ReHacked #54: taxes of the billionaires, "secure" private messaging app, what's better than drugs and more

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Notepad++ v8 release | Notepad++ #software

Google fined €220m by French competition watchdog over online advertising market #internet

Google has been fined €220 million by France's competition authority for favouring its own services in online advertising.

The tech giant was found to have given "preferential treatment" to Google's own "proprietary technologies" in digital adverts, the authority said.

Google has not contested the facts and the fine was agreed as part of a settlement procedure, it added.

The company also said it had agreed with the French watchdog on a number of solutions to improve its online advertising market.

Jeff Bezos to fly on Blue Origin first passenger flight in July #engineering #space

Jeff Bezos will fly on the first passenger flight of his space company Blue Origin, which the company plans to launch on July 20, the billionaire announced Monday.

“I want to go on this flight because it’s the thing I’ve wanted to do all my life,” Bezos said in a video posted to his Instagram.

Australian Federal Police and FBI nab criminal underworld figures in worldwide sting using encrypted app #privacy #security

The app, known as AN0M, was used by organised crime  gangs around the world to plan executions, mass drug importations and  money laundering.

Authorities say they were able to read up to 25 million messages in real time.

Better than microdosing: walks in nature #health #psychology

A walk in the forest significantly reduces stress and anxiety: decrease in cortisol levels, decrease in sympathetic system activity, decrease in blood pressure and heart rate, and better self-reported mood and anxiety, according to studies done on forest bathing by Yoshifumi Miyazaki. There is also a visible effect on anxiety: the facial muscles relax.

For focus and creativity there are significant benefits as exposure to nature calms and recharges the Pre Frontal Lobe. This enables much higher focus and creativity throughout the whole day. How much higher? David Strayer at the University of Utah ran a study to measure this using an objective measure of creativity. The results? A 50% increase in creativity as a result of exposure to nature for four days.

Study shows how taking short breaks may help our brains learn new skills #health #psychology

In a study of healthy volunteers, National Institutes of Health  researchers have mapped out the brain activity that flows when we learn a  new skill, such as playing a new song on the piano, and discovered why  taking short breaks from practice is a key to learning. The researchers  found that during rest the volunteers’ brains rapidly and repeatedly  replayed faster versions of the activity seen while they practiced  typing a code. The more a volunteer replayed the activity the better  they performed during subsequent practice sessions, suggesting rest  strengthened memories.

The Secret IRS Files: Trove of Never-Before-Seen Records Reveal How the Wealthiest Avoid Income Tax #economy #society #longread

Bitcoin: El Salvador makes cryptocurrency legal tender #economy #blockchain

El Salvador has become the first country in the world to officially classify Bitcoin as legal currency.

Congress approved President Nayib Bukele's proposal to embrace the cryptocurrency, with 62 out of 84 possible votes on Tuesday night.

The president said the government had made history, and that the move would make it easier for Salvadoreans living abroad to send money home.

Bitcoin will become legal tender, alongside the US dollar, in 90 days.

Fastmail Accounts Blocked in Russia, Here's What We Know #internet #privacy #software

Tempelhof: The mother of all 'abandoned' airports #architecture #city #culture #history #longread

Famous as the lifeline for West Berlin during the Cold War, Tempelhof’s airfield had become the city’s biggest park. Once it was turned over to the public in May 2010, the site became immensely popular with families, joggers, rollerbladers, kite-flyers, wind-karters, urban gardeners, yoga enthusiasts, hipsters and layabouts; smoke rises in summer from the abundance of barbecues.

But there was always a niggling suspicion that the fun couldn’t last – that Tempelhof’s status as a valuable piece of land essentially given over to the average picnicking Berliner was too good to be true.

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Dainius