Trial Goggles

Trial Goggles


Revolutionary Worker #1064, July 30, 2000
Corruption, Crime, Fraud, Mumia


GOOGLE GOGGLES http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/19/fashion/19drunk.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink


google goggles, backlink


What's in a Name? Does a Diagnosis by Any Other Name Smell Just as ...
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Vanderbilt University - Boxxet
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Vanderbilt University News - Campus Mixxer
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Judiciary Chairman: Cover TN is not insurance : Political Animals
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The Powers That Beat: Charity Begins at Home: A Call to Action
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https://amp.cnn.com/money/2015/10/02/technology/wifi-passwords-hacker-vigilante/index.html

A vigilante hacker is changing 10,000 WiFi passwords

(CNNMoney) Someone is hacking unprotected WiFi routers everywhere -- and forcing them to be on guard.

Does your home WiFi use a default password? It forces you to change it. Does it leave unguarded communication channels open? It forces you to close them.

To experts, this seems like the work of a well intentioned hacker vigilante. Illegal, yes. But helpful, kinda.

The custom-built software is nicknamed "Ifwatch" and it is spreading quickly, according to researchers at the cybersecurity firm Symantec.

"We have not seen any malicious activity whatsoever," said Symantec threat intelligence officer Val Saengphaibul. "However, in the legal sense, this is illegal activity. It's accessing computers on a network without the owner's permission."

To date, it has snuck into at least 10,000 Internet-connected devices, usually WiFi routers.

Ifwatch first popped up last year, when an independent security researcher spotted something funky in a home WiFi router.

Why does Ifwatch seem nice? Because it tries to kill any malware on your router. It also gives your device automatic, friendly updates that protect it from computer viruses. In some cases, it forces a device to reboot every week, clearing away any dangerous malware.

Then again, there's no telling if this intrusive program is really as benign as it seems. Ifwatch has the ability to monitor what's going on in your router -- and capture that data.

So, in theory, it could spy on you. When you're prompted to type in a new password, it's hard to tell if that stays private. Would you type in a new password with someone looking over your shoulder?

"We have no idea who is behind this -- or what their full intention is," Saengphaibul said.

But there's a clue. There's a hidden message in the program's computer code: "To any NSA and FBI agents reading this: please consider whether defending the US Constitution against all enemies, foreign or domestic, requires you to follow Snowden's example."

This altruistic hack could be an attempt to improve everyone's privacy. Or maybe it's just a very clever diversion.

Related: 7 safety tips from hackers

Related: Police say they're outgunned and outmatched by hi-tech criminals

Related: Experian was hacked, exposing the info of 15 million who tried to sign up for T-Mobile

View on CNN

^ed 

http://www.newsweek.com/not-sleeping-enough-go-crazy-mental-health-681203

World Mental Health Day: How Bad Sleep Can Literally Make You Go Crazy

By Jessica Firger On 10/10/17 at 9:36 AM

You probably don't need scientific evidence to know that lack of sleep makes a person very cranky. And the fact that regular sleep has such a huge impact on a person's mood is reason enough to make it a priority. The National Alliance on Mental Illness estimates that insomnia influences depression, anxiety and other psychological conditions in at least half of all people who suffer such sleeplessness.

Scientists don't fully understand why sleep and mood are so connected. One study published in Current Biology looked at the amygdala, which is part of the deep brain located in the temporal lobe. This region is known to play a role in our ability to regulate emotions.

For the study, the researchers showed the participants—who hadn't slept in 35 hours—photos that could be classified as sad. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed the sleep-deprived participants had more responsive amygdalas. But the links to other areas of the brain were weaker, suggesting that the reason people who are sleep deprived tend to be emotionally volatile is also due to the lack of response from other mental faculties. In short, lack of sleep hinders the ability to regulate emotions. 

Keep up with this story and more by subscribing now

"With poor sleep, thoughts can be more negative, and the processing of them may be more likely to include negative repetitive loops, or rumination, leading to negative emotions," says Jenna Carl, a clinical psychologist who specializes in the research and treatment of anxiety, depression and insomnia. She is also the medical director of Big Health, a digital medicine company that created a program known as Sleepio that helps users track their sleeping habits.

A recent paper tested out the program as a way to manage and change poor sleep habits and found it also appeared to improve the mental health of study participants. The study, published in the October issue of The Lancet Psychiatry, involved more than 3,700 college students who used the Sleepio program, which is based on cognitive behavioral therapy, a type of psychological intervention that focuses on how thought processes influence behaviors.

