Feed Google Changes Policy on Search Records (nytimes.com)
Google said it would start to make search logs anonymous after 18 to 24 months. Under current practices, the company keeps the logs indefinitely.
Submission + - Bacteria to protect against quakes
Roland Piquepaille writes: "If you live near the sea, chances are high that your home is built over sandy soil. And if an earthquake strikes, deep and sandy soils can turn to liquid, with some disastrous consequences for the buildings sitting on them. But now, U.S. researchers have found a way to use bacteria to steady buildings against earthquakes by turning these sandy soils into rocks. Today, it is possible to inject chemicals in the ground to reinforce it, but this can have toxic effects on soil and water. On the contrary, this use of common bacteria to 'cement' sands has no harmful effects on the environment. But so far, this method is limited to labs and the researchers are working on scaling their technique. Here are more references and a picture showing how unstable ground can aggravate the consequences of an earthquake."
Submission + - Tor Open to Attack
An anonymous reader writes: A group of researchers have written a paper that lays out an attacks against Tor, in enough detail to cause Roger Dingledine a fair amount of heartburn. The essential attacks are: Tor doesn't verify claims of uptime or bandwidth, allowing an attacker to advertise more than it need deliver, and thus draw traffic. If the attacker controls the entry and exit node and has decent clocks, then the attacker can link these together and trace someone through the network. Yowza!
