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Scott Augenbaum
Author and Trainer
Protect Yourself From Cyber Threats with Scott Augenbaum
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This edition of the Impact Podcast is brought to you by ERI. ERI has a mission to protect people, the planet, and your privacy. It is the largest fully-integrated IT and electronics asset disposition provider and cybersecurity-focused hardware destruction company in the United States and maybe even the world. For more information on how ERI can help your business properly dispose of outdated electronic hardware devices, please visit eridirect.com.
John Shegerian: Welcome to another edition of the Impact Podcast. I'm John Shegerian and I'm so honored and excited to have my friend on today. He is Scott Augenbaum. Welcome to the Impact Podcast, Scott.
Scott Augenbaum: John, it's great to be here. It's great to reconnect with an old friend from New York City.
John: New York. We got Brooklyn and Queens in the house today.
Scott: Yes, a little rivalry going on over there but now, I'm a Nashville guy, Tennessee guy and you're a–
John: California boy.
Scott: –California guy.
John: I'm a California boy but you know, for our listeners out there, this is your first exposure to Scott. Scott is very humble but a unique human being. He is an ex-FBI agent and not only an agent but a special agent in the Cyber Division of the FBI. He is really one of the formal cybersecurity experts in the world and he has written a book called The Secret to Cybersecurity. Today, Scott is going to be sharing a little bit of what he does on a regular basis, on a day-to-day basis, but also talking a little bit about his book and how people can engage with Scott to either safeguard themselves or safeguard the organization they work with. Scott, we're so honored to have you on today because the impact you're making in a world that consistently becomes more unsafe and I don't know, some of your colleagues from the FBI recently came out with an article that was well published that said during this coronavirus tragedy, cybercrimes are up four times from the previous period. That is a scary statistic but why your work, your knowledge, and your expertise are more needed than ever before. Thank you for being here today. Go ahead, Scott, talk a little bit about what you do. You're an expert and I want you to talk.
Scott: It is so good to be here today, John. You know when I hear what I do, I just kind of smile a bit. If you would have called me 32 years ago, that I'd be retired from the FBI, a cybersecurity expert, I would have said no way. I mean, raised in New York by a single parent, didn't do very well in community college but my mom was so happy I graduated. She found a simple servant's job with me with the FBI at 1988 as a file clerk for the FBI making $5.50 an hour. Do you know what she said to me? She said, "Look, Scott", she goes, "This is great", she goes, "You're going to get healthcare for life and you're going to have a pension", and I said, "Mom, I'm going to get a cool-looking jacket and stuff." I become an agent in '94 and if you'd ask me to describe the role of an FBI agent in 1994, I would say it was so simple and easy. Bad people did bad things to good people in my area of responsibility. From that time, I got transferred up from New York City to Syracuse and I worked with state and local cops and we put bad guys in jail who would do bad things. What a fun and exciting job for a 27-year-old kid from Brooklyn, New York. I got a badge, a bulletproof vest, a car with lights and sirens, and I get to play with my friends. I got into cybercrime because I was the first guy in the office to have a home computer and the only reason I got a home computer is because of Windows '95. Do you remember how difficult it was, John, before Windows '95? Do you remember the days of DOS?
John: Yes.
Scott: And was it easy to use DOS?
John: No.
Scott: Maybe for you with NYU–
John: Not for me, don't worry.
Scott: –but not for me.
John: Not from a kid from Queens. No, it wasn't.
Scott: Yes and so I became the cyber guy and it wasn't a fun and sexy job to have because as they were arresting bank robbers and fugitives, I was chasing high school kids, college kids, and kids by the name of Mafia Boy who is hacking into the Pentagon and just all the stuff. When I got promoted to Washington DC in 2003 in the Cyber Division of the FBI because the FBI developed a Cyber Division to deal with this emerging threat, a lot of my friends made fun of me and they said, "You were committing career suicide because in the next three years, the FBI is gonna arrest all the teenage hackers and the cybercrime problems are going to go away". John, let me ask you how do you think that's working out for any of us today?
John: Let me just say whoever made that prediction, they were slightly off. They were a little bit more than slightly off.
Scott: Yes, I'm not going to mention him by name but he knows his name. I'm going to tell him to listen to this definitely. I got to Nashville in 2007 and one of the things that I did was I started making contact with all the big companies in town:, the Vanderbilt, the Nissan, the tractor supply. We're the Silicon Valley of healthcare. I'm responsible for FedEx and international paper doting the relationship and the liaison to share information and we built this bridge with the private sector to be able to collaborate because the private sector is on the tip of the sphere. By the time we got involved, it's too late and it brings back to what you said earlier. The FBI, we just reported that because of the COVID-19, cybercriming complaints have been up 400% but what baffles my mind about that, John, is in 2015, there was a report from cybercrime magazine that the cybercrime problem was a three trillion-dollar problem and by 2021, it was going up to a six trillion-dollar problem. That was before COVID-19 and every day, we hear about it in the news. We read about it. Identity theft. 57 million Americans rant somewhere every single day. Companies' crown jewels are being held hostage. We're looking at the business scene now compromised which is social engineering at its finest. A 30 billion dollar fraud that it's all least so much and here's the unfair part about it, for most people, they hear that, they get scared, and they get upset because it seems that no matter what we do, the problem keeps getting worse. I'm sure you're seeing that every day with your clients and your partners.
John: Right. Hundred percent.
Scott: At that point in time, we have that going on. The cybercrime problem is going on but here's something else, we keep spending more money on keeping ourselves safe and the problem keeps getting worse. So, let me ask you. What does that mean when we spend money to prevent bad things from happening but bad things keep happening? What does that mean to you?
John: They're going to keep happening and that they're winning. That there's a pot of gold. I saw a number, you correct me if I'm wrong, that this year alone, six trillion dollars is going to be done by the bad guys, by the threat actors, and if that's the case, Scott, isn't that really turning on its head that really, crime does pay? Crime does pay.
Scott: Well, it's sad but when we get back to my other point, you're so right. The thing that frustrates me is we're spending money to be safe and crime pays. That is something that anyone can empathize with.
John: Hundred percent.
Scott: In my opinion, it means we're not doing it right.
John: Oh, no. That's why I was so excited to have you on today because having an expert, a special agent who has done this as a career and is really one of the premier experts right now in the world on this is so important because our listeners, there's a void out there, they don't understand how to access the right solutions, how to protect themselves, their families or their organizations and/or the organizations they work within. That's why having you here today is so important and also, getting this book that I'm holding in my hand and I've read already, into the hands of our readers. The Secret to Cybersecurity: A Simple Plan to Protect Your Family and Business from Cybercrime is by Scott and to learn more about Scott, you could go to his website or his LinkedIn but how his website looks is www.scott, then there's an e there, and then his last name, Augenbaum, a-u-g-e-n-b-a-u-m.com. scotteaugenbaum.com. So, talk a little bit about the over a thousand victimizations that you've dealt with over the years and what are some of the common threads of these victimizations, of these crimes, that you could share with our listeners in terms of looking for common themes to try to prevent themselves from getting caught up in?
Scott: Okay, here's the bottom line: in my career and after I retired about two and a half years ago, I had the opportunity to interact with close to a thousand victims and most of them were in person. I mean, when people were victimized, I would go out and I would talk to them. It kind of broke my heart because they all had commonalities. It was almost like groundhogs day. It was almost the same day, day in, and day out. Here's what the four commonalities that I call The Four Truths to Cybersecurity. The first truth is none of my victims ever expected to be a victim. They all went like this, "I don't have anything that anybody wants. Why would anybody target me?", and I would hear this from small businesses, nonprofit organizations, religious organizations, and in Nashville, very much healthcare centric. Five hundred healthcare companies. So, I would sit down with an organization and I would say, "Are you worried about this problem?", and they'd go, "No", and I'd go, "Why not?", "Because we're a small company", and I would say, "Well, define small for me", and they would say, "Well, we only have 10,000 records", and I'm like, "Woah, don't you need to keep those safe?" I had an organization tell me that they weren't concerned because they only were a half a billion-dollar company. Now, compared to a ten billion-dollar company, a half a billion-dollar company is a small company and then they said, "Look, we're not a publicly-traded company. We don't have anything to worry about". So then, I would go talk to publicly-traded companies and I would talk to these companies that were traded on the Nasdaq and they would say to me, "Why are you here? We're not on the New York stock exchange. Why would anyone want to target us?". I'd be like, "Okay", and then I would go talk to companies that were on the New York stock exchange and the best response I ever received was one company said, "We're a 5.8 billion dollar company and the bad guys are only targeting organizations that have ten billion dollars and above", and you know, John, us New York guys, we have a very, very difficult time of filtering things but it took every ounce of energy that I had to say to them, "Where are you getting your information from? People magazine? The bad guys do not care who you are. They want access to your stuff and every organization has different stuff. I mean, even think about it, within your organization, you have marketing. What happens if the bad guys take over your marketing platform and send messages out?" That's what happened with the NFL Twitter hacks. I've seen bad guys get into payroll accounts and they would compromise these payroll accounts, put in the username, put in the bank account routing information of these mule accounts and then on a Monday, when everyone is supposed to get paid, all the paid checks get diverted to another account. I would see HR platforms and companies don't know what they need to protect. So, when I'm going out and doing proactive talks, I'd get out to companies all the time and part of what I do now is trying to change their behavior and change their culture. I believe if you can teach them how to be safe at home, then they're going to bring that to work and that's kind of why I wrote the book because if you go like this, "Hey, we're going to bring in retired FBI agent, Scott Augenbaum, to talk about cybercrime because it's part of HIPAA compliance, the PCI compliance, the stocks compliance", nobody cares. However, if you bring me in to talk about how to stay safe at home and not be one of the 50 million identity theft victims, and I'm telling these stories, then people can take that and bring it to the home. So, I want you to think about this, John, in your organization. You don't even have to answer me. Think about what you have which is your crown jewels. Forget about money. It could be your intellectual property, it could be your brand, your reputation, it could be your HR records, it could be your banking and finance, it could be your sales force–
John: Or clients' data.