The participants filled out self-reported questionnaires about their sleep habits and mental health symptoms such as anxiety and depression and more severe problems such as hallucinations and paranoia. They were randomly assigned to either the test or control group for six weeks. Each participant kept a sleep diary.

The researchers found that at 10 weeks people in the treatment group reported far less insomnia and experienced fewer hallucinations and less depression, anxiety and paranoia than people in the control group.

It turns out that keeping a consistent sleep schedule and getting at least eight hours a night could be one of the most effective ways to manage existing psychological conditions. Mental health professionals emphasize the importance of getting plenty of sleep since it's one of the most effective ways to control symptoms of depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder. "Historically, clinicians believed that sleep difficulties were merely symptoms of anxiety and depression and would resolve when good mental health was restored," says Carl. 

But it's also important to remember that changes in sleeping habits can also be a sign of mental health problems. According to the Sleep Foundation, people with insomnia are 10 times more likely to have clinical depression and 17 times as likely to suffer from anxiety.

For people who struggle with bipolar disorder, insomnia is a significant problem. At the same time, lack of sleep can also increase the severity of a person's manic episode. For that reason alone, sleep disturbance is considered a core symptom of bipolar disorder. "The advantage of sleep is that it is a far less stigmatized topic than anxiety or depression, making it a great starting point for addressing these conditions," says Carl.

^ed 

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-ridiculous-eula-clauses-agreed/

10 Ridiculous EULA Clauses That You May Have Already Agreed To

April 23, 2012

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Let's be honest, no one reads EULA's (End User Licensing Agreement) – we all just scroll down to the bottom and click "I Accept". EULAs are full of confusing legalese to make them incomprehensible to the average person – no one actually wants us reading them (you could use EULAlyzer, which reads them for you). That explains how these ridiculous clauses can exist in EULAs without any outcry. 4 Ways To Read & Understand An End User License Agreement (EULA) More Easily 4 Ways To Read & Understand An End User License Agreement (EULA) More Easily EULAs, or End-User License Agreements, are one of the evils of modern life. These are endlessly wordy agreements, usually written in tiny print. These are the things you blindly scroll down, looking for that darn... Read More

I'm no lawyer, so I can't comment on the legal status of EULAs, which are different in each country. But the enforceability of EULAs is generally controversial, and some of these clauses would likely be tossed out by a judge, even if EULAs were legally enforceable.

 iTunes – No Creating Nuclear Weapons

Apple's iTunes EULA expressively forbids you from using iTunes to create missiles and biological, chemical, or nuclear weapons.

Are there hidden weapon development options in iTunes? Even if there were, would terrorists be thwarted by not wanting to violate the EULA?

Safari For Windows – You Can't Install It On Windows

For six months after it was released, Apple had the following clause in Safari for Windows' EULA:

Apple was pushing Safari for Windows via Apple Update, but you were only supposed to install it if you were running Windows on an Apple computer. The fact that this term made it into the EULA – and lasted for six months before it was noticed – shows how everyone, including Apple itself, ignores EULAs. Three Useful Safari Startup Tricks That You Might Not Be Familiar With Three Useful Safari Startup Tricks That You Might Not Be Familiar With One of the popular names in the browser world is Safari. It's the default browser for Mac, so it's only logical that Safari is widely used in the Mac community. But even in the Windows... Read More

Google Chrome – Google Owns You

Like Apple, Google wasn't paying attention to its EULA when it launched the Chrome web browser. When it was released, the EULA contained the following clause:

…you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services.

The EULA clarified that Google Chrome was indeed considered a "service." According to the clause, Google claimed a perpetual license to publish and publically display your online banking passwords and everything else you did online.

Google quickly removed the offending clause. It's clear that Google had just copy-pasted an existing EULA into Chrome without actually reading it.

Far Cry 2 – Enforced Morality

Far Cry 2's EULA prevents you from using the game "contrary to morality or the laws in force". Whose morality, exactly? Some groups would say it's immoral to play a violent video game at all.

To make it nice and easy to read, this EULA is helpfully presented as a small, light gray text on a dark gray background.

Microchip – We'll Show Up At 3.00am & Audit You

Microchip's MPLAB X used to contain the following line in its EULA:

Microchip's authorized representatives will have the right to reasonably inspect, announced or unannounced and in its sole and absolute discretion, Licensee's premises and to audit Licensee's records and inventory of Licensee's use of the Software, whether located on Licensee's premises or elsewhere, at any time, in order to ensure Licensee's adherence to the terms of this Agreement.

