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Tuesday, May 21, 2013

The 10 Most Valuable Brands in the World

By Laura Stampler | Business Insider – 5 hours ago

In spite of struggling stock prices and loud public uncertainty over Tim Cook's innovative capabilities, Apple is once again the most valuable brand in the world, for the year 2013.

Every year, BrandZ and Millward Brown Optimor calculate and rank brands based on their global value. And even though Apple's growth rate decreased by 95%, the tech giant's brand value still increased by 1% from 2012 to a a whopping $185 billion.

Millward Brown VP Oscar Yuan told Business Insider that this is because the company ranks brands based not only on publicly available financial information, but "the second half, which is the unique part, is that we take in the consumer sentiment." Millward Brown polls more than 200 million consumers from 43 countries annually. In spite of everything, "Apple, in the eyes of consumers, is the gold standard."

The brands that really won this year were those tied to emerging mobile capabilities — be it AT&T for servicing tablets and smartphones or Visa for dominating online payment methods.

1. Apple

REUTERS/Mike SegarBrand Value: $185 billion
Percent Change v. 2012: 1%

What Happened: In spite of harsh Wall Street analysis and media speculation regarding Tim Cook's leadership capabilities, Apple continues to be a strong brand in the eyes of consumers — a major value measurement for Millward Brown. "Despite what the press says and stock market says," Yuan noted, "Apple in the eyes of the consumers is the gold standard."

In the last eight years, Apple's value has increased 1,045% — only topped by Subway's meteoric 5,145% rise. (Although Subway still hasn't broken the top 20.)

2. Google

REUTERS/Mike BlakeBrand Value: $113.7 billion
Percent Change v. 2012: 5%

What Happened: Google has effectively taught consumers that it is more than just a search-based company. With maps, mail, shopping, and more, Google is integrated into everyone's lives. The company also made recent headlines about its new contribution to the hardware world in the form of Google Glass. "It will be interesting to see how Google Glass will contribute to the brand value, but now it's too soon to tell," Yuan said.

3. IBM

REUTERS/Tobias SchwarzBrand Value: $112.5 billion
Percent Change v. 2012: -3%

What Happened: At $112.5 billion, IBM's three percent value decrease is not a substantial figure. IBM is known as a company that consistently delivers year after year, Yuan told BI. And it is particularly hailed in the B2B sphere.

Yuan also noted that its Ogilvy-made "Smarter Planet" campaign, in which the company explained its plans to help clients innovate and make the world a better place, inspired consumers to believe in the brand.

4. McDonald's

AP Photo/Ng Han GuanBrand Value: $90.3 billion
Percent Change v. 2012: -5%

What Happened: Yuan noted that one of McDonald's gifts was the ability to listen to consumers' sentiments and adapt, particularly to growing health concerns. "It has come out with a much healthier menu with apple slices, oatmeal, and a Chicken McWrap which has done well," he said.

McDonald's is also gaining a stronghold in the coffee space, which should be an interesting new endeavor to follow.

5. Coca-Cola

REUTERS/Kevin LamarqueBrand Value: $78.4
Percent Change v. 2012: 6%

What Happened: "What's consistently impressive about Coca-Cola is its ability to innovate," Yuan said. "People think that soda consumption is declining, but Coke is turning the business on its head." For example, this year Coca-Cola released a series of freestyle machines which allows consumers and retailers to mix their own flavors of the soda syrup to make their own individual Coca-Cola. The company is constantly innovating and staying fresh.

6. AT&T

REUTERS/Mike BlakeBrand Value: $75.5 billion
Percent Change v. 2012: 10%

What Happened: AT&T is another company to gain value due to the increasing U.S. consumption of mobile products. For a long time, the service provider had an exclusive deal with the iPhone, so it became synonymous with the new technology. What's really interesting, however, is that even when Apple opened the iPhone up to Samsung and T-Mobile, AT&T's value didn't go down.

7. Microsoft

REUTERS/Bogdan CristelBrand Value: $69.8 billion
Percent Change v. 2012: -9%

What Happened: As a $70 billion brand, Microsoft is in great shape even in spite of a 9% value decrease. Microsoft is a powerhouse and has a reputation as one of the strongest tech brands in the business. But, Yuan notes, "with consumers, there's confusion as to where Microsoft fits." The company's fortune is largely tied with the PC business, but it has emerged on the mobile scene with the Surface and other devices. The company went through a major rebranding in the summer of 2012 to stay relevant.

8. Marlboro

Gilles Mingasson/Getty ImagesBrand Value: $69.4 billion
Percent Change v. 2012: -6%

What Happened: Marlboro is a top 10 regular, which goes to show that even though smoking is restricted in the U.S. doesn't mean that the rest of the world has laid off the habit. "Marlboro has consistently invested in the brand ever since its inception," Yuan said. "The rugged cowboy is very strong and consistent globally."

To put it another way, "about 25% of world's population are smokers, and they use it 5 to 10 times a day. I don't drink 10 bottles of water a day." That's getting your brand out there.

