PayPal tests mobile payments using your face for verification

PayPal is rolling out a new trial for British consumers to see if they really can leave their wallets at home. Recently kicking off in London borough Richmond upon Thames, the test includes 12 different merchants set up to accept PayPal payments, according to the company.

Using the PayPal app for iOS, Android, or Windows Phone, shoppers can see nearby participating merchants highlighted on their mobile phones. They can then "check into" a certain store by clicking on its name and pay for an item by sliding an animated pin down the screen.

The person's name and photo then pops up on the store's payment system. After the customer agrees to pay for the item, the cashier clicks on the person's photo to send the payment through. The customer receives an alert via phone with the amount paid along with PayPal's usual receipt.

Though only a dozen retailers are part of the test, PayPal expects that more than 2,000 merchants will be able to accept the PayPal payments by the end of 2013, according to Sky News. And PayPal has grander ambitions beyond this year. Read more >>

Steelworkers beat manager to death -- global civil unrest intensifies

The Sidney Morning Herald reports 30,000 Chinese steelworkers protested plans to merge their mill with another company and beat the company's general manager to death. Employees of Tonghua Iron and Steel Group objected to plans for Jianlong Steel to take control of the company. Jianlong Steel, headquartered in Beijing, controlled the company temporarily last year, and employees blame Jianlong for financial problems. Tonghua employees attacked Jianlong's general manager, Chen Guojun, during the protest and beat him to death.

Last Saturday workers occupied a UK wind tubine factory for six consecutive days in protest at plans to shut it down. The prior week employees at New Fabris -- a bankrupt French car-parts supplier -- threatened to blow up their factory unless Renault and Peugeot pay them compensation. Nearly 400 employees occupied the plant demanding the automakers pay nearly R350 000 to each worker. The Telegraph reported the French workers were paid the same week.

Computer repair shops steal passwords, hack bank accounts

In economic depressions like the one we're experiencing, long-term unemployment and low trade and investment levels breed fear, desperation, and violence. Murder and suicide rates increase, as well as theft, robberies, and burglaries. Cities and states are bankrupt. Low-priority crimes like breaking and entering may not even get prosecuted in Detroit because of budget restraints.

An "Every Man For Himself" motto will increasingly become a tacitly agreed on rationale and serve as justification to screw your fellow man. As we near complete collapse, all third party contact will eventually become a potential security risk.

Sky News reports:

Computer repair shops are illegally accessing personal data on customers' hard drives - and even trying to hack their bank accounts, a Sky News investigation has found. In one case, passwords, log-in details and holiday photographs were all copied onto a portable memory stick by a technician.

...customers were charged for non-existent work and simple faults were misdiagnosed. Sky engineers...created a simple, easily diagnosable fault, by loosening the connection of the internal memory chip. This prevented Windows being able to load. To get things working again, the chip would simply need to be pushed back into position. The investigation targeted six different computer repair shops. All but one misdiagnosed or overcharged for the fault.

All but one.