Scott: Yes, your clients' data. All that stuff and your e-mail too because if the bad guys compromise your e-mail, they're going to send an e-mail out from you to one of your clients. They're going to read all your e-mails and they're going to direct this individual to send money. So, think about whatever is the worst thing in the world that the bad guys have stolen. You don't have to tell me. Now, I want you to think about this and now, I'm going to tell you the second truth to cybersecurity. When the bad guys steal your stuff and you contact law enforcement, we'll not get it back for you. Hate to say it. When stuff is gone, it's gone and I brought this up one day at a conference and this is when I was with the FBI and there was a Senior Executive there and he said to me, he goes, "Did you just tell the American public that we, the FBI, don't get their stuff back?", and I kind of have that Brooklyn Tourettes for sarcasm, I just can't help myself and I said to him, "What, do you think these people are that dumb?", and he looked at me with that really harsh look and I started to smile and I said, "Office Personal Management, 21.5 million records stolen by the Chinese government. We have Blue Cross, Blue Shield– which is Anthem– also 80 million records. Home Depot, Target, JP Morgan, Sony, Equifax, Marriott, the list goes on and on. Let me ask you. Is there any chance in the world that law enforcement can get those records back?"
John: Doesn't sound like it.
Scott: No, you can't, and even if you get it back and the business e-mail compromised which I've touched 150 million dollars worth of losses. When the bad guys get into your e-mail account and direct you to send money out, it's impossible to get back. In my career, I like to joke if there is a hall of fame for FBI agents, I want to go to the hall of fame for getting money back because I stopped five wired transfers from going overseas and no, not because I was an expert, because I was lucky and it was the right place at the right time. I want to go to the hall of fame but if I was a baseball team, do you know what my record would be?
John: What's that?
Scott: Five wins, 17,000 losses, and I'm a Hall of Famer.
John: Those are stark statistics but it's the truth and that's what this show is about–bringing the truth to our listeners so they can learn something about some topic that most people really don't understand, most people are scared of.
Scott: Knowing this is so important.
John: Right. It's so important and if cybercrime is going up as you said during COVID-19 or other times of great distraction, what happens next? Getting your voice out there and for our listeners out there that are interested in Scott's great book, the name of it is The Secret to Cybersecurity: A Simple Plan to Protect Your Family and Business from Cybercrime. I've read it and I work in this field. If you're a CEO or CTO or an IT Director or Board Member, not only should you get a copy of this book but you should contact Scott, have him come in, do a seminar, do one of his things whatever his things are. I don't work for Scott but I'm just telling you because I know how much of a void there is in corporate America or other organizations, governmental America, to these issues about software and hardware and how risky things are right now. Scott is an expert and he is out there for you. You could go to his website www.scotteaugenbaum.com to learn more about Scott, how to book him, how to buy his book, also on Amazon.com and other great places you could buy books. Scott, talk a little bit about number three. When stuff is gone, it's gone, that's number two, Number three. Tell all our listeners what your number three truth is.
Scott: We're both from New York so if you take something from us, you should be punished, right? Those are New York rules.
John: Those are New York rules.
Scott: That's what we grew up with. Yes, but here is the third truth. The chances of putting the bad guys in jail are even harder than getting your money back. Why is that? Crime used to be a local problem. No longer are cybercriminals– They're all located outside of the US. They are located over in China. They are located over in West Africa. They are located over in Iran and when I'm doing these live seminars, I usually will have 500 people in front of me and I go, "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm going to tell you something today that I couldn't confirm with you when I'm with the FBI but I want everyone to sit down and understand", and I said, "I'm going to confirm for you today that the Russians have been hacking us", and usually, I get these sarcastic looks and I'm going to explain why I have the badge that I can say that because in 2008, I was going around telling the financial services sector that Russian organized crime was the number one threat to the financial services sector in 2008. How many years ago was that?
John: Twelve.
Scott: Twelve. So, do you think I have the right to go out and be sarcastic about this? Things have not changed at all. Let's think about this. What have we talked about so far? We talked about the bad guys steal your stuff, you're not getting it back, the law enforcement is not putting the bad guys in jail and that paints a really really upsetting picture for a lot of people. People get angry and I've had people call me out when I say these and they look at me and they go, "What the heck have you done for a living if you, the FBI, can't get our stuff back and we can't put people in jail?", and then I just look at them and I go, "So, you're angry and I'm depressed", and that just usually gets them angrier which is part of the act and I go, "You want to know what I'm depressed about?", and this is one thing and this is the last truth to cybersecurity. This is what's worth listening to. Ninety percent of what I dealt with in my career could have been prevented by understanding the motivation of the threat actors, having an awareness campaign, and locking down everything with all your remote access with two-factor authentication. If my victims– and there were thousands of them– would have done that, if I could have had a time machine and went back in time and told them what I know now, I'm hoping I could have prevented a lot of more victimizations. That is why I wrote the book to lay out the simple steps because what we're talking about now isn't complicated. I focused on six or seven really key elements of what people need to do before you send money and that's the most important thing out here because when a big enterprise suffers a breach, it's going to be okay for the company. Maybe bad things will happen, but it broke my heart time and time again when I'd have to deal with a small business that lost their entire payroll account, or a senior citizen who lost their life savings, or a nonprofit organization that clicked on one link in an email and everything that they worked for was destroyed. It was never the right moment for me to put my arm around the victim and say, "Well if you just would have done this, it wouldn't have happened." That's why today, I live my life is kind of almost a passion project where I share what I've learned. I share my experiences with large organizations and they usually come to me and they go, "Well, we got this great firewall. We got this endpoint solution", and I'm like, "Hey, listen. You're doing these seven things", I go, "I didn't invent any of this." You know, when you say expert, I wasn't an expert. I was a good listener. I listened to what the victims told me, I correlated it, and I put it together in a very, very simple plan and that's why it's called The Secret to Cybersecurity because when you read it, there is no secret. It's doing the hygiene. It's knowing that email is the number one attack vector. It's making sure we think before we click, making sure we think before we act, it's making sure we have strong robust passwords, we're not using the same password for mission-critical platforms. We take a deep dive in identifying what are the crown jewels within the organization and then we show you how you secure it. The best part about it is when I do these talks, I go to individuals. I go, "How much money you have to go out and spend to keep your shop safe?", and the answer really isn't a lot. So my goal is to teach organizations how not to be the next victim without them really spending money. By showing them and reinforcing what the fundamentals are. Am I saying we don't spend money? Of course not but I don't care what you spend your money on. If you don't do what I tell you to do for free, you're going to be a victim.
John: Right, so really, what you do, how you spend your professional life now is preventing organizations from becoming the next cybercrime victim. That's really your main mission and motivation now when you go and do your live seminars at organizations all across the United States.
Scott: Yes, and some of the best things that I get right now is when somebody hits me up on LinkedIn and they've heard me speak and they went like this, "I heard you speak and I did what you said. Wow, I'm going to be so much safer." They didn't even have to buy my book and it just makes me feel so good.
John: That's awesome. You know, Scott, when we look at what goes on in the media now, I saw yesterday Easyjet just had a huge breach and I thought 9 million or so of their customers' information was exposed. We have, of course, lived through many other big brands over the years getting breached– Aquafax, Home Depot– and these are huge organizations where normally are the clients then, their constituents, and other stakeholders put at risk when there's a breach but leadership of these organizations lose their jobs. This is really your prevention methodology and teaching in your live seminars. You're there not only to protect all the stakeholders. The stakeholders include upper management who if they don't take the actions that you're sharing with them and lead them to, could actually lose their jobs and we've seen it time and time again.
Scott: Even worse about that, when it comes to small businesses and non-profit organizations, besides losing their jobs we're talking about companies closing. We're talking about people losing their livelihoods, especially in this time of COVID-19.
John: That's a great point.
Scott: That's really the point is, on my side, it's the prevention side. I kind of had the opportunity to go out and work for companies and now, I just find it so much more fulfilling to do what I love to do which is sharing my experiences. I feel very blessed that I have a great pension and even during this time of COVID-19, I've reinvented myself. I've been doing some webinars and stuff which I find very, very difficult because I like to bounce around the room and do a hundreds, a thousand steps while I'm doing the talk and it's just trying to figure that out. But here's the bottom line, even though this COVID-19 is going on to cybercriminals are still looking at ways to exploit us. So I want everyone here to realize right now that if you get an email and it looks like it's coming from the IRS and it's saying, "Hey, there's been a problem with your economic stimulus check, please click here." Stop, become a human firewall. What are some other ways? What if you immediately get an email that appears to be coming from the director of HR and it says that, "Hey, we want to announce there's a town hall meeting. There's gonna be a series of layoffs.", and this is what happens when companies aren't securing their emails with two-factor authentication. The bad guys are getting in.
We have to teach people that email is the number one attack vector and the bad guys are sending this email just trying to get us to click on links. Especially in social media, people are posting articles and that is all getting you to click on stuff.
John: Besides the trend of this massive tragedy that we're all going through COVID-19, we are gonna get to the other side of it. There's going to be a new normal. But the danger continues to grow. But let's talk about another trend out there that has come to America since May of 2018. In May of 2018, Scott, GDPR regulations were passed in the EU and they have greatly affected what's happening in America because the US Government, of course, the federal government, like everything else we do here in America, we look at the EU or other parts of the world. Let's say we're in America, we could do something bigger and better. There's seven or eight forms of national GDPR legislation that were put in for approval. They haven't passed yet but once we get through COVID-19, one of them will pass and become the law of the land on a national basis. What we've also seen happen with the privacy rules and GDPR's effect on the United States, is states now, are passing their own version of privacy regulations and GDPR. You have 22 states that have put in some form of legislation that will get passed as predicted by the end of this year. All 50 states will pass something by the end of 2021 and already 4 states including New York and California have already passed their own version. So the laws of privacy and data protection are tightening now more than ever both on the localized basis, federal basis, and an international basis. The rules around privacy are tightening. Now, if I was a macroeconomic whiz kid, I would say this trend has to be pushing people into your arms at a higher velocity more than ever because, as the news tightens, that means organizations are going to be held liable now for their constituents and stakeholders' privacy and data more than ever. How has that affected what you do because you are still the expert that you are and there's still a huge void of information on how these organizations are supposed to protect their constituents data and privacy?
