#albright ip

[patentideauk]

Patent idea is the place to go for your patent ideas. They have many different ways of searching for patents. But when you need to get a patent, it can be good to know that you can search through their tools and see what others are searching for. To do this, you just have to type "patent" into the search box. It will show all patents and inventions that contain the word "patent".

[reveal-the-news]

Albright Ships 2 Tech IP Suits To Calif., Keeps GE Current Suit

Albright Ships 2 Tech IP Suits To Calif., Keeps GE Current Suit

By Jasmine Jackson (August 26, 2022, 10:10 PM EDT) — U.S. District Judge Alan Albright moved separate patent cases against Google and Samsung to California to improve the defendants’ access to witnesses, but denied GE Current’s bid to move elsewhere in Texas. After the patent war it failed to show what made Ohio more suitable. LED Wafer Solutions LLC v. Samsung Electronics Co . Ltd. et al. In an…

[fuckheadwitha]

Wait i thought they actually traced the IP of those users to the IRA servers? Thats... kind of strong evidence they there agents no? Department of justice involvment is also a pretty serious indicator that the accusation were not baseles.

So I keep getting anons like this and I realize now people don’t know the source of these accusations is this buzzfeed article. It was a cross-reference of usernames between known IRA accounts on twitter and tumblr done by Buzzfeed News and Jonathan Albright. They didn’t ‘trace their IPs’, the justice department isn’t involved, it was a simple cross-reference done by a journalist and an academic.

[coinprojects]

New Post has been published on https://coinprojects.net/concerns-around-data-privacy-are-rising-and-blockchain-is-the-solution/

Concerns around data privacy are rising, and blockchain is the solution

Today’s consumers are willing to trade their data for personalization but have fast-growing concerns about data privacy. In a survey from a digital security and credential issuance company Entrust, only 21% of the respondents trust established global brands to keep their personal information secure.

As data privacy pressure on Big Tech increases, these companies are starting to make significant investments in security solutions.

Regulations around the world are evolving rapidly

Last year, as more and more people spent time at home due to COVID-19 lockdowns, internet usage went up. And as usage has gone up, so too has consumer awareness of how data could be used or misused. For example, a recent survey from Startpage, a privacy-focused search engine company, found that 62% of Americans have become more aware of how their data is used online, including ad targeting based on their browsing history and location.

Related: The data economy is a dystopian nightmare

With growing concern over how companies collect data, new laws are evolving rapidly in the United States and abroad to address these concerns. In 2016, the European Union passed the General Data Protection Regulation. Two years later, California signed into law the California Consumer Privacy Act, the most robust state-level privacy legislation in history. Since then, Virginia is the only other U.S. state that has successfully passed a comprehensive bill, the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act.

With more states looking to add consumer privacy protection laws, it’s clear that user opinions and policies are shifting. That said, data privacy and how it’s protected is incredibly complex, and these toothless bills could have the opposite effect — giving consumers the confidence that their data is protected when, in fact, it often is not.

Related: DPN vs. VPN: The dawn of decentralized web privacy

Companies will invest in privacy and security technology

When 2020 began, millions of people moved their lives online — went to school remotely and attended virtual happy hours — exposing more personal data to a barely regulated internet. Not only did people integrate more data collection into their daily lives, but they were also led to believe that location tracking could have public health benefits.

Thanks to COVID-19, the depth of our data-sharing deficiencies have been exposed. As we move forward, everyone must raise awareness and promote the best practices in privacy and data protection.

Related: We don’t need immunity passports, we need verifiable credentials

Is a solution possible?

As consumer expectations continue to drive privacy scrutiny, there is an opportunity to lead the pack in this evolving area, but with new entrants primed to enter the market, that opportunity will not last very long. According to Crunchbase, investors pumped $7.8 billion into cybersecurity firms last year, a 22% increase from 2019 to 2020, and this year the number is even higher after just six months, surpassing the $9 billion mark.

With data ownership top-of-mind, let’s take a look at the startups paving the way for a post-pandemic world. From personal data scrubbing to business-focused software meant to help companies comply with the law, these five startups are helping users to take back control and ownership.

OpenMined is an open-source community, and the company sees its goal in making the world more privacy-preserving by lowering the barrier to entry to private AI technologies. Its mission is to create an accessible ecosystem of privacy tools and education, which it does by extending popular libraries like PyTorch with advanced techniques in cryptography and differential privacy. The company claims that through its services, people and organizations can host private data sets, allowing data scientists to train or query data they “cannot see.” The data owners retain complete control — data is never copied, moved or shared.

Anjuna provides hardware-grade protection for data, applications and workloads, virtually eliminating data insecurity. According to the team, it ensures that applications operate independently of their infrastructure, simplifying operations while locking down data security. The software enables IT to “lift and shift” applications and data into the hardware-encrypted confines of a secure enclave, protecting them from malicious software, insiders and bad actors.

Fortanix secures sensitive data across public, hybrid, multi-cloud and private cloud environments, enabling customers to operate even the most sensitive applications in any environment. Fortanix states that organizations gain the freedom to accelerate their digital transformation, combine and analyze private data, and deliver secure applications that protect the privacy of the people they serve.

