US Files First Criminal Charges Over "Panama Papers" Money Laundering Scheme

Image from ICIJ

The Panama Papers, published 18 months ago, exposed a system that enables crime, corruption and wrongdoing, hidden by secretive offshore companies and used by rich and famous from all over the world.
United States authorities have charged four men, including two former Mossack Fonseca employees, with money laundering and fraud, the Department of Justice announced today. There are interesting information emerging from this case, ICIJ reports.

From Department of Justice

Four individuals have been charged in an indictment unsealed today in the Southern District of New York with wire fraud, tax fraud, money laundering and other offenses in connection with their alleged roles in a decades-long criminal scheme perpetrated by Mossack Fonseca & Co. (“Mossack Fonseca”), a Panamanian-based global law firm, and related entities.

Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman for the Southern District of New York, Chief Don Fort of IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and Special Agent in Charge Angel M. Melendez of U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York made the announcement today.

Ramses Owens, 50, a Panamanian citizen; Dirk Brauer, 54, a German citizen; Richard Gaffey, 74, a U.S. citizen, of Medfield, Massachusetts; and Harald Joachim Von Der Goltz, 81, a German citizen, have been charged in an 11-count indictment.  Owens, Gaffey and Von Der Goltz are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit tax evasion, one count of wire fraud, and one count of money laundering conspiracy.  Owens and Brauer have been charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.  Gaffey and Von Der Goltz are additionally charged with four counts of willful failure to file an FBAR.  Von Der Goltz has been additionally charged with two counts of making false statements.

House Judiciary Committee, Seem To Have No Clue, When It Comes To The Search, Internet And Technology

At 1:05:00 Rep. Steve Chabot 

 I listened to the hearing for a while, specially wanted to know what Google has to say about the China syndrome it has recently acquired. After a while I had to give up, I was splaying coffee all over when I was not rolling on the floor.

House Judiciary Committee, showed not only the Americans but the whole world, that they have no idea how the Internet and associated technology worked. Here are two of them and the rest you can find on Mashable, link after the jump.

Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert. The Republican Congressman was upset with the fact that Google shows Wikipedia in its search results. No sooner one could calm self and wipe the coffee from the table,  Gohmert proceeded to throw himself under the bus in a bizarre moment where he blamed the free online encyclopedia for removing edits his staff makes to his own Wikipedia page. Remember that this is being said at a hearing on political bias on the internet!

Rep. Steve Chabot brought us one of the most unfortunate self-owns of the hearing while discussing Google search and anti-conservative bias. Bringing up his own personal experience, Chabot questioned Pichai on why Google returned so much negative criticism on Republicans’ bill to repeal and replace Obamacare last year. Unaware of the implication that so many outlets reported on the bill in this way simply because, maybe, it was just bad, Chabot went on to bring up a similar experience with the GOP tax plan.

 How to "   " by Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert

Mash

"When Journalism Succeeds, We All Do Better." GNI, the Google News Intitative Fights Fake News

Google's VP of news Richard Gingras shared the idea in a YouTube video released Tuesday to announce the launch of the Google News Initiative, #GNI.  The project is Google's new effort to fight fake news with technology, in part by providing publishers  with wonderful online tools.

The GNI comes at a time when people doubt and fight about News media services and social media services like Facebook, Google, and Twitter. Trust is a key tool in providing News.
Google has committed $300 million over three years towards various products and initiatives intended to help news publishers and sweeten Google’s relationships with them, as part of #GNI.
The Google News Initiative focuses on promoting quality journalism by decreasing misinformation online, allowing publishers access to subscription tools via Google, and releasing tools for security.

GNI is different from Google's effort in EU, the Google’s Digital News Initiative, which provides t €150 million over three years to “help stimulate innovation in digital journalism” among European publishers.

The GNI "funding will be reviewed against several criteria, including a “sharing component” -  for example by publishing any findings or holding a seminar - so grantees can pass their knowledge on to others in the industry. For more information on eligibility, rules and criteria, sample projects and funding details, head over to GNI website."

