Firefox is still out there, developing and growing and stomping bugs. “Mozilla has shuttered more than 130 serious vulnerabilities reported by community hackers this year. The browser-backing outfit announced the statistics in a post covering its bug bounty program and broader information security efforts.”
Monthly Archives: October 2016
Google Calls Out Microsoft For Windows Vulnerability
Google is calling out Microsoft for a serious Windows vulnerability. “Recently, Google’s Threat Analysis Group discovered a set of zero-day vulnerabilities in Adobe Flash and the Microsoft Windows kernel that were already being actively used by malware attacks against the Chrome browser. Google alerted both Adobe and Microsoft of the discovery on October 21, and Adobe issued a critical fix to patch its vulnerability last Friday. But Microsoft has yet to patch a critical bug in the Windows kernel that allows these attacks to work—which prompted Google to publicly announce the vulnerabilities today.”
UC San Diego: Live Long and… Facebook?
UC San Diego: Live Long and… Facebook? . “Is social media good for you, or bad? Well, it’s complicated. A study of 12 million Facebook users suggests that using Facebook is associated with living longer – when it serves to maintain and enhance your real-world social ties. Oh and you can relax and stop watching how many ‘likes’ you get: That doesn’t seem to correlate at all.”
Is Twitter Going to Add a “Muted Words” Feature?
It looks like Twitter may be offering a “muted words” feature soon. “A new feature appears to let Twitter users create a list of ‘muted words,’ which seemed to be a way to exclude tweets with particular words or phrases from their timelines. The setting was spotted by The Next Web’s Matt Navarra Friday and by several users of the Twitter iOS app users Sunday, but has since been removed, according to the report.”
Coursera To Offer a Monthly Subscription Plan
Interesting: Coursera is offering a monthly subscription model. “Edtech giant Coursera has launched a monthly subscription payment option in the hope that learners on its platform can be enticed into ongoing educational activity, rather than a more piecemeal pay-per-course-bundle option. The new payment model applies to users enrolling in any of the platform’s so-called Specializations: aka a bundle of six to eight courses that cover a particular topic. “
Exploring the Salem Witch Trials Via Google Expeditions
A new set of Google Expeditions lets you explore the Salem Witch Trials. “The new Expeditions invite you to explore the landmarks from the Trials including the Witch House, the home of Witch Trials Judge Jonathan Corwin, and The House of Seven Gables, which tells the story of the writer Nathaniel Hawthorne and his connection to the events of the Salem Witch Trials. This Halloween, students everywhere can take part in learning about this chapter of history.”
Income and Assets of Ukrainian Lawmakers and Officials in New Online Database
A new database provides information on the income and assets of Ukrainian officials. “Tens of thousands of Ukrainian officials and lawmakers have disclosed their incomes and assets in a publicly available database for the first time. Late Sunday was the deadline by which all Ukrainian officials were due to declare expensive possessions and assets held in their own and their families’ names in what is commonly known in Ukraine as an e-declaration. Some Ukrainian politicians complained about filling in the elaborate forms for hours, and several lawmakers didn’t meet the deadline.”
New Project Hopes to Crowdsource the History of Jews in London During World War I
A new project hopes to crowdsource the history of Jews in London during World War I. “It is estimated 40-50,000 British Jews served in Britain’s armed forces in the First World War, while thousands more were involved in war work and support roles near to the battlefields and on the home front. We Were There Too is a new website where Jewish families can log their family records, including letters, photographs, medals and more, to contribute to a database on London’s Jewish history from 1914-1918.”
Herald-Zimbabwe: Preserving Indigenous Knowledge Systems
From the Herald-Zimbabwe: Preserving Indigenous Knowledge Systems. “Librarians play a significant role in the acquisition, preservation and dissemination of indigenous knowledge (IK). However, in order to execute this more efficiently, there is need for a coordinated approach of IK management at a national level among Government authorities, IK holders, collecting institutions, researchers, and libraries. Working together would enable the establishment of a database which is usable by people with limited experience of computers. The database would provide access to different types of users governed by different access rights to ensure that community engagement programmes are carried out.” So much to think about in this article.
SEO Roundtable With the Halloween Roundup
SEO Roundtable’s got the Halloween search engine roundup. Doesn’t look like Yahoo did anything. Aww.
Social Times: What Twitter Moments Means for Small Businesses
Social Times: What Twitter Moments Means for Small Businesses. “On Sept. 28, Twitter made Moments available to everyone. But what exactly are Twitter Moments and how can they benefit small businesses like yours? This article will show you how to create your own Moments and use them to engage your customers.”
Motherboard: Inside The Foggy, Shady Market For Zero-Day Bugs
Motherboard: Inside The Foggy, Shady Market For Zero-Day Bugs. “In the last few years, the market for zero-days has been a highly controversial topic in the hacking world. For some, unknown flaws should always be reported so that they can get fixed and everyone is safer. For others, it’s OK if the good guys use the flaws in secret to go after the bad guys. Seemingly nobody agrees on what should be done with zero-days, in part, perhaps, because the gray market for them is so secretive.” The article is a lead-in for a 22-minute video which is free to view.
Australian Citizens Suffer Serious Data Leak via Red Cross
Australian citizens have suffered a serious data leak through the Red Cross. “More than one million personal and medical records of Australian citizens donating blood to the Red Cross Blood Service have been exposed online in the country’s biggest and most damaging data breach to date.”
Facebook Adds Election, Voting Information
Just a little over a week before the elections, y’all. We can do this. Facebook wants to help. “The social-media company unveiled a feature this week designed to help users create a voting plan, showing not just presidential candidates but also information on statewide elections. Should you want to dive down to the local level, you can give Facebook your address and the company will tell you what’s on the ballot in your neck of the woods.”
Findo Searches for Your Stuff in the Cloud
Lifehacker has a writeup on Findo, a service designed to help you find your cloud-stored stuff. “Findo, in simplest terms, is a search assistant. You give it access to whatever accounts you want to be searched, and then it indexes your accounts so that you can search for anything. That means emails, files, documents—whatever you have stored on a variety of services.” As the comments note, this service is probably not for those who worry a lot about privacy and permissions.