Edward Snowden praises EU parliament vote against US extradition

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/oct/29/edward-snowden-eu-parliament-vote-extradition

<< Edward Snowden on Thursday hailed as "extraordinary" and a "game-changer" a vote in the European parliament calling on member states to prevent his extradition to the US. The parliament voted 285-281 to pass a largely symbolic measure, a resolution that called on European Union member states to "drop any criminal charges against Edward Snowden, grant him protection and consequently prevent extradition or rendition by third parties, in recognition of his status as whistleblower and international human rights defender".

Snowden has lived in exile in Russia since revealing secret US government surveillance programs in June 2013. The European parliament is a directly elected legislature with members from all 28 EU member states. Its legislative authority is limited. The resolution amounted to a request that member states reject attempts by the US to arrest and prosecute Snowden.

"This is not a blow against the US government, but an open hand extended by friends", Snowden tweeted. "It is a chance to move forward". >>

Senate passes controversial cybersecurity-cyberspying bill 74-21

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/10/senate-passes-controversial-cybersecurity-cyberspying-bill-74-21/

<< Bill gives corporate America legal immunity when sharing consumer data to DHS. >>

CISA Security Bill Passes Senate With Privacy Flaws Unfixed

http://www.wired.com/2015/10/cisa-cybersecurity-information-sharing-act-passes-senate-vote-with-privacy-flaws/

<< On Tuesday afternoon, the Senate voted 74 to 21 to pass a version of CISA that roughly mirrors legislation passed in the House earlier this year, paving the way for some combined version of the security bill to become law. >>

Senate passes controversial cybersecurity bill Cisa 74 to 21

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/27/cisa-cybersecurity-bill-senate-vote

<< Senate votes in favor of bill critics including Edward Snowden say will allow the government to collect sensitive personal data unchecked. >>

A Quick Guide to the Cybersecurity Bill Passed by the U.S. Senate

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-quick-guide-to-the-senate-s-newly-passed-cybersecurity-bill/

<< The basics of the controversial Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA). >>

Justin Bieber penis sex toy to hit the shelves? Company offer $1million for mould of star's manhood

http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/justin-bieber-penis-sex-toy-6714237

<< He became the talk of the internet when pictures of his penis were leaked online. And now fans of Justin Bieber could soon be able to get their *ahem* hands on an intimate piece of the star. Clone-A-Willy is reportedly offering a very hefty price to take a mould of Justin's package - said to be in the region of $1million - and then turn it into a sex toy. Heat magazine got their hands on a supposed "leaked letter" from the DIY dildo company, which read: "Justin Bieber, he's popular, talented and now as the entire world knows… quite well-endowed." >>

Processed meats rank alongside smoking as cancer causes – WHO

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/oct/26/bacon-ham-sausages-processed-meats-cancer-risk-smoking-says-who

<< Bacon, ham and sausages rank alongside cigarettes as a major cause of cancer, the World Health Organisation has said, placing cured and processed meats in the same category as asbestos, alcohol, arsenic and tobacco. The report from the WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer said there was enough evidence to rank processed meats as group 1 carcinogens because of a causal link with bowel cancer. It places red meat in group 2A, as "probably carcinogenic to humans". Eating red meat is also linked to pancreatic and prostate cancer, the IARC says. The IARC's experts concluded that each 50-gram (1.8-ounce) portion of processed meat eaten daily increased the risk of colorectal cancer by 18%.

"For an individual, the risk of developing colorectal cancer because of their consumption of processed meat remains small, but this risk increases with the amount of meat consumed", said Dr Kurt Straif, head of the IARC monographs programme. "In view of the large number of people who consume processed meat, the global impact on cancer incidence is of public health importance."

