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Archive for luglio 2015
Too Much Booze? Let Mobile App BARTRENDr Track Your Drinking Habits
Too Much Booze? Let Mobile App BARTRENDr Track Your Drinking Habits
Curious about your annual drinking habits? A mobile app called BARTRENDr will now provide users with reports on their individual alcohol consumption patterns. The app will track and analyze the number of drinks, what types -- specific brands included -- and average time of consumption along with frequently visited bars. Similar to checking in with Facebook or Foursquare, it will be up to the consumer to input their data. There's no wearable for drinking with BARTRENDr -- at least not yet. Food delivery app Seamless released a similar report to consumers in December 2014. But instead of shocking you on how much you pay for takeout, BARTRENDr's report could be your eye into alcoholism. Or at least, it could provide some interesting insight into what brands have been your favorite and when. In addition to this new report, BARTRENDr is marketing itself as a "social networking app for bar-goers." The app provides three sections: "Share;" "Buddies;" and "Bars." Within the "Share" tab, you can input data on the type of people (ex. Average Joe, Bros, Cougars) in the bar, how crowded it is and the atmosphere. That data can be shared to Facebook and Twitter or solely within that app -- publicly or to your private network. The "Share" section also lets you take a picture of what you're drinking or what bar you're in. That data, if set as public, is then used in the "Bars" tab, where you can find trending bars in your area. The "Buddies" tab is for connecting with friends or discovering new ones who use the app. The data is not only used to provide a better app experience for the users but the information is also shared with beverage brands. BARTRENDr co-founder and CEO Devon Bergman isn't shy to admit how valuable this data can be for companies. "We can look at what last week’s Corona drinker looks like. Whether they also drink shots. Or what percentage of their drinking was beer," Bergman said in an interview. "We’re about helping the brands. The system is so archaic. They sell to the distributors, they sell to the bars or they sell to the consumer. They want to know the trends." The report to brands includes the most popular beverages, the age and gender of those who drink them and frequented bars. BARTRENDr can also associate that data with larger lifestyle and consumption patterns. The brands' satisfaction with this data was one of the reasons Bergman thought to share more data with consumers themselves. "When we began providing beverage brands insight into consumption patterns, we realized how valuable the same concept could be for our user base,” Bergman said in a statement. The BARTRENDr app has attracted 700,000 users in the last five months and closed a $1 million funding round, led by the New York Angels. The app is available on iOS and Android.
Curious about your annual drinking habits? A mobile app called BARTRENDr will now provide users with reports on their individual alcohol consumption patterns. The app will track and analyze the number of drinks, what types -- specific brands included -- and average time of consumption along with frequently visited bars. Similar to checking in with Facebook or Foursquare, it will be up to the consumer to input their data. There's no wearable for drinking with BARTRENDr -- at least not yet. Food delivery app Seamless released a similar report to consumers in December 2014. But instead of shocking you on how much you pay for takeout, BARTRENDr's report could be your eye into alcoholism. Or at least, it could provide some interesting insight into what brands have been your favorite and when. In addition to this new report, BARTRENDr is marketing itself as a "social networking app for bar-goers." The app provides three sections: "Share;" "Buddies;" and "Bars." Within the "Share" tab, you can input data on the type of people (ex. Average Joe, Bros, Cougars) in the bar, how crowded it is and the atmosphere. That data can be shared to Facebook and Twitter or solely within that app -- publicly or to your private network. The "Share" section also lets you take a picture of what you're drinking or what bar you're in. That data, if set as public, is then used in the "Bars" tab, where you can find trending bars in your area. The "Buddies" tab is for connecting with friends or discovering new ones who use the app. The data is not only used to provide a better app experience for the users but the information is also shared with beverage brands. BARTRENDr co-founder and CEO Devon Bergman isn't shy to admit how valuable this data can be for companies. "We can look at what last week’s Corona drinker looks like. Whether they also drink shots. Or what percentage of their drinking was beer," Bergman said in an interview. "We’re about helping the brands. The system is so archaic. They sell to the distributors, they sell to the bars or they sell to the consumer. They want to know the trends." The report to brands includes the most popular beverages, the age and gender of those who drink them and frequented bars. BARTRENDr can also associate that data with larger lifestyle and consumption patterns. The brands' satisfaction with this data was one of the reasons Bergman thought to share more data with consumers themselves. "When we began providing beverage brands insight into consumption patterns, we realized how valuable the same concept could be for our user base,” Bergman said in a statement. The BARTRENDr app has attracted 700,000 users in the last five months and closed a $1 million funding round, led by the New York Angels. The app is available on iOS and Android.