Scott: That is an incredible challenge of organizations. There's massive things about privacy and I sit down with C-suites all the time. It just goes back to that exercise. What do we need to protect and where is it? All of a sudden when I discovered that the head of marketing has a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that contains all the customers' names, dates of birth, and addresses to send a personalized birthday card, you know what that is? It's PII and it's sitting out here in probably her personal Gmail account. Companies just don't know how to process that information and one of the trends that I see right now, which is a very unfortunate trend is companies are spending a lot of money on reactive services. I have a lot of friends. I have friends who work for Kroll, they're the gold standard of intrusion response and they are so busy during this time. That it's not even funny and the phone's ringing off the hook because the majority of their issues are account compromise. Which means the bad guys are able to get in and they steal username and password of the CEO. They log in remotely to the CEO's email account and now, what is your email hooked up to today that it wasn't hooked up to years ago which hooked up to your one drive. Now, what do you think a law firm keeps in their one drive? Legal records. Another, what do you think a healthcare company keeps? Their healthcare records. They're telling me– and a lot of other people are– that 85% of the intrusion response work is being caused by an account compromise which to me could easily be prevented. We're not talking and we didn't even need to have this discussion. The other 10% is really complicated. Keeping your network secure and having firewalls and knowing what's on your network and end point solutions is so important. However, an account compromise which makes up a majority of today's data breaches can easily be prevented and that's leaving these organizations wide open to class action lawsuits, GDPR fines. I mean, let's just think about what happened to Marriott? How are the company's going to deal with that? It's kind of the challenges because here's what I see. From your listener's point of view, there's a fog. Where do I start? Because if you have a thousand different companies and they're all telling you buy this, do this, get a pen test, get a risk assessment, buy an important solution, buy a firewall, get block chain, get artificial intelligence. People don't know where to start and I'm telling them if 90% of what I dealt with in my career could have been prevented by learning what I teach in my book, go get a copy of the book and start there. Don't go over there and try to over complicate this because it's the high geniuses. What did they tell us about COVID 19? What's the most effective way to get with this? Wash your hands.
John: Wash your hands.
Scott: Wash your hands.
John: Cover your mouth when you cough. Real hygiene 101.
Scott: Then after you wash your hands you know what to do?
Scott: You bring your bottle of hand sanitizer and you leave it in the car, okay? Then when you're done, you do it until your hands turn raw. It's the same thing. That's why people aren't talking about what I'm doing because if you are an organization and I know you deal with consulting company, what's the goal of a consulting company? To get you on the hook which I'm not throwing stones at the consultants, well yes, I guess I kind of am. You know, they are coming in and they are moving in. I'm just saying, "Look." One individual asked me, he said, "Are you a consultant?" I go, "No, I'm a speaker trainer." He goes, "What's the difference?", and I kind of laughed and I said, "I guess I'm more expensive than a consultant." However, I'm not gonna spend more than 6 hours with you. Eight hours of just a happy [inaudible] dinner and I go, "We're gonna do a series of talks and we are gonna talk to your CEO and provide that high-level briefing to the CEO and the C-suite.", because information security does not start with the technology department. It's starts with the business owners because they hold the data. If you can teach them how to be safe at home, they're going to be safe at work. You do an all employees conference and then I sit down with organizations, I scratch test their intrusion response plans which they spend tons of money on, and I go, "When do you call the FBI or the secret service?", and then before they give me an answer I cut them off, I go like this "Hi. I'm with the FBI. Here's your data. Let's start the exercise." Then they go, "What do you mean?" I go, "In most standard breaches, it's us, law enforcement who tells you that you have a problem. How do you handle that?", and then, I tell them that this is the closer for me as I say this sarcastically. I said, "Then I give you the best to all in the world." They go, "What's that?" I go, "I leave and I never call you again." Honestly, I'm not here to make friends with these companies. I've sat with CEOs and I've told them that they were out of their mind if they didn't want to do what I told them to do. They were so taken back, and they're like "Well, no one's ever said that to me before.", and I said, "No one's told you the truth." If you don't want to do what I tell you to do, I will give you the name of my best friend who works intrusion response, Matt Don. Call him 24 hours a day, seven days a week, bother him at home but mention my name and he'll take 10% off your five, six, or seven figure engagement which you will pay when you have a problem. Then, he'll kick me back 25%. Then I go, "I'm former FBI, I can't take say kick back." In the information security world we call it referral fee and then I go, "Or you can do what I told you to do for free which is just do this."
John: Many times you're saving these guys' jobs, these people's jobs, the CEOs that you're consulting. For our listeners who just joined us, we're so lucky to have today Scott Augenbaum. He's a cyber security expert, ex special agent with the FBI, he's written a book The Secret Of Cybersecurity: A Simple Plan to Protect Your Family and Business from Cybercrime. You can buy this on Amazon. It will be the highest [inaudible] you've ever gone. If you're a CFO, a CTO, a CEO, an IT Director, or board member of an organization that you're trying to protect, that your fiduciary for. Scott, you can also find him on his website www.scotte– is his middle initial–scotteaugenbaum– a-u-g-e-n-b-a-u-m.com. Scott, I know you have some great stories that we could talk for hours but I do want you to share before we say good bye. There's an importance in companies buying software tools to protect their organizations and there's tons of great companies out there like Palantir, Cyberark, Fireeye, and the list goes long. All these great unicorns and I'm not here to promote or knock any of them. I'm sure they all have a place out there. But, one of the dirty little secrets, as you were referring to earlier about an end points is the hardware. The hardware that contains data. That if misappropriated or handled the wrong way when they come to the end of life or given access to the wrong people in an organization could spell disaster. I know you have a great story about hardware. Can you share that with our listeners? I want you to share that story with our listeners today.
Scott: Oh, sure. I mean, here's one of the things that we don't think about. What do we do with our stuff? Give it away. Now, companies give it away. Now, I remember getting a lead that came in because there was a computer that was found in the Middle East in the hands of a– let's just say he was a guy who wasn't a good guy in the Middle East about a decade ago and he was using this laptop and the Department of Defense analyzed the laptop and they saw that it belong to a guy who lived in my area. I got a lead– but from the Department of Defense sent the lead to the FBI, "Hey, go out and track this down.", because how the heck does this guy who lives here– How does his laptop get in the hands of a bad guy who's doing bad things.
John: Right.
Scott: We ended up tracking it down and we found out that this guy work for a pretty large organization and we knew the chief information security officer whose job is nothing more to protect the network. His job isn't disposal of hardware. So what did the organization do? They donated their old laptops to this company that kind of said, 'Hey, don't worry. We'll make sure everything is wiped clean and everything like that." What ended up happening is they donated it to some company, that company took it and obviously, that information– we don't know how because they didn't keep records. That was the crazy thing. They were like, "Hey we donated it to 15 or 20 different organizations and they ended up doing it to somebody else.", and then those things were obviously purchased, taken overseas, and they got in the hands of a bad guy. Now, let's think about this. You know, at the end of the day for whoever is the legal council at this company– and this is what I wanna tell as your guide to our listeners out here. Think about if this is your organization, what is it going to do to your brand if one of the computers that you gave away– and I'm not saying don't give computers away and do good things– but that computer gets traced back because there was data on that computer and there was corporate information. We're not even talking about that. We're talking about the fact that the bad guy was using the computer but there was still corporate data on it that led us to track down to the user and there were fax, figures, spreadsheets, and everything like that that were buried deeper on the computer that the bomb thrower had, or I should say bomb maker.
John: Right. You and I know this is happening both on a federal level with government assets from the DOD and other parts of government. This is happening on a corporate and also on other organizations, municipality, and non-profit level. Now that the people have to take care of so foreign– as you said phishing attacks, spear phishing attacks with emails and all the other kind of stuff and other types of preventative software. But their end points, their hardware also has to be destroyed the right way in order to continue to protect that organization. Your book is full of facts, full of information. Again, for our listeners out there, he's Scott Augenbaum. You can find him on LinkedIn and you can also find him on his website www.scotteaugenbaum.com with an "e" as his middle initial. The name of his book is The Secret To Cybersecurity: A Simple Plan to Protect Your Family and Business to Cybercrime. If I were you, if I was a CFO, CTO, CEO, or board member, I'd hire Scott bring, bring him in, read his book. He'll prevent your organization from becoming the next cybercrime victim. Scott, you're making a huge impact in making the world a better place. I'm so grateful for what you do and for your time today. Thank you for joining us on the Impact Podcast.
Scott: John, thank you so much. I have a couple of books here that were sent to me. For the first five people who listened today, go connect with me on LinkedIn and ask me one good question. As you can tell, I'm very shy and I don't like to talk so we can continue this conversation. Hit me up on LinkedIn and I will gladly send you– first five people– send you a copy of my book. John, it was such a pleasure to talk to you and I hope to get out to California really soon and see you in person and we can–
John: Yes, here or Nashville, which is another great city and I love Nashville so I'll be there have a great excuse to visit you in Nashville or I will host you here in Fresno, California with all the hospitality on the planet.
Scott: Oh. Excellent. Well, thank you so much and to everyone be safe during this crazy time.
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The Audi Q4 e-tron concept will showcase what the German luxury brand's first compact electric SUV will be like when it makes its debut at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show on March 5.
The Audi Q4 e-tron concept will showcase what the German luxury brandu0027s first compact electric SUV will be like when it makes its debut at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show on March 5. There is little other than three design sketches available at this point in time, but the new Q4 e-tron concept is said to offer u0022a glimpse of the next stage of Audi electric mobilityu0022. According to Audiu0027s German press site, a production iteration of the electric compact high-rider is u0022due to be presented as a volume-production vehicle in late 2020/early 2021u0022. The new Q4 e-tron is set to fill the gap between the soon-to-arrive all-new Q3 and the existing Q5. It isnu0027t yet clear if the production Q4 will be available in electric only, as there have been spy images out of Europe suggesting a sportier-styled u0027coupeu0027-inspired SUV could wear that nameplate. The styling u2013 from the sketches u2013 clearly follows the same thought processes as the e-tron SUV and e-tron GT five-door liftback concept model that have preceded it. A production model will likely see a similar treatment to the grille, headlights and tail-lights, and itu0027s clear Audi is intending for this new electrified SUV to offer lots of kerb appeal. Inside the cabin there is set to be expansive touchscreens for media and controls, replacing the buttons seen in the new-gen Q3. The new model is set to be a sibling to the new VW I.D. hatchback, built on the Volkswagen MEB electric vehicle architecture. VW Group is planning to build 330,000 electric vehicles per year once its Zwickau factory is running at full capacity, and thatu0027ll be across Volkswagen, Audi, Seat and Skoda brands. Keen on an Audi Q4? Tell us what you think in the comments below.


