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Submission + - Super-hydrophobic paint pisses back on public street pissers

Submitted by monkeyzoo
monkeyzoo writes: San Francisco is testing 10 walls in areas fraught with public urination problems with ultra-water-repellent paint designed to repel the urine and cause the stream to instead soil the scofflaw's pants. "It's supposed to, when people urinate, bounce back and hit them on the pants and get them wet. Hopefully that will discourage them. We will put a sign to give them a heads up," said Mohammad Nuru, director of the San Francisco public works. The super-hydrophobic oleophobic nano-coating is produced by a Florida company named Ultra-Tech and was recently used with success on walls in Hamburg, Germany to discourage public urination [video]. Signs posted there warn, "Do not pee here! We pee back!"

Submission + - Leaked details, if true, point to potent AMD Zen CPU (extremetech.com) 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: For more than a year, information on AMD’s next-generation CPU architecture, codenamed Zen, has tantalized the company’s fans — and those who simply want a more effective competitor against Intel. Now, the first concrete details have begun to appear. And if they’re accurate, the next-generation chip could pack a wallop.

Submission + - Coordinated Takedown Puts End to Simda Botnet (threatpost.com)

Submitted by msm1267
msm1267 writes: The Simda botnet, known for spreading banking malware and dropping a backdoor on hundreds of thousands of machines worldwide, was taken down last Thursday in a collaborative effort between international law enforcement bodies and private security and technology companies.

Thirteen command and control servers in four countries were seized, putting an end to a malware family that has infected more than 90,000 computers since January of this year alone.

Simda distributed several types of malware including financial Trojans and illicit software, and has been active since the end of 2012. The keepers of Simda make frequent functionality updates and constantly enhance its capabilities to evade detection by researchers and security software, making it an attractive option for cybercriminals, who buy only access to Simda-infected machines and then install additional malicious code on the machines.

The takedown was coordinated by the INTERPOL Global Complex for Innovation in Singapore, the Cyber Defense Institute, the FBI, the Dutch National High Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU), Microsoft, Kaspersky Lab and Trend Micro. Not only were officials able to seize command and control servers and domains, but were also able to sinkhole Simda traffic. That traffic shows a diverse set of victims in more than 40 countries, officials said.

Submission + - Linux 4.0 Kernel Released (phoronix.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The Linux 4.0 kernel has been released. Linux 4.0 brings many features including live patching, Radeon DisplayPort Audio, RadeonSI fan control improvements, new OverlayFS functionality, Intel Quark SoC support, and a heck of a lot more.

Submission + - Large scale hack hits French TV Network (wsj.com) 1

Submitted by Taco Cowboy
Taco Cowboy writes: TV5 Monde, a TV Network in France, has been hit by a 'very powerful' cyber attack, purported to be by a self-proclaimed group of "Islamic State Militant" resulting in the company’s channels being knocked off the air globally

According to the spokeperson of TV5 Monde, their firewall has recently been checked but still that did not prevent the hackers from penetrating their system

The broadcaster, which airs French-language content on 11 channels in more than 200 countries worldwide and is indirectly owned by the governments of France and other French-speaking countries, said hackers penetrated the computer systems at its Paris headquarters late Wednesday evening, shutting down everything from company email and production facilities to the computer servers TV5Monde uses to send its television signals

At the same time, the hackers took control of the broadcaster’s social media accounts on platforms including Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc., posting terrorist propaganda in support of Islamic State, including some alleged personal details about French military personnel, a spokeswoman for the channel said

France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said: "“Those terrorists, as they are certainly terrorists—we are checking on the claim—are using the most advanced technologies, Everything is being done to find those who carried this out, punish them, re-establish the programmes and prevent cyberterrorists threatening freedom of expression in the future"

The hacking, which is now being investigated by French intelligence, offers potential evidence of the militant group’s growing capacity to conduct technological warfare. While hackers claiming allegiance to the group have been active in recent months in posting propaganda to websites and high-profile social media accounts—including one belonging to the U.S.—this appears to be the first successful takedown of a high-profile TV channel, experts said

Now that a French TV network has fallen prey to cyber-hacking, how long before CNN, or BBC or even PBS will be hacked?