Duality Technologies addresses the rapidly growing need of enterprises across regulated industries to collaborate on sensitive data. According to the company, the platform enables secure analysis of encrypted data, deriving insights from sensitive data without exposing the data itself. Its technology protects valuable analytics models from exposure to external collaboration parties during computations. The Duality SecurePlus states that the platform makes it possible for enterprises to leverage advanced cryptographic methods for real-world data collaborations while complying with data privacy regulations and protecting their IP.

Leap Year builds technology to address these issues in a scalable, rigorous, future-proof way. As per the company’s statements, some of the largest enterprises in the world can break down data silos, form data partnerships and accelerate the adoption of machine learning, all with mathematically proven privacy protection.

Related: No more pushes and pushbacks: Digital ID solves the privacy dilemma

The need for Web 3.0

Looking back, the societal changes we’ve experienced in the last year are important flashpoints that highlight huge flaws in the way the internet exists today, how data privacy laws are created and the hidden ways Big Tech exploits our data.

During the pandemic, companies like Google, Facebook, Zoom and Amazon have profited big time. At the loss of consumer privacy and choice, Big Tech makes its money through monetizing user data. While yes, we do use these things every day, these platforms on Web 2.0 are a breeding ground for exploitation, hacks and breeches.

Related: Striking a chord: DeFi’s domino effect on NFTs and Web 3.0 adoption

As we adapt to a new world, blockchain will inevitably play a role in a decentralized future. Are you ready for the Web 3.0 revolution?

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

Anne Fauvre-Willis is the chief operating officer of Oasis Labs and was an earlier contributor to the Oasis Network, a privacy-enabled blockchain platform for open finance and a responsible data economy. Before Oasis Labs, Anne had roles as a product manager/product marketing manager for the iPhone at Apple. She also worked for former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright at the Albright Stonebridge Group. Anne has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from Georgetown University.

Source link By Cointelegraph By Anne Fauvre-Willis

#Altcoin #Bitcoin #BlockChain #BlockchainNews #Crypto

[timidhowell]

Dealing with Printer Issues in a Minute Together with the Appropriate Download Canon PixmaIp Driver Update

To start with, we really have to take a look at just what the printer is really before we can easily really analyze something about obtaining the appropriate Canon Printer driver revise for your self. In the long run throughout the day, whatever the company in the printer is, the outcome, as well as the issues, are generally virtually a similar, and when you find yourself achieving this, you need to know how to proceed and the way to practice it.

Just before we really proceed to these methods that one could fix all of your printer issues, we should be looking at what computer printers are and what kinds of ink jet printers you have out there. In info processor chips, a printer is a sheet of equipment that allows textual content and vivid output from your info finalizing system and transfers the information to document, typically to common sized sheets of document. Ink jet printers are occasionally handled computers devices, but far more often are acquired alone. Printers diverge in dimensions, acceleration, class, and expense. Typically, more costly ink jet printers are used for greater-solution color stamping.

Pc computer printers could be acknowledged as an effect or no-effect publishing models. Earlier effect printing equipment processed something such as a mechanistic typewriter, using a crucial hitting an tattooed depression symptoms on paper for each published sort. The download canon pixma ip driver dot-matrix generating machine was a favorite inexpensive private computers device stamping equipment. It's a positive change printer that affects the pieces of paper a training course at any given time. The very best-acknowledged no-affect printers will be the inkjet printer, an illustration getting particular distinctive models of low-price color laser printers, along with the more complex laser computer printers. Inkjet ink jet printers operate by getting the inkjet to apply printer coming from a printer cartridge in an incredibly close level against the paper since the roller rolls it using.

The laser printer utilizes a laser beam mirrored from a mirror to get ink cartridge (that is also referred to as toner) to pick out papers regions like a page rolls more than a tire. Now so how exactly does the software program part of this can be purchased in and why do we should know a great deal concerning this. Eventually through the day, the Operating system within your body must speak with the printer in order to give the data back and forth and just how this can be done is by making use of a computer software driver, which is essentially just like a middleman that communicates the info between the personal computer and also the printer.

The problems that can occur following that is actually how the driver becomes corrupted, or you will discover an issue each time a computer software turmoil comes about. Something you have to know is how to troubleshoot these types of troubles and when you need to, all that you should do happens to be to upgrade the program in the driver or install some clean ones. Anything previously mentioned that will require that you merely really make contact with the maker or maybe solicit the help of your neighborhood technician skilled. Eventually, through the day, all products and gizmos are constructed to at some point fail, so take it plus your best defend are driver upgrades.

Click The Link to download Driver Scan at no cost and immediately resolve Canon Printer Driver problems. Logan Albright is undoubtedly an authority on problem-solving car owners problems at Driverscan.org, and it has really helped several to optimize their pcs for top performance.

[blackmorgan]

Craving a cosy fireplace and a good book filled with mystery, adventure, friendship and romance between Sherlock Holmes and John Watson? And bees. Did I mention bees?

Then curl up with A Murmuring of Bees, Improbable Press’ third Sherlock Holmes book. While IP is a for-profit press this book is a labour of love, with every writer donating their story so that profits go to the It Gets Better Project.

Order Murmuring and other IP Sherlock titles from IP or from:

AmazonUS

AmazonUK

Bookdepository (free shipping worldwide!)

