It’s been nearly four months, but experts still aren’t sure exactly what caused May 6th’s “Flash Crash,” when nearly 1000 points mysteriously disappeared from the Dow. The SEC’s ongoing investigation should cast more light on the issue, but don’t expect a definitive diagnosis. It’s been almost 25 years since Black Monday, and while a mixture of market psychology, Black-Scholes-induced portfolio insurance and—like the Flash Crash—stub quotes, hide-and-seek market makers and foolish stop-loss market orders (doesn’t anyone learn their lesson?) have generally been blamed, there’s still quite a bit of debate in academic circles over the exact causes. But fear not, fair readers, as some inside analysis leaked to ai5000 from a Bank That Shall Not Be Named, and a first-time admission of price reporting delays from the NYSE provides new insight into the Crash, and what could be done to prevent another one.
Archive for 2010/08/30
What happens if your hosting provider does not pay the bills?
Posted: 2010/08/30 in Education / AwarenessWell, and you and hundreds of other customers will simply be disconnected.
Dutch media are reporting that Dutch hosting provider Grafix.nl has pulled the plug on the server racks belonging to the hosting provider RedUnix. Reason: the latter did not pay the bills. As a result hundreds of websites were taken offline.
Victims are now sharing experiences and advice on webfora and Twitter. Some sites are slowly resurfacing but others have difficulty proving to new providers that they are the rightful owner of their site, since the staff of RedUnix cannot be reached at the moment and the latter are a better position to arrange for sites to move elsewhere.
Dutch language article: http://webwereld.nl/nieuws/67006/klanten-isp-redunix-offline-na-wanbetalingen-.html?utm_source=front_head&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=ww
AVG Names Safest and Most Dangerous Places to Surf the Internet
Posted: 2010/08/30 in Education / Awareness, Network Security, Privacy / Data Protection, Stats / reportsAccording to a recent survey by AVG Technologies’ the first ever “Global Threat Index,” has revealed that Web surfers in Turkey, Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan are the most likely to face threats while online, whereas travellers in Japan can browse the Web and feel safe.,
South America actually ranked as the safest place to surf the Web while North America was found to be one of the riskiest continents for online surfing.The patients have been detained after committing a range of offences including violent crimes, arson and anti-social behaviour. They are being fitted with ankle tags linked by satellite to a control room, which alerts the hospital when a patient goes to an area from which they are excluded or when they are away too long.
The system can measure whether the tracking device, and therefore the patient, is moving and at what speed. In addition, the ankle tag vibrates to remind a patient when they are nearing the end of their allotted time away from hospital.
3.8 Billion Smartphone Applications Downloaded This Year
Posted: 2010/08/30 in Education / Awareness, Mobile tech, Stats / reportsAccording to research2guidance’s Global Smartphone Application Report 2010, the global smartphone applications market revenue crossed $2.2 billion dollars within the first six months of 2010.
iVdopia Surpasses One Billion Rich Media and 100 Million Video Mobile Ad Impressions
Posted: 2010/08/30 in Education / Awareness, Online advertisingiVdopia, the largest video and rich media mobile advertising network, has announced that it has reached the landmark of over one billion rich media and 100 million video mobile advertising impressions.
At the start of the college year in 2008 tens of thousands of students were flocking to TextBookTorrents. Their goal? To save hundreds of dollars on expensive books.
http://torrentfreak.com/college-starts-with-a-fresh-textbook-torrent-site-100830/
“WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s own son thinks he’s a nightmare when it comes to women. Daniel also wondered about his father’s claim that the accusations were part of a Pentagon “smear campaign.”
Now that the stories underlying the charges have been published, however, it seems something else is at work: Lust.
http://www.p2pnet.net/story/43360
Previously: http://vrritti.com/?s=wikileaks
‘Terrorist’ suspects ’sniffed’ online
Posted: 2010/08/30 in Education / Awareness, Enforcement, Privacy / Data Protection, Public Policy“One of the (CSE) filters picked up their chat. The way the system is established, we’ve got red flags everywhere and you can trip one of those flags anytime.
“If you’re travelling to Pakistan, that’s a red flag. If you’re going on certain web sites, that’s another red flag, and if you use in e-mail certain key words. When you’ve got enough red flags, then you become a person of interest. My understanding is they were caught from the Internet.”
DoJ focusing on Comcast/NBC’s effect on Internet video market
Posted: 2010/08/30 in Education / Awareness, New Business Models, Public PolicyThe US Department of Justice is continuing its investigation into Comcast’s acquisition of NBC Universal, looking specifically at whether it would cripple the online video market. Comcast may find itself subject to certain guidelines, or it may just face an antitrust suit.