9. Visa

AP Photo/Patrick SemanskyBrand Value: $56 billion
Percent Change v. 2012: 46%

What Happened: A key way to bolster global presence is to sponsor the Olympics. But that's not the only thing that upped Visa's brand value so drastically. As one of the most trusted names in non-cash payments, Visa has gained clout in the world of online shopping and mobile payments.

10. China Mobile

REUTERS/Carlos BarriaBrand Value: $55.4 billion
Percent Change v. 2012: 18%

What Happened: China Mobile is the largest mobile carrier and brand in China, so it's a no-brainer that it's one of the most valuable brands in the world. "There are more mobile phone subscribers in China than in the U.S.," Yuan said.

Click here for the full list.

Sunday, April 7, 2013

North Korea enters 'state of war' with South

The BBC's Lucy Williamson: "North Korea and America are in a kind of 'who blinks first' game"

Korea crisis

North Korea has said it is entering a "state of war" with South Korea in the latest escalation of rhetoric against its neighbour and the US.

A statement promised "stern physical actions" against "any provocative act".
North Korea has threatened attacks almost daily since it was sanctioned for a third nuclear test in February.
However, few think the North would risk full-blown conflict. It has technically been at war with the South since 1953 as no peace treaty has been signed.
An armistice at the end of the Korean War was never turned into a full treaty.
'Taking threats seriously'

Analysis

Lucy Williamson BBC News, Seoul

Over the past few weeks, there's been an ever-growing war of words between the two sides, and this latest statement in particular has made the Koreas' neighbours nervous.
Tensions have built quickly since the UN Security Council imposed fresh sanctions on North Korea. The fact that Pyongyang's only major ally, China, backed the sanctions - and even helped to frame them - has left the North's regime feeling more isolated than ever. Some believe its current hardline rhetoric is in part to send a warning to Beijing not to antagonise it.
Most analysts believe that Pyongyang is unlikely to start a full-blown war with South Korea or its key ally, the US, but that other kinds of provocations are much more likely. And with South Korea promising a strong response to any action by the North, many fear that a minor - or even accidental - incident could quickly escalate.

The North carried out its third nuclear test on 12 February, which led to the imposition of fresh sanctions.

The annual US-South Korean military exercises have also taken place, angering Pyongyang further.
A North Korean statement released on Saturday said: "From this time on, the North-South relations will be entering the state of war and all issues raised between the North and the South will be handled accordingly.
"The long-standing situation of the Korean peninsula being neither at peace nor at war is finally over."
In Washington, Caitlin Hayden, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council, said the US had "seen reports of a new and unconstructive statement from North Korea".
"We take these threats seriously and remain in close contact with our South Korean allies," she said.
North Korea has made multiple threats against both the US and South Korea in recent weeks, including warning of a "pre-emptive nuclear strike" on the US and the scrapping of the Korean War armistice.
On Thursday, North Korean state media reported leader Kim Jong-un "judged the time has come to settle accounts with the US imperialists".

State TV announcement: "From this time on, the North-South relations will be entering the state of war"

He was said to have condemned US B-2 bomber sorties over South Korea during military exercises as a "reckless phase" that represented an "ultimatum that they will ignite a nuclear war at any cost on the Korean peninsula".
US mainland and bases in Hawaii, Guam and South Korea were all named as potential targets.
State media in the North showed thousands of soldiers and students at a mass rally in Pyongyang supporting Kim Jong-un's announcement.
North Korea's most advanced missiles are thought to be able to reach Alaska, but not the rest of the US mainland.
On Wednesday, Pyongyang cut a military hotline with the South - the last direct official link between the two nations.

Timeline: Korean tensions

12 Dec: North Korea fires three-stage rocket, in move condemned by UN as banned test of long-range missile technology
12 Feb: North Korea conducts an underground nuclear test, its third after tests in 2006 and 2009
7 Mar: UN approves fresh sanctions on Pyongyang; North Korea says it has the right to a "pre-emptive nuclear strike" on the US
11 Mar: US-South Korea annual joint military drills begin; North Korea says it has scrapped the Korean War armistice (the UN says the pact cannot be unilaterally scrapped)
19 Mar: US flies B-2 nuclear-capable bombers over Korean peninsula, following several North Korean threats to attack US and South Korean targets
20 Mar: Broadcasters and banks in South Korea hit by cyber attack, the origin of which remains unknown, days after North Korea says some of its sites were hacked
27 Mar: North Korea cuts military hotline with South, the last official direct link between the two
28 Mar: US flies stealth bombers over Korean peninsula; showcasing ability for precision strike "at will"
30 Mar: North Korea says it is entering a "state of war" with South Korea

How potent are North Korea's threats?

A Red Cross hotline and another line used to communicate with the UN Command at Panmunjom have already been cut, although an inter-Korean air-traffic hotline still exists.

