Showing posts with label technology news. Show all posts
Showing posts with label technology news. Show all posts

Fake Momo Challenge messages creates panic

8:03 AM
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Some people spreading fake messages to create panic, says CID All the numbers from where messages were sent to people in to play the Momo Challenge were based abroad, the CID said.

The West Bengal CID on Tuesday downplayed the growing Momo Challenge scare in the state, saying most of the messages received by people inviting them to play the alleged killer game appear to be fake, and that there is no reason to connect the recently reported suicide cases to it.
Fake Momo Challenge messages creates panic

No formal complaints regarding the game have been filed at any of the police stations in the state till date. All the numbers from where the messages were sent to people in the state to play the Momo Challenge were based abroad and an investigation has been initiated into this, the DIG (Operations), CID, Nishat Pervez said.

“Even I got the ‘Momo Challenge’ message on my cellphone but the sender is known to me. No Momo cases have been filed in any of the police stations, be it in the districts or the city, contrary to media reports. Instead, what is gaining prominence is a fake message that is being circulated through social media. The messages have no links that would take the recipient to the actual game. Even the preliminary investigation into the alleged suicidal deaths in north Bengal too did not reveal any clue relating to the ‘Momo Challenge’ having played a role in the deaths,” Pervez said.

“Fake messages can be created and that is what has happened,” he said.
Media and social media are abuzz with alleged Momo Challenge cases, and several complaints have been filed of people receiving messages asking them to play the game. But the CID said that this was nothing but mischief.

“Most of the cases investigated so far were found to be mischievous. What needs to be done is to carry out awareness campaigns and to make people, especially parents, aware. They should be extra vigilant,” said a senior CID officer.

“Should they notice any such message on their mobiles, they should immediately file complaints at the local police stations. We will probe the cases and try to identify the persons involved in it,” Pervez said.
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Momo game allegedly claim it's first victim in Darjeeling hills

11:56 AM
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Amitava Banerjee | MP |Darjeeling: Debate over whether the class 12 student was coerced by the "Momo" game to commit suicide raged in the Hills. 
Momo Game

On August 20, an 18-year-old student Manish Sarki went missing in his hometown —Kurseong. Sarki was a Class 12 commerce student. When Manish did not return home until 9 pm, his anxious parents and neighbours launched a search operation for him. Later, he was found hanging inside a pig sty located at St. Mary's Hill in Kurseong.

On the walls of the pig sty, there were symbols and words spray painted such as — 'Illuminati' 'Doped', 'Hanged Man' and the name of a girl. "My son is a victim of the 'Momo game.' He was an obedient boy and good in studies. He would stay indoors most of the time and used to spend a lot of time playing games on his cell phone. I have lost my son," stated Chandramaya Sarki, mother of the deceased. 
18-year-old student Manish Sarki momo game victim
18-year-old student Manish Sarki 

Arvin Ghatani, a friend of the deceased also feels the same. "Manish used to play a lot of internet games specially on social media sites. The symbols and the images found on the walls of the pig sty also appear on the Momo game app," stated Ghatani. 

"We did not recover any suicide note. The cell phone belonging to the deceased will be examined by cyber experts. Following this, it can be ascertained whether the death was prompted by the suicide game," stated Harikrishna Pai, Additional Superintendent of Police, Kurseong
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‘Facebook-BFF’ security test is completely fake

5:47 PM
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Heena Gupta NEW DELHI: Social networking giant Facebook is in lot of trouble right now. The company is dealing with one of the major data breaches of all time. As a result, both Facebook and Google are also fighting a lot against the growing issue of privacy concerns and fake news. Both tech giants are alerting the law agencies against the growing prominence of fake news.

Along with this, Facebook has also laid down some tips which will help the users to distinguish between fake and original news. But still it has a long road ahead in order to combat this issue. We have noticed a new fake news doing the rounds of Facebook.

A Facebook post is asking the users to type BFF in the comment box in order to check it their account is safe from hackers or not. The Facebook post reads, “Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, invented the word BFF . To make sure your account is safe on Facebook, type BFF in a comment. If it appears green, your account is protected. If it does not appear in green, change your password immediately because it may be hacked by someone.”

However, this is a completely false post and this will not help users to keep their Facebook account safe. In fact, this is the ‘text delight’ feature offered by Facebook which makes the text bold and green in colour. Moreover, it also creates an animation including two animated hands giving high-five when you press enter. But, in order get the animation you need to have an updated version of the app or the internet browser. In case you don’t have the latest version then there are chances that you will not get to see the text delight feature.

