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Craigslist only took 11 years to make its own iOS app
Considering the App Store has been around for 11 years and Craigslist for 13 years before that, it's astonishing the bastion of online classified ads hasn't bothered to create an official, first-party iOS app until now. It just hit the App Store and, like Craiglist's website, it's pretty straightforward with a simple design.
Facebook is selling ad spots in its Marketplace listings
Facebook is going to put ads in its Marketplace section for online classifieds. That's right, in addition to seeing posts for things like used couches and bed frames, you'll likely see advertisements for Bed, Bath & Beyond and Pier 1. In addition to that, now you'll be able to pay to "Boost" a listing, much like you would a News Feed post or event listing. As TechCrunch reports, these user-paid Boosts don't offer any sort of granularity to who they're targeting.
Classified US Army and NSA data was stored on an unprotected server
Earlier this month, researchers at UpGuard reported that US military intelligence gathering data had been stored on a misconfigured Amazon Web Services S3 server that wasn't password protected and was publicly viewable. While the data in that leak appeared to consist entirely of collected public internet posts and news commentary, not private information, the team at UpGuard today reports another US government data leak, this time containing clearly classified information.
Kaspersky says it briefly possessed classified NSA files
Earlier this month, reports surfaced that classified NSA documents detailing how US agencies defend their cyber networks and how they breach foreign ones were stolen by Russian hackers in 2015. Those reports noted that the files were spotted through Kaspersky security software used by an NSA contractor who had saved the classified documents on a home computer. Well, Kaspersky has now provided some more information about the incident and it has acknowledged that it did in fact have classified NSA materials in its possession, the Associated Press reports.
Pentagon officials can view classified material on special tablets
The Department of Defense (DOD) is testing out the use of tablets for viewing classified documents and videos. In a statement, the Defense Information Systems Agency said that the year-long pilot program would provide senior DOD leaders with 8-inch tablets, the first of which was given to the DOD's acting chief information officer, John Zangardi, in May.
State Dept. releases more Hillary Clinton emails, around 150 classified
As the saga over Hillary Clinton's emails from her time as Secretary of State continues, the State Department tonight released the largest bundle of recovered messages yet. Amounting to some 7,000 pages, officials told Reuters they include some 150 emails marked as classified, which have had passages redacted. The Clinton campaign continues to maintain that her use of a private email server was not a problem, and that messages were classified later, not at the time they were originally sent. So what's in the database? You can search it yourself, to find tidbits including Clinton asking for the broadcast times of Parks & Recreation and The Good Wife and an entirely odd one marked "Gefilte Fish." In another, she asks adviser Huma Abedin to teach her how to use a new iPad when it arrived in June 2010. Riveting stuff.
The NSA can now use Samsung's Galaxy phones for classified work
Samsung Galaxy phones and tablets have just become the first consumer mobile devices approved by the US National Security Agency (NSA) to carry classified documents. The edict covers most of its newer Galaxy devices, including the Galaxy S5, Galaxy Note 4, and the Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet (2014 edition) -- as long as they're equipped with Knox, Samsung's mobile security app. Knox-enabled devices have already been approved by the US Department of Defense, but only for general, not classified, use. That's a shot of good news for Samsung in the face of recent dismal earnings, and it no doubt wants to translate the NSA's golden nod into consumer and corporate sales. Ironically, many of those potential customers may be paranoid... of the NSA.
X-37B finally touches down, completing its not-so-secret classified mission (video)
After more than a year of circling the globe, the US Air Force's X-37B has finally touched down at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The unmanned, reusable space plane spent 469 days in orbit, performing a number of experiments (many of which are classified) before finally ending its lengthy run Saturday. What exactly the military has learned from the extended orbital excursion is unclear, but, like the Mars rovers before it, the X-37B turned out to be far more robust than many had anticipated. Its mission was originally intended to last just nine months, but its operators managed to milk about six more months out of the craft. While we wait to find out what the next step is, enjoy the video of it landing after the break.
Happy Biiiirthday Mr. USAF X-37B Robot Space Plane
The X-37B was only meant to stay up in space for a gestational nine months, but a full year has now passed since launch and the US Air Force apparently has little interest in bringing its baby home. On the contrary: according to Space.com, the plan is to send up another unmanned space plane to keep the X-37B company on its [CLASSIFIED] missions. Whatever it's getting up to in that airless playground, it must be doing something right. Air Force Lt. Col. Tom McIntyre says the craft is "setting the standard for a reusable space plane and, on this one-year orbital milestone, has returned great value on the experimental investment." Which is a fine way of saying [STILL CLASSIFIED].
