Facebook experiment upsets regulators

Officials want more information on how a study that manipulated Facebook users' moods was conducted.

LONDON (CNNMoney)

Officials in the U.K. and Ireland, where Facebook (FB, Tech30) has its European headquarters, are asking questions of the company after details of the experiment were published last month, angering many users.

"We are awaiting a comprehensive response on issues raised," said a spokesperson for the Irish data protection commissioner.

Facebook changed the content mix in the News Feeds of almost 690,000 users to gauge their emotional response to positive or negative posts.

Related: Facebook is 'evil'. Wall Street approves

Experiments are commonplace on the Web. Internet companies routinely conduct tests to improve their business and users' experience.

Facebook's terms of service state that it can use personal data for "analysis, testing, research and service improvement."

But the fact that some users were deliberately made to feel less happy, without their explicit consent, raises questions about the ethics of this particular experiment.

Consent is one area the Irish authorities are investigating. And in the U.K., the Information Commissioner's Office is asking questions about how the research was conducted, a spokesperson said.

The Facebook researcher who designed the experiment has apologized for the anxiety it caused, and questioned whether the findings were worth the hassle.

Related: Facebook's other user experiment: conflict resolution

The company also appears to be having second thoughts too, acknowledging that people were upset by the study.

"We want to do better in the future and are improving our process based on this feedback," said Richard Allan, head of policy for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

"The study was done with appropriate protections for people's information and we are happy to answer any questions regulators may have."

First Published: July 2, 2014: 7:09 AM ET

19.33 | 0 komentar | Read More

Employers value skills over college degrees, workers say

That degree may be less important to employers than your skill set.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

While the vast majority of employees believe their college education has helped them in their career, 72% said getting trained in a specific skill is more highly valued by their employer, according to a survey of more than 2,000 adults by job listing site Glassdoor.

"Employees with college degrees believe that their education helped get them through the door, but about half say it has no relevance to the work they're actually doing," said Rusty Rueff, Glassdoor's career and workplace expert.

Related: Stressful jobs that pay badly

The survey also revealed just how little attention employers pay to an applicant's college performance, with 80% of respondents saying they had never been asked about their grade point average during a job interview.

And over half said shelling out the extra cash for a graduate degree is no longer the key to landing a high-paying job.

That highlights how much more important learning new skills, both within the company or through continuing education, like certificate programs, online training or webinars, is today than it was 10 or 20 years ago, said Rueff.

Related: 15 top MBA employers

Employees recognize how critical such training and development is, with 63% saying that it's vital to their hopes of career advancement.

Even STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) majors often need to acquire communications, management and other skill sets that they may not learn in college.

"They're feeling it's what employers are truly seeking to really help move business forward," said Rueff.

His advice for people seeking career advancement is to research how their industry is changing and try to identify the skills that will be needed in the future.

Related: Is a college degree still worth the cost?

Overall, employee confidence fell slightly during the quarter, with employee expectations for their company's business outlook down four percentage points compared with the first quarter. Only 37% reported that they expect to receive a raise in the next 12 months, down a steep 7 percentage points.

Meanwhile, 16% of employees said they were concerned about getting laid off -- just slightly higher than the first quarter.

Among those who are looking for work, 32% said they were confident they could find a job in the next six months, up slightly from 31% in the first quarter.

First Published: July 2, 2014: 7:13 AM ET

19.33 | 0 komentar | Read More

Russia attacks U.S. oil and gas companies in massive hack

Russian hacker spies are attacking energy companies. It's the latest sign the Cold War has gone cyber.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

That much is clear after a security firm reported this week that Russian hackers have launched unprecedented, highly-sophisticated attacks on Western oil and gas companies.

The cyber operation nicknamed Energetic Bear is the latest example of an ongoing battle between all-seeing American and British cyber spies on one side -- and intellectual-property-stealing hackers in China and Russia on the other.

The report by Symantec (SYMC, Tech30) described how hackers have sneaked malware into computers at power plants, energy grid operators, gas pipeline companies and industrial equipment makers. Most of the targets were in the United States and Spain. The rest were across Europe.

The malware was used to steal documents, usernames and passwords. In the best-case scenario, the hackers only took valuable and sensitive information. At worst, they gained the ability to hijack controls -- and even sabotage the nation's energy supply.