text:
Talenkauen santacrucensis es la única especie conocida del género extinto  Talenkauen   (chon. "cabeza pequeña") de dinosaurio ornitópodo elasmariano que vivió a finales del período Cretácico, hace aproximadamente entre 83 a 66 millones de años, desde el Campaniense al Maastrichtiense, en lo que es hoy Sudamérica. Fue encontrado en el 2000 en la Formación Cerro Fortaleza, junto al Lago Viedma, en la Provincia de Santa Cruz en la Patagonia Argentina. El holotipo, MPM-10001, es un esqueleto parcial articulado al que le falta la parte posterior del cráneo, cola, y manos. Lo más inusual, es la presencia de pequeñas placas óseas a los lados de las costillas. Talenkauen, es un iguanodóntido basal que pudo ser un pequeño herbívoro bípedo. En la misma formación se ha encontrado el enorme Puertasaurus y el gran depredador megarraptoriano Orkoraptor .

Descripción

Talenkauen es similar a Dryosaurus en forma y tamaño, pero posee un cuello extremadamente largo. El largo total del cuerpo se calcula en 4 metros y se cree que llegó a pesar 200 kilogramos.. Sin embargo, Gregory S. Paul dio una estimación más alta de 4,7 metros de largo y 300 kilogramas de masa corporal. A diferencia de los iguanodóntianos más derivados posee dientes en el espacio premaxilar donde estaria el pico y el primer dedo del pie. Los iguanodontianos posteriores no poseen estos dientes y solo tienen los tres dedos del medio. El húmero tiene pequeñas áreas de inserción muscular, como en otros ornitópodos sudamericanos como Notohypsilophodon y Anabisetia. Estas y otras características compartidas con los ornitópodos del hemisferio sur, hacen pensar que pertenecían a un grupo de distribución hemisférica, pero en su momento los autores advirtieron que esta interpretación no estaba completamente justificada. En 2015, los descriptores de Morrosaurus encontraron que de hecho ese clado sí existía.

La característica más distintiva de Talenkauen son las placas lisas y ovales encontradas alrededor de la caja torácica. Estas placas medían alrededor de 18 milímetros de diámetro pero solo 3 de espesor, siendo muy delgadas. Estaban presentes en al menos las primeras 8 costillas a la altura de la porción media. Muchos otros ornitópodos poseía placas similares, entre ellos están Hypsilophodon, Othnielosaurus, Parksosaurus, Thescelosaurus, y Macrogryphosaurus también de Argentina, pero de rocas algo más antiguas, con el que estaba emparentado. Debido a la fragilidad de las placas, y al hecho que no se pueden encontrar siempre, pudieron ser más comunes de lo que se piensa. La placas pueden ser homólogas al proceso uncinado,  proyecciones óseas de las costillas que se encuentran en una variedad de animales distintos como la tuatara, cocodrilos, aves y algunos maniraptores. En las aves, los procesos uncinados ayudan a ventilar los pulmones, trabajando con los músculos de la jaula costal, así que Novas et al. proponen que las placas funcionaron en los mecanismos de respiración de Talenkauen. Las placas eran demasiado finas y limitadas en localización para haber sido muy útiles como dispositivos defensivos.

Descubrimiento e investigación

Es uno entre una serie de descubrimientos de ornitópodos en América del Sur, siguiendo taxones como Gasparinisaura y Anabisetia, el espécimen que se convertiría en Talenkauen se recolectó en febrero de 2000 y luego sería descrito y nombrado en un breve artículo de 2004 por Fernando E. Novas y colegas. Fue descubierto en el Cerro Los Hornos en la costa del Lago Viedma, en la Provincia de Santa Cruz región de Argentina. Geológicamente, proviene de la Formación Cerro Fortaleza. Originalmente se informó que Talenkauen pertenecía a la Formación Pari Aike y luego se informó que pertenecía a la Formación Mata Amarilla. Los estudios geológicos encontraron que se estaban usando varios nombres para las mismas capas de roca y recomendaron el uso del nombre Formación Cerro Fortaleza sobre los dos primeros, ya que estaban asociados con fechas incorrectas o también se usaban para otras unidades. El espécimen holotipo es MPM-10001A, un esqueleto relativamente completo y articulado. El nombre Talenkauen se deriva de las palabras del idioma aonikenk Talenk, que significa pequeño, y kauen, que significa cráneo, por lo que se traduce como "craneo pequeño". El nombre específico T. santacrucensis se refiere a la provincia de Argentina donde se encontró. Siguiendo a ladescripción preliminar, el taxón fue descrito más detalladamente en una tesis doctoral inédita de Andrea V. Cambiaso en 2007. En 2020 se publicó una descripción extensa de Sebastián Rozadilla y colegas.

Se ha reconocido que, anidado entre la matriz de roca del espécimen holotipo, hay una colección de minúsculos fragmentos de huesos y dientes. Identificable como los dientes de algún grado de ornitópodo, y asociado con el espécimen adulto, se considera que es un espécimen de bebé recién nacido de Talenkauen. Se describió en un artículo de 2013, que separó el número de muestra MPM-10001 en MPM-10001A, para la muestra adulta, y MPM-10001B, para el recién nacido. El espécimen es uno de los pocos especímenes de ornitópodos embrionarios o recién nacidos y fue el primero descubierto en el hemisferio sur. El desgaste de las diminutas coronas dentales de 1,7 milímetros de ancho indica que el individuo se había alimentado, lo que significa que no era un embrión y había nacido solo recientemente antes de morir. Se señaló como posible que el adulto haya estado practicando el cuidado parental debido a que los individuos se encontraron juntos, pero que se necesitarían pruebas más concretas para hacer tal afirmación con confianza.

Clasificación
A través de los análisis cladísticos, colocaron al nuevo género en un grupo más basal que Dryosaurus y Anabisetia, pero más derivado que Tenontosaurus y Gasparinisaura. Más recientemente, quienes describieran a Macrogryphosaurus encontraron que este género y Talenkauen estaban relacionados, y acuñaron el clado Elasmaria para contenerlos. En 2015, se determinó que varios otros ornitópodos patagónicos y antárticos también estaban dentro de este grupo.

Filogenia
El cladograma presentado a continuación resulta del análisis de Rozadilla et al., 2019, mostrando que todos los miembros de Elasmaria forman una politomía.

