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Submission + - Netflix Stealthy Reduces Service, Keeps Prices the Same

Submitted by Nom du Keyboard
Nom du Keyboard writes: After seeing a drop in my DVD service from Netflix I got a customer service representative tonight to confirm that Netflix has ceased processing DVD returns on Saturdays nationwide. And that they did this without either notifying their customers, nor reducing prices to compensate for the reduced service. Given that the DVD selection still far outstrips their streaming selection, this may be news to others like myself who don't find streaming an adequate replacement for plastic discs. My experience up until recently, unlike Netflix's promise of a 1-3 day turnaround at their end which gives them lots of wiggle room to degrade service even further, had been of mailing in a DVD on day one, having them receive it and mail out my next selection on day two, and receiving it on day three. Now with them only working 5 days and many US Post Office holidays, they're still getting the same money for significantly less. Is Netflix still the good guy here?

Submission + - What keeps stone arches from falling down? (sciencemag.org)

Submitted by sciencehabit
sciencehabit writes: People often wonder how delicate arches and finely balanced pillars of stone stand up to the stress of holding up their own immense weight. Actually, new research suggests, it’s that stress that helps pack individual grains of sand together and slows erosion of the formations. At large scale in the real world, stress transmitted through arches and pillars to their bases slows down—but doesn’t stop—natural sculpting due to wind and water, the researchers say. Bits of the landform that don’t bear weight are among the first to wear away, which helps explain why arches are often unusually smooth.

Submission + - A look at NASA's Orion Project

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: People in north Iowa got a first-hand look at NASA’s Orion Project. Contractors with NASA were in Forest City to talk about the new project and show off a model of the new spaceship. NASA has big plans to send humans to an asteroid by 2025. The mission, however, will not be possible without several important components that include yet-to-be-developed technologies, as well as the Space Launch System (SLS) and the Orion spacecraft to fly astronauts beyond low-Earth orbit. In fact, Orion's first flight test later this year will provide NASA with vital data that will be used to design future missions.

Submission + - Ars editor learns feds have his old IP addresses, full credit card numbers (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by mpicpp
mpicpp writes: FOIA request turns up 9 years of records, including plaintext credit card numbers

In May 2014, Cyrus Farivar reported on his efforts to learn what the feds know about me whenever I enter and exit the country. In particular, he wanted my Passenger Name Records (PNR), data created by airlines, hotels, and cruise ships whenever travel is booked.

ASK ARS: CAN I SEE WHAT INFORMATION THE FEDS HAVE ON MY TRAVEL?

One Ars editor tries to FOIA travel documents on himself.
But instead of providing what he had requested, the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) turned over only basic information about my travel going back to 1994. So he appealed—and without explanation, the government recently turned over the actual PNRs I had requested the first time.
The 76 new pages of data, covering 2005 through 2013, show that CBP retains massive amounts of data on us when we travel internationally. His own PNRs include not just every mailing address, e-mail, and phone number I've ever used; some of them also contain:

The IP address that I used to buy the ticket
His credit card number (in full)
The language he used
Notes on his phone calls to airlines, even for something as minor as a seat change
The breadth of long-term data retention illustrates yet another way that the federal government enforces its post-September 11 "collect it all" mentality.

Submission + - States That Raised Minimum Wage See No Slow-Down in Job Growth

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The U.S. Department of Labor has released data that some proponents of raising minimum wage are touting as evidence that higher minimum wage promotes job growth. While the data doesn't actually establish cause and effect, it does "run counter to a Congressional Budget Office report in February that said raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, as the White House supports, would cost 500,000 jobs." The data shows that the 13 states that raised their minimum wages in January added jobs at a faster rate than those that didn't. Other factors likely contributed to this outcome, but some economists are simply relieved that the higher wage factor didn't have a dramatically negative effect in general.

Submission + - Google addresses Chrome battery-drain issue (latesttoptechnews.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A bug in Chrome that saps Windows laptops battery life had been left unattended to for two years---simply because we fail to star the issue on the bug tracker to be look at. But, the good news is Google has been drawn to it, all thanks to a Forbes' writer. The Google Chrome team has said it is working to fix it.

Submission + - iPhone 6 Sapphire Glass Vs 1.4 Ton Car (latesttoptechnews.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: If Marque Browless' video of the iPhone 6 sapphire Glass screen toughness did not cut any ice with you, then watch this one. Here you will see the phone's sapphire crystal display, among other stress tests, pitted against a 1.4 ton car.

Submission + - Machine Learning Used to prevent medication errors (i24news.tv)

Submitted by Iddo Genuth
Iddo Genuth writes: There are an estimated 7,000 deaths in the United States due to preventable medication errors each year. A new company called MedAware is looking to use artificial intelligence and smart learning algorithms to counter this growing problem.

MedAware developed smart software that analyzes large databases of medical records and created specific profiles for each drug based on the type of patients to which it was given (including things such as age, sex, medical history and condition). Whenever a patient who does not fit the profile of a specific drug receives a prescription for it — a message pops up on the physician's computer signaling a problem.