The decision from the IARC, after a year of deliberations by international scientists, will be welcomed by cancer researchers but it triggered an immediate and furious response from the industry, and the scientists it funds, who rejected any comparison between cigarettes and meat. >>

NYT Mag asks: Could you kill a baby Hitler?

http://www.sfgate.com/technology/article/NYT-Mag-asks-Could-you-kill-a-baby-Hitler-6587263.php

<< A Dear Reader poll posted to the magazine's Twitter account Friday went viral with the question: "If you could go back and kill Hitler as a baby, would you do it?" The original responses were, well, mixed. A graph posted along with the tweet shows that 42 percent of respondents said yes, 30 percent said no, and an indecisive 28 percent said they weren't sure. Dear Reader is a weekly survey of the magazine's readers. >>

Motherboard BIOS firmware update can trigger Windows 10 inactive

http://www.guru3d.com/news-story/motherboard-bios-firmware-update-can-trigger-windows-10-inactive.html

The plentiful Windows 10 activation issues have been a pain for many, especially those that have upgraded from Windows 7 for example are often having a hard time once they need to re-activate. End-users now have learned the hard way that even updating your motherboard BIOS can revoke your Windows 10 product license and render it inactive - withouth a proper solve to get reactivated again. New problems and complicated activation issues are now rising as your license key is tied towards your unique PC hardware signature.

Microsoft already has made promises that with the next Windows10 update things will get better. But more and more problems arise. For example if you would upgrade your PC with new hardware, chances are likely your license is revoked. Trying to reactivate or calling Microsoft to make that happen often does not result into your license getting activated again - as "new hardware" is indicative for a new PC. Meaning you will need to purchase a new license.

Even more frustrating is the fact that when you upgraded to Windows 10 coming from Windows 7 or 8 and then later on update your motherboard BIOS, your new Windows 10 license will render itself inactive. At that point Windows very likely cannot re-activate on-line online, calling Microsoft tech support for a phone re-activation won't help you either as they cannot reactivate your license based on the upgraded Windows 7 or 8 key.

A good example of the frustrating mess that Microsoft has created can be read here in our forums where Guru3D oldtime Blackfyre ran into this issue himself after he updated his Z97X Gaming GT motherboard from a F6 BIOS to the F7 BIOS, and changed the RAM DIMMs:

Thanks everyone for your help... I upgraded the RAM, I got the one I linked in the OP... However now Windows 10 says I have to re-activate, and it won't activate anymore. I'm not sure if it's the BIOS update or RAM change that caused it, but I had a chat with support, and called Microsoft too, none of which are able to help me. Saying hardware changes mean that you lose your product key if you upgrade...

Source: Guru3D

How animal rights activist Gary Yourofsky turned 8% of Israel vegan after comparing slaughterhouses to the Holocaust

http://metro.co.uk/2015/09/28/how-animal-rights-activist-gary-yourofsky-turned-8-of-israels-population-vegan-after-comparing-slaughterhouses-to-the-holocaust-5361205/

<< Gary Yourofsky is a name that will ring a bell with most vegans. The animal rights activist, from Detroit, Michigan, is credited with singlehandedly turning more people vegan – including 8% of Israel – than anyone else in the world, after an hour-long speech he gave at Georgia Tech was recorded, translated into Hebrew, and shared on social media. In it Gary, 45, who is Jewish himself, controversially calls slaughterhouses "concentration camps" and compares the treatment of animals to the Holocaust.

The speech, which was recorded in the U.S., is now the most-viewed in Israel's history, and is thought to have been the cataylst for a large portion of Israel's population to go vegan. Indeed, according to Israeli media, Yourofsky is responsible for increasing Israel's vegan population from 5% to 13%. >>

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5hGQDLprA8

Vegan bodybuilder, 40, aims for Mr Universe title as he says meat-free diet has made him stronger than ever

http://metro.co.uk/2015/09/24/vegan-bodybuilder-40-aims-for-mr-universe-title-as-he-says-meat-free-diet-has-made-him-stronger-than-ever-5351168/

<< In 2014, Barny du Plessis made his third attempt at the coveted Mr Universe amateur category. He was 40 – and he took home the title. Winning the competition was the pinnacle of his bodybuilding career to date and, after he'd smashed it, he decided it was time to hang up his posing pants for good. Constant training and dieting had left Bristol-based Barny exhausted and drained, He wanted to experience a "normal" life.

But months after winning the title, Barny turned vegan – and says he found himself in better shape than ever. He claims that his meat-free diet gave him more energy and endurance in the gym than ever before. With his passion for pumping iron reignited, Barny is now preparing to slip the posing pants back on to compete in Mr Universe 2015. >>

Homan Square revealed: how Chicago police "disappeared" 7,000 people

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/oct/19/homan-square-chicago-police-disappeared-thousands

Exclusive: Guardian lawsuit exposes fullest scale yet of detentions at off-the-books interrogation warehouse, while attorneys describe find-your-client chase across Chicago as "something from a Bond movie".

