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JPEGmini – the Future of Image Compression?-> 3

Submitted by
Iddo Genuth
Iddo Genuth writes "An Israeli company recently unveiled what might be the next generation of image compression technology. Based on the JPEG format, the new JPEGmini is compatible with existing JPEG but capable of reducing the file size of an image by up to 5X without any visible loss of image quality. A revolution on its way? MegaPixel.co.il set out to test it and talk with the developers."
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Space

Massive diamond found orbiting pulsar->

Submitted by
HairyNevus
HairyNevus writes "A recent survey of pulsars has revealed a fascinating discovery of a millisecond pulsar in system PSR J17191438 that has stripped a nearby white dwarf star down to its very core. Although no longer visible, is still has the mass of Jupiter. The remaining core rotates its neutron star companion with a period of just under 2 hours, indicating extremely close proximity. Given this distance, scientists have calculated that the substance of the core must be very compact, and, without building up the point, they conclude it is made of diamond.

One thing I found misleading about the article is that it refers to the core as having "the size of Jupiter" and "the mass of Jupiter". Given their different densities (diamond vs. mostly helium), it would seem clear that their size (i.e. volume) differs."
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Security

Vodafone fails to secure voicemail, twice->

Submitted by
HavanaF
HavanaF writes "Vodafone made a mess in The Netherlands by failing twice, in two days, to secure its customers' voicemail system. Customers include almost all Dutch politicians and the entire government, as Vodafone is the governments' official telco provider.

On Wednesday a TV program aired private voicemails of the Dutch minister of Foreign Affairs and other officials. Anyone could access voicemails of any Vodafone client that had not changed a default access code, set to '3333' by Vodafone in January, maybe earlier, without informing its customers. Vodafone said immediate steps had been taken AND "its the responsibility of the customer to change the code" AND it would now only provide remote access via codes that had been changed by the customer, adding "it has been possible for only a few months to use the default access code".

Then, Thursday, a day later, a Dutch news program airs voicemails to Geert Wilders and the same minister of Foreign Affairs, and others. Dutch security company FoxIT demonstrated it could easily access anyones Vodafone voicemail using Spoofcard, a dubious call ID spoofing service. According to FoxIT, only Vodafone could be spoofed to grant access to voicemail, saying other operators seemed secure.

In response on TV and in a press release Vodafone tries to spin its total failure as "a battle with cybercrime via identity theft". Is that not just another lie by Vodafone?

Check the security of Vodafone voicemail in your country."
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Google

Citation map shows top science cities->

Submitted by mikejuk
mikejuk writes "Which cities around the world produce not just the most but the best scientific papers? Using a database and Google Maps the answer is obvious.A paper in Physics arXiv describes how two researchers combined citation data with Google maps to create a plot showing how important cities around the world were in terms of their contribution to physics, chemistry or psychology."
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NASA

NASA Picks Up Rainstorms On Titan->

Submitted by RedEaredSlider
RedEaredSlider writes "Rainy seasons aren't just a regular occurrence on Earth — they also happen on Titan, the largest moon of Saturn.

The rain isn't water, it's methane. And the seasons are years long, as Titan takes two weeks to go around Saturn and Saturn takes 29 years to complete one circuit of the Sun.

Recent images from the Cassini probe, which is currently orbiting Saturn, show clouds forming in Titan's atmosphere and evidence that liquid methane is soaking the surface."
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OHA lead tips Android 2.3 incoming->

Submitted by Arvisp
Arvisp writes "Android 2.3 Gingerbread is fast approaching, according to Open Handset Alliance “Leadership Team” member Alvaro Fuentes Vasquez. According to his (translated) Twitter message, developers should “Prepare your Nexus One (Developer version) for Android OTA update 2.3 (Gingerbread) in the next few days,” a timescale that fits into previous rumors about the Android SDK.
Meanwhile a recent Flash Player 10.1 update also added fuel to the fire, suggesting that developers should look to installing the software prior to November 11. That date – this coming Thursday – has been heard on several occasions, and it looks like developer Nexus One handsets will be getting a friendly Gingerbread update before the week is out."
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Privacy

HTTPS Everywhere | Electronic Frontier Foundation->

Submitted by timothy
timothy writes "You could download the extension that gives you point-and-click access to other people's (unencrypted) social networking interactions and impersonate them for (totally harmless) pranks, but if you're nice, you'll instead encourage your friends to instead use encryption by default. The EFF and the Tor Project have cooperated to make that easier, with their HTTPS Everywhere extension for Firefox, which rewrites any unencrypted exchanges to "a number of major websites" as encrypted ones instead."
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Everything can be filed under "miscellaneous".