In other words, Microchip reserved the right to knock on your door at 3.00am and immediately audit you to ensure compliance with its software licensing agreement. How to Create Your Own Software License Agreement How to Create Your Own Software License Agreement Read More

PC Pitstop – $1,000 For Free

To prove a point that no one reads EULAs, PC Pitstop once had the following clause in its EULA:

It took four months before someone noticed and claimed a $1,000 prize.

Microsoft Windows – The OEM Restriction Retailers Ignore

Let's say you want to buy a copy of Windows. You might think that you could head to NewEgg or another retailer and buy one of the popular copies of Windows, but you'd be wrong.

Look closely and you'll see the "OEM" tag on each of these operating systems. OEM means it's for an "original equipment manufacturer" and can only be installed on one computer – ever. At one time, Microsoft allowed hobbyists building their own PCs to purchase and install OEM versions of Windows. The actual license agreement no longer allows this, but many Microsoft representatives continue endorsing it.

The disclaimer hidden on the Details tab informs us that this product is only for people installing Windows on a PC and then selling the PC.

If you buy one of these copies, you're violating the Windows license agreement and will have a "non-genuine" version of Windows. According to the EULA, you might as well be a pirate. Why The Campaign Against Piracy Is A Farce [Opinion] Why The Campaign Against Piracy Is A Farce [Opinion] DMCA, SOPA, MegaUpload shut down, piracy becoming a religion in Sweden - not a week goes by without some shutdown, anti-piracy laws or shocking statistics about torrents - and I have to ask myself, is... Read More

Ed Bott over at ZDNet has chronicled this problem and the contradictory information provided by Microsoft.

Sony & EA – No Class Action Lawsuits

If you accepted the PlayStation Network's new terms and conditions when it updated back in September, you agreed to this:

Any Dispute Resolution Proceedings, whether in arbitration or court, will be conducted only on an individual basis and not in a class or representative action…

In other words, by agreeing to this mandatory update, you signed away your right to a class action lawsuit (if that's legally possible). You can opt out by sending a physical letter to Sony, something just inconvenient enough that very few people will do it – if they even read the EULA in the first place.

The EULA for EA's Origin includes the same language.

All Over the Place – Only One Backup Copy

Many EULAs stipulate that you may only have one backup copy. Do you use a backup program, like Apple's Time Machine or Windows Backup? You could be violating several EULAs. Is FreeFileSync Better Sync Software Than Microsoft SyncToy? [Windows] Is FreeFileSync Better Sync Software Than Microsoft SyncToy? [Windows] Sync programs make local backups a snap by copying only changed files. Dropbox and other cloud storage systems are great, but they aren't as fast as a USB flash drive or removable hard drive to... Read More

Practically Everywhere – The EULA May Change At Any Time

Many EULAs reserve the right to change at any time, so it doesn't really matter what the EULA says when you read it. I hope you're periodically monitoring the terms of use of every website you use, since they all expect you to!

I'm sure there are many more ridiculous EULA clauses out there, but no one reads the EULAs to find them. Do any of you actually read EULAs? Have you found other ridiculous clauses in them?

Image Credits: Annoyed Businessman via Shutterstock, XKCD: Faust 2.0

^ed 

I’m ALWAYS Lost! Nothing has Changed; Place-Blindness on Campus | Jeannie Davide-Rivera

http://aspiewriter.com/2017/08/im-always-lost-nothing-has-changed-place-blindness-on-campus-an-extremely-frazzled-mfa-residency-experience.html

I'm ALWAYS Lost! Nothing has Changed; Place-Blindness on Campus; An Extremely Frazzled MFA Residency Experience

August 17, 2017

Does anyone else have to constantly look back at their life, and the things that they wrote in the past to remind themselves that they have been through this before?

Lately, I have gone back and read my old blog posts, even parts of my memoir to be reminded that just because I know what my autism looks like, I still fail to recognize it. I still fail to realize what is going on as it is happening, and although, in retrospect I can "name" it, I still cannot stop the manifestations from occurring. It is frustrating, infuriating, and I berate myself often. (I am working on it, but it is a hard habit to break.)

Many times I think just because I know all this autism stuff, that I can control it–or that I "should" be able to deal with it, and control my emotions, symptoms, deficits. What words do we even use anymore to describe ourselves?

