54257619
submission
briancox2 writes:
A change in permissions requires you to approved Google Maps to have the right to disconnect you from and connect you to the Wi-Fi networks of Google's choice. Given that there is no settings change which can disable this "feature" and no description of why this would be needed in the description of what's new with this update, it's unclear how this will benefit users and when it will be used.
54252777
submission
vinces99 writes:
Scientists have discovered a second code hiding within DNA that contains information that changes how scientists read the instructions contained in DNA and interpret mutations to make sense of health and disease. A research team led by Dr. John Stamatoyannopoulos, University of Washington associate professor of genome sciences and of medicine, made the discovery. The findings, reported in the Dec. 13 issue of Science, are part of the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements Project funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute. Since the genetic code was deciphered in the 1960s, scientists have assumed that it was used exclusively to write information about proteins. UW scientists were stunned to discover that genomes use the genetic code to write two separate languages. One describes how proteins are made, and the other instructs the cell on how genes are controlled. One language is written on top of the other, which is why the second language remained hidden for so long.
“For over 40 years we have assumed that DNA changes affecting the genetic code solely impact how proteins are made,” said Stamatoyannopoulos. “Now we know that this basic assumption about reading the human genome missed half of the picture. These new findings highlight that DNA is an incredibly powerful information storage device, which nature has fully exploited in unexpected ways.” The genetic code uses a 64-letter alphabet called codons. The UW team discovered that some codons, which they called duons, can have two meanings, one related to protein sequence and one related to gene control. These two meanings seem to have evolved in concert with each other. The gene control instructions appear to help stabilize certain beneficial features of proteins and how they are made. The discovery of duons has major implications for how scientists and physicians interpret a patient’s genome and will open new doors to the diagnosis and treatment of disease.
53416885
submission
coondoggie writes:
t may come as no surprise to those who know NASA's penchant for coming up with amazingly cool solutions to major problems, but its still pretty intersting when you some major innovation pulled off. This maybe the case with NASA's planet-hunting space telescope Kepler, which has been out of commission since May and thought to be kaput. But this week the space agency said it has come up with a way to make use of the Sun and Kepler's orbit around it to stabilize the craft and let it start taking images of space again.
53214223
submission
memnock writes:
ABC new reports: 'Political organizations can't accept contributions in the form of bitcoins, at least for now, The Federal Election Commission said Thursday.
The commission passed on a request by the Conservative Action Fund, a political action committee, to use the digital currency. That group had asked the FEC recently whether it could accept bitcoins, how it could spend them and how donors must report those contributions. It was not immediately clear whether the same ruling would apply to individual political candidates.'
Slashdot reported earlier this week that other federal agencies have taken positions that may recognize or regulate the currency.
53197405
submission
Press2ToContinue writes:
Middle Earth is an amazing fictional world, but if you want to really get to know it, you've got to read a lot of words. So if you're in the mood for a little Tolkien fantasy without hunkering down for a serious reading session, Google's brand new tour of Middle Earth is a beautiful (and effortless) way to get your fix.
53176889
submission
cartechboy writes:
There’s always that kid in the class that ruins it for everyone when being graded on a curve. At the moment, that kid is Tesla and Elon Musk. Tesla’s been proudly claiming the Model S is one of the safest cars in the word despite the recent fire controversy. And while it may be just that, claiming it earned 5.4 stars from NHTSA isn’t pleasing the safety agency as there is no such thing as a rating higher than five. While NHTSA already released a statement indirectly to Tesla saying it doesn’t release ratings higher than 5, Tesla continued to promote this fictitious rating. Now NHTSA has updated its guidelines explicitly stating safety ratings are whole numbers only and that 5 stars is the maximum advertisers can claim. If advertisers and automakers decide to disregard these rules NHTSA is threatening removal from the program or referral to state authorities for appropriate action. Basically, hey Tesla, stop making false claims.
53077817
submission
Metabolife writes:
Scientology is notorious for their crooked tactics to gain and prevent members from leaving. Following their superbowl ad, they've begun spending money on paid spots to draw in new members. Good Morning America actually takes viewers on a tour of their facility in the source video. What can we do to make sure that scientology is kept in check?
52860909
submission
msm1267 writes:
Microsoft announced this afternoon that the zero-day vulnerability being exploited in a watering hole attack against an unnamed U.S.-based NGO website was already scheduled to be patched in a cumulative Internet Explorer update tomorrow.
The zero-day was reported publicly on Friday by FireEye researchers and today a few more dots were connected on the attack, which is dropping a variant of the McRAT Trojan that has been used in a number of targeted espionage attacks targeting industrial secrets.
52486671
submission
barlevg writes:
The Washington Post reports that, according to documents obtained from Edward Snowden, through their so-called "MUSCULAR" initiative, the National Security Agency has exploited a weakness in the transfers between data centers, which Google and others pay a premium to send over secure fiber optic cables. The leaked documents include a post-it note as part of an internal NSA Powerpoint presentation showing a diagram of Google network traffic, an arrow pointing to the Google front-end server with text reading, "SSL Added and Removed Here" with a smiley face. When shown the sketch by The Post and asked for comment, two engineers with close ties to Google responded with strings of profanity.
