Written By Unknown on Senin, 30 Maret 2015 | 09.10
US consumer electronics chain Best Buy has announced that it is closing its Canadian subsidiary, Future Shop, and converting 65 of its 131 stores into Best Buy outlets.
As a result of the move, 500 full-time jobs and 1,000 part-time jobs will go, the retailer said.
Future Shop, Canada's biggest electronics brand, had been owned by Best Buy since 2001.
After the changeover is completed, Best Buy will have 192 Canadian stores.
Best Buy said it would be investing C$200m (£106.5m; $158m) in its operations there over the next two years.
There would also be restructuring costs of at least C$200m, it added.
Analysts say the move will rationalise Best Buy's offer in Canada and get rid of duplication. Best Buy and Future Shop outlets are often found in close proximity, they say.
Other observers took a mixed view of the development. "Best Buy may now be the 'de facto' big-box tech store in North America, but that power grab is coming at a stiff price," said technology news website Engadget.
Children are spending far more time watching a screen, even though traditional TV viewing has dropped
The amount of time children spend glued to a screen has risen dramatically in the last 20 years, a new report suggests.
Children aged five to 16 spend an average of six and a half hours a day in front of a screen compared with around three hours in 1995, according to market research firm Childwise.
Teenaged boys spend the longest, with an average of eight hours.
Eight-year-old girls spend the least - three-and-a-half hours, according to the study.
Screen time is made up of time spent watching TV, playing games consoles, using a mobile, computer or tablet.
Changing times
The Connected Kids report, compiled by market researcher Childwise, has collated data from 1995 to the present day to create a comprehensive picture of children's media habits.
Each year, its report, which is not available online, surveys around 2,000 children, aged five to 16.
It finds that teenaged girls now spend an average of seven-and-a-half- hours watching screens, compared with 3.5 hours of TV viewing in 1995.
Younger children fare slightly better - in 1995, five to 10-year-olds averaged around two-and-a-half-hours of TV.
Fast-forward to 2014 and screen time has risen to four-and-a-half hours.
Children are also now multi-screening - using more than one device at the same time, for example, watching TV while surfing the internet on a tablet or mobile so some of the screen time will be concurrent.
"The main difference from the 1990s is that then TV and magazines were the main ways for connecting kids to the media and now they have different devices from tablets, mobiles, games consoles and they have a much higher screen time," said research executive Matthew Nevard.
Back in 1995 children's main interaction with the media was via TV or comics like The Beano
Children's TV viewing habits have changed dramatically, with the majority now watching television via catch-up services and YouTube rather than the traditional TV set, according to the report.
YouTube is the most popular on-demand service with more than half of respondents accessing TV and video via the site since 2013.
Paid-for on-demand services, such as Netflix, have also risen rapidly in recent years and are expected to continue to grow in popularity.
It is not great news for the terrestrial channels - BBC One has seen its audience of seven to 16-year-olds drop from over 80% in 1995 to just over 40% in 2014. ITV's audience follows a similar trajectory.
The transition to digital, coupled with dedicated children's channels, is another reason for the the drop in children's viewing of the main channels with children now watching more content on dedicated channels such as CBBC, CITV, Nickelodeon and Disney.
Demanding connectivity
Children growing up now have never known a time without the internet
The study also looks at how the internet has changed the way children engage with information.
"The internet is pivotal to their lives and they are now able to access a wealth of content," said Mr Nevard.
The internet has given children more freedom to explore their own interests rather than being tied into the content offered to them from the TV schedules or magazines.
"They can find the content that they want," he said.
The study describes connectivity as "a fundamental need for young people now".
"Children now don't remember a time before the internet," said Mr Nevard.
Ubiquitous online access is also likely to influence the way children interact with their families and "their willingness to participate in family holidays and trips out", the report finds.
Image culture
Will all children own a virtual reality headset?
For the last 10 years, Childwise has charted the most popular websites for young people.
YouTube has remained in the top three since 2007 while Facebook has seen its appeal dip in recent years, as children turn to newer services such as Snapchat.
Children enjoy the privacy of WhatsApp and Snapchat, according to the survey, and the use of such services is also changing how they communicate.
"It reflects the image culture which has emerged, where pictures are utilised to give a better representation of current moods and or activities," the survey said.
Google is one of the few sites to remain popular across 10 years of data with sites.