Yahoo ABC News Alliance Brings Newsmakers To Yahoo!

Yahoo and ABC just announced a major alliance between two companies to provide better news to the masses. The new, News and Information Alliance will bring more ABC presence in the Yahoo news.
Among the new news, will be the web-first video series that Yahoo news users will be able to experience. These videos will feature ABC anchors and will accompany Yahoo news articles. First of these videos will be a live stream of George Stephanopoulos and President Obama in an interview. It will be online at 2:35PM EST this afternoon.
Yes, there will be monetizing based on advertisements against the premium content.

Yahoo press release;

Yahoo! and ABC News Launch Premier News and Information Alliance

Powerful combination leverages Yahoo!'s massive reach, content breadth, and technology with ABC News' leading brands, trusted anchors, and global news gathering operation

Debut of GoodMorningAmerica.com on Yahoo! offers audience new ways to continue the conversation before, during and after the broadcast 24/7

Yahoo!'s and ABC News' new exclusive slate of original online video programming kicks off today when ABC News anchorGeorge Stephanopoulos interviews President Obama live from the White House

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO), the premier digital media company, and ABC News today announced a strategic alliance that will enhance and transform the delivery of news and information across the digital landscape. This multifaceted relationship blends Yahoo! News' unmatched audience, as well as its depth and breadth of content, with ABC News' global newsgathering operation and unrivaled lineup of trusted anchors and reporters. Yahoo! News and ABC News reach a combined audience of more than 100 million people in the U.S. each month on PCs, mobile devices and tablets.

This unmatched alliance creates a powerful news experience that provides people greater access to compelling news and information, including more original news video online than ever before. It launches today with the debut of GoodMorningAmerica.com on Yahoo! and three new, online-first video series with ABC News' award-winning and trusted anchors and correspondents. "Newsmakers," an original interview series, kicks off today when "Good Morning America" anchor George Stephanopoulos interviews President Obama live at the White House at2:35 p.m. ET. The entire interview will stream live on Yahoo.com and ABCNews.com.

"Yahoo! is committed to building the richest set of premium and personalized content experiences for our users. Our deep collaboration withABC News further strengthens Yahoo! as the No. 1 online news source, greatly enhancing our already robust news content," said Ross Levinsohn, executive vice president of Americas at Yahoo! "ABC News and Ben Sherwood's vision is completely symbiotic with ours; together we can create highly engaging experiences for more than 100 million users a month that will set the standard for the industry."

"This relationship will give ABC News an unrivaled ability to reach across the Web, combining Yahoo!'s vast distribution and cutting-edge technology with our award-winning journalism. For years, we've proudly proclaimed that more Americans get their news from ABC News than any other source," said Ben Sherwood, president of ABC News. "Going forward, we will greatly expand this leadership by building a connection with a whole new online audience."

By bringing together two of the world's leading and most trusted news providers, Yahoo! and ABC News will deliver the latest breaking news, the biggest exclusives, and award-winning investigative journalism from a powerful lineup of journalists — all with the ability to extend across TV and online like never before.

Key elements of the alliance include:

• ABC News will be the premier news provider on Yahoo! News — Greater, even easier access to ABC News material across theYahoo! News network, the No. 1 online news destination in the U.S. ABC News content will be prominently integrated into Yahoo! News, the Yahoo! front page, and other areas across the Yahoo! network.
• GoodMorningAmerica.com launches today on Yahoo! — A co-branded and highly interactive online destination (GMA.yahoo.com) with robust video and information will let the "Good Morning America" audience continue the conversation online before, during and after the broadcast and deepen viewers' relationship with the program 24/7.
• New original Web series will debut from ABC News anchors and correspondents — Yahoo! and ABC News are launching an exclusive slate of original online video programming, starting today with "Newsmakers," "Around the World with Christiane Amanpour" and "This Could Be Big." Additional programs will debut in the months ahead and throughout 2012 (show descriptions follow below).
• ABC News and Yahoo! News editorial teams will work together to develop premium news content — Editorial teams from both organizations will collaborate on branded content that will appear on both the Yahoo! News and ABC News sites. Teams will co-produce coverage for major news events and will have integrated bureaus in New York, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles. Yahoo! editorial staff or content will appear on air.
• Yahoo! and ABC Sales organizations will deliver powerful advertising solutions — The companies will create a suite of premium online video advertising opportunities and a variety of enhanced sponsorships designed to allow advertisers to benefit from the unique strengths of each sales organization. ABC will lead sales during the Upfront selling season and Yahoo! will manage sales throughout the rest of the year.

