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Submission + - Github removes hosting of downloadable binaries (github.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Apparently open source software is no longer meant for the 99% of population that knows what a zip file is but not how to compile from source — at least, according to Github. The previously existing option to upload precompiled binaries has been removed — from now on everyone is on their own regarding hosting of binaries if they have any interest in their software being actually used be mere mortals.
Censorship

Submission + - Google.com safesearch filter now mandatory (google.com) 3

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The US version of Google search no longer seems to feature the three options concerning safesearch (Off, Moderate and Strict) Instead, they've opted for what seems to be mandatory moderate search with the option of filtering explicit content (ie. strict filtering). There does not seem to be a lay-man quality way of turning safesearch off anymore. google.ca and possibly other country specific domains related to Google seem unaffected. Some complaints have already started appearing on Google's product forum: http://productforums.google.com/forum/#!category-topic/websearch/google-images/WIPzdBq6E4Y Answers so far, have been rather vague.
Science

Submission + - Scientists Use Electrical Hum to Fight Crime

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens writes
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "A suspected terrorist has been taped planning a deadly attack and the police want to use this evidence in court or someone has been captured on CCTV threatening an assault. Increasingly, recordings like these are playing a role in criminal investigations but how can the police be sure that the audio evidence is genuine and has not been tampered with or cleverly edited? Now Rebecca Morelle writes on BBC that a technique known as Electric Network Frequency (ENF) analysis is helping forensic scientists separate genuine, unedited recordings from those that have been tampered with and the technique has already been used in court. Any digital recording made anywhere near an electrical power source will pick up the noise from electricity supplied by the national grid and it will be embedded throughout the audio. This buzz is an annoyance for sound engineers trying to make the highest quality recordings but for forensic experts, it has turned out to be an invaluable tool in the fight against crime. Due to unbalances in production and consumption of electrical energy, the ENF is known to fluctuate slightly over time rather than being stuck to its exact set point so if you look at the frequency over time, you can see minute fluctuations and the pattern of these random changes in frequency is unique over time providing a digital watermark on every recording. Forensic Scientist Philip Harrison has been logging the hum on the national grid in the UK for several years. "Even if [the hum] is picked up at a very low level that you cannot hear, we can extract this information," says Dr. Harrison. "If we have we can extract [the hum] and compare it with the database, if it is a continuous recording, it will all match up nicely.""

Submission + - North Korea (sucessfully?) Launches a long range missle at 0100 GMT (time.com)

Submitted by virtualXTC
virtualXTC writes: FTA: "North Korea fired a long-range rocket Wednesday morning in its second launch under its new leader, defying warnings from the U.N. and Washington only days before South Korean presidential elections.
North Korea declared the launch of a rocket and satellite a success, and state television planned a special broadcast about the launch at noon (0300 GMT)."
South Korea has confirmed the launch time, and Japan has confirmed that the rocket went over Okinawa, and two stanges of the rockets have sucessfuly avoided other contries and fallen into the sea. While it is still unconfirmed as to whether or not North Korea actually orbiting Satallite, it seems clarn that sancations have faild to curb South Korea's quest for nuclear wepony. Does this mean we headed to yet another war?

Submission + - Guatemala judge orders McAfee released (google.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A lawyer for John McAfee said Tuesday a judge has ordered the software company founder released from a Guatemalan detention center where he has been fighting being returned to Belize.
Science

Submission + - Humans evolving faster than ever (wired.com)

Submitted by Kwyj1b0
Kwyj1b0 writes: In a massive study on genetic variation among humans, researchers found that most changes occurred in the last 200 generations, too fast for natural selection to catch up. Recent papers show that rare genetic variations have a more drastic effect than previously believed. Another result shows that "we carry a much larger load of deleterious variants" (as well as positive variants) than our ancestors 200 generations ago.
Hardware

Submission + - Raspberry Pi's $25 Model A Hits Production Line (paritynews.com)

Submitted by hypnosec
hypnosec writes: The Raspberry Pi Foundation has announced that the cheaper variant of the Raspberry Pi – Model A, has entered production phase. Model A of the credit-card sized computer has been stripped off its Ethernet port and a USB port thus leaving just one USB port. This model comes with 256MB RAM but, as it is less complex compared to its predecessor it will consume lesser power thus opening up quite a few new usage scenarios. The Foundation has posted the first image of the $25 Model A on its site and noted “We’re anticipating that those of you who buy the Model A will be using it for different applications from Model B owners.”

Submission + - Syrian Malware Servers Survive, Then Die (slashdot.org)

Submitted by
Nerval's Lobster
Nerval's Lobster writes: "A massive outage knocked Syria’s Internet offline Nov. 29—with the exception of five servers implicated in serving malware earlier this year. But the next day, those five servers went dark as well. Internet analytics firm Renesys suggested late Nov. 29 that those five servers were likely offshore. “Now, there are a few Syrian networks that are still connected to the Internet, still reachable by traceroutes, and indeed still hosting Syrian content,” the company wrote in a blog post. “These are five networks that use Syrian-registered IP space, but the originator of the routes is actually Tata Communications. These are potentially offshore, rather than domestic, and perhaps not subject to whatever killswitch was thrown today within Syria.” By the morning of Nov. 30, those five servers went offline. “The last 5 networks belonging to Syria, a set of smaller netblocks previously advertised by Tata Communications, have been torn down and are no longer routed,” Renesys wrote."

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