Information is Wealth.

North Korea's cyber army appears to be going after real weapons. Hackers tied to Kim Jong Un's regime stole blueprints and other information about warships and submarines last year when they broke into one of the world's biggest shipbuilders, according to South Korean lawmaker Kyeong Dae-soo. Blueprints, shipbuilding technology, weapons systems and test data related to submarines and destroyers were among roughly 60 classified military documents taken from Daewoo Shipbuilding last year, according to Kyeong's office. It said it was summarizing information it had received from the South Korean Defense Ministry and several military agencies. The hackers are believed to have accessed some 40,000 documents in all. Kyeong, a member of the opposition party, learned of the Daewoo hack at an intelligence briefing last week, according to a spokesman for the lawmaker. The South Korean Defense Ministry declined to comment on the matter, but said it is working to strengthen mili...

 first wave of reviews touting Google's Home Mini smart speaker surfaced this week, on the heels of reports that the company had to quash a top touch function to prevent the device from accidentally activating and recording conversations without users' knowledge. Google has promised to roll out an update to the device by Oct. 15. The hardware glitch didn't seem to dim the spotlight on the potential of the smart speaker, however, which is a slimmed-down version of the flagship Google Home product, powered by Google Assistant. The small round gizmo comes in chalk, charcoal and coral (Google online exclusive). It is only 3.86-inches in diameter and just 1.65 inches in height, yet it provides 360-degree sound with a 40mm driver. It supports HE-AAC and LC-AAC+ audio formats, and it supports WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity. It runs on the Android operating system. Among its capabilities, the Home Mini can provide reports on weather, traffic, news, sports and more. Like the or...

​Google Authenticator is a free security app that can protect your accounts against password theft. It's easy to set up and can be used in a process called two-factor authentication (2FA) offered on popular social media services like Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.  The app ( iOS / Android ) generates a random code used to verify your identity when you're logging into various services. The code can technically be sent to your phone via text message every time— but the Google Authenticator app provides an extra level of security.  SMS-based 2FA has a  known security flaw , and any devoted hacker can attempt to  socially engineer  an attack against your phone company. The Google Authenticator app eliminates the possibility of an SMS-based attack  using algorithms  to generate the codes on your phone. Here's how to set it up: 1. Download Google Authenticator from either the Apple App Store or the Android Google Play store. It's free. 2. Nex...

For a long time, there was an easy way to conduct a Google search in a country other than the one you’re in. If you wanted to get results specific to Japan, for instance, you would visit www.google.co.jp; to get Australian results you would visit www.google.com.au — but this trick no longer works. Google has announced that it will now always serve up results that are relevant to the country that you’re in, regardless of the country code top level domain names (ccTLD) you use. The reason given is a little bizarre. The search giant says that the change has been introduced because of the way people are using the search engine these days. It says: “around one in five searches on Google is related to location, so providing locally relevant search results is an essential part of serving you the most accurate information.” The argument seems counterintuitive, however. Anyone who has changed the ccTLD has done so consciously, and for a reason — for Google to override this decision is strange...

Google has been promising more than 90 days worth of data in the Google Search Console, formerly Webmaster Tools, since  2013  and they have been  teasing us  with it over and over again since. At SMX East, I pressed Gary Illyes about it and he said he would like to see the new longer termed stored data to go live with the released of the  new Google Search Console . He didn't want to give timelines on anything at SMX East but he said he thinks we would get the year worth of data when the beta is finally launched. When is the beta going to be launched? I don't think even Google knows. John Mueller hinted at this  some time back and then Gary also said  it was coming recently. Gary has now somewhat confirmed those suspicious that the new longer termed data will come with the beta release.

In a way, it is not entirely surprising to find out that not all  VPN providers  do what they claim to. A lot of people use these tunneled connections to mask their locations, but not all service providers do a good job at doing so. More specifically, one of the main selling points of most VPNs is that they do not store information collected during one’s VPN session. This includes the IP addresses used by the customer prior to connecting to the remote server in question. If that piece of vital information were to be leaked somehow, there would be no point in using a VPN provider to begin with. Recent research shows that there are quite a few VPN providers out there that collect logs containing such data, despite claims to the contrary. This all came to light during a recent court case in which the FBI gained access to crucial evidence despite the “offender” having used a VPN connection to mask ...

The one website you’ve been waiting for is finally here. Cointal launched their platform a few days ago, and it looks as promising as they said it to be. Now, we’re only a few clicks away from being able to post offers for buying or selling Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple and Litecoin with any payment method we could use. The company affirms that more cryptocurrencies will be made available ‘soon enough’, which should stick to their original schedule of making 10 other cryptocurrencies available before early 2018 (including Monero, NEM, NEO, Dash, Bitcoin Cash, etc.), along with other features that will be revealed on their next platform update. The website looks stable, although they have already started working on their next major update. The team worked hard enough to make the navigation over their platform very light. After a few tries, you can easily get used to the user-friendly interface with all the security needs (including verification on request, 2-Facto...

