Category: reader

Google Overtakes Apple As the World’s Most Valuable Brand

mrspoonsi (2955715) writes in with news that global market research agency Millward Brown has proclaimed Google as the world’s most valuable brand. “US search engine Google has overtaken rival technology titan Apple as the world’s top brand in terms of value, global market research agency Millward Brown said Wednesday. Google’s brand value shot up 40 percent in a year to $158.84 billion (115 billion euros), Millward Brown said in its 2014 100 Top BrandZ report. ‘Google has been extremely innovative this year with Google Glass, investments in artificial intelligence and a range of partnerships, ‘ said Benoit Tranzer, the head of Millward Brown France. Apple, which dominated the top position for three straight years, saw its brand value fall by 20 percent to $147.88 billion.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Google Overtakes Apple As the World’s Most Valuable Brand

Nest Recalls All 440K Protect Smoke Alarms, But Will Have them Back On The Market In ‘Weeks’

 Google’s Nest has recalled all 440, 000 Protect smoke alarms sold over fears that the alert will fail to sound due to a false triggering of the “Wave” feature, which disables the sound with a gesture. The recall was detailed on the US Consumer Product Safety Commission website this morning. Though the report states that “about” 440K units will be recalled, it… Read More

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Nest Recalls All 440K Protect Smoke Alarms, But Will Have them Back On The Market In ‘Weeks’

IT Pro Gets Prison Time For Sabotaging Ex-Employer’s System

itwbennett writes: “In June 2012, Ricky Joe Mitchell of Charleston, West Virginia, found out he was going to be fired from oil and gas company EnerVest and in response he decided to reset the company’s servers to their original factory settings. He also disabled cooling equipment for EnerVest’s systems and disabled a data-replication process. After pleading guilty in January, Mitchell has been sentenced to four years in federal prison.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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IT Pro Gets Prison Time For Sabotaging Ex-Employer’s System

Hackers Broke Into a Public Utility Control Room By Guessing a Password

In a rare gesture of transparency, the Department of Homeland Security just announced that hackers recently targeted and compromised a public utility’s control system. They didn’t say exactly where, but it happened inside United States borders. And it doesn’t sound like it was even that hard. Read more…

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Hackers Broke Into a Public Utility Control Room By Guessing a Password

Steam In-Home Streaming now beams PC games to any room of your house

It has been in beta since mid-November, but Steam’s In-Home Streaming is now available to all. Folks who have a fleet of computers at home can link ’em up and then remotely install and play PC games just like you were sitting at your desk. As you might expect, this also enables access to titles on machines running other OSes — like OS X, Linux and SteamOS , of course. You’ll still have to wait a bit to nab up a Steam Machine , but if you’re champing at the bit to give it a go, all the info you’ll need to get start awaits via that source link. Filed under: Gaming , HD Comments Source: Valve

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Steam In-Home Streaming now beams PC games to any room of your house

The curious story of why the Jedi are called Jedi

If you’re a cinema fan you may know part of this story but, if you aren’t, this video is a throughout summary of how American westerns influenced the samurais of Akira Kurosawa—and how the samurais of Akira Kurosawa influenced that galactic western known as Star Wars. Read more…

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The curious story of why the Jedi are called Jedi

Snake species missing for nearly 80 years rediscovered

This 18-inch Clarion Nightsnake (Hypsiglena unaocularus), found on black lava rock habitat on the island of Clarion, is darker in color than its mainland relatives and has a distinctive pattern of spots on its head and neck. The Clarion Nightsnake, which was initially discovered in the first half of the 19th century and then struck from the scientific record, was rediscovered and declared a new species by National Museum of Natural History researcher Daniel Mulcahy and a team of Mexican scientists led by ecologist Juan Martínez-Gómez in May 2014. (Photo courtesy of Daniel Mulcahy) A science mystery, solved! After going missing for 78 years, the Clarion nightsnake (Hypsiglena ochrorhyncha unaocularus), a nocturnal snake first discovered in the 19th century, then struck from the scientific record, has been rediscovered. Read the rest

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Snake species missing for nearly 80 years rediscovered

Could this simple sea creature hold the key to treating Parkinson’s?

A comb jelly (University of Florida). A scientist in Florida who studies simple sea animals known as comb jellies says he has discovered a path to a new form of brain development that may one day lead to treatments for Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. Read the rest

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Could this simple sea creature hold the key to treating Parkinson’s?

Kleargear ruins customers’ credit over online criticism, refuses to honor US judgment

The latest update in the saga of Kleargear ( previously ) is downright bizarre. Having invoiced unhappy customers for complaining online about their crappy service and then ruined those customers’ credit rating, the company now refuses to acknowledge a judgment against them from a US court because they insist that they’re located in France and weren’t served there. Read the rest

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Kleargear ruins customers’ credit over online criticism, refuses to honor US judgment