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суббота

Site administrators were sent scrambling this week when researchers disclosed the potentially catastrophic Heartbleed bug, a coding error that left much of the Internet vulnerable to data theft since March 2012. Here's our look back at Heartbleed coverage — and more.

ICYMI

So Long, XP Support: Even though Microsoft has rolled out newer versions of its Windows operating system since XP first came out 12 years ago, an estimated quarter of PCs are still running the outdated OS. But it's really time to upgrade now. As warned, Microsoft stopped support for the software this week.

Tech Bubble 2.0?: Are we in a bubble? It's the most common cocktail party topic you'll hear among tech observers these days, because 1999 wasn't that long ago. As Steve Henn reports, in the first quarter of this year, Google and Facebook, alone, announced deals worth more than $24 billion to acquire companies that have almost no revenue. New York Magazine offers a comprehensive list of who thinks it's a bubble, who doesn't, and why each side is so certain.

The Big Conversation

Bleeding Data, 64KB At A Time: The possibly devastating Heartbleed bug is patched now, and major sites have secured their encryption of the data you transfer with them, but who knows what went down while OpenSSL, the system that protected your online transactions was vulnerable? It's really hard for any particular user or website to know whether a bad actor has used the vulnerability against them. We recommend practicing good Internet hygiene, no matter what cybersecurity threat is in the news.

The bug, or coding error, was introduced into open-source software. That opened up some questions about the merits of building code out in the open, without many financial or human resources. The Washington Post dived into it.

And the National Security Agency denied a report that it knew about the vulnerability before the public did.

Curiosities

Washington Post: Tweeting This Story Could Lead To Your Divorce

Blame Twitter for your break-up? Researchers at the University of Missouri show a link between heavy Twitter use and more tension in real-life relationships.

The Verge: Facebook's latest government report reveals which countries censor its News Feed

For the first time, the social network released data on how often countries have restricted or removed content from Facebook "on the grounds that it violates local law."

Slate: How to Save Yourself From Infuriating Reply-All Email Chains

The next time you feel your inbox buried by an avalanche of reply-all messages, use this trick.

Washington Post: Serious Reading Takes A Hit From Online Scanning And Skimming

There is a reason you feel like you can't concentrate as well when you open a good old-fashioned book.

пятница

In Ukraine's eastern city of Donetsk, activists who want to align the country more with Russia seized a regional administration building in the center of town last weekend. NPR correspondent Ari Shapiro went inside the building Friday and reports on what it was like:

Overnight, reports said pro-Russian protesters here in Donetsk had reinforced the barricade surrounding the 11-story government building that the demonstrators have occupied since Sunday. This morning, I made the 10-minute walk through wintry weather with my translator and security adviser, to see what the new construction looked like.

The scene had changed completely in just a few days. On Tuesday, the weather was warm and people paraded outside the building with their children. There were balloon arches. The operation looked like a Disneyland version of an armed occupation, except the Molotov cocktails and lead pipes were real.

Today, several new layers of barricades had been erected. There were two solid borders made up of tires and razor wire surrounding the building. At the only gap, a masked man checked identification of everyone who walked through. We explained that we're American reporters, hoping to interview one of the protest organizers. After scrutinizing our press cards, he handed us off to another man in fatigues, who whisked us inside.

We passed at least three checkpoints, pulling out identification at every stop. Our bags were searched. Inside, the building was a beehive of organized activity. Lights were on, even though the government says it has disconnected electricity to the building. Streams of young men ran up and down flights of stairs, carrying palettes of supplies. In a corner, a large pile of canned and jarred foods suggested that the demonstrators are planning to be here for a while.

At a table, women sliced cheese, sausages and pickled tomatoes for sandwiches. Some brewed hot tea, which they distributed to the men outside. Other women stood at a first aid station behind a table of pills and other medical supplies. Behind them, signs listed a phone number to reach a building supervisor.

The entire operation seemed far more coordinated and hierarchical than just a few days ago. On Tuesday, people were drinking in public. Today, there was no alcohol to be seen.

The walls were lined with posters and handmade signs in Russian. One read, "If you pillage, I will break your hand." Another had a dollar sign followed by, "Go away!" "Ukrainian media are lying sluts," read a third.

I tried to pull out my iPhone to take a picture. "No photos," our escort said in polite but firm English.

We walked briskly down a hall, and reached a man in fatigues sitting behind a desk. Our escort explained in Russian that we are American reporters seeking an interview. "Nyet, nyet," the man behind the desk said crisply.

We left as quickly as we arrived, our bags searched one more time at the final perimeter.

Once we had left the building but were still inside the barricade, we crossed paths with an American reporter we'd met earlier. He was eating a chocolate truffle. "They just held me in a room for an hour," the journalist said. "They gave me this on the way out."

April is National Poetry Month, and Code Switch is celebrating by writing about great poets of color and their poems that address issues of race, culture and ethnicity. We began the series with an invitation to our readers to help us build a collaborative poem. Today, we take a look at the intersection of boxing, race and verse. Enjoy, and share your favorite poetry recommendations in the comments.

четверг

South Texas is in the midst of a massive oil boom. In just a few years, it's totally transformed once-sleepy communities along a crescent swoosh known as the Eagle Ford Shale formation and has brought unexpected prosperity — along with a host of new concerns.

Among the towns drastically changed by the drilling is Cotulla. It's southwest of San Antonio, about 70 miles up from the Mexico border. The area is called brush country — flat, dry ranchland, scrubby with mesquite and parched by drought.

Before the boom, jobs were few and poverty was high. Then, in 2008, oil company Petrohawk drilled the first discovery well two miles deep into shale. It was successful and led to a drilling frenzy.

Now after just six years, more than 8,000 oil and gas wells have been drilled with permits for another 5,000. They're pumping more than 1 million barrels of oil a day, making it the No. 2 oil-producing region in the U.S.

Now train cars roll in to the Gardendale rail yard bearing miles of pipe and vast quantities of the chemicals and sand used in hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking.

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