What’s worse than ransomware? Self-replicating ransomware. “Dubbed ‘Ransom:Win32/ZCryptor.A,’ or simply ‘ZCryptor,’ the malware is distributed by the usual spam email infection vector. Once executed, the malware makes sure it runs once the system is booted. Furthermore, to be able to reproduce itself, it drops an autorun.inf in removable drives, a “zycrypt.lnk” in the start-up folder, along with a copy of itself as {Drive}:\system.exe and %APPDATA%\zcrypt.exe. Lastly, it changes the file attributes to hide itself from the user in the file explorer.”
Monthly Archives: May 2016
There’s a Werner Herzog Chatbot on Facebook
Because the Internet isn’t weird enough, there’s now a Werner Herzog chatbot on Facebook. “This is the first thing WernerBot — a whimsical Facebook message bot that claims to be the “best and only way to chat with Werner Herzog over the Internet” — will say to you when first engage it with a simple greeting, ‘Hello Werner.’ WernerBot is not affiliated with the famed director, but it responds in a way that one can’t help hearing Herzog’s excited voice.”
Searching For Videos and Images By Sketch
A new software/tech package lets you do image and video searches by sketch. “Researchers at the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at the University of Basel have developed a system known as ‘vitrivr’, which allows a search for images and videos by means of a sketch. The user creates a sketch of the desired object on a tablet or interactive paper, and the program delivers the images and video clips that most resemble it. For videos, the user can even specify on the sketch in which direction an object is moving in the searched sequence.” The system is open source.
Google Now More Popular Than Yandex in Russia?
In Russia, Google is now more popular than Yandex. “The American company’s success over Russian web giant Yandex has been attributed to increasing numbers of users accessing the service through tablets and smartphones, Vedomosti reported. Statistics provided by market research agency TNS showed Google reached 20.5 million Russian users in April 2016. Yandex was only narrowly beaten with 20.4 million monthly users, while Mail.ru reached 19.3 million.”
Is AlphaGo Getting Another Human Challenger?
Uh-oh, looks like Google’s Go-playing AI AlphaGo is playing another human challenger. “The world’s top Go (or Weiqi) player, 19-year-old Chinese Ke Jie, is likely to compete with an AI-powered Go-playing system in October in Hainan province, according to a tweet on Chinese Twitter-like Sina Weibo. The tweet is believed to have been posted by the account of Ke’s official fan club. It also quoted a picture originally tweeted by Ke on his personal Weibo account, illustrating that he is confident he will defeat AlphaGo even though the system has defeated South Korean Go master Lee Sedol.”
Facebook, Other Social Media Networks Agree to EU “Hate Speech” Rules
Facebook, Twitter, Google, and Microsoft have reached an agreement with the EU over its hate speech rules. ” Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft, and YouTube today agreed to European regulations that require them to review ‘the majority of’ hateful online content within 24 hours of being notified — and to remove it, if necessary — as part of a new ‘code of conduct’ aimed at combating hate speech and terrorist propaganda across the EU. The new rules, announced Tuesday by the European Commission, also oblige the tech companies to identify and promote ‘independent counter-narratives’ to hate speech and propaganda published online.”
Predicting Unemployment in the EU With Google Trends
Zow: researchers in Finland have created a tool that predicts unemployment levels for the 28 members of the EU. “In the UK, 14 different search terms were chosen as likely indicators of someone’s unemployment, with other terms in other languages used in different countries.”
BBC Makes Micro:bit Available to Everybody
The BBC is making its micro:bit computer available to everybody. “The BBC micro:bit is a small, 32-bit computer, with LED lights and buttons which can be programmed to do your bidding. It also has Bluetooth support, an accelerometer and a compass, widely expanding the number of usage scenarios.”
US Court Determines that Google Earth Does Not Violate Patents
A US Court has decided that Google Earth does not infringe any patents. “The US District Court for the District of Delaware has determined that the Google Earth technology, which is used to display refined images of the planet, did not infringe a US patent owned by Art+Com Innovationpool (ACI).”
Reddit Resetting Some Account Credentials After “Takeovers”
Reddit hasn’t been hacked, it says, but is resetting some account credentials after “account takeovers”. “Reddit has reset more than 100,000 user passwords following a rise in account takeovers. Reddit explained that it hasn’t been hacked, but that it has noticed a surge in account takeovers by malicious, or ‘spammy’, third parties, probably owing to a number of recent high-profile attacks such as that on LinkedIn.” Reddit is also considering 2FA. Yes!
Embryonic Peanuts Search Engine on GitHub
The very beginnings of a Peanuts comic strip search engine are over on GitHub. You can catch the development thread over on Reddit if you want to participate.
Twitter Research: Congress and Climate Change
From Northeastern: Researchers mine Twitter to reveal Congress’ ideological divide on climate change. “In a new paper published Monday in the journal Climate Change Responses, [Brian] Helmuth and his Northeastern colleagues analyzed the Twitter accounts of U.S. senators to see which legislators followed research-oriented science organizations, including those covering global warming. Democrats, they found, were three times more likely than Republicans to follow them, leading the researchers to note that ‘overt interest in science may now primarily be a “Democrat” value.’ Yet out of that political polarization, says Helmuth, came a ray of hope: 15 Senate Republicans bridged the aisle, displaying a draw to science and thus a way to bring scientific information to those not receiving it on their own.”
Getting The Most Out of Google Analytics Reports
From Search Engine Land: 7 essential Google Analytics reports every marketer must know. “You may be using Google Analytics, but are you using it to its full potential? Contributor Khalid Saleh lays out 7 key reports with which every marketer should be familiar.”
KICKSTARTER CORNER: Drought Solution Database for California
KICKSTARTER CORNER: Britanny Bunk (I’m not kidding, that’s her name) is trying to raise money for an open database of California drought solutions. “The database’s goal is reducing preventable water consumption for surviving a drought (esp. in California). The data (in Excel) helps in making conscious decisions that lead to societal changes (within consumer/lifestyle habits and of businesses/government entities). Database includes references and formulas to get analyses. This project is open for comments. The more funding this project gets, the more it can grow!” It’s a worthy project, but a pledge goal of $17K? And the first rewards tier is at $200?
Romania Has Online Museum of Corruption
Romania has a new online museum for corruption. “Romania’s new Corruption Museum hosts the Bribes’ Gallery, where visitors can find some of the most famous cases of bribery in Romania, and the Bribe Test, which lets people test their knowledge on local corruption. The museum’s website is currently available only in Romanian.” Dang. I tried translating this site with Google Translate and no luck. No good with Bing either.