Barnes & Noble

Ebook (Kindle)

“A Murmuring of Bees” authors include: Amy L Webb (Flawedamythyst), Anarion, Atlin Merrick, Brittany Russ (Kirakira Nanoda), Darcy Lindbergh (Watsonshoneybee), Elinor Gray (Mistyzeo), Hallie Deighton, Jamie Ashbird, Janet A-Nunn, Kerry Greenwood, Kim Le Patourel (Kizzia), Kimber Camacho (Random Nexus), Lucy Jarsdell (Dancinggrimm), Meredith Spies, Morgan Black, Narrelle M Harris (221b_hound), Poppy Alexander, Stacey Albright, Tessa Barding (Lobstergirl), Verena, and Verity Burns.

[tdalbright-blog]

AVNation Special: Networking AV Over IP

AVNation Special: Networking AV Over IP

Yes, And Yes Again

AV over IP systems have gained a fair amount of traction in the last few years. On this AVNation Special, we discuss the growing adoption rate of AV over IP solutions, getting the protocols to play well with other systems, and where AV over IP technology is headed in the future.

Host: Tim Albright Guests:

John Henkel – NETGEAR

Paul Mueller – AVI Systems

Eric Snider – Confe…

[rolandfontana]

Eight+ Things to Read About China and Other Things, Part 4

This is part 4 of our series listing out eight+ things to read about China and a lot more. We constantly get emails from readers asking what to read on China and all sorts of things related and even barely related to China and the plan of this series would be to constantly and consistently answer this very question. We also have a few very loyal readers who often send us truly great articles on China (and other things). We owe these unpaid and truly superb researchers a big debt and this week’s post is dedicated to them!

As I said in our initial post on this, our plan is to list out eight (or so) articles we benefitted from reading and think you our readers would also benefit from reading, along with a very brief explanation why the particular article was included. More specifically:

The articles will likely include many on China and on Asia and a few on international trade, international politics, Spain and Latin America, economics and really just anything else we believe might benefit our readers or even that we just want people to read. We do not plan to choose articles that push our or any other political agenda or any other agenda for that matter, but having said that, we are not objective and our views may creep through. Our goal though is to focus on articles that are important or helpful or — most importantly — that make you think. Our posting of an article will NOT mean we agree with all of it or even any of it. Most of the articles will be from the week preceding the post but we will also sometimes throw in older articles (classics if you will) as well.

Please do not hesitate to comment at the end of this or any other post. We cannot tell you how much we appreciate your comments, good, bad and indifferent.

Here we go, in absolutely no particular order.

1. Trump Trade War Starts to Threaten Hollywood’s Business in China. Variety Magazine. Because this article highlights China doing what China always does, which is to block foreign companies from doing certain things but do it in a surreptitious way so it can claim it isn’t really doing anything at all. As per our lead China movie and entertainment lawyer, Mathew Alderson, China has instituted “a de facto ban on U.S. content in the theatrical and streaming sectors . . .  . without writing anything down.” China has down the same thing with canola oil from Canada. See PM worries China could target more Canadian goods as fears about soybeans rise. 

2. Sudan crisis: Military arrests opposition figures after mediation bid. BBC. Because the world needs to know what is happening in the Sudan and the U.S. media has utterly failed to cover this story. Because China and Russia are helping to prop up the dictatorial regime there.

3. 1 in 5 corporations say China has stolen their IP within the last year: CNBC. Because anyone who says China IP theft isn’t rampant either does not know or is not telling the truth. Because if the question were attempted IP theft the number would likely be four or even five out of five.

4. I Can No Longer Continue to Live Here. Politico. Because no matter your position on immigration, it is important that you not forget that we are dealing with real life human beings.

5. Decades of Being Wrong About China Should Teach Us Something. Atlantic Magazine. Because, at minimum, reading this article should teach us all at least a bit of humility. Because it reminds me of a great phrase Madeline Albright used at her speech I saw earlier this week to describe what so many are suffering from China these days: “Promise Fatigue.” 

6. Ethiopia and Kenya are struggling to manage debt for their Chinese-built railways. Quartz. Because some countries have benefitted from China’s Belt and Initiative has its plusses and minuses for participating countries.

7. “Flight shame” a threat to airlines as flyers worry about their carbon emissions. Stuff. Because I love trying to be in the forefront of everything and because something like this might have real legs.

8. Online store Gilt is being slammed for listing some clothes for higher prices than their retail value. Business Insider. Because reputation is everything for most businesses. Because this highlights the importance of critical thinking and doing your own research and fact-checking.

9. Why Elizabeth Warren Matters. The Bulwark. Because like her or not, Elizabeth Warren is smarter than hell and does not mess around.

10. A world divided by 5G: Russia’s Huawei deal is the latest sign of an emerging internet iron curtain. CNN. Because this is the new normal. Because this is where the US-China Cold War is inexorably heading.Because the world is going to be divided between mostly authoritarian countries on one side and the West and countries like Japan and Australia on the other side. Because boning up on the US-Russia Cold War will give you a better read of the world we will be facing over the next 10-50 years. Because in my undergraduate class on the US-Russia Cold War I read (and loved) Graham Allison’s Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis and now many are referencing Allison’s latest book, Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides’s Trap? to explain the US-China Cold War.

Your thoughts?

Eight+ Things to Read About China and Other Things, Part 4 syndicated from https://immigrationattorneyto.wordpress.com/

[josidel]

Russian-bought ads on YouTube, Gmail and other platforms

Google for the first time has uncovered evidence that Russian operatives exploited the company’s platforms in an attempt to interfere in the 2016 election, according to people familiar with the company's investigation.

