49143867
submission
alphadogg writes:
An Android tablet brought back from North Korea by a tourist has provided a glimpse at some of the restrictions placed on IT users in the famously secretive country. The Samjiyon is the third tablet to have gone on sale in North Korea. It was unveiled at a trade show in the capital, Pyongyang, last September and received some coverage on state television, but few westerners have had a chance to see it up close. The tablet was likely manufactured outside of North Korea and the hardware itself is fairly unremarkable, but the software and the usage restrictions placed on the device provide some insights about life in the country.
49137179
submission
matria writes:
Reports on the possible motivation of Pedro Vargas, who shot six people before being killed by police, appear to make much of his accessing the "Anarchist Cookbook". Even the name of the page of the article emphasizes this — "at-former-job-hialeah-gunman-downloaded.html"...an investigation into Vargas prompted by his poor work performance found he had downloaded a slew of inappropriate files onto his office desktop, including a so-called “Anarchist Cookbook,” which includes instructions on making explosives at home, counterfeiting money and killing someone with your bare hands...
Of chief concern to Vargas’ supervisors was a file titled “1000 hacking tutorials,” which, according to the university, included an “Index to the Anarchist Cookbook IV, version 4.14.” The Anarchist Cookbook is a bomb-making manual first published in 1971 during the Vietnam War.
49121717
submission
SmartAboutThings writes:
A little over a month ago, Microsoft released the first update to Windows 8, the preview version of Windows 8.1. Now, Microsoft has announced that Windows 8.1 Enterprise Preview has been made available for download. Of course, as always, you need to test the operating system with precautions, as this is not yet its final form and you might encounter some errors. The Windows 8.1 Enterprise Preview actually builds on the Window 8.1 Preview with some extra, premium features meant for business users, involved around security, mobility, management and virtualization. IT professionals should hurry up and download the Windows 8.1 Enterprise Preview to get to play around with the OS.
49118571
submission
dryriver writes:
The head of police for Moscow's subway system has said stations will soon be equipped with devices that can read the data on the mobile telephones of passengers. In the July 29 edition of "Izvestia," Moscow Metro police chief Andrei Mokhov said the device would be used to help locate stolen mobile phones. Mokhov said the devices have a range of about 5 meters and can read the SIM card. If the card is on the list of stolen phones, the system automatically sends information to the police. The time and place of the alert can be matched to closed-circuit TV in stations. "Izvestia" reported that "according to experts, the devices can be used more widely to follow all passengers without exception." Mokhov said it was illegal to track a person without permission from the authorities, but that there was no law against tracking the property of a company, such as a SIM card. — Submitter's Note: What is this all about? Is it really about detecting stolen phones/SIM cards, or is that a convenient 'cover story' for eavesdropping on people's private smartphone data while they wait to ride the subway? Also — if this scheme goes ahead, how long will it be before the U.S., Europe and other territories employ 'Devices' that do this, too? How long before your local bus stop or train terminal eavesdrops on your smartphone just like in the Russian model?
49112035
submission
DavidGilbert99 writes:
Last year when OpenSignalMaps reported that there were almost 4,000 distinct Android devices in use, people were pretty surprised at the number. Well prepared to be even more surprised as the number has trebled in just 12 months to 11,868 distinct Android devices, of which 47.5% are Samsung devices and which, in total, are running eight different versions of Android.
49005463
submission
Velcroman1 writes:
The world’s GPS system is vulnerable to hackers or terrorists who could use it to hijack ships – even commercial airliners. Todd Humphreys, a GPS expert at the University of Texas just completed a frightening real-time, real-life experiment that has exposed a huge potential hole in national security. Using a laptop, a small antenna and an electronic GPS “spoofer” built for $3,000, Humphreys and his team took control of the sophisticated navigation system aboard an $80 million, 210-foot super-yacht in the Mediterranean Sea. “We injected our spoofing signals into its GPS antennas and we’re basically able to control its navigation system with our spoofing signals,” Humphreys told Fox News.
