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Reddit (sort of) launches its own nebulous cryptocurrency, Reddit Notes

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We've already heard that 2015 is supposed to be the year of cryptocurrency, and Microsoft recently announced that Bitcoin is an acceptable form of payment. Now Reddit is getting in on the virtual currency action. Kind of. Well, perhaps. The details are vague at the moment, but the intriguingly-named Reddit Notes have been announced.

It comes just a few months after Reddit managed to secure $50 million in funding, and at the time "the investors in this round have proposed to give 10% of their shares back to the community". The birth of Reddit Notes is the start of this payback, but it's not yet clear who will receive them or what they will be used for.

The name has the distinct feel of a cryptocurrency, and Reddit explains that there are "approximately 950,000 reddit notes to divide among active user accounts". The notes can be viewed like shares at this stage, and it's obvious that there will have to be some sort of selection process if less than 1 million shares are to be distributed between users: there are just too many users for everyone to be included.

In a blog post, Reddit explains:

There aren't as many reddit notes as there are accounts, so if you get one, lucky you! Eligible recipients of reddit notes will be determined based on activities before 9/30/14, and we plan to give them away in the fall of 2015. We're still working out details on both the technological and legal aspects of the project, especially regarding how reddit notes will work within existing government regulations.

Reddit Notes are surrounded in ambiguity at the moment -- well, you have to get the hype machine going somehow --but a basic infographic shows that Reddit Notes can be donated, given, traded, used as payment, or saved. There's no hint about when we might know more, but Fall 2015 is a way off yet, so there's plenty of time for more details to come out.

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Reddit (sort of) launches its own nebulous cryptocurrency, Reddit Notes

WikiLeaks publishes CIA tips for travelling spies

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Washington (AFP) - WikiLeaks on Sunday released two CIA documents that offered tips to help spies maintain their cover while using false documents as they crossed international borders.

The two documents, dating from 2011 and 2012, are marked classified and "NOFORN," which means they were not meant to be shared with allied intelligence agencies, WikiLeaks said.

The documents outline a number of strategies for agents to avoid secondary screening at airports and borders.

Some are obvious: don't buy a one-way ticket with cash the day before flying. Others perhaps less so: don't look scruffy while traveling on a diplomatic passport.

"In one incident during transit of a European airport in the early morning, security officials selected a CIA officer for secondary screening," one of the documents reads.

"Although the officials gave no reason, overly casual dress inconsistent with being a diplomatic-passport holder may have prompted the referral."

The CIA agent involved went on to have his bag swabbed for explosives and it tested positive. Despite extensive questioning, he stuck to his cover story that he had been involved in counterterrorism training in the United States, and eventually was allowed to continue his journey.

"Consistent, well-rehearsed, and plausible cover is important for avoiding secondary selection and critical for surviving it," the CIA wrote.

In a statement, WikiLeaks said this example "begs the question: if the training that supposedly explained the explosives was only a cover story, what was a CIA officer really doing passing through (a European Union) airport with traces of explosives on him, and why was he allowed to continue?"

One of the CIA documents, called "Schengen Overview," reveals that the CIA is very concerned about EU nations introducing biometric security measures for people traveling on US passports and that new systems pose an increased "identity threat" -- in other words, making it harder for agents to travel on false documents.

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WikiLeaks publishes CIA tips for travelling spies


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