your shoulder while CEO Tim Cook talks as joyfully about Apple's performance as a man granted last words before the gallows.
And I wonder why? So what that Apple reported its first revenue decline in 13 years, or that iPhone sales fell for the first time ever, or that Q3 guidance is a few billion short of Wall Street consensus? This friggin' company still mints money, and that ain't changing anytime soon. Revenue reached $50.6 billion—more than Alphabet and Microsoft combined, with $9.8 billion to spare. Apple's $10.5 billion net income exceeds that of both companies. Oh, and iPhone generated more revenue ($32.86 billion) than either competitor's total sales. Apple ended the quarter with a $232 billion cash horde. And we get a wake, not a celebration?
Free online service helps uncover malicious domains
Phishing sites that use domain names similar to a legitimate company’s, along with cybersquatting are a major problem. Open DNS recently claimed that cyber squatters have become more active during the US election campaign.
Web security solutions company High-Tech Bridge is launching a new, free, online service that will allow anyone to instantly detect typosquatted, cybersquatted or phishing domains targeting their domain or brand name.
Why ATMs are easy to hack
Security researchers claim ATM machines are usually not that difficult for hackers to penetrate. Once they’re inside, they can steal money, or banking details from unsuspecting victims.
Now, researchers from Kaspersky Lab have investigated what makes ATMs such an easy target for hackers, and came to two conclusions: both software and hardware are easy to access and temper with.
Feedbro is a one-stop reader for RSS, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, more
Feedbro is a versatile feed reading Chrome extension which keeps you up-to-date with RSS/ Atom/ RDF sources, blogs, Twitter, Instagram and more.
The extension is stand-alone, rather than being a front-end for a website, which means there’s no need to sign up, create accounts, log in or anything else.
Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 14332 for PC and Mobile now available in the Fast ring
The past two Windows 10 Insider Preview releases -- Builds 14316 and 14328 -- have been packed with new features and notable changes.
The very latest Fast ring release, Build 14332, marks the start of the Bug Bash, in which Windows Insiders will be set quests to help Microsoft eradicate problems and fix flaws in the OS in preparation for the big Anniversary Update out in July. However, the new build is not only about fixes, there are some new features and improvements too.
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