ABC News will continue to maintain editorial control of their sites, and Yahoo! maintains editorial control of Yahoo! sites. The Yahoo! News network will continue to feature content and perspectives from Yahoo!'s editorial staff and the Yahoo! Contributor Network, as well as content from other industry-leading providers and experts.

Original video programming

ABC News and Yahoo! have created a slate of original video programming with ABC News' award-winning and trusted anchors and correspondents featured across various Yahoo! and ABC News sites. With 10 of the top 10 original video programs online, Yahoo! knows how to create and distribute engaging and compelling video content. Jointly produced video programs debut this fall and continue to roll out throughout 2012, starting with:

• "Newsmakers" — Everyone from politicians to global leaders to celebrities will engage in exclusive, online-first video conversations with Diane Sawyer, Barbara Walters, George Stephanopoulos, Katie Couric, Christiane Amanpour, Robin Roberts, and others. Consumers will be able to join the discussion and submit questions in a truly innovative, interactive, social platform.http://news.yahoo.com/newsmakers/
• "Around the World with Christiane Amanpour" — The first global program produced entirely online leverages Yahoo!'s enormous reach and Amanpour's unmatched international relationships. The world's top international journalist will bring explanations, context and analysis to the biggest international stories of the day. http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/the-world-according-to/
• "This Could Be Big" — The invisible plane, a car that gets 200 mpg, a building that generates its own electricity, an eye implant that allow the blind to see … these are just a few of the glimpses into the future of innovation that "Nightline" anchor Bill Weir will explore each week. http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/this-could-be-big/

About Yahoo!

Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) is the premier digital media company, creating deeply personal digital experiences that keep more than half a billion people connected to what matters most to them, across devices and around the globe. And Yahoo!'s unique combination of Science + Art + Scale connects advertisers to the consumers who build their businesses. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. For more information, visit the pressroom (pressroom.yahoo.com).

Yahoo! is home to the No. 1 sites for finance, sports, news, entertainment news, and more.

Yahoo! and Yahoo! News are the trademarks and/or registered trademark of Yahoo! Inc. All other names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owner.

About ABC News

ABC News delivers a big picture understanding of the world to empower and inspire viewers to make confident decisions for themselves and their families. More people get their news from ABC News than from any other source. ABC News is responsible for all of the ABC Television Network's news programming on a variety of platforms: television, radio, and the Internet. With an average television and radio audience of 180 million people in a given month, ABC News surpasses the competition. More than 2,400 affiliate stations broadcast ABC News Radio's global news coverage. In addition, ABC News NOW is a 24-hour news and information network currently available to 44 million users across cable, broadband, and mobile platforms. NewsOne, the affiliate news service of ABC News, provides live and packaged news, sports, and weather reports, as well as footage of news events, to 200 ABC affiliates and more than 30 domestic and international clients.http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/press-release/

Yahoo! Inc.
Cory Pforzheimer, 1-408-349-2686
coryp@yahoo-inc.com
or
ABC News
Jeffrey Schneider, 1-212-456-3587
jeffrey.w.schneider@abc.com
Julie Townsend, 1-212-456-4934
julie.townsend@abc.com
Michelle Levi, 1-212-456-6872
michelle.m.levi@abc.com

Source: Yahoo! Inc.

News Provided by Acquire Media

Reddit Passes One Billion Pageviews. (oh a Month!)