EVGA's dual-CPU Classified SR-2 motherboard put to the test: worth the money if you know what you're doing
You know things are changing when cooling units that could once stave off overheating on top-tier graphics cards are starting to show up on motherboards. EVGA's Classified SR-2 is a supersized, dual-socket desktop building block that tries to do it all, and -- unusually for dual-CPU logic boards -- it's targeted at enthusiasts rather than buttoned-down business types. Four PCI-Express x16 slots, room for a dozen memory sticks (up to 48GB of RAM), and two USB 3.0 ports add some spec sheet glamor, but you'll likely be wanting to know how much performance you can wring out of two 3.33GHz Intel Xeon 5680 chips working in tandem. The short answer is a lot. The long answer is, of course, that you'll need to apply those 24 threads of power to applications that can really utilize them, such as the predictable video processing and 3D rendering. That's where the multithreaded, multicore, multiprocessor rig really shone in this review, and the EVGA board underpinning it also acquitted itself with distinction. Hit the source for the benchmark results and more photography of exposed circuitry.
Perfect Citizen: secret NSA surveillance program revealed by WSJ
Do you trust your government? Do you just support it like an obedient Britney Spears, steadfast to your faith that it will do the right thing? Your answer to those questions will almost certainly predict your response to a Wall Street Journal exposé of a classified US government program provocatively dubbed, "Perfect Citizen." Why not just call it "Big Brother," for crissake! Oh wait, according to an internal Raytheon email seen by the WSJ, "Perfect Citizen is Big Brother," adding, "The overall purpose of the [program] is our Government...feel[s] that they need to insure the Public Sector is doing all they can to secure Infrastructure critical to our National Security." Histrionics aside, according to the WSJ, the "expansive" program is meant to detect assaults on private companies and government agencies deemed critical to the national infrastructure. In other words, utilities like the electricity grid, air-traffic control networks, subway systems, nuclear power plants, and presumably MTV. A set of sensors deployed in computer networks will alert the NSA of a possible cyber attack, with Raytheon winning a classified, $100 million early stage contract for the surveillance effort. Now, before you start getting overly political, keep in mind that the program is being expanded under Obama with funding from the Bush-era Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative. The WSJ also notes that companies won't be forced to install the sensors. Instead, companies might choose to opt-in because they find the additional monitoring helpful in the event of cyber attack -- think of Google's recent run-in with Chinese hackers as a potent example. Like most citizens, we have mixed emotions about this. On one hand, we cherish our civil liberties and prefer to keep the government out of our personal affairs. On the other, we can barely function when Twitter goes down, let alone the national power grid.
New Zealander gives classified DAP back to US, gets a new one in exchange
Aw, lookie here -- a happy ending! That suddenly popular Chris Ogle -- you know, the New Zealander who accidentally purchased an MP3 player full of classified US Army documents from a thrift store -- is basking in the glory of his 14th minute of fame. According to a new report from Reuters, Mr. Ogle peacefully handed the device back over to US authorities, and for his cooperation, a brand spanking new player was handed over to him. It's unclear what kind of unit he received and if it was your tax money paying for it, but we get the feeling we'll never truly know answers to either question. As for Ogle's next move? We hear he's jockeying for a guest spot on Flight of the Conchords.
New Zealander buys used MP3 player, finds classified US Army files in like-new condition
While used and refurb'd electronics have a long history of delivering more than the purchaser bargained for, like assembly-line photos, MI6 documents, or the phone number to Sarah Palin's hair stylist, New Zealand man Chris Ogle's surprise find is a little more troubling. He picked up the above unidentified MP3 player at a thrift shop in Oklahoma for $18 used. On it were 60 files, many of which appear to be US Army property of a confidential nature, including one that lists soldier names, SSNs, and phone numbers, and another doc that appears to be a mission plan. Sadly the Government is choosing to ignore this little security breach, but we think it should step up and make Mr. Ogle an offer. He's likely to let the thing go cheap thanks to a second unfortunate discovery: it doesn't even play music any more.[Via The Sydney Morning Herald]
For "on-line game friend's" eyes only
The world of online games is a great place to meet new people with whom to socialize, compete and share internal government documents. Wait, what was that last one?TPMMuckraker.com has the story on Fish and Wildlife Services appointee Julie McDonald, who's in a bit of hot water for sharing agency reports with oil company lobbyists and what an inspector general's report calls an "on-line game friend." According to the report, McDonald sent the documents because "she feels frustrated at times" and wanted "another set of eyes [to] give an unfiltered opinion ... negative comments included."The report doesn't go into detail on what games McDonald plays, but it does point out that she "engages in these games to relieve the stress created by her job." We're personally enamored with the idea of this government bureaucrat casting magic spells with this friend one minute and using them as a sort of therapist/proofreader the next. It makes you wonder how many other government secrets are being shared over game servers at this very moment.
LF Romance and Fellow Gnome Killer
Is it a joke, or a guild leader's dream? This ad appeared on Chicago's Craiglist classifeds in the "women seeking men" section.Someone out there is a 60 Troll Priest looking for a troll or orc "Warrior, Rogue, or Shaman to fight in honor for Thrall in the lands of Azeroth." Apparently her parents wouldn't approve of a cow or corpse. But she does claim to have a black war raptor, and has hobbies like disenchanting "useless garments."So if "slaying of self-righteous paladins and squishy gnomes" is your thing, drop the anonymous email a note. She might just be making fun of you-- or it might be Epic (or even Legendary) love (that's a +12 spirit drop!).Just in case Craigslist thinks it's a joke and deletes the ad, I've reprinted it in full after the jump.