<< Police "disappeared" more than 7,000 people at an off-the-books interrogation warehouse in Chicago, nearly twice as many detentions as previously disclosed, the Guardian can now reveal. From August 2004 to June 2015, nearly 6,000 of those held at the facility were black, which represents more than twice the proportion of the city's population. But only 68 of those held were allowed access to attorneys or a public notice of their whereabouts, internal police records show.

The new disclosures, the result of an ongoing Guardian transparency lawsuit and investigation, provide the most detailed, full-scale portrait yet of the truth about Homan Square, a secretive facility that Chicago police have described as little more than a low-level narcotics crime outpost where the mayor has said police "follow all the rules".

The police portrayals contrast sharply with those of Homan Square detainees and their lawyers, who insist that "if this could happen to someone, it could happen to anyone". A 30-year-old man named Jose, for example, was one of the few detainees with an attorney present when he surrendered to police. He said officers at the warehouse questioned him even after his lawyer specifically told them he would not speak. "The Fillmore and Homan boys", Jose said, referring to police and the facility's cross streets, "don't play by the rules". >>

I created a support ticket and explained the whole situation to them. The ticket was answered today, so Coinbase is now aware of the scam. If you opened an account using the scammer's affiliate link, I suggest that you CLOSE THAT ACCOUNT (that option is under Settings > Security), then clear your browser's cookies and open another account if you intend on keeping using Coinbase.

Mother of Saudi man sentenced to crucifixion begs Obama to intervene

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/14/mother-of-saudi-man-sentenced-to-crucifixion-begs-obama-to-intervene

<< The mother of a Saudi protester sentenced to death by beheading and crucifixion has begged Barack Obama to intervene to save her son's life. In her first interview with foreign media, Nusra al-Ahmed, the mother of Ali Mohammed al-Nimr, whose case has made headlines around the world, described the intended punishment as savage and "backwards in the extreme".

Human rights groups including Amnesty International and Reprieve, the US talkshow host Bill Maher and the British prime minister, David Cameron, have all weighed in with calls for clemency to stop Nimr, who was 17 at the time of his arrest, from being beheaded and then crucified. The oil-rich state is facing increasing diplomatic scrutiny over the severity of its penal system as it takes over the chair of the UN human rights council.

Asked how she was coping knowing that at any moment her son could be put to death following the Saudi supreme court's rejection of his appeal, Ahmed said: "For other people every hour is composed of 60 minutes, but for me every hour is 60 beats of pain." She said her son had been detained sometime after joining Shia demonstrators in the eastern coastal city of Qatif seeking equal religious rights in the Sunni-majority country.

The official charges levelled against Nimr included attending a protest, using his phone to encourage further support for the demonstrations and possessing a gun, an accusation which the family strongly denies. "They were peaceful and civilised and legitimate and so my fear was, I was afraid for my son, but inside I agreed with them in principle."  >>

Apple Loses $862M in Patent Case to University of Wisconsin

http://www.techworm.net/2015/10/apple-loses-862m-in-patent-case-to-university-of-wisconsin.html

<< Apple Inc. could be facing up to $862 million in damages after a U.S. jury on Tuesday found the company used technology owned by the University of Wisconsin-Madison's licensing arm without permission in chips found in many of its iPhones and iPads. The jury in Madison, Wisconsin, also said the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) patent, which improves processor efficiency, was in-fact valid. Because of this the trial will now move on to determine how much Apple owes in damages.

Apple only commented that they do not comment on ongoing litigation. >>

The motherfucking scammer deleted my messages on his Facebook page, including one I wrote in Portuguese helping a guy who didn't know how to withdraw. He also disabled my accounts on the Alien faucet and the Weekend Bitcoin faucet.

I told him I was gonna call out his little scam here and he replied:

"Pedro, they started a new referral programme where people get $10 for signing up."

The piece of shit "forgot" to add "AND buy US$ 100 in bitcoin".

How does the Coinbase referral program work?