I know I get lost. I have place-blindness. I KNOW THIS! I KNOW THIS! I KNOW THIS! But none of that knowing stops me from getting lost, nor does it stop me from panicking when I am lost, OR from having the inevitable meltdown that follows. Then, I get frustrated and angry with myself. Why? Because I should KNOW better. I should know myself. Clearly, I still need reminders.

From my article on Place-Blindness:

What is Place-Blindness?
Topographic Agnosia, commonly known as place-blindness, is a neurological condition that can occur separately or as part of an autism spectrum disorder. It is a form of "visual agnosia," where the brain is not processing visual cues that can be relied upon to guide ones direction. Despite the fact that many people with place-blindness can read maps well, they often find themselves "lost" in familiar places. Their visual surroundings are not familiar to them. Place blindness is often seen along with Face blindness (facial agnosia) in individuals with autism or Asperger's Syndrome.

While writing my last post about being frazzled and lost at the Disney resort on day one while searching for the Concierge, I realized that my place-blindness kicked in and compounded my panic and frustration. Then, I realized that several things that completely frazzled me at my MFA residency the week before was also due to place-blindness. None of this is news. I've wrote it all before…so why in the world do I always seem to forget?

This morning, I went back and read what I wrote previously about place-blindness, then I read what I wrote of my experiences in middle school and college. I should certainly not have been surprised that it struck over and over again, when I attended FDU for the MFA residency. I thought I had a handle on this thing. After all, I was armed with a MAP!

So what is going on here? I suspect a few things. Perhaps, the lack of generalizing ability? The ability to bring one experience to another and relate them together. I can do that! After the fact, but not during. Definitely, the manifestation of place-blindness when an unexpected deviation from the plan occurs.

THE DRIVE TO AN UNFAMILIAR PLACE

I panicked every time I thought about driving to FDU for the MFA residency. I've never been there, I didn't know the way. I'd never driven down that particular road, AND there would be no one in the passenger seat to navigate. My phone's GPS works, but I cannot futz around with the GPS, the phone, or even the radio while driving. All that must be set in advance, or I would need to stop in rest areas to switch from listening to the audiobook that still needed to be finished before I arrived and the navigation. Not going to happen. The only solution was to memorize the directions–not an issue, I could do this.

I drove down through the mountains, even through the scary-as-hell portion through Keene Valley along the side of the mountain with a cliff looming to the right trying not to think about falling off the side of the mountain and plunging to my death in the river below, down the Northway, to the NYS thruway, onto the Garden State. Easy Peasy.

When I arrived at Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU), I missed my turn, passed the entrance on left, made a u-turn, and drove onto campus. Then, at the stop sign, I froze. Where IS my map?

I flipped through my binder on the passenger seat to the map of the campus secure its document protector. (I am serious about this map stuff.) Only problem, I was unable to orient myself on the actual map. There was no YOU ARE HERE arrow so I had no idea where I was in relation to anything else. Damn map was useless!

Bravely venturing further down the unfamiliar road, inching would be a better description so it was a good thing there was no one behind me, I arrived at the security booth. The guard politely gave me directions to the dorms where I'd be spending the next ten days. All I got from the directions was, "make this right." By the time I was at the end of the road, all the other directions were gone. Wouldn't have made much difference really if I'd remembered because I instinctively turn left when someone tells me right so I still would have messed it up anyway.

At another stop sign, I sat scratching my head, and referred to the map again hoping against hope that perhaps just maybe I could find myself on the thing. No, such luck. So I pulled up behind a bus unloading a group of students. Not being able to pass was the perfect way to get my bearings or at least not "look" lost. It didn't work.

After the bus cleared the way, I drove down the road and a guy walking past the car says, "you look lost." Do you think? A second set of directions got me most of the way there, unfortunately, I needed a third and then sat in the car staring at the door building still unsure if I was in the right place. Thankfully, the administrator and an alumni were out front and waved asking if I was looking for the residency. I was, thank you!

THE ROOM THAT WAS MY ROOM, BUT WASN'T MY ROOM!

I wish I could say that was the end of my being lost on campus, but it was just the beginning. I was lost each and every day. It didn't matter that we walked the same way, or that most events were in the same room, I walked out of the building and was immediately disoriented.

Finally, I had my way down. It only took a week. Then, one morning, after my roommate and I made our way to the room in which the lectures take place, I realized I needed to run back to the room for things I left behind. (Also not an unusual occurrence but I mostly remembered before making it off the dorm floor.).