Referencias

Véase también
 Anexo: Géneros válidos de dinosaurios

Enlaces externos

 Talenkauen en las noticias del National Geographic quien aportara para la expedición que lo encontró. (en inglés)
 Restauración del Talenkauen, por Gabriel Lio.
 Talenkauen dentro de Ornithopoda en The Thescelsossaurus (en inglés)

Iguanodontia
Dinosaurios del Cretácico
Dinosaurios de América del Sur

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Home Heritage The Phoenicians History
History didn't transmit us direct sources able to describe the Phoenician population. No written documents exist and the only information in our possession was handed down to us from writers, witnesses and historians of other populations. It's very likely that the population was born in around 3000 BC following to different processes and stages of populations migrations towards the today's Lebanon area, the anti Lebanon and the coast between the Nahr el-Kelb river and the Carmelo mountain, which was called Phoenicia.
The Phoenicians were a branch of the Canaanite population, and they inhabited a wide part of Palestine before it was conquered by the Israelites. The Phoenicians reached their land before 2500 B.C. coming from a region situated farther south, probably at the end of the Red Sea.
The Phoenicians used to call their land "Canaan", but they used to refer to themselves as "Sidons".This name can be also detected in Homer; in the Old Testament, moreover, a king from Tyrus is called "King of the Sidons".
Our word "Phoenicians", which comes from the word the Greeks used to refer to this population, maybe derives from an Egyptian word, but it's commonly agreed that it is linked to a Greek word whose meaning is "red"and that the Greeks named the population after one of their most significant products, the purple. Their name, however, might come from the colour of their skin, reddened by sun. (B.H. Warmington).
The Phoenicians never set up a unitary State, consequently their history identifies with the history of their cities-states: Biblo, Arado, Tyrus, Sidone, Ugarit, ecc.; they are cities which were almost always independent from each other and often in competion, surrounded by a limited territory ruled by a king who also exercised his power over them: that weakened them when facing dangers coming from invading populations.
Egypt had tied cultural and business relationships with Phoenician cities ever since the III millenium BC, namely with Biblo; such ties grew closer and closer and in the course of time turned into an Egyptian sovereignty over Phoenicia. Such supremacy went through a crisis because the Hittite Empire imposed itself and due to the following regaining of the independence by the Phoenician cities. The Egyptian influence, however, persisted even if limited to the artistic-cultural area, while in the political area it was first the Sidone's egemony to impose itself over the other centres, and later the Tiro's egemony. In the meanwhile the Phs extended their influence to a large part of the Mediterranean area (from the VIII century BC) and they set up trading centres and colonies in Cyprus, in Rhodes (Camino, Ialino), on the Minor Asia coast, in Creta (Itanos), on the North-African coast, on the southern coast of Spain, Malta, Pantelleria, in Sicily and in Sardinia. At the beginning such expansion was exclusively motivated by trade interests, there was no occupation of wide areas, which allowed the Phoenicians, unlike the Greeks, to keep friendly relationships with native populations; subsequently, however, it also took on a political aspect, when the Assyrian empire established itself and got many Phoenicians to search a new homeland.
Carthage, "new city", whose foundation dates back to the VIII century BC, was for a long time only a landing place along the route from Spain to Tyrus, which held the role of mother land. But around the VII century BC, the rivalry between Etruscans and Greeks, the wars against the Assyrs, the upheavals of the cities, the suspension in the trade relationships made Carthage the most important Phoenician city. It will eventually become the fulcrum of the Phoenician life, point of junction of the two Mediterraneans. "While Carthage was destroyed by the Romans after the well known Punic wars, in 146 BC, the Phoenician cities in the Middle East were subdued by Alexander the Great and from 64 BC they were included in the Roman province of Syria, losing any political independence" (F.Braudel).

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Хметьєво ( ) — присілок у Солнечногорському районі Московської області Російської Федерації.

Розташування
Хметьєво входить до складу міського поселення Солнечногорськ, воно розташовано на південний схід від Солнечногорська, поруч із озером Сенеж. Найближчі населені пункти — Редіно, Дубиніно, селище санаторію Міністерства оборони, Сенеж.

Населення
Станом на 2010 рік у присілку проживало 142 людини

Примітки

Солнечногорськ
Села Московської області


text:
A young athlete on the road to Nordic success: Witta Walcher
Author: Tessa Mellinger
The young cross-country skiing talent Witta Walcher is on the road to Nordic success and is working ambitiously and determinedly towards her lofty goals. A lot has changed this summer for the young athlete. She recently became a pupil at the Nordic elite school in Lillehammer in Norway and the Olympiaregion Seefeld has also become one of her new training facilities. We talked to her about her new home in the north, her goals and of course about the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2019 in Seefeld.
Sport is in her blood
Witta has Nordic sports in her blood. Her parents Maria Theurl-Walcher and Armin Walcher are successful cross-country skiers and she experienced cross-country skiing through them as she grew up. It is only natural that Witta should follow in her parents' footsteps. In summer 2018 Witta took the big decision to swap her home in Austria for Norway. There she attends the Skigymnasium NTG Lillehammer and trains alongside young Norwegian talents. "The beginning in Norway went very well," says Witta. "I am happy to be able to train together with so many other talented youngsters."
Witta's great role model is the cross-country skier Jessica Diggins. "She is able to strain herself incredibly at every race and is always pushing her limits. She has unbelievable willpower. She also has an astoundingly positive charisma and is always cheerful."
Big ambitions
Witta aims to show this kind of ambition and willpower in training as well. She has set herself great goals. Her target for the coming season is to do her best in the NorgesCup. "At best I would like to finish the season in the top three," she says. The main goal for this season is the EYOF (European Youth Olympics Festival) in Sarajevo. Here she wants to make it into the top ten.
Tough training in beautiful surroundings
The young cross-country skier also has ideal training conditions in Austria. This year she has explored the Olympiaregion Seefeld as a new training region. The Olympiaregion also sponsors and supports her as she aims to reach her goals. This year's training sessions on the new ski roller track in Seefeld meant that she got to know the region better in summer as well. "When I think of Seefeld, I think of three things: perfect training opportunities, professionalism and top performance," says Witta. She appreciates the nature around the course, the extent of the cross-country ski runs and the new, ultra-modern facilities. Seefeld will also host the 2019 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, making it an absolute sporting highlight for all Nordic athletes and fans.
A home World Championships
A world championship at home is something special and unique. The best Nordic athletes in the world are coming to Seefeld to compete. Witta is counting down the days until the starting signal. "I expect exciting competitions and a cool atmosphere from the World Cup during the whole time", she says, "and hopefully many Austrian medals".
A home World Cup: motivation for young talent
For the young athletes, a home World Championships is a unique opportunity to experience their role models live and to get a taste of the World Championship feeling. "It's a great motivation for me to be able to experience all the successful athletes up close," says Witta. "It makes you work even harder to be able to compete at the same level as well. And I think it's also a sign of solidarity, because all Nordic sports work towards a common goal."
We wish Witta all the best for her training and the upcoming season.
You are also counting down the days on the #roadtoseefeld2019? Find all information about the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships here!
FIS Nordic World Ski Championships
Roller-ski circuit and summer biathlon in the Olympiaregion Seefeld
A combiner with a bite: David Pommer
Fotos: Thomas Steinlechner
Tags: FIS Nordic World Ski Championship, FIS Nordische Ski WM, Nordischer Sport, Roadtoseefeld2019, Skirollern
Winter Summer Kitchen True Locals Work & Life
Why this winter will be your cross-country skiing winter
Cross-country skiing is becoming a real trend sport. And quite rightly so: cross-country skiing is a really cool all-round sport for everyone. It's high time to get it out of its shadowy existence. Eleven reasons why this winter is the perfect opportunity to finally strap ...
Recipe: Berry cake with semolina and curd cheese from the Tillfussalm
A generous portion of your favourite berries, fresh curd cheese, semolina and vanilla pudding: the perfect summer cake is conjured up so quickly. The hosts of the Tillfussalm have given us their secret recipe for a quick alpine cake that tastes like the most beautiful ...
Spring tips: The most beautiful places to go in spring
Colourful flower meadows, lots of sunshine and mild temperatures: spring is finally here! Where can you best enjoy the warm spring sun? On which paths can you already start the hiking season? And where to find the most beautiful crocus and flower meadows? We have ...
Easter recipe: Sweet filled Easter eggs with spruce parfait and red clover sorbet
This Easter dessert has no need to hide! With a sophisticated recipe for spruce parfait and red clover sorbet in an eggshell, you can impress everyone at Easter. What looks (and tastes) very fancy is actually child's play. The ingredients are a highlight, because they ...
Mathias Obmascher
True Locals


Is the realization of the law of tourism of Lithuania possible?
The law of tourism of the Republic of Lithuania determines that from September 1, 2011, all travel agencies are obligated to have insurance. The amount of this insurance should be 5 percent of the income of the last year (but not less than 50,000 litas). This insurance should defend the rights of tourists in the case of bankruptcy and insolvency of the travel agency. The Lithuanian State Department of Tourism would be able to suspend the license of such an agency. But there are many problems on the travel market due to this law.
First, the new regulation of this law is not fulfilled because the insurance companies do not provide such services as travel company insurance. So the travel agencies are not able to get the insurance, and by formal attitude they violate the law.
Moreover, there is the possibility that the new regulation violates the civil code of Lithuania. The civil code of Lithuania also regulates the case of insolvency of travel agencies. There is a point in the civil code that the parties of the tourism service agreement are the tourist and the travel organizer, not the travel agency. Travel agencies are only brokers and are not able to ensure the service. So the requirement for insurance is not proportional.
There is another problem – no post-legislation for the new regulation was adopted, so the law of tourism is only formal and no sanctions for the violation of the law can be applied.


Galvanometer/2D Scan Systems leverage digital encoder technology.
Audio/Video Encoder supports analog and digital input formats.
Incremental Encoders feature ATEX and IECEx certification.
Incremental Encoders ATEX and IECEx certification.
Servo System offers multi turn absolute encoder option.