The US no longer produces or processes any of the rare earth metals used in common products like flat panel displays and permanent magnets, and Congress is increasingly worried about the national security implications.
http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2010/08/use-of-rare-earth-metals-outstripping-supply.ars
Flemish commercial broadcasters: PVR’s are destroying our service
Posted: 2010/08/30 in Education / Awareness, New Business ModelsDutch media are reporting that the Personal Video Recorder services offered by Belgian telecom and internet providers such as Belgacom and Telenet are destroying the ‘product’ the local Belgian commercial broadcasters are offering. Not only is it affecting their advertising revenue, viewers would also be less inclined to make use of the (paid) digital archives the commercial broadcasters offer access to.
The commercial broadcasters are arguing that their product is: “a TV evening, a chain of events involving TV shows and commercials. That’s our product and not only one show”.
A Belgacom spokesperson argues that the commercial broadcasters are airing so many reruns that it is logical that people will not quickly turn to their paid VOD services.
Dutch language article: http://tweakers.net/nieuws/69401/vlaamse-omroepen-pvrs-maken-ons-product-kapot.html
“US and China protect Pushdo SPAM botnet”
Posted: 2010/08/30 in Cybercrime, Education / Awareness, Network SecurityDutch media are reporting that attempts to take down the famous Pushdo SPAM botnet (background) have been only partially successful since hosting providers in the US and in China refused to cooperate.
Technical details (English): http://blog.fireeye.com/research/2010/08/infiltrating-pushdo-part-2.html
Dutch language article: http://security.nl/artikel/34315/1/China_en_VS_beschermen_Pushdo_botnet.html
The Internet remains a very fragile place, even if that fragility is highly localized and different in different places
Posted: 2010/08/30 in Education / Awareness, Network SecurityTime flies. Although it was over 18 months ago, it seems just like yesterday that a small Czech provider, SuproNet, caused global Internet mayhem by making a perfectly valid (but extremely long) routing announcement. Since Internet routing is trust-based, within seconds every router in the world saw this announcement and tried to pass it on. Unfortunately, due to the size of this single message, quite a few routers choked – resulting in widespread Internet instability. Today, over a year later, we were treated to a somewhat different version of the exact same story
Google fans are the new Mac elite, the users who “get it”
Posted: 2010/08/30 in Education / Awareness, Google, Tech EvolutionThere’s a certain amount of arrogance that emits from Mac owners, those of us whose smug attitudes toward Windows users seems to just scream “I think I’m better than you.” But I can honestly say that, as one of those obnoxious Mac guys, I don’t think that we’re better than Windows users. We just tend to “get it” a bit more.
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/google-fans-are-the-new-mac-elite-the-users-who-get-it/38560
Google Goes Hunting for a Music Boss
Posted: 2010/08/30 in Education / Awareness, Future Developments?, Google, New Business ModelsAnybody want to run the music division of the world’s biggest media company? Because Google is hiring: The search giant is casting about for an executive to run its music service, which doesn’t actually exist yet.
http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/20100826/google-goes-hunting-for-a-music-boss/
See also:
Looking for a job? Try Google Music
Google in talks with major studios to rent movies via YouTube
Posted: 2010/08/30 in Google, New Business ModelsThe Financial Times is reporting that Google is in talks with major Hollywood studios to bring streaming movie rentals from their catalogs to YouTube by the end of the year. Citing multiple sources with knowledge of the plans, the FT claims that the YouTube on-demand video service will probably launch first in the US, and will offer movies, simultaneous with the DVD release, for about $5.
TPB AFK: The Pirate Bay – Away From Keyboard
Posted: 2010/08/30 in Copyright, Education / Awareness, New Business ModelsTranscript:
Hi! My name is Simon
and I’m the director of The Pirate Bay – Away From Keyboard
a feature documentary about the founders of the world’s largest file sharing site.
Right now is a really exciting time, we’re one month away from the Court of Appeal hearings in Stockholm, Sweden.
And I’m in South East Asia following the story.
A couple of years ago I accidentally ran into Brokep, one of the three founders of The Pirate Bay.
Over a cop of coffee, he told me how the White House had threatened the Swedish government
because of his and his buddies’ hobby homepage.
He told me how The Pirate Bay had tried to buy an island to create a nation of their own without copyright laws.
He also told me about The Pirate Bay’s involvement with Wikileaks.
I was totally amazed by the stories Brokep told me. And at that point I hadn’t even met the other two founders.
When I finally did meet Tiamo, Anakata and Brokep and saw them in the same room together I realized that the real story here is between them within the context of the global copyright conflict.
More: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tpbafk/tpb-afk-the-pirate-bay-away-from-keyboard