The jointly run Kaesong industrial park, just north of the border, is still in operation. However on Saturday, Pyongyang's official KCNA news agency said it would be closed if insults to the North's "dignity" continued.
On 16 March, North Korea warned of attacks against South Korea's border islands, and advised residents to leave the islands. In 2010, it shelled South Korea's Yeonpyeong island, causing four deaths.
'Maximum restraint' White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the latest rhetoric only deepened North Korea's isolation.
China, North Korea's biggest trading partner, has reiterated its call for all sides to ease tensions.
Foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a daily news conference that "joint efforts" should be made to turn around a "tense situation".
On Saturday, Russian foreign ministry spokesman Grigory Logvinov told the Interfax news agency: "We expect all sides to show maximum responsibility and restraint and that no-one will cross the line after which there will be no return."
He said: "Naturally, we cannot remain indifferent when an escalation of tensions is taking place at our eastern frontiers. We cannot but worry."
One South Korean resident, Lee Gae-hwa, told Reuters news agency she felt "very scared", adding: "I hope we can find a good solution since we're from the same nation."

Features & Analysis

Return to Riyadh
Frank Gardner revisits the country where he was shot in 2004
National foibles
Insularity, unexcitability - match the trait to the country
In pictures
A soldier's view of the war in Vietnam
Islamic divorce
The Muslim women pressured to stay in violent marriages

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Europe mulls banning 'boxes' for abandoned babies

By DAVID RISING and MARIA CHENG | Associated Press – 4 hrs ago

BERLIN (AP) — German pastor Gabriele Stangl says she will never forget the harrowing confession she heard in 1999. A woman said she had been brutally raped, got pregnant and had a baby. Then she killed it and buried it in the woods near Berlin.

Stangl wanted to do something to help women in such desperate situations. So the following year, she convinced Berlin's Waldfriede Hospital to create the city's first so-called "baby box." The box is actually a warm incubator that can be opened from an outside wall of a hospital where a desperate parent can anonymously leave an unwanted infant.
A small flap opens into the box, equipped with a motion detector. An alarm goes off in the hospital to alert staff two minutes after a baby is left.
"The mother has enough time to leave without anyone seeing her," Stangl said. "The important thing is that her baby is now in a safe place."
Baby boxes are a revival of the medieval "foundling wheels," where unwanted infants were left in revolving church doors. In recent years, there has been an increase in these contraptions — also called hatches, windows or slots in some countries — and at least 11 European nations now have them, according to United Nations figures. They are technically illegal, but mostly operate in a gray zone as authorities turn a blind eye.
But they have drawn the attention of human rights advocates who think they are bad for the children and merely avoid dealing with the problems that lead to child abandonment. At a meeting last month, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child said baby boxes should be banned and is pushing that agenda to the European Parliament.

There are nearly 100 baby boxes in Germany. Poland and the Czech Republic each have more than 40 while Italy, Lithuania, Russia and Slovakia have about 10 each. There are two in Switzerland, one in Belgium and one being planned in the Netherlands.

In the last decade, hundreds of babies have been abandoned this way; it's estimated one or two infants are typically left at each location every year, though exact figures aren't available.
"They are a bad message for society," said Maria Herczog, a Hungarian child psychologist on the U.N. committee. "These boxes violate children's rights and also the rights of parents to get help from the state to raise their families," she said.
"Instead of providing help and addressing some of the social problems and poverty behind these situations, we're telling people they can just leave their baby and run away."

She said the practice encourages women to have children without getting medical care. "It's paradoxical that it's OK for women to give up their babies by putting them in a box, but if they were to have them in a hospital and walk away, that's a crime," Herczog said. She said the committee is now discussing the issue with the European Parliament and is also asking countries which allow the practice to shut them down.

Herczog also said it's wrong to assume only mothers are abandoning these children and that sometimes they may be forced into giving up children they might otherwise have kept. "We have data to show that in some cases it's pimps, a male relative or someone who's exploiting the woman," she said.

In some countries — Australia, Canada and Britain — it is illegal to abandon an infant anywhere. Yet, in the U.S. there are "safe haven" laws that allow parents to anonymously give up an infant in a secure place like a hospital or police department. A handful of other countries including Japan and Slovakia have similar provisions.