‘Dance Moms’ Online: 8 Former Cast Members To Follow On Instagram, Twitter And More
‘Dance Moms’ Online: 8 Former Cast Members To Follow On Instagram, Twitter And More
They may no longer be living on the dance floor each week on "Dance Moms," but that doesn’t mean you keep catch up with some of your favorite Lifetime stars! From Twitter, to Facebook, YouTube and more, there are several social media platforms being used by the young stars and their moms of the hit reality series. As previously reported, former ALDC team member Chloe Lukasiak, who left the series with her mom, Christi, in Season 4, has recently become a YouTube sensation. The 14-year-old newfound music video star's on-screen and off-screen pal Paige Hyland, also 14, has also found success on the video sharing site. In her posts her former co-stars, mom Kelly Hyland and her 17-year-old sister Brooke Hyland, sometimes make cameos. And that’s not all! How could we forget about Asia Monet Ray? After storming the stage and take home third-place on Season 1 of “Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition” coach Abby Lee Miller invited the young dancer to perform on the ALDC's elite junior team in Season 3. But after one short season, she decided to part ways with the team in order to pursue other opportunities. She later landed her own show on Lifetime, “Raising Asia.” In recent years, the 9-year-old has been busy doing what she does best: dancing and singing and posting it all to social media. Another notable face from “Dance Moms” that is no longer is powerhouse Sophia Lucia. In Season 3, Abby brought in the now 12-year-old performer to ruffle her star dancer Maddie Ziegler’s feathers. She did just the trick. Maddie has since gone on to star in several music videos for pop singer Sia, and her competitor has found equal success. Like Maddie, 12, Sophia is now one of the faces of Capezio dance wear. Like Paige and Chloe, She has also recently started uploading to her YouTube channel. Find out how to connect with Chloe Lukasiak, Asia Monet Ray, Paige and Brooke Hyland and more on social media below. (Note: click on the user names to be sent directly to each reality stars' social media account.)
They may no longer be living on the dance floor each week on "Dance Moms," but that doesn’t mean you keep catch up with some of your favorite Lifetime stars! From Twitter, to Facebook, YouTube and more, there are several social media platforms being used by the young stars and their moms of the hit reality series. As previously reported, former ALDC team member Chloe Lukasiak, who left the series with her mom, Christi, in Season 4, has recently become a YouTube sensation. The 14-year-old newfound music video star's on-screen and off-screen pal Paige Hyland, also 14, has also found success on the video sharing site. In her posts her former co-stars, mom Kelly Hyland and her 17-year-old sister Brooke Hyland, sometimes make cameos. And that’s not all! How could we forget about Asia Monet Ray? After storming the stage and take home third-place on Season 1 of “Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition” coach Abby Lee Miller invited the young dancer to perform on the ALDC's elite junior team in Season 3. But after one short season, she decided to part ways with the team in order to pursue other opportunities. She later landed her own show on Lifetime, “Raising Asia.” In recent years, the 9-year-old has been busy doing what she does best: dancing and singing and posting it all to social media. Another notable face from “Dance Moms” that is no longer is powerhouse Sophia Lucia. In Season 3, Abby brought in the now 12-year-old performer to ruffle her star dancer Maddie Ziegler’s feathers. She did just the trick. Maddie has since gone on to star in several music videos for pop singer Sia, and her competitor has found equal success. Like Maddie, 12, Sophia is now one of the faces of Capezio dance wear. Like Paige and Chloe, She has also recently started uploading to her YouTube channel. Find out how to connect with Chloe Lukasiak, Asia Monet Ray, Paige and Brooke Hyland and more on social media below. (Note: click on the user names to be sent directly to each reality stars' social media account.)