The Silicon Valley giant has found that tens of thousands of dollars were spent on ads by Russian agents who aimed to spread disinformation across Google’s many products, which include YouTube, as well as advertising associated with Google search, Gmail, and the company’s DoubleClick ad network, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss matters that have not been made public. Google runs the world’s largest online advertising business, and YouTube is the world’s largest online video site.

The discovery by Google is also significant because the ads do not appear to be from the same Kremlin-affiliated troll farm that bought ads on Facebook -- a sign that the Russian effort to spread disinformation online may be a much broader problem than Silicon Valley companies have unearthed so far.

Google previously downplayed the problem of Russian meddling on its platforms. Last month, Google spokeswoman Andrea Faville told The Washington Post that the company is "always monitoring for abuse or violations of our policies and we've seen no evidence this type of ad campaign was run on our platforms."

Nevertheless, Google launched an investigation into the matter, as Congress pressed technology companies to determine how Russian operatives used social media, online advertising, and other digital tools to influence the 2016 presidential contest and foment discord in U.S. society.

On Monday, the company issued a statement saying, "We have a set of strict ads policies including limits on political ad targeting and prohibitions on targeting based on race and religion. We are taking a deeper look to investigate attempts to abuse our systems, working with researchers and other companies, and will provide assistance to ongoing inquiries."

The people familiar with Google's investigation said that the company is looking at a set of ads that cost less than $100,000 and that it is still sorting out whether all of the ads came from trolls or whether some originated from legitimate Russian accounts.

To date, Google has mostly avoided the scrutiny that has fallen on its rival Facebook. The social network recently shared about 3,000 Russian-bought ads with Congressional investigators that were purchased by operatives associated with the Internet Research Agency, a Russian-government affiliated troll farm, the company has said.

Some of the Facebook ads, which cost a total of about $100,000, touted Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders and the Green party candidate Jill Stein during the campaign, people familiar with those ads said. Other ads appear to have been aimed at fostering division in United States by promoting anti-immigrant sentiment and racial animosity. Facebook has said those ads reached just 10 million of the 210 million U.S. users that log onto the service each month.

At least one outside researcher has said that the influence of Russian disinformation on Facebook is much greater than the company has so far  acknowledged and encompasses paid ads as well as posts published on Facebook pages controlled by Russian agents. The posts were shared hundreds of millions of times, said Jonathan Albright, research director of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University.

On Monday he said the revelations about Google suggest the Russian online influence campaign likely used many of the American technology industry’s most prominent online platforms and services.

“It’s a system,” Albright said. “It’s not necessarily magic. It’s social media marketing at an expert level… This is very well executed.”

Oxford University researchers, meanwhile, reported Monday that Twitter and Facebook accounts linked to Russians targeted online content at U.S. military veterans and active-duty personnel, mixing disinformation alongside other content already being read and shared widely among these communities.

In a blog post, Facebook wrote it is also looking at an additional 2,200 ads that may have not come from the Internet Research Agency.

"We also looked for ads that might have originated in Russia — even those with very weak signals of a connection and not associated with any known organized effort," the company wrote last month. "This was a broad search, including, for instance, ads bought from accounts with US IP addresses but with the language set to Russian — even though they didn’t necessarily violate any policy or law. In this part of our review, we found approximately $50,000 in potentially politically related ad spending on roughly 2,200 ads."

Meanwhile, Twitter said that it shut down 201 accounts associated with the Internet Research Agency. It also disclosed that the account for the news site RT, which the company linked to the Kremlin, spent $274,100 on its platform in 2016. Twitter has not said how many times the Russian disinformation was shared. The company is investigating that matter and trying to map the relationship between Russian accounts and well-known media personalities as well as influencers associated with the campaigns of Donald Trump and other candidates, said a person familiar with Twitter's internal investigation. RT also has a sizeable presence on YouTube.

Twitter declined to comment for this story.

Executives for Facebook and Twitter will testify before Congressional investigators on Nov. 1. Google has not said whether it will accept a similar invitation to do so.

SubscribeSign In

Newsletters & AlertsGift SubscriptionsContact UsHelp Desk

The Switch

Google uncovers Russian-bought ads on YouTube, Gmail and other platforms

By Elizabeth Dwoskin, Adam Entous and Craig Timberg October 9

 Play Video 1:31

Google uncovers Russian-bought ads

Google found tens of thousands of dollars were spent on ads by Russian agents who aimed to spread disinformation across Google's platforms. (Elyse Samuels/The Washington Post)

SAN FRANCISCO — Google for the first time has uncovered evidence that Russian operatives exploited the company’s platforms in an attempt to interfere in the 2016 election, according to people familiar with the company's investigation.

The Silicon Valley giant has found that tens of thousands of dollars were spent on ads by Russian agents who aimed to spread disinformation across Google’s many products, which include YouTube, as well as advertising associated with Google search, Gmail, and the company’s DoubleClick ad network, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss matters that have not been made public. Google runs the world’s largest online advertising business, and YouTube is the world’s largest online video site.

[Facebook to turn over thousands of Russian ads to Congress, reversing decision]

The discovery by Google is also significant because the ads do not appear to be from the same Kremlin-affiliated troll farm that bought ads on Facebook -- a sign that the Russian effort to spread disinformation online may be a much broader problem than Silicon Valley companies have unearthed so far.