Wearable tech
The report also attempts a bit of future-gazing and predicts that in the next 10 years, children growing up will have little understanding of a world without the internet.
The internet of things - where household objects communicate and share data - will be regarded as normal, it suggests.
"Having appliances which cannot be controlled using a smartphone or some kind of online dashboard may be seen as outdated, or at least increasingly rare," the report concludes.
It also thinks that most children will have some form of wearable technology, be it a smart watch, smart glasses or a virtual reality headset.
Some members of BA's Executive Club said their air-mile accounts had been emptied
British Airways' air-miles accounts, the coding site GitHub and the work chat service Slack have all been hit in the latest wave of cyber-attacks.
The firms have all notified their users of the incidents, which varied in approach and do not appear to be connected.
In addition, several Uber users have complained of their accounts being hacked.
However, the car pick-up service said it had "found no evidence of a breach".
The firms have dealt with the attacks in different ways, and BA has been criticised for how it responded.
Wiped out accounts
Complaints about points being stolen from the BA's Executive Club scheme date back at least a fortnight.
One user said their account had been used by someone else to book a hotel room in Spain, while others reported that their list of transactions showed "ex-gratia" deductions that had wiped out their entire credit.
"I checked my account yesterday and found that the mobile number had been changed to a Russian one. I changed it back and my miles are still there. Passwords now changed," reported another member, who appeared to have had a narrow escape.
A spokesman for BA said that it believed only "a small number" of its frequent flyers were affected.
"This appears to have been the result of a third party using information obtained elsewhere on the internet, via an automated process, to try to gain access to some accounts," he said.
"We would like to reassure customers that, at this stage, we are not aware of any access to any subsequent information pages within accounts, including travel histories or payment card details."
British Airways has been criticised for asking users to click on an emailed link
Security experts have, however, raised concern that BA initially sent out emails asking users to click on a link to reset their passwords.
"That's a classic trick used by criminals phishing for login credentials," noted security consultant Graham Cluley.
BA said it had removed the link from subsequent emails and suggested concerned members contact its service centre.
Traffic flood
The attack on San Francisco-based GitHub - which is used by more than 8 million software developers - has involved an attempt to knock its site offline by flooding it with traffic.
"We are currently experiencing the largest DDoS (distributed denial of service) attack in GitHub's history," systems engineer Jesse Newland wrote on its blog.
The attack on GitHub has been linked to China-related pages that it hosts
"These include... some sophisticated new techniques that use the web browsers of unsuspecting, uninvolved people to flood GitHub with high levels of traffic.
"Based on reports we've received, we believe the intent of this attack is to convince us to remove a specific class of content."
The reports suggest the data barrage was specifically directed at web pages providing China-based users with a way to circumvent local censorship controls.
"It does look like someone in China is fighting back, as we predicted they would, against those who are trying to circumvent the 'great firewall of China'," commented security consultant Alan Woodward.
"Ask most developers and they are likely to be using GitHub in some way, so assuming it is China this looks like their censorship attempts are now having global impact."
Beijing has yet to comment.
Slack attack
Slack reported it was attacked in February.
The US firm provides a way for team members to communicate with each other as an alternative to email.
The service is less than two years old, but was recently valued at being worth $2.8bn (£1.9bn). Were businesses to believe the data it held was insecure then its future would be threatened.
Slack has a link on its home page alerting users to its breach
Slack said it believed the hackers had accessed a database that would have allowed them to see user names, email addresses and Skype IDs.
However, it added that passwords - which give users access to posted information - were encrypted in a form that made it "computationally infeasible" for the hackers to unscramble them.
"As part of our investigation we detected suspicious activity affecting a very small number of Slack accounts," it added.
"We have notified the individual users and team owners who we believe were impacted and are sharing details with their security teams."
One London-based user received an Uber bill for a lengthy US trip (image edited by BBC)
The company said that it had introduced two-factor authentication as an additional security step, which requires users to type in a code sent to their mobile phone or tablet to access the app.
Uber complaints
News site Motherboard has also reported that login details for Uber are being offered for sale for as little as $1.
The BBC was contacted by one London-based user on Sunday who reported that someone else was booking rides in New York using his account without his permission, and had clocked up a $556 bill.
Others have posted similar stories on Twitter.
