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Submission + - Your Online TV Watching Can Now Be Tracked Across Devices (itworld.com)

Submitted by itwbennett
itwbennett writes: A partnership between TV measurement company Nielsen and analytics provider Adobe, announced today, will let broadcasters see (in aggregate and anonymized) how people interact with digital video between devices — for example if you begin watching a show on Netflix on your laptop, then switch to a Roku set-top box to finish it. The information learned will help broadcasters decide what to charge advertisers, and deliver targeted ads to viewers. Broadcasters can use the new Nielsen Digital Content Ratings, as they're called, beginning early next year. Early users include ESPN, Sony Pictures Television, Turner Broadcasting and Viacom.

Submission + - Magnetic Field Flip Earlier Than Thought (metro.co.uk)

Submitted by eedwardsjr
eedwardsjr writes: From Metro UK:

Berkeley scientists say that the Earth’s magnetic field can weaken and dip within just 100 years, before flipping so that compasses point south – an event they admit could wreck the entire world’s power grid and expose the world to deadly cosmic rays.

Earth’s magnetic field is weakening 10 times faster than normal at present, leading geophysicists to predict a flip within a few thousand years – but Discovery news says that could understimate [sic] the speed of the change.

Submission + - How To The Solve NFC Mobile Payments Chaos

Submitted by dkatana
dkatana writes: Apple has apparently solved much of the problems related to provide a working solution for contactless mobile payments . Android OEMs such as Samsung are left with the dilemma of being left behind.

Now, what is next for Android? Handset manufacturers can’t let Apple have this huge advantage, and their previous experiences with the operators have been frustrating, to say the least. OEMs such as Samsung, Sony and HTC are focusing on providing real solutions to their users, and need to get a mobile payments solution for them similar to Apple Pay.

Submission + - The Cold War turns hot in World of Tanks (redbull.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The Cold War may be over, but the conflict between Russia and the West still rumbles on in World of Tanks, the military multiplayer shooter. This weekend sees the very best teams from all the server regions around the globe facing off in Pozna, Poland, to settle which territory really is best in a game long dominated by Russian and Eastern European players. A new interview with the event's commentators reveals which are the teams to watch in this rapidly growing game.

Submission + - Block Google and Facebook to improve Firefox privacy (leaseweblabs.com)

Submitted by Maurits van der Schee
Maurits van der Schee writes: By using “free analytics”, “like buttons”, “JavaScript-driven ad engines” and “web-shop tracking” many, if not most, websites are sharing sensitive information about their visitors with third parties. You may want to rely on Firefox's Do Not Track (DNT) feature, but this does not actually block tracking. If you really want to protect your privacy you should take matters in your own hands and actively block Google and Facebook. A tool like AdBlock Plus can do that if you configure it correct. This article explains exactly how to do that. As a bonus your pages are also loading faster.

Submission + - Does Lockheed Martin Really Have a Breakthrough Fusion Machine? (technologyreview.com)

Submitted by Mr D from 63
Mr D from 63 writes: Some followup to the recent /. article on this topic;

Lockheed Martin’s announcement last week that it had secretly developed a promising design for a compact nuclear fusion reactor has met with excitement but also skepticism over the basic feasibility of its approach.

Ian Hutchinson, a professor of nuclear science and engineering at MIT, says he was only able to comment on what Lockheed has released—some pictures, diagrams, and commentary, which can be found here. “Based on that, as far as I can tell, they aren’t paying attention to the basic physics of magnetic-confinement fusion energy. And so I’m highly skeptical that they have anything interesting to offer,” he says...

Submission + - Britain May "Go Medieval" On Terrorists And Charge Them With High Treason (ibtimes.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The British government have been discussing charging Britons that swear allegiance and fight for ISIS with the crime of high treason under the medieval era Treason Act of 1351. It is estimated that between 500 — 1,500 Britons fought for ISIS. Civil rights activists consider the idea “ludicrous” although it is unclear if they think there is a free speech or conscience issue. Treason was punishable by death until 1998. The last person to be executed for treason by Britain was William Joyce who was hung for his role as the Nazi propagandist "Lord Haw-Haw."

Submission + - Ebola Outbreak Could Make Nation Turn to Science

Submitted by HughPickens.com
HughPickens.com writes: Andy Borowitz writes at The New Yorker that there is a deep-seated fear among some Americans that an Ebola outbreak could make the country turn to science. According to Borowitz, writing tongue in cheek, leading anti-science activists expressed their concern that the American people, wracked with anxiety over the possible spread of the virus, might desperately look to science to save the day. “If you put them under enough stress, perfectly rational people will panic and start believing in science," says Harland Dorrinson, a prominent anti-science activist from Springfield, Missouri. Dorrinson adds that he worries about a “slippery slope” situation, “in which a belief in science leads to a belief in math, which in turn fosters a dangerous dependence on facts.”

