Weekend takeaway: 10 tech stories you need to read right now

10 Apr 2015

Ten nuggets of knowledge to take away for the weekend, including IT security embarrassment for French TV channel, Apple Watch pre-orders begin and Malala has an asteroid named after her.

1. Embarassment for TV5Monde as social media passwords seen during interview

It looks like the French network TV5Monde – currently embattled after a major security breach saw 11 channels affected and caused huge embarrassment on its social media accounts – is making it incredibly easy to hack into its various online profiles.

An interview with David Delos, a reporter with TV5Monde, on French current affairs programme 13 Heuresfollowing the cyberattack saw him sitting in front of someone’s workspace, with post-its plastered everywhere that appear to provide logins for a number of the network’s social media accounts.

2. Online-only Apple Watch pre-orders begin

Online pre-orders for the new Apple Watch began today at 12.01am PDT (that’s 7am IST) in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, the UK and the US.

3. The Interview: Runa Sandvik, the Tor Project and Forbes writer

Journalists and governments are engaged in a censorship arms race, believes Runa Sandvik, a security researcher who contributes to the Tor Project and who writes for Forbes.

4. LinkedIn leads the way for junior employee salaries in tech industry

A new comprehensive piece of research shows that LinkedIn offers the best average salary for junior employees in the tech arena.

5. The Interview: Joseph Dalby, barrister and qualified drone pilot

Aviation regulators and lawmakers across the world will have to lift their eyes to the skies and create privacy and commercial rules for drones, says barrister Joseph Dalby, a qualified drone pilot.

6. Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai now not just a star, but an asteroid

No longer just an inspiration for people all around the world, Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai has been bestowed the honour of having a distant asteroid named after her.

7. The Earth’s oceans were giant acidic baths during greatest extinction event

Earth was a horrible place to exist on 252m years ago, with new research revealing that, following an enormous volcanic eruption, CO2 filled the atmosphere and the oceans turned into giant acidic baths.

8. Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge now available in Ireland

After much build-up, Samsung’s latest flagship range, the Galaxy S6 and its curvier sibling the S6 Edge, are now available to buy in Ireland.

9. LinkedIn buys online-learning platform lynda.com for US$1.5bn

LinkedIn has acquired online learning company lynda.com for US$1.5bn. LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner said the combination of lynda.com’s content with LinkedIn will change the way people grasp opportunities.

10. 16pc of bitcoin owners lost money on crypto-currency – only 11pc of owners are female

Independent research into international use of crypto-currency bitcoin has found that 16pc of people who have used it have lost money on it.

Friday’s fish image via Shutterstock

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com