Docs show how NSA analysts can look at Facebook chats

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New documents detailing yet another National Security Agency program reveals how the agency uses metadata to search for targets, as well as monitor emails and online chats such as Facebook chats.

XKeyscore, the Guardian reports, is a program that allows NSA analysts to search through ?the metadata as well as the content of emails and other internet activity, such as browser history, even when there is no known email account (a ?selector? in NSA parlance) associated with the individual being targeted.?

?Analysts can also search by name, telephone number, IP address, keywords, the language in which the internet activity was conducted or the type of browser used,? reports the Guardian.

Supporters of the agency?s mass collection program revealed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden have been dismissive of criticisms, saying the collection of phone numbers and other metadata did not threaten Americans? privacy.

The newly revealed information reveals how metadata collected by the agency in bulk is used; even a phone number or an email address enables analysts to easily track their targets. XKeyscore also allows analysts to monitor the contents of emails and online chats.

The Guardian also reports that an NSA document from 2007 shows that ?there were 850 billion ?call events? collected and stored in the NSA databases, and close to 150 billion internet records. Each day, the document says, one to two billion records were added.?

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence declassified documents on Wednesday pertaining to the NSA?s controversial collection of phone records.

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Source: http://dailycaller.com/2013/07/31/docs-show-how-nsa-analysts-can-look-at-facebook-chats/

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Taiwan lawmakers brawl over nuclear plant bill

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) ? Taiwanese lawmakers exchanged punches and threw water at each other Friday ahead of an expected vote that would authorize a national referendum on whether to finish building a fourth power plant on this densely populated island of 23 million people.

Nuclear power has long been a contentious issue in Taiwan and became more so following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan in 2011. While frequent earthquakes have led many Taiwanese to conclude that nuclear power generation constitutes an unacceptable safety risk, economic analyses suggest disruptive power shortages are inevitable if the fourth plant is not completed.

Friday's fracas pitted the pro-referendum forces of President Ma Ying-jeou's ruling Nationalist Party against strongly anti-nuclear forces affiliated with the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party. DPP lawmakers occupied the legislative podium late Thursday night amid vows to disrupt the referendum vote, tentatively scheduled for noon Friday (0400 GMT). With a large Nationalist majority in the 113-seat legislature, the referendum bill is expected to pass easily.

Construction of Taiwan's fourth nuclear power plant began in 1997 but was halted while the DPP was in power between 2000 and 2008. If the referendum is passed it could become operational by 2016.

Physical confrontations broke out early in Friday's session. Associated Press television footage shows some eight people pushing and shoving in one scrum. Two people scuffled on the floor, while others tried to separate them. More than a dozen activists in bright yellow shirts chanted and waved signs on a nearby balcony, and several of them splashed water onto lawmakers below. A few water bottles were thrown into the fray.

Some DPP lawmakers object to the idea of any nuclear referendum at all, while others say that the language in the bill needs to be changed because it is prejudicial. According to the bill under discussion, referendum voters would be asked to vote on whether they agree with the proposition that "the construction of the fourth nuclear power plant should be halted and that it not become operational."

Taiwan began transitioning away from a one-party martial law regime in 1987 and is regarded today as one of Asia's most vibrant democracies. But its political process has been undermined by occasional outbursts of violence in the legislature, much of which appears to be deliberately designed to score points among hardline supporters on either side of the island's longstanding political divide.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/taiwan-lawmakers-brawl-over-nuclear-plant-bill-030123310.html

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Hillsdale College Apologizes for Its President

Hillsdale College Apologizes for Its President

Hillsdale College President Larry Arnn has issued an apology after referring to the faces of minorities on his campus as "dark ones" during an appearance before a legislative subcommittee in Lansing.
The Detroit News reports that Arnn's apology came in a statement Wednesday afternoon that read: "No offense was intended by the use of that term except to the offending bureaucrats."
The Detroit Free Press had earlier reported that Arnn told lawmakers that the state once sent people to Hillsdale to "look at the colors of people's faces and write down what they saw."
He then asked what kind of faces the visitors were seeking "besides dark ones."
Arnn was speaking Wednesday against the state's adoption of common learning standards.
Hillsdale is about 50 miles southwest of Ann Arbor.