" Referral bonuses are only paid if the person you referred verifies their account and buys $100 of bitcoin or more. The buy has to complete (meaning the bitcoin is delivered). Buys can take up to four business days to complete. The amount can be a cumulative $100 (it can happen over multiple purchases). The payout will typically arrive about 10 minutes after this. "

A few days ago he sent an email to users of his sites saying they would receive 4 million satoshis (~US$10) just for signing up with Coinbase from the link on the email:


I haven't redacted my name or email address because I don't have anything to hide and everyone who knows me from the game servers I manage already has my info anyways (including spammers).

When I didn't receive anything, I contacted him via his Facebook page (I tried emailing him first but the email info@bitcoinaliens.com does not exist) and he replied saying "Coinbase would send me the 4 million satoshis after they completed their verification which could take some time".

There is nothing else to verify, I've even received and withdrawn Coinbase's signup bonus of 10K satoshis already. What he is doing is taking advantage of Coinbase's own referral bonus system which gives the equivalent of US$ 10 in bitcoin to both the user who invites another user and to the new user, once the new user buys US$ 100 in bitcoins: "Invite a friend who buys $100 of bitcoin or more, and you'll both earn $10 of free bitcoin!" (from Coinbase's site)

The regrettable fact that you exist is actually your cunt mother's fault for not having aborted you.

No, it's just that people who know better are aware that:

1 - These forums are full of Russians and eastern Europeans with a stone age mindset.

2 - Even worse, these forums are also full of dog eating Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese and other subhuman Asian scum.

3 - There's no point in trying to argue with individuals from groups 1 and 2.

EDIT: Forgot to mention the holy rollers and other assorted religious fundamentalists. It still amazes me that crypto gave birth to a "community" that's essentially a disgusting living cesspool.

It's scum like you who needs to - and eventually will - be wiped out from the face of the earth. Anyways, I love these threads, they help my already huge ignore list to grow even more.

Privacy groups hail "freedom from surveillance" in European court's Facebook ruling

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/oct/06/europe-court-right-to-privacy-max-schrems-us-tech-companies

<< Private industry was in a rage while privacy groups were elated on Tuesday over a new ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) affirming European citizens' right to privacy from American tech companies. On Tuesday, the European court ruled in favor of Max Schrems, an Austrian graduate student who asked that EU's data protection commissioner bar Facebook from transmitting his personal data to the US on the grounds that many tech firms had cooperated with the National Security Agency.

Transmission of personal data had previously been covered by a "safe harbor" agreement between Europe and the US that allowed tech firms to share the data with explicit consent from their customers. Businesses that operate in Europe must now make sure they are compliant with the EU's own laws before they subject their customers' personal information to laxer restrictions in the US, the court said. >>

HSBC has wrecked our lives, say customers frozen out and unable to switch

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/oct/03/hsbc-derisking-account-frozen-marie-shaun-langley

A couple believe they have been swept up in HSBC's "de-risking" process after it was fined for laundering billions for drug cartels, terrorists and rogue states.

Marie and Shaun Langley are just an ordinary Sheffield couple – she's a childminder, he's an IT worker. Yet, in an extraordinary tale, their bank, HSBC, has turned them into financial pariahs, banning them from having an account, closing their deposit and Isa accounts, and leaving them unable to pay for food, petrol or life's other essentials. And every time they try to get sense out of the bank they are met with a point-blank refusal to even discuss the matter.

The couple are not in financial difficulties, and have done nothing they can think of that could explain why their accounts have been terminated so inexplicably. But HSBC is the bank fined £1.2bn by US authorities for laundering billions for drug cartels, terrorists and rogue states, and the Langleys fear they have somehow been swept up in the draconian approach the bank has taken to some accounts ever since. In a process known as de-risking, customers deemed a potential threat are dumped to avoid punitive fines from the US authorities. The trouble is, the computer systems used to flag up such threats can produce strange anomalies.

Shaun Langley is hardly a threat to the bank or the global financial system. He is actually a former employee of HSBC, and has held an account there for 20 years. He is self-employed, but his clients are hardly the stuff of drugs or terrorism. Past customers include M&S and Lloyds bank – and he is currently working for South Yorkshire Police. HSBC won't tell the Langleys why they have been frozen out; nor would they say anything when the Guardian intervened. To be fair to HSBC, it is in an invidious position, because if it explains why it has frozen an account it may fall foul of "tipping off" rules designed to prevent criminals and terrorists from knowing someone is on their tail.