Once upon a time, not so long ago, a monster came to the small town of Castle Rock, Maine . . . He was not a werewolf, vampire, ghoul, or unnameable creature from the enchanted forest or snow wastes; he was only a cop . . . Cujo is a huge Saint Bernard dog, the best friend Brett Camber has ever had. Then one day Cujo chases a rabbit into a bolt-hole. Except it isn't a rabbit warren any more. It is a cave inhabited by rabid bats. And Cujo falls sick. Very sick. And the gentle giant who once protected the family becomes a vortex of horror inexorably drawing in all the people around him . . .


text:
1. Follow the instructions on this [Installing Git](https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Getting-Started-Installing-Git) guide to install Git on your system.
2. Fork the project into your account and clone it locally

  ```bash
  # Get the latest snapshot
  git clone https://github.com/vinaypuppal/linklet-app linklet

  # Change directory
  cd linklet
  ```
3. Install dependencies using `npm install`
3. Create a branch specific to the issue or feature
4. Start the dev server using `npm run dev`
5. Make some changes to the code, [add them to the staging area and commit them](https://www.atlassian.com/git/tutorials/saving-changes/git-commit)
6. [Squash your commits](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5189560/squash-my-last-x-commits-together-using-git/5201642#5201642)
7. [Submit a pull request](https://www.atlassian.com/git/tutorials/making-a-pull-request)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
ALLEN-SCOTT REPORT FEW PEOPLE KNOW IT, BUT SENATE HAS VOTED A PRETTY BIG CHUNK FOR FOREIGN AID
STAT ? Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2014/01/27: CIA-RDP73-00475R000300070001-7 FEB 2 1964 (???\ LAS VEGAS SUN ALLEN-SCOTT 11-TO By ROBERT S: ALLEN and PAUL SCOTT Few Peopie Know It. But Senate Has Voted A Pretty Big Chunk For Foreign Aid ? WASHINGTON?The chances are 100 to 1 you aren't': aware of it, but a big chunk of foreign aid spending al- ready has been voted by the Senate. While Congress (after some six weeks) is still await- ing the recommendations of President Johnson's special interdepartmental committee to "reorganize!' the widely- assailed foreign 'aid program, the administration has 'rammed through the Senate a $312 million foreign aid bill. This approximately one-third of a billion dollars is in addition to the $3.4 billion the President listed for economic and military for- eign aid in his budget message last week. The $312 million* is to increase this country's share of the funds of the Independent Development Association?a "soft loan" agency of the World Bank. " Established in 1960 with a $1 billion fund, of which the U. S. put up $320 million and other World Bank members $423 million, IDA so far has loaned $554 million ? most of it ($300 million) to India. The new Morley is. to increase IDA's funds by $750 million, with other nations contributing $438 million. ' Avowed purpose of IDA is to help so-called "underdeveloped" ,countries. It makes 50-year interest-free loans, with a 3/4 of one per icent annual service charge: (It costs the U.S. Treasury around 4. per cent tci . borrow* money.) But virtually all IDA borrowers :already are. receiving large amounts of U.S. economic,and military aid, as follows: Pakistan, Turkey, South Korea, Formosa, Jordan, Chile, Colombia, Haiti, Ethiopia, Sudan Tunisia. All these countries, including India, are in arrears on United ,Nations assessments. As of Dec. 31, 1963, they owed more than $16' 'million. 'A bipartisan group of senators made a determined fight to hold up action on the $312 million bill on the ground it should be con- sidered as, part of the whole foreign aid program. ? "What's the rush and why the hurry?" demanded Senator Wayne Morse, D-Ore?: "We ought to stop and take a longer look. We should not pass this bill until we make our decision later this year' on the whole foreign assistance program. We should look at ?it as a total package, and not segmentize it in this way. This is a serious mistake; because not a single senator, including the ma- jority leader, know what the administration's program for foreign;, aid is.". ? ? :` STEAMROLLING THE OPPOSITION' Sen. Morse's motion to send the measure back to the Foreign; Relations Committee was' defeated 37 to 33 ? a significantly close ? .margin, that bodes ill for the President's proposed $3.4 pillion for- eign aid budget. While the administration's steamroller was able to ram the $312 million bill through .the Senate; the outlook for th9 big appropria- tion is not pronfisin,g: The President has his work cut out for him getting it through the House and Senate unscathed.. On the basis of this Senate clash, the odds are against him. . ? An important factor' in this portentous battle Was the. .bipartisan', complexion of the opposition. -nremost among those waging this struggle were Sens. Morse, i Fro ih Lausche, D-0., Bourke Hickenlooper, R-Ia.. Stuart Syming- ton, 1)-Mo., Allen Ellender, 134.a., and Jack Miler, R-Iowa. Administration spokesmen were Sen. J. William Fulbright, D-' ,'\1?.. c;tairman of the Foreign Relations ,Committee, and Mi'.e.e.' M9iironey, D-Okla. . In rallying the surprisingly close vote against the administra- tion's hill, the opposition made five major points, as follows: ' . l Sen. Lauschei "IDA is completely free from any conditions or restrictions contained in the (regular) foreign aid .program. . . .' - On the one band, we created conditions supposedly in the iaterest of the United States in the administering of foreign' aid, and on: the other hand, we are giving a free rein to IDA." Sen. Hickenlooper: "This bill would permit 'IDA to do more lending to countries 'for purposes which Congress either has not authorized, or which Congress, has specifically prohibited ? for example the giant steel mill in India." . Sen. Symington: "The World Bank has accumulated $813 mil- lion in reserves, and thiS is being 'augmented every year by more than $100 million. Are we to make additional appropriations to the World Bank for its 'soft loan, window,' which is/ii fact what we are asked to do through IDA, when this Bank alr ady has ample re- ? serves to take care of expected 'soft loan' crmitments for the next three-year period. Why do we have to continue with such a heavy surplus in the World Bank, while' at the same time adding to, this 'soft loan' set up? The directors, the officers, and the entire structure are the same for both the World Bank and the IDA." . Sen. Jack Millet: "It is very important to point out that a num- ber of these nations are delinquent in their UN assessments. For, example, Chile had received outstanding credits for $19 million from IDA. Chile also had received millions. of dollars in foreign aid , from our citizens. Nevertheless, .as of the end ? of last December,, Chile was delinquent .in 'the amount of more than $670,000 in its. UN assessments." ? .. . ? Sen. Ellender:. "These IDA loans are virtually a give-away, because they are for 50 years without interest. Also, under this bill, countries borrowing from?IDA can Use the money to purchase goods whenever they decide. They can 'do that .at a time when our gold' reserves are in critical state and when our balance-of-payments'. is a very grave problem." , ? , Sen. Morse also stressed that Countries obtaining interest-free IDA loans are re-lending money in their own countries at interest rates up to 12 per cent. MYSTERIOUS SHIFT. ? Career diplomat Livingston Merchant, with the permanent rank f, ambassador, has taken a high-level job in the Central Intelli- gence Agency: Merchant has been working on negotiations involving the multilateral nuclear force launched by the late President Ken- nedy. There has been no announcement of ,Merchant's switch to CIA, and all inquiries are met with silence. . . . Rep. Howard D-Va.; dour chairman of the powerful Rules .Committee, has. told Speaker. John McCormack he will report out the long-stalled area redevelopment bill whenever the administration is ready to' have it considered by the House. The 'measure passed the Senate last year, but has been held up in the House because of lack of votes to put it over., So far the administration is short at least 20 votes.... Sen. Albert Gore, D-Tenn., a leading opponent of ..the $11 billion' tax-cutting bill, admits there is ,no -chance of blocking it. He. will .continue to battle it in the Senate, but is telling colleagues he knows the measure will be passed. , ' . Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2014/01/27: CIA-RDP73-00475R000300070001-7


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text:
Lockheed to deliver additional enhanced laser guided training rounds for US Navy
The US Navy has awarded a $25.8m contract to Lockheed Martin for the production of enhanced laser guided training rounds (ELGTR), an alternative to laser-guided bombs (LGB) during training.
Srijanee
The recent award represents the last of four options under the $84.5m ELGTR indefinite delivery and indefinite quantity (ID/IQ) contract, which was awarded to the company by the US Navy in 2013.
Under this contract, Lockheed will supply ELGTRs, as well as refurbishing reusable shipping containers and providing associated technical data.
"The US Navy and ten international partner countries rely on ELGTR for their Paveway II Laser Guided Bomb training programme."
Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control precision guided systems programme director Joe Serra said: "The US Navy and ten international partner countries rely on ELGTR for their Paveway II Laser Guided Bomb training programme.
"ELGTR ensures US and allied warfighters can hone their skills in order to maintain mission readiness."
The equipment offers similar cockpit indications, release and terminal characteristics of Paveway II laser-guided weapon systems in order to provide pilots with affordable, high-performance aircrew training while maintaining the tactical LGB inventory.
ELGTR is compatible with F/A-18, AV-8B, F-16 and various other international aircraft platforms.
Production of the ELGTR is said to extend until 2018 and will be carried out at the company's 350,000ft2 production facility in Archbald, Pennsylvania, US, which also designs and manufactures combat-proven Paveway II Plus LGB kits.
To date, the company has delivered around 150,000 training rounds, in addition to 75,000 LGB kits and 7,000 dual-mode LGB kits, to the US Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and 20 international clients.
The Military Robotics Market - Key Drivers, Trends and New Developments
Hypersonic Technologies (Defense) - Thematic Research
Virtual and Augmented Reality in Aerospace and Defense - Thematic Research
Counter-Unmanned Aerial System (C-UAS) in Aerospace and Defense - Thematic Research
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New Delhi, March 20, 2019: For celebrating World Water Day, the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) – an organization representing over 1,00,000 restaurants, is extending support to the #GlassHalfFull initiative requesting restaurants to fill the glass of water half full only unless otherwise requested by the customer. The effort is led by Why Waste?, an NGO founded by Garvita Gulhati. Through this partnership, both Why Waste and NRAI aim to reduce wastage of water served at restaurants.
Gulhati, a Bengaluru based college student, has been campaigning for the cause since more than three years. She recently approached the NRAI for reaching out to the entire restaurant fraternity for creating a bigger impact. In March 2018, Garvita had started a petition on Change.org in this regard which has been going viral since then (petition can be found here – change.org/GlassHalfFull).
"After almost 3.5 full years of convincing restaurants to adopt this method, since our early teen years, it feels truly surreal to see the mobilization finally become a reality. We are extremely thankful to the NRAI for supporting us on this endeavour. They have helped instill in us the confidence that our voices can make a difference and that there are some big fish in the sea who we can count on to have our backs regardless of hurdles and simply being young", Garvita, founder of WhyWaste? said on the alliance.
Along with a stream of online and offline activities, members of the NRAI will place table tops in their restaurants communicating to customers and servers about how they can do their bit to help conserve water.
On March 22, NRAI and Why Waste? will join hands for an event to observe World Water Day's theme for this year – 'Leave No One Behind', being organised at PES University, Bengaluru. It will discuss ways to accentuate the importance of developing a water positive approach in the Indian restaurant industry and illustrate the importance of collaborations between national organisations and youth-led organisations to create a global awareness programmes, like the #GlassHalfFull movement.
NRAI and Why Waste?, through this collaboration, hope to inspire similar alliances globally and take the #GlassHalfFull movement, a simple yet effective way of saving a lot of water, across the world.
Know how to conserve water at your restaurant by clicking here.