Submission + - Restart of Large Hadron Collider at CERN (bbc.com)

Submitted by Taco Cowboy
Taco Cowboy writes: After a two-year hiatus the LHC (Large Hadron Collider ) at CERN has been restarted

For the past two years an upgrade program was carried out for the LHC

Due to the upgrade, the LHC is enjoying a double dose of energy, as compared to its previous self before the upgrade

Particle beams have now travelled in both directions, inside parallel pipes, at a whisker below the speed of light. Actual collisions will not begin for at least another month

Currently the protons are being injected at a relatively low energy to begin with. But over the coming months, engineers hope to gradually increase the beams' energy to 13 trillion electronvolts: double what it was during the LHC's first operating run

The experiment teams have already detected "splashes" of particles, which occur when stray protons hit one of the shutters used to keep the beam on-track. If this happens in part of the pipe near one of the experiments, the detectors can pick up some of the debris

By taking matter to states we have never observed before — the LHC's collisions create temperatures not seen since moments after the Big Bang — physicists hope to find something unexpected that addresses some of these questions

Debris from the tiny but history-making smash-ups might contain new particles, or tell-tale gaps betraying the presence of dark matter or even hidden dimensions

But first we need collisions — due in May at the earliest — and then a steady torrent of data will make its way to physicists around the world, so that the massive analysis effort can begin

Submission + - Fault system enables larger quakes in California (sciencedaily.com)

Submitted by Taco Cowboy
Taco Cowboy writes: Newly discovered link between different faults means potential larger quakes in California

The Hayward and Calaveras faults are essentially the same system, meaning that a rupture on one could trigger a rupture on the other, producing considerably larger quakes than once thought

Researchers have mapped the land at the southern end of the Hayward Fault and found that the creep continued 15 km beyond to merge with the Calaveras Fault, which was thought to be independent

"The maximum earthquake on a fault is proportional to its length, so by having the two directly connected, we can have a rupture propagating across from one to the other, making a larger quake," said lead researcher Estelle Chaussard, a postdoctoral fellow in the Berkeley Seismological Laboratory. "People have been looking for evidence of this for a long time, but only now do we have the data to prove it"

The 70-kilometer-long Hayward Fault is already known as one of the most dangerous in the country because it runs through large population areas from its northern limit on San Pablo Bay at Richmond to its southern end south of Fremont

Last month the U.S. Geological Survey estimated a 14.3 percent likelihood of a magnitude 6.7 or greater earthquake on the Hayward Fault in the next 30 years, and a 7.4 percent chance on the Calaveras Fault, but there is one problem — the estimate was based on the assumption that the two faults are independent systems, and that the maximum quake on the Hayward Fault would be between magnitudes 6.9 and 7.0

Given that the Hayward and Calaveras faults are connected, the energy released in a simultaneous rupture could be 2.5 times greater, or a magnitude 7.3 quake

"A rupture from Richmond to Gilroy would produce about a 7.3 magnitude quake, but it would be even greater if the rupture extended south to Hollister, where the Calaveras Fault meets the San Andreas Fault" Chaussard said

The UC Berkeley team used 19 years of satellite data to map ground deformation using interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) and measure creep along the southern end of the Hayward Fault, and found, surprisingly, that the creep didn't stop south of Fremont, the presumed southern end of the fault, but continued as far as the Calaveras Fault

Both are strike-slip faults — the western side moves northward relative to the eastern side. The researchers found that the underground portion of the Hayward Fault meets the Calaveras Fault 10 kilometers farther north than where the creeping surface traces of both faults meet. This geometry implies that the Hayward Fault dips at an angle where it meets the Calaveras Fault

Submission + - USAF thinking of sharing space surveillance data with scientists (spacenews.com)

Submitted by Taco Cowboy
Taco Cowboy writes: The data could be redacted nevertheless the United States Air Force is thinking of open up its treasure trove of space surveillance data that the military doesn’t need for its space situational awareness mission could be made available to scientists interested in using that data to search for asteroids or other research

“We collect a lot of data, and a lot of data we throw off to the side because it isn’t relevant to national security,” Whelan said in a talk at an asteroid science symposium here March 26 organized by the Universities Space Research Association and George Washington University’s Space Policy Institute. “Our trash is your treasure”

