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Submission + - Scientists Find Microbe That Survives Without Mitochondria (npr.org)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Scientists have found a eukaryote microbe that completely lacks mitochondria, which are the powerhouses inside eukaryotic cells, the type of cell that makes up humans, animals, plants and fungi. All eukaryotic cells contain a nucleus, organelles and mitochondrion. Scientists believe they were once free-living bacteria that got engulfed by primitive, ancient cells that were evolving to become what they are today. Anna Karnkowska, a researcher in evolutionary biology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, found a gut microbe that contains no trace that it made any mitochondrial proteins at all. "That should theoretically kill the cell — it shouldn't exist," she said. The researchers learned that these cells use a kind of machinery that is different than relying on mitochondria to assemble iron-sulfur clusters, which is thought to be a mitochondrial function. Michael Gray, biochemist at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, calls the discovery of a eukaryote without any vestige of mitochondrion "unprecedented." He adds, the results do not negate the idea that the acquisition of a mitochondrion was an important and perhaps defining event in the evolution of eukaryotic cells, because this organism's ancestors had mitochondria that were then lost after the cells acquired their non-mitochondrial system for making iron-sulfur clusters.

Submission + - Top Security Experts Say Anti-Encryption Bill Authors Are 'Woefully Ignorant'

Submitted by blottsie
blottsie writes: In a Wall Street Journal editorial titled "Encryption Without Tears," Sens. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) pushed back on widespread condemnation of their Compliance with Court Orders Act, which would require tech companies to provide authorities with user data in an "intelligible" format if served with a warrant.

But security experts Bruce Schneir, Matthew Green, and others say the lawmakers entirely misunderstand the issue. "On a weekly basis we see gigabytes of that information dumped to the Internet," Green told the Daily Dot. "This is the whole problem that encryption is intended to solve." He added: "You can't hold out the current flaws in the Internet as a justification for why the Internet shouldn't be made secure."

Comment Re:Doesn't matter (Score 1) 61

At best you have varying levels of incompetence competing for survival and trying (in vain) to do the right thing.

As we have seen time and time again, however, there are an abundance of self-serving people that have taken a job nobody else wants. They do as they choose, and when it's "wrong" they get the support of their cronies. Now, I have to wonder why their cronies would be so willing to go out on a limb for them? Is it because they're such nice guys? Is it because they think they might find themselves in a similar situation?

How many pedophiles, murderers, and swindlers are currently holding high ranking offices?

Sorry bro, I'm not about to trust these fucks any further than I can throw them. When they SAY they want to do something "decent", I'll wait until I see some actual follow-through and not just swallow what I'm told.

Lastly - blindly trusting those that have historically (and continue to) lie[d] to you reeks more of religion than being skeptical, to my mind.

Submission + - FCC Proposes New Restrictions On How Broadband Providers Share Data

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: In a 3-2 vote, the Federal Communications Commission agreed to propose new privacy rules for broadband providers like Comcast and Verizon, as part of the FCC's new powers under Section 222 of Title II. The proposal will now enter a comment period, in which providers and other stakeholders will weigh in, before the commission can vote on whether to approve it. Under the proposed rules, providers would have implicit permission to collect any data necessary for providing internet service, typically including name, IP address and other basic subscriber information. Unless the customer opts out, providers would also be able to collect and share data specifically for the purpose of marketing other communications services. Any other use of the data, like sharing it with third-party marketing programs, would require explicit consent from the customer. The rules would also institute new transparency and data security requirements.

Submission + - Oracle seeks US$9.3 billion for Google's use of Java in Android (computerworld.com.au)

Submitted by angry tapir
angry tapir writes: Oracle is seeking as much as US $9.3 billion in damages in a long-running copyright lawsuit against Google over its use of Java in Android, court filings show. Oracle sued Google six years ago, claiming the search giant needs a license to use parts of the Java platform in Google's market-leading mobile OS.

Submission + - Why We Should Fear A Cashless World (theguardian.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Dominic Frisby writes a very interesting, albeit heavily opinionated, article discussing why we should all fear a cashless world. He argues it will hand yet more power to the financial sector in that banks and related fintech companies will oversee all transactions. Every payment you will make will be traceable. While inequality is already a problem, it may too be exacerbated even further in a cashless society. Frisby writes, "Cash, on the other hand, empowers its users. It enables them to buy and sell, and store their wealth, without being dependent on anyone else. They can stay outside the financial system, if so desired."

Submission + - Paris Terrorists Used Burner Phones, Not Encryption, To Evade Detection (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: New details of the Paris attacks carried out last November reveal that it was the consistent use of prepaid burner phones, not encryption, that helped keep the terrorists off the radar of the intelligence services. As an article in The New York Times reports: "the three teams in Paris were comparatively disciplined. They used only new phones that they would then discard, including several activated minutes before the attacks, or phones seized from their victims." The article goes on to give more details of how some phones were used only very briefly in the hours leading up to the attacks. "Everywhere they went, the attackers left behind their throwaway phones, including in Bobigny, at a villa rented in the name of Ibrahim Abdeslam. When the brigade charged with sweeping the location arrived, it found two unused cellphones still inside their boxes." At another location used by one of the terrorists, the police found dozens of unused burner phones "still in their wrappers." As The New York Times says, one of the most striking aspects of the phones is that not a single e-mail or online chat message from the attackers was found on them. But rather than trying to avoid discovery by using encryption — which would in itself have drawn attention to their accounts — they seem to have stopped using the internet as a communication channel altogether, and turned to standard cellular network calls on burner phones.

Submission + - Comcast failed to install Internet then demanded $60,000 in fees (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by Earthquake Retrofit
Earthquake Retrofit writes: Silicon Valley startup called SmartCar in Mountain View, California signed up for Comcast Internet service. After hearing Comcast excuses for months, company owner Katta finally got fed up and decided that he would find a new office building once his 12-month lease expires on April 20 of this year. Katta told Comcast he wanted to “cancel” his nonexistent service and get a refund for a $2,100 deposit he had paid. Instead, Comcast told him he’d have to pay more than $60,000 to get out of his contract with the company. Comcast eventually waived the fee—but only after being contacted by Ars Technica about the case.

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