Facebook Update 'Suggested Videos' Is Going To Bring More Advertisements To Your Feed
Facebook Update 'Suggested Videos' Is Going To Bring More Advertisements To Your Feed
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wasn't lying when he said video is the site's future. The social network has introduced a new mobile feature that will bring more video, and also more ads, to your screen. Now, when clicking on a video in your mobile News Feed, a “Suggested Video” feed that takes up the entire phone screen can come up. Scroll down on the pop-up, and you will see additional video suggestions. These videos are chosen by an algorithm and will be related by topic or publisher. But not every video will be original content from a Facebook friend or publisher a user chooses to like, or follow. While videos in these streams must be clicked on to begin playing, there will also be auto-play ads interspersed. This initiative introduces a new revenue model for publishers looking to cash in from video content published directly to the social network. “We’ve heard consistently from media companies and other video creators that if they were able to make money from their videos, they would publish more,” Facebook’s VP of partnerships Dan Rose told Variety. Facebook’s advertising split, at least during this test, will be 55 percent to the publisher, reportedly the same split that YouTube grants its partners. The first content partners in this “suggested video” partnership includes Fox Sports, the NBA, Hearst magazines and Funny or Die, Re/code reports. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been repeatedly pushing the importance and the future of video on his social network. The site introduced an embeddable video player in March, so content published directly on Facebook can be shared elsewhere similar to what you see with YouTube. Facebook has claimed to bring in 4 billion video views per day across the network. The initiative also aligns with Facebook’s mobile push, as the test first will be available on Apple iPhones but will come to Android and desktop in the coming months, Re/code reports. The videos in this suggested feed are still horizontal, but Facebook is experimenting with vertical video as done on disappearing messaging app Snapchat. The new system will roll out as a test to a selected millions of Facebook's 1.4 billion users in the coming weeks, Variety reported.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wasn't lying when he said video is the site's future. The social network has introduced a new mobile feature that will bring more video, and also more ads, to your screen. Now, when clicking on a video in your mobile News Feed, a “Suggested Video” feed that takes up the entire phone screen can come up. Scroll down on the pop-up, and you will see additional video suggestions. These videos are chosen by an algorithm and will be related by topic or publisher. But not every video will be original content from a Facebook friend or publisher a user chooses to like, or follow. While videos in these streams must be clicked on to begin playing, there will also be auto-play ads interspersed. This initiative introduces a new revenue model for publishers looking to cash in from video content published directly to the social network. “We’ve heard consistently from media companies and other video creators that if they were able to make money from their videos, they would publish more,” Facebook’s VP of partnerships Dan Rose told Variety. Facebook’s advertising split, at least during this test, will be 55 percent to the publisher, reportedly the same split that YouTube grants its partners. The first content partners in this “suggested video” partnership includes Fox Sports, the NBA, Hearst magazines and Funny or Die, Re/code reports. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been repeatedly pushing the importance and the future of video on his social network. The site introduced an embeddable video player in March, so content published directly on Facebook can be shared elsewhere similar to what you see with YouTube. Facebook has claimed to bring in 4 billion video views per day across the network. The initiative also aligns with Facebook’s mobile push, as the test first will be available on Apple iPhones but will come to Android and desktop in the coming months, Re/code reports. The videos in this suggested feed are still horizontal, but Facebook is experimenting with vertical video as done on disappearing messaging app Snapchat. The new system will roll out as a test to a selected millions of Facebook's 1.4 billion users in the coming weeks, Variety reported.
