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North Korea makes the best counterfeit $100 bills

The kindly North Korean government is doing its part to contribute to quantitative easing by printing US$100 bills that are nearly indistinguishable from the ones printed by the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Let’s hope this eases tensions between the two countries! From The Telegraph : “It seems that whoever printed these supernotes has the facilities and high level of technology matching that of a government”, Lee Ho-jung, a bank spokesman said. “They are made with special ink that changes colour depending on the angle, patterned paper and Intaglio printing that gives texture to the surface of a note”. Another bank source told The Hankyoreh newspaper, “To print supernote-level forgeries, you need a minting corporation-level production line in place, which costs hundreds of billions of won. “This makes if difficult for ordinary criminal organisations to produce them”. Earlier versions of supernotes have been around for at least 15 years, with US government officials estimating in 2006 that as much as $250 million worth of fake $100 bills could be in circulation worldwide. … In the past, North Korea was believed to distribute the bills overseas through criminal groups and by transporting them abroad through the diplomatic pouch to embassies from where they could be slipped into circulation.

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North Korea makes the best counterfeit $100 bills

Toys R Us is bankrupt, but top execs are cleared to receive $16 million in bonuses

A Justice department attorney representing the people owed money by Toys R Us doesn’t believe the bankrupt corporation should pay lavish bonuses to the same executives who drove the toy store chain into the ground. From Judy Robbins filing: “It defies logic and wisdom, not to mention the Bankruptcy Code, that a bankrupt company would now propose further multi-million dollar bonuses for the senior leadership of a company that began the year with employee layoffs and concludes it in the midst of the holiday season in bankruptcy. Apparently, this Christmas, Toys “R” Us intends to deliver not only ‘children their biggest smiles of the year’ but the insiders, too.” Nevertheless U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Keith Phillips approved the payouts. From CW39 : Because Toys “R” Us filed for bankruptcy in September, it must now must get court approval for many of its basic business decisions. These new bonuses will be in addition to another $8.2 million in retention bonuses paid to some of these same executives before Toys “R” Us filed for bankruptcy. They would be required to return the retention payments should they quit the company within a year of receiving them.

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Toys R Us is bankrupt, but top execs are cleared to receive $16 million in bonuses

A mysterious Thai singer performing in an oyster costume is the top YouTube video for 2017

With nearly 183 million views since June, this Thai music video is the top globally trending video of 2017, according to YouTube. It’s called “Until we become dust” and it’s performed by a singer in a full silver and white costume whose head is elaborately masked in oyster shells and pearls. The mysteriously-garbed musician is competing in a strange Thai TV singing show called ” The Mask Singer .” Here are the show’s rules : The contestants are broken up into four groups, each group containing 8 masked celebrities. Each episode consists of two pairs of battling contestants, up until the final for each group, where the contestants perform a duet before battling it out. The winner reveals their identity in the last episode of each season… The contestants are prompted to sing a song of their choice and design a unique costume with a team of designers. Each costume covers the entirety of the contestant’s body… The identity of each contestant is kept confidential. When they arrive at the studio, staff members bring them cloaks to conceal their identity. Before filming the show, each contestant has to sign a contract ensuring they keep their identity a secret. During rehearsals, their voices are modified. The staff members who are authorized to know contestants’ identity such as makeup artists, costume designers, the director, and studio staff, have signed contracts to keep it confidential. When editing the footage and audio, they lock the doors to stop anyone from looking through. Later, according to CNBC , the masked celebrity was revealed to be singer Pandavaram Prasarnmitr of the Thai rock band, Cocktail. Here’s one of their music videos where you can see what he looks like without oyster shells on his face: https://youtu.be/UsnIyScLe-s

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A mysterious Thai singer performing in an oyster costume is the top YouTube video for 2017

Woman makes earring to store her two-factor authentication device

Etsy engineer Samantha Goldstein made a small wooden earring to hold her YubiKey 4 Nano , a tiny USB two-factor authentication device. From Motherboard : She laser cut wood and acrylic for the base, and then used sterling silver for the posts. The key slides into the base portion for safe keeping. Goldstein plans to put up a small batch for sale later this week on her Etsy store . “Between my work badge and my phone (and sometimes my computer) I’m lugging around a lot of accessories all the time,” Goldstein told me in a Twitter direct message. “I wanted a way to carry around a Yubikey but not burden myself with one more thing to carry in my hands.” Working late in the labs on these yubikey earrings! eeee! pic.twitter.com/fDto5kSDwZ — *:･ﾟ✧ Samantha ✧･ﾟ:* (@samantha_gold) December 5, 2017

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Woman makes earring to store her two-factor authentication device

Israeli firm Cyberbit illegally spied on behalf of Ethiopia’s despots, then stored all their stolen data on an unencrypted, world-readable website

Researchers from the University of Toronto’s amazing Citizen Lab ( previously ) have published a new report detailing the latest tactics from the autocratic government of Ethiopia, ” the world’s first turnkey surveillance state ” whose human rights abuses have been entirely enabled with software and expertise purchased on the open market, largely from companies in western countries like Finfisher and Hacking Team. (more…)

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Israeli firm Cyberbit illegally spied on behalf of Ethiopia’s despots, then stored all their stolen data on an unencrypted, world-readable website

Spectacular photos of an active volcano in Bali

You may have heard that Mount Agung, an active volcano in the Indonesian island of Bali, started erupting Saturday . It just so happens that my friend Kyle Kesterson is currently traveling there. He’s staying in Ubud, about two hours away from the volcano. On Wednesday, he shared his experience of getting to and witnessing the eruption, alongside some really stunning photos: While I appreciate the concern for my safety as messages have been pouring in about Mt Agung’s current eruptions the last few days, FEAR is the common underlying theme. Those who know me, know that even the slightest whiff of fear must be faced head on and transformed into excitement. So at 2am, my fearless friend Valeria and I found a bold and curious taxi driver to drive us 2.5hrs in the direction of Mt. Agun, cameras in hand. As we pulled up around 4:30am, we saw the glow from the magma lighting up the slow billowing ash entering the atmosphere. Underneath it, our entire horizon was made up of the ghostly shape of this restless, commanding, all powerful giant. We sat, stunned in the deepest sense of awe, underneath the clearest Milky Way and longest shooting stars I’ve ever witnessed. Instantly, I was small. Weak. Absolutely nothing against the formidable nature of nature. Nothing, but a spectator and participant in this collision of living energy. Fear would have kept me tucked warmly in my sheets with the illusion that I was safe to begin with. But stepping through it, with complete reverence and heightened to the situation and ready to act, I am forever changed and more alive. Later, he wrote , Up until now, the news has been overly sensationalized with how they are reporting on Mt Agung’s activity. Life right at the base of the volcano was calm, people carrying on with their daily duties. No panic. No hysteria. It was surprisingly calm. However as of yesterday, rocks and debris have started to fall from the sky in the surrounding villages, starting to make the threat very real. Now people are starting to truly be displaced. There are a couple effective organizations helping with this process. Please join me in sharing a few dollars to help these people. photos by Kyle Kesterson , used with permission Previously: Artist Kyle Kesterson draws the faces he sees in things

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Spectacular photos of an active volcano in Bali

New York’s rat population has genetically diverged into "uptown" and "downtown" subspecies

Matthew Combs, a Fordham University Louis Calder Center Biological Field Station grad student worked with colleagues from Fordham and the Providence College Department of Biology to sequence the genomes of brown rats in Manhattan, and made a surprising discovery: the geography of rats has a genetic correlation, so a geneticist can tell where a rat was born and raised by analyzing its DNA. (more…)

Tech Today w/ Ken May

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