California secretly listened to cellphone calls from the air

If you had cellphone problems in Orange County within the last few years, you may have been the unwitting victim of a secret cellphone surveillance program, according to the ACLU. Since 2009, the Anaheim Police Department has used the Dirtbox, a military-grade, Stingray-type device that can be mounted on light aircraft. While airborne, it mimics a cellphone tower in order to indiscriminately intercept and record thousands of cell phone calls.

While Anaheim is a relatively small city, police may have also loaned out the device to other Orange County municipalities. As a result, the program “potentially affects the privacy of everyone from Orange County’s 3 million residents to the 16 million people who visit Disneyland every year [and] shows the dangers of allowing law enforcement to secretly acquire surveillance technology,” says ACLU policy attorney Matt Cagle.

The systems overpower regular cellphone towers, so they can potentially disrupt regular mobile networks. “Until now, the only reported domestic use of these powerful devices was by the federal government and the cities of Los Angeles and Chicago,” according to Cagle. However, the CIA recently gave local law enforcement agencies permission to use the devices. The city also bought a Stingray system (above) in 2011, and may have purchased a hand-held device called a Jugular, which allows officers to surreptitiously intercept LTE signals inside buildings.

The ACLU noted that Anaheim police have been very cagey about the use of the devices, saying “the secretive use of this equipment outside of Anaheim means the police not only deprived its own residents of the opportunity to debate or choose whether to be subjected to cell phone surveillance.” Last month, the US Department of Justice said that Federal law enforcement agencies need a warrant to use the devices, and the IRS said it will also require warrants. However, the ACLU was forced to sue the city of Anaheim in order get the surveillance documents, and even then, they were heavily redacted.

Via: Wired

Source: ACLU

WHO says Zika virus is a threat of ‘alarming proportions’

The head of the World Health Organization, Dr. Margaret Chan, wants to make it clear that the Zika virus is something we need to take seriously. In an address yesterday, Chan said that the virus, which has been linked to a slew of birth defects in Brazilian children, has gone from “a mid threat to one of alarming proportions.” Making things even worse, there’s no known vaccine for the Zika virus. The best we can do right now is figure out ways to control mosquito populations, Chan noted in a later briefing, NPR reports.

We’ve actually known of Zika’s existence for decades, but it wasn’t a major concern to humans until an outbreak hit the Pacific islands in 2007. After appearing in the Americas last year, it’s now spread “explosively” to 23 countries and territories in the area, Chan said. She points out there isn’t yet a direct link between the Zika virus infection and birth defects, but they’re “strongly suspected.” Because of the increased concern, she’ll be convening an emergency committee meeting on February 1 to discuss what can be done about Zika.

With no cure on the horizon, the governments in Ecuador, El Salvador, Colombia and Jamaica are recommending that women delay their pregnancies to avoid complications. Unfortunately, that strategy probably won’t be very effective, activists say. (If you’re feeling shades of Children of Men from all of this news, you’re not alone.) GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi say they’re exploring Zika vaccine work, but it’ll likely be a while before we see any results. Glaxo notes that it typically takes 10 to 15 years to develop vaccines.

“The level of concern is high, as is the level of uncertainty,” Chan said. “Questions abound. We need to get some answers quickly.”

[Photo credit: Fatih Erel/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images]

Via: NPR

Source: WHO

Yahoo updates app and homepage with more news-centric focus

Yahoo announced today an overhaul to the Yahoo app and the platform’s homepage on the desktop for U.S. users. Yahoo says the focus of the updates is to help users consume content and engage the community based on news. Part of the effort is to help surface developing stories and then get the community engaged by removing barriers.

Yahoo indicates they undertook the redesign and refocus effort based on trends in mobile data consumption. During 2015, news and magazine apps saw usage grow by 141%, which Yahoo thinks is justification for shifting their platform to focus more on news and delivery of a news feed to users.

Yahoo says their news feed will now be endless with related stores showing up inline. This means multiple browser tabs do not need to be utilized to sift through content. Yahoo says they are also making it easier to access both curated content as well as content based on user preferences. To help make that last portion function better, users need to increase their use of the platform.

The second piece of the update involves encouraging “conversations” around the news that is being delivered. Yahoo indicates comments will now be delivered in-line to make it easier for users to “surface” the thoughts of the community. Likewise, users will be able to share their own ideas and contributions in a more direct way.

If you are interested in what Yahoo is doing with their platform, head over to their homepage or install the Yahoo news app from the Play Store using the link below.

Play Store Download Link

source: Yahoo

Come comment on this article: Yahoo updates app and homepage with more news-centric focus

Despite beating forecasts, Qualcomm financial results disappoint

Qualcomm reported financial results for their first quarter, which ended on December 27, 2015, with numbers that beat forecasts despite being down year-over-year. Perhaps more disappointing though is the forecast looking ahead to the rest of 2016 as Qualcomm is faced with a slumping mobile device market that they think will be worse than what analysts are projecting.

Qualcomm says their quarterly earnings per share exceeded the high end of their initial estimates based on better than expected sales combined with cost cutting efforts undertaken. The cost cutting efforts included new license agreements with Chinese sources involved in their production chain.

Qualcomm says interest in their Snapdragon 820 processor has been strong, although they do not anticipate seeing an impact until the second half of 2016. For Q1, chip shipments are down 10% compared to the same quarter a year earlier. Despite the slide in chip shipments, Qualcomm did see actual devices shipped increase by 8% when comparing Q1 year-over-year. There was a slight, only one percent, slide in average selling prices from 2015 to 2016.

For the first quarter, Qualcomm saw revenues slide 19% compared to Q1 2015, falling to $5.8 billion. This translated to $1.7 billion operating income, which represented a 31% decrease versus the same period from a year earlier.