Jumping Sturgeon Kills 5-Year-Old Girl On River In Florida, Injures 2 Others
Jumping Sturgeon Kills 5-Year-Old Girl On River In Florida, Injures 2 Others
A GoFundMe campaign to raise money for the funeral of a 5-year-old girl killed Thursday after being hit by a leaping sturgeon while on a family boat outing in Florida had raised nearly $9,000 Saturday night, NBC News reported. The girl, Jaylon Rippy, was with her family on the Suwanee River near Fanning Springs, Florida, about 40 miles west of Gainsville. Her mother, Tanya Faye, 31, and brother, Trevor, 9, were injured by the jumping fish.
Jaylon's death represented the first fatality in such an event this year. Two other people were injured Friday on the Sante Fe River, also in Florida.
The GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign asked for funds to cover the cost of Jaylon Rippy's funeral as well as medical expenses, including possible surgeries, for her brother and mother. As of Saturday night, 173 people had donated $8,835, out of a goal of $25,000.
Death or injury by leaping sturgeon may sound far-fetched, but the prehistoric fish is known for leaving a trail of destruction when it jumps out of the water, a behavior biologists have long struggled to explain. The species in the Gulf of Mexico can grow to 9 feet and weigh 200 pounds, according to National Geographic. They are protected by a sheath of armored scales and can jump as high as 8 feet.
For boaters, these leaping fish are one of the hazards of being on the water. Those hit by this ancient species have suffered concussions, broken ribs and other bones, cracked teeth and a collapsed lung. In 2007, a 32-year-old woman, also boating on the Suwannee River, was knocked unconscious when a sturgeon leaped out of water.
"With the low water levels in the river system, the sturgeon are jumping much more frequently than in recent years," said Maj. Andy Krause, a regional commander for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, USA Today reported. "We want everyone boating on the Suwannee and Santa Fe Rivers to be aware that the sturgeon are jumping and that people have been injured."
The largest sturgeon ever recorded caught was estimated to weigh 1,100 pounds and believed to be 100 years old.
A GoFundMe campaign to raise money for the funeral of a 5-year-old girl killed Thursday after being hit by a leaping sturgeon while on a family boat outing in Florida had raised nearly $9,000 Saturday night, NBC News reported. The girl, Jaylon Rippy, was with her family on the Suwanee River near Fanning Springs, Florida, about 40 miles west of Gainsville. Her mother, Tanya Faye, 31, and brother, Trevor, 9, were injured by the jumping fish.
Jaylon's death represented the first fatality in such an event this year. Two other people were injured Friday on the Sante Fe River, also in Florida.
The GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign asked for funds to cover the cost of Jaylon Rippy's funeral as well as medical expenses, including possible surgeries, for her brother and mother. As of Saturday night, 173 people had donated $8,835, out of a goal of $25,000.
Death or injury by leaping sturgeon may sound far-fetched, but the prehistoric fish is known for leaving a trail of destruction when it jumps out of the water, a behavior biologists have long struggled to explain. The species in the Gulf of Mexico can grow to 9 feet and weigh 200 pounds, according to National Geographic. They are protected by a sheath of armored scales and can jump as high as 8 feet.
For boaters, these leaping fish are one of the hazards of being on the water. Those hit by this ancient species have suffered concussions, broken ribs and other bones, cracked teeth and a collapsed lung. In 2007, a 32-year-old woman, also boating on the Suwannee River, was knocked unconscious when a sturgeon leaped out of water.
"With the low water levels in the river system, the sturgeon are jumping much more frequently than in recent years," said Maj. Andy Krause, a regional commander for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, USA Today reported. "We want everyone boating on the Suwannee and Santa Fe Rivers to be aware that the sturgeon are jumping and that people have been injured."
The largest sturgeon ever recorded caught was estimated to weigh 1,100 pounds and believed to be 100 years old.US Banks Post Detailed Crisis Plans To Avoid Breakup Threat
US Banks Post Detailed Crisis Plans To Avoid Breakup Threat
A dozen of the largest Wall Street banks on Monday published detailed plans to show how they would shut down their business during a crisis without the help of taxpayer money, a crucial step to prevent being broken up by regulators.