Google previously downplayed the problem of Russian meddling on its platforms. Last month, Google spokeswoman Andrea Faville told The Washington Post that the company is "always monitoring for abuse or violations of our policies and we've seen no evidence this type of ad campaign was run on our platforms."

Nevertheless, Google launched an investigation into the matter, as Congress pressed technology companies to determine how Russian operatives used social media, online advertising, and other digital tools to influence the 2016 presidential contest and foment discord in U.S. society.

On Monday, the company issued a statement saying, "We have a set of strict ads policies including limits on political ad targeting and prohibitions on targeting based on race and religion. We are taking a deeper look to investigate attempts to abuse our systems, working with researchers and other companies, and will provide assistance to ongoing inquiries."

The people familiar with Google's investigation said that the company is looking at a set of ads that cost less than $100,000 and that it is still sorting out whether all of the ads came from trolls or whether some originated from legitimate Russian accounts.

AFP/Getty Images/Leon Neal and Loic Venance

To date, Google has mostly avoided the scrutiny that has fallen on its rival Facebook. The social network recently shared about 3,000 Russian-bought ads with Congressional investigators that were purchased by operatives associated with the Internet Research Agency, a Russian-government affiliated troll farm, the company has said.

Some of the Facebook ads, which cost a total of about $100,000, touted Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders and the Green party candidate Jill Stein during the campaign, people familiar with those ads said. Other ads appear to have been aimed at fostering division in United States by promoting anti-immigrant sentiment and racial animosity. Facebook has said those ads reached just 10 million of the 210 million U.S. users that log onto the service each month.

[Twitter finds hundreds of accounts tied to Russian operatives]

At least one outside researcher has said that the influence of Russian disinformation on Facebook is much greater than the company has so far  acknowledged and encompasses paid ads as well as posts published on Facebook pages controlled by Russian agents. The posts were shared hundreds of millions of times, said Jonathan Albright, research director of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University.

On Monday he said the revelations about Google suggest the Russian online influence campaign likely used many of the American technology industry’s most prominent online platforms and services.

“It’s a system,” Albright said. “It’s not necessarily magic. It’s social media marketing at an expert level… This is very well executed.”

Oxford University researchers, meanwhile, reported Monday that Twitter and Facebook accounts linked to Russians targeted online content at U.S. military veterans and active-duty personnel, mixing disinformation alongside other content already being read and shared widely among these communities.

In a blog post, Facebook wrote it is also looking at an additional 2,200 ads that may have not come from the Internet Research Agency.

"We also looked for ads that might have originated in Russia — even those with very weak signals of a connection and not associated with any known organized effort," the company wrote last month. "This was a broad search, including, for instance, ads bought from accounts with US IP addresses but with the language set to Russian — even though they didn’t necessarily violate any policy or law. In this part of our review, we found approximately $50,000 in potentially politically related ad spending on roughly 2,200 ads."

Meanwhile, Twitter said that it shut down 201 accounts associated with the Internet Research Agency. It also disclosed that the account for the news site RT, which the company linked to the Kremlin, spent $274,100 on its platform in 2016. Twitter has not said how many times the Russian disinformation was shared. The company is investigating that matter and trying to map the relationship between Russian accounts and well-known media personalities as well as influencers associated with the campaigns of Donald Trump and other candidates, said a person familiar with Twitter's internal investigation. RT also has a sizeable presence on YouTube.

 Play Video 3:08

How Russian operatives used Facebook and Twitter during the 2016 election

Facebook, Twitter reveal Russian meddling during 2016 election (The Washington Post)

Twitter declined to comment for this story.

Executives for Facebook and Twitter will testify before Congressional investigators on Nov. 1. Google has not said whether it will accept a similar invitation to do so.

The Switch newsletter

The day's top stories on the world of tech.

Sign up

U.S. intelligence agencies concluded in January that Russian president Vladmir Putin intervened in the U.S. election to help Donald Trump win. But Silicon Valley companies have received little assistance from the intelligence community, people familiar with the companies' probes said.

Google discovered the Russian presence on its platforms by siphoning data from another technology company, Twitter, the people familiar with Google's investigation said. Twitter offers outsiders the ability to access a small amount of historical tweets for free, and charges developers for access to the entire Twitter firehose of data stemming back to 2006.

Google downloaded the data from Twitter and was able to link Russian Twitter accounts to other accounts that had used Google’s services to buy ads, the people said. This was done without the explicit cooperation of Twitter, the people said.

Google's probe is still in its early stages, the people said. The number of ads posted and the number of times those ads were clicked on could not be learned. Google is continuing to examine its own records and is also sharing data with Facebook. Twitter and Google have not cooperated with one another in their investigations.

via Blogger http://ift.tt/2zEIR95

[watchyourrepsmn-blog]

MN Action Alert - Omnibus Bills

Last Updated 05/12/2017

The omnibus budget bills are coming out of conference committee and the GOP has requested the governor respond by Thursday. Information on exactly what is in these bills is still being compiled (some information below) but the governor could use some calls to let him know the people of MN have his back.

Please call the governor (651-201-3400) and let him know you support a budget that fully funds programs and services and that you will not accept cuts to services to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy.

Additionally, please pick an issue or two from what we know about the omnibus bills listed below to talk to the governor about. You can also call the members of the conference committee. This is particularly impactful if they represent you. If not, then please call the chairs.