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Source: http://www.wilx.com/home/headlines/Hillsdale-College-Apologizes-for-Its-President-217855861.html

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BI Org Readiness | Chatsoft Chatter

Data overload from both known and dynamic sources?is becoming a huge challenge for businesses. Yet there is an enormous opportunity to harness the hidden power of data if tamed by the right organizational structures, processes, and platforms. In order to do this, a BI Organizational Readiness strategy and road-map must be developed. A crucial outcome?of this process is to establish a BI Center of Excellence (CoE).

A BI CoE is focused on enabling businesses to transform their collection and use of data through a disciplined and supportive approach, thereby improving operating efficiency by eliminating duplication and streamlining processes. To best architect a strategy on how a BI CoE should start and evolve over time in support of the increased usage of BI solutions, an organization?s culture and current dynamic must be considered. Below is an example of a BI CoE model that we created for a client. The chart shows the relationships between the business stakeholders and the BI CoE, as well as the different roles involved within and around the BI CoE team.?For a BI CoE to be effective, new roles must be added beyond a traditional Business Analyst position. The addition of BI Data Scientists within each stakeholder?department will greatly maximize the use of BI tools and help to uncover more hidden opportunities faster.

For more information visit the BI Organizational Readiness page on our website!

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Source: http://blog.chatsoft.com/2013/07/31/bi-org-readiness/

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South African stocks extend gains, Absa hammered

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African stocks closed higher for a second-straight session on Tuesday, buoyed by paper-maker Mondi Ltd, which hit a record high after it said first-half profit would be sharply higher.

Absa Group tumbled more than 7 percent, posting its biggest one-day drop in a year, after the bank's first-half earnings and dividend disappointed investors.

"The dividend is light," said Stephen Burrell, a trader at Johannesburg-based Avior Research. "Total dividend came in at about 10.58 but the market was looking at 11 rand so they are disappointing."

South Africa's benchmark Top-40 index rose 0.41 percent to 36,516.92, while the broader All-Share index was up 0.42 percent to 40,991.30.

Mondi surged 4.8 percent to 145.50 rand, the biggest gain on the blue-chip index and its highest close on record, according to Reuters data.

Mondi, which is also listed in London, said first-half profit would likely be "significantly higher", helped by one-time items.

Retailers also gained ground, as they rebounded after a recent sell-off.

"Retailers (are) finding some firm ground after their disappointing trading updates," said Avior Research's Burrell.

Shoprite, Africa's biggest retailer, rose 2.5 percent to 167.86 rand, while Truworths, South Africa's largest clothing seller by market value, gained 1.83 percent to 83.48 rand.

Woolworths, which sells clothing and groceries, climbed 1.4 percent to 66.64 rand.

Media and e-commerce group Naspers rose 3.8 percent to a record close of 830 rand, lifted by another surge in Chinese Internet firm Tencent, in which it owns a 34 percent stake.

More than 168 million shares changed hands, according to preliminary bourse data. Advancers edged out decliners, 151 to 150, with 55 stocks unchanged.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/south-african-stocks-extend-gains-absa-hammered-161334480.html

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Train of Thought Derailed: How an Accident Can Affect Your Brain

