Hackers Breach Casino Sites

Hackers breached and defaced all the websites of Las Vegas Sands Corp., including the home pages for some of the world’s largest casinos. After the attack, the company down the sites, which includes those for the company, the Venetian and Palazzo casinos in Las Vegas, and the Sands casinos in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Singapore, and Macau. The attackers also stole and released some Sands employees’ personal information, including Social Security numbers, email addresses, and job titles. Company officials are still assessing the damages. Experts guess the attacks may have been politically motivated, as the hackers placed a photo of Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson posing with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the affected websites with a message condemning the use of weapons of mass destruction on the sites. Adelson, whose personal wealth is estimated to be at least $37 billion, is a vocal supporter of Israel and has met Netanyahu several times. He has also sought to have Internet gambling banned in the US. The Nevada State Gaming Control Board is investigating the breach. (Associated Press)(The Morning Call)

View the original article here

Eating or spending too much? Blame it on social networking sites

Dec. 11, 2012 — Participating in online social networks can have a detrimental effect on consumer well-being by lowering self-control among certain users, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.

"Using online social networks can have a positive effect on self-esteem and well-being. However, these increased feelings of self-worth can have a detrimental effect on behavior. Because consumers care about the image they present to close friends, social network use enhances self-esteem in users who are focused on close friends while browsing their social network. This momentary increase in self-esteem leads them to display less self-control after browsing a social network," write authors Keith Wilcox (Columbia University) and Andrew T. Stephen (University of Pittsburgh).

Online social networks are having a fundamental impact on society. Facebook, the largest, has over one billion active users. Does using a social network impact the choices consumers make in their daily lives? If so, what effect does it have on consumer well-being?

A series of interesting studies showed that Facebook usage lowers self-control for consumers who focus on close friends while browsing their social network. Specifically, consumers focused on close friends are more likely to choose an unhealthy snack after browsing Facebook due to enhanced self-esteem. Greater Facebook use was associated with a higher body-mass index, increased binge eating, a lower credit score, and higher levels of credit card debt for consumers with many close friends in their social network.

"These results are concerning given the increased time people spend using social networks, as well as the worldwide proliferation of access to social networks anywhere anytime via smartphones and other gadgets. Given that self-control is important for maintaining social order and personal well-being, this subtle effect could have widespread impact. This is particularly true for adolescents and young adults who are the heaviest users of social networks and have grown up using social networks as a normal part of their daily lives," the authors conclude.

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Chicago Press Journals.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Journal Reference:

Keith Wilcox, Andrew T. Stephen. Are Close Friends the Enemy? Online Social Networks, Self-Esteem, and Self-Control. Journal of Consumer Research, 2012; : 000 DOI: 10.1086/668794

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

View the original article here

Browsing internet sites without the hurdles

ScienceDaily (June 25, 2012) — The majority of websites have major shortcomings. Unclean programming frequently causes excessive load times. Companies are only gradually recognizing the advantages of a barrier-free Internet. Fraunhofer researchers are crafting tools that can be used to monitor compliance with web standards.

For companies in Germany, web accessibility has never been a compelling issue until now -- this was also confirmed by a series of tests conducted in 2011 by the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology FIT in Sankt Augustin. The scientists at the Web Compliance Center used their analysis tools to test the "web compliance" -- or adherence to international web standards -- among the Internet sites of German companies listed on the DAX. The outcome: 90 percent of the websites exhibited substantial flaws. For instance, important data could only be found after much effort, the websites took too long to load, or they were deficiently displayed on mobile devices. "'Web compliance' not only means optimizing websites so that they can be used by disabled and older persons," explains Dr. Carlos Velasco of the Web Compliance Center at FIT. "Search engines such as Google also have considerable problems with faulty sites. This may make the sites impossible to find or prevent them from ranking high in search requests. That is why this issue actually deserves a high priority."

Economic advantages through accessibility

An increasing number of companies have since realized that accessibility also comes with major economic advantages. Hewlett Packard Italia, Public-I Group and Polymedia, for example, are participating in the EU research project, "Inclusive Future-Internet Web Services (I2Web)." Coordinated by FIT, the project has a budget of EUR 2.7 million for a 2 and half years. The partners include the University of York (United Kingdom) and the University of Ljubljana (Slovenia), as well as the National Council for the Blind of Ireland and the Foundation for Assistive Technology (FAST). Participating companies offer Internet television, Video On Demand (VOD), online banking services and content management systems. These sites will soon be barrier-free.