Countries that support this anonymous abandonment method contend they save lives. In a letter responding to U.N. concerns, more than two dozen Czech politicians said they "strongly disagreed" with the proposed ban. "The primary aim of baby hatches, which (have) already saved hundreds of newborns, is to protect their right to life and protect their human rights," the letter said.
However, limited academic surveys suggest this hasn't reduced the murder of infants. There are about 30 to 60 infanticides in Germany every year, a number that has been relatively unchanged for years, even after the arrival of baby boxes. That's similar to the per capita rate in Britain where there is no such option.
Across Germany, there is considerable public support for the boxes, particularly after several high-profile cases of infanticide, including the grisly discovery several years ago of the decomposed remains of nine infants stuffed into flower pots in Brandenburg.
Officials at several facilities with baby boxes say biological parents sometimes name the infant being abandoned. "The girl is called Sarah," read one note left with a baby in Lubeck, Germany in 2003. "I have many problems and a life with Sarah is just not possible," the letter said.
The secretive nature also means few restrictions on who gets dropped off, even though the boxes are intended for newborns. Friederike Garbe, who oversees a baby box in Lubeck, found two young boys crying there last November. "One was about four months old and his brother was already sitting up," she said. The older boy was about 15 months old and could say "Mama."
Still, Germany's health ministry is considering other options. "We want to replace the necessity for the baby boxes by implementing a rule to allow women to give birth anonymously that will allow them to give up the child for adoption," said Christopher Steegmans, a ministry spokesman.
Austria, France, and Italy allow women to give birth anonymously and leave the baby in the hospital to be adopted. Germany and Britain sometimes allow this under certain circumstances even though it is technically illegal. Eleven other nations grant women a "concealed delivery" that hides their identities when they give birth to their babies, who are then given up for adoption. But the women are supposed to leave their name and contact information for official records that may be given one day to the children if they request it after age 18.
For German couple Andy and Astrid, an abandoned infant in a baby box near the city of Fulda ended their two-year wait to adopt a child nearly a decade ago.
"We were told about him on a Sunday and then visited him the next day in the hospital," said Astrid, a 37-year-old teacher, who along with her husband, agreed to talk with The Associated Press if their last names were not used to protect the identity of their child. The couple quietly snapped a few photos of the baby boy they later named Jan. He weighed just over 7 pounds when he was placed in the baby box, wrapped in two small towels.

When Jan started asking questions about where he came from around age 2, his parents explained another woman had given birth to him. They showed him the photos taken at the hospital, introduced him to the nurses there and showed him the baby box where he had been left.

Earlier this year, the couple began the procedure to adopt a second child, a boy whose mother gave birth anonymously so she could give him up for adoption.

Astrid said Jan, now 8, loves football, tractors and anything to do with the farming that he sees daily in their rural community. She said it's not so important for her and her husband to know who his biological parents are.

But for Jan, "it would be nice to know that he could meet them if he wanted to," she said. "I want that for him, but there is no possibility to find out who they were."

____

Medical writer Maria Cheng reported from London

Source(http://news.yahoo.com/europe-mulls-banning-boxes-abandoned-babies-075454911.html)

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Ideas That Made $100 Million

By Michelle Fox | CNBC – Fri, Jun 15, 2012 1:14 PM EDT

Chances are, just about anyone you talk with will have an idea for a business that they think can make millions. Although business pitches may be easy to come by, turning those ideas into wins is a whole new ballgame. However, many entrepreneurs with simple ideas and humble beginnings have been able to effectively turn the ideas into winning businesses.

Names like Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, and Mark Zuckerberg usually come to mind when people think about those lucky few who have cashed in on their ideas, but you don’t have to live in Silicon Valley or Seattle to turn your idea into millions.

[Related: Suze Orman's 5 tips on what women must know about money]

So what does it take to make $100 million? You may be surprised.

Chris and Robin Sorensen — Firehouse Subs

Photo: Firehouse SubsChris and Robin Sorensen were both firefighters in Florida when they came up with the idea to open a sandwich shop based on their family’s 200 year history of fighting fires. In 1994, the brothers borrowed on a credit card belonging to Robin’s in-laws and opened their first shop, decorated with fire equipment and a hand-painted mural that depicted the local fire department. They even gave their subs firefighter-inspired names like “Hook & Ladder” and “Engine Company.” Robin worked at the store while Chris continued to work part-time at the fire department.

These days both Sorensens have put their firefighting days behind them. Firehouse Subs is now a booming franchise business, with 514 corporate and franchise locations around the United States — and the numbers keep growing. The company plans to continue its expansion in the Northeast, Central and Southwest in 2012.

In 2011, Firehouse Subs raked in $284.9 million in total system sales.

Mary Ellen Sheets — Two Men and a Truck

Photo: Two Men and a TruckMary Ellen Sheets never imagined that hauling trash would turn into a multi-million dollar company. In the early 1980s, Sheets’s sons, Jon and Brig Sorber, started doing odd jobs for locals, using their pickup truck to haul trash and brush from people’s yards and moving furniture.

Once the boys went off to college, the phone kept ringing. So Mary Ellen hired two men and bought another truck for $350. At first it was a hobby, but by the late-1980’s, she quit her job to focus on the business full-time. She also made another life-changing decision: she decided to franchise.

Today, Two Men and a Truck has 224 locations in 34 states. Brig Sorber has replaced his mom as CEO, but Mary Ellen Sheets still serves on the board of directors and Jon Sorber is an executive with the company. In 2011, Two Men and a Truck conducted 353,761 moves and had a total of $220 million in sales.

Bert and John Jacobs — Life is Good

Photo: Life is goodBert and John Jacobs designed their first t-shirts in 1989 and hawked them on the streets of Boston and at colleges along the East Coast. But for five years, success eluded them. Then, in 1994, they struck upon the idea to use a design of a cartoon figure called Jake and the motto “Life is good.” People seemed to embrace the simple message of optimism — the shirts were a hit at a local street fair and retailers soon became interested.

