Day: February 9, 2018

Wish you could log into someone’s Netgear box without a password? Summon a &genie=1 – get patching!

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Some 17 Netgear routers have a remote authentication bypass, meaning malware or miscreants on your network, or able to reach the device’s web-based configuration interface from the internet, can gain control without having to provide a password. Just stick &genie=1 in the URL, and bingo. That’s pretty bad news for any vulnerable gateways with remote Read more about Wish you could log into someone’s Netgear box without a password? Summon a &genie=1 – get patching![…]

Robot learns to mimic simple human motions

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, in the USA, have made some progress on this front by teaching code controlling a robot arm and hand to perform three tasks: grabbing an object and placing it in a specific position; pushing an object; and pushing and pulling an object after seeing the same action performed Read more about Robot learns to mimic simple human motions[…]

SpaceX Roadster skips Mars, steers to asteroids, central core booster explodes

Posted on by Robin Edgar

During a press conference after liftoff, Musk said it was dicey whether the second stage would power up at all. The fuel could have frozen, the oxygen boiled off, or the avionics failed, as the rocket spent more than five hours in our planet’s high-radiation Van Allen belts before firing up. Usually spacecraft punch through Read more about SpaceX Roadster skips Mars, steers to asteroids, central core booster explodes[…]

Cheddar Man: Britains’ first men were black. And so were Europes’.

Posted on by Robin Edgar

New research into ancient DNA extracted from the skeleton has helped scientists to build a portrait of Cheddar Man and his life in Mesolithic Britain.The biggest surprise, perhaps, is that some of the earliest modern human inhabitants of Britain may not have looked the way you might expect.Dr Tom Booth is a postdoctoral researcher working Read more about Cheddar Man: Britains’ first men were black. And so were Europes’.[…]

PinMe: Tracking a Smartphone User around the World with GPS and WiFi off

Posted on by Robin Edgar

We describe PinMe, a novel user-location mechanism that exploits non-sensory/sensory data stored on the smartphone, e.g., the environment’s air pressure, along with publicly-available auxiliary information, e.g., elevation maps, to estimate the user’s location when all location services, e.g., GPS, are turned off. Source: [1802.01468] PinMe: Tracking a Smartphone User around the World

The gender pay gap at Uber is small and has a reason

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Specifically, the study stated, drivers who make runs for Uber more frequently are more likely to know where and when to operate in order to get the highest-paying fares. Thus, because women, on average, spend less time driving for Uber than their male counterparts, they are less likely to be around to grab the highest-paying Read more about The gender pay gap at Uber is small and has a reason[…]