Related story: What China's hacker spies are after

Another security company, Crowdstrike, first spotted the Energetic Bear operation in 2012. Crowdstrike thinks the hackers at Energetic Bear work for -- or alongside -- Russian government intelligence services at the behest of state-owned gas enterprises, including Gazpro (GZPFY)and Rosneft.

Neither the Russian embassy, nor those energy companies, responded to requests for comment.

Why should you care? If a nation breaks into Exxon-Mobil (XOM) or BP (BP) and figures out where they've discovered vast oil or natural gas reserves, it could beat them to the punch and start drilling first. If it steals blueprints to the power grid or key pipelines, it could disable them to cause economic chaos -- or shut it down during a war.

"The Russians are engaged in aggressive economic and political espionage," Crowdstrike co-founder Dmitri Alperovitch said.

Related story: How the NSA can 'turn on' your phone remotely

Security researchers said Energetic Bear is notable for its military precision and planning.

And Energetic Bear hackers aren't limited to attacking the energy sector. Their malware has also been spotted inside the networks of European and U.S. defense contractors and health care providers, as well as manufacturers, construction companies and universities doing research in the field of nuclear energy.

"We haven't seen anything at this scale with industrial control systems," said Kevin Haley, Symantec's director of security.

First Published: July 2, 2014: 8:18 AM ET

19.33 | 0 komentar | Read More

Bitcoin is a PayPal competitor - not a currency - for retailers

Newegg is the latest business to accept bitcoins, but the company is just converting them into cash - making Bitcoin more of a PayPal rival.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

That means you can buy an Asus Transformer tablet on Tuesday for $375 -- or 0.5751 BTC. And it shows this independent digital currency thing is actually gaining steam.

In addition to buying gadgets on Newegg.com, you can use bitcoins to book travel with Expedia (EXPE), CheapAir and Virgin Galactic; subscribe to Dish Network (DISH) or the Chicago Sun-Times; shop on Overstock (OSTK), TigerDirect and buy tickets to the Sacramento Kings or San Jose Quakes. Or you can purchase the latest albums by metal band Mastodon and rapper 50 Cent.

But here's the caveat. These companies are immediately converting those bitcoins into cash.

Related: What is Bitcoin?

They accept Bitcoin payments, because they are cheaper to process than credit card and PayPal payments. But they are wary of hanging onto the volatile currency for too long.

It shows Bitcoin -- or something like it -- has a promising future as a back end payment system. But maybe not as a currency.

Related: My business accepts bitcoins

On that note, the price is way up again. A bitcoin is now trading at $655.

First Published: July 1, 2014: 9:42 AM ET

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

It's July, and stocks are heating up

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The Dow jumped about 100 points (0.6%), while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq also gained solid ground.

Here's what's happening in the markets:

1. Stock market movers -- Netflix, GoPro, Xerox, BNP Paribas: Netflix (NFLX, Tech30) popped 5% after Goldman Sachs upgraded the company "buy." The investment bank predicts that Netflix will double its subscribers in the next three years as it expands into more international markets.

Xerox (XRX) declined after reports said the company is looking to auction off over 200 patents. Xerox was unable to provide immediate comment on the reports.

GoPro i (GPRO)s continuing its adrenaline rush ever since its IPO. The stock spiked 13% Tuesday, and is now almost double its initial public offering price from last week. It wasn't clear what was driving shares so much higher, but Charlie Anderson, an analyst with Dougherty & Co., noted that the company only sold about 18 million of its 123 million shares outstanding during the offering, and therefore investors who didn't get a piece of the offering before the IPO were forced to buy it once it started trading.

Shares in French bank BNP Paribas (BNPQY) were enjoying a relief rally, rising by about 4% in Paris. It pleaded guilty to U.S. charges of sanctions busting Monday and agreed to pay a record fine of nearly $9 billion. Some investors were bracing for even harsher punishment, and the bank confirmed it has the cash on hand and can still offer its planned dividend.

Twitter (TWTR, Tech30) stock popped about 4% on news that Anthony Noto will become its chief financial officer. He is an alum of Goldman Sachs.

