Google and Symantec clash on website security checks

Search giant Google and security firm Symantec have clashed over the way websites are kept secure.

Google claims Symantec has done a poor job of using standard tools, called certificates, that check the identity of thousands of websites.
It will change its Chrome browser to stop recognising some Symantec certificates, causing problems for people who visit sites using them.
Symantec said Google's claims were "exaggerated" and "irresponsible".
The row concerns identity checks known as "security certificates", which underlie the HTTPS system that ensures data is encrypted as it travels to and from a website.
Symantec is one of the biggest issuers of basic security certificates as well as their extended versions, which are supposed to give users more confidence in the security of a site.

'Strong objection'

Google alleges that Symantec has not done enough to ensure that these basic and extended certificates are being issued correctly. It claims to have evidence that over the past few years 30,000 certificates are suspect.
In a bid to tackle the problem, Google said it would change the way many versions of Chrome display information derived from Symantec certificates. This could mean many users get warnings that sites are insecure or are blocked from visiting them.
In response, Symantec said it "strongly objected" to the way Google had acted, saying its decision was "unexpected".
Its statement added that Google's statements about the way it issues certificates was "exaggerated and misleading". It threw doubt on the claim that 30,000 certificates had been issued incorrectly and said only 127 had been identified as wrongly issued.
Symantec said it had taken "extensive remediation measures" to improve the way it issued certificates and noted that many other certificate issuers had not gone as far.
It queried why it had been "singled out" by Google when other certificate issuers were also at fault.
"We are open to discussing the matter with Google in an effort to resolve the situation in the shared interests of our joint customers and partners," it concluded.
source: BBC

PepsiCo, Walmart, Starbucks join Google boycott after ads appear next to ‘appalling’ videos

 

PepsiCo, Walmart, and Starbucks have joined the international boycott against Google’s YouTube and suspended advertising on the video-sharing service over mounting concerns that their ads may have run next to “appalling” videos.

Some advertisers said they won’t return to YouTube until they are certain Google has the situation under control.
“The content with which we are being associated is appalling and completely against our company values,” Walmart said in a Friday statement.
The company, alongside PepsiCo and several others, said they will also stop buying ads that Google places on more than two million other third-party websites, AP reported.
Verizon and AT&T, along with UK retailer Marks and Spencer and L'Oreal, pulled ads from YouTube earlier this week. AT&T said it is removing the ads from the non-search inventory on Google because its “ads may have appeared alongside YouTube content promoting terrorism and hate,” the company wrote in an email, Reuters reported.
If the search giant fails to win back advertisers, this could potentially result in a loss of hundreds of millions of dollars. “The bigger risk is this seems to be a backlash against programmatic advertising in general,” analyst Jan Dawson of Jackdaw Research told Reuters on Thursday. “There's this worry that you no longer have control over where ads appear,”he added.
Moody’s Investor Service predicted the backlash won’t last long because Google is “laser-focused” on cleaning things up on YouTube, AP reported.
The Wall Street Journal found that Google’s automated programs placed their brands on five videos containing extremist content.
Speaking at a press briefing at the start of Advertising Week Europe in London on Monday, Google apologized for tainting some brands, and pledged to ensure the ads will not appear alongside extremist videos.

“It is a good opportunity for me to say, first and foremost, to say sorry this should not happen and we need to do better," Google's EMEA president of business and operations, Matt Brittin, said.
Google relies mostly on automated programs to place ads in YouTube videos. The company’s EMEA president of business and operations, Matt Brittin, said 400 hours of content is uploaded to YouTube each minute, adding that 98 percent of “removals” take place within 24 hours, NBC reported.
Ensuring brand safety, however, is a real challenge, Brittin noted. “It is not as simple as it might seem, so you might say: Why don't you just exclude content that relates to war or that relates to politics? Well actually if you were to do that you would exclude important news content or documentary content.”
“It's not our job to be a censor, it's for the government,” Brittin said, as cited by Business Insider.
“So, you will find online content that you violently disagree with, that you find incredibly distasteful, but that is a legitimate point of view and not illegal. And that is one of the joys of the web and the voices that are there. That's different to the issue of what's safe for advertisers, which is more tightly defined.”

