386 karma · joined November 11, 2014
- Appin, an Indian firm, is accused by Reuters of functioning as the e-commerce platform for hacking (similar to Amazon but for hacking). Users log in to a covert portal, place orders to hack into target mailboxes, make payments, and receive the delivered data.
- Appin received requests globally, including from RAW, IB, and the Indian military. However, when the Indian government detected financial irregularities, government contracts ceased. In desperation, Appin took on any available work, but it didn't survive.
- Despite Appin's demise, its former employees initiated similar ventures that are still active today.
Considering the involvement of the Indian government, I anticipated Appin and its founders to dispute the allegations, and they did. The article was subsequently removed, raising allegations of censorship.
The linked article discusses the backlash against this alleged censorship.
The timing of this article is intriguing, coinciding with the recent Pannun affair and now presenting another accusation, this time in the cyberspace. Reuters mentions that "The National Security Agency (NSA), which spies on foreigners for the U.S. government, began surveilling the company after watching it hack “high value” Pakistani officials around 2009, one of the sources said. An NSA spokesperson declined to comment." This may lead Indians to question: if the NSA can hack, why can't we?
> The new cells contained transduction channels that relay sound signals and the ability to form connections with auditory neurons — processes essential to hearing.
Surprisingly, my biggest obstacle was digital advertising. It is impossible to advertise a print book on Amazon as an independent seller. Facebook banned my ads (guessing it's the cover?) and when I got past it, the ads had pretty good CTRs but very low conversions.
The thing that did work for me was the YouTube videos, interviews and other short pieces I did for publicity, that helped me to sell half of the total print.
Any ideas on how to tackle the advertising?
[1] https://www.amazon.com/Battle-Panipat-light-rediscovered-pai...
The reasons behind the lull between the first and the second waves were not entirely clear, and some people assumed that the herd immunity is being reached. Combined with the desire to return to normalcy after a harsh lockdown, it falsely assured people that the worst was behind them. This created the perfect conditions for a bigger second wave.
Finally, the state and every petty official was intoxicated by the powers they weilded during the first lockdown, and they forgot that with great power comes the great responsibility. They unnecessarily focused on tiny things such as fining people Rs. 500 at the traffic lights, while not really understanding the new information on how virus spreads, what are the best ways to tackle transmission and so on. People should have been given the liberty to be outdoors with proper face covering when there was good airflow. They shpuld have known that meeting indoors with poor airflow was the biggest threat. This wasn't communicated properly.
Some government officials did take decisions proactively to save their own district. For example, see here
But unfortunately, this was the exception rather than the norm.
The plant was from my own backyard, but it was stressed due to some insect / squirrel eating many leaves and buds. Possibly that triggered the plant to make the toxins that keep predators away.
“We are proceeding direct, sir — we have lost engine,” a pilot can be heard saying.
“Confirm your attempt on belly,” the air traffic controller said, offering a runway.
“Sir - mayday, mayday, mayday, mayday Pakistan 8303,” the pilot said before the transmission ended.
source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1558944/at-least-80-killed-as-plan...
source: http://www.livemint.com/Companies/rYKC6HjnShogjE62jO5lpK/The...
Source: https://m.timesofindia.com/india/goa-covid-free-but-risks-lo...