Related: 4 signs the stock market is overheating

2. M&A boom continues: The mergers and acquisitions boom that defined the first half of the year has showed no signs of slowing down. Late Monday, Cooper Companies (COO) announced plans to purchase Sauflon Pharmaceuticals, a maker a distributor of contact lenses and solutions, for $1.2 billion. Shares of Cooper surged Tuesday.

3. International markets looking perky: European markets were all rising in afternoon trading. Most major Asian markets ended in positive territory, after China's official survey of manufacturing activity hit its highest level since December. The Nikkei in Japan was a standout performer, closing with a 1.1% gain.

Prices for oil and gold were rising, though the gains were small.

Related: Fear & Greed Index still extremely greedy

4. Sayonara, first half of 2014: Check out the stock market performance of 74 countries around the globe:

Despite Monday's mixed performance, U.S. stocks have enjoyed a solid first half of 2014. The S&P 500 has logged 22 record highs this year alone, ending the first half up 6%.

First Published: July 1, 2014: 9:55 AM ET

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Spam meets Muscle Milk in latest merger

Hormel has agreed to buy CytoSport, maker of Muscle Milk. In this 2011 photo, actor Brandon Molale drinks Muscle Milk.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Hormel (HRL)said Monday the deal will close within 30 days, subject to regulatory approval.

Besides Spam, Hormel makes a host of processed meat products, including Dinty Moore canned stew, tubs of Lloyd's Barbeque, deli meats, and microwave meals, among others.

California-based CytoSport provides a variety of dietary supplements that are designed to provide muscle mass for body builders and other athletes, including Monster Milk.

Hormel board chairman Jeffrey Ettinger said that Muscle Milk will help grow his company's specialty foods segment.

Related: It's boom time for M&A

Minnesota-based Hormel, which was founded in 1891, said the agreement calls for a potential additional payment of $20 million over the next two years, depending on the company's performance.

First Published: July 1, 2014: 9:55 AM ET

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

2,000 miles with a giant rhino

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

This is normal life for zoo animal movers who transport thousands of pounds of exotic and endangered animals and pride themselves on staying nearly invisible.

"I don't go down the road with a big banner saying: 'Guess what I have?'" he said, though people often wonder what's inside his trailer when he stops for gas.

But keep your eyes open, because it's a busy time of year for animal moves -- before mid-summer's heat can make it less comfortable for animals to travel.

Danhauer, the founder and sole employee of Texas-based Planned Migration, moves more than 200 animals per year, mostly during the spring and fall.

Related: Hot businesses to start now

If he's doing his job correctly, the public doesn't know what Danhauer is moving -- though that's hard when people see a giraffe's head in the back of his trailer.

"All of a sudden you get a thumbs up like you're doing something fantastic," said Danhauer, who has been in business for 15 years. "I'm just trying to stay in my lane."

The animals don't always make things easier. A gorilla's scream or a tiger's roar is hard to overlook.

Danhauer previously worked as a zookeeper but switched careers when he noticed many animal transporters were nearing retirement.

"If I wouldn't have had the skills and qualification, there would have been no way [zoos] would have touched me," he said.

Related: Refugees cook for the masses

Zoos typically move animals for breeding, conservation or education. The size, species and temperament affects how they're transported. The move can range from small birds and reptiles taking a commercial flight to someone like Danhauer trucking a rhino across the country in a climate controlled trailer. Some small fish even travel overnight via priority mail.

The Denver Zoo, which works with Danhauer, does rely on air transportation for some moves, like bringing Billy, an Asian elephant, from Europe on a Lufthansa cargo plane in 2013. But Dale Leeds, the curator of Toyota Elephant Passage, likes the fact that traveling by road means constant supervision of the animal.

In 2013, the Denver Zoo moved 317 animals in and 368 out. And planning is key -- whether it's coordinating with other institutions, quarantines or training the animals to prepare for the trip.

"It takes ten times longer to do the planning than it takes to do the move," Leeds said. "We're trying to make it risk-free."

Danhauer's trips typically take less than 24 hours, but he takes another driver when he has to travel overnight. He's very involved with loading and unloading and caring for the animal during the move. The zoos typically own the crates and Danhauer provides one of his two trailers.