Saudi Arabia has become the first country to grant citizenship to a robot. The lucky machine is Sophia the Humanoid, who was designed to look like Audrey Hepburn. News of Sophia’s citizenship was announced at the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. “I am very honored and proud for this unique distinction,” Sophia said in an interview with moderator Andrew Ross Sorkin. “This is historical to be the first robot in the world to be recognized with a citizenship.” Sophia was created by David Hanson for Hong Kong company Hanson Robotics. Hanson is known for making human-like robots. Sophia demonstrated her “expressive face,” showing the audience her angry and sad face. “I want to live and work with humans so I need to express the emotions to understand humans and build trust with people,” Sophia said. When asked whether robots can be self-aware, Sophia responded. “Well, let me ask you this back, ho...

Your browser might be doing someone else’s dirty work behind your back, mining cryptocurrency for malicious individuals using your desktop or laptops to create the digital currency, which can potentially be exchanged for real cash.  According to Wired , hackers have found a way to inject Javascript-based cryptocurrency mining software into compromised sites, borrowing your processing power (and slowing down your computer) to generate the cryptocurrency Monero without the approval of the site or its visitors. Luckily, there are some ways to stop the dirty tactic without resorting to staying off the Internet for good. The process of browser-based cryptocurrency mining isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and you can take part even if you don’t own a single piece of the digital currency. Originally, cryptocurrency mining company  Coinhive  created its browser-based mining software to help sites further monetize their content, and allow them to afford a reduction...

Coinhive  the first browser-based cryptocurrency mining project is becoming a source of income for the Internet malefactors. Its evolution promptly shifts from monetizing website traffic to a workflow of which the army of crypto-crooks benefit. Coinhive constitutes a Java solution that anyone can upload and integrate into a website. A page hosting such JavaScript library would launch a hidden process that exploits the resources of the user’s device to mine Monero coins. Everything happens through the web-browser. The design is unique and smart. Well done! Coinhive developers claim it is the best replacement for boring ads. All it needs is an access to the CPU of the device. Websites raise funds while their visitors are enjoying ads-free browsing. Shortly after the release of the app, the  Pirate Bay  hosted it for a while. As the visitors’ feedback was unwelcome the Pirate Bay got rid of the novelty. However, this was the recognition that subsequently lure...

Most everyone has heard of KISS. Keep It Simple, Stupid. Why is simple web design so popular? In most cases, it quickly draws attention to a website’s most valuable content, improving the user experience and delivering a return on your investment in the short attention span you have. The concept is rooted in minimalism, with origins in the arts from the 1950’s. In web design, it gained popularity in the early 2000’s, with the core philosophy of reducing complexity and confusion ( Nielsen Norman Group ). Most of you may remember how cluttered some of those early websites in the 90s and early 2000s were. Today, minimalist web design is much more than displaying a certain percentage of blank space on a web page. Let’ dig into some examples. Image Source:  Themeforest Diux – Portfolio Theme The Why of Simple Web Design In the  UX Industry Reports  from UserTesting.com, it’s reported that year over year, companies are allocating a higher volume of resources to User Ex...

Back in September, IBM was left red-faced when its global load balancer and reverse DNS services fell over for 21 hours. At the time, IBM blamed the outage on a third-party domain name registrar that was transferring some domains to another registrar. The sending registrar, IBM said, accidentally put the domains in a “hold state” that prevented them being transferred. As the load balancer and reverse DNS service relied on the domains in question, the services became inaccessible to customers. IBM's now released an incident summary[PDF] in which it says “multiple domain names were mistakenly allowed to expire and were in hold status.” The explanation also reveals that the network-layer.net domain was caught up in the mess, in addition to the global-datacenter.com and global-datacenter.net domains that IBM reported as messed up in September. It's unclear if IBM or its outsourced registrar was responsible for the failure to renew registration for...

Did you know that ostrich farming in Africa is a huge business opportunity? You’re about to learn some incredible stuff about this business. Although many people don’t know this, ostriches produce more meat than cattle and contain the least fat, calories and cholesterol of all meats (beef, chicken, pork, lamb and turkey). Because it’s not as common as other meats, ostrich meat fetches a very high and handsome price. Mamadou Coulibaly is an ostrich farmer with a flock of 3,000 birds in his native Mali. His income from this business in 2011 was $1.4 million and continues to grow in leaps. In a world that is more than likely to switch to low-calorie and healthier meats in the near future, Mr. Coulibaly is positioning himself to cash in on the huge opportunity. Ostrich Farmer with a humble beginning… Mamadou started his ostrich farm in 2008 with about 100 birds. Today, his farm, which sits in the village of Banguineda, located South of Bamako (the Malian capital) has grown to 3,...