But other than this, it has nothing to do with the hacking or safety of your Facebook account. We also contacted Facebook on the same issue. In an official statement give to Gadgets Now, the company said, “A meme is currently making the rounds claiming that entering ‘BFF’ into the comments section will secure a person’s Facebook account. This is untrue. Entering ‘BFF’ will simply activate a Text Effect animation showing two hands coming together.”

Via gadgetsnow.com

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Gangtok can pay power/electricity bills online

1:38 PM
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Gangtok, Feb. 23: Queuing up to pay electricity bills is a thing of the past in Gangtok now.

Consumers in the Sikkim capital can now pay power bills online through the energy and power department website.

The facility was launched by power minister D.D. Bhutia today.

The superintendent engineer of the department, Sunil Rai, said: "It is for the first time that such a facility has been introduced in a department under the Sikkim government. It is a tool of consumer empowerment and the most convenient method of making payments. The facility is applicable to only those consumers whose bills are issued by the head office of the power department. There are about 14,000 consumers who can use it."

He said the facility would be operational from today.

One can visit the website, www.powerdepartmentsikkim.com, register by using an ID - the nine digit contract account number mentioned in the bill - and a password. A registered consumer can log in with the details, view the monthly bill and make the payment. One can use net banking, debit and credit cards of all banks to pay the bills through the website. The transactions would be free of cost.
Gangtok can pay power/electricity bills online

Earlier, a consumer had to pay the bills through the State Bank of Sikkim.

The project is worth Rs 11.63 crore and has been designed by Wipro, executed by Tata Consultancy Services and facilitated by the state information technology department, Rai said.

"People should benefit from the new facility. The officials should ensure that consumers face no problems in using the portal," minister Bhutia said today.

Sikkim has around 1,20,000 power consumers.

Via Telegraph


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HRD has acknowledged Chandra Sharma, looking to contact him

4:29 PM
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Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has acknowledged Chandra Sharma (a gorkha from Assam) for his passion on building a Helicopter and are looking for Mr Sharma's contact details.

Mr Sharma was looking to fly his self made helicopter on the occasion of Republic day on 26th January 2016. Unfortunately he failed to acquire the clearance to fly the same and he is still looking forward to fly his masterpiece.

Thus the message from HRD has come as a ray of hope for Chandra Sharma who is a school dropout mechanic by profession.

We wish him good luck for his coming days and may he succeed in flying his self made helicopter in the bright blue of Assam very soon.

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Online service for birth, death and construction documents in Siliguri

11:18 AM
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Siliguri: Online facilities will be introduced from next week for people to avail themselves of birth and death certificates from the Siliguri Municipal Corporation and land documents required for sanction to construct buildings from the Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority.
Deb speaks to the media in Siliguri on Thursday
Deb speaks to the media in
Siliguri on Thursday
. Picture by Kundan Yolmo
Once the online facilities are launched, people won’t have to stand in queues at SMC and SJDA offices to obtain the documents.

North Bengal development minister Gautam Deb today said the SMC would launch the online facility for birth and death certificates on August 28. “The SJDA will start the online service to issue Land Use and Compatibility Certificate on August 25. Thousands of people would be benefited by the introduction of the online services,” Deb told a news conference in his office here this afternoon.

As of now, birth and death certificates are issued from designated counters at SMC office. Anybody who needs the certificates have to go to the SMC office, fill up forms and submit the same with the officials along with necessary documents and fees. The entire process can be done online now.

However, sources, said the SMC and SJDA would continue to issue the certificates manually even after the online facility was launched.

The Land Use and Compatibility Certificate is a document required to be submitted to municipalities or panchayats by anyone who wants to construct a building on his plot. The local bodies sanction the building plans only when the land certificates issued by the SJDA are submitted.

The sources said hyperlinks would be incorporated in the respective websites of the SMC and SJDA to issue the certificates. “Once forms are filled up and the fees paid online, the birth and death certificates can be issued immediately. In the case of land certificates, some time would be needed for the SJDA to verify the documents. Once the papers are verified, the SJDA will release the land certificate. The advantage of the online facility is that land owners don’t have to queue up at the SJDA office,” said a source.

Deb is the chairman of the SJDA.

The minister said a high-level meeting would be held at Nabanna on August 26 to discuss the financial state of the SMC and explore options to obtain more funds for the civic body. “State municipal affairs minister, the principal secretary of his department and the SMC administrators will be present at the meeting along with me.”

