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Submission + - Cleaning Up US Cyberspace (cfr.org)

Submitted by Gryle
Gryle writes: Robert K. Knake, at the Council of Foreign Relations, argues that the US government and US-based ISPs should increase their efforts to take clean up or quaratine compromised computers based in the US. Arguing from a Westphalian standpoint, Knake notes the success Finland and Japan have had in reducing botnets and botnet-control servers located within their geographic borders but notes "the controls that would make it more difficult to use U.S. infrastructure to carry out criminal activity could also be used to control speech and repress dissent."

Submission + - India launches mini space shuttle (bbc.com)

Submitted by neo12
neo12 writes: India successfully tested its first-ever swadeshi or indigenous space shuttle today as its scale model — the Re-Usable Launch Vehicle — Technology Demonstrator or RLV-TD.

Submission + - Microsoft-Backed Code.org Signs Partnership with Microsoft TEALS to Teach AP CS

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: As PBS reported that the nation's school districts are scrambling to introduce computer science into the K-12 curricula — even turning to teachers with little to no background in CS education ("Any teacher that comes, we'll train them," said the head of Chicago's CS for All program), tech-bankrolled Code.org announced it's signed a partnership with Microsoft TEALS to bring AP Computer Science Principles to high schools across the US. From the announcement: "Working together, Code.org and TEALS will recruit new schools to teach AP CS Principles in a few pilot regions (NYC, Atlanta, Houston, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles and the Bay Area). Computer science professionals who volunteer with TEALS will also assist teachers who go through Code.org professional learning." TEALS is the subject of a $1.1-million-and-counting NSF study that "addresses a major barrier to increasing the number of qualified K-12 computer science teachers in the U.S." The Award Abstract adds that "improving teaching in this area is in the national interest."

Submission + - China reveals plans for large space station called the Tiangong 3 (blastingnews.com)

Submitted by MarkWhittington
MarkWhittington writes: The latest Chinese space station, the Tiangong 2, is slated to be launched later in 2016 and will be visited by Chinese astronauts in a Shenzhou spacecraft. But, according to Spaceflight Insider, the Chinese are already looking ahead to their permanent low Earth orbit space facility, the Tiangong 3, slated to begin construction in 2018

Submission + - How the Pentagon punished NSA whistleblowers (theguardian.com) 1

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: During dozens of hours of interviews, Pentagon IG John Crane told me how senior Defense Department officials repeatedly broke the law to persecute whistleblower Thomas Drake. First, he alleged, they revealed Drake’s identity to the Justice Department; then they withheld (and perhaps destroyed) evidence after Drake was indicted; finally, they lied about all this to a federal judge.

The supreme irony? In their zeal to punish Drake, these Pentagon officials unwittingly taught Snowden how to evade their clutches when the 29-year-old NSA contract employee blew the whistle himself. Snowden was unaware of the hidden machinations inside the Pentagon that undid Drake, but the outcome of those machinations – Drake’s arrest, indictment and persecution – sent an unmistakable message: raising concerns within the system promised doom.

“Name one whistleblower from the intelligence community whose disclosures led to real change – overturning laws, ending policies – who didn’t face retaliation as a result. The protections just aren’t there,” Snowden told the Guardian this week. “The sad reality of today’s policies is that going to the inspector general with evidence of truly serious wrongdoing is often a mistake. Going to the press involves serious risks, but at least you’ve got a chance.”

“They’re saying, ‘We’re doing this to protect you,’” Roark’s fellow whistleblower William Binney told me. “I will tell you that that’s exactly what the Nazis said in Special Order 48 in 1933 – we’re doing this to protect you. And that’s how they got rid of all of their political opponents.”

Submission + - DoD Tripled Polygraphs Post-Edward Snowden

Submitted by George Maschke
George Maschke writes: In a presentation to a group of Texas law students, a polygraph examiner for the U.S. Department of Defense revealed that in the aftermath of Edward Snowden's revelations, the number of polygraphs conducted annually by the department tripled (to over 120,000). Morris also conceded that mental countermeasures to the polygraph are a "tough thing."