2 BROKE GIRLS SEASON 6 DVD COVER (FREE DOWNLOAD)

Street-wise Max (Kat Dennings) doesn't expect much from the new waitress at her night job, a rich girl who has reluctantly joined the food service industry after a string of bad luck. But to her surprise, Caroline (Beth Behrs) is a woman of substance and just may be her ticket to success. The two strike up an unlikely friendship after Caroline discovers that Max can bake a mean cupcake, and the women decide if they can just wrangle up the start-up cash, they may have found their big break. Their co-workers at the diner are boss Han Lee, cook Oleg and cashier Earl.

Miss Peregrines Home For Peculiar Children (2016) DVD COVER

From visionary director Tim Burton, and based upon the best-selling novel, comes an unforgettable motion picture experience. When Jake discovers clues to a mystery that spans different worlds and times, he finds a magical place known as Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. But the mystery and danger deepen as he gets to know the residents and learns about their special powers...and their powerful enemies. Ultimately, Jake discovers that only his own special "peculiarity" can save his new friends.

Rating:

PG-13 (for intense sequences of fantasy action/violence and peril)

Genre:

Kids & Family , Science Fiction & Fantasy

Directed By:

Tim Burton

Written By:

Jane Goldman

In Theaters:

Sep 30, 2016  wide

Box Office:

$83,284,618.00

Runtime:

127 minutes

Studio:

20th Century Fox

 

WALK OF FAME MOVIE (2016) DVD COVER

A motley crew of aspiring performers come under the guidance of an eccentric and volatile acting coach.

Director:

Jesse Thomas

Writers:

Jesse Thomas, Jesse Thomas

Stars:

Scott Eastwood, Malcolm McDowell, Chris Kattan

'America's Got Talent' season 11 winner announced

 

Grace VanderWaal on (Left) and The Clairvoyants (Right)

[Spoiler alert! The following contains spoilers from season 11 of "America's Got Talent."]

Grace VanderWaal is the newest winner of “America’s Got Talent.”

The 12 year-old ukulele sensation narrowly beat mentalist duo The Clairvoyants to snag the show’s $1 million grand prize Wednesday night.

NFL star and magician John Dorenbos placed third.

Grace — a fan favorite who Simon Cowell has dubbed “the next Taylor Swift” — immediately fell into a crouched position and began to openly weep when host Nick Cannon called her name.

"How does it feel?” he asked her. "These are tears of joy, right?" 

“Yes, of course," she replied between sobs.

As part of her prize, Grace will also headline an upcoming concert in Las Vegas.

The tween was one of ten acts who made it all the way to the finale.

The two-hour broadcast included highlights from the show’s 11th season as well as performances by Il Divo, The Silhouettes and rock legend Stevie Nicks.

The Fleetwood Mac icon revealed she is a fan of “Talent’s” 11th champion.

"I have been watching this show from the very beginning,” Nicks said after performing a stirring version of “Landslide.”

“I have to say (Grace) reminds me a lot of me in a lot of ways. We sing very similar. We like to be weird…and we like to be a little different and not like anybody else." 

“Grace is going to the top!”

Earlier in the evening, Grace reprised her audition song, a quirky original tune titled “I Don’t Know My Name.”

Then it came time to reveal the results of America’s vote.

Crooner Sal Valentinetti, contortionist Soffie Dossi, vocal quartet Linkin’ Bridge and teen opera star Laura Bretan were all in the first group to be eliminated.

Other highlights from the evening included Dorenbos and the Clairvoyants each performing stunning illusions with a little help from Paula Abdul.

"America's Got Talent" will return in May 2017 on NBC.

Drake And Rihanna Now Have Matching Tattoos Of Their Relationship's Spirit Animal

Rihanna getting a tiny camouflage shark with a Drake connection inked on her body was a big enough deal.

Now, photos from his Summer Sixteen tour stop in New Orleans on September 2 show that Drake has a twin shark permanently plastered to his forearm, so, yeah: If that isn't a hyper-specific declaration of lasting love, we don't know what is.