He held a meeting with the three administrators of the SMC and the civic officials today.

Deb said the chief minister would be in Siliguri in the first week of September to inaugurate the renovated Dinabandhu Mancha and the new facilities in Surya Sen Park.

Dinabandhu Mancha is an auditorium-cum-exhibition hall run by the state information and cultural affairs department. The north Bengal development department had started the repair and the renovation of the auditorium earlier this year. New audio-visual facilities and an elevator have been installed at the building and air-conditioning has been improved.

“Once the auditorium is reopened, the information and cultural affairs department will screen films for at least 10 days a month. The building will be available for meetings and conferences for the rest of the days,” said the minister.

He also announced that the construction of the SMC’s new building would commence shortly.

“We had sanctioned Rs 2 crore to the SMC for the construction of the new building. The building plan is ready and it would cost something between Rs 12 crore and Rs 14 crore. More funds will be allocated in the due course of time,” he said.

For better disposal of garbage across Siliguri, Deb said, five compactors — sophisticated vehicles for carrying and dumping garbage —would be purchased by the SMC.

“A sum of Rs 8.26 crore will be spent for buying the compactors which would be parked at five different locations in town. From the first week of next month, rubbish will be removed from the town during night hours,” he said.

Ahead of the festival season, LED lights will be installed along Hill Cart Road, Sevoke Road and Bidhan Road in Siliguri, the minister said.

Source: Telegraph

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NBU to start new courses on food technology and pharmaceutical technology

8:37 AM
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North Bengal University (NBU) has decided to start two new courses, food technology and pharmaceutical technology, at the post-graduate level from the 2014-2015 academic session that is set to begin from August-end, varsity authorities said today.
North Bengal University (NBU)
North Bengal University (NBU)
Somnath Ghosh, the NBU vice-chancellor, said the two courses were the first to be offered by the varsity in the technology stream.

 The NBU had got permission from the UGC in 2011 to start the two courses. Subsequently, a committee was set up to oversee the launch of the two-year degree courses.

 Ghosh said the decision to start the two courses was taken at a meeting of the committee on June 27.

 A.P. Das, the former chairman of the committee, said around 10 to 15 students would be admitted to each of the two courses. “The syllabus has been formulated. The UGC has also sanctioned three teaching posts for each of the two courses,” he said.

 Source: Telegraph
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Siliguri Police busted a sex racket operated through a website

10:08 AM
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 The Siliguri Metropolitan Police (SMP) has busted a sex racket, which was being operated through a website in Siliguri and in an apartment in a township here.
Siliguri Police busted a sex racket operated through a website
Siliguri Police busted a sex racket operated through a website
After receiving information that the racket was being operated, officials from the detective department conducted raids at some places in Siliguri last night and arrested 10 persons, including five women, who were allegedly involved in the trade. "We had been receiving reports from different sources that a website- www.siliguricallgirls.com had been luring women to jobs. Accordingly, we conducted raids and arrested 10 persons, including five women. Among the males, one student used to supply the girls, and two of them are clients. Two women hail from Dum Dum in North 24 Pargana district, another hail from Habra in the same district and two from Cooch Behar district," said SMP commissioner Jag Mohan here today. 

 According to him, police first arrested the student from Tin Batti area and they nabbed the others after his interrogation. 

 "The trade was going on in a flat at Uttarayan Township for the past two years.  Action will also be taken against the website," he said.

 Source: thestatesman
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Mobile banking hacking cases on the rise in Kalimpong

11:49 PM
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KALIMPONG, 6 May 2014: The number of cases on hacking of mobile banking data is on the rise in Kalimpong and is posing difficulties to the users as well as the banks which provide the service. The hackers can transfer money out of people’s account through a simple call or an SMS within minutes. In the last two months, as many as 6 cases of mobile banking fraud have been registered at the local police station.
Mobile banking hacking cases on the rise in Kalimpong
As per the hackers’ modus operandi, they disguise themselves as bank officials and call the customers in the context of solving a certain hypothetical issue. They would then meticulously lure the customers and create a one-time pin code for an online mobile banking transaction and would use the pin-code to withdraw money from the customer's bank account. The hackers have managed to siphon cash worth Rs.7-40 from each individual in the six cases registered in Kalimpong.

