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Dutch intelligence had a front-row seat to Russian DNC hack
Of all the ways Russia attempted to exert influence over the outcome of the 2016 presidential election, the hacking of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and party officials was arguably one of the most damaging blows to the Clinton campaign. And according to an investigation by Dutch media, the national intelligence agency of the Netherlands, AIVD, watched the whole thing play out. Anonymous American and Dutch sources tell the story of the AIVD infiltrating the computer network of a Moscow university building -- a network which just so happened to be used by Russian hacking group Cozy Bear, aka APT29.
Google used a popular tax trick to shelter $19.2 billion
Just how much money do tech companies shelter from taxes? Quite a lot, according to the Dutch. Newly published Netherlands regulatory filings show that Google shielded €15.9 billion (about $19.2 billion) in 2016 using the popular "Dutch Sandwich" tax trick, saving it about $3.7 billion in taxes. The maneuver involves shifting revenue from an Irish subsidiary to a Dutch firm with no staff, and promptly moving the funds to a Bermuda mailbox owned by another Ireland-listed company. And this practice isn't slowing down -- Google moved 7 percent more cash through this approach in 2016 than it did a year earlier.
Dutch police retire convocation of drone-catching eagles
Police in the Netherlands may have been a tad too hasty in testing a squadron of drone-catching eagles. NOS has learned that Dutch law enforcement officials are retiring the birds (they're going to new homes) and winding down the program. Not surprisingly, the decision is a response to both actual demand as well as the performance of the birds themselves.
Dutch cyclists can ride over a 3D-printed bridge
A town called Gemert in the Netherlands just became home to the first 3D-printed cycling bridge ever. It took its creators at Eindhoven University three months and 800 layers to complete the 26-foot-long bridge, but now it's open and ready to support hundreds of cyclists a day. The researchers had to develop a new 3D printing technique that uses steel reinforcement cables to create pre-stressed concrete. Once they were done laying out all its layers, they tested the bridge by placing a five-ton weight on top of it. Their efforts paid off: while they'll surely improve the method even more, they believe they're now capable of using the technique to build even bigger structures.
Windows 10's data collection allegedly violates Dutch privacy law
Microsoft has already caught flak over claims that Windows 10's data collection is still overly aggressive, but it's now facing a direct legal challenge over how it handles your info. The Netherlands' Data Protection Authority has determined that Windows 10 violates the country's data protection law even after tweaks that came with the Creators Update. Allegedly, Microsoft doesn't "clearly inform" you of the type of data it's using and the reasons why that data is needed. Moreover, officials believe that Windows' default settings prevent you from offering true consent to data gathering.
EU raids banks over attempts to block financial tech rivals
You'd think that governments were waging a war against financial technology given reports of crackdowns and tighter regulation, but the opposite is true in Europe. EU officials have confirmed that they recently raided the offices of bank authorities in multiple countries, including the Netherlands and Poland, to investigate antitrust "concerns" that banks are stifling tech-driven newcomers. The banking establishment is allegedly preventing fintech companies from accessing account info despite customers granting permission, pushing people back to conventional services.
Motion-controlled robot performs delicate microsurgery
Surgeons in the Netherlands recently performed a procedure requiring immense precision as it's carried out on super tiny blood and lymphatic vessels. The surgery is extremely difficult to do and only a handful of surgeons are willing to do it. But for this particular procedure, Maastricht University Medical Center+ surgeons utilized a robot that was built to perform these sorts of complex microsurgeries right alongside doctors.
We're not getting Luke Skywalker's prosthetics any time soon
In 1937, robot hobbyist "Bill" Griffith P. Taylor of Toronto invented the world's first industrial robot. It was a crude machine, dubbed the Robot Gargantua (PDF, Pg 172) by its creator. The crane-like device was powered by a single electric motor and controlled via punched paper tape, which threw a series of switches controlling each of the machine's five axes of movement. Still, it could stack wooden blocks in preprogrammed patterns, an accomplishment that Meccano Magazine, an English monthly hobby magazine from the era, hailed as "a Wells-ian vision of 'Things to Come' in which human labor will not be necessary in building up the creations of architects and engineers."
European regulators push Facebook to tighten user privacy rules
Authorities in France and the Netherlands are the latest to speak out against the way Facebook handles the massive amounts of user data it collects. In separate announcements today, privacy watchdog groups in both countries said that Facebook did not give users enough control of their data, and that the company had collected information through third-party websites without users' consent.