If a bill isn’t listed, it’s because I have no information about the current conference committee version. I’ll update this list as I learn more.

HF861 – Transportation Omnibus.

I have reviewed the policy provisions in this bill. Originally this bill had a 40% cut to transit funding. The GOP have come up from that number considerably but the new funding stills leave a 2018-2019 deficit of $17.5 million. Besides the budget, this bill has two main issues:

This bill reorganizes and micromanages the Metropolitan Council. They have backed off of a lot, but are still making major changes to the Met in a budget bill.

It removes any obligation by the state to support fare subsidies for new light rail (which are the lowest of any form of public transit) unless an appropriation is passed by law for a specific project. This includes so much as adding a new stop.

I do want you to know this bill isn’t all doom and gloom. It has some good provisions to support bikeways and non-motorized transportation along with improving the safety of rail crossings where hazardous material is transported.

Chairs: Senator Scott Newman and Representative Paul Torkelson

Members:

House: Torkelson, Petersburg, Howe, Runbeck, Koznick

Senate: Newman, Jasinski, Kiffmeyer, Osmek, Sparks

  HF890 – Education Omnibus.

So far, I know this bill under-funds education (1.5% increase when the minimum needed to avoid service cuts is 2%) and eliminates voluntary pre-K.

Chairs: Senator Carla Nelson and Representative Jenifer Loon

Members:

House: Loon, Erickson, Bennett, Kresha, Murphy

Senate: Nelson, Pratt, Weber, Eichorn, Wiger

   SF1937 – Jobs Omnibus.

The provision to prevent Internet Service Providers from monitoring and selling your browsing history was removed. This provision was passed in both the House and Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support (it even passed 66-1 in the Senate). It should be re-added to the bill. Additionally, this bill bans any regulation on VOIP services or IP-enabled services.

The Jobs bill also has a number of provisions that add up to a big boost for fossil fuel companies.

Requires all gas pumps to display a sign with the state and federal gas tax amounts. This is just a way to try and turn people off of gas taxes. It does nothing for jobs.

End the Made in Minnesota solar program

Changes the renewable energy development fund into a clean energy advancement fund. While there are some good specifications for what the money can be spent on, all requirements that it be spent to promote renewable energy have been removed.

Includes the language around electricity co-ops that Dayton vetoed earlier this year

Requires that Public Utilities Commission to assess economic and job factors when making decisions and, if there is any ambiguity between the best choices for them to make between jobs and environmental and other factors, requires them to choose jobs over the environment or other factors

Exempts oil and gas pipelines from certificate of need requirements

Restricts alternative pipeline routing options that can be made as part of an environmental assessment

Removes restrictions on importing or purchasing power from out of state that would increase statewide carbon dioxide emissions

Suspends all financing for energy improvements to residences until the legislature passes consumer protection legislation. I can’t tell from the bill if this is intended to help with a real problem or just to suspend these types of home improvements. I’ll keep an eye out and see if I can find more information.  

Additionally, it preempts local authority to regulate the types of bags used by retailers (basically prevents cities from banning plastic bags).

The bill reorganizes a number of committees and boards. I cannot access if these are good or bad, but I feel large changes like this should be vetted in their own bills. The organizations affected are: Workforce Development Board, Iron Range Resources Board, and the Legislative Energy Commission. Additionally the bill freezes the staff levels and administrative costs of the Housing Finance Agency at 2017 levels.

Chairs: Senator Miller, Representative Garofalo

Members:

House: Garofalo, Newberger, Hoppe, O’Neill, Mahoney

Senate: Miller, Osmek, Dahms, Anderson P, Champion

  SF605 – State Government Finance Omnibus.

Eliminates the Office of Economic Status of Women. This office creates non-partisan assessments of how legislation will impact the economic status of women. Also ends the public financing of political campaigns. Publicly financed elections are an excellent way to foster small “d” democracy. We need to counteract the influence of big money. We also need to encourage candidates to spend more time talking to constituents and less time raising money. This bill also under-funds executive offices, puts a cap on the number of employees and freezes their salaries. This is the GOP trying to micromanage the executive branch. As if that wasn’t enough, it also cuts funding to the State Demographer’s office for the 2020 census (which determines not just voting districts and seats in congress, but also access to numerous funds and services). Also, skimps on cyber-security funding.

Chairs: Representative S Anderson, Senator Kiffmeyer

Members:

House: Anderson S, O’Driscoll, Dettmer, Fenton, Nash

Senate: Kiffmeyer, Anderson B, Koran, Hall, Laine

  SF800 – Health and Human Services.

Eliminates MNSure in 2019. Cuts $482 million in funding. The bill allows non-profit HMOs to convert to for-profit businesses with little oversight or regulation while walking away with billions in assets meant for the public interest. 20% cut to family planning special project. Also includes special reporting requirements for abortions done via telemedicine. These are low risk, medically induced, early stage, abortions where the medicine is prescribed in a different location than where it is taken. This could have a chilling effect on doctors will to subscribe those medications or places will to allow patients to take them. Relaxes regulations on insurance companies. One example is allowing them to cancel your policy if you are a single day late (no more grace period).

Chairs: Senator Michelle Benson and Representative Matt Dean

Members:

House: Dean, Albright, Schomacker, Kiel, Schultz

Senate: Benson, Abeler, Housley, Utke, Lourey

   SF2214 – Higher Education Omnibus.