 State Bank of India, Axis Bank, Union Bank and Bank of India are among the banks where customer’s account has been hacked in the last two months. These banks through letters and SMSs have also started notifying their customers to avoid providing vital banking information to any unknown callers and also to inform the banks if they receive such call.

 Moreover, Kalimpong is not the only place which has been plagued by the problem with Siliguri also registering as many as 5 different cases of mobile banking fraud. In a bid to curb the issue, the Siliguri police have started informing the people about such practices through pamphlets and announcements. Meanwhile, Kalimpong police station in-charge Achinta Gupta today informed about the problem through media and urged to people to be aware and vigilant.

 Gupta also urged the people to avoid providing any banking information of their account to unknown callers and to inform the police immediately if they receive such calls. He however did not provide any information about the progress in the investigations related to the six registered cases.

 Notably, a few days ago hackers managed to withdraw Rs 36,000 from a local doctor’s bank account. The doctor had filed a complaint at the Kalimpong PS. Similarly a local businessman, Binod Agarwal, lost Rs 7,800 on April 26 in a similar way. People say there have been many such cases recently, but not all have taken the initiative to lodge a complaint.

PRADIP LOHAGUN
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Sikkim girl fallen prey to an online scam, lost Rs1.95 lakh

1:45 PM
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Gyalshing West Sikkim - A girl has fallen prey to an online scam and lost as much as Rs1.95 lakh as she was tricked by her facebook friend named William Jackson from UK, which was later found to be fake. They were active online friends and had been chatting with each other on the social website since April 2, 2014.
Sikkim girl fallen prey to an online scam, lost Rs1.95 lakh
Online Scam
The friendship eventually grew and they started talking on phone. During one of the conversation her friend expressed his intensions to send some gifts and money. However, the shipment required some amount to be paid as courier charges, anti-terrorism charges and money registration charges as per government rules. This is when a lady agent and apparently a friend of William Jackson, contacted the girl and provided her with a few bank account details to deposit the money. The innocent girl deposited a total of Rs.1.95 lakh.

 However, suspicion arose when the agent asked the girl to fill a form and demanded extra money. When she inquired with the bank, the money she had deposited were already withdrawn. The lady agent too stopped taking her calls, while her online friend has also since been offline.

 It was learned nine bank accounts where the girl deposited the amount into were from different states and under different names. The girl has written to the SBI to freeze the fake accounts and have also filed a police complaint. A case under section 420/468/34 and R/S 66 D IT Act 2000 has been registered.

 Source:EOI
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Facebook buys WhatsApp for $19 billion

11:24 PM
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In a play to dominate messaging on phones and the Web, Facebook has acquired WhatsApp for $19 billion.

 That's a stunning sum for the five-year old company. But WhatsApp has been able to hold its weight against messaging heavyweights like Twitter (TWTR), Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) and Microsoft's (MSFT, Fortune 500) Skype. WhatsApp has upwards of 450 million users, and it is adding an additional million users every day.
Facebook buys WhatsApp for $19 billion
Facebook buys WhatsApp for $19 billion

 Referring to WhatsApp's soaring growth, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on a conference call, "No one in the history of the world has done anything like that."
WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app for smartphones, according to OnDevice Research.

 Buying WhatsApp will only bolster Facebook's already strong position in the crowded messaging world. Messenger, Facebook's a standalone messaging app for mobile devices, is second only to WhatsApp in its share of the smartphone market.
Related: 5 key moments that changed Facebook

 Similar to traditional text messaging, WhatsApp allows people to connect via their cellphone numbers. But instead of racking up texting fees, WhatsApp sends the actual messages over mobile broadband. That makes WhatsApp particularly cost effective for communicating with people overseas.

 That kind of mobile messaging services have become wildly popular, with twice as many messages sent over the mobile Internet than via traditional texts, according to Deloitte. But most of the messaging industry's revenue is still driven by text messaging.

 On the conference call, Facebook said it is not looking to drive revenue from WhatsApp in the near term, instead focusing on growth. Zuckerberg said he doesn't anticipate trying to aggressively grow WhatsApp's revenue until the service reaches "billions" of users.
WhatsApp currently charges a dollar a year after giving customers their first year of use for free. WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum said on the conference call that WhatsApp's business model is already successful.

 That indicates Facebook bought WhatsApp to add value to its existing messaging services, as well as for the long-term potential of the company.
Facebook bought Instagram for $1 billion in 2012 for similar reasons: As young social network users gravitated towards photo-sharing, Facebook wanted to scoop up what could have eventually become a big rival.

