25/02/15

[Mary]

Bank of Greece figures confirmed on Tuesday that local tourism’s record year 2014 brought 22 million visitors and 13.44 billion euros in travel receipts.

This represents a 23 percent increase in tourists and a 10.6 percent rise in revenues from 2013.

When cruise passengers are factored into the data to be published soon, the number of visitors will rise even higher.

http://ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite2_1_24/02/2015_547611

[Mary]

Revealed: British MPs earned more than £7m outside of Parliament in 2014

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/revealed-the-british-mps-who-earned-more-than-7m-outside-of-parliament-in-2014-10066802.html

[Mary]

Firefox 36 released late yesterday: What's new?

[Mary]

Wash your plates in the sink rather than the dishwasher to prevent allergies, scientists say
Children who use crockery and utensils washed by hand are less likely to develop allergies than those whose families use a dishwasher

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/11433470/Wash-your-plates-in-the-sink-rather-than-the-dishwasher-to-prevent-allergies-scientists-say.html

Cannabis is many times less dangerous than alcohol, claims study
A new study has claimed that cannabis is many times less dangerous than alcohol despite recent evidence linking cannabis consumption to one in four new cases of psychosis

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/11433448/Cannabis-is-many-times-less-dangerous-than-alcohol-claims-study.html


Next week's studies will claim that...

[Mary]

Drunk tourists staggering down Spanish streets at night might need to pay more attention this summer. In a crackdown on dangerous walking, Spain’s Directorate General of Traffic plans to introduce breathalyser tests for pedestrians. They also suggest introducing an off-road speed limit for joggers.

http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/feb/25/spain-wants-to-ban-drunk-walking-what-next-for-pedestrians

[Mary]

Windows? NO, Linux and Mac OS X Most Vulnerable Operating System In 2014

Apple’s operating system is considered to be the most secure operating system whether it’s Mac OS X for desktop computers or iOS for iPhones. But believe it or not, they are the most vulnerable operating system of year 2014.

http://thehackernews.com/2015/02/vulnerable-operating-system.html


Before anyone gets too excited, the claims - by GFi and reported on several tech sites - look a bit iffy:

If you check the data, it becomes obvious that things don't add up. Just a check of all security bulletins released by Microsoft in 2014 alone shows a higher number than what is reported in the chart for the operating system.

http://www.ghacks.net/2015/02/23/apple-tops-operating-system-microsoft-application-vulnerability-chart/


Gets GFI a mention in the news and, whichever is the most vulnerable, none are 100% immune to malicious attacks. In the real world, the number of vulnerabilities and the number of successful attacks aren't the same, later versions of Windows are more secure than earlier versions but malware is still mainly a problem for Windows users (if only because some 90+% of PCs run on Windows).

[Mary]

Van Gogh, the one-eared painting cat with a talent for art

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/11434187/Van-Gogh-the-one-eared-painting-cat-with-a-talent-for-art.html