Dutch hacker found guilty of 2013 cyber attack but won’t be jailed

DutchNews, November 14, 2016

Photo: Depositphotos

The Dutchman accused of launching a massive cyber attack on a spam blacklist publisher in 2013 has been sentenced to 240 days in jail, 185 suspended, in absentia.

Sven Olaf Kamphuis failed to attend his trial in Dordrecht and has repeatedly denied any involvement. Even if he had been in court, he would not be sent to jail because he already spent 55 days on remand after his extradition from Spain in 2013, broadcaster NOS reported. 

Kamphuis was accused of being behind a massive distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack on a company named Spamhaus in 2013. 

Spamhaus publishes spam blacklists and accused Dutch web-hosting service Cyberbunker of carrying out the attack after it was blocked as a rogue host. Kamphuis was said to be a spokesman for Cyberbunker at the time. 

Kamphuis told the AD via Skype earlier this month the charges against him are ‘nonsense, even if I support them’. A British teenager was in 2015 sentenced to 240 days community service for his role in the attack. 

Kamphuis was arrested in Spain in 2013 and extradited to the Netherlands where he spent two months in jail on remand. He is now thought to be abroad, possibly in Barcelona or Berlin.

A Hijab-Wearing Emoji Might Finally Happen Thanks to One Muslim Teen

Yahoo – Elle, Kristina Rodulfo, September 16, 2016

As the enthusiasm over new emojis featuring women of all skin tones playing sports and portraying a wide range of professions shows, representation matters. Rayouf Alhumedhi knows this. That's why, frustrated by emoji options that didn't look like her, she created a formal proposal for hijab-wearing emojis to Unicode Consortium, which sets the standards for symbols on keyboards.

"In the age of digitalization, pictures prove to be a crucial element in communication," the proposal says. "Roughly 550 million Muslim women on this earth pride themselves on wearing the hijab. With this enormous number of people, not a single space on the keyboard is reserved for them."

Alhumedi, a Saudi Arabia–born teen now attending high school in Germany, first emailed Apple and got no response. Then she emailed Unicode Consortium (the same group responsible for welcoming those new emojis for women) and caught the attention of reporter Jennifer 8. Lee, who, after suggesting Alhumedi include more history on the hijab and research, co-authored the proposal.

"We need to be represented with the amount of diversity, the amount of difference in this world," she told The New York Times. Alhumedi also hosted a Reddit discussion on Tuesday to answer questions. "I would like to be represented and acknowledged," she in response to inquiries that the hijab was "oppressive." "It might seem baffling, but when I wear the head scarf I actually feel liberated because I'm in control of what I want to cover. The head scarf allows for people to see past a woman's beauty and see her for her knowledge."

She is flying to the Bay Area in California to present a final proposal to Unicode's technical committee in November. The proposal has since focused on just the female design, and if it's approved it would be accepted into Unicode 10 and adopted by fall 2017. Check out the full proposal here:

Unicode ประกาศ Emoji เวอร์ชัน 10 เพิ่มอีก 51 แบบ และเตรียมลง iOS เร็ว ๆ นี้ https://t.co/EomYC4PYvX pic.twitter.com/3leF4IodhV

— khajochi (@khajochi) November 12, 2016

No strings attached: Rotterdam trials wireless electric car charging

DutchNews, November 8, 2016

Rotterdam is working towards green transport with no strings attached – the municipality has begun a trial to recharge electric cars wirelessly, reports the AD on Tuesday. 

Three city companies are beginning a trial after two years of preparatory work, using specially converted vehicles.

‘This could be an ideal way to recharge batteries, especially at taxi ranks and bus stops,’ Hans Boot, of Engie Services Nederland told the AD.

The charging system works using an induction plate and coil, which transmits electricity to a car battery sitting above the plate, and is activated with a smartphone or tablet app. Boot said he expects that in future cars would even be able to be recharged on roads equipped with the technology. 

Rotterdam is determined to reduce its carbon emissions, and this trial is part of the effort. Pex Langenberg, head of sustainability, said: ‘We already have a lot of charging points but perhaps in future, we can install some of these plates to make charging as easy as possible. Compare it with an electric toothbrush. You put it down, and it charges up.’ 

At the end of September, Rotterdam celebrated opening its 2000th charging point, and it is aiming to have 3,600 by the end of 2018. 

Subsidies

But on Sunday evening, organisations including the motoring organisation ANWB, environmental group Natuur & Milieu, technical universities and electric car industry firms, warned that electric car use could splutter to a standstill when subsidies are withdrawn. In October, environment minister Henk Kamp said he was not convinced about the effectiveness of subsidies for buying electric cars in a letter to MPs.

Viral Hit Sensation "Pen-Pinapple-Apple-Pen" Sets Guinness World Record

Jakarta Globe, November 03, 2016

A still from "Pen-Apple-Pineapple-Pen" Music Video by Pikotaro. (Photo
courtesy of Youtube)

Jakarta. Viral music video “Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen” by Japanese comedian Pikotaro has made it to Guinness World Records as the shortest song ever to hit the Billboard Hot 100.

The original music video, which features the 45-second hit sensation, was first released at the end of August earlier this year, and has been viewed more than 75 million times on Youtube. Piko Taro is the alter-ego of the Japanese comedian and DJ Daimaou Kosaka. In the video he dresses in animal-print shirt and trousers, which has now become his trademark, and happily dances to the catchy tunes of his song.

“PPAP” became a viral hit soon after Justin Bieber shared the video with his 89 million Twitter followers, saying it was “his favorite video on the internet.”

The previous record for shortest song to make it to the Billboard Hot 100 was held by US group the Womenfolk, with their 62 second single “Little Boxes.”

Following the success of “PPAP,” Piko-Taro released a longer version this past week. The 2 minutes and 41 seconds video has been viewed more than 11 million times.

Pikotaro is a pseudonym for Kazuhito Kosaka, who also goes by Daimaou Kosaka. He is the first Japanese musician to hit the Billboard chart since 1990. The Daily Mail reported that Piko-Taro announced a contract-signing with record labels such as Sony, CNR Music and Times Records for a worldwide distribution of “PPAP.”