My cousin Guillermo Cassinello Toscano was on the train that derailed in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, last week when it went around a bend at twice the speed limit. Cassinello heard a loud vibration and then a powerful bump and then found himself surrounded by bloody bodies in wagon number nine. Shaking, he escaped the wreckage through either a door or a hole in the train?he cannot recall?then sat amid the smoke and debris next to the track and began to cry. Seventy-nine passengers died. Cassinello doesn?t remember everything that happened to him. The same mechanisms that kept his brain sharp enough to escape immediate danger may also make it harder for him both to recall the accident, and to put the trauma behind him. "The normal thing is that the person doesn't remember the moment of the accident or right after," says clinical psychologist Javier Rodriguez Escobar of trauma therapy team Grupo Isis in Seville, who helped treat and study victims of the 2004 Madrid train bombings. That's because the mind and the body enter a more alert but also more stressed state, with trade-offs that can save your life, but harm your mind?s memory-making abilities. As the train fell over, several changes would have swept through Cassinello?s body. His adrenal glands, near his kidneys, would have released adrenaline (also known as epinephrine) into his bloodstream. The adrenaline would have directed blood to the powerful muscles of his arms and legs, where it would help him escape the wreckage faster. The hormone would have raised his heart and breathing rates. It also would have stimulated his vagus nerve, which runs from his spine to his brain. Although adrenaline cannot cross the blood?brain barrier, the vagus can promote noradrenaline production in the brain. That hormone activates the amygdala, which helps form memories. Just the right amount of noradrenaline, researchers have found, can boost memory storage; too much can destroy it. Figuring out the balance could allow researchers to harness the hormone. Neuroscientist Christa McIntyre at the University of Texas at Dallas and colleagues have been studying how the chemical shapes memory-making in rats (her team is planning a human trial). When the team stimulated rats? vagus nerves the animals? memories improved. McIntyre has to keep the dose low, however, because other experiments have shown that too much noradrenaline appears to impede memory-making[OR, TO VARY: formation]. Researchers are still trying to determine whether the excess noradrenaline directly causes the memory lapses or if the hormone is associated with high stress levels that cause some other chemical system to interfere. "That's the part we don't really understand: if there's too much [noradrenaline] or if there's another system that kicks in and puts a brake on it," McIntyre says. Cassinello's memory lapses may be due to a noradrenaline overflow. But there may be other explanations for the gaps in his memory. His brain may have narrowed his attention at the time of the crash to only those things that matter for survival, such as escaping the train, leading him to ignore things that do not, such as whether the path out of the train passed through a door or a hole. Researchers have shown that humans report selective hearing during stressful events and that stressed people pay attention to different things than do unstressed people (pdf). Cassinello's uncle picked him up from the accident scene and drove him to a hospital for a checkup. Apart from a few minor scratches, he was fine. But Cassinello says he has flashbacks to the disaster. "The images of shattered people in my cabin and outside are in my head," he says. Flashbacks are a normal part of the stress response. If Cassinello is lucky, the flashbacks will fade within weeks as he learns to suppress the bad memories cued up by triggers such as the sound of a train. That process is called fear extinction. McIntyre and colleagues want to be able to influence it, so as to better help victims of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Scientists could activate a trauma victim?s vagus nerve, amplifying the memory-writing process while the patient practiced healthy responses to a fear-inducing stimulus. If the process works, it could speed up recovery. Other researchers are working on drug-enhanced fear extinction using chemicals such as zeta inhibitory peptide (ZIP) or D-cycloserine. Another approach, called fear reversal, aims to provoke fear-inducing memories into a malleable state, such as all memories enter when we access them, and then changing them with the help of a different drug, propranolol, which interferes with protein formation, or even with precisely timed talk therapy aimed at blocking the reconsolidation of bad memories. One thing that is almost certain is that his memories of the event will change with time. Studies after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center found that New Yorkers' reports of their experience of the attack changed over the years. For now, survivors of traumatic experiences such as Cassinello can lean on the trauma therapists who rushed to Santiago after the crash. Some 70 to 80 percent of car accident survivors get away without PTSD, McIntyre reckons. As Rodriguez points out, however, most of those therapists are volunteers in town for a few days. It may take a few weeks or even months of therapy for patients to get past the worst of their experiences. Follow Scientific American on Twitter @SciAm and @SciamBlogs. Visit ScientificAmerican.com for the latest in science, health and technology news.
? 2013 ScientificAmerican.com. All rights reserved.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/train-thought-derailed-accident-affect-brain-214500284.html

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Columbus bridge named after ex-mayor

COLUMBUS, Ind. (AP) ? An iconic bridge leading into a central Indiana city is being named in honor of the mayor who pushed for its unique design.

Gov. Mike Pence signed an executive order authorizing the Indiana 46 bridge over the East Fork White River after former Columbus Mayor Robert Stewart.

City Councilman Frank Jerome tells The Republic that Stewart was at the forefront of having the bridge built in 1999 with its distinctive red steel arches and dark gray cables. It is similar to the Interstate 65 bridge at its interchange near Columbus.

Officials sought the unique bridge as an entryway to the city known for numerous buildings designed by world-renowned architects.

Source: http://www.wishtv.com/dpp/news/local/south_central/columbus-bridge-named-after-ex-mayor

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