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Marijuana Munchies Wreaking Havoc in Colorado
July 23, 2014 Michael ShannonBlog
Since January 1st, stores in Colorado have been legally selling marijuana to anyone over the age of 21. Some of the consequences, however, were quite unexpected.
On January 1st 2014, doors opened across the state of Colorado, USA, to stores legally allowed to sell marijuana for recreational purposes. From regular marijuana to edibles and even drinkables, stores such as Sticky Buds, The Grass Station and Sweet Leaf are legally allowed to sell products containing marijuana to anyone over the age of 21 – and have already generated $12.6 million in taxes and fees for the state.
The controversy surrounding this legal move has, of course, been enormous – with the marijuana edibles receiving most of the concern. Since the beginning of the year, hospitals have seen a rise in children under the influence of marijuana, police have seen a rise in cases of people driving under the influence of marijuana, and two deaths are said to be related to the consumption of edible marijuana – all available for purchase at these stores.
As with alcohol, it's not overly difficult for underage persons to acquire the edibles. However, the taste and smell of alcohol can often deter a young child from trying it – even if it's left out around the home. The edibles, however, come in the form of cookies, granola, and even gummy candies – often brightly coloured – making them very appealing for young eyes.
The Children's Hospital Colorado has reportedly treated 9 children for the consumption of marijuana, 6 of whom became critically ill. In all of 2013, the same hospital saw only eight cases throughout the year. John Gates, the director of school safety and security in the district, has bluntly reminded people to keep their marijuana hidden from children: "For crying out loud, secure your weed. If you can legally possess it, that's fine. But it has no place in an elementary school."
Aside from this unintended yet alarming side effect, two deaths have been credited at least in part to the edibles – although to what extent the edibles played a part cannot be determined 100%. Traffic citations for those driving stoned have risen rapidly, as well as drug infractions in neighbouring states (where the drug is still illegal). Just outside the state of Colorado in Colby, Kansas, Police Chief Ron Alexander told the New York Times that he has tallied 20 cases so far this year for sale, distribution or possession of marijuana. Two years ago, he saw only 6 such cases in the same time period, despite the fact that under the new recreational marijuana laws, taking the drug outside of state lines is strictly prohibited.
Tourists, however, are welcome to come to Colorado to eat or smoke the drug – provided they are of the legal age. Maureen Dowd, a New York Times columnist, recently ventured to Colorado to eat the edibles as part of a story for the newspaper. It didn't end well for her; however, as she reports that she was "curled up in a hallucinatory state for the next eight hours." Despite what local retailers believe, Dowd thinks that the edibles are not marked correctly – and for someone not used to the effects of THC (the active substance in marijuana) the doses can be far too strong, leaving the user in a state of panic and paranoia.
Rachel O'Bryan, a volunteer with Smart Colorado – an organisation devoted to ensuring that youth are not harmed by this new law – believes that the portion sizes of the edibles go against that of what Americans are used to. One small candy can pack in a full dose of THC. And since Americans are used to large portions, they are often eating far more than the recommended dosage and becoming ill.
As the first state in the U.S. to allow recreational marijuana use, it comes as no surprise that there are many unanticipated side effects, and unfortunately it may take years before we know the true effects of legal marijuana use or teen use, 'gateway drug' capabilities and fatalities or life-altering problems. And while Colorado is being watched closely by law-makers around the world to see what happens, these negative side effects have not stopped Washington State from following suit. On July 8, 2014 a couple dozen shops were allowed to open their doors – and the demand was through the roof. One shop, Cannabis City, sold out of stock completely in just two days – and has had to close down until they can get more.
And while the demand is clearly there, and the taxes will be beneficial for the state, is legalising marijuana the right thing to do? Will it find its way into the hands of more children? Cause more deaths? Lead to more addiction problems? In a country that is struggling already with addiction rates, is it right to allow them freer access to drugs?
Despite popular belief, Marijuana can be quite addictive. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), between 9 to 50% of users may become addicted, depending on their frequency of use. If you or someone you know is having a problem with addiction, it's important to contact a professional for help.
Lorazepam Use, Abuse, and Addiction Economic Recovery and Drug Recovery: Greece's Newest Drug Craze Ayahuasca — Addiction Treatment or Dangerous Drug? Macklemore and President Obama Tackle Painkiller Addiction in New MTV Documentary


Use this page to keep an eye on pending Unemployment Insurance legislation and rulemaking at state and federal level. Check here for recently adopted laws and rules.
HB 5165 – 5172 (introduced October 24, 2017 and signed into law December 20, 2017. Not all of the effective dates are the same) – This package of 8 tie-barred bills are the product of a bi-partisan workgroup convened by Representatives Graves and Hertel. See Graves-Hertel Workgroup Report.
HB 5165: New Identity Theft Verification Structure – requires timely review of affidavits from employers and claimants that allege impostor fraud; creates an Inspector General to review internal Agency policies and provide recommendations to the legislature. This bill takes effect March 21, 2018.
HB 5166: Fraud Penalty – reduces the fraud penalty from 400% of the overpayment to 100% in the first instance of fraud and to 150% for subsequent instances of fraud; the penalty remains at 400% for impostors who commit identity fraud. This bill takes effect July 1, 2018.
HB 5167: Advocacy Program – allows claimants accused of fraud to participate in the advocacy program; if a final determination is made that a claimant committed fraud, the Agency can recover the cost of representation from the claimant. This bill takes effect July 1, 2018.
HB 5168: Identity Theft Protections – protects against identity theft by requiring claimants to provide the Agency with proof of identification before the Agency makes an initial payment. This bill takes effect March 21, 2018.
HB 5169: Interest on Overpayments – no interest will be assessed in cases where overpayment was due to Agency error; interest applies immediately if fraud is found. This bill is effective as of December 21, 2018.
HB 5170: Employer Determinations – issues a determination to any employer that fails to timely and adequately respond to the Agency's request for information; charges but does not credit an employer's account for benefits paid to a claimant due to the employer's failure to provide timely and adequate information. This bill is effective as of January 1, 2018.
HB 5171: Hardship Waivers – requires the Agency to grant a hardship waiver application if the claimant's average net household income and cash assets falls below 150% of the Federal Poverty Line. This bill takes effect March 21, 2018.
HB 5172: Re-Opening Period for Fraud Cases – requires the Agency to send notices of determinations and redeterminations to all of a claimant's known addresses; establishes that good cause to reopen will include incidents where notices were sent to the wrong address. This bill takes effect July 1, 2018.


"Prompt, considerate and efficient service – Thanks very much indeed Shaw's plumbing and heating."
Christmas has now finally arrived as many companies close for the festive period as Monday 25th December 2017 is the big day – CHRISTMAS….
Firstly I would like too on behalf of Shaw's Plumbing and Heating wish our Staff and most important all our customers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and we will look forward to working with you in the year 2018.
Remember we are open over the festive period and as much as we wish everyone a problem free festive period.
If you should need us please feel free to give us a call 0800 8 247 585 or simply email us info@shawsplumbingandheating.co.uk and we will do our best to assist you with any of your Plumbing, Heating needs.


New Delhi, Aug 5 (IANS) The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on Sunday slammed people with "vested interests" for spreading "rumours" against the Aadhaar, and reiterated that there was no harm in storing its helpline number on mobile phones.
It even suggested that people rather update its contact number.
"The UIDAI condemns the vested interests who tried to misuse Google's inadvertent act as an opportunity to spread rumours and go around fearmongering against Aadhaar… it must be clearly understood that by merely having a helpline number, that too an outdated one, on a smartphone, no harm can be caused," a UIDAI statement said.


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Video of Candace Owens firing back at Ted Lieu nears CSPAN record
Explosive showdown between Candace Owens and Ted Lieu at a House Judiciary Committee hearing
The viral clip of conservative commentator Candace Owens accusing Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., of distorting her comments in such fashion that he must "believe black people are stupid" has become the most-viewed C-SPAN Twitter video from a House hearing.
The Twitter video of the exchange so far accumulated nearly 6.8 million views and appears to be on track to be most watched C-SPAN clip from a House hearing on all platforms.
CANDACE OWENS EXPLODES AT TED LIEU MID-HEARING AFTER HE PLAYS SHORT CLIP OF HER HITLER COMMENTS
"In less than 24 hours, this video is the most watched C-SPAN Twitter video from a House hearing (4.47 million views)," tweeted Jeremy Art, C-SPAN's social media senior specialist, before the video got another 2.3 million views.
He added that it's not yet the most watched C-SPAN video from a House hearing ever as it still lacks a couple of millions views – 5 million at the time of the tweet, though the gap has been cut in half since – to be on par with a video from a House hearing in 2017 in which Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos was criticized for not being able to "come up with one example of discrimination that you would stand up for students."


