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Submission + - DHS eyes special declaration to take charge of elections (washingtonexaminer.com)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: Even before the FBI identified new cyber attacks on two separate state election boards, the Department of Homeland Security began considering declaring the election a "critical infrastructure," giving it the same control over security it has over Wall Street and and the electric power grid.

"Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything." Stalin

Submission + - How many servers does it take to deliver Netflix to the world? This many (ieee.org)

Submitted by Wave723
Wave723 writes: For the first time, a team of researchers has mapped the entire content delivery network that brings Netflix to the world, including the number and location of every server that the company uses to distribute its films. They also independently analyzed traffic volumes handled by each of those servers. Their work allows experts to compare Netflix's distribution approach to those of other content-rich companies such as Google, Akamai and Limelight.

To do this, IEEE Spectrum reports that the group reverse-engineered Netflix's domain name system for the company's servers, and then created a crawler that used publicly available information to find every possible server name within its network through the common address nflxvideo.net. In doing so, they were able to determine the total number of servers the company users, where those servers are located, and whether the servers were housed within Internet exchange points or with Internet service providers, revealing stark differences in Netflix's strategy between countries.

One of their most interesting findings was that two Netflix servers appear to be deployed within Verizon's U.S. network, which one researcher speculates could indicate that the companies are pursuing an early pilot or trial.

Submission + - BleachBit stifles investigation of Hillary Clinton

Submitted by ahziem
ahziem writes: The IT team for presidential candidate Hillary Clinton used the open source cleaning software BleachBit to wipe systems "so even God couldn’t read them," according to South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy on Fox News. His comments on the "drastic cyber-measure" were in response to the question of whether emails on her private Microsoft Exchange Server were simply about "yoga and wedding plans."

Perhaps Clinton's team used an open source application because, unlike proprietary applications, it can be audited, like for backdoors. In response to the Edward Snowden leaks in 2013, privacy expert Bruce Schneier advised, "Closed-source software is easier for the NSA to backdoor than open-source software," in an article in which he stated he also uses BleachBit. Ironically, Schneier was writing to a non-governmental audience.

Submission + - Evolution of Powered Exoskeletons (aranca.com)

Submitted by tranwills12
tranwills12 writes: Envisaged over a hundred years ago as a steam-powered set of locomotive legs, we’ve come a long way in our quest to seriously suit-up.

Submission + - NASA Funds Plan To Turn Used Rocket Fuel Tanks Into Space Habitats (ieee.org)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A couple of weeks ago NASA announced it has committed $65 million to six companies over the course of two years for the purpose of developing and testing deep-space habitats that could be used for future missions to Mars. One of the six companies, called NanoRacks, is attempting to take empty fuel tanks from the upper stages of rockets and turn them into space habitats on-orbit. IEEE Spectrum reports: "A rocket like the the Atlas V, which can deliver payloads of nearly 19,000 kg to low Earth orbit, consists of three primary pieces: on the bottom, you've got the first stage booster, which consists of a huge engine and some big tanks holding kerosene fuel and oxidizer. Above that, there's the second stage, which consists of one or two smaller engines, a big tank for storing liquid hydrogen fuel, and a smaller tank for oxidizer. The payload, which is what all of the fuss is about, sits on top. The first stage launches the rocket off of the pad and continues firing for about four minutes. Meanwhile, the second stage fires up its own engine (or engines) to boost the payload the rest of the way into orbit. On the Atlas V, the second stage is called Centaur. Once Centaur gets its payload where it needs to go, it separates, and then suicides down into Earth's atmosphere. Getting a payload into space is so expensive because you have to build up this huge and complicated rocket, with engines and guidance systems and fuel tanks and stuff, and then you basically use it for like 15 minutes and throw it all away. But what about the second stage? You've got a whole bunch of hardware that made it to orbit, and when getting stuff to orbit costs something like $2,500 per kilogram, you then tell it to go it burn itself up in the atmosphere, because otherwise it's just useless space junk." NanoRacks thinks this is wasteful, so they want to turn these tanks into deep space habitats. IEEE notes that the hydrogen fuel tank on a Centaur upper stage has a diameter of over 4 meters, and an interior volume of 54 cubic meters, while the inflatable BEAM module that arrived at the ISS earlier this year has an interior volume of 16 cubic meters.

Submission + - Uber and taxis to operate on level playing field in Victoria, Australia (theage.com.au)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The Victorian government in Australia will introduce a $2 levy on all Uber services in addition to regulating taxi fares and buying back a number of taxi licenses. The scheme is aimed at not only legalising Uber but treating both taxis and ride sharing services the same

Submission + - Epic's forums hacked again, with thousands of logins stolen (zdnet.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The hacker, whose name isn't known, exploited a known SQL injection vulnerability found in an older vBulletin forum software, which allowed the hacker to get access to the full database.

When we last checked at the time of publication, the Epic Games' forum appeared to be down, but the company's Unreal Engine forums were still active.

A spokesperson for Epic Games confirmed the breach in an email to ZDNet, and pointed to a statement it posted on its website.

Submission + - Microsoft apps will be pre-loaded on Lenovo and Motorola Android devices (betanews.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: There was a time when Microsoft was seen as the enemy of the Linux and Apple communities. Understandably, at the time, the company only wanted Windows to succeed. Nowadays, however, the operating system is sort of inconsequential. Microsoft seems happy to have its software succeed on 'competitor' platforms such as iOS, Android, macOS, Ubuntu and more.

Today, Microsoft announces that it has partnered with Lenovo on a new mobile initiative. The Windows-maker's productivity apps will be pre-loaded on Lenovo and Motorola-branded devices running Google's Linux-based Android operating system.

Comment Long-Term vs. Short-Term (Score 1) 273

by mreed911 (#46578123) Attached to: IRS: Bitcoin Is Property, Not Currency
How does one determine which specific Bitcoin (or fraction) was spent from one's owned pool to determine whether any appreciation is long-term or short-term? Is it a record-keeping thing only, much like tossing pennies in a jar every day and recording it in a ledger, then taking random pennies back out to pay and noting that they're the oldest, whether or not they are (or can be proven to be)? I foresee IRS challenges around long-term vs. short-term in audits, especially for folks with lots of transactions.

Comment Re:Why single out Whole Foods? (Score 1) 794

by mreed911 (#46372049) Attached to: Whole Foods: America's Temple of Pseudoscience
And here's why we'll spend some of our money at whole foods: freshness. The produce and meet at the local supermarket (HEB) is safe, (often) locally sourced and tasty, but there's a marked degree of improvement for SOME THINGS at Whole Foods. For the parent post, it's the meat. For me, it's vegetables, particularly root vegetables. It's muck akin to grades of meat - the vegetables are a "grade higher" in freshness, presentation and taste. If I'm making sauce? HEB tomatoes and mozzarella are fine. If I'm making a Caprese salad? Whole Foods FTW. I also really enjoy their salad bar variety for lunch - it trumps almost every other available option near me, is reasonably priced and offers me a place to sit and eat nearby. Again, easy win. Bulk and/or standard items? HEB is the place... unless we're headed to Costco for the 55 gallon drum of something.

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"What man has done, man can aspire to do." -- Jerry Pournelle, about space flight

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