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Oops Seattle Cop Drives With Rifle on Cruiser
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Oops: Seattle Cop Drives With Rifle on Cruiser
A citizen tracks down cruiser and notifies officer
This handout photo provided by Nick Gonzalez shows a police rifle left unattended on a patrol car outside a busy downtown area on Tuesday, June 28, 2011, in Seattle.
This is a little worse than driving off with a cup of coffee on the roof: The Seattle Police Department is investigating how one of its officers managed to drive around downtown with a semiautomatic rifle on the trunk of the cruiser. “It’s very embarrassing,” says a department spokesman. And all the more so because a passerby happened to snap a photo.
Apparently, an officer was unloading gear from his car in a police garage, and he popped the rifle onto a nearby car and forgot about it, reports the Seattle Times. Another officer drove off in the cruiser unaware. At least two people spotted the car in the downtown area when it was parked, and one tracked down the officer.
Today,Secret Nazi Codes Litter Germany
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Secret Nazi Codes Litter Germany
Secret numbers, letters express movement support: Expert
Swastikas may be outlawed in Germany, but that doesn’t mean that neo-Nazi signs have disappeared. Coded letters, numbers, and other symbols communicate support of the extremist philosophy among those “in the know” in German society, reports Der Spiegel.The numbers 14 and 88, for example, which can be seen on placards waved at soccer games, indicate neo-Nazi support, according to a brochure on the complex code that’s revealing a growing political movement.
A man is busted this year at a rally in Dresden involving thousands of neo-Nazi demonstrators and leftist foes. Neo-Nazis continue to communicate through a series of codes, according to experts.
Some 150 different neo-Nazi codes currently exist in German society, according to the brochure, titled Hide and Seek and written by expert Michael Weiss. HH stands for “Heil Hitler,” which is also banned in Germany, and the number 14 refers to the 14 words of American white separatist David Lane when he said: “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.” The codes are found on license plates, at athletic events, and on tattoos. Some 195 extremist groups with 26,000 members exist in Germany, but sympathizers can also be found in many other more mainstream factions of German life, according to Der Spiegel.
MySpace Likely to Be Sold This Week,It could go for a relative pittance, thanks to Facebook
Image by gepiblu via Flickr
MySpace Likely to Be Sold This Week
It could go for a relative pittance, thanks to Facebook
News Corp. is hoping to part with struggling social network site MySpace this week, and will likely lay off more than half of the remaining staff of 500, according to a person familiar with the matter. The company is looking to cut a deal tomorrow or Thursday in order to have it completed this fiscal year, which ends Thursday. The All Things D site reported that MySpace was on the verge of being sold for $20 million to $30 million, but the AP source thinks the deal will be much higher and involve cash and stock.
Even so, the sale marks a stunning reversal from 2005, when News Corp. bought the startup for $580 million and social networking was in its infancy. Since then, Facebook has turned into the dominant platform. MySpace hasn’t selected a buyer yet, but at least three bidders were thought to be in the running—Specific Media, Golden Gate Capital, and Austin Ventures. According to ComScore, MySpace had 74 million visitors in May, down 32% from a year earlier.
Pope Sends His First Tweet,Using an iPad, no less!
Catholicism has come into the 21st century: Pope Benedict tweeted for the first time today. “Dear Friends, I just launched News.va Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI,” he posted, referring to a new Vatican news portal. Even more impressive, the 84-year-old pontiff put the site online himself via iPad, the APreports. He sent the tweet shortly thereafter.
Kinda looks like your grandpa using an iPad, doesn’t it?
Pope Benedict XVI touches a touchpad to send a tweet for the launch of the Vatican news information portal “www.news.va”, at the Vatican Tuesday, June 28, 2011.
The new portal—not to mention the Twitter account—is the Vatican’s latest effort to evangelize to the new generation, and the pope is “clearly in awe at the new technology” and also “clearly enjoying it,” says an official.
Biz Stone Leaves Twitter
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He’ll re-create the ‘Obvious Corporation’ with Evan Williams
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Twitter co-founder Isaac “Biz” Stone is sort-of quitting to go pursue new business ideas with fellow co-founder Evan Williams. In a blog post, Stone says that he’ll “continue to work with the company for many years to come,” but that since the current leadership team is so competent, “I’ve decided that the most effective use of my time is to get out of the way until I’m called upon to be of some specific use.”
Instead, Stone, Williams, and longtime friend Jason Goldman will be re-launching “The Obvious Corporation”—the now-defunct company that Twitter grew out of. The original Obvious Corporation was created by Williams to buy back his failed start-up and to generate new business ideas. Williams left Twitter last fall, the AP notes, as new CEO Dick Costolo took over. Twitter’s third co-founder, Jack Dorsey, recently returned as executive chairman and head of product development.
Tumblr Logins Stolen In Widespread Phishing Attack: GFI Labs
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Tumblr Logins Stolen In Widespread Phishing Attack: GFI Labs
“Thousands” of Tumblr logins have reportedly been compromised after a widespread phishing attack scammed users into handing their information over to an untrustworthy third party.
According to a post from GFI Labs, a part of software vendor GFI Software, the attack started with a site, designed to look like an official Tumblr page, that offered people the chance to take a “Tumblr IQ Society” quiz if they entered their login credentials. The scam has evolved, and now uses the promise of pornography to get at people’s information, directing people to a landing page that reads, “This page contains adult content. Please revalidate your credentials.”
“The problem does indeed seem to be out of control at this point,” wrote GFI Labs in a blog post, noting that the scammers have successfully grown the scale of the attack by taking over the compromised accounts and using them gain access to even more logins.
GFI Labs writes,
The pages involved are all regular Tumblr users who have previously been compromised. Once hijacked, their pages are converted into the fake logins and then sent into the world following regular Tumblr accounts. At that point, the phisher hopes those same accounts will visit the fake login, enter their details and keep the cycle going.
Tumblr did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter.
Users can find out more about phishing scams affecting Tumblr on Phishing-Alert.Tumblr.com. An email allegedly from Tumblr, obtained by GFI Labs, outlines additional advice Tumblr has for users who have been affected by the scam. The email advises these users to immediately change their passwords and has instructions for how to change the appearance of their page.
Were you affected by the phishing scam? Let us know in the comments below.
Arturo Detexas 