Submission + - NASA's HI-SEAS Project Suggests a Women-only Mars Mission (slate.com) 1

Submitted by globaljustin
globaljustin writes: Alan Drysdale, a systems analyst in advanced life support and a contractor with NASA concluded, “Small women haven’t been demonstrated to be appreciably dumber than big women or big men, so there’s no reason to choose larger people for a flight crew when it’s brain power you want,” says Drysdale. “The logical thing to do is to fly small women.”

Submission + - Barometers in iPhones: Crowdsourcing weather forecasts 1

Submitted by cryptoz
cryptoz writes: Apple is now adding barometers to its mobile devices: both new iPhones have valuable atmospheric pressure sensors being used for HealthKit (step counting). Since many Android devices have been carrying barometers for years, scientists like Cliff Mass have been using the sensor data to improve weather forecasts. Open source data collection projects like PressureNet on Android automatically collect and send the atmospheric sensor data to researchers.

Submission + - Power Plants Seek to Extend Life of Nuclear Reactors for Decades (nytimes.com)

Submitted by mdsolar
mdsolar writes: The prospects for building new nuclear reactors may be sharply limited, but the owners of seven old ones, in Pennsylvania, Virginia and South Carolina, are preparing to ask for permission to run them until they are 80 years old.

Nuclear proponents say that extending plants’ lifetimes is more economical — and a better way to hold down carbon dioxide emissions — than building new plants, although it will require extensive monitoring of steel, concrete, cable insulation and other components. But the idea is striking even to some members of the nuclear establishment.

At a meeting of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in May, George Apostolakis, a risk expert who was then one of the five commissioners, pointed out that if operation were allowed until age 80, some reactors would be using designs substantially older than that.

“I don’t know how we would explain to the public that these designs, 90-year-old designs, 100-year-old designs, are still safe to operate,” he said. “Don’t we need more convincing arguments than just ‘We’re managing aging effects’?”

Submission + - Dr.Who to teach kids to code (theregister.co.uk)

Submitted by DCFC
DCFC writes: The BBC is releasing a game to help ten 8-11 year olds get into coding. Based on Dr.Who, it alternates between standard platform game and programming puzzles that introduce the ideas of sequence, loops, if..then, variables and a touch of event driven programming...and you get to program a Dalek to make him more powerful, apparently the BBC thinks upgrading psychopathic racist death machines is a good idea.

Submission + - Most Common Job for New UK Biology Grads? Retail and Food Service (sciencemag.org)

Submitted by Jim_Austin
Jim_Austin writes: For recent UK first-degree (bachelor's) recipients, the most common job varies widely depending on the field of your degree, a new study shows. Chemists most often take jobs as "science professionals." For CS/IT grads--and also physics majors--"IT professional" is the most common career outcome. But for biology graduates--and also for majors in "physical and geographical sciences"--the most common employment sector is “retail, catering, waiting and bar staff."

Submission + - Gartner: Make way for digital business, risks or die? (networkworld.com)

Submitted by coondoggie
coondoggie writes: In his opening keynote Garter’s Peter Sondergaard, senior vice president and global head of research said that since 2013 650 million new physical objects have come online. 3D printers became a billion dollar market; 10% of cars became connected; and the number of Chief Data Officers and Chief Digital Officer jobs have doubled. By 2015, all of these items will double again, he said.

Submission + - Hackers Compromised Yahoo Servers Using Shellshock Bug (securityweek.com)

Submitted by wiredmikey
wiredmikey writes: Hackers were able to break into some of Yahoo's servers by exploiting the recently disclosed Shellshock bug over the past few weeks. This may be the first confirmed case of a major company being hit with attacks exploiting the vulnerability in bash.

Contacted by SecurityWeek, a Yahoo spokesperson provided the following statement Monday afternoon: “A security flaw, called Shellshock, that could expose vulnerabilities in many web servers was identified on September 24. As soon as we became aware of the issue, we began patching our systems and have been closely monitoring our network. Last night, we isolated a handful of our impacted servers and at this time we have no evidence of a compromise to user data. We’re focused on providing the most secure experience possible for our users worldwide and are continuously working to protect our users’ data.”

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