After the 2007-09 financial crisis, the banks were required to submit so-called "living wills" each year to show how they would proceed through bankruptcy during a crisis without quietly relying on government support to avoid putting the entire financial system at risk.
But the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation last year said they were unhappy with the quality of the plans and urged banks to improve them by giving more details and using more realistic assumptions, or face tough sanctions including being broken up.
The 2010 Dodd-Frank Act gave the regulators the power to carve up the banks if they deem the living wills "not credible," though that is only the starting point of a lengthy procedure giving banks several chances to improve.
Last year there was no such joint determination because while the FDIC did use the term, the Fed did not. It is not clear when the regulators will issue their verdict on this year's round of submissions, the fourth.
Banks say the refiled plans, the third time they've been revised, show they have massively improved their resilience to withstand shocks, bulking up on shareholder capital to shield creditors, and earmarking certain bonds as susceptible to losses in return for a higher yield.
"Our (plan) would effectively resolve the firm within a reasonable timeframe, without systemic disruption, without extraordinary governmental support and without exposing taxpayers to risk of loss," a JPMorgan spokesman said.
The plans contained far more detail than those from last year. Citigroup, for instance, submitted a 102-page document, more than three times as much as the 2014 plan.
Some banks showed which parts of their business could be disposed of through public stock offerings from businesses that would be sold privately should a crisis hit.
For example, Citigroup said that after stabilizing its banking operations, it would offer its U.S. consumer banking operations for sale in an IPO while international operations would be sold in private transactions.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc included a table that showed it would consider selling its domestic and international asset management businesses, as well as its J. Aron commodities trading unit, in the event that the group failed.
Morgan Stanley said it would ultimately sell its wealth management business, as well as major parts of both its investment management unit and its trading business in Japan, which is a joint venture with Mitsubishi UFJ Group.
And Britain's Barclays said it is planning to shrink the size of its U.S. unit to $185-215 billion by July 2016, from $248 billion at the end of 2014.
What is published on the regulators' websites is only the public portion of the plans. The actual documents are thousands of pages and contain detailed instruction including mundane facts such as how to access computer systems.
The banks involved are Bank of America, Bank of New York Mellon, Barclays, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, State Street, UBS and Wells Fargo.
A dozen of the largest Wall Street banks on Monday published detailed plans to show how they would shut down their business during a crisis without the help of taxpayer money, a crucial step to prevent being broken up by regulators.
After the 2007-09 financial crisis, the banks were required to submit so-called "living wills" each year to show how they would proceed through bankruptcy during a crisis without quietly relying on government support to avoid putting the entire financial system at risk.
But the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation last year said they were unhappy with the quality of the plans and urged banks to improve them by giving more details and using more realistic assumptions, or face tough sanctions including being broken up.
The 2010 Dodd-Frank Act gave the regulators the power to carve up the banks if they deem the living wills "not credible," though that is only the starting point of a lengthy procedure giving banks several chances to improve.
Last year there was no such joint determination because while the FDIC did use the term, the Fed did not. It is not clear when the regulators will issue their verdict on this year's round of submissions, the fourth.
Banks say the refiled plans, the third time they've been revised, show they have massively improved their resilience to withstand shocks, bulking up on shareholder capital to shield creditors, and earmarking certain bonds as susceptible to losses in return for a higher yield.
"Our (plan) would effectively resolve the firm within a reasonable timeframe, without systemic disruption, without extraordinary governmental support and without exposing taxpayers to risk of loss," a JPMorgan spokesman said.
The plans contained far more detail than those from last year. Citigroup, for instance, submitted a 102-page document, more than three times as much as the 2014 plan.
Some banks showed which parts of their business could be disposed of through public stock offerings from businesses that would be sold privately should a crisis hit.