The version of this bill proposed by the conference committee has a harmful combination of under-funding and tuition freezes. It’s also skews funding heavily towards Minnesota State University over the University of Minnesota. The budget is only 39% of what Governor Dayton would like to see. This level of funding will make it very difficult for our university system to serve the students, but when you mix under-funding with a tuition freeze it will mean program and service cuts, larger class sizes, and staff and teacher layoffs. Additionally, Governor Dayton recommended a 60/40 split of whatever budget is negotiated between Minnesota State University and the University of Minnesota, instead this bill is an 80/20 split in favor of Minnesota State. The budget target also got even smaller in conference committee.

Chairs: Representative Nornes, Senator Fischbach

Members:

House: Nornes, Christensen, Daniels, Whelan, Omar

Senate: Fischbach, Draheim, Anderson P, Jensen, Clausen

  SF803 – Public Safety Omnibus.

Still contains provisions to use private prisons. Also, still contains the anti-protestors provisions. Allows off-duty police officers to carry weapons into private establishments (does not require them to prove they are police officers). Does not properly fund the court system.

Chairs: Senator Warren Limmer and Representative Tony Cornish

Members:

House: Cornish, Johnson, Zerwas, Scott, Hilstrom

Senate: Limmer, Anderson B, Johnson, Latz, Relph

  HF4 – Taxes Omnibus.

Uses up most of the surplus through $1.15 billion on tax cuts.  Tax cuts for the lowest tax bracket were removed from the bill. Gives tax credits for private charter school tuition.  Exempts the new soccer stadium in Saint Paul from ever paying property taxes.

There’s some good forms of relief in here too, like a student loan tax credit and expansion of the child and dependent care credit. But under-funding nearly every other part of government to pay for all these tax deductions isn’t acceptable.

Chairs: Representative Davids, Senator Chamberlain

Members:

House: Davids, Drazkowski, McDonald, Hertaus, Marquart

Senate: Chamberlain, Dahms, Miller, Senjem, Rest

  HF888 – Environmental Omnibus.

Not much info on this one yet, but the DNR commissioner said the current funding levels would lead to 100 full-time employees being laid off.

Chairs: Senator Bill Ingebrigtsen and Representative Dan Fabian

Members:

House: Fabian, Heintzeman, Swedzinski, Uglem, Ecklunc

Senate: Ingebrigtsen, Ruud, Westrom, Mathews, Tomassoni

[patentideauk]

It is no secret that the cost of obtaining a patent has become excessive.  However, there is a way to obtain a patent without paying an arm and a leg; it's called 'Patent Pending.'  It has been a viable option since the early 20th century, and is an alternative.  It is not really an alternative, but rather an effective way to obtain a patent without spending as much money.

[yahoo-roto-arcade-blog]

NL Tout recap: Seager, Schwarber, Arenado and the abandonment of a plan

Corey Seager, a foundational asset in fantasy. (Photo by Rob Tringali/Getty Images)

As a general rule, here’s the way these fantasy draft recaps are supposed to flow: First, the author describes a meticulously planned pre-draft strategy — perhaps branding it with a memorable acronym — then they detail the flawless execution of their approach in a recent league. And in conclusion, the expert offers a declaration of cautious confidence, inviting praise from readers.

It’s a classic fantasy chestnut.

[Sign up for Yahoo Fantasy Baseball | 2017 Player Rankings]

Today, I’d love nothing more than to slap together exactly that sort of review of my N.L. Tout Wars experience, except, um … I did not demonstrate great strategy discipline at Tout. Not at all. I veered away from my pre-auction plan as if it was radioactive — as if it was a betting tip from Brad Evans.

At 9:45 am, I entered the auction room intending to avoid the $25-and-over hitters and to spend at least 40 percent of my $260 budget on pitching. By 10:30, I had dropped $36 on Nolan Arenado. An hour later, I threw $29 at Corey Seager. At that point, I’d spent $109 on four bats and my pre-auction plan was cooked.

But here’s the thing with auctions: The most important principle by far is to acquire players at or below your prices, and to accumulate as much total value as possible. Ideally, you end up spending your $260 budget on a collection of players that you value at, say, $290 (or more). It’s fine to have a thoughtfully crafted plan, but it’s also important to recognize that the room may not accommodate you.

At Tout, when Clayton Kershaw went for $45 and Carlos Martinez for $26 and Gerritt Cole for $22, it became fairly clear that I wouldn’t land many upper-tier pitchers at my preferred prices. Thus, my money went elsewhere and the script was torched. So it goes.

Honestly, I have no idea what I could have been glaring at with such intensity. It’s like I’m trying to melt Tristan Cockcroft. (@ToutWars)

You can find full Tout auction results right here. Again, I’m involved in the N.L.-only league, so if you’re accustomed to playing mixed formats, you will absolutely hate every roster on the spreadsheet. It’s a 12-person group featuring 11 experts, plus Grey Albright of Razzball. (That’s a joke. Grey is a delight, a shrewd fantasy professional. Unstable, yes, but shrewd. A pageant of a man.) Our reigning champ is Todd Zola, an absolute legend. Tout Wars is a two-catcher league with 23 active roster spots, using OBP in place of batting average. We have a few additional non-Yahoo quirks in play, including a swing position that can be occupied by a hitter or pitcher. These are the full rules, for those interested. The N.L. auction went down on Sunday, March 26 at Rock & Reilly’s NYC, an excellent mega-pub and home to FNTSY Sports Network.