Now Jake’s face and motto are on more than just shirts. You can find him and other characters smiling on products from towels and totes to coffee mugs and dog leashes. And life sure is good now for Bert and John Jacobs. Business is booming, with 2011 sales coming in at about $100 million.

[Related: Tips from the Garage Sale Millionaire]

Sara Blakely — Spanx

Photo: Joe Kohen/WireImage/Getty ImagesOne night, Sara Blakely cut off the bottom of her pantyhose and the idea of Spanx was born. Armed with $5,000 in savings, Blakely researched and wrote her patent for footless pantyhose and drove around North Carolina begging mill owners to make her product. Most told her it would never sell, but one owner decided to take a chance and help her make her “crazy idea.”

In 2000, her prototype was perfected and she started hitting up high-end department store buyers. In the first three months, she sold over 50,000 pairs from the back of her apartment. Now her “crazy idea” has grown to include a full range of products that are sold around the world, and Blakely is soaring high. In March, she landed on the Forbes World’s Billionaires 2012 list, which estimated the company’s revenue at just under $250 million.

Geoff, Dave and Catherine Cook — myYearbook

Photo: MeetMeSiblings Dave and Catherine Cook had just moved to a new high school in when they came up with the idea of an online yearbook to meet new friends. To get started, they turned to their brother, Geoff Cook, who had already started and sold a business while in college. In 2005, Geoff became the first investor and CEO of myYearbook. Within the first nine months, the site had 1 million users. As the company grew, it left the high school realm and started connecting people in general.

In November 2011, social networking site Quepasa bought myYearbook for $100 million in cash and stock, and in June of this year myYearbook was rebranded as MeetMe. All three siblings still work at the company, with Geoff Cook as the CEO.

The next big milestone for MeetMe is its merger with Quepasa, which will bring the number of users from 40 million to 80 million, according to Geoff Cook.

Click here for the full list of Ideas That Made $100 Million.

A new episode of “How I Made My Millions” premieres Monday, June 18 at 9 p.m. ET, with a re-air at 12 a.m. ET on CNBC.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Own a secret submarine base in Norway for $17.3 million

By Mariella Moon, Tecca

May 31, 2012

Provided by:

A former secret submarine base used by NATO in Norway can be yours for $17.3 million.
Photo: The Norwegian Defence Estates Agency

The Royal Norwegian Navy has put up a secret, mountainside submarine base for sale... and judging by what it looks like, it would work both as a superhero hideout and as a supervillain lair.

Officially called the Olavsvern Naval Base, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) spent $494 million building it back in 1967.

But don't let that amount deter you from dreaming about owning this clandestine base, superheroes- and supervillains-wannabe: the Navy is selling it for the low, low price of $17.3 million.

This is a very cool place to dock your fleet of ships.
Photo: The Norwegian Defence Estates Agency

The full above-ground space measures 13,500 square meters, including the opening at the side of the mountain. It's the 25,000-square meter space within the mountain that makes it oh-so-interesting, though. While you'll find mundane rooms like ordinary offices inside the property, it also has a dry dock for submarines and boats as well as a tunnel system, because no hideout or lair is ever complete without them.

This is the perfect place to showcase high-quality, Norwegian wood furniture.
Photo: The Norwegian Defence Estates Agency

The Olavsvern base is steeped in history, having been used by NATO and the Norwegian Navy for a span of 50 years. It also served as the headquarters for the U.S. forces in the region during the Cold War.

Norway and NATO spent a half a billion dollars to build this facility. Now it's a great storage place.
Photo: The Norwegian Defence Estates Agency

The military left the base completely in 2002, and it was turned into what's probably the most-intriguing (and expensive) storage room in existence.

Source(http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/own-a-secret-submarine-base-in-norway-for-173-million.html)

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Powerful "Flame" cyber weapon found in Iran

Reuters – 18 hours ago

Companies:

RELATED QUOTES

Symbol	Price	Change
MSFT	29.32	+0.26

UIS	16.58	+0.17

By Jim Finkle

BOSTON (Reuters) - Security experts said on Monday a highly sophisticated computer virus is infecting computers in Iran and other Middle East countries and may have been deployed at least five years ago to engage in state-sponsored cyber espionage.
Evidence suggest that the virus, dubbed Flame, may have been built on behalf of the same nation or nations that commissioned the Stuxnet worm that attacked Iran's nuclear program in 2010, according to Kaspersky Lab, the Russian cyber security software maker that took credit for discovering the infections.
Kaspersky researchers said they have yet to determine whether Flame had a specific mission like Stuxnet, and declined to say who they think built it.
Iran has accused the United States and Israel of deploying Stuxnet.
Cyber security experts said the discovery publicly demonstrates what experts privy to classified information have long known: that nations have been using pieces of malicious computer code as weapons to promote their security interests for several years.
"This is one of many, many campaigns that happen all the time and never make it into the public domain," said Alexander Klimburg, a cyber security expert at the Austrian Institute for International Affairs.
A cyber security agency in Iran said on its English website that Flame bore a "close relation" to Stuxnet, the notorious computer worm that attacked that country's nuclear program in 2010 and is the first publicly known example of a cyber weapon.
Iran's National Computer Emergency Response Team also said Flame might be linked to recent cyber attacks that officials in Tehran have said were responsible for massive data losses on some Iranian computer systems.
Kaspersky Lab said it discovered Flame after a U.N. telecommunications agency asked it to analyze data on malicious software across the Middle East in search of the data-wiping virus reported by Iran.
STUXNET CONNECTION
Experts at Kaspersky Lab and Hungary's Laboratory of Cryptography and System Security who have spent weeks studying Flame said they have yet to find any evidence that it can attack infrastructure, delete data or inflict other physical damage.
Yet they said they are in the early stages of their investigations and that they may discover other purposes beyond data theft. It took researchers months to determine the key mysteries behind Stuxnet, including the purpose of modules used to attack a uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, Iran.
If Kaspersky's findings are validated, Flame could go down in history as the third major cyber weapon uncovered after Stuxnet and its data-stealing cousin Duqu, named after the Star Wars villain.
The Moscow-based company is controlled by Russian malware researcher Eugene Kaspersky. It gained notoriety after solving several mysteries surrounding Stuxnet and Duqu.
Officials with Symantec Corp and Intel Corp McAfee security division, the top 2 makers of anti-virus software, said they were studying Flame.
"It seems to be more complex than Duqu but it's too early to tell its place in history," said Dave Marcus, director of advanced research and threat intelligence with McAfee.
Symantec Security Response manager Vikram Thakur said that his company's experts believed there was a "high" probability that Flame was among the most complex pieces of malicious software ever discovered.
At least one rival of Kaspersky expressed skepticism.
Privately held Webroot said its automatic virus-scanning engines detected Flame in December 2007, but that it did not pay much attention because the code was not particularly menacing.
That is partly because it was easy to discover and remove, said Webroot Vice President Joe Jaroch. "There are many more dangerous threats out there today," he said.
MAPPING IT OUT
Kaspersky's research shows the largest number of infected machines are in Iran, followed by Israel and the Palestinian territories, then Sudan and Syria.
The virus contains about 20 times as much code as Stuxnet, which caused centrifuges to fail at the Iranian enrichment facility it attacked. It has about 100 times as much code as a typical virus designed to steal financial information, said Kaspersky Lab senior researcher Roel Schouwenberg.
Flame can gather data files, remotely change settings on computers, turn on PC microphones to record conversations, take screen shots and log instant messaging chats.
Kaspersky Lab said Flame and Stuxnet appear to infect machines by exploiting the same flaw in the Windows operating system and that both viruses employ a similar way of spreading.
That means the teams that built Stuxnet and Duqu might have had access to the same technology as the team that built Flame, Schouwenberg said.
He said that a nation state would have the capability to build such a sophisticated tool, but declined to comment on which countries might do so.
The question of who built flame is sure to become a hot topic in the security community as well as the diplomatic world.
There is some controversy over who was behind Stuxnet and Duqu. Some experts suspect the United States and Israel, a view that was laid out in a January 2011 New York Times report that said it came from a joint program begun around 2004 to undermine what they say are Iran's efforts to build a bomb.
The U.S. Defense Department, CIA, State Department, National Security Agency, and U.S. Cyber Command declined to comment.
Hungarian researcher Boldizsar Bencsath, whose Laboratory of Cryptography and Systems Security first discovered Duqu, said his analysis shows that Flame may have been active for at least five years and perhaps eight years or more.
That implies it was active long before Stuxnet.
"It's huge and overly complex, which makes me think it's a first-generation data gathering tool," said Neil Fisher, vice president for global security solutions at Unisys Corp. "We are going to find more of these things over time."
Others said cyber weapons technology has inevitably advanced since Flame was built.
"The scary thing for me is: if this is what they were capable of five years ago, I can only think what they are developing now," Mohan Koo, managing director of British-based Dtex Systems cyber security company.
Some experts speculated that the discovery of the virus may have dealt a psychological blow to its victims, on top of whatever damage Flame may have already inflicted to their computers.
"If a government initiated the attack it might not care that the attack was discovered," said Klimburg of the Austrian Institute for International Affairs. "The psychological effect of the penetration could be nearly as profitable as the intelligence gathered."
(Additional reporting by Jim Wolf in Washington, Daniel Fineran in Dubai and William Maclean in London; editing by Edward Tobin, Ron Popeski and Mohammad Zargham)

Source( http://finance.yahoo.com/news/powerful-flame-cyber-weapon-found-135931201.html)

Monday, May 28, 2012

5 of the world’s wildest water slides

It's heating up out there, which means you and the fam will likely be searching out ways to cool down over the next couple months. That probably means at least one trip to the chlorine rivers of your local water park, where you will undoubtedly be tempted to risk life and limb simply to plummet down a giant wet slide.

But all rides are not created equal, so if you really want to challenge your intestinal fortitude, search out the parks that hold these truly spectacular slides.