For example, Citigroup said that after stabilizing its banking operations, it would offer its U.S. consumer banking operations for sale in an IPO while international operations would be sold in private transactions.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc included a table that showed it would consider selling its domestic and international asset management businesses, as well as its J. Aron commodities trading unit, in the event that the group failed.
Morgan Stanley said it would ultimately sell its wealth management business, as well as major parts of both its investment management unit and its trading business in Japan, which is a joint venture with Mitsubishi UFJ Group.
And Britain's Barclays said it is planning to shrink the size of its U.S. unit to $185-215 billion by July 2016, from $248 billion at the end of 2014.
What is published on the regulators' websites is only the public portion of the plans. The actual documents are thousands of pages and contain detailed instruction including mundane facts such as how to access computer systems.
The banks involved are Bank of America, Bank of New York Mellon, Barclays, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, State Street, UBS and Wells Fargo.Pinterest Buyable Pins For iPhone And iPad Have Finally Arrived
Pinterest Buyable Pins For iPhone And iPad Have Finally Arrived
Earlier this month, Pinterest announced that it would finally roll out its long-anticipated Buyable Pins feature some time in June. The San Francisco startup waited until the last day of the month, but sure enough, on Tuesday Pinterest delivered. The new Pinterest Buyable Pins feature lets iPhone and iPad users shop for items directly from the company's app, allowing users to complete purchases without having to exit the app and go to a retailer's website. "You’ll start seeing buyable Pins all over Pinterest -- in your home feed, on boards you love, and in search results. When you spot a Pin with a blue price, that means you can buy it," Pinterest said in a blog post. At launch, Pinterest will sell 2 million products. Those products will be purchasable via 30 million of Pinterest's more than 50 billion pins, the company said. To make finding Buyable Pins easy, Pinterest will highlight purchaseable items at the top of the screen whenever users conduct a search. Additionally, the Pinterest app for iOS will include new "Shop" and "Shop our picks" categories, which exclusively feature Buyable Pins. Pinterest users can also search for Buyable Pins by specific retailers by heading to the brand's Pinterest profile and tapping the "Shop Pins" button. For Pinterest, the new Buyable Pins feature is a way to sell more ads. The startup will not be taking a cut of any purchase made through its service. Instead, Pinterest is hoping brands will pay to promote their Buyable Pins to consumers.
Earlier this month, Pinterest announced that it would finally roll out its long-anticipated Buyable Pins feature some time in June. The San Francisco startup waited until the last day of the month, but sure enough, on Tuesday Pinterest delivered. The new Pinterest Buyable Pins feature lets iPhone and iPad users shop for items directly from the company's app, allowing users to complete purchases without having to exit the app and go to a retailer's website. "You’ll start seeing buyable Pins all over Pinterest -- in your home feed, on boards you love, and in search results. When you spot a Pin with a blue price, that means you can buy it," Pinterest said in a blog post. At launch, Pinterest will sell 2 million products. Those products will be purchasable via 30 million of Pinterest's more than 50 billion pins, the company said. To make finding Buyable Pins easy, Pinterest will highlight purchaseable items at the top of the screen whenever users conduct a search. Additionally, the Pinterest app for iOS will include new "Shop" and "Shop our picks" categories, which exclusively feature Buyable Pins. Pinterest users can also search for Buyable Pins by specific retailers by heading to the brand's Pinterest profile and tapping the "Shop Pins" button. For Pinterest, the new Buyable Pins feature is a way to sell more ads. The startup will not be taking a cut of any purchase made through its service. Instead, Pinterest is hoping brands will pay to promote their Buyable Pins to consumers.