Here’s a look at the team I assembled, which is not at all the squad I’d intended to buy…

Bats C Matt Wieters WAS, $9 C Nick Hundley SF, $1 1B Travis Shaw MIL (also 3B), $9 3B Nolan Arenado COL, $36 CI Matt Adams STL, $4 2B Ryan Schimpf SD, $9 SS Corey Seager LAD, $29 MI Jose Peraza CIN (OF), $20 OF Kyle Schwarber CHC, $24

OK, let’s pause briefly to appreciate that $24 price on Schwarber, a top-of-the-order hitter with weapons-grade power.

When the #ToutWars room only makes you pay like 60 cents per HR for Schwarbs pic.twitter.com/96iqdeH9As

— Andy Behrens (@andybehrens) March 27, 2017

I truly love him, with my whole heart. If you don’t have any Schwarber shares in your portfolio, I would advise you to keep signing up for leagues until you land him.

Moving on…

OF Dexter Fowler STL, $20 OF Hernan Perez MIL (3B), $10 OF Alex Dickerson SD, $4 UT Chase Utley LAD, $1 BN Tommy La Stella CHC (3B) BN Jesse Winker CIN (OF) BN Brett Lawrie FA (2B)

Arenado is of course a category leader, having topped the league in both home runs and RBIs in each of the past two seasons. He reached base at a .362 clip last year while appearing in 160 games, and he’s still just 25 years old. Third base is a minefield in the N.L. in the lower tiers, so I’m happy to build around him. Similarly, Seager is miles ahead of the standard-issue N.L. shortstop, arguably in a tier of his own in this format.

I’ve already given you my pitch for Peraza and Perez, a pair of burners who should allow this team to compete in steals. Schimpf hit 20 bombs in just half a season for San Diego last year after slashing a ridiculous .355/.432/.729 in the PCL. He’s been a willing walker throughout his pro career, which gives him a value boost in OBP leagues.

Among the hitters I’d hoped to land but didn’t, the biggest regrets are Hunter Renfroe ($9), Roman Quinn ($3), Albert Almora ($6) and Keon Broxton ($19). If I’d managed to stick to the original plan, that might have been my outfield. Alas.

My pitching staff came in well under budget, by roughly $20…

Arms P Stephen Strasburg WAS, $22 P Kenley Jansen LAD, $22 P Matt Moore SF, $12 P Vincent Velasquez PHI, $12 P Fernando Rodney ARI, $8 P Blake Treinen WAS, $2 P Adam Conley MIA, $2 P Bartolo Colon ATL, $2 P Jimmy Nelson MIL, $1 P Hunter Strickland SF, $1 BN Josh Hader MIL

Stephen Strasburg, fragile fantasy ace. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Washington Nationals/Getty Images)

This group is so loaded with injury risk that you can tear a flexor tendon just looking at the names. By the end of May, I could be down to Bartolo, Fernando, Kenley and seven middle-relievers. It’s a concern. But as we’ve discussed before, I’m much more comfortable owning Strasburg in a rotisserie format like Tout, where his April innings count the same as those pitched in September. If he can simply reach 175-or-so IP and maintain his career ratios, he’ll earn $22. And if he somehow reaches Dalton Del Don’s blue-sky forecast, it’s a massive win. Here’s hoping. Strasburg is healthy at the moment, which counts for somethin’.

Saves shouldn’t be an issue for this team and, if Treinen can grab the ninth inning role in Washington (currently undecided), I’ll have a surplus from which to deal. In Tout, if you don’t buy your saves in March, you end up hemorrhaging FAAB resources throughout the season, speculating on lousy relievers. I’ve been there and have no interest in going back.

If Hader can force his way into Milwaukee’s dreadful rotation by June, that would certainly help my staff in no small way. Hader had a terrific spring, and the lefty struck out 161 batters in just 126.0 innings last year in the high minors. He’s a prospect of interest, worth monitoring in any format.

Ultimately, I was not unhappy with this year’s auction haul, despite scrapping my spending plan inside the first hour. I can’t really complain about any roster that includes this guy. Feel free to file plaudits or condemnation in comments. If you see a price you like or loathe, call it out. We’re workshopping my roster here, and no piece of thoughtful feedback will be refused.

—

Follow the Yahoo crew on Twitter: Andy Behrens, Dalton Del Don, Brad Evans, Brandon Funston, Liz Loza and Scott Pianowski

[tdalbright-blog]

Daily Download Tuesday February 4, 2020

Daily Download Tuesday February 4, 2020

The Wow Factor

AVWeek 417: Cory Schaeffer and Chris Salazar-Mangrum join host Tim Albright talking about Crestron recieving JITC certification for their AV over IP DM NVX. Chris Salazar Mangrum starts off talking about what this means for Crestron and integrators looking to utilize their solutions.

Host: Tim Albright Guests:

Cory Schaeffer – QSC

Chris Salazar-Mangrum – USAV

Links to sources:

[patentideauk]

Patenting your invention is one of the smartest things you can do. In addition to providing a clear legal title to your invention, it also provides a public record of your invention that helps deter others from stealing your idea. To patent your invention, you must first decide if you are going to go through the process on your own or use the services of a professional.