With upgrades to the network, including the upcoming Space Surveillance Telescope and the Space Fence radar, will provide the Air Force will vast amounts of additional data, which the service plans to process only to the level needed to carry out its mission of tracking objects in Earth orbit

“We’re going to have all of this data. We’re not going to process it as deeply as you might process data,” he said. “We will consume what we want to consume, the rest of it will go onto the floor”

Whelan said DARPA will hand over the telescope to the Air Force to incorporate into the Space Surveillance Network by 2017. “Those of you who have played with this know that it is a vacuum cleaner. It sucks up all kinds of data,” he said of the telescope

That telescope, coupled with the Space Fence radar system scheduled to begin operating by 2019, will greatly increase the Air Force’s ability to track satellites and other objects in Earth orbit. “We expect our catalog to explode in size,” Whelan said, from the current 22,000 objects being tracked to more than 50,000

In a separate presentation at the symposium, Mark Boslough of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Sandia National Laboratory in New Mexico showed a map of airbursts in the upper atmosphere caused by exploding meteors. He described the data, released just in the last few months, as coming from “U.S. government sensors” without being more specific. It is widely believed, however, that the information comes from U.S. missile warning satellites

Those data showed approximately 550 such events from 1994 through 2013, including the February 2013 airburst above Chelyabinsk, Russia, that released the equivalent of nearly half a megaton of TNT. That single event, Boslough said, accounted for at least as much energy as all the others combined

Comment Hacking galore ! (Score 2) 37

by Taco Cowboy (#49396909) Attached to: DHS: Drug Infusion Pumps Vulnerable To Trivial Hacks

It's not only the infusion pumps can be easily hacked, pace makers can also be hacked, as well as a zillion types of other medical equipments

This is not all --- with the advent of the IoT (Internet of Things) and that average homes gonna be populated with devices that can be remotely connected, it will be a hacking galore for those who are savvy with technology

Submission + - AT&T lost the throttling case (chinatopix.com)

Submitted by Taco Cowboy
Taco Cowboy writes:

Judge Rules in Favor of FTC Against AT&T in Throttling Case

AT&T has lost a case against the U.S. Federal Trade Commission over throttling its customers' mobile data plans after a certain threshold

The wireless carrier offered unlimited data packages, but in reality once the customer went over 3 GB of 5 GB per month, AT&T began to automatically throttle the connection

Millions of unlimited phone customers were hit by poor service without AT&T even making the customer aware of the throttling. AT&T previously argued it should be allowed to manage its network from unlimited carrier contracts, but has since claimed that due to common carrier laws the FTC cannot investigate

The argument was overruled by U.S. District Court Judge Edward Chen in Northern California earlier today, saying that AT&T was not defended by common carrier in the wireless business, since it still has not been reclassified by the Federal Communications Commission and that the FTC has the right to prosecute AT&T regardless of common carrier status

FCC has added bans to throttling by wireless or broadband providers, apart from times where the network needs to be managed. As the move to common carrier continues, the FCC will maintain more command over these companies, making sure they stay in line with the new rules

Submission + - Space Based Solar Power Station (english.cas.cn)

Submitted by Taco Cowboy
Taco Cowboy writes: It could be an April Fool's story — but this story has appeared in many different media outlets

A huge space-based solar power station with 5 to 6 square kilometer total area of solar panels is in the planning stage

A space-based solar power station can generate 10 times more power than ground-based solar power generators and it can generate power up to 99% of the time since there is no 'night and day' up in the space

The proposed space-based solar power station will be in geosynchronous orbit, and the electricity generated would be converted to microwaves or lasers and transmitted to a collector on Earth

This idea is not new, in fact, it was first proposed by Isaac Asimov, in his short story, "Reason", back in 1941

Links regarding the space-based solar power station are below:

http://www.geek.com/science/ch...
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/china...
http://www.computerworld.com/a...
http://timesofindia.indiatimes...
http://english.cas.cn/newsroom...