Reddit is telling us that their Google Analytic page has three commas for pageviews number and like anyone and everyone else they are pretty happy, and the song below has become the favorite song of the Conde Nast site.
Reddit  Via Mashable (just following Mashable new habbit of hiding the source)

Bloglines Gone To Deadpool

Bloglines, the venerable RSS feed read of the yesteryear, is going the way of yesterday on October 1st. Bloglines will cease it's operations and if you are Bloglines user, ask.com is providing tools to export your feeds to another reader.
A $10 million product in 2005 for ASK.COM, Bloglines quickly lost it's ground to Google Reader and who ever were left, have lately defected to real time news sources like twitter.

That said, plenty of people are still RSS aggregator-faithful, and Bloglines was lucky enough to be the news aggregator of choice for many of them. I want to thank these users for their support through the years. We are posting notification today, providing a three -week period to export feeds to another service – more detail and instructions can be found on the Bloglines website.

Techcrunch has added Bloglines to it's Deadpool.

Official Google Reader Blog: Reading gets personal with Popular items and Personalized ranking

Google Reader is bringing in some changes that will aid you in locating more interesting content than you already have discovered. When Google launched the Personalized Search in 2005, we were skeptical because we were worried about personal information. But we came to realize that it helped us in our searches.
Now the same search feature is helping you with your reading habits, that you do with your Google Reader.
The Explore section helps you find new content, with the two new features Popular items and recommended sources, which uses your Reader Trends and Web History (if you're opted into Web History) to generate a list of feeds we think you might like.
Personalized Ranking will help you with sorting your articles, using "Sort by Magic" under the Feed Settings menu in your reader. The traditioanl sort options are still there but better because it is based on your reading and sharing habits. If you try these out, please let the them know about how you feel about them on Reader help group, Twitter or the Reader section of Get Satisfaction, a third party support community.
Reading gets personal with Popular items and Personalized ranking
Reading gets personal with Popular items and Personalized ranking

Your Feeds "Talks" To You, If They Are On Android

Yes there is an App for that, certainly on Android based phones. So Android users now can listen to their news out loud while your hands are busy to handle phone.
Or just take the case of the author of the article and the app, Stephane Doyon,that I have pointed at the bottom, who is blind.

The Talking RSS Reader does the task via text-to-speech library adapted from android eyes-free project, helping mobile phoning for visually impaired. Sometimes I am amazed at what a mind could do to solve simple tasks ans this is one of them! Here are some facts about the App from the project page.

It begins reading each article out loud as soon as it is displayed. The sentence currently being spoken is colored in green.
Speech can be interrupted and restarted by pressing the CALL button.
To move to the previous or next sentence, spin the trackball up or down while the app is talking.
If the text is scrolled, speech will pick up at the first full sentence from the top of the screen.
Links can be selected with the finger, or trackball when the app is not talking. Clicking a link launches the browser, which does not talk.
You can have sentences spoken one at a time by holding the CALL button and spinning the trackball up or down.
The Next and Prev article buttons are located at the bottom corners of the screen, where they can easily be tapped without looking. Each article is marked as read after you click Next.
If you are a first time user of Google Reader, you may need to initialize your account by going to http://google.com/reader.

Google Open Source Blog: Talking RSS Reader for Android

Feedburner Subscriber Status Might Change, Starting Today.

Google Feedfetcher, one that keeps an eye on subscribers to feeds on behalf of Google Reader and the iGoogle has shaken up it's dust and updated it's database after a long period of inactivity.
So this update could take you Feedburner subscriber count will reflect this change which could either be up or down.
Feedburner folks assure us that the changes will begin to show up in feedburner subscriber counts starting today, 26th of September.

Google Sidewiki, Anotate Me Please!

Google released Google Sidewiki today. Sidewiki allows one to;

• Publish helpful information
  about any web page right in your browser
• Read insights in context
  from Sidewiki entries added by others
• Share Sidewiki entries through
  Blogger, Facebook, Twitter and Google profiles 

There is a link to learn more after the jump.


