Chinese and Russian intelligence services and corporate hackers are using cyber attacks to steal hi-tech American research and development data, a US government report has said. US officials have complained quietly for years about cyber attacks originating from China but this report offers the first such detailed public accusations from US officials.
The record came out to little to no fanfare earlier this summer on Drag City, and an awesome clip of "Fist Fight" can be heard on the label's site. The band also released an interview it supposedly did with Stabber fanzine back in 1984 that's well worth a read, especially for anyone with an interest in Black Flag, Minor Threat, or being 16 and mad.
In recent weeks, news stories quietly announced that major labels are making plans to discontinue the recording and sales of music CDs in late 2012. Yet, as MP3s have taken over the market as the prevailing way to record and purchase music, there are still many - millions even - who purchase and listen to CDs on a daily basis.
Vice president Dmitri Alperovitch, a highly regarded threat researcher whose work at the company helped give it a reputation for conducting cutting-edge research on hacking, quietly left last month, without the company issuing any announcement. Alperovitch led a research team that produced several high-profile studies on suspected Chinese-government backed hackers during his tenure at McAfee.
Verizon quietly announced a change to its privacy policy last week that will allow the communications giant to collect information about its telephone customers' whereabouts and Internet surfing for use in business and marketing reports. It promises that this information will only be shared anonymously.
About a month ago, Microsoft quietly announced that it would stop making Zunes.
Late last week, as the world was getting ready for its Fall weekend, Google quietly announced it was shutting down Google Code Search, Jaiku, the University Research Program for Google Search, Google Labs, iGoogle's social features and, most notably, the highly controversial, little-used social network Google Buzz.
Today the battle is over. Adobe quietly announced in a blog post that it has ceased work on the mobile version of Flash, and instead will focus its mobile efforts on HTML5, the up-and-coming web programming language whose power to create rich, multimedia experiences on mobile sites and apps is light years ahead of its HTML4 predecessor, mobile technology experts say.
In a move likely to get ready for the Kindle Fire launch, Amazon has quietly announced the new Kindle Owner Lending Library. This benefit is for Amazon Prime members with Kindles. The library consists of thousands of books, "including over 100 current and former New York Times Bestsellers" that can be borrowed for free.
SeaWorld in Orlando has quietly announced that they are planning some big stuff for the future.
Not sure what the secret is, but Apple is quietly clearing 174 acres of land in North Carolina for a solar farm to power its new $1 billion data center, which will also be sited there. No one knows how big The "Project Dolphin Solar Farm" will be - all that's known is they're setting fires to clear the land. Neighbors complain the fires go 24 hours a day. The company hasn't yet applied for a building permit, which would disclose that information.
With very little fanfare, Motorola Mobility announced Monday that it has reached a memorandum of understanding to resolve shareholder litigation that might have stood in the way of a vote on Google's proposed $12.5 billion all-cash acquisition of the company.
With virtually no fanfare -- or even a press release -- The Criterion Collection has made 46 of its 680 films available on iTunes. Among the films released are art house classics any lovers of cinema will recognize, including The Seventh Seal by Ingmar Bergman, Seven Samurai by Akira Kurosawa, and The 400 Blows by Francois Truffaut.
The U.S. Copyright Office this week quietly announced its priorities for the coming months, and some of the issues it's studying could bring path-breaking changes to both intellectual property law as well as the entertainment and media industries. The priorities range from the possible establishment of a new small claims circuit to a way that websites and blogs can register continually changing material for copyright protection.
Last Friday, the Obama administration quietly announced it was suspending progress on the CLASS Act, an unsustainable long-term care insurance program that was supposed to help offset the cost of Obamacare. But now that the CBO and House GOP are readying for the program's presumable repeal, the Obama administration is balking.
Four years ago, Wal-Mart abandoned its plans to obtain a long-sought federal bank charter amid opposition from the banking industry and lawmakers, who feared the huge retailer would drive small bankers out of business and potentially conflate its banking and retail operations. Ever since, Wal-Mart has been quietly building up a la carte financial services, becoming a force among the unbanked and "unhappily banked," as one Wal-Mart executive put it.
Amazon quietly purchased a Charlotte voice-to-text startup called Yap, an SEC filing shows.
Although Romney has been absent at most events in the state, his campaign is quietly moving forward in Iowa as Romney distances himself from GOP rivals and argues that the nation will be in peril should President Obama be reelected in 2012.
Google said Wednesday that businesses and brands--and especially publishers--might benefit from the Google+ badge, an indicator of how many people are following a page. The badge was quietly rolled out as part of Google's launch of its Google+ Pages for businesses on Monday, which allowed businesses to join the Google+ social network. But users and site developers may have missed it, Google said.
Microsoft quietly downgraded the hardware requirements for its Windows Phone 7 operating system in late September to make optional the inclusion of cameras in mobiles using the operating system.
The Obama administration has quietly drawn up plans to provide a key Persian Gulf ally with thousands of advanced "bunker-buster" bombs and other munitions, part of a stepped-up U.S. effort to build a regional coalition to counter Iran. The proposed sale to the United Arab Emirates would vastly expand the existing capabilities of the country's air force to target fixed structures, which could include bunkers and tunnels--the kind of installations where Iran is believed to be developing weapons.
Romano's Macaroni Grill at Ray Road and 50th Street quietly closed last week after 14 years. The closure was announced only with a sign on the door and in a response to a customer on the company's corporate Facebook page.
With little notice and no fanfare, St. Louis's "new" pharmacy shut its doors last week. "They weren't doing the volume," said Downtown Development Director Phil Hansen.
Twitter quietly debuts new 'Top News' and 'Top People' search features
Apple quietly begins iPhone as wallet in-store trials
Apple quietly upgrades MacBook Pro line
Twitter Quietly Tweaking its Search Function
Two weeks ahead of Thanksgiving the Christmas wars for 2011 are already in full swing after Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker restored the name of the state's 'Christmas' tree after it spent 25 years as a 'holiday' tree. The governor made the change without fanfare by simply referring to the evergreen as a Christmas tree in a Tuesday press release announcing that local youth would help decorate the tree in the state's capitol rotunda.
With no fanfare on Monday night, the Senate quietly confirmed Obama nominee Cyrus Amir-Mokri to become an assistant secretary for financial institutions at the Treasury Department. In that role Amir-Mokri is expected assist in implementing policy created under the Dodd-Frank regulatory reform bill as well as help direct an early warning system for problems in the global economy.
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