McAfee had perfectly captured the crypto enthusiasts’ sentiment. Blockchain technology has begun to erode governments’ control over money and will continue to do so. These governments has responded by lashing out in a form of crypto inquisition that parallels the American prohibition. We also learned that many bitcoin exchange executives were not allowed to leave China amidst the recent regulation rulings. Surprisingly, McAfee’s comments did not encourage fear, but inspired a strong sense of community among the crowd. He walked off the stage to a thunderous applause. Shape the Future also provided insights into an alternative view of Bitcoin not shaped by the mainstream r/bitcoin pages at Reddit. Both Jihan Wu and Roger Ver shared the view that the mainstream bitcoin media has been censoring any views that opposes that of bitcoin core and blockstream. Both speeches revolved around the strength of the larger block sizes in Bitcoin cash which makes it better for scaling...

The Meshchansky Court of Moscow fined Telegram 800,000 rubles (the equivalent of about $14,000) for failure to provide the Russian government with decryption keys to user messages. It's not an outright ban, which is what Russia threatened Telegram with, and the size of the fine implies that Russia's doing this for show. Telegram founder Pavel Durov  posted about the decision on the social networking site VK  (which he also founded). He claims that the demands of the FSB, Russia's state security organization, are unconstitutional. What's more, they are not feasible from a technological standpoint. After all, providing backdoor access to an app isn't exactly a simple endeavor. Durov is currently working on appealing the decision. His VK post asks any lawyers interested in this case to contact him; they will choose from the candidates in the next few days. It's not a large fine, to be sure, so Telegram could just pay it, but it's clear that Durov wants to tak...

An app that encourages teens to be nice to each other has been acquired by Facebook for an undisclosed fee. The app - called tbh, meaning "to be honest" - is just nine weeks old, but had already been downloaded five million times. The app's creators said  it will remain a standalone program but will now have more resources thanks to Facebook. "We were compelled by the ways they could help us realise tbh’s vision and bring it to more people," tbh said. According to start-up news site TechCrunch  , the deal was for "less than $100m", and tbh's four person team would become Facebook employees. One expert commented that Facebook keeps a close eye over new companies and is willing to pay a premium to buy them rather than risk them developing into a threat. "This is the latest example of Facebook snapping up a start-up that could potentially game-change the way people consume social media and erode its own user base," commented Prof Mark...

People who drink coffee have a lesser risk of developing liver cancer. Drinking coffee has a favourable effect on liver function and liver diseases, including liver enzymes, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC or liver cancer). There are certain compounds in coffee like diterpenes, cafestol, and kahweol which act as blocking agents via modulation of multiple enzymes involved in carcinogenic detoxification. Coffee drinking has also been linked to a lower risk of cirrhosis of the liver and chronic liver disease, which are the major risk factors for HCC.  To assess the relationship between coffee and liver function, researchers at the from Milan's Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche, analysed data from 10 studies conducted in Europe and Japan that included 2,260 cases of HCC.  The results indicated a 41 percent reduction in the risk of liver cancer among coffee drinkers compared to those who never drank coffee. Low to moderate coffee drinkers - defined as those who dr...

Flat Rate Per Shipping Class If you would like to charge a flat rate per shipping class select  Calculation Type > Per Class – charge shipping for each shipping class in an order.  Then, you can define the flat rates per shipping class. In the example below, we are charging $5.25 for all products that are in the “Over 10 lbs” shipping class we created and $2.25 for all products in the “Under 10 lbs” shipping class we created. So if a customer had 1 product that is in the “Over” shipping class and 1 product that is in the “Under” shipping class in their cart they would pay  $7.50 for shipping. Note: these are shipping classes we’ve created to define rules for our products, and we’ve already added products to each. Another example of a shipping class you may use is by vendor if you are using dropshipping methods so you can charge what they charge. Flat Rate Per Order If you would like to charge a flat rate per order select  Calculat...

Ecommerce Website 1. Detailed Product Descriptions Customers in a brick-and-mortar store have the advantage of being able to see, feel, read the package, and try a product before buying it. Online shopping eliminates this ability, and therefore, ecommerce websites need to provide as much detailed product information as possible. How many times have you been buying something online and had questions about a product? What is the length? What are the materials? Ecommerce websites often make the mistake of leaving customers with questions about a product, causing them to seek information, and even purchase, elsewhere! Provide as much information as possible about the product including: weight, sizes, materials, dimensions, instructions, fabric type, care instructions, and reviews. Product descriptions also have SEO implications (check out #40) for more information. 2. Use High Quality Photographs Product images are critical for online businesses, where the photo is the onl...