Opinion: Media Wars « ASHARQ AL-AWSAT

bw version of the Eye of Horus (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Opinion: Media Wars « ASHARQ AL-AWSAT

Excellent OpEd from this Egyptian media source, and well worth a read, in my opinion.

Information warfare has become a key part of twenty-first century conflicts, whether domestic or international. Run from behind screens, these battles could cause damage as deadly as those inflicted by weapons of mass destruction. This was clearly seen in the Ukrainian crisis, as well as the 2011 uprisings that erupted across the Arab world—social media and new media formed a key tool. Another recent example can be seen in the hacking of Sony Pictures and the exposure of its emails and films. The White House has responded by threatening to take measures against North Korea which is suspected of being behind the attack.
Some say we are entering uncharted waters but it has been established that information warfare has always been part of human warfare and conflicts. Only the tools have differed, evolving in terms of sophistication and speed thanks to modern technology. read more ...

Related articles

• Egyptian media not independent, lack professionalism: AFTE
• Egypt Receives 10 Apache Helicopters From Us
• Egypt's Sisi meets Qatari envoy as ties thaw

Are Our Children Overprotected?

English: Street photography - photograph of a child watching children play on the grounds of Arts College at Osmania University, Hyderabad, AP - India. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Overprotected Kid: (via the Atlantic)

If a 10-year-old lit a fire at an American playground, someone would call the police and the kid would be taken for counselling. At the Land, spontaneous fires are a frequent occurrence. The park is staffed by professionally trained “play-workers,” who keep a close eye on the kids but don’t intervene all that much. Claire Griffiths, the manager of the Land, describes her job as “loitering with intent.” Although the play-workers almost never stop the kids from what they’re doing, before the playground had even opened they’d filled binders with “risk benefits assessments” for nearly every activity. (In the two years since it opened, no one has been injured outside of the occasional scraped knee.) Here’s the list of benefits for fire: “It can be a social experience to sit around with friends, make friends, to sing songs to dance around, to stare at, it can be a co-operative experience where everyone has jobs. It can be something to experiment with, to take risks, to test its properties, its heat, its power, to re-live our evolutionary past.” The risks? “Burns from fire or fire pit” and “children accidentally burning each other with flaming cardboard or wood.” In this case, the benefits win, because a play-worker is always nearby, watching for impending accidents but otherwise letting the children figure out lessons about fire on their own. more ...

Related articles

• Study: Overprotective Parents Slow Children's Brain Growth and Increase Mental Illness
• Protective parent Katie Holmes
• Overprotective Korean Mothers Flock to Military

Notice the Difference? New Canadian Internet Copyright Rules for ISPs Set to Launch - Michael Geist

Michael Geist, is a Canadian academic, and the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-Commerce Law at the University of Ottawa. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Notice the Difference? New Canadian Internet Copyright Rules for ISPs Set to Launch - Michael Geist

For Internet providers, the system creates significant costs for processing and forwarding notices. However, assuming they meet their obligations of forwarding the notice, the law grants them a legal “safe harbour” that removes potential liability for actions of their subscribers.

 There are important benefits for Internet users as well. First, unlike the content takedown or access cut-off systems, the Canadian notice approach does not feature any legal penalties. The notices do not create any fines or damages, but rather are designed as educational tools to raise awareness of infringement allegations.

Related articles

• Government documents reveal telecom providers envision surveillance-ready networks: Geist
• New Rules Give CRTC Power to Penalize Telecom Giants
• What the US Can Learn From Canada's Internet Policy
• Netflix's kerfuffle in Canada: More on the way?
• Why Canada's Internet Keeps Getting More Expensive

John Draper aka "Cap'n Crunch" in Need of Our Help!

It's truly sad to hear of his financial troubles, Mr. Draper may be having - seems he has been suffering hard times recently due to health issues, as reported by ArsTechnica here. His contemporaries of the day, Steve Jobs and TheWoz (Steve Wozniak) sure have been treated better by life it seems.
From his own blog, John writes:

"Latest news on my debilitating health issues. I’ve suffered some major health issues, and discovered I have degenerative spine disease which is the root of most of my spine problems which started in or around 2004. My first surgery was in Dec of 2009, a year later, suffered trauma from a sudden pressure on the back of my neck thanx to some dude at Defcon party, you know who you are. Everything was ok until early in 2014, I started feeling that same back pain I was suffering from back in 1009, but it progressed much further, starting early march, About the time I was invited to the home brew computer club reunion, in the Bay Area. A few weeks later, was invited to speak at the hacker hostel, when at that time the pain was getting horribly bad." Read more ....

Related articles

• The Man Who Made Apple Possible Is In Trouble -- And You Can Help Him
• Happy birthday, Woz: Apple's co-founder turns 64 today
• Woz explains why early Apple employees vowed to 'never, ever work for Steve Jobs again'

South Korea nuclear plant operator says hacked, raising alarm « ASHARQ AL-AWSAT

The coat of arms of South Korea Español: escudo de Corea del Sur 日本語: 大韓民国の国章 中文: 大韩民国国徽 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

South Korea nuclear plant operator says hacked, raising alarm « ASHARQ AL-AWSAT

Computer systems at South Korea’s nuclear plant operator have been hacked, the company said on Monday, sharply raising concerns about safeguards around nuclear facilities in a country that remains technically at war with North Korea.

The Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co Ltd (KHNP) and the government said only “non-critical” data was stolen by the hackers, and that there was no risk to nuclear installations, including the country’s 23 atomic reactors.

But the hacking was reported as the United States accused North Korea of a devastating cyber-attack on Sony Pictures.

Experts voiced alarm that the controls of the nuclear reactors could be at risk.

“This demonstrated that, if anyone is intent with malice to infiltrate the system, it would be impossible to say with confidence that such an effort would be blocked completely,” said Suh Kune-yull of Seoul National University.

“And a compromise of nuclear reactors’ safety pretty clearly means there is a gaping hole in national security,” said Suh, who specializes in nuclear reactor design.

The government is investigating but has not said who might be responsible. In 2013, South Korea accused the North of a series of cyber-attacks on banks and broadcasters. Anti-nuclear activists in South Korea have also protested against the use of nuclear power. More ...

Related articles

• S.Korea nuclear plant operator says hacked, raising alarm
• South Korea nuclear plant operator was hacked, but no risk to nuclear reactors
• 40 years of the MARIA research reactor
• Technology › GE, Hitachi reactor design advances toward approval in Britain
• Fire causes shutdown at Belgian nuclear reactor
• Industry increases efforts to develop safer, less expensive reactors