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Submission + - Adaptive Optics System Clobbers Hubble With the Sharpest-Ever Telescopic Images (gizmag.com)

Submitted by Zothecula
Zothecula writes: Astronomers have developed a new visible-light adaptive optics (AO) system for the 6.5 meter diameter Magellan-Clay telescope in Chile's Atacama desert. The new AO system replaces the secondary mirror of the telescope with a thin adaptive mirror that can be deformed by its 585 mechanical actuators at a rate of more than 1000 times a second to correct for the image smearing effects of atmospheric turbulence. The result is the sharpest astronomical images ever produced – more than twice as sharp as can be achieved by the Hubble space telescope viewing objects through the vacuum of space.

Submission + - U.S. Surveillance Fallout Costing Third-Party Providers (darkreading.com)

Submitted by CowboyRobot
CowboyRobot writes: E-mail encryption provider Lavabit shuts down, Silent Circle shutters its own service, and analysts are forecasting tens of billions of lost revenue for cloud and service providers. Snowden's revelations of NSA surveillance have damaged the interests of U.S. cloud and managed-service providers in other countries. Many European nations had already taken a political stance against handing their data over to U.S. companies; the fact that the U.S. government can demand access to that data has only increased concerns. While much of the criticism of U.S. companies was initially made to justify a preference for local cloud providers, the revelations have given the concerns a basis in fact. In an analysis of the worse-case impact of the loss of confidence in U.S. cloud providers, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) estimated that U.S. businesses could stand to lose $22 billion to $35 billion over three years from a decline of business from foreign firms. When adding the potential costs of all outsourced business, Forrester found that the worse case could be $180 billion in losses over three years, or about 25 percent of provider revenue.

Submission + - Secure Email in Dark Age of PRISM .. (wired.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: With the specter of government surveillance hanging over this post-PRISM world, people are beginning to wonder if the idea of secure email is complete nonsense.

  “E-mail is going to be with us for a long time,” says Bjarni Rúnar Einarsson, a software developer and member of the Icelandic Pirate Party. “We need to do what we can to make it more secure.”

Submission + - Can no-water IV bag save 100,000 lives? (indiegogo.com) 1

Submitted by cramco
cramco writes: Traditional one-liter IV bags used to combat cholera weigh about 2.3 lbs, or just under 38 oz. A new IV bag called Mali weighs about 2 oz. The difference? No water in the Mali bag, saving more than $500 on a shipment of 14 units to an African country. Once there, the Mali bag can be mixed with any kind of water, even urine, to create a sterile solution. Without water, it can also be shipped more safely and has a longer shelf life. This could save 100,000+ lives annually. The manufacturer is trying to get some funding under a Philips Innovation Fellowship run on Indiegogo.

Submission + - Age discrimination

Submitted by Presto Vivace
Presto Vivace writes: Who Are the Long-Term Unemployed?

But just who are the long-term unemployed? Well, that's the question Josh Mitchell of the Urban Institute looked at, and the answer is at once reassuring and terrifying. It turns out the long-term unemployed aren't much different from the other unemployed — with two exceptions. They're just as educated (if not more so). And they're pretty much the same racially. But they're older.

Age discrimination has special relevance for IT and quality control

Oh, and here's the devastating secret about that 59-year-old mainframe guy you already employ: He can learn mobile development; maybe even as fast as any kid out of school. And he would if you hadn't relegated him (and his 30 years of experience) to keeping the lights on. Blame risk management if you want. I blame structural ageism, cowardice and a lack of imagination.

Submission + - Experiences and Realities of a Homesourced IT worker (blogspot.com)

Submitted by toygeek
toygeek writes: Many of us wonder what it would be like to work from home in the IT world. Well, I've been doing it for the last 2 years and I wrote an article on my blog about it and want to share it with like minded folks. Its not blog spam, I promise. Its a real article written by a real slashdotter, me! Please check it out.

