Earlier this year, Microsoft published its first Law Enforcement Requests Report, in which the company details the number of requests it has received for user data, as well as how each request was responded to. That report looked at numbers from 2012, while the latest one it published today details the first six months of […]
Google has once again found itself in the hot seat over its data practices, and this time, a French agency is sounding the alarm. Earlier today, France’s National Commission on Computing and Freedom (CNIL) threatened Google with a €300,000 fine due to the company’s lack of compliance with a June decision aimed at protecting users’ private data. Previously, Google was given three months to address CNIL’s concerns about centralized data collection that lumps together information from Youtube, Gmail and searches and transparency about how such data was put to use. Now, the clock is up, and France isn’t fooling around. While formal sanctioning is a lengthy process that won’t be resolved for several months, the country’s stance is considered aggressive, even if the fine is relatively modest. Google, however, doesn’t seem phased. Company spokesperson Al Verney said, “Our privacy policy respects European law and allows us to create simpler, more effective services.”
Source: Yahoo
Fans of Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation can now lay their head on a miniature version of the champion poker player and Geordi’s best friend. Isn’t he cute?
This version of Data is square, but still pretty adorable. I love how he even has his rank pips and the eye color seems accurate. It was made by Etsy artist Morondanga and is ready for your next nap.
If Data isn’t enough for you there is also a three pack available with Data, Picard and Worf. Data is just $23.59(USD), and he measures 16-inches-square. He is the perfect Enterprise crew member to take a nap on!
[via Neatorama]
Big data is big money, so when the power goes out and data centers go offline, companies like eBay stand to hemorrhage revenue. Which is why the mega auction e-tailer’s been hard at work setting up a “greener” data center in South Jordan, Utah to avoid costly and unpredictable blackouts. The now operational site incorporates thirty fuel cells developed by Bloom Energy, a company with roots in NASA’s Mars program, that turn natural gas into electricity via an electro-chemical process. What’s more, eBay, using recovered energy generation technology provided by Ormat, is also attempting to offset its carbon footprint by harvesting the “heat waste” generated from natural gas pipelines and turning that into energy for its Utah site. Barring any unforeseen power failures, the company’s green data center won’t ever have to rely on the local grid. And that independence should ensure eBay users keep bidding and buying and filling the company’s coffers.
Filed under: Science
In the last 10 years, 1,500 Americans died after taking too much of one of—nominally—the world’s safest drugs: acetaminophen or, as you might know it, Tylenol. This viz goes a long way to explaining why that’s the case.
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Imagine if all the world’s data was still stored on punch cards: we’d be drowning in cardboard. But just how much exactly?
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OpenStreetMap has been diving deep into its historical data recently
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SSDs are wonderful things that take up next to no space and are incredibly fast to boot. But while most people understand the basics data security on HDDs, the same isn’t necessarily true of solid state storage.
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If you’ve ever wondered where the true home of sasquatch might be, then this visualization of sightings could help you track the mythical beast down.
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German newspaper Spiegel Online reports that the NSA has its own financial database to track money flows through a "tailored access operations" division.
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