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Submission + - Google Goes Offline After Fiber Cables Cut (bbc.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Severed fibre optic cables disrupted internet access in parts of eastern Europe, Iran and Turkey on Thursday. The issue, which lasted for about two hours, was caused by multiple fibre cables being physically cut at the same time, a highly unusual thing to happen. Google said its services were among those unavailable in the region for about 30 minutes. The company told internet service providers to connect to its other servers to "route around the problem."

In a statement, the company blamed "multiple simultaneous fibre cuts," which are very rare. BBC Monitoring confirmed that internet access in Bulgaria, Iran and Turkey had been disrupted for about two hours on Thursday morning. Sadjad Bonabi, a director at Iran's Communications Infrastructure Company, said two cuts happened at once, one between Iran and Bucharest and the other on a line to Munich. This disrupted traffic on one of the major fibre cables in the region. But Mr Bonabi said traffic had been routed on to "healthy" connections in western and southern Iran. No explanation for the cut cables has been offered.

Submission + - SPAM: Washington Post Hacked into a Chevy Volt to Show How Much Cars Are Spying on You 1

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: It's easy to count up the benefits to connected cars. From using your phone to warm up the cabin on a winter day to setting speed limits for the new teenage drivers in your household, telematics can make life a bit easier. But you're probably not surprised to hear that these upsides come with some potential downsides as well.

This was proven in a big way by Washington Post tech columnist Geoffrey Fowler (pictured above), who dug into just how much information his test car, a 2017 Chevrolet Volt, is collecting. Perhaps more important, though, Fowler wanted to see just how much information GM is getting from its connected cars. It's one thing for your car to store your favorite Starbucks in the nav system. It's another if the car company collects that information. The reporter made it clear that this is not a Volt thing, or a Chevy thing; nearly all new cars now have connectivity, including onboard internet connections.

For now, exactly what information goes where is a bit of an unknown by anyone other than the automakers themselves. As Fowler writes, "My Chevy's dashboard didn't say what the car was recording. It wasn't in the owner's manual. There was no way to download it."
Link to Original Source

Submission + - Uber Settles Federal Investigation Into Workplace Culture (nytimes.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: In 2017, a former Uber employee wrote a publicessaydescribing how the ride-hailing company had permitted sexual harassment to fester at the workplace. The revelations led to an outcry overUber’s toxic culture. Federal authorities and others began investigations into the company. More than20 employees were later firedover their part in the behavior. And the disclosures raised questions about Uber’s growth-at-all-costs mentality, resulting in theouster of Travis Kalanick, a co-founder and then the chief executive.

On Wednesday, Uber resolved one investigation into its workplace culture. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which has been examining the company since 2017, said it had “found reasonable cause to believe that Uber permitted a culture of sexual harassment and retaliation against individuals who complained about such harassment.” Uber said it had agreed to a settlement with the agency by establishing a $4.4 million fund to pay current and former employees who were sexually harassed at work. It also agreed to three years of monitoring by a former agency commissioner to ensure that it changes its practices.

Submission + - Samsung Chair Imprisoned and 24 Others Found Guilty In Union-Busting Case (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Samsung Chairman Lee Sang-hoon yesterday was sentenced to 18 months in prison, following a South Korean court ruling that he violated labor laws with union-busting activities. Lee "was immediately arrested in court to be sent to jail," the Financial Times reported.

Lee's violations came during his time as Samsung chief financial officer between 2012 and 2017; he has been chairman of the board since March 2018. Samsung VP Kang Kyung-hoon also received an 18-month prison sentence for his involvement, the Financial Times wrote. The sentences were handed down by the Seoul Central District Court. In all, about 25 current and former Samsung executives were found guilty on similar charges of violating labor laws. "The case largely focused on efforts by Samsung officials, including Mr. Lee, to dismantle the labor union at the company's customer-service unit," The Wall Street Journal wrote. "The court convicted Samsung officials on multiple charges, including gathering personal information on some union members, such as their marital status, personal finances, and mental-health histories."

Comment This paper is a scam (Score 1) 338

by cullenfluffyjennings (#58289690) Attached to: Why Robo-Calls Can't Be Stopped

The referenced paper cost $33 to download and it is pretty much shit - there are good reasons why none of what it proposes will work. The abstract of the paper does not even hint and what the paper is about. Yes we should work on robo calling - follow the work of people like Professor Henning Schulzrinne at Columbia university.

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