Monitoring social networks for illegal activities

To enable site operators to monitor their sites efficiently, the FIT computer scientists had already developed the "imergo Web Compliance Suite" back in 2004. It is composed of a series of tools that can be integrated into content management systems. They review websites for adherence to certain rules, and these not only cover accessibility: for instance, one could monitor a social network such as Facebook for certain word groups that point to illegal activities. A company could also verify if the corporate design standards were being met on all their pages. "Typically, several content editors take care of large websites," says Velasco. "The suite tests whether the logo is located in the right spot on every page, for example."

The EU project "I2Web" launched in 2010 is a kind of progression from the "imergo Web Compliance Suite." The prototype contains, for instance, a development environment for an Expert Viewer. Not all accessibility guidelines can be checked automatically by a software program. For instance, photographs on a website should have a suitable alternative text. While a test tool can detect whether a text exists, it cannot determine if it also "suitably" describes what can be seen in the image. So the Expert Viewer offers a list of all relevant image texts that editors can review for the correctness of content. One important part of the EU project is conformity with interfaces, such as when customers wish to use Video On Demand or Internet TV on their televisions. "I2Web" ensures that the websites work seamlessly on all devices (if possible), and can be operated with complete accessibility.

Given the rapid pace of the Internet's evolution, the researchers at FIT will not soon run out of things to do: they will consistently have to adapt their tools to new browsers, the latest mobile devices and additional interfaces. But their work pays off: Open Text, a leading provider of content management systems, successfully markets the "imergo tools" as an additional option on its products.

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

View the original article here

Browsing internet sites without the hurdles

ScienceDaily (June 25, 2012) — The majority of websites have major shortcomings. Unclean programming frequently causes excessive load times. Companies are only gradually recognizing the advantages of a barrier-free Internet. Fraunhofer researchers are crafting tools that can be used to monitor compliance with web standards.

For companies in Germany, web accessibility has never been a compelling issue until now -- this was also confirmed by a series of tests conducted in 2011 by the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology FIT in Sankt Augustin. The scientists at the Web Compliance Center used their analysis tools to test the "web compliance" -- or adherence to international web standards -- among the Internet sites of German companies listed on the DAX. The outcome: 90 percent of the websites exhibited substantial flaws. For instance, important data could only be found after much effort, the websites took too long to load, or they were deficiently displayed on mobile devices. "'Web compliance' not only means optimizing websites so that they can be used by disabled and older persons," explains Dr. Carlos Velasco of the Web Compliance Center at FIT. "Search engines such as Google also have considerable problems with faulty sites. This may make the sites impossible to find or prevent them from ranking high in search requests. That is why this issue actually deserves a high priority."

Economic advantages through accessibility

An increasing number of companies have since realized that accessibility also comes with major economic advantages. Hewlett Packard Italia, Public-I Group and Polymedia, for example, are participating in the EU research project, "Inclusive Future-Internet Web Services (I2Web)." Coordinated by FIT, the project has a budget of EUR 2.7 million for a 2 and half years. The partners include the University of York (United Kingdom) and the University of Ljubljana (Slovenia), as well as the National Council for the Blind of Ireland and the Foundation for Assistive Technology (FAST). Participating companies offer Internet television, Video On Demand (VOD), online banking services and content management systems. These sites will soon be barrier-free.

Monitoring social networks for illegal activities

To enable site operators to monitor their sites efficiently, the FIT computer scientists had already developed the "imergo Web Compliance Suite" back in 2004. It is composed of a series of tools that can be integrated into content management systems. They review websites for adherence to certain rules, and these not only cover accessibility: for instance, one could monitor a social network such as Facebook for certain word groups that point to illegal activities. A company could also verify if the corporate design standards were being met on all their pages. "Typically, several content editors take care of large websites," says Velasco. "The suite tests whether the logo is located in the right spot on every page, for example."

The EU project "I2Web" launched in 2010 is a kind of progression from the "imergo Web Compliance Suite." The prototype contains, for instance, a development environment for an Expert Viewer. Not all accessibility guidelines can be checked automatically by a software program. For instance, photographs on a website should have a suitable alternative text. While a test tool can detect whether a text exists, it cannot determine if it also "suitably" describes what can be seen in the image. So the Expert Viewer offers a list of all relevant image texts that editors can review for the correctness of content. One important part of the EU project is conformity with interfaces, such as when customers wish to use Video On Demand or Internet TV on their televisions. "I2Web" ensures that the websites work seamlessly on all devices (if possible), and can be operated with complete accessibility.

Given the rapid pace of the Internet's evolution, the researchers at FIT will not soon run out of things to do: they will consistently have to adapt their tools to new browsers, the latest mobile devices and additional interfaces. But their work pays off: Open Text, a leading provider of content management systems, successfully markets the "imergo tools" as an additional option on its products.

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

View the original article here