Submission + - Forrester: NSA Spying Could Cost Cloud $180B, But Won't (itworld.com)

Submitted by itwbennett
itwbennett writes: Forrester's James Staten argues in a blog post that the U.S. cloud computing industry stands to lose more like $180 billion, using the reasoning put forth by a well-circulated report from The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation that pegged potential losses closer to $35 billion. But Staten's real point is that when it comes down to it the cloud industry will likely not take much of a hit at all. Because as much as they voice their displeasure, turning back isn't really an option for businesses using the cloud. What are their alternatives? Staffing up and building potentially huge data centers?

Submission + - Inside the Decision to Shut Down Silent Mail

Submitted by Trailrunner7
Trailrunner7 writes: Silent Circle’s decision to shut down its Silent Mail email service may have come quickly yesterday, and the timing of the announcement admittedly was prompted by Lavabit’s decision to suspend operations hours before. But the seeds for this decision may have been sown long before Edward Snowden, who reportedly used Lavabit as a secure email provider, was a household name and NSA warrants for customer data were known costs of doing business.

“When the team first delivered [Silent Mail], I congratulated and apologized at the same time, and told them this might be our first legacy product,” said Silent Circle CTO Jon Callas.

Ironically, yesterday when Lavabit, which provided a similar secure email service, announced it was shutting down rather than “become complicit in crimes against the American people,” as owner Ladar Levison said, things moved quickly for Silent Circle’s decision makers.

“When we saw the Lavabit announcement, the thing we were worrying about had happened, and it had happened to somebody else. It was very difficult to not think I’m next,” Callas said. “I had been discussing with Phil [founder and PGP developer Phil Zimmerman] over dinner the night before, should we be doing this and what the timing should be. I was looking at it from point that I want to be a responsible service provider and not leave users in a lurch. [The Lavabit announcement] told me I have to start moving on it now.”

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: Best/newest hardware without trusted computing(TC)/Trusted Platfor

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: What is the best/newest hardware without trusted computing(TC)/Trusted Platform Module(TPM)? Is anybody else still trying to avoid TC/TPM? What have your experiences been? Any pointers?

I am currently running ancient 32bit hardware and thinking about an upgrade to something x64 with USB3, SATA3 and >1 core on the CPU ... but don't want TC/TPM. I have no need to run anything like Blu Ray movie disks or Microsoft Windows that requires TC/TPM or the UEFI boot process.

FYI for those not already up to speed about TC/TPM: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trusted_computing

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: Viable Alternative to Lavabit 1

Submitted by rizole
rizole writes: As we learnt earlier today, Lavabit, an encrypted email provider, was shut down by it's owner. Pointing a finger that the US Government he writes:

I would _strongly_ recommend against anyone trusting their private data to a company with physical ties to the United States.

What alternative email provider would you recommend Edward Snowden now gets an account with?

Submission + - Fired employee hacks posting for her old job and sends emails to job seekers (ajc.com)

Submitted by McGruber
McGruber writes: The Atlanta Journal Constitution has the amusing story (http://www.ajc.com/news/news/woman-accused-of-hacking-computer-system-at-ex-emp/nZHTx/) of Annette Kendrick who, after being fired, allegedly logged in to her former company’s website, modified the posting for her old job, and sent emails to job seekers.

“If you are searching for an INNOVATIVE, LONG STANDING, ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE organization to work for GO (expletive) YOURSELF,’” the job posting read after the alleged intrusion.

Kendrick was indicted Monday on a computer intrusion charge and could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted, according the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of New York.

There is no word on the fate of the system administrator(s) who did not disable her login credentials whe she was terminated.

Submission + - MS: Windows Phone 8 WiFi Vulnerable, Cannot Be Patched

Submitted by Freshly Exhumed
Freshly Exhumed writes: Microsoft advises that a cryptographic problem in the PEAP-MS-CHAPv2 protocol used in Windows Phone 8 to provide WPA2 authentication allows a victim’s encrypted domain credentials to be collected by an attacker posing as a typical WiFi access point. Redmond further states that this problem cannot be patched, although a set of manually entered configuration changes involving root certificates on all WP8 phones and on WiFi access points will apparently address the issue. WP7.8 phones are likewise vulnerable.

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