 Like Instagram, WhatsApp will function as an autonomous unit within Facebook, with all the existing employees coming in as part of the deal.

 Facebook (FB, Fortune 500) said it will pay WhatsApp $4 billion in cash and $12 billion in stock. WhatsApp's founders and staff will be eligible for for another $3 billion in stock grants to be paid out if they remain employed by Facebook for four years. Koum will also join Facebook's board of directors.

 Source:money.cnn.com
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Darjeeling Chowrasta a Wi-Fi zone

8:51 PM
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What is Wi-Fi?

 Wi-Fi stands for Wireless Fidelity. It is a facility that allows digital devices within a particular area to connect to the Internet and one another. The technology is basic. A Wi-Fi network can be set up in a home within a few minutes
Darjeeling Chowrasta
Darjeeling Chowrasta 
When will Chowrasta become a Wi-Fi zone?

 Sonam Bhutia, the executive director in charge of the tourism department of the GTA, said on Wednesday that Wi-Fi zone could become a Wi-Fi zone in “two to three weeks”

 How will it be useful?

 A Wi-Fi connection will provide access to the Internet and all the benefits that it entails. For example, a tourist from Calcutta without a return ticket might be able to buy a Bagdogra-Calcutta ticket online sitting at the Mall without needing to find a cyber café

 How will people access it?

 Users have to enable Wi-Fi on their phone or laptop or tablet and click connect when their device finds the network

 Will those with Internet on their phones benefit?

 Yes, but the phone must have Wi-Fi facility. The facility is available in most smartphones. If Wi-Fi is available, tourists will not have to use the data connection on their phones. This should help tourists because data on roaming can be quite costly. The GTA has not specified the speed for the service yet

 How does my device get the Wi-Fi signal?

 A basic Wi-Fi network is set up using routers — a device that converts a wired Internet connection into a wireless one. At Chowrasta, three routers would be placed to cover the 300m radius

 Will it be free for an unlimited duration?

 Yes, GTA executive Bhutia has said. There is a downside, though. If no time or data limit is set for Wi-Fi Internet access, then people might start downloading films and songs, thus slowing down the speed at which Internet is available to others

 What area will the Wi-Fi cover?

 A radius of 300m will be Wi-Fi enabled at Chowrasta

 Do Wi-Fi users at Chowrasta need to know a password?

 No. One can log in without a password. A password is required in places where the network is secured. In public spaces, such as some airports, Wi-Fi may be accessed without any password

 Are hotels in Darjeeling Wi-Fi-enabled?

 Some hotels and restaurants in Darjeeling are Wi-Fi enabled. Many residences, too, are Wi-Fi enabled. However, no public space in Darjeeling, the whole of north Bengal and Sikkim is Wi-Fi enabled

 Source:Telegraph
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Facebook wants to read your private SMS - Kaspersky

12:01 AM
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NEW DELHI: Leading social media company Facebook wants to read SMSes and other confidential information of people on the Android mobile phone platform, cyber security firm Kaspersky said today.

"Over the last few days there has been a constant scrutiny over Facebook having access to your SMS. Buried within the latest update for Facebook's Android app is a feature that is causing growing concern among some users," Kaspersky said in a statement today.

No immediate comments were received from Facebook. Facebook is one of the companies that has been accused by US Whistleblower Edward Snowden of sneaking in to private information to help National Security Agency of US in spying at global level. The social media firm has denied that allegation.

The Facebook application at the time of installation on Android mobile phones seeks certain permissions and the updated version now asks users to allow it "Read your text messages (SMS or MMS)".

The social media's logic behind seeking access to SMS is that "if you add a phone number to your account, this allows us to confirm your phone number automatically by finding the confirmation code that we send via text message".

The updated Facebook application now wants to "Read calendar events plus confidential information" which it justifies as it is required to allow "the app to show your calendar availability (based on your phone's calendar) when you're viewing an event on Facebook".

Facebook sends code via SMS that has to be entered when a user registers with the social media website which in a way helps the company verify the authenticity of users twice.

"Two-factor authentication provides an extra level of security, so it's good to see Facebook providing this option ... As a final note, we'd urge people to carefully check the permissions requested by any app when you first install it," Kaspersky Lab's Principal Security Researcher David Emm said.

Kaspersky added the permissions also grants access to multimedia messages, for which reason is not explicitly given.

It expressed apprehension on the word 'automatic' used in the permission sought by Facebook.