Dark Net Browser Operator Discovers 255 Faked Sites, Leaving Countless Passwords Vulnerable
Dark Net Browser Operator Discovers 255 Faked Sites, Leaving Countless Passwords Vulnerable
The Dark Net is more dangerous than you realize. Along with drugs, illegal guns and contract hackers it's now clear that many of the sites operating within the hidden section of the Internet aren't actually sites at all. They're ripoff pages meant to trick visitors into unwittingly giving up their personal information. Juha Nurmi, a security researcher and the founder of Ahmia, a Deep Web search engine, began his investigation upon discovering that someone had replicated his and other popular sites and asked them to input their log-in credentials (a popular form of hacking known as phishing). Nurmi told Vice Motherboard he eventually counted 255 fake Dark Net sites, and many of them were modeled after popular sites like the privacy service Lelantos as well as drug markets like Agora and Abraxas. “I noticed a while ago that there is a clone onion site for Ahmia,” Nurmi said, as quoted by Motherboard. “Now I realized that someone is actually generating similar onion domains to all popular onion sites and is re-writing some of the content.” The Dark Net is a subsection of the Deep Web, broadly defined as every website on the Internet that's not listed on traditional search engines like Google and can't be accessed via the usual browser bar. It's only accessible with the Tor (which stands for “The Onion Router”) anonymity software. Rather than ending in the usual .com or .org, every site on the deep Web, and not all are for criminals, has a domain name ending in .onion. This kind of fraudulent activity would enable fraudsters to conduct so-called man-in-the-middle attacks, which occur when hackers secretly intercept and monitor or redirect a user's connection without their knowledge. It's the same method the Chinese government is believed to use to find out which mainland Internet users are trying to access an uncensored verison of the Internet. Deep Web users can rest easy, though, by simply bookmarking the sites they visit most often.
The Dark Net is more dangerous than you realize. Along with drugs, illegal guns and contract hackers it's now clear that many of the sites operating within the hidden section of the Internet aren't actually sites at all. They're ripoff pages meant to trick visitors into unwittingly giving up their personal information. Juha Nurmi, a security researcher and the founder of Ahmia, a Deep Web search engine, began his investigation upon discovering that someone had replicated his and other popular sites and asked them to input their log-in credentials (a popular form of hacking known as phishing). Nurmi told Vice Motherboard he eventually counted 255 fake Dark Net sites, and many of them were modeled after popular sites like the privacy service Lelantos as well as drug markets like Agora and Abraxas. “I noticed a while ago that there is a clone onion site for Ahmia,” Nurmi said, as quoted by Motherboard. “Now I realized that someone is actually generating similar onion domains to all popular onion sites and is re-writing some of the content.” The Dark Net is a subsection of the Deep Web, broadly defined as every website on the Internet that's not listed on traditional search engines like Google and can't be accessed via the usual browser bar. It's only accessible with the Tor (which stands for “The Onion Router”) anonymity software. Rather than ending in the usual .com or .org, every site on the deep Web, and not all are for criminals, has a domain name ending in .onion. This kind of fraudulent activity would enable fraudsters to conduct so-called man-in-the-middle attacks, which occur when hackers secretly intercept and monitor or redirect a user's connection without their knowledge. It's the same method the Chinese government is believed to use to find out which mainland Internet users are trying to access an uncensored verison of the Internet. Deep Web users can rest easy, though, by simply bookmarking the sites they visit most often.
Samsung Electronics Q2 2015 Earnings Guidance: Company Braces For Another Disappointing Quarter
Samsung Electronics Q2 2015 Earnings Guidance: Company Braces For Another Disappointing Quarter
Supply bottlenecks and growing competition from a crowd of Android smartphone makers continue to haunt Samsung Electronics. Bracing itself for another disappointing three months, the South Korean technology giant on Tuesday announced that its next quarter's earnings would likely miss analysts’ expectations.
In its earnings guidance for the second quarter of 2015, Samsung said the company’s operating profit is expected to be 6.9 trillion won (about $6.13 billion) for the three-month period ending in June, down 4.2 percent from a year ago, and below the 7.2 trillion won analysts' estimate compiled by Bloomberg. Total sales are expected to be nearly 48 trillion won, short of a 53 trillion won forecast.