Insano
Location: Beach Park, Fortaleza, Brazil
Everything you need to know about this water slide — or water cliff, we should say — is in its name. This is an insane water slide.
Standing a stomach-churning 41 meters (that's 14 stories) high, Brazil's Insano is officially the tallest water slide in the world. Unofficially, it's the one that gives us the most willies. After what looks more like stepping out of plane than scooching down a slide, riders plummet down the near-vertical ride for about four or five seconds, during which they'll reach the ungodly speed of about 65 mph. The ride then terminates with what the creators call a 'relaxing dive into the swimming pool.' Relaxing might not be the right word.

Scorpion's Tail
Location: Noah's Ark Family Park, Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin
It might not be as tall as Insano, but the ten-story high Scorpion's Tail at the popular Noah's Ark Water park in Wisconsin is equally gut-wrenching. Why? Because it's essentially one giant, water-slick loop. It's not quite vertical, though considering you'll be hurtling through it at about 50 feet per second, that's probably a good thing.
But Scorpion's Tail packs an even nastier surprise for those willing to brave its sting: a freefall drop to get you started. Rather than gently pushing themselves off, riders stand in a capsule for a few seconds until the ground abruptly gives way. Suddenly, that loop makes more sense, as it's the only thing slowing you down from the 2.5 gs of gravitational force driving you through the spray. Yikes.

Summit Plummet
Location: Disney's Blizzard Beach at Walt Disney World Resort, Orlando, Florida
The family-friendly folks at Disney aren't necessarily known for pushing the envelope when it comes to thrill rides. The Summit Plummet at Disney's Blizzard Beach Water Park, however, is as extreme as water slides come.
It's 12 stories high -- good enough to be the tallest in the U.S. -- and features a 360-foot flume that carries riders to speeds between 50 and 60 mph. And did we mention much of that takes place in a darkened tunnel? Because what better to mix with your crippling fear of heights than your crippling fear of the dark? Is this really Mickey-approved?

Leap of Faith
Location: Atlantis Resort, Paradise Island, Bahamas
It can't be easy coming up with new and interesting ways to freak out water slide victims riders, so we're doling out a few bonus points to the minds behind the Leap of Faith. Located at the massive Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas, the slide starts at the top of a faux Mayan temple and sends riders down a steep, 60-foot drop. But forget about just coasting into a pool, because first you'll cruise through a lagoon aquarium brimming with a variety of large, toothy sharks. You'll get a good view, too, since the only thing separating you from the predators is a clear acrylic tube.
Terrifying? A little, though worse than that is what happens when a shark finds a way to leap out of the lagoon and onto the slide. Yes, that actually happened.

The Mammoth
Location: Holiday World, Santa Claus, IN
You have to hand it to Indiana's Holiday World — when they go big, they go really, really big. For years, they've hosted The Wildebeest, the world's longest water coaster. While you can still ride that puppy, it's no longer the record holder.
That honor now goes to the aptly-named Mammoth. Running a ridiculous length of 1,763 feet (that's about 1/3 mile), the sprawling ride features seven drops and starts at a height of nearly 70 feet. But the best part? It will take you a good three minutes to make it through the Mammoth's twists and turns; compared to the five-second madness of Insano, that's one heckuva deal. While it's not technically a slide — you're in a 6-passenger spinning raft — the sheer size makes it a can't-miss for extreme riders.

Source( http://games.yahoo.com/blogs/unplugged/5-world-wildest-water-slides-170943299.html)

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Colombia Secret Service Prostitution Scandal Spreads to the DEA

By PIERRE THOMAS and JASON RYAN | ABC News – 17 hrs ago

A month after the Secret Service was rocked by allegations that agents brought prostitutes to a Colombia hotel where they were preparing for a visit by President Obama, the Drug Enforcement Administration today announced that at least three of its agents are also under investigation for allegedly hiring prostitutes in Cartagena.

Two of the agents allegedly had encounters with masseuses in the apartment of one of the agents, according to Sen. Susan Collins, the ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
[Related: Scandal undermine Americans' faith]
"It's disturbing that we may be uncovering a troubling culture that spans more than one law enforcement agency," the Maine Republican said this evening. "In addition to the Secret Service scandal, we now learn that at least two DEA agents apparently entertained female foreign national masseuses in the Cartagena apartment of one of the agents. The evidence uncovered thus far indicates that this likely was not just a one-time incident."
The revelations that Secret Service personnel had been drinking heavily and cavorting with prostitutes ahead of Obama's trip to Colombia last month overshadowed the president's trip to the Summit of the Americas. Twelve members of the military were also investgated for allegedly hiring prostitutes.
Eight of the 12 Secret Service employees implicated in the scandal lost their jobs, another is in the process of losing his security clearances, and three agents were cleared of serious misconduct but still could be disciplined. The military has completed its investigation but no disciplinary action has been carried out.
[Related: Can the Secret Service be trusted?]

"The Drug Enforcement Administration was provided information from the Secret Service unrelated to the Cartagena hotel Secret Service incident, which DEA immediately followed up on, making DEA employees available to be interviewed by the Department of Justice's Office of Inspector General," a DEA spokesperson said in a statement.