"...the key, it seems to lie in the word 'automatically'. Surely the app doesn't need to do this automatically. Facebook could simply prompt me to type in the code manually. Or, at the very least, provide this option," Kaspersky said.

It added that this may be an innocent feature "but in the light of growing concerns about online privacy, such an option would help to allay people's fears".

Facebook is reported to have 93 million users in India out of which 75 million access it from their mobile phone as of December 2013.

The permissions sought by Facebook are apart from similar permissions sought by Google's Android platform in the name of Facebook.

The social media company on its website said: "Keep in mind that Android controls the way the permissions are named, and the way they're named doesn't necessarily reflect the way the Facebook app uses them. We realise that some of these permissions sound scary, so we'd like to provide more info about how we use them."

On the issue of permission sought by Android to access information and edit feature in user's phone, Google has earlier said, "Its an app which you (user) have choice of installing."

Facebook - with more than 1.2 billion users worldwide - is celebrating its 10th birthday amidst challenges of keeping its original base of young users with new innovative social networks coming to the fore.

The company was launched by Mark Zuckerberg on February 4, 2004, from Harvard University.

 Source:economictimes
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Google outage on Friday took down Gmail

4:01 PM
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Google Inc suffered a service outage on Friday night that briefly took down Gmail, the email service used by hundreds of millions of people and many businesses across the globe.
Google outage on Friday took down Gmai
Google outage on Friday  took down Gmai
Google, which first acknowledged the outage at 11:12am Pacific Time (1912 GMT), said a little over an hour later that the problem with Gmail had been resolved.

 As of late Friday, the company did not offer an explanation for the outage, which affected users in at least India, Britain and the United States and prompted a stream of complaints on Twitter from users in many more countries.

 "We're investigating reports of an issue with Gmail. We will provide more information shortly," the company said on its "App Status" dashboard online, which tracks the state of various Google services.

 Google Docs, the cloud-based productivity application that competes against Microsoft Corp's Office suite, also suffered a service disruption, according to the Google dashboard. Other Google properties, the social network Google Plus, and YouTube, appeared to load slowly as well.

 Gmail, which includes calendar and chat features, has soared in popularity over the past decade to become one of Google's most successful product offerings. With more than 420 million users, it has begun to make small inroads against Microsoft Exchange in the battle to provide email services for corporate customers as well as individual consumers.

 Yahoo Inc, which also runs a rival internet mail service, seized the moment to post a screenshot of the Gmail error page to Twitter. Yahoo later apologized for the barb and deleted the tweet.

 Google users attempting to sign on saw a "temporary error" message and a brief note: "We're sorry, but your Gmail account is temporarily unavailable. We apologize for the inconvenience and suggest trying again in a few minutes." 
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A mobile application named ‘Darjeeling’ for windows 8 users

11:52 AM
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Nabin Pradhan, a 23-year-old student has developed a mobile application named ‘Darjeeling’ for Windows 8 users that contain little information about this renowned hill station of India and one visiting here can even pin point some important tourist spots through this application.
Nabin is a computer science and an engineering student, currently pursuing his Masters degree in Technology from VIT institute of Chennai. Originally hailing from Pul-Bijanbari block of Darjeeling, he completed his secondary education from Pine Hall Academy of Soureni, higher secondary education from Vishakapatnam and for the past seven years he has been studying in Chennai.
mobile application named ‘Darjeeling’
A mobile application named ‘Darjeeling’
"Many people ask me, where are you from? I reply - I am from Darjeeling. They say– Where is Darjeeling? Is it in India?"

 His misses home and wants to do something for Darjeeling. He was motivated when, he says, “I meet new friends every day. When i tell them I am from Darjeeling, they ask me where Darjeeling is and if it is in India.”

 “I had been thinking on the ways in which I can contribute for Darjeeling. Then I came out with an idea to put my learning into practice and hence I have created this application and named it 'Darjeeling' to inform the world about the place where I come from,” said Nabin over the phone from Chennai. The application provides some important spots, tourists can visit when they come to Darjeeling, like Kurseong, Kalimpong, Mirik, Siliguri, Mugpoo and Bijanbari. “Though the information on Darjeeling district can be made available in the internet, in many areas of the district internet facility has not reached and the application will make it easy for them to navigate the district without any use of internet,” Nabin said.