"We take any issue of this nature very seriously and after investigating have found no evidence of a breach at Uber," a spokesman responded.
"Attempting to fraudulently access and use Uber accounts is illegal and we notify the authorities about such activity.
"We would like to remind people to use strong and unique usernames and passwords and to avoid reusing the same credentials across multiple sites and services."
Encrypted communications are the biggest problem for police, says European police chief
A European police chief says the sophisticated online communications are the biggest problem for security agencies tackling terrorism.
Hidden areas of the internet and encrypted communications make it harder to monitor terror suspects, warns Europol's Rob Wainwright.
Tech firms should consider the impact sophisticated encryption software has on law enforcement, he said.
Mr Wainwright was talking to 5 Live Investigates.
There is a significant capability gap that has to change if we're serious about ensuring the internet isn't abused and effectively enhancing the terrorist threat.
A spokesman for TechUK, the UK's technology trade association, said: "With the right resources and cooperation between the security agencies and technology companies, alongside a clear legal framework for that cooperation, we can ensure both national security and economic security are upheld."
Mr Wainwright said that in most current investigations the use of encrypted communications was found to be central to the way terrorists operated.
"It's become perhaps the biggest problem for the police and the security service authorities in dealing with the threats from terrorism," he explained.
"It's changed the very nature of counter-terrorist work from one that has been traditionally reliant on having good monitoring capability of communications to one that essentially doesn't provide that anymore."
Mr Wainwright, whose organisation supports police forces in Europe, said terrorists were exploiting the "dark net", where users can go online anonymously, away from the gaze of police and security services.
Secret messaging
But he is also concerned at moves by companies such as Apple to allow customers to encrypt data on their smartphones.
And the development of heavily encrypted instant messaging apps is another cause for concern, he said.
Edward Snowden revealed that the UK's GCHQ was also involved in widespread surveillance of communications
This meant people could send text and voice messages which police found very difficult or impossible to access, he said.
"We are disappointed by the position taken by these tech firms and it only adds to our problems in getting to the communications of the most dangerous people that are abusing the internet.
"[Tech firms] are doing it, I suppose, because of a commercial imperative driven by what they perceive to be consumer demand for greater privacy of their communications."
Surveillance
Mr Wainwright acknowledged this was a result of the revelations by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, who exposed how security services were conducting widespread surveillance of emails and messages.
He said security agencies now had to work to rebuild trust between technology firms and the authorities.
The TechUK spokesman told the programme: "From huge volumes of financial transactions to personal details held on devices, the security of digital communications fundamentally underpins the UK economy.
"Encryption is an essential component of the modern world and ensures the UK retains its position as one of the world's leading economies.
"Tech companies take their security responsibilities incredibly seriously, and in the ongoing course of counter-terrorism and other investigations engage with law enforcement and security agencies."
The programme also found evidence that supporters of the Islamic State (IS) are using encrypted sites to radicalise or groom new recruits.
Europol director Rob Wainwright says IS is believed to have up to 50,000 different twitter accounts
On one blogging website, a 17-year-old girl who wants to become a "jihadi bride" is told that if she needs to speak securely she should use an encrypted messaging app.
The family of 15-year-old Yusra Hussein from Bristol, who went to Syria last year, also believe she was groomed in this way.
Twitter terrorism
The extent of the challenge faced by security services is shown in the scale of social media use by IS.
Mr Wainwright revealed that IS is believed to have up to 50,000 different Twitter accounts tweeting up to 100,000 messages a day.
Europol is now setting up a European Internet Referral Unit to identify and remove sites being used by terrorist organisations.
Mr Wainwright also says current laws are "deficient" and should be reviewed to ensure security agencies are able to monitor all areas of the online world.
"There is a significant capability gap that has to change if we're serious about ensuring the internet isn't abused and effectively enhancing the terrorist threat.
"We have to make sure we reach the right balance by ensuring the fundamental principles of privacy are upheld so there's a lot of work for legislators and tech firms to do."
BBC Radio 5 live Investigates is on BBC 5live on Sunday 29 March at 11am or download the programme podcast.
Google has lost a Court of Appeal bid to stop consumers having the right to sue in the UK over alleged misuse of privacy settings.
A group of users claim that Google bypassed security settings on the Safari browser to install tracking cookies on their computers in order to target them with advertising.
Google said it was "disappointed with the court's decision".
