Recode Daily: Facebook employees are outraged by a top exec's public show of support for Brett Kavanaugh - Recode
10.05.2018
Sucks to be the Facebook PR guy
And in other wildlife news…
The Glory of Otis, Fattest of the Fat Bears | Outside Online
Otis, also known by his ID number, 480, is a brown bear who lives in Alaska's Katmai National Park. Otis is fat. So fat that he's been king of the park's Fat Bear Week two of the past three years
National Parks Service ranger: "Drunk birds are totally a thing"
Tipsy birds flying into windows, cars in northern Minnesota
The police department says there's no need to panic, the birds will eventually sober up.
10.04.2018
10.03.2018
So these guys are doing pretty much the same things the Russians were only without the Russia, of course.
Kavanaugh confirmation battle further mystifies 'dark money' spending
Hardly anybody remembers text-based computer games any more…
…since they went out of style shortly after somebody invented pictures. I've played a few of them; probably not you. So here's a quick primer on how to do it.
You type something onto a line (sort of like typing something into the search box on Google), and the computer types something back. That's it.
Oh, and since, back in the day, almost all computer games were designed by teenaged boys, almost all of them involved some kind of fighting.
I don't know if that's still true. But if you're interested…
Google is hiding a secret game in plain sight
Right. This.
With a push of a button, FEMA's 'Presidential Alert' to be tested Wednesday
People cannot opt out of the new alert, which is scheduled for its first test at 2:18 p.m. ET.
10.02.2018
The other (other other other) problem Facebook had last week
OK, you've heard some 50 million Facebook accounts were breached and maybe you've also heard that breach affects not only Facebook but possibly lots of other sites as well, sites that people have used their Facebook credentials to sign in to. But what you might not have heard about because, I'm just saying here, it seems to be beyond the reach of all but a handful of tech journalists, is their security failure and substantial breach of confidence involving 2FA.
You Gave Facebook Your Number For Security. They Used It For Ads.
2FA stands for Two Factor Authentication, a salutary security protocol that requires a special, one-time PIN number in addition to your password when you log into your account on certain web sites. Not every site on the web offers this service but many of the big ones, including Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Twitter, Google, and, yes, Facebook do.
In order to use your one-time PIN you need to acquire it somehow and one of the favored ways to accomplish this is for the web site in question to txt the PIN, as required, to your phone. Which requires your phone number, of course. Which Facebook was providing to its customers for use in targeted advertising.
Let that sink in. If you gave your phone number to Facebook for security purposes, you were essentially publishing it to the world. Oh yes.
This is naughty, naughty stuff.
Notice, however, as explained in the first of the articles cited above, it's not 2FA that's broken, it's Facebook. 2FA is still a beneficial protocol and you would be wise to enable it on any services you use that offer it.
Also notice this, October, is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. What luck.
That's right, Bunky…
…if the planet dissolves into a fiery thermonuclear cloud I can read about it on Twitter, just like everything else.
Suit seeks to block Trump from sending 'presidential alerts' to phones - POLITICO
9.30.2018
Because two heads are smarter than one?
Agency says two-headed snake may go to educational facility
WAYNESBORO, Va. (AP) — A wildlife and conservation research hospital says a two-headed snake recently found near the nation's capital may be sent to an educational facility.