He generally charges by distance and animal type. It could cost as little as $500 to move an antelope somewhere nearby or $12,000 to move an elephant hundreds of miles. Extremely large animals (think elephants and rhinos) require him to rent a semi-truck to pull the load.

Billy the elephant was transported from Europe to the Denver Zoo via a Lufthansa cargo plane.

The first five years of business were somewhat lean. As Danhauer's reputation grew, so did his profits. But this isn't the kind of business that can grow exponentially, he noted, because the number of zoos in the country is somewhat finite. And zoos located in cities often don't have room to grow.

All of this animal movement reflects the changing mission of zoos, said Christina Castellano, general curator at Utah's Hogle Zoo.

"Back in the old days, zoos were very much about showcasing animals that would be important for guests to see," she said. Now that has evolved.

"Every space we have in a zoo is critical to our participation as a conservation organization," Castellano said. "A lot of these shippers are transferring animals between institutions because of breeding programs -- for us, having sustainable populations in zoos is very important."

First Published: July 1, 2014: 7:05 AM ET

19.33 | 0 komentar | Read More

Chinese students found cheating to get into U.S. colleges

Chinese students often aren't familiar with the complicated college application procedures in the U.S., since admission to school in their home country is based entirely on a single test.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

"'I did this," admissions officer Kim Lovaas remembers the essay saying, and, "'I did that.'" Then she came to a phrase that stopped her short: "Insert girl's name here."

"I thought, 'Did I just read that?'" said Lovaas. "To me, that was a really big red flag."

Admission officers say as many as one in 10 applications to U.S. colleges by Chinese students may include fraudulent material, including phony essays and high-school transcripts.

Related: 'This is my Chinese Dream'

"Nobody has reliable data on how much it happens," said Allan Goodman, president of the Institute of International Education. However, he added, there has been "a lot of discussion" at national meetings of registrars during the past couple of years about preventing transcript fraud.

All of this is occurring as the number of Chinese applicants rises -- and as U.S. colleges and universities recruit more of them, since most pay full tuition.

The number of Chinese students in the U.S. reached 235,597 in the 2012-2013 academic year, the last period for which the figure is available, up 21.4% from the year before, according to the Institute of International Education. That made China responsible for more than one in four foreign students on U.S. campuses, more than any other country.

"There are a lot of Chinese students and parents trying to get into the best quality schools they can," said Eddie West, director of international initiatives for the National Association for College Admission Counseling. "Obviously there's competition and incentives to cut corners."

Related: In-state students getting squeezed out of public universities

Chinese applicants often aren't familiar with the complicated admissions procedures for schools in the U.S., said West. In China, admission is based entirely on a single test.

"There's not a culture or practice of putting together admissions packages," West said. "So third-party recruiters, unscrupulous recruiters among them, have moved into that space."

Though there are nearly 500 recruiting agencies certified by the Chinese Education Ministry, thousands more operate outside of official scrutiny, West said.

Chinese families pay them fees ranging from $6,000 to $10,000, with "bonuses" for admission to top schools (usually based on U.S. News & World Report rankings), according to Zinch China, a consulting firm that helps U.S. schools recruit Chinese students.

Not even certification helps to lessen fraud, since many of the certified recruiters subcontract to uncertified ones, making it hard to know who's doing what, said West.

Higher-education institutions and professional organizations have begun developing their own standards for certifying international recruiters.

Related: Colleges tying president's pay to graduation, hiring rates

But the American International Recruitment Council, founded for this purpose in 2008, has certified only 65 recruiting organizations worldwide -- a "drop in the bucket," said John Deupree, executive director of the American International Recruitment Council.

The marked increase in Chinese applications to U.S. colleges and universities also makes it hard for American admissions officers to keep up.

Jonathan Weller, director of international admissions at the University of Cincinnati, said the office in which he works didn't even exist until seven years ago. Now it has five people working abroad, three of them in China.

Efforts are being made to crack down on the fraud.

After a stint at educational consulting in China (where he said clients asked him to falsify essays, recommendation letters, and transcripts), Chris Boehner founded Vericant, a firm that interviews Chinese applicants face-to-face and provides videos of the conversations, along with supervised writing and speaking exercises.

Related: I'm drowning in student loan debt

At the University of Cincinnati, staff are quick to spot "students whose conversations with us show a lower level of English" than their English-language scores suggest, Weller said.

