Frontier, an internet service provider (ISP) that services 25 US states, has just launched 5 Gig fiber internet service across its entire network. The Verge reports: Frontier launched 2 Gig fiber internet service less than a year ago, and the 5 Gig plan is currently available in all of Frontier’s fiber-connected markets, with no phased rollouts. Compared to the cable-bound internet that most of us are familiar with, Frontier’s 5 Gig internet is reported to have upload speeds that are up to 125 times faster and up to five times faster downloads, all delivered with less latency. The new 5 Gig network is one of the fastest internet options currently available in the US, with other fiber-enabled ISPs like Verizon Fios and Google Fiber still capped at around 2Gbps.

Right now, the only other 5 Gig network currently available in the US is through AT&T, which offers 2 Gig and 5 Gig plans. Google Fiber is also slated to add 5-gig and 8-gig plans to its lineup sometime this year, despite its numerous setbacks.

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Source: Slashdot – Frontier’s Bringing Its 5-Gig Fiber Network Across the Country

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Nearly 45GB of source code files, allegedly stolen by a former employee, have revealed the underpinnings of Russian tech giant Yandex’s many apps and services. It also revealed key ranking factors for Yandex’s search engine, the kind almost never revealed in public. […] While it’s not clear whether there are security or structural implications of Yandex’s source code revelation, the leak of 1,922 ranking factors in Yandex’s search algorithm is certainly making waves. SEO consultant Martin MacDonald described the hack on Twitter as “probably the most interesting thing to have happened in SEO in years” (as noted by Search Engine Land). In a thread detailing some of the more notable factors, researcher Alex Buraks suggests that “there is a lot of useful information for Google SEO as well.”

Yandex, the fourth-ranked search engine by volume, purportedly employs several ex-Google employees. Yandex tracks many of Google’s ranking factors, identifiable in its code, and competes heavily with Google. Google’s Russian division recently filed for bankruptcy after losing its bank accounts and payment services. Buraks notes that the first factor in Yandex’s list of ranking factors is “PAGE_RANK,” which is seemingly tied to the foundational algorithm created by Google’s co-founders.

As detailed by Buraks (in two threads), Yandex’s engine favors pages that: – Aren’t too old – Have a lot of organic traffic (unique visitors) and less search-driven traffic – Have fewer numbers and slashes in their URL – Have optimized code rather than “hard pessimization,” with a “PR=0” – Are hosted on reliable servers – Happen to be Wikipedia pages or are linked from Wikipedia – Are hosted or linked from higher-level pages on a domain – Have keywords in their URL (up to three)

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Source: Slashdot – Massive Yandex Code Leak Reveals Russian Search Engine’s Ranking Factors

Sports fashion retailer JD Sports has confirmed miscreants broke into a system that contained data on a whopping 10 million customers, but no payment information was among the mix. The Register reports: In a post to investors this morning, the London Stock Exchange-listed business said the intrusion related to infrastructure that housed data for online orders from sub-brands including JD, Size? Millets, Blacks, Scotts and MilletSport between November 2018 and October 2020. The data accessed consisted of customer name, billing address, delivery address, phone number, order details and the final four digits of payment cards “of approximately 10 million unique customers.” The company does “not hold full payment card details” and said that it has “no reason to believe that account passwords were accessed.”

As is customary in such incidents, JD Sports has contacted the relevant authorities such as the Information Commissioner’s Office and says it has enlisted the help of “leading cyber security experts.” The chain has stores across Europe, with some operating in North America and Canada. It also operates some footwear brands including Go Outdoors and Shoe Palace. “We want to apologize to those customers who may have been affected by this incident,” said Neil Greenhalgh, chief financial officer at JD Sports. “We are advising them to be vigilant about potential scam emails, calls and texts and providing details on now to report these.”

He added: “We are continuing with a full review of our cyber security in partnership with external specialists following this incident. Protecting that data of our customers is an absolute priority for JS.”

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Source: Slashdot – JD Sports Admits Intruder Accessed 10 Million Customers’ Data

Impossible Foods, which makes plant-based nuggets, burgers and patties, is reportedly laying off 20% of its staff, Bloomberg reported first. TechCrunch reports: According to the story, the 12-year-old company currently employs about 700 workers, which could then affect over 100 employees. This comes as the company made a 6% reduction in its workforce last October. While we know layoffs can happen anytime, it seems like the company was doing well. Earlier this month, the Redwood City, California-based company reported a year of record sales that included over 50% dollar sales growth in 2022. The company also touted that its Impossible Beef product was “the best-selling product by volume of any plant-based meat brand in the U.S.”

Months before that, CEO Peter McGuinness said in an interview with Bloomberg Technology that the company had a strong balance sheet, good cash flow and growth of between 65% to 70%. In total, Impossible raised $1.9 billion in venture capital, according to Crunchbase data. The last time the company raised capital was a $500 million Series H round in November 2021, and it was at that time that the company was valued at $7 billion. […] Impossible is not the only plant-based meat alternative company to make layoffs in recent months. In a regulatory filing made last October, Beyond Meat said it planned to lay off about 200 employees, or 19% of its workforce, as part of cost-saving measures as sales were slumping.

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Source: Slashdot – Impossible Foods Plans To Lay Off About 20% of Workers