Getting back to the dorm was not a problem. I slipped into the side entrance, scooted into the elevator trying to move very quickly, hopped off on the second floor. Something was off. I didn't know what.

I made the usual left and headed down the hallway. My room was not there. Maybe I wasn't paying attention and went down the wrong hall, or just thought I turned left–because that NEVER happens, right? I back tracked to the elevated and turned right this time…no room down that hallway. Checked a third hallway, and then the fourth and final one. How is it possible to ALWAYS pick the right hallway last?

There. There was my room. 214. Only…something still was not right. I swiped my keycard. Nothing happened. Swiped again, jiggled the handle. Nothing. I looked at the keycard. 214, looked at the door 214. But–wasn't my room on the left hand side of the hallway? This room was on the right. What in the ACTUAL fuck?

I stood there trying to get into my room for a long time–too long, and contemplated the very real possibility that I had finally lost my rabid-ass mind. That elevated took me up the Twilight Zone. I tried the card a few more times, jiggled the handle and stood there like a big idiot. I wonder if they have any emergency mental health staff on campus?

Now frantic, I checked the card again…214B. Damn it, 214! Why can I not get in my room, and when did Dr. freaking Seuss come and rearrange all the rooms on this floor.

B
B
B

Something…was not right.

On the wall next to the door, the room was at the end of a coordinator, was printed room numbers (I think), north/south (I can't remember) all I remember is seeing an A. My card said B. What the??

Found my way back down to the elevator, took it to the first floor and stood outside it staring. Which way did I come in the building from?

I never entered the building from the side alone before that point, and I never did again. Front entrance ONLY if I was alone because although I'd exited and entered through that side door many times a day with my roommate to go to and from classes, I did not remember following her passed an elevator, through another set of doors and walking across the front lobby to the other side of the building and going up a DIFFERENT elevator!

By the time I figured it out, found the RIGHT room, I didn't remember what I returned to the dorm for in the first place. Must have been my phone because that was on the table. I snatched it up, pulled a water from the fridge, and then somehow left the water behind as I walked out the door. How do you even do that?

Now I was running late for a lecture that was about to start, and although it is a big blur even now I am pretty sure that I passed two facility in the hall blurted out something about trying to get into the wrong room, then wondered why I said something at all. God woman shut up for once you sound like a moron, a big dumb frazzled dofus.

I don't remember walking back to the lecture room, only that I was out of breath, hot sweaty, pulse racing, and heart thumbing in my chest. Could have been flapping at this point, definitely flushed. I know I sat down, but I couldn't tell you what the lecture was that day, or anything that happened in the next hour. I only remember the sound of blood rushing through my ears, and that little voice in my head calling me names.

Now to be fair: Why would they use the same room numbers on different wings of the dorm. There are enough 200 series numbers to assign different numbers to each wing instead of having 214 A and 214 B ! Why not just have 200-225 in the A wing and 225-250 in the B wing…or something like that?? That way some of us would not be trying to get into rooms that were not our rooms, thinking it was our room because the numbers were the same! Just saying.

THE MAP, THE MAP, THE MAP, THE MAP.
(Thank you very much, Dora the Explorer)

I carried around my binders while on campus–why didn't anyone else have binders full of story notes? I carried my special kind of crazy proudly, and it is a good thing too. The cafeteria was diagonally across a beautiful expanse of grassy lawn from where we spent most of our time. I'd been there everyday for lunch, but I hadn't yet walked there alone.

After a coaching session for reading work aloud (and in public–big freaking YIKES!) left me alone to walk to the cafeteria, I was very grateful for carrying all my binders. Remember the map in the document protector? (I know I am such a nerd–I am Okay with that!). I walked out of the front of the building without thinking. I knew I was heading for lunch. But–I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN I had no idea how to get to the building, what it looked like, or how I would recognize it when and if I made it there!

I was the one walking through campus with a binder open trying to following a map with my head down (yup I nearly busted my ass many times). I did find it, but when I walked in the building (entered into the building by a different damn door again) I was sure that it was NOT the right place. I didn't remember that the cafeteria was on the second floor so it took a bit to figure out where to go…exiting the building and re-entering by any and every door that would open until I found the precise way I'd entered before, THEN I was able to find my way to the food! Late, nearly missed it entirely, and ate in a huge, frazzled, sweaty rush.

So what is my point? Hell if I know. I still get lost, even though I KNOW why and that it is inevitable. I STILL panic even though I KNOW nothing will really happen to me being lost on a college campus. The lost and alone feeling STILL triggers meltdowns no matter how much I KNOW.