48997791
submission
jfruh writes:
Practically since OpenStack was started there has been discussion about whether it should fully support Amazon Web Services’ APIs. Doing so would make it easy to port applications between an OpenStack cloud and AWS. It would also let businesses easily build hybrid apps that run internally on an OpenStack cloud and on AWS. Cloudscaling’s Randy Bias has been vocal about his support of fidelity with AWS. He argues that there’s no hope for OpenStack in the public cloud market so it would do well to support interoperability with AWS and Google Compute Engine if it wants to hold on to the private cloud market. It’s true that interoperability with AWS would be good for OpenStack in the private cloud market. But it’s easier said than done.
48997183
submission
Rebecka writes:
The freezing tundra that was the North Pole is now home to a lake. A picture, obtained by the North Pole Environmental Observatory this week, shows a shocking wide-angled photograph of the location’s newest lake, possible evidence of global warming.
The photograph, taken by the observatory’s weather buoy-attached camera Monday, is reportedly a result of the longtime decline of sea ice in the region due to global warming and the more recent increase in land temperature. "Major changes in recent years are widespread, sustained and occurring faster than anticipated,” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in a statement. “The minimum artic sea ice extent in 2012 was nearly half the values seen at the end of the last century The large environmental shifts in 2012 provide evidence of sustained arctic change."
48940819
submission
Laxori666 writes:
Armin Ronacher writes a lengthy and informative post on the state of software licensing today, and why GitHub's policy of requiring users to pick a license from a license selector might not improve matters in the long run.
48936121
submission
Gunkerty Jeb writes:
Next week at the Black Hat Briefings in Las Vegas, Fran Brown will release a modified RFID reader that can capture data from 125KHz low frequency RFID badges from up to three feet away. Previous RFID hacking tools must be within centimeters of a victim to work properly; Brown’s tool would allow an attacker or pen-tester to store the device inside a backpack and it would silently grab card data from anyone walking close enough to it.
48913285
submission
sciencehabit writes:
The CO2-ridden plumes rising from industrial smokestacks and power plants may be warming the planet, but they could also be a new source of electrical power. Researchers have developed a two-stage process to harvest some of the chemical energy in carbon dioxide emissions, using a device called a capacitive electrochemical cell. Built roughly like a battery, the cell has two electrodes—one surrounded by a membrane that allows hydrogen ions to flow in and out, and the other that does the same with bicarbonate ions, produced when carbon dioxide is bubbled through water. By tapping into existing carbon dioxide emissions from coal- and gas-fired power plants, industrial smokestacks, and residential heating worldwide, the new process could generate about 1570 terawatt-hours of power each year—about 400 times that produced by Hoover Dam, all without adding to global carbon dioxide emissions.
48912041
submission
cold fjord writes:
I wish it was always this easy. From Business Insider: "Iodized salt is so ubiquitous that we barely notice it. Few people know why it even exists. Iodine deficiency remains the world's leading cause of preventable mental retardation. According to a new study, its introduction in America in 1924 had an effect so profound that it raised the country's IQ. A new NBER working paper from James Feyrer, Dimitra Politi, and David N. Weil finds that the population in iodine-deficient areas saw IQs rise by a full standard deviation, which is 15 points, after iodized salt was introduced.... The mental impacts were unknown, the program was started to fight goiter, so these effects were an extremely fortunate unintended side effect." — The Nation Bureau of Economic Research paper (Restricted / Paywall )
48906685
submission
Daniel_Stuckey writes:
Scientists tested the snakes in the Zwentendorf nuclear power plant in Austria, and the results were postively described in a CMU press release. The 37-inch long mechanical creatures are made up of 16 modules with joint-like features, allowing the androids to have kinetic freedom while imitating the movement of snakes (of course, these prototypes can also move in manners foreign to serpents). They can climb pipes, wriggle, and roll—and even lift their "heads" much like a cobra, a feature it uses for camera visibility.
23174010
submission
chrb writes:
Two English men have been sentenced to 4 years jail for creating a Facebook "riot" event. The "Smash d[o]wn in Northwich Town" event specified a time and place to meet and riot. The long sentence has led some to question whether the punishments are too severe.