 He further added, “Darjeeling is known world-wide for its tea, tourism, toy train and many other things. The motive of this application is to promote the tourism industry of Darjeeling.” The application was launched on the second week of December last year and designed particularly for windows 8 mobile users, who can download it free of cost from the 'store' section.
"It has already received 17 downloads so far," said Nabin. Further the application has been divided into four sections. 

 The first section has brief information on Darjeeling, the second section has information on locations of three hills sub-divisions along with Siliguri, Mirik, Mungoo and Bijanbari and the third section is the informs about sight-seeing places of these locations and the fourth section contains a photo gallery.

 Source: thestatesman


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India successfully tested Prithvi-II missile in Odisha

6:31 PM
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India successfully tested Prithvi-II missile in Odisha, which is Indias indigenously developed nuclear missile, which has a strike range of 350 kms and is capable of carrying warheads of upto 1000 kgs, from a test range. 
India successfully tested Prithvi-II missile in Odisha
India successfully tested Prithvi-II
 missile in Odisha
‘The launch was conducted as a culmination to a strategic training exercise. The aim of this exercise was to validate our readiness by undertaking launches in various contingencies’, said an SFC spokesperson.

 Describing the trial of the sophisticated missile as a "complete success", Integrated Test Range Director M V K V Prasad said the launch conducted by the specially formed Strategic Forces Command (SFC) met all the parameters. 

 The surface-to-surface missile was test fired from a mobile launcher in salvo mode from launch complex-3 of the ITR at Chandipur near here at about 0948 hrs. 

 "The missile was randomly chosen from the production stock and the entire launch activities were carried out by SFC and monitored by the scientists of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) as part of training exercise," sources said. 

 "The missile trajectory was tracked by DRDO radars, electro-optical tracking systems and telemetry stations located along the coast of Odisha," they said. 

 "The downrange teams onboard the ship deployed near the designated impact point in the Bay of Bengal monitored the terminal events and splashdown," they said. 

 Inducted into India's SFC in 2003, Prithvi II, the first missile to be developed by DRDO under India's prestigious IGMDP (Integrated Guided Missile Development Program) is now a proven technology, a defence source said. 

 "The launch was part of a regular training exercise of SFC and monitored by DRDO scientists," the source said. 

 Such training launches clearly indicate India's operational readiness to meet any eventuality and also establishes the reliability of this deterrent component of India's Strategic arsenal, the source said. 

 Prithvi is capable of carrying 500 kg to 1,000 kg of warheads and is thrusted by liquid propulsion twine engines. 

 The last user trial of Prithvi-II missile was successfully carried out from the same base on December 3, 2013.
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Google create 360-degree onlive view of 100 Indian heritage sites

11:15 PM
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Google India - History buffs across the globe will soon be able to take virtual tours of 100 heritage sites across the country, with the Archaeological Survey of India making them available online.
Google to create 360-degre online view of 100 Indian monuments
Google to create online imagery of the country’s important heritage sites

 The ASI has partnered with Google to create online imagery of the country’s important heritage sites. The objective is to popularise these sites globally, attract public-private partnership and digitally preserve these sites for future generations.

 Generate awareness

 Against the backdrop of Qutub Minar here on Thursday, Union Culture Minister Chandresh Kumari Katoch said the collaboration aims to generate interest and consciousness among Indians towards safeguarding the national cultural heritage.

 The Minister said the ASI is keeping pace with the changing times, even in its 151st year.

 She said: “We have always embraced technology. The new panoramic imagery of monuments will allow the ASI to boldly take forward its mission of embracing partnerships for the future in order to preserve and propagate the rich heritage of India’s past.”

 360-degree online imagery

 The Ministry of Culture and Google signed a Memorandum of Understanding which will allow the Street View Trekker, a backpack with a camera mounted on top, to capture 360-degree online imagery of sites including Humayun’s Tomb and the Ajanta and Ellora caves.

 Designed to capture images in remote sites, the Street View Trekker has been used at the Grand Canyon in the U.S., Mount Fuji in Japan and the historic city of Venice.

 ASI director general Praveen Srivastava said making a part of the country’s rich cultural heritage accessible was an important initiative. “The ASI identified the sites, including 20 world heritage sites, and our team did a commendable job. Apart from the images, there would be comprehensive background about each site.”

 He said all the sites come under the jurisdiction of the ASI. These images will be available on Google Maps and on the website of the world’s wonders.