Submission + - Global Wind Power grew by an astounding 42% in 2014 (navigantresearch.com)

Submitted by Taco Cowboy
Taco Cowboy writes: A new report from Navigant Research covers developments in the wind energy sector during 2014 found out that worldwide wind power installations grew by 42 percent year-over-year in 2014

Fueled by the policy-driven acceleration of installations in three key countries—China, Germany, and the United States—the global wind industry staged a remarkable comeback in 2014. Expansion in second-tier countries, such as Brazil, Turkey, France, and Canada also helped sustain a strong foundation for the industry as it matures into a significant global source of reliable, renewable energy

The revival of the U.S. and German markets meant there was a significant shake-up in the rankings of the world’s top 10 wind turbine suppliers in 2014, according to the report. Vestas remained the top supplier after strong sales both onshore and offshore and widespread across global markets. Siemens jumped two positions to second place in 2014 due to strong sales in the offshore sector and the surge of the German market. Had more planned 2014 offshore wind been fully commissioned and grid-connected, Siemens would have challenged Vestas’ top position, the report concludes

“The wind power industry achieved a record year of installations in 2014, setting the stage for steady growth in the coming years” says Jesse Broehl, senior research analyst with Navigant Research. “The industry’s development is being bolstered by key established markets and increasingly supported by new and diversified global markets”

Submission + - Hillary warns media to curb their 1st Amendment rights, or else! (madworldnews.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: So, Americans !

You have voted for a President who won a Nobel Peace Prize

Are you ready to vote for a President who wants the media forgo their First Amendment Rights?We already know that the Constitution of the United States of America has gone into the toilet bowl, but now, a public figure is out in the open telling the media to stop exercising their First Amendment Rights or face the music

A former first lady, Hillary intends to become the first lady president of the United States and to achieve her goal, she has issued a list of “demands” for words that the press can not say about her

As revealed by New York Times writer Amy Chozick, a list of words, including "Polarizing, Calculating, Disingenuous, Insincere, Secretive, Ambitious, Inevitable, Entitled, Over confident" are not to be used when writing news articles about Hillary

According to Hillary and her Super PAC, any media outlet / reporter will be labeled as sexist and attacked if we say any of these things about Hillary

Submission + - Rumor: Samsung Wants To Buy AMD (itworld.com)

Submitted by jfruh
jfruh writes: Rumors are flying around the Asian press that Samsung wants to buy AMD. The deal would make a certain amount of sense from Samsung's viewpoint, giving it crucial inroads into CPU and GPU markets and a line of attack against Qualcomm. But it would also wreak havoc with the delicate network of deals and agreements within the chipmaking industry, especially when it comes to rights to x86 intellectual property.

Submission + - Physical sciences contribute 22% of economy (universityworldnews.com)

Submitted by Taco Cowboy
Taco Cowboy writes: According to a report published in Australit — http://www.science.org.au/scie... — physical sciences, including core disciplines of physics, chemistry, earth sciences and the mathematical sciences have contributed around 22% of the Australian economy The direct contribution of the advanced physical and mathematical sciences is equal to 11% of the economy while additional and flow-on benefits add another 11%, bringing the total benefits to almost A$300 billion a year The report also notes that this estimate is likely to be conservative, and sets out several other areas of benefit that are harder to measure The report carefully considered the pathways by which the advanced physical and mathematical sciences yielded economic benefits and the Australian community’s continuing commitment to the advanced physical and mathematical sciences would be needed to ensure that the benefits from what is essentially a global scientific enterprise will continue to accrue to the Australian economy The economists who prepared the report conducted industry consultations to determine the importance of the physical sciences to Australia’s 506 industry classes. They outline the economic contribution of the sciences to the top 10 industry groups in an appendix to the report There are three distinct sources of useful knowledge, the report says: the core disciplines of mathematics, physics and chemistry can provide useful knowledge individually and it takes banking as an example: "“Part of the banking industry relies on complex mathematically based models that support risk and investment decisions, but on no other science input. We estimate that 3.6% of Australia’s economic output is produced from inputs that embody useful knowledge from a single core discipline” The economists also estimate that 7.3% of Australia’s economic output is produced from inputs that embody useful knowledge from multiple disciplines. So the multidisciplinary nature of science means that the total impact of science is greater than the sum of the contributions of the individual sciences

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