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Submission + - Firefox Will Soon Show You Which Tabs Are Making Noise, And Let You Mute Them

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Mozilla is working on identifying Firefox tabs that are currently playing audio. The feature will show an icon if a tab is making sounds and let the user mute the playback. It’s worth noting that while Chrome has had audio indicators for more than a year now, it still doesn’t let you easily mute tabs. The option is available in Google’s browser, but it’s not enabled by default (you have to turn on the #enable-tab-audio-muting flag in chrome://flags/).

Submission + - A lunar geologist gives a reality check for NASA funded return to the moon study (examiner.com)

Submitted by MarkWhittington
MarkWhittington writes: The study that suggested that American astronauts could return to the moon by 2021 for $10 billion has caused rare excitement in the media though perhaps a little bemusement as well. Officially, due to a presidential mandate, NASA has eschewed a return to the moon. Of course, presidencies and thus space policy mandates change. In any event, Paul Spudis, a lunar geologist who frequently writes about space policy and is an advocate of a return to the moon, provided a reality check for the proposal.

One the one hand. Dr. Spudis noted with approval the plan’s emphasis on the mining of lunar water and its refining into rocket fuel. He has helped develop a plan to do just that, which the NASA-funded proposal seems to have borrowed heavily from.

However, Spudis has some objections to the plan.

Submission + - 3D printing flexible structures with a single material (isti.cnr.it)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A group of researchers have proposed a new way of using single material 3D printers to fabricate highly complex yet flexible shapes. The flexibility is achieved by replacing the solid shape with computationally designed microstructures. Their softest prints have similar softness as a sponge, which is more than 1000 times softer than the base material. This breakthrough could open up a new horizon of interesting applications for 3D printing technologies, ranging from flexible toy design to new multi-functional material.

Submission + - Secret Service Agents Stake Out the Ugliest Corners of the Internet

Submitted by HughPickens.com
HughPickens.com writes: Josephine Wolff writes at The Atlantic that sifting through messages to determine which, threats to President Obama need to be taken seriously is the responsibility of the Secret Service Internet Threat Desk, a group of agents tasked with identifying and assessing online threats to the president and his family. The first part of this mission—finding threats—is in many ways made easier by the Internet: all you have to do is search! Pulling up every tweet which uses the words “Obama” and “assassinate” takes mere seconds, and the Secret Service has tried to make it easier for people to draw threats to its attention by setting up its own Twitter handle, @secretservice, for users to report threatening messages to. The difficulty is trying to figure out which ones should be taken seriously.

The Secret Service categorizes all threats, online and offline alike, into one of three categories. Class 3 threats are considered the most serious, and require agents to interview the individual who issued the threat and any acquaintances to determine whether that person really has the capability to carry out the threat. Class 2 threats are considered to be serious but issued by people incapable of actually follow up on their intentions, either because they are in jail or located at a great distance from the president. And Class 1 threats are those that may seem serious at first, but are determined not to be. The overall number of threats directed at the first family that require investigation has stayed relatively steady at about 10 per day—except for the period when Obama was first elected, when the Secret Service had to follow up on roughly 50 threats per day. “That includes threats on Twitter,” says Ronald Kessler, author of In the President’s Secret Service. “It makes no difference to [the Secret Service] how a threat is communicated. They can’t take that chance of assuming that because it’s on Twitter it’s less serious.”

Submission + - Fiat Chrysler Recalls 1.4 Million Autos to fix remote hack (techno-stream.net)

Submitted by swinferno
swinferno writes: Fiat Chrysler announced on Friday that it’s recalling 1.4 million automobiles just days after hackers demonstrated a terrifying hack of a Jeep that was driving down the highway at 70 miles per hour.

They are offering a software patch for some of its internet-connected vehicles after a report showing hackers seizing control of a moving 2014 Jeep Cherokee. Cybersecurity experts Chris Valasek and Charlie Miller have publicly exposed a serious vulnerability that would allow hackers to take remote control of Fiat Chrysler Automobile (FCA) cars that run its Uconnect internet-accessing software for connected car features.

