By Gilbert Falso :: 10:06 AM
The hacking group Anonymous has announced that it successfully breached several of North Korea’s social media accounts that it uses for propaganda spreading purposes.
In addition to gaining access to North Korea’s Twitter and Flickr accounts, the hacking collective also claims to have forced at least two North Korean websites offline - Uriminzokkiri, a news site, and the site for Air Koryo, North Korea’s airline.
Anonymous is calling their hacking initiative “Operation Free Korea”, and the participants have called for North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un to step down, and for a democratic government to be put in place. In addition, Anonymous is calling on the country to provide open, unfiltered access to the Internet for all its citizens.
In several places online, Anonymous has published the following message to North Koreans:
 “To the citizens of North Korea we suggest to rise up and bring [this] oppressive government down! We are holding your back and your hand, while you take the journey to freedom, democracy and peace. You are not alone. Don’t fear us, we are not terrorist, we are the good guys from the internet. AnonKorea and all the other Anons are here to set you free.”
It is not likely that many North Korean’s will see this message, however, as Internet access within the country is tightly controlled, and the citizens that do have access are likely to be routed onto an Intranet of sorts that only keeps them on sites within the country.
Despite being a rather reclusive nation, North Korea has been a heavy user of US-based commercial social media sites like Twitter and Flickr for spreading propaganda about the country.
By Cynthia Herbert :: 8:28 AM
NASA is seeking innovative, early-stage space technology proposals from U.S. colleges and universities that will enable the space agency to carry out future missions and maintain America’s leadership in space.
The agency is seeking proposals for science instruments, cryogenic propellant storage for long-duration space exploration, optical coatings for astrophysical pursuits, oxygen recovery for life support systems, and ideas to improve understanding of and protection from near-Earth asteroids.
These space technology areas require dramatic improvements over existing capabilities and technologies. New early stage, or low technology readiness-level, technologies that could mature into tools that solve the challenges facing NASA’s future scientific and human spaceflight missions are key. NASA hopes that researchers will propose unique, transformational space technologies that address specific topics found in this solicitation.
“Space technology is the underpinning of all of NASA’s future missions,” explained Michael Gazarik, NASA’s associate administrator for the Space Technology Mission Directorate. “NASA’s collaboration with the National Research Council and the agency’s recent Strategic Space Technology Investment Plan have helped us identify areas where new, cross-cutting space technologies are needed to enable our future missions. Now we’re reaching out to American universities to tap into the nation’s best and brightest minds to help solve these tough technology problems.”
NASA hopes to make roughly 10 awards this fall, based on the merit of the proposals it receives. Each award will be made for one year, with an optional year of research possible. Typical annual award values are expected to be approximately $250,000. Second-year funding will be contingent on the availability of appropriated funds and technical progress by awardees. Only accredited U.S. universities may advance proposals to this solicitation. The deadline to submit notices of intent are due by April 29th, and proposals are due May 21.
By: Paul Thomson :: 7:41 AM
Samsung has announced today that it is partnering with electronics retailer Best Buy to open 1,400 in-store “Experience Shops” within the big-box stores.
Best Buy will begin opening the shops later this month, and Samsung hopes that 900 Experience Shops will be open by early May, with the rest coming by the middle of the summer.
The Experience Shops will showcase the full range of Samsung’s mobile lineup – tablets, smartphone handsets and laptops are at the top of the list, along with other items. The products will be set up to give shoppers a hands-on experience with the products, where they can touch, feel, and play around with the gadgets before they make their purchases.
Experience Shops will vary in size based on the individual Best Buy store location, but will be roughly 450 square feet.
“With the Samsung Experience Shops, we are ensuring consumers get the most of that innovation by learning how to leverage their mobile devices across our ecosystem of consumer electronics,” said Dale Sohn, Samsung Telecommunications America’s President. “Consumers will have one place to not only explore and learn about our full portfolio of mobile products, but also the support of a Samsung expert to help with selecting and servicing them.â€
By Gilbert Falso :: 6:38 AM
BlackBerry announced yesterday, in an e-mail to subscribers, that its BBM Music Service would be shuttered, less than two years after it launched with much fanfare.
The company will close the music service on June 2nd, and will provide subscribers with a free 30-day trial of the Rdio music streaming service.
Originally launched as a music discovery service, BBM Music allowed users to share up to 50 songs with friends, and provided free music to users who encouraged their friends to sign up for the $5 monthly service. What BlackBerry didn’t count on, however, was the massive dropoff in BBM users that occurred after the Music service launched.
With their once captive audience fleeing to Android and iPhone handsets, the BBM Music service lost subscribers quickly, and with fewer subscribers to share songs, the service never took off as the company had imagined.
Below is the e-mail that subscribers received:
BBMT Music service will be discontinued as of June 2, 2013. For paying customers, April is the last month that you will be billed. In May, as your BBM contacts stop using the service, songs in your playlists will begin to turn grey and will no longer be available.
Though BBM Music is going away, you can still listen to great music on your BlackBerry. We’re giving you a 30-day pass to Rdio, which gives you unlimited, on-demand access to more than 18 million songs, including the latest hits and classic albums.
By Paul Thomson :: 7:38 PM
Rutgers University has fired its men’s basketball coach, Mike Rice, today after videos of Rice abusing players during practice were widely circulated online.
Although University officials first had knowledge of Rice’s behavior during practices last fall, action was not taken until this week, when the tapes were shown across news outlets and social media sites, and pressure increased on school leadership for them to address the issue.
The University’s Athletic Director, Tim Pernetti, began investigating Rice, and ultimately suspended him for three games in December. In addition to the suspension, Rice was fined $50,000 and was directed to attend anger management classes.
Rutgers President Robert Barchi had also viewed the tapes of Rice’s practices last fall, and agreed with Pernetti’s punishments at the time. Barchi had not seen the videos at that point.
“I have now reached the conclusion that Coach Rice cannot continue to serve effectively in a position that demands the highest levels of leadership, responsibility and public accountability,” Barchi said in a statement released by the University earlier today. “He cannot continue to coach at Rutgers University.”
The outcry against Rice grew stronger after ESPN broadcast parts of the abusive practices during their “Outside the Lines” program yesterday. A portion of that broadcast is below.