Submission + - Germany's Energiewende: The intermittency problem remains (thebulletin.org)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Recent headlines talk about moments of high renewable generation in Germany, but the celebrations are premature. A nearly carbon-free economy is still an ambitious goal for a major Western economy, or any industrial powerhouse of the developed world.

This energy transition has come at a high cost and created not only winners. The Energiewende has also destroyed the effort embedded in existing infrastructure and put an unprecedented strain on German society.

Thus, despite what some op-ed writers may have said, Germany’s energy-turnaround is most assuredly neither cheap nor a done deal, technologically speaking. There are still many issues to be sorted out, and we have more work to do.

Submission + - IBM says it's designed a molecule that could fight off any human virus (sciencealert.com)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: Part of the difficulty in tackling viruses like Ebola and Zika is that they're all so different, and each one can regularly mutate to create different strains within the same virus.

To address this, scientists have been busy looking at common characteristics of viruses that could be used to develop an all-powerful vaccine capable of fighting off any infection, and researchers over at IBM say they're getting close.

It's exciting stuff: a macromolecule – a giant molecule made up of smaller units – has now been developed that could have the potential to block multiple types of viruses, despite the many variations involved. It's still early days yet, but the results could lead to drugs that aren't tricked by mutating virus strains.

The macromolecule has another method of attack too – a sugar called mannose, which attaches itself to healthy immune cells and draws them closer to the virus, speeding up the fight against the infection.

Based on the tests already carried out by the team on viruses such as Ebola and dengue, the macromolecule works as intended. It binds itself to the glycoproteins, disabling viral ability to infect healthy cells, while the mannose was also found to be effective in stopping viruses from infecting immune cells.

In the short term, the researchers think the macromolecules could be used in antiviral wipes or detergents, Gizmag's Chris Wood reports. With further study, we could see vaccinations that are capable of protecting us against a whole range of viruses.

Submission + - Android apps only for Chromebooks less than 2 years old

Submitted by tlhIngan
tlhIngan writes: Yesterday, Google announced Android apps and Play store are coming to Chromebooks. They just released the compatibility list of devices which will support it. Looking at the list, it is obvious that only devices less than two years old are getting the feature. If you have one of the original $1200+ Chromebook Pixels, you're out of luck, your Chromebook is not getting it, despite the hardware being faster and more capable than some current generation Chromebooks on the list, and still being supported by Google.

Comment Re:Unicomp Keyboard (Score 1) 452

by boombox (#49276057) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: Good Keyboard?

Glued together?
I have a few spacesavers and a classic. The classic had its usb cable replaced due to flakeyness in that cable and the spacesaver had one cleaning cycle (remove keys for washing, vacuum and clean baseplate).

Disassembly was easy. No glue anywhere, unless you mean the plastic rivets that bond the baseplate to the foil and keys?

Submission + - FREAK SECURITY FLAW IN APPLE (humorboss.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Many individuals may have been left susceptible to online
hackers while surfing the web on The apple company and Search engines devices,
thanks to a newly discovered protection defect known as “FREAK.”

Submission + - FCC Chairman Defends Net Neutrality At The Biggest Carrier Event

Submitted by dkatana
dkatana writes: At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler defended the recent FCC decision to support net neutrality by reclassifying Internet service providers under Title II of the Federal Communications Act.

According to Wheeler, the only “NO" for carriers under the new rules is no blocking, throttling or paid prioritization. The regulation has many more “NOs” for the agency, he said, listing bans on regulation of the internet, utility-style regulation, rate regulation, tariffing, network unbundling, regulation of technical operating requirements, new taxes or fees.

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The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not "Eureka!" (I found it!) but "That's funny ..." -- Isaac Asimov

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