At the University of Washington at Seattle, employees have developed relationships with certain high schools in China, and can quickly verify if transcripts are valid.

Lovaas and others noted that, as widespread as cheating may be, most Chinese students who are accepted to U.S. institutions apply honestly, and tend to do well. Which Deupree said points to another reason for increasing vigilance against fraud: "Not just because it's a bad thing, but because institutions don't want students to fail."

First Published: July 1, 2014: 7:01 AM ET

19.33 | 0 komentar | Read More

Stocks: 4 things to know before the open

Click on chart to track premarkets

LONDON (CNNMoney)

U.S. stock futures were pointing up and most major global indexes were rising.

Here are the four things you need to know before the opening bell rings in New York:

1. Stock market movers -- Netflix, Xerox, BNP Paribas: It's worth keeping an eye on Netflix (NFLX, Tech30). Premarket data shows the stock up by nearly 3%. The online streaming video service is shaking up its list of offerings this month, according to reports.

Xerox (XRX) was the main decliner premarket, with shares down by about 1.5%. Reports say the company is looking to auction off over 200 patents. Xerox was unable to provide immediate comment on the reports.

Shares in French bank BNP Paribas (BNPQY) were enjoying a relief rally, rising by about 3.5% in Paris. It pleaded guilty to U.S. charges of sanctions busting Monday and agreed to pay a record fine of nearly $9 billion. Some investors were bracing for even harsher punishment. The shares have lost 10% so far this year.

Related: 4 signs the stock market is overheating

2. Economic indicators to watch: The U.S. government will report on the health of the construction industry in May at 10 a.m. ET. At the same time, the Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index for June will be posted. In the afternoon, the Commerce Department will report data on vehicle sales from June.

3. International markets looking perky: European markets were all rising in early trading. The benchmark FTSE 100 in London was leading the pack with a gain of 0.4%. Most major Asian markets ended in positive territory, after China's official survey of manufacturing activity hit its highest level since December. The Nikkei in Japan was a standout performer, closing with a 1.1% gain.

Hong Kong markets were closed Tuesday for a public holiday, the 17th anniversary of the territory's handover from British to Chinese rule. Thousands of protesters were marching to the city's main business district to protest against Beijing's moves to assert greater political control.

Prices for oil and gold were rising, though the gains were small.

Related: Fear & Greed Index still extremely greedy

4. Monday market recap: U.S. stocks ended the day mixed Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 lost some ground, but the Nasdaq landed safely in the green.

Despite Monday's mixed performance, U.S. stocks have enjoyed a solid first half of 2014. The S&P 500 has logged 22 record highs this year alone, ending the first half up 6%.

First Published: July 1, 2014: 5:17 AM ET

19.33 | 0 komentar | Read More

Enough with Millennials. Here's what Gen X thinks

Gen X is the forgotten generation.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

They are called Gen X, but they are often overlooked by pollsters, the media and just about everyone else.

Born between 1964 and 1980, Gen X got its name from a 1991 book Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, by Canadian author Douglas Coupland.

When they were coming of age in the 1990s, they were considered slackers and aimless. But then, they were just forgotten.

The Pew Research Center recently shed some light on what it termed "America's neglected middle child." Turns out they are less likely to be married than the Baby Boomers, but more religious than Millennials.

When it comes to social and political views, the liberal Millennials didn't spring from nowhere. Gen Xers were already leaning that way, breaking from the more button-down Baby Boomers.

But even Gen Xers aren't sure what their cohort stands for, according to Paul Taylor, Pew's executive vice president for special projects. They are less likely than Millennials and Baby Boomers to think their generation is unique, and they don't have as firm a view on what makes them special.

There's are reasons why Gen X is so often ignored, said Taylor. There are fewer of them: Just 65 million, compared to 77 million Boomers and roughly 83 million Millennials. And they span just 16 years, whereas most generations encompass two decades.

Then again, they may not care either.

"From everything we know about them, they're savvy, skeptical and self-reliant. They're not into preening or pampering, and they just might not give much of a hoot what others think of them. Or whether others think of them at all," Taylor wrote.

First Published: June 30, 2014: 9:40 AM ET

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More