"DEA takes allegations of misconduct very seriously and will take appropriate personnel action, if warranted, upon the conclusion of the OIG investigation." the statement said.

A spokesman for the OIG said the DEA is cooperating in the investigation, which is being coordinated with the Secret Service, Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, and the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service.

The DEA has agents posted in Colombia to work on counter-narcotic and drug interdiction missions with Colombian authorities. According to officials the agents were among those assigned in Colombia, they were not specifically working on the President's trip.

The revelations about the DEA agents comes ahead of a hearing scheduled on Wednesday with Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan testifying before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.

Monday, May 14, 2012

By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ and PORFIRIO IBARRA RAMIREZ | Associated Press – 9 hrs ago

MONTERREY, Mexico (AP) — Forty-nine bodies with their heads, hands and feet hacked off were found Sunday dumped on a northern Mexico highway leading to the Texas border in what appeared to be the latest carnage in an escalating war between Mexico's two dominant drug cartels.

Local and federal authorities discovered the bodies before dawn scattered in a pool of blood at the entrance to the town of San Juan, on a highway leading from the metropolis of Monterrey to the border city of Reynosa. A white stone arch welcoming visitors was spray-painted with black letters: "100% Zeta."

Nuevo Leon state security spokesman Jorge Domene said at a news conference that the 43 men and six women would be hard to identify because of the lack of heads, hands and feet. The bodies were being taken to a Monterrey auditorium for DNA tests.
The victims could have been killed as long as two days ago at another location, then transported to San Juan, a town in the municipality of Cadereyta, about 105 miles (175 kilometers) west-southwest of McAllen, Texas, and 75 miles (125 kilometers) southwest of the Roma, Texas, border crossing, state Attorney General Adrian de la Garza said.

Only one couple looking for their missing daughter visited the morgue in Monterrey where autopsies were being performed on the mutilated bodies Sunday, a state police investigator said.

The officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case, said none of the six female bodies matched the missing daughter's description. He said some of the bodies were badly decomposed and some had their whole arms or lower legs missing.
De la Garza said he did not rule out the possibility that the victims were U.S.-bound migrants.
But it seemed more likely that the killings were the latest salvo in a gruesome game of tit-for-tat in fighting among brutal drug gangs.

"This is the most definitive of all the cartel wars," said Raul Benitez Manaut, a security expert at Mexico's National Autonomous University.

Mass body dumpings have increased around Mexico the last six months as the fearsome Zetas gang goes head to head with the powerful Sinaloa Cartel, led by fugitive drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, and its allies.

Under President Felipe Calderon's nearly six-year assault on organized crime, the two cartels have become the largest in the country and are battling over strategic transport routes and territory, including along the northern border with the U.S. and in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz.

In less than a month, the mutilated bodies of 14 men were left in a van in downtown Nuevo Laredo, 23 people were found hanged or decapitated in the same border city and 18 dismembered bodied were left near Mexico's second-largest city, Guadalajara. Nuevo Laredo, like Monterrey, is considered Zeta territory, while Guadalajara has long been controlled by gangs loyal to Sinaloa.
The Zetas are a transient gang without real territory or a secure stream of income, unlike Sinaloa with its lucrative cocaine trade and control of smuggling routes and territory, Benitez said. But the Zetas are heavily armed while Sinaloa has a weak enforcement arm, he said. The Zetas, founded by deserters from Mexico's elite special forces, started out as assassins for the Gulf Cartel before those two gangs had a bloody split in early 2010.
The government's success in killing or arresting cartel leaders has fractured some of the big gangs into weaker, quarreling bands that in many cases are lining up with either the Zetas or Sinaloa. At least one of the two cartels is present in nearly all of Mexico's 32 states.
A year ago this month, more than two dozen people — most of them Zetas — were killed when they tried to infiltrate the Sinaloa's territory in the Pacific Coast state of Nayarit.
But their war started in earnest last fall in Veracruz, a strategic smuggling state with a giant gulf port.
A drug gang allied with Sinaloa left 35 bodies on a main boulevard in the city of Veracruz in September, and police found 32 other bodies, apparently killed by the same gang, a few days after that. The goal apparently was to take over territory that had been dominated by the Zetas.
Twenty-six bodies were found in November in Guadalajara, another territory being disputed by the Zetas and Sinaloa.

Drug violence has killed more than 47,500 people since Calderon launched a stepped-up offensive when he took office in December 2006.

Mexico is now in the midst of presidential race to replace Calderon, who by law can't run for re-election. Drug violence seems to be escalating, but none of the major candidates, Enrique Pena Nieto, Josefina Vazquez Mota or Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has referred to the body dumpings directly. All three say they will stop the violence and make Mexico a more secure place, but offer few details on how their plans would differ from Calderon's.

Benitez said the wave of violence has nothing to do with the presidential election.

"It has the dynamic of a war between cartels," he said.

___

Associated Press writer Galia Garcia-Palafox in Mexico City contributed to this report.

source(http://news.yahoo.com/49-headless-bodies-dumped-north-mexico-highway-225844950.html)

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