This prosthetic arm is powered by Bluetooth and your mind
Robotic limbs aren't a new technology, though the range of motion and strength of such limbs continue to improve. Controlling prosthetics with your mind is another area of refinement, but they're typically connected directly to a patient's brain. A new technique where the robotic arm clicks directly to the bone, however, is showing promise. Johan Baggerman is the first patient in the Netherlands to get a click-on prosthetic arm that he can control with his mind.
Domino's delivery robots are invading Europe
Domino's has unleashed another set of pizza delivery drones, this time in Germany and the Netherlands. Last year, it worked with Flirtey to drop pizza to customers in New Zealand using unmanned aerial vehicles. For this pilot program, however, it chose to use autonomous rovers developed by Starship Technologies, a company built by two of Skype's founders. Domino's told Engadget that launching this program doesn't mean it has given up on developing its own delivery drones, which it's been doing for a year now.
Infrared light could someday deliver super-fast WiFi
WiFi has become essential to our everyday lives, which is why slow speeds piss us all off. Luckily, a PhD student in the Netherlands has come up with a potentially groundbreaking idea: using infrared rays to carry wireless data to your laptop or smartphone.
Arctic seed vault grows as defense against food crisis
In light of President Donald Trump's rise to power, some people are seriously worried about the planet's health. Count The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists among that group, since they recently pushed the Doomsday Clock to two and half minutes to midnight. Even if they think humanity is closer to extinction than it was just a couple months ago, we're now better prepared to respond to a food crisis.
Kobo is the next to offer an e-book subscription service
All-you-can-read e-book subscriptions are nothing new (just ask Amazon), but Kobo is just now joining the fray. It's launching Kobo Plus, a service that offers unlimited reading of eligible books (currently 40,000 titles) for a flat monthly fee. While there aren't any surprising attempts to shake up the basic subscription formula, you probably won't complain if you prefer Kobo's e-readers or mobile apps -- you no longer have to buy every single title that piques your interest.
All electric trains in the Netherlands now run on wind energy
The Netherlands has been harnessing the power of the wind to drain bodies of water, saw timber and to produce oil for centuries. Now, the country is also using it to run all its electric trains. The Dutch railways network (NS) started using wind energy generated by the turbines owned by electric company Eneco two years ago when they signed a ten-year agreement. They planned to power all of the country's electric trains with wind-generated energy by 2018, but they're clearly a shining example of Dutch efficiency and reached their goal a year earlier than planned.
Opera's VPN-equipped browser is now available to everyone
You no longer have to grab test software to try Opera's VPN-toting web browser. The company has released the finished version of Opera 40 for desktops, which revolves around a free virtual private network (provided by SurfEasy) that offers both a more secure connection as well as access to foreign content that would otherwise be blocked. Hi, Hulu and Pandora! It can automatically choose whichever VPN server will provide the fastest connection, but you can specify one of five countries (Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Singapore and the US) if you're more concerned about visiting region-specific sites.
Embrace your inner DJ with McDonald's McTrax placemat
Would you like a side of sick beats with those french fries? McDonald's Netherlands has you covered with the McTrax Placemat, a sheet of paper that allows you to connect with your smartphone to channel your inner Diplo.
Dutch police seize a secure communications network
The worries about criminals using encryption might be overblown, but that changes when a secure network appears to be used primarily with that activity in mind. Dutch police have both seized encrypted communications network Ennetcom and arrested its owner, Danny Manupassa, over beliefs that the business was being used for organized crime. Reportedly, many of the 19,000-plus users used the company's modified BlackBerry phones as part of "serious criminal activity," including drug trafficking and gang murders. Manupassa himself is accused of money laundering and possessing illegal weapons.
ICYMI: Animal vs. drone, 3D-printed living bone and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-69230{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-69230, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-69230{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-69230").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Dutch police are training eagles to attack drones in areas deemed off-limits while simultaneously being way more rad than other antidrone solutions that use nets.
Eagles are being trained to take out illegal drones
Forget anti-drone drones, one of nature's most majestic hunters may soon play a valuable role in taking down dangerous UAVs. As part of a new trial, the Dutch National Police force has begun training eagles to intercept troublesome drones during an emergency, when another capture device might put people below at risk.