One of the claimants called it a "David and Goliath victory".
The case revolves around a so-called Safari workaround, which allegedly allowed Google to avoid the Safari web browser's default privacy setting to place cookies, that gathered data such as surfing habits, social class, race, ethnicity, without users' knowledge.
Safari is a browser used on Apple computers, iPads and other devices while cookies are small text files stored by browsers which can record information about online activity, and help some online services work.
Google had attempted to prevent the action, claiming there was no case to answer because consumers had suffered no financial harm.
In its judgement, the Court of Appeal said: "These claims raise serious issues which merit a trial.
"They concern what is alleged to have been the secret and blanket tracking and collation of information, often of an extremely private nature… about and associated with the claimants' internet use, and the subsequent use of that information for about nine months. The case relates to the anxiety and distress this intrusion upon autonomy has caused."
"The Court of Appeal has ensured Google cannot use its vast resources to evade English justice," said Judith Vidal-Hall, one of three claimants.
"Ordinary computer users like me will now have the right to hold this giant to account before the courts for its unacceptable, immoral and unjust actions."
The landmark case potentially opens the door to litigation from the millions of Britons who used Apple computers, iPhones, iPods and iPads during the relevant period, summer 2011 to spring 2012, said Jonathan Hawker who represents the Google Action Group, a not-for-profit company set up to manage claims against the internet giant for breach of privacy.
Dan Tench, a partner at law firm Olswang who is acting for the claimants, welcomed the decision.
"Google, a company that makes billions from advertising knowledge, claims that it was unaware that was secretly tracking Apple users for a period of nine months and had argued that no harm was done because the matter was trivial as consumers had not lost out financially.
"The Court of Appeal saw these arguments for what they are: a breach of consumers' civil rights and actionable before the English courts. We look forward to holding Google to account for its actions."
Google has already paid fines of over $40m related to this incident in the US. It was fined by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and separately by 38 US states.
Tim Cook, the latest company boss to pledge give away his fortune to charity
The chief executive of Apple, Tim Cook, has announced he is donating most of his wealth to charity before he dies.
The head of the world's most profitable company is worth over $800m (£537m).
Mr Cook told Fortune Magazine that he would leave his wealth to philanthropic causes but not before paying for his 10-year-old nephew's college education.
He joins a growing number of the world's super-rich who are giving away their wealth, including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.
Five years ago, billionaire investor Warren Buffett and Microsoft founder Bill Gates launched the campaign The Giving Pledge.
It aims to convince billionaires to give at least half of their fortunes to charity. Mr Zuckerberg and over 100 others have so far signed up to the "moral commitment".
Mr Cook's base salary went up by 43% in February 2014, rising to $9.2m (£6.2m) a year.
According to Fortune Magazine, he holds $120m (£81m) worth of Apple shares and a further $665m (£447m) of restricted stocks.
A US university education costs an estimated $30,000 (£20,000) a year on average. Some private universities cost more than $50,000 a year.
Harvard, one of the most prestigious colleges in the country, charges $43,938 per year in tuition alone for students not receiving financial aid. That rises to $58,607 with room and board, according to its website.
Sir Konstantin Novoselov showed Chancellor George Osborne the bulb when he opened the institute
A light bulb made with graphene - said by its UK developers to be the first commercially viable consumer product using the super-strong carbon - is to go on sale later this year.
The dimmable bulb contains a filament-shaped LED coated in graphene. It was designed at Manchester University, where the material was discovered.
It is said to cut energy use by 10% and last longer owing to its conductivity.
The National Graphene Institute at the university was opened this month.
The light bulb was developed by a Canadian-financed company called Graphene Lighting - one of whose directors is Prof Colin Bailey, deputy vice-chancellor at the University of Manchester.
It is expected to be priced lower than some LED bulbs, which can cost about £15 each.
Based on traditional light bulb design, the use of graphene allows it to conduct electricity and heat more effectively.
Prof Bailey told the BBC: "The graphene light bulb will use less energy. We expect it to last longer. The manufacturing costs are lower and it uses more and more sustainable components."
The discovery of graphene in 2004 by Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, two Russian-born scientists at the University of Manchester, earned the pair the Nobel Prize for Physics and knighthoods.
A micro-thin layer of graphene is stronger than steel and it has been dubbed a "wonder material" because of its potential uses.