My only tips:

Memorize directions and hope that there are no road detours.

Carry a map–always always carry a map.

Practice navigating unfamiliar places when YOU ARE NOT ON A TIME SCHEDULE.

Use a Buddy-system, so most of the time you are not lost because your buddy has your back, and you can chat away without worrying about not making it to your destination.

ONLY–when said Buddy is unavailable….revert to the Map.

^ed 

I Dined With Alwaleed in the Desert Days Before His Arrest - Bloomberg

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-11-07/i-dined-with-alwaleed-in-the-desert-days-before-his-arrest

I Dined With Alwaleed in the Desert Days Before His Arrest

Watching soccer, talking politics, with the billionaire Saudi prince

More stories by Erik SchatzkerNovember 7, 2017, 3:11 PM EST

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, right greets guets at the traditional Bedouin ceremony in the desert on Oct. 26, 2017.

Photographer: Erik Schatzker/Bloomberg

Ten days before he became the most prominent target in Saudi Arabia's anti-corruption crackdown, I spent an evening in the desert with Prince Alwaleed bin Talal.

We sat in the open air against cushions on enormous rugs laid over the sand, talked mostly about tech stocks and U.S. politics, drank Arabic coffee, watched a soccer match on large-screen televisions set up outside, went for a 50-minute walk under the stars and, at about 11 p.m., had dinner. I served myself lamb, shrimp, rice and salad from an enormous buffet with at least two dozen dishes.

If Alwaleed had any inkling of what was to come, he didn't show it. The billionaire investor, best known for his long-held stakes in Citigroup Inc., Apple Inc. and 21st Century Fox, seemed happy and relaxed. He cheered when Riyadh's Al-Hilal FC won the match.

Alwaleed meets with guests at his desert camp on Oct. 26, 2017.

Photographer: Erik Schatzker/Bloomberg

It was almost midnight when the prince held a Majlis, a traditional Bedouin ceremony in which tribesmen come to pay their respects and ask for charity. A line of men in white robes and red-and-white Arab headdresses stretched into the darkness. One by one they approached, removing their sandals, bowing and handing him pieces of paper. Some recited poetry. The prince scribbled on each cover sheet and put the papers on a stack.

Off to one side, a few camels knelt on the ground. Two hooded falcons were brought out by a handler and set on perches. Beyond the TVs, a digital clock flashed the advancing time and gradually dropping temperature. Behind us was a caravan of mobile homes and trailers with living quarters and office space. When the ceremony was over I thanked the prince for his hospitality, climbed into an SUV and, with one of his drivers at the wheel, sped off down a dirt road to catch my 4:07 a.m. flight out of the kingdom.

Sometime this past weekend, at the same desert camp, Alwaleed was arrested by Saudi forces. His whereabouts now are unknown.

Alwaleed was one of 11 princes taken into custody, along with four ministers and dozens of former ministers and businessmen. A senior official in the Saudi government told Bloomberg that the charges against Alwaleed include money laundering, bribery and extortion. The attorney general said in a statement that the suspects will be tried and will have access to legal counsel.

I've known Alwaleed for almost nine years and interviewed him several times on Bloomberg TV. He was, and remains, an intriguing figure: a Saudi prince who didn't make his billions from oil, spoke out for women's rights, made friends with Rupert Murdoch and Bill Gates. He was equally at ease in traditional Saudi garb and a Savile Row suit.

Alwaleed's positions on social and economic issues appeared to dovetail with the current modernization drive led by 32-year-old Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Take Saudi Arabia's ban on female drivers. As far back as 2013, Alwaleed was saying on Twitter that it didn't make economic sense. He'd told me the same in private even earlier. Six weeks ago, the Saudi government announced that women will be permitted to drive by next July.

Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, left, in London in 2013. 

Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg

When I interviewed Alwaleed in his Riyadh apartment a year ago, he said Prince Mohammed's plans to reduce Saudi Arabia's dependence on oil revenue, cut the budget deficit and attract more foreign investment were "very much welcome and supported by me personally." 

Alwaleed has always said his fortune, now estimated at $17.8 billion by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, was self-made. In 1991 he catapulted into the financial limelight by reviving a then-floundering Citibank with almost $600 million of fresh capital. Other notable investments over the years included Motorola Inc., Time Warner Inc. and, more recently, Twitter Inc. and Lyft Inc.

