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Hitting the Books: High school students have spent a decade fighting Baltimore's toxic legacy
In Fighting to Breathe: Race, Toxicity, and the Rise of Youth Activism in Baltimore, Dr. Nicole Fabricant of Towson University, chronicles the participatory action research of local students between 2011 and 2021, organizing and mobilizing their communities to fight back against a century of environmental injustice.
A ransomware attack has shut down Baltimore County public schools
The city's government was affected by a similar attack last year.
AT&T's real 5G comes to NYC and five other cities
American 5G is in a poor state right now, but carriers are making at least some attempt to rectify that situation. AT&T is following up on its mid-December launch of real 5G by adding coverage for six major cities. You should now have lower-band 5G data in New York City, Washington DC, Baltimore, Las Vegas, Detroit and Philadelphia if you're using the Galaxy Note 10+ 5G. You'll also have access to extra-fast millimeter wave 5G ("5G+" in AT&T-speak) in parts of Baltimore and Detroit as well.
Baltimore ransomware attack will cost the city over $18 million
Fresh off dealing with chaos caused by last month's ransomware attack, the city of Baltimore has a new problem to deal with -- the $18 million in damages that came with it.
Ransomware attacks in US cities are using a stolen NSA tool
The ransomware attacks in Baltimore and other US cities appear to have a common thread: they're using NSA tools on the agency's home soil. In-the-know security experts talking to the New York Times said the malware in the cyberattacks is using the NSA's stolen EternalBlue as a "key component," much like WannaCry and NotPetya. While the full list of affected cities isn't available, San Antonio and the Pennsylvania city of Allentown have reportedly been victims of EternalBlue-based campaigns.
A ransomware attack is holding Baltimore's networks hostage
A ransomware attack brought Baltimore city government's computers to a halt yesterday. The hackers are reportedly holding the city's files hostage, demanding up to 13 Bitcoins (about $76,280) to free the city's systems. As of this afternoon, the city has quarantined the ransomware, the Baltimore Sun reports. But, in a press conference, the city said it is not sure when all of the systems will be functioning again.
Amazon warehouse collapse in Baltimore leaves two dead
Amazon is grappling with tragedy at one of its warehouses this weekend. A 50-foot wall at the company's southeast Baltimore fulfillment center collapsed on the night of November 2nd in the midst of a large storm, killing two people. They worked for an external company, an Amazon official told the Baltimore Sun. The online retailer's senior operations VP, Dave Clark, was thankful for emergency response teams and said the company's "thoughts and prayers" went out to those affected.
Baltimore’s 911 dispatch system was hacked last weekend
Baltimore's 911 dispatch system was hacked over the weekend and authorities temporarily shut it down. The mayor's office confirmed to The Baltimore Sun that the system was digitally infiltrated early Saturday morning, but provided no other details while the investigation is ongoing.
Lyft's Baltimore deal turns bike sharing stops into pickup points
Uber isn't the only ridesharing outfit with an interest in bike sharing. Lyft has formed a partnership with Baltimore Bike Share that will launch hybrid pickup points and bike sharing hubs across the Maryland city. The aim, of course, is to help you switch transportation methods with a minimum of fuss. You could take just one Lyft trip downtown and pedal around for the rest of the day, or bike to a stop if you only occasionally need more than human-powered transport.
ACLU: Police use Twitter, Facebook data to track protesters
According to an ACLU blog post published on Tuesday, law enforcement officials implemented a far-reaching surveillance program to track protesters in both Ferguson, MO and Baltimore, MD during their recent uprisings and relied on special feeds of user data provided by three top social media companies: Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Baltimore PD's phone surveillance allegedly violated FCC rules
A new legal complaint filed by a Georgetown Law professor claims that law enforcement agencies using Stingray cell-site spoofing devices are in violation of standard FCC rules because they don't have the proper spectrum licenses to operate the equipment. The complaint, filed by professor Laura Moy on behalf of three different advocacy groups, specifically calls out the Baltimore Police Department for violating the Communications Act, blocking emergency 911 service and disproportionately affecting African American neighborhoods in Baltimore.
Activist @Deray Mckesson is running for mayor of Baltimore
In yet another sign of social media's growing impact on the world, one of the most well-known figures of the #BlackLivesMatter movement is running for political office. Deray Mckesson (@Deray) filed just ahead of tonight's deadline to join the Democratic primary for Baltimore's mayoral race. According to the Baltimore Sun, there are 28 people currently registered to run including 13 Democrats, with a deadline of Friday to withdraw from consideration. Former mayor Sheila Dixon is reportedly leading the crowded field, and it remains to be seen how far the combination of activism and significant Twitter/Instagram following can take a political outsider in the race.
Facebook's 2015 review video puts the year in perspective
One of the internet's greatest achievements is its ability to connect disparate global communities in discussion and, at times, compassion -- and a lot of that conversation takes place on Facebook. The company's Year in Review, a video and list released today, outlines the top 10 stories of 2015, including the US presidential election, Paris terrorist attacks, Syrian civil war and refugee crisis, Nepal earthquakes, Baltimore protests, and marriage equality. It's a snapshot of a year with extreme peaks and valleys, ultimate joy and devastation.