The National Graphene Institute was opened at the university this month
The government has invested £38m in the National Graphene Institute via the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, with an additional £23m provided by the European Regional Development Fund.
Chancellor George Osborne, who opened the site on 20 March, has said he hopes the UK can see off competition from China and South Korea to become a centre of excellence in graphene technology.
More than 35 companies worldwide have already partnered with the university to develop projects.
The race is now on to develop other practical and commercial uses, including lighter but more robust car and aircraft frames and false teeth. The material has already been incorporated into products including tennis rackets and skis.
Jay Z purchased Swedish company Tidal earlier this month
Musicians including Kanye West, Jack White, Rihanna, Madonna and Coldplay are uniting behind Jay Z's "artist-friendly" streaming site, Tidal.
They all turned their Twitter profiles teal blue, to reflect Tidal's branding, on Sunday night.
The site launches on Monday, promising CD-quality streaming and thousands of music videos, for a subscription fee.
Taylor Swift, who pulled her catalogue off Spotify last November, is among those to feature on the service.
Her back catalogue - with the exception of her current album, 1989 - is already available on the service, which requires a monthly subscription of $9,99 (£6.72) for standard-quality music, and $19.99 (£13.47) for the "high fidelity" option.
A spokesperson for Swift said that the star's back catalogue appears on all streaming services that require a subscription fee.
"This has never been changed. Big Machine Records believes music has value and we do not believe Taylor's music should be made available for free," they said.
Other artists publically backing Tidal on social media included DJ Calvin Harris, R&B star Usher, country singer Jason Aldean and Beyonce, who is married to Jay Z.
It has also been rumoured that Rihanna's much-anticipated eighth album will premiere on the service after Monday's launch event.
The R&B singer is signed to Jay Z's Roc Nation label, making such a deal possible, but there has been no official confirmation.
Jay Z's company Project Panther bought Aspiro, a Swedish tech firm that runs two streaming music services (WiMP and Tidal) for $56 million (£37.7m) on 13 March.
According to Forbes, the rapper intends to allow artists who sign up to his site reap more rewards than they would on rivals such as Spotify, Rdio, Rhapsody and Beats Music.
He will announce his plans at a live-streamed launch event at 22:00 GMT in New York.
A press invitation for the event promised that "Shawn 'Jay Z' Carter and special guests will announce a commitment to a new direction for the music industry from both a creative and business perspective".
The launch comes as the streaming market becomes increasingly competitive.
The rapid success of Spotify, which now has more than 15 million paid subscribers and 60 million total users, has prompted many tech companies to launch similar services.
Last year, Google announced a subscription service that allows users to stream ad-free music videos, and download them for offline use.
The monthly fee for Music Key also provides membership to Google Play All Access, the firm's pre-existing "all-you-can-eat" music facility.
And Apple is poised to launch its own service, after paying $3m (£2.02m) for headphone maker and music-streaming provider Beats Electronics last year.
It recently poached Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe for an undisclosed role in its music division.
The G20 leaders' Visa numbers, passport numbers and dates of birth were among the personal data accidentally emailed to the organisers of the Asian Cup football tournament
The passport numbers and Visa details of 31 world leaders were accidentally emailed to the organisers of the Asian Cup in Australia before the G20 summit in Brisbane in November 2014.
Those affected included US President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
A worker at the Australian Department of Immigration sent the list by mistake.
The department decided there was no need to alert the G20 attendees.
"Given that the risks of the breach are considered very low and the actions that have been taken to limit the further distribution of the email, I do not consider it necessary to notify the clients of the breach," an unnamed Depart of Immigration director wrote to the Australian Privacy Commissioner in an email obtained by the Guardian following a Freedom of Information request.
Both the sender of the email and the recipient had deleted it within 10 minutes of it being sent, the officer explained, and the Asian Cup football tournament organisers said they did not believe the email was accessible or stored on their servers.
The message included the 31 world leaders' dates of birth but not personal addresses and other contact details.
The breach was said to be the result of "human error", with the sender forgetting to check the auto-fill function in Microsoft Outlook's email service before hitting send.
"There was nothing systemic or institutional about the breach," continued the email from the government official.
"It should also be noted that the personal details of these individuals, including their names, positions and dates of birth are generally already available in the public domain given their prominent positions."