52484263
submission
RoccamOccam writes:
The Obamacare website has more than annoying bugs. A cybersecurity expert found a way to access users' accounts.
Until the Department of Health fixed the security hole last week, anyone could easily reset a user's Healthcare.gov password without their knowledge and potentially hijack the account.
The glitch was discovered last week by Ben Simo, a software tester in Arizona. Simo found that gaining access to people's accounts was frighteningly simple.
52482949
submission
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes:
In the tragic aftermath of the Newtown school massacre, as is the case every time there’s a school shooting, Americans debate what should be done to ensure the safety of innocent schoolchildren. Gun control advocates push to limit access to deadly weapons by imposing tougher firearm regulations, while the National Rifle Association suggests that armed security guards be stationed at every school in the country. Now the Smithsonian reports that a group of students at Benjamin Banneker Academic High School in Washington D.C. has come up with a device that prevents armed intruders from breaking into a classroom with DeadStop, a lightweight, cup-sized plastic cylinder that slips over the common large hydraulic hinge known as a “door closer“ in seconds. “So many kids and adults were killed (at Sandy Hook). So we got together and we wanted to know how we could stop intruders from entering our school,” says Deonté Antrom, a junior at Benjamin Banneker. The school, like many others across the nation, is equipped with doors that cannot be locked from the inside, in order to comply with building code regulations that allow for unobstructed campus-wide evacuations in case of a fire and other disasters. The DeadStop was designed as a workaround, preserving that need for a quick exit in an emergency while also enabling the class to secure itself inside the room when needed. “The device we have is detachable. It will just be in the teacher’s desk and when there is an announcement that there is a shooter in the building, they will be able to take it out and simply install it on the hinge,” says Anjreyev Harvey. Students at Benjamin Banneker Academic High School hope to patent and release a final product of DeadStop that will cost no more than $15 and a law firm from Denver has already offered the team pro bono services to patent the invention.
52333439
submission
schwit1 writes:
Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) will introduce major legislation to rein in NSA surveillance activities of American citizens on Tuesday. This is the same guy that originally sponsored of the PATRIOT Act. He previously stated that the PATRIOT Act was “deliberately drafted to prevent [the] data mining" yet the NSA interpreted his legislation to justify their dragnet style surveillance of American citizens. There is expected to be companion legislation in the Senate. Sources indicate that Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, may be introducing that version.
52330885
submission
sandbagger writes:
The website for the United States National Security Agency suddenly went offline Friday.
NSA.gov has been unavailable globally as of late Friday afternoon, and Twitter accounts belonging to people loosely affiliated with the Anonymous hacktivism movement have suggested they are responsible. Twitter users @AnonymousOwn3r and @TruthIzSexy both were quick to comment on the matter, and implied that a distributed denial-of-service attack, or DDoS, may have been waged as an act of protest against the NSA
52182539
submission
schwit1 writes:
Oregon is moving ahead with a controversial plan to tax motorists based on the number of miles they drive as opposed to the amount of fuel they consume, raising myriad concerns about cost and privacy.
The problem for lawmakers is that the existing per-gallon gas tax has hit a point of diminishing returns, as Americans drive less and vehicles become more fuel efficient.
Economists and civil libertarians are concerned about the Oregon pilot project in large part because some mileage meters can track and record residents’ every vehicular move. Rick Geddes, a Cornell University professor, said the basic device is okay because it is simply attached to a vehicle’s computer, which cannot track locations.
However, Geddes said privacy concerns could resurface should governments expand the program and use SmartPhone or apps to track movements and reward motorists who avoid congested roads and drive during off-peak hours.
Mark Perry, a University of Michigan scholar, says the GPS or “black box” system is "particularly untenable.”
52181909
submission
quantr writes:
Jonathan Corbett, a long-time vocal critic of TSA body scanners, has been engaged in a lawsuit against the government concerning the constitutionality of those scanners. In the course of the case, the TSA gave him classified documents, which he was ordered not to reveal. In using some of that information to make his case, he needed to file two copies of his brief: a public one with classified stuff redacted, and the full brief under seal, for the government and the courts to look at. Just one problem: someone over at Infowars noticed that apparently a clerk at the 11th Circuit appeals court forgot to file the document under seal, allowing them to find out what was under the redactions... Included in there is the following, apparently quoted from the TSA's own statements:
“As of mid-2011, terrorist threat groups present in the Homeland are not known to be actively plotting against civil aviation targets or airports; instead, their focus is on fundraising, recruiting, and propagandizing.”
Elsewhere, the TSA appears to admit that "due to hardened cockpit doors and the willingness of passengers to challenge hijackers," it's unlikely that there's much value in terrorists trying to hijack a plane these days (amusingly, that statement is a clear echo of Bruce Schneier's statement criticizing the TSA's security theater — suggesting that the TSA flat out knows that airport security is nothing more than such theatrics).
Elsewhere, in the redacted portions, the TSA is quoted as admitting that "there have been no attempted domestic hijackings of any kind in the 12 years since 9/11."