Tidal will stream Prince's 'Rally 4 Peace' concert for free
You won't need a ticket to Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore to see Prince perform this Sunday. Heck, you won't even need to be on the Eastern seaboard. Tidal, Jay Z's much maligned streaming music service, announced today that it will broadcast the artist's full 60-minute Rally 4 Peace set completely free of charge. What's more the show will be "pre-paywall," meaning that users won't need a Tidal subscription to access it. Additionally, the streaming service will "match funds" of any donation made through its official website with proceeds going to local youth charities and the Baltimore Justice Fund. Prince is reportedly planning this impromptu concert to bring Baltimore communities together after the death of Freddie Grey in police custody. [Image Credit: Getty]
NFL player publishes math papers in his spare time
If you were an NFL player, what would you do in between games? Live the high life? Spend more time working out? The Baltimore Ravens' John Urschel does something decidedly geekier: co-author math papers. The offensive lineman recently helped publish details of a "cascadic multigrid algorithm for computing the Fiedler vector of graph Laplacians" (no, we don't get it either), which would be impressive for any aspiring mathematician -- let alone one who spends his days crushing rivals on the football field. This isn't his first such paper, but it's notable that he's keeping up his academic pursuits even after graduating from Penn State and joining the big leagues.
Zynga East shuttered, studios in Texas and New York consolidated
Zynga shut down its Baltimore studio, Zynga East, and planned to combine studios in Texas and New York, putting roughly 30 people out of work today. Zynga will consolidate its two studios in Austin, Texas, and relocate the studio in McKinney, Texas, to Dallas. Zynga's New York City offices will merge, transferring staff to the area's mobile studio."In an effort to leverage resources as we focus on creating franchises and driving profitability, Zynga has made changes to four of our US offices," Zynga COO David Ko told Joystiq. He concluded: "While these decisions are always difficult, these steps will affect approximately 1 percent of our workforce and enable us to focus our resources on the most significant growth opportunities."Zynga lost chief game designer and head of Zynga East Brian Reynolds in January, and shut down CityVille 2 development. This continues a trend of financial problems, game closures and executive departures at Zynga.
Sprint LTE spreads its wings to four more areas by Labor Day
Sprint may have played slightly fast and loose with its definition of a 15-city LTE launch this month -- some of those areas were mighty close to each other -- but it's taking that expansion a little further down the road with its next stage. Hand-in-hand with its second quarter results, the pin-drop network has outlined plans to revisit its 4G hometown in Baltimore as well Gainesville in Georgia, the Junction City-Manhattan area in Kansas and the Denison-Sherman region in Texas, giving them all LTE by Labor Day. The expansion will certainly please Georgian Galaxy S III owners; unfortunately, it still leaves many major cities fending with EV-DO 3G until later in the year, if not 2013. Maybe Sprint's Hitchcock-inspired nightmares are to blame.
Sprint adds Kansas City and Baltimore to list of LTE markets
If you've been waiting to see if your 'hood would be next up for Sprint to bless with a shiny new LTE network we've got some potentially good news: by mid-2012 both Kansas City (regardless of what side of the Kansas / Missouri border you happen to be on) and Baltimore will be online. Those two cities will bring the total number of Sprint LTE markets to six, as they join the previously announced Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Atlanta. The carrier and CEO Dan Hesse refused to be any more specific about a launch date on today's earnings call, though, we can tell you the service should be launching alongside the Galaxy Nexus, LG Viper and a Sierra Wireless mobile hotspot capable of connecting via CDMA, WiMAX and LTE. Check out the PR after the break for more details.
GM's got a brand new electric motor and it'll give you the key (video)
Cars with electric motors running the show are few and far between, which is something we need to change -- that's why General Motors is finishing up a new plant in White Marsh, Maryland. The facility will be cooking up magnet and induction electrical motors to power GM's next generation of EVs. The first off the line will be the 85 kW (114hp) electric engine that'll sit inside the hood of 2013's dinky Chevy Spark EV. Peek after the break and you'll be rewarded with a cornucopia (that's the technical term for four, right?) of videos and a press release about the company's plans for electrical domination. [Thanks, Nicole]
Funcom and Stunlock Studios to sponsor Bloodline Champions tournies
Funcom and Stunlock Studios know that Bloodline Champions was just made for the tournament circuit, which is why both companies are sponsoring a pair of gaming events in May that feature this popular PvP battle arena. First stop on the trail is this weekend's TooManyGames expo, an indie gaming event in Philadelphia that's running from May 6th through the 8th. The Bloodline Champions tournament begins on Saturday at 8:00 p.m. EDT, and any interested combatants can preregister on the website or sign up at the door. Later in the month comes Digital Overload in Baltimore from May 27th through the 29th. Digital Overload is a giant LAN party, and with Funcom's sponsorship, it's hosting a Bloodline Champions double elimination tournament that's free to enter. To help promote Bloodline Champions and encourage the playerbase, Funcom and Stunlock Studios plan to continue to sponsor and host events around North America this summer.