Qualcomm pointed out in their release that they have an agreement in place with TDK Corporation to launch a joint venture to focus on technology for use primarily in Internet of Things devices. Qualcomm’s investment in the venture will cost $1.2 billion with closing expected to occur in early 2017. Qualcomm will have a 51% stake in the joint venture and will reserve the right to buy out TDK Corporation at a later time. Clearly the move is intended to help protect the companies from the falling market for smartphones, notably in China where the market is maturing and is no longer seeing explosive growth rates.

source: Qualcomm (PDF)

Come comment on this article: Despite beating forecasts, Qualcomm financial results disappoint

Streamline your productivity with the Super SaaS 2016 Bundle for only $59

We’ve all been there at some point in time. Trying to juggle all the tasks in our day to day lives to make sure that you’re to-do list is 100% or as close to 100% as possible. Today’s deal is a bundle that aims to help with that daily struggle.

Of course there are some of us out there that are better at it than others, but the ones who struggle with staying productive, usually are trying to find some help. The Super SaaS 2016 Bundle is here to give you the tools you need to stay productive throughout the day.

• Time Doctor Solo Plan: 2-Yr Subscription: Which applications do you tend to have open? What activities do you do most frequently? Time Doctor will give you the tools to reevaluate and revise how you approach your day, so you can get more done in less time!
• Koofr 100GB Plan: 3-Year Subscription: You’ll be able to find any of your photos, videos, and documents with no trouble, free up hard drive space, and rest assured knowing your files are encrypted and backed up for maximum protection.
• TigerVPN Lite: 3-Year Subscription: TigerVPN protects you from cyber crimes, and guarantees that your Internet activity stays anonymous. How? Connect to TigerVPN Lite’s 15 servers worldwide to get fast, private access—free from location restrictions.
• Hushed Private Phone Number: Lifetime Subscription: Make calls, send texts and photos, even set up a personalized voicemail for your second set of digits. With numbers available for area codes throughout North America, Hushed is also an unmatched calling solution for communicating long-distance at local prices.
• IDrive Personal 1TB Cloud Backup: 1-Yr Subscription: Get one year of military-grade cloud-based backup to quickly and easily solve all existing and future data needs. Cloud backup is the perfect compliment to your brand new IDrive local storage, as it provides you with an option for accessing data on the go!

With five different products in total, and services ranging from a VPN service, to private cloud storage solutions, the Super SaaS 2016 Bundle has a lot of the tools you need to succeed. This bundle will help increase productivity and hopefully help teach you a thing or two so that you can develop your own methods of staying productive.

Normally, each of these products would run you anywhere between $45 and $199. With the Super SaaS 2016 Bundle you’ll get all five products for only $59, saving you 90%. As the old adage goes, you’ve gotta spend money to make money, but this bundle will help you save some money in the process.

You can find this, and many other great tech bargains through our Deals page. Backed by StackCommerce, there are daily promos, giveaways, freebies, and much more!

AndroidGuys Deals: Super SaaS 2016 Bundle

The post Streamline your productivity with the Super SaaS 2016 Bundle for only $59 appeared first on AndroidGuys.

Streamline your productivity with the Super SaaS 2016 Bundle for only $59

We’ve all been there at some point in time. Trying to juggle all the tasks in our day to day lives to make sure that you’re to-do list is 100% or as close to 100% as possible. Today’s deal is a bundle that aims to help with that daily struggle.

Of course there are some of us out there that are better at it than others, but the ones who struggle with staying productive, usually are trying to find some help. The Super SaaS 2016 Bundle is here to give you the tools you need to stay productive throughout the day.

• Time Doctor Solo Plan: 2-Yr Subscription: Which applications do you tend to have open? What activities do you do most frequently? Time Doctor will give you the tools to reevaluate and revise how you approach your day, so you can get more done in less time!
• Koofr 100GB Plan: 3-Year Subscription: You’ll be able to find any of your photos, videos, and documents with no trouble, free up hard drive space, and rest assured knowing your files are encrypted and backed up for maximum protection.
• TigerVPN Lite: 3-Year Subscription: TigerVPN protects you from cyber crimes, and guarantees that your Internet activity stays anonymous. How? Connect to TigerVPN Lite’s 15 servers worldwide to get fast, private access—free from location restrictions.
• Hushed Private Phone Number: Lifetime Subscription: Make calls, send texts and photos, even set up a personalized voicemail for your second set of digits. With numbers available for area codes throughout North America, Hushed is also an unmatched calling solution for communicating long-distance at local prices.
• IDrive Personal 1TB Cloud Backup: 1-Yr Subscription: Get one year of military-grade cloud-based backup to quickly and easily solve all existing and future data needs. Cloud backup is the perfect compliment to your brand new IDrive local storage, as it provides you with an option for accessing data on the go!

With five different products in total, and services ranging from a VPN service, to private cloud storage solutions, the Super SaaS 2016 Bundle has a lot of the tools you need to succeed. This bundle will help increase productivity and hopefully help teach you a thing or two so that you can develop your own methods of staying productive.

Normally, each of these products would run you anywhere between $45 and $199. With the Super SaaS 2016 Bundle you’ll get all five products for only $59, saving you 90%. As the old adage goes, you’ve gotta spend money to make money, but this bundle will help you save some money in the process.

You can find this, and many other great tech bargains through our Deals page. Backed by StackCommerce, there are daily promos, giveaways, freebies, and much more!

AndroidGuys Deals: Super SaaS 2016 Bundle

The post Streamline your productivity with the Super SaaS 2016 Bundle for only $59 appeared first on AndroidGuys.