“It doesn't matter how competitive you are if overall demand is weak,” Greg Roh, an analyst at HMC Investment Securities, told Reuters. “Third-quarter earnings will likely be similar to the second quarter.”
It will reportedly be Samsung’s seventh straight drop in profits, which is partly attributed to production constraints for the new Galaxy S6 Edge -- the curved-screen variant of its 2015 flagship smartphone -- which received rave reviews after its April launch. As supply issues and heightened competition hit smartphone sales, the company has been forced to fall back on its memory chip unit, which is expected to boost profits by year-end.
“S6 didn’t sell as well as the market had hoped for, partly because of continued outperforming of iPhones combined with the supply constraint,” Bloomberg quoted Roh as saying. “Sales sharply missed the market expectation, which implies that overall technology industry demand for smartphones, TVs and PCs is weakening.”
Tuesday’s estimate did not provide a net income figure nor did it give a breakdown of divisional earnings. The audited earnings results are expected to be released later this month.
Samsung, which last month lowered its shipment estimate for Galaxy S6 models to 45 million units from a previous estimate of 50 million units, has been feeling the heat in the global smartphone market that it dominated for years. While Apple has always been a tough challenger to Samsung in the high-end smartphone segment outside the U.S., fast-growing Chinese companies like Xiaomi are making life difficult for Samsung in the mid- and low-end market.
“Market expectations for S6 sales were way too excessive,” Yoo Eui Hyung, an analyst at Dongbu Securities, told the Straits Times. “Analysts are revising down this year's shipment forecasts for the S6 because demand for the Edge model is exceeding supply, while the other version isn't selling well given its limited differences with the iPhone 6.”
Supply bottlenecks and growing competition from a crowd of Android smartphone makers continue to haunt Samsung Electronics. Bracing itself for another disappointing three months, the South Korean technology giant on Tuesday announced that its next quarter's earnings would likely miss analysts’ expectations.
In its earnings guidance for the second quarter of 2015, Samsung said the company’s operating profit is expected to be 6.9 trillion won (about $6.13 billion) for the three-month period ending in June, down 4.2 percent from a year ago, and below the 7.2 trillion won analysts' estimate compiled by Bloomberg. Total sales are expected to be nearly 48 trillion won, short of a 53 trillion won forecast.
“It doesn't matter how competitive you are if overall demand is weak,” Greg Roh, an analyst at HMC Investment Securities, told Reuters. “Third-quarter earnings will likely be similar to the second quarter.”
It will reportedly be Samsung’s seventh straight drop in profits, which is partly attributed to production constraints for the new Galaxy S6 Edge -- the curved-screen variant of its 2015 flagship smartphone -- which received rave reviews after its April launch. As supply issues and heightened competition hit smartphone sales, the company has been forced to fall back on its memory chip unit, which is expected to boost profits by year-end.
“S6 didn’t sell as well as the market had hoped for, partly because of continued outperforming of iPhones combined with the supply constraint,” Bloomberg quoted Roh as saying. “Sales sharply missed the market expectation, which implies that overall technology industry demand for smartphones, TVs and PCs is weakening.”
Tuesday’s estimate did not provide a net income figure nor did it give a breakdown of divisional earnings. The audited earnings results are expected to be released later this month.
Samsung, which last month lowered its shipment estimate for Galaxy S6 models to 45 million units from a previous estimate of 50 million units, has been feeling the heat in the global smartphone market that it dominated for years. While Apple has always been a tough challenger to Samsung in the high-end smartphone segment outside the U.S., fast-growing Chinese companies like Xiaomi are making life difficult for Samsung in the mid- and low-end market.
“Market expectations for S6 sales were way too excessive,” Yoo Eui Hyung, an analyst at Dongbu Securities, told the Straits Times. “Analysts are revising down this year's shipment forecasts for the S6 because demand for the Edge model is exceeding supply, while the other version isn't selling well given its limited differences with the iPhone 6.”