Submission + - In Search Of Greener Fracking For Natural Gas (insidescience.org) 1

Submitted by benonemusic
benonemusic writes: Though fracking fluids are 90 percent water, and 9.5 percent "proppant," which typically includes treated sand, chemicals that make up the remaining 0.5 percent can add up considering the tens of millions of gallons of water used in fracking. Representatives from the natural gas industry, chemical companies and nonprofit organizations came together at a conference to discuss ways to reduce the number of chemicals used in fracking and develop environmentally safer alternatives.

Submission + - Congress "Defends" State Rights by Passing Law Prohibiting Local ISP Competition

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to approve a proposal that would essentially allow states to prohibit local municipalities from setting up their own ISPs to introduce competition in local markets. The bill seems to be a pre-emptive strike against FCC claims that it plans to limit the ability of individual states from stifling local competition. The proposal was inserted into a general appropriations bill (appropriations bill = government funding bill) by Representative Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and passed 223-200. Blackburn, of course, has received thousands of dollars in "donations" from large, well-known ISPs and from the National Cable & Telecommunications Association. The bill has to pass in the Senate in order to become law.

Submission + - Why the FCC Will Ignore Your Net Neutrality Comment and Listen to ISPs Instead

Submitted by Jason Koebler
Jason Koebler writes: Time and time again, federal agencies like the FCC ignore what the public says it wants and sides with the parties actually being regulated—the ISPs, in this case. Research and past example prove that there's not much that can be considered democratic about the public comment period or its aftermath.
"Typically, there are a score or so of lengthy comments that include extensive data, analysis, and arguments. Courts require agencies to respond to comments of that type, and they sometimes persuade an agency to take an action that differs from its proposal," Richard Pierce, a George Washington University regulatory law professor said. "Those comments invariably come from companies with hundreds of millions or billions of dollars at stake or the lawyers and trade associations that represent them. Those are the only comments that have any chance of persuading an agency."

Submission + - T-Mobile: Data Caps Are a Symptom of Uncompetitive Markets (dslreports.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: In an emergency petition filed with the FCC, T-Mobile accuses AT&T and Verizon of hoarding spectrum for anti-competitive benefit, then over-charging consumers via usage caps the company argues aren't technically necessary. To hear T-Mobile tell it, AT&T and Verizon then use their duopoly power to hoard spectrum to limit competitors, then charge those under-positioned competitors an arm and a leg for roaming connectivity — jacking up prices for everyone in the process.

Click for full size
T-Mobile is urging the FCC to force companies like AT&T and Verizon to offer roaming connectivity to competing companies for significantly lower rates. Consumer costs were recently cut in half after European Regulators capped roaming rates.

Submission + - 'Hidden From Google' Remembers the Sites Google Is Forced to Forget (vice.com)

Submitted by Daniel_Stuckey
Daniel_Stuckey writes: Hidden From Google, the brainchild of a web programmer in New Jersey, archives each website that Google is required to take down from European Union search listings thanks to the recent court decision that allows people to request that certain pages be scrubbed from Google's search results if they're outdated or irrelevant. That decision has resulted in takedown requests from convicted sex offenders and huge banking companies, among thousands of others.

Submission + - Japanese Woman Arrested to Selling 3D Printable Files of Her Vagina (3dprint.com)

Submitted by jigmypig
jigmypig writes: A woman in Japan has been arrested for selling 3D printable files of her vagina to random men via the internet. The files included items such as 3D printable smartphone cases engraved with nothing else but her genitalia. To do this, she scanned her vagina and then put them into a 3D printable file. Men were then able to purchase the files directly from her, and she would deliver them via email. As you know, the rules in Japan concerning the exposure or depiction of female genitalia are very strict. There is already a petition being passed around trying to get her released.

Submission + - Want To Ensure Your Personal Android Data Is Truly Wiped? Turn On Encryption (hothardware.com) 1

Submitted by MojoKid
MojoKid writes: We've been around the block enough times to know that outside of shredding a storage medium, all data is recoverable. It's just matter of time, money, and effort. However, it was still sobering to find out exactly how much data security firm Avast was able to recover from Android devices it purchased from eBay, which included everything from naked selfies to even a completed loan application. Does this mean we shouldn't ever sell the old handset? Luckily, the answer is no. Avast's self-serving study was to promote its Anti-Theft app available on Google Play. The free app comes with a wipe feature that overwrites all files, thereby making them invisible to casual recovery methods. That's one approach. There's another solution that's incredibly easy and doesn't require downloading and installing anything. Before you sell your Android phone on eBay, Craigslist, or wherever, enable encryption and wait for it to encrypt the on board storage. After that, perform a wipe and reset as normal, which will obliterate the encryption key and ensure the data on your device can't be read. This may not work on certain devices, which will ask you to decrypt data before wiping but most should follow this convention just fine.

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