As major automakers continue to roll out cars with Wi-Fi features connecting the vehicles with smartphones and other devices, their innovations are likely to catch the eye of hackers as well as tech-hungry customers, opening up a new asphalt playing field in the arena of cybersecurity.

Submission + - Why children should NOT be taught to code (davidbuckingham.net)

Submitted by XxtraLarGe
XxtraLarGe writes: David Buckingham gives an argument that runs counter to the modern "Everyone should learn how to code" consensus that seems to be rampant in today's education circles. Buckingham writes"...programming was a means of teaching logical or ‘procedural’ thinking, especially in the context of mathematics. The argument depends upon assumptions about learning transfer – the idea that learning in one context will automatically transfer across to others. Yet there is no convincing evidence that learning computer programming enables children to develop more general problem-solving skills, let alone that it will ‘teach you how to think’, as its advocates claim."

As an adjunct who teaches computer programming courses, I'd tend to agree. What do you think? Is Buckingham off the mark?

Submission + - YouTube is adding VR video support to streaming videos (roadtovr.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: While YouTube's streaming platform currently supports 3D videos OR 360 degree videos, the combination of the two is essential for properly immersive virtual reality video. Fortunately, the company has announced that they'll soon enable support for 3D + 360 degree videos, bringing more immersive VR video capability to the platform. Currently, 360 degree YouTube videos can be viewed through desktop web browsers and on the YouTube Android and iOS apps, with the Android app being the only one of the bunch currently providing a side-by-side view for VR viewers like Google's Cardboard (https://www.google.com/get/cardboard/).

Submission + - VUPEN Launches New Zero-Day and Exploit Buyer Called Zerodium

Submitted by Trailrunner7
Trailrunner7 writes: In the weeks since the Hacking Team breach, the spotlight has shone squarely on the small and often shadowy companies that are in the business of buying and selling exploits nd vulnerabilities. One such company, Netragard, this week decided to get out of that business after its dealings with Hacking Team were exposed. But now there’s a new entrant in the field, Zerodium, and there are some familiar names behind it.

The company is affiliated with VUPEN, a vulnerability and exploit broker that often is at the center of discussions about the legality and ethics of such businesses. VUPEN, run by researcher Chaouki Bekrar, is one of the rare companies in that field that does all of its own research and development; it does not buy vulnerabilities or exploits form outside sources. But now, at a time when there has never been more attention from lawmakers, media, and governments, Bekrar has created a new venture that will wade fully into the purchase bugs and exploits.

Zerodium plans to focus exclusively on buying high-risk vulnerabilities, leaving aside the lower end of the spectrum. The company will use the vulnerabilities it acquires to make up a feed of vulnerabilities, exploits, and defensive measures, that it provides to customers.

Submission + - Malaria Vaccine Passes Key Regulatory Hurdle (bbc.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The BBC reports that the European Medicines Agency has approved the world's first malaria vaccine for real-world use. The vaccine is far from perfect, and the World Health Organization still has to make a final decision on it, but it's a key victory for GlaxoSmithKline, who have been developing the vaccine for three decades. "The best protection was among children aged five to 17 months who received three doses of the vaccine a month apart, plus a booster dose at 20 months. In this group, cases of severe malaria were cut by a third over four years." Unfortunately, the boosters are quite necessary for protection, and it doesn't protect young babies from malaria. The disease "kills around 584,000 people a year worldwide, most of them children under five in sub-Saharan Africa."

Comment Re:It's easier to ask for forgiveness than permiss (Score 1) 368

I thought about the loudspeaker option, too. However, I'm worried that anyone stupid enough to fly a drone that interferes with firefighters would also be too self-centered to cooperate. Maybe they authorities would need to include the threat "or we will destroy your drone now".

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