The Langley's nightmare began in Sainsbury's, when Marie's debit card was declined as she tried to pay. She went to a cash machine, only to find that transaction was also refused. Stranded with her shopping unpaid for, she called her husband. Worried that their account may have been hit by fraud, he immediately tried to log on to HSBC online. He then discovered that their joint account was inaccessible. He called HSBC, and only after lengthy badgering of call centre staff did the bank admit the account had been frozen. "Apparently a letter, which I never received, had been sent out two months previously warning me that the account was to be closed, but no one would tell me the reason," says Shaun.

Desperate for some cash, he convinced HSBC to unfreeze the account – it agreed for one day only – to allow the couple to withdraw enough cash to buy food and petrol. He headed straight to his local HSBC branch to withdraw cash to tide them over, while his wife went to Asda. But en route his wife called – she was standing at the checkout with a full trolley, and her card had been declined. When Shaun reached the bank, he was told the block on the account had been put back on, and this time there wouldn't be any temporary reprieve. "In fact, I was told that the block shouldn't have been removed in the first place. The assistant read me out a short statement, printed on a piece of paper, which offered no explanation as to why I was forbidden access to any of my funds."

The Langleys now have no means to buy food or pay bills, and Shaun fears he is driving illegally as he is unable to renew his car insurance. When he went to a branch of Nationwide, it said it had no problems accepting him as a customer. But while the couple thought that might be the end of their problems, it wasn't: HSBC refused to transfer his direct debits and standing orders under the seven-day switching agreement. "I can't even give my daughter her school dinner money," says Shaun.

The Langleys remain bewildered by their experience. Shaun has no overseas links, and all he can think of is that as a self-employed worker he frequently has money transferring in and out of his account. "I don't transfer on any set day so the bank cannot see a regular wage going in, just irregular payments. If I'm honest, I can see that this might not meet its risk profile, although there is nothing untoward, of course."
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According to the Financial Ombudsman Service, although banks are generally obliged to provide a reason – and notice – for closing an account, they can on rare occasions do so without either: such as if they suspect illegal activity. In a statement, HSBC said: "We never take the decision to close a customer's account lightly. We do appreciate this closure has not taken place as smoothly as it should have, and in recognition of this we have apologised to Mr Langley and given him £300 in compensation."

Langley, who has still not been repaid the £512 balance stuck in his defunct account, considers this gesture derisory, and is considering taking his case to the ombudsman. "How can a respected financial organisation treat a customer of 20 years in this way? I feel like a criminal."

Risk mismanagement

Guardian Money has reported extensively about sudden and unexplained account closures, many by HSBC. NatWest has also been accused of dumping customers, including an economics professor with an MBE writes Anna Tims. This week we heard from John Proctor, a British educationalist in Pakistan, who is sure his work with schools in his adopted country is the reason his HSBC account of 47 years has suddenly been closed. "I assist in the improvement of education in developing countries," he says. "But they make it seem I'm a criminal for working in Pakistan."

A British migraine charity, the International Headache Society, is another baffled victim of "derisking". NatWest has closed its long-standing accounts worth £500,000 without explanation. Its treasurer, Wendy Thomas, reckons her crime was to request a series of large cash withdrawals to fund the living costs of student neurologists at the International Headache Congress in Spain.

The Financial Action Task Force has criticised banks for using security regulations as a fig-leaf to drop unprofitable clients, and the Financial Conduct Authority has warned that whole categories of customers, including charities and Britons with families in countries deemed high risk, could be left in limbo. "We expect banks to recognise that the risk associated with different individual business relationships within a single broad category varies, and to manage that risk appropriately," its website says. "While the decision to accept or maintain a business relationship is ultimately a commercial one for the bank, we think there should be relatively few cases where it is necessary to decline relationships solely because of anti-money laundering requirements."

Currently, it is up to banks to decide who they do or do not want as customers, although the Financial Services Ombudsman can rule whether rejected customers have been treated fairly. A new EU directive will change this, giving citizens a right to a basic account – but this won't apply in the UK for another year.

Source: The Guardian