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If only Congress would get out of the economy's way
A few things became clearer during the recently ended federal government "shutdown" and debt ceiling crisis: 1. Our political system has deteriorated to the point where each side of the political spectrum is willing to push to the very brink of disaster before even the most basic remedial action is taken. 2. The "level" of the debt is really not the issue; it is the growth rate of that debt …Read More
It's Not the Debt Level, It's the Economy (Stupid)
All credible projections of federal spending show entitlements, especially Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid, exploding in coming years — unless, that is, Congress and the President do something to fix the situation. In 1982, projections were that Social Security faced insolvency by 1990. But that didn't happen because President Reagan and House Speaker Tip O'Neill reached a compromise and a solution that kept the Social Security program viable for a while …Read More
Investors May Ultimately Thank Washington for Gridlock
The markets have been fixated on the political standoff in Washington, D.C. Through Friday, October 4th, the S&P 500 was down in 9 of its last 12 sessions. The uncertainty, especially over the debt ceiling and possible "default," has made investors hesitant to make longer-term commitments with their investible funds. Nevertheless, the data from the private sector, especially of late, has been much stronger than earlier in the year. Consider: …Read More
Nevada must join ranks of business-savvy states
I was quite surprised when I got up last Tuesday to find that all of my utilities were working, including TV; my trash had been picked up; and, when I drove to work, the traffic lights were operating, the schools were open and I even spotted a couple of local police patrol cars. It appeared to be a normal Tuesday morning.Well, I wasn't really surprised. But I would have been …Read More


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Q: Is it possible to change default OLEDB connection timeout value? Run-time error (80040e31) I have one legacy app (VB) and I have an issue with the timeout error while connecting to SQL Server (probably through OLEDB).

Using SQL Profiler I figure out that the connection is dropped through exactly 30 seconds.

I don't have access to the source codes but I scanned exe resources and couldn't find any hardcoded connection string timeout values there.
The last chance I think I have is to change the default OLEDB timeout somewhere outside the app.
My question is: it is possible to change default OLEDB timeout value?

UPDATE
I found the connection string and changed timeout to 300 but it does not help...
Provider=SQLOLEDB.1;Persist Security Info=False;User ID=______;Password=______;Initial Catalog=________;Data Source=______;Connect Timeout=300

After that I tried to replace current connection string with connection strings from different providers: ADO.NET and ODBC but every time I get an timeout error after 30 seconds - checkmate.
P.S.
I'll be happy to any advice

A: There is property called "Connect Timeout". You can add this property to the connection string available in your application.
Below is the sample connection string with user specified timeout value:
(Note: Connect Timeout value is always in seconds)
connectionString="Data Source=ServerName;Initial Catalog=DatabaseName;User ID=sa;Password=tiger;Connect Timeout=200"

A: Connect timeout is the limit of time to connect to the server, not to execute a command, so setting it will not help at all

A: I found the answer here. It is the command timeout and it must be configured from particular command object.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Catalyst Appoints Johnston VP, Technical Services
Catalyst Paper, Richmond, B.C., Canada, has appointed Brian Johnston to the position of VP, technical services. Most recently serving as VP, operations, this new assignment will leverage Johnston's extensive industry background as the company intensifies its focus on manufacturing consistency and efficiency.
"Brian's experience and knowledge of all of our operating assets and technologies will enable the business to ensure appropriate procedures, processes, and resources are fully deployed in each mill and functioning at a level that delivers maximum productivity and reliability," said Catalyst president and CEO Kevin J. Clarke. "His technical expertise will also be instrumental in the efficient deployment of major capital projects such as the federally funded boiler upgrade at Powell River."
Johnston has held a range of leadership assignments at Catalyst since joining the company in 1994 and brings more than 25 years of coast-to-coast mill experience to his new role. Pending completion of the search for a new head of manufacturing, mill operations will report to the president.
Catalyst Paper manufactures specialty printing papers, newsprint, and pulp. It operates four mills located in British Columbia and Arizona, with a combined annual production capacity of 1.9 million metric tons.


Seen here: XTERRA South Africa Warrior, Bradley Weiss (Stellenbosch) in action during the 2018 XTERRA Grabouw.
The organisers of the largest XTERRA in the world, Stillwater Sports, have announced that the show will go on despite the event not yet securing a title sponsor for 2019.
Entries for the 2019 XTERRA Grabouw will open this coming Thursday (15 November 2018).


Aaron Schmidt spoke to the Internet @ Schools crowd this morning on Gaming and Learning. To entice them, he emphasized the social nature of gaming, the fact that players are reading a great deal, and often doing the equivalent of research while gaming online and cooperatively.
Games that are directly about learning? Among others, Aaron mentioned Big Brain Academy – who has the biggest brain! Cooking Mama—gets you measuring, timing … For the Nintendo DS dual screen, one game, Hotel Dusk, involves a lot of reading and moving around … uses the dual screen Nintendo DS as an "e-book reader."
Host a gaming event—to create good feelings about your school library. OK, if it's too much for your library space, Aaron said, he's known some school librarians to set up gaming events in cafeteria after school.
Interestingly (to me, at least), there was no sign of skepticism in the room. This group of school library media specialists buys in to the idea that it's necessary to "understand the culture" of their learners and reach out to them; they appear willing to go to considerable effort (and expense?) to get kids into library, create good library vibes. There's got to be more to it, though, and I'd say we/they all need to ponder "what's the next step?" after that.
Comments Off on Internet Librarian, Yes. But Wait. There's More!: Internet @ Schools!
Internet Librarian, Yes. But Wait. There's More!: Internet @ Schools!
A word to the educators among you librarians attending IL. (N.B.: That would be all of you, of course.) There's a "conference within a conference" happening down in the Bonsai Room on Monday and Tuesday of Internet Librarian. It's the K-12 media specialists' own Internet @ Schools conference, organized by library media specialist Susan Geiger and me, Dave Hoffman, editor of Multimedia & Internet @ Schools magazine. We'll head to our venue right after Lee Rainie's opening keynote and delve into a program of sessions with a K-12 education focus covering Web 2.0, Library 2.0, Information Literacy, and a host of teaching and learning tactics, tools, and resources.
Want to know more? Check out the sessions on pages 22 and 23 of the IL final program. Among the presenters you IL regulars may already know are Robert Lackie, Aaron Schmidt, Steven Cohen, and Gary Price. And Information Searcher publisher and editor Pam Berger—whom I just saw present yesterday in Reno at the American Association of School Librarians conference—will be our Tuesday morning keynote speaker. They and our other teacher-librarian presenters will have lots to say about preparing today's students to function in this 21st century information landscape.


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Sampson crony eyed in 400G pay probe
By Carl Campanile
John Sampson William Farrington
He was John Sampson's $400,000 man.
Melvin Lowe, a former top political aide to the indicted state senator, is being eyed by federal prosecutors as part of a mushrooming probe.
Lowe was among the eight Democratic elected officials and staffers secretly taped by ex-state Sen. Shirley Huntley, who was sentenced last week to one year imprisonment for her own fraud conviction. Huntley wore a wire in a bid for a reduced sentence.
The fact that the feds directed Huntley to try to tape Lowe — whom Sampson brought in as his political guru during his brief but stormy tenure as the Senate leader — had state capital insiders buzzing that more bombshells could drop in the Albany corruption investigation.
Lowe made a tidy sum during his one-year tenure. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee paid his two firms — G&L consulting and Prestige Strategic Communications — a combined $250,000 in 2009-10.
Around the same time, Sampson paid Lowe an additional $150,000 from his personal campaign committee — even though the Brooklyn pol did not face a tough re-election fight.
Senate Democratic insiders snickered that Lowe was being overpaid and wondered what he actually did for the money.
"There was shock that Lowe was getting paid through two different companies. The whole thing was highly irregular and fishy," said one Senate source.
Another source said Lowe requested payments above the monthly retainer spelled out in his contract — and Sampson had to personally sign off on them.
"The safeguards were lax," the insider said. "On a day-to-day basis, I couldn't tell you what Melvin did. I know he had a close relationship with the unions.
"There was a lot of resentment at what he was getting paid. He was like a guy in the shadows."
Sampson brought Lowe in after a coup that toppled Malcolm Smith as the Senate majority leader. Senate Dems also hired Lowe's son, Melvin Lowe Jr., as a regional coordinator in Brooklyn. Now, both Sampson and Smith are fighting federal indictments. Sampson was charged with embezzling $440,000 from foreclosure escrow accounts he managed as well as witness and evidence tampering.
Dem Smith is charged with attempting to bribe his way onto the GOP mayoral ballot. He and Sampson have pleaded not guilty.
Lowe did not return calls for comment.
Lowe — who worked as a lobbyist for Forest City Ratner — was also subpoenaed as part of the federal probe of the company's Ridge Hill development in Yonkers.
The Harlemite is a known political operative who worked on Andrew Cuomo's unsuccessful 2002 campaign for governor and is friendly with Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer.
Cuomo's 2002 campaign paid Lowe's firm $75,000.
Lowe also worked for East Side Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell IV and former state Comptroller Carl McCall.
Brooklyn great-grandmother takes up skydiving at 79


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