Much of Alwaleed's wealth is in Kingdom Holding Co., the investment company he took public in 2007 and still controls with a 95 percent stake. Those shares have dropped almost 21 percent since his arrest, cutting his wealth by at least $1.3 billion. The rest of his fortune is in a variety of assets, such as jewelry, media companies and real estate.

On my first trip to Saudi Arabia in 2010, Alwaleed gave me a five-day tour of his business interests, properties and lifestyle. We walked through a Hyper Panda supermarket in central Riyadh and stopped by a Herfy fast-food outlet for the Saudi version of a Big Mac. The prince let me explore his palace, with its 400-odd rooms, and we visited his apartment on a high floor of Riyadh's Kingdom Tower, the "resort" overlooking a canyon on the outskirts of the city and his old desert camp.

Schatzker interviews Alwaleed in 2010.

Source: Erik Schatzker/Bloomberg

We ate meals together, played with his grandchildren, went on a bicycle ride and shot pool in his outdoor living room. We even got caught in a sandstorm.

The prince depended on a staff that numbered in the hundreds: chefs, florists, travel coordinators, personal security, pilots and more. He didn't have one private jet; he had several, including a gold-trimmed Boeing 747.

Alwaleed floated above the drudgery of ordinary Saudis in a protective "bubble." I'd heard the term many times before. Only on that visit did I come to learn what it means.

I took time to study the prince's investments and understand his unusual position in the Saudi hierarchy, and he rewarded my curiosity with access. I joined Alwaleed on two trips to England in 2010 for a profile I was reporting, and flew to see him in Riyadh in 2012. He's given me at least five exclusive interviews and we've met several times in New York, at Bloomberg's offices and at the Plaza Hotel, in which he holds a minority stake.

All that time together has given me a window into the billionaire prince's preferences and habits. I know, for example, that he's a vegetarian who prefers low-calorie foods. I know that dinner guests are served dishes from four cuisines: Saudi; Lebanese; "Western," which is to say French and Italian; and "diet." I know he watches financial and international news constantly, even in the car and often with Bloomberg TV, CNBC, Fox Business and CNN on multiple screens at the same time. I know he likes to place photographs of himself in all of his personal spaces and that there's even one inside the fridge in the small kitchen off his palace bedroom. I've seen it.

I found out about Alwaleed's arrest by text while on vacation in a remote part of the Bahamas and, mostly with limited Internet access, have been struggling since then to make sense of the story. Were there any clues along the way that he was in trouble?

The only one I can think of is an incident in February 2015, just weeks after King Salman ascended to the Saudi throne. For years, Alwaleed, a favorite nephew of the late King Abdullah, had been planning an Arabic-language TV channel that would present news from a more open-minded point of view than others in the region. He called the channel Alarab, formed a partnership with Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg TV, and based it in Bahrain.

Schatzker interviews Alwaleed in 2016.

Photographer: Mohammad Obaidi/Bloomberg

On its first day of operation, Alarab was shut down by order of the Bahraini government and never reopened. Bahrain said Alarab's programming, which that day included an interview with an opposition politician, failed "to take account of efforts aimed at stemming the tide of extremism and terrorism throughout the region and the world." It was a sign that Alwaleed had misread the tolerance for dissent by Bahrain and, more importantly, in Saudi Arabia, its neighbor and economic sponsor.

Like many of the prince's professional and personal contacts, I've kept in touch with him by text and WhatsApp. In the past few days, my efforts to reach him on both have failed. If he and the other detainees are shut up in the Ritz Carlton in Riyadh, as reports indicate, no one is talking. The only communication from Alwaleed's side was a statement from Kingdom Holding saying that the company is continuing its usual commercial operations and has assurances of support from the government.

When I last saw Alwaleed in the desert, he showed me a book he was reading: "Why We Sleep," by the neuroscientist and Berkeley professor Matthew Walker. I told him it was something I too planned to read and we agreed to share notes once I did. Right now, that looks like a conversation we may never have.

A First-Hand Account of the Days Before Alwaleed's Arrest

A First-Hand Account of the Days Before Alwaleed's Arrest

^ed 

Do social media companies bear some responsibility when violent acts are posted on their pages? | Electronic Frontier Foundation

https://www.eff.org/mention/do-social-media-companies-bear-some-responsibility-when-violent-acts-are-posted-their-pages

Do social media companies bear some responsibility when violent acts are posted on their pages?