Learn more about sidewiki

Blogger Joins the Hubbub Via The PubSubHubbub Protocol

We have been working with the PubSubHubbub protocol for a while now to adopt it for Feedotopia. Now that Blogger has adopted it, we will have instant updates from millions of blogs under Blogger wing.
Basically the PubSubHubbub protocol turns web feeds in to real time streams and as developers adopt the protocol, feeds will appers in readers in near real time.
Google Reader, my favorite reader has also implemented PubSubHubbub. You can find a link to at the bottom of this article.

The protocol in a nutshell is as follows:

• An feed URL (a "topic") declares its Hub server(s) in its Atom or RSS XML file, link rel="hub" ... . The hub(s) can be run by the publisher of the feed, or can be a community hub that anybody can use. (Atom and RssFeeds are supported)

• A subscriber (a server that's interested in a topic), initially fetches the Atom URL as normal. If the Atom file declares its hubs, the subscriber can then avoid lame, repeated polling of the URL and can instead register with the feed's hub(s) and subscribe to updates.

• The subscriber subscribes to the Topic URL from the Topic URL's declared Hub(s).

• When the Publisher next updates the Topic URL,, via. the publisher software pings the Hub(s) saying that there's an update.

• The hub efficiently fetches the published feed and multicasts the new/changed content out to all registered subscribers.

The protocol is decentralized and free. No company is at the center of this controlling it. Anybody can run a hub, or anybody can ping (publish) or subscribe using open hubs.

Blogger Buzz: Blogger Joins the Hubbub
Official Google Reader Blog: PubSubHubbub support for Reader shared items

Tags: feedotopia, PubSubHubbub protocol, Atom, RSS

DIGG Bans Laughing Squid

According to Laughing Squid, DIGG has blocked the popular blog without reason or warning. We like LS, both the blog and the hosting company.
Hope this get resolved soon!

Tags: DIGG, Laughing Squid

NewsGator Adopts Google Reader As Its Online COmpanion

RSS Readers
From Agust 31, Google Reader will become the online vehicle for NewsGator. News Gator has announced that Googlr Reader will be the companion and the synchronization platform for its RSS Reader applications. NewsGator has FeedDemon, for Windows and NetNewsWire, for the Mac as RSS readers. It also has an iPhone App, NetNewsWire for the iPhone, one of the favorite nes readers.
New versions of FeedDemon and NetNewsWire are available as of today, NewsGator mentions NetNewsWire for iPhone will be available soon.
If you need any futher encouragement, following paragraph will give you plenty;
"Users of FeedDemon, NetNewsWire for Mac, and NetNewsWire for the iPhone will have 30 days to download new versions of these applications that can synchronize with Google Reader. Syncing will give you a consistent reading experience across your PC, Mac, iPhone, and web browser. For example, if you add a new RSS feed, organize your folders, or mark some stories as read on one device, the changes will immediately reflect across the others. Users of NewsGator Go! can select from the mobile RSS reader options that synchronize with Google Reader."
NewsGator

Tags: iPhone App, NetNewsWire for the iPhone, RSS Reader, FeedDemon, google reader, NetNewsWire, newsgator

Party with Blogger & Google Reader At South By SouthWest (SXSW)

Google Buzz just announced that it is going to host a party together with Google reader team at the SXSW and if you are attending, check out the venue at Six Lounge (117 W 4th St @ Colorado) on Sunday,
Blogger Buzz: Blogger & Google Reader Party @ SXSW

Tags: Google, Google blogger, google reader, SXSW

Transfer FeedBurner Accounts to Google Accounts, More Info

Google Adsense for Feeds blog has published following information as of February 28th 2009, people will have problems managing accessing Feedburner accounts, if care is not taken. Simply create a google account and information is availale after the jump.

• The FeedBurner functionality of analyzing, optimizing, publicizing, and monetizing your feeds is not being shut down or reduced in any way. We have made some strategic decisions to remove some of our functionality that is not directly relevant to managing feeds for reasons we hope will become apparent over time. Names may change, things may move around, but in general our plan is to provide a lot more functionality that makes sense in 2009, and beyond, for all publishers. Learn more here.



