Financial Trading Markets Actually Giant Botnets

 

 

It’s like a botnet worm. Only, instead of eating data it erases market value.

…the Dow Jones stock index fell 600 points in just 6 minutes. Its nadir represented the deepest single-day decline in that market’s 114-year history… the “flash crash,” as it came to be known, was big, unexpected and scary — and a new study says flash events actually happen routinely, at speeds so fast they don’t register on regular market records, with potentially troubling consequences for market stability.

via Nanosecond Trading Could Make Markets Go Haywire | Wired Science | Wired.com.

How Blue America Subsidizes Red America

 

I don’t really understand this chart, but I get the idea behind it. I’d also like to see someone illustrate the correlation between state-by-state ideology against urban versus rural population.

A very neat Aaron Carroll chart shows that, on average, conservative states feature more “dependency” on federal programs than do liberal ones.

via How Blue America Subsidizes Red America.

International Protests Against Internet Censorship Treaty

Seriously, guys. It’s not going to go away. We’re talking about control of the Internet. And while computer-savvy geeks like myself won’t be stopped, SOPA and PIPA will hobble the Internet’s capacity to public;y display dissent.

Then again, I’m always talking about the decreasing relevance of legislation in lawmakers’ efforts to regulate technology. Where were these guys when we needed standards for cell phone signals?

The world is witnessing the largest offline protest against copyright legislation today…

I’m willing to stop buying music and movies altogether. But, I realize that this Royalty Crusade, like so many other legislative doomsday devices, is on autopilot and can no longer be stopped by a single individual. Even if one of the Big Media CEOs wanted to stop ACTA, he couldn’t.

Therefore, it’s up to the rest of us, ladies and gentlemen, to save the Internet (yes, it’s a proper noun).

Read more at TorrentFreak.