 Google managing director Rajan Anandan said in a country like India, which has 5,000 years of history, technology can help in sharing the ancient heritage with rest of the world.
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Adobe Hacked 2.9 million customers financial information exposed

11:10 PM
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Adobe Systems, which makes software such as Photoshop, Reader and Creative Cloud, on Friday said its security team has discovered “sophisticated attacks” on its network, exposing financial information of its 2.9 million customers.
Adobe Hacked
Adobe Hacked 

 “Adobe's security team discovered suspicious activity during regular security monitoring. Our investigation to date indicates that the cyber attackers removed certain customer information between September 11 and September 17, 2013,” an Adobe spokesperson said in an emailed response to The Hindu.

 The US-based company said investigations indicate that the attackers accessed Adobe customer IDs and encrypted passwords on their systems.

 “We also believe the attackers removed from our systems certain information relating to 2.9 million Adobe customers. This includes customer names, encrypted credit or debit card numbers, expiration dates and other information relating to customer orders," the spokesperson added.

 Adobe said at this time, it does not believe the attackers removed decrypted credit or debit card numbers from their systems. However, the spokesperson added, “Based on our findings to date, we are not aware of any specific increased risk to customers as a result of this incident.”

 The company said it is working internally as well as with external partners and law enforcement, to address the incident.

 The company said it is notifying customers whose credit or debit card information it believes to be involved in the incident and is resetting relevant customer passwords to prevent unauthorized access to Adobe ID accounts. It has also notified the banks processing customer payments for Adobe
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Samsung pays 30 trucks 5-cent coins, $1 billion dollars, to Apple

3:08 PM
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This morning more than 30 trucks filled with 5-cent coins arrived at Apple’s headquarters in California. Initially, the security company that protects the facility said the trucks were in the wrong place, but minutes later, Tim Cook (Apple CEO) received a call from Samsung CEO explaining that they will pay $1 billion dollars for the fine recently ruled against the South Korean company in this way.
Samsung pays Apple $1 Billion sending 30 trucks full of 5 cent coins
The funny part is that the signed document does not specify a single payment method, so Samsung is entitled to send the creators of the iPhone their billion dollars in the way they deem best.

 This dirty but genius geek troll play is a new headache to Apple executives as they will need to put in long hours counting all that money, to check if it is all there and to try to deposit it crossing fingers to hope a bank will accept all the coins.

 Lee Kun-hee, Chairman of Samsung Electronics, told the media that his company is not going to be intimidated by a group of “geeks with style” and that if they want to play dirty, they also know how to do it.

 You can use your coins to buy refreshments at the little machine for life or melt the coins to make computers, that’s not my problem, I already paid them and fulfilled the law.

 A total of 20 billion coins, delivery hope to finish this week.

 Let’s see how Apple will respond to this.

 Source: hound.net

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Too much social media may affect short-term memory - study

9:32 AM
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Always online? Take a break!People who spend too much time browsing social media could be squandering their memories or losing important information, a new study has warned.
Contrary to common wisdom, an idle brain is in fact doing important work - and in the age of constant information overload, it's a good idea to go offline on a regular basis, according to a researcher from Stockholm's KTH Royal Institute of Technology.
Erik Fransen, whose research focuses on short-term memory and ways to treat diseased neurons, said that a brain exposed to a typical session of social media browsing can easily become hobbled by information overload.

 The result is that less information gets filed away in your memory.

 The problem begins in a system of the brain commonly known as the working memory, or what most people know as short-term memory. That's the system of the brain that we need when we communicate, Fransen said.

 "Working memory enables us to filter out information and find what we need in the communication. It enables us to work online and store what we find online, but it's also a limited resource," he said.

 "At any given time, the working memory can carry up to three or four items. When we attempt to stuff more information in the working memory, our capacity for processing information begins to fail.

 "When you are on Facebook, you are making it harder to keep the things that are 'online' in your brain that you need. "In fact, when you try to process sensory information like speech or video, you are going to need partly the same system of working memory, so you are reducing your own working memory capacity.

 "And when you try to store many things in your working memory, you get less good at processing information," he said.

 You're also robbing the brain of time it needs to do some necessary housekeeping. The brain is designed for both activity and relaxation, Fransen said.

 "The brain is made to go into a less active state, which we might think is wasteful; but probably memory consolidation, and transferring information into memory takes place in this state. Theories of how memory works explain why these two different states are needed.

 "When we max out our active states with technology equipment, just because we can, we remove from the brain part of the processing, and it can't work," Fransen said.

 Source : indianexpress.com

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