Police are currently engaged in a 5-state manhunt across Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Indiana and Michigan for the murder suspect, 37-year-old Steve Stephens. On Easter Sunday, Stephens uploaded a video showing him shoot an apparently random victim, Robert Godwin, Sr. Sophia Cope is a staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a non-profit group focused on digital civil liberties. She explained that Facebook is "definitely not responsible for the crime," and that under U.S. law it is unlikely the company will be held liable for allowing the video to be uploaded and shared. "Like it or not, this kind of violent content, whether its actual violence or violence in movies ... it's protected by the First Amendment," Cope said.

^ed 

How Level 3's Tiny Error Shut Off the Internet for Parts of the US

https://www.wired.com/story/how-a-tiny-error-shut-off-the-internet-for-parts-of-the-us/

How a Tiny Error Shut Off the Internet for Parts of the US

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

A year ago, a DDoS attack caused internet outages around the US by targeting the internet-infrastructure company Dyn, which provides Domain Name System services to look up web servers. Monday saw a nationwide series of outages as well, but with a more pedestrian cause: a misconfiguration at Level 3, an internet backbone company—and enterprise ISP—that underpins other big networks. Network analysts say that the misconfiguration was a routing issue that created a ripple effect, causing problems for companies like Comcast, Spectrum, Verizon, Cox, and RCN across the country.

Level 3, whose acquisition by CenturyLink closed recently, said in a statement to WIRED that it resolved the issue in about 90 minutes. "Our network experienced a service disruption affecting some customers with IP-based services," the company said. "The disruption was caused by a configuration error." Comcast users started reporting internet outages around the time of the Level 3 outages on Monday, but the company said that it was monitoring "an external network issue" and not a problem with its own infrastructure. RCN confirmed that it had some network problems on Monday because of Level 3. The company said it had restored RCN service by rerouting traffic to a different backbone.

Downdetector.com

The misconfiguration was a "route leak," according to Roland Dobbins, a principal engineer at the DDoS and network-security firm Arbor Networks, which monitors global internet operations. ISPs use "Autonomous Systems," also known as ASes, to keep track of what IP addresses are on which networks, and route packets of data between them. They use the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) to establish and communicate routes. For example, packets can route between networks A and B, but network A can also route packets to network C through network B, and so on. This is how internet service providers interoperate to let you browse the whole internet, not just the IP addresses on their own networks.

In a "route leak," an AS, or multiple ASes, issue incorrect information about the IP addresses on their network, which causes inefficient routing and failures for both the originating ISP and other ISPs trying to route traffic through. Think of it like a series of street signs that help keep traffic flowing in the right directions. If some of them are mislabeled or point the wrong way, assorted chaos can ensue.

Route leaks can be malicious, sometimes called "route hijacks" or "BGP hijacks," but Monday's incident seems to have been caused by a simple mistake that ballooned to have national impact. Large outages caused by accidental route leaks have cropped up before.

"Folks are looking to tweak routing policies, and make mistakes," Arbor Networks' Dobbins says. The problem could have come as CenturyLink works to integrate the Level 3 network, or could have stemmed from typical traffic engineering and efficiency work.

Internet outages of all sizes caused by route leaks have occurred occasionally, but consistently, for decades. ISPs attempt to minimize them using "route filters" that check the IP routes their peers and customers intend to use to send and receive packets, and attempt to catch any problematic plans. But these filters are difficult to maintain on the scale of the modern internet, and can have their own mistakes.

Monday's outages reinforce how precarious connectivity really is, and how certain aspects of the internet's architecture—offering flexibility and ease-of-use—can introduce instability into what has become a vital service.

^ed 

Why Twitter? Analyzing Trump’s Toxic Tweets

Twitter is the perfect platform for someone with a disconnected, tangential thought process. It allows you to post a tweet and do a 360 seconds later. 

People have a general sense that "it's just twitter" so they don't take it so seriously when he goes on unhinged rants abusing women, threatening and cajoling Kim Jong Un when he wants to feel all big and tough. 

Furthermore, since people feel "it's JUST twitter" they dismiss the countless lies and misleading comments he makes daily. 

When I report on Trump's twitter feed, I report on his timeline pointing out the lack of consistency and his habitual pattern of racial attacks, Narcissism, threats and how he incites violence on a daily basis. 

I take some comfort when Trump is spewing nonsense on Twitter because at least I know where he is and that he's not launching nukes for shits and giggles. 

When he goes silent, I worry. 

Elyssa Durant © 2017

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Elyssa Durant, Ed.M.
Nashville, Tennessee



"You may not care how much I know, but you don't know how much I care."



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