DRAKE AND RIHANNA ARE EITHER GETTING MARRIED OR DROPPING AN ALBUM TOGETHER

 

This has been a huge week for the pop star and rapper: They started it at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards, where Drake presented RiRi with this year's Video Vanguard award and shared that he'd been in love with her for years. Some NYC hangs happened. Some appointments with some tattoo artists went down. Some smooches were exchanged onstage in Miami. And now, not seven days after Drake got a serious case of the feelings before the VMA audience and viewers at home, they're stamped with the 2D rendering of a stuffed animal Drake got for RiRi on a date at Toronto's Ripley's Aquarium. (Peep the photo above: You'll find the shark just underneath the hands clasped in prayer on his outstretched right arm.)

That's one hell of a souvenir for this epic seven-day stretch — well, that and the giant billboard Drake put up in Los Angeles to celebrate Rihanna's VMA achievements. Should we all be so lucky as to find someone who's into expressing their affection in the most unexpected ways possible, stuffed animals and all.

Justin Bieber Channels Some Coffeehouse Vibes To Cover 2pac And More

The '90s baby re-works songs from two of the decade's biggest hitmakers

Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" is six years older than Justin Bieber — if the song were a kid, it would have graduated kindergarten by the time he was born — but that didn't stop the singer from attempting a cover of the '90s classic, along with a surprising rendition of 2pac's "Thugz Mansion," for BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge.
Bieber donned some torn flannel, picked up an acoustic guitar, and did his best to invoke the smoky, uplifting intimacy of Chapman's original. He said it was a "part of his childhood," a song that his mom would play all the time when he was a kid, and after a brief flub at the beginning, he eventually found his key and croons his way through the track. (You gotta feel for him when you see him wince as he finds his footing.)

The low-key mood was well-suited to his cover of "Thugz Mansion." After the performance, Bieber shared a bit about his relationship to hip-hop — namely, to Kanye West. "I forget how I met him," he said. "We just clicked and vibed. It was cool."
Maybe Bieber was flemmy and flummoxed from drinking too much milk before his performance? Even then, Bieber on a bad day still sounds better than the majority of Average Joes belting out "Fast Car" in their respective automobiles on their best day, so he gets a pass on this one.

9 TIMES OTHER ARTISTS COVERED JUSTIN BIEBER ON RADIO 1’S LIVE LOUNGE

Chris Brown's lawyer says no guns, drugs found in house search

Police search followed woman's accusation Tuesday that singer pointed gun at her while at his house.

Police did not find guns or drugs during a search of singer Chris Brown's mansion before his arrest on allegations he threatened a model at gunpoint, his lawyer said Friday.

Mark Geragos said he was present during the search and police did not find evidence to corroborate the accuser's story, including a specific piece of jewelry that she said triggered the incident.

Baylee Curran told reporters that Brown pointed a gun at her face after he and another man became angry with her when she admired the man's diamond necklace.

Brown was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. He was released on $250,000 U.S. bail.

Geragos said the accuser's story was fabricated.

"This woman got irate when she was asked to leave because she was acting in an erratic manner," Geragos said.

Capt. Andy Neiman said the Los Angeles Police Department is working with prosecutors to review the evidence and not commenting on the case.

The Grammy-winning Brown has had legal trouble and problems acquiring international visas since his felony conviction in the 2009 assault of then-girlfriend, Rihanna. He completed probation in that case last year.

• Rihanna weighs in on Chris Brown in Vanity Fair

Brown has also faced accusations that were proven to be false, Geragos said. He has also had stalkers and several break-ins, including one by a woman who moved into his house while he was away.

Are Nicki Minaj & Meek Mill Expecting A Baby? |SEE PHOTOS

Meek Mill and Nicki Minaj took their relationship to the next level by renting a Beverly Hills mansion together. And now, the Philly rapper hints on Instagram that they might be going all in and having a baby.

The pregnancy rumors aren’t surprising. Nicki had previously said that she would love to get married and have a child with the Dreamchasers leader. And now maybe part of that dream is coming true….

Or not.

The woman in the mirror was found out to be fitness expert Tammy Hembrow. See for yourself.

Also, the First Lady of Young Money just made a public appearance with Meek Mill at theVMAs last weekend and there was no baby bump.