• On February 28th, if you have not moved your feeds to a Google Account, the traffic to your feeds will not be cut off or terminated, but you will not be able to view or manage your feeds until you have moved to a Google Account, unless you use MyBrand. Technically, this means that all traffic will now be served out of our Google data centers, and there will still be a way to move your account that will be in place indefinitely.



• If you used MyBrand at www.feedburner.com, you absolutely must move to a Google account and update your DNS CNAME records by March 16, 2009, or else your MyBrand URLs will return a 404 error. If you use MyBrand and have not moved, you should have already received an email from us with detailed instructions. If, for some reason, you have changed the email address associated with your FeedBurner account, you will receive another message once you have finished the move process to the email address associated with your Google Account.

Transferring FeedBurner Accounts to Google Accounts FAQ

Tags: Google Adsense for Feeds, FeedBurner, FeedBurner Accounts

Feedly, As Explained By Robert Scoble

Feedly brings together Google Reader, friendfeed, twitter, and anything else to bring you a better and bigger News source. Robert Scoble spoke with Feedly CEO Edwin Khodabakchian and prests us how the newest incarnation of the application works. Get Feedly here.

Tags: Feedly, feed aggregation, Google Reader, friendfeed, twitter

Your Quotes, For The Last Five Years, On Google News!

If you thought the feeds that we get too much and there should be a better way to check out the news, I am with you. I have three separate news feeds that, I use to manage daily doze of various news. Still they fill up fast, 1000-2000 articles each. But until I have a better way to parse these, I have to deal with it.
Main while Google News team, has done something marvelous with the "Quotes" system. I have used the thirty day span of quotes by various people many a time. But now I am able to do that for a span of five years!
Just imagine indulging yourself in analyzing quotes by various people over last five years. I can forget about parsing my news as I will be spending a quite a bit time, with these quotes!
Just check out the quotes by Presidential Candidates, Obama and McCain.
But if you not into politics, there are many other people who uttered good and bad stuff, that might interest you.
To access these new features, first search for a person's name on Google News. If Google News has a recent quote, it will be shown above the search results, and if there are more quotes, you can expand on it!, which is again sortable depending on date or relevance. Go get quoted!
But the custom edition was much more enjoyable.
Google News Blog: Words matter

Tags: News Feed, Google, quotes, Obama, McCain

Google Toolbar 5 Ready If You Got Firefox

Sneaking behind Google Toolbar for Firefox users, Google updated the Google Toolbar for IE with new features a few months back. (What? how could that be?) Yes a few others also thought so and promptly emailed the toolbar team asking when those new feature will be available to Firefox users.
The answer and the new toolbar is ready. You can download the Google Toobar 5 in 29 languages and it is the the first Toolbar launched out of our St. Petersburg, Russia office. So head over to Google toolbar for Firefox site get yours.
The Autofill stands out as you can keep your profiles ready to be filled on your computer and those pesky sign up forms could be filled with just a one click.
Of course what is the toolbar without Google gadgets? you can add any gadget from the Google Gadget Gallery.
So lastly here is a video, that shows the virtues of Google toolbar 5 for Firefox.




Official Google Blog: Google Toolbar 5 now available in Firefox

Tags: Google Toolbar 5, Firefox, Google Gadgets

Google Reader Brings Friends Everywhere, And Gets Friendlier.

Google Reader Blog posted about some improvements to the Google reader. First of all it the sharing feature that was only available to US friends, now expands to the rest of the world. The other feature is that there is a new way to sort your feeds, if you do not like to drag and drop to arrange them, alphabetically.

Official Google Reader Blog: Friends Everywhere, and other Friendly Features

Tags: Google Reader, feed aggregator, RSS Technology, feedotopia

Sergey Brin goes blogging.

Sergey Brin goes blogging. With the first post about Parkinson's disease, shows that it is truly a personal blog. He also tells us what Google got to do with Googol.

Tags: Sergey Brin, blogging, Google feed, Googol