Linking ideas with the world
Following up Lenovo’s blunders regarding the Superfish malware and altered BIOS, Michael Horowitz at ComputerWorld reports that a refurbished ThinkPad he bought includes Lenovo spyware under the guise of “Customer Feedback”. After some digging around, he found the following in a support document: “Lenovo says here that all ThinkPad, ThinkCentre and ThinkStation PCs, running Windows Read more about Lenovo, still spying on all PCs[…]
oops Simple sequence opens up iPhones, iPads even if they have a passcode set Source: iOS 9 security blooper lets you BYPASS PINs, eye up photos, contacts
In the past few minutes, ARIN – the non-profit that oversees the allocation of IP addresses in North America – confirmed the available pool of the 32-bit network addresses is totally depleted. Last night, the team estimated there were just 1,024 IPv4 addresses left in its pool – dregs, in other words. Now that’s all Read more about Official: North America COMPLETELY OUT of new IPv4 addresses[…]
WASHINGTON — The number of people applying for or receiving security clearances whose fingerprint images were stolen in one of the worst U.S. government data breaches is now believed to be 5.6 million, not 1.1 million as first thought, the Office of Personnel Management announced Wednesday. The agency was the victim of what the U.S. Read more about 5.6m, not 1.1m fingerprint images of us gov security cleared people stolen[…]
The Dutch Ministry of Defence has formalised an agreement with Pratt & Whitney to establish an organic F135 engine maintenance, repair, overhaul and upgrade (MRO&U) shop at the Royal Netherlands Air Force’s Woensdrecht Logistics Centre with the goal of supporting Lockheed Martin F-35 operations by 2019. Source: Dutch MOD, P&W sign contract to stand up Read more about Dutch MOD, P&W sign contract to stand up F135 maintenance site[…]
A British infosec company has found that cheap thermal imaging accessories for smartphones can be used to glean personal identification numbers entered on push-button security devices on bank ATMs.. Thermal imaging devices used to be bulky and expensive, but Sec-Tec told iTnews they can now be bought cheaply as compact iPhone accessories – for instance, Read more about Cheap thermal imagers can steal user PINs[…]
These guys have launched a wildly succesfull kickstarter to produce what is basically a large touchpad. You can print 3D overlays which magnetically lock into place. Programming new overlays shouldn’t be too tough. It’s sensitive enough to detect paint brushes. Now let’s hope it can be a keyboard with the pinch and zoom and multifinger Read more about The Sensel Morph – finally a replacement Fingerworks Touchstream![…]
Yet again a major study looks at reproducing results (in this case only in psychological studies) and finds that the strength of the results is much lower than published. Expect this to happen for economics, political science, etc as well. Reproducibility is a defining feature of science, but the extent to which it characterizes current Read more about Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science – not doing too well…[…]
Light up the toilet at night with Illumibowl – a motion activated toilet bowl night light. Ideal for potty training or as a fun gift for that special someone. Source: Illumibowl It can rotate colours!
Philips Hue combines brilliant LED light with intuitive technology. Then puts it in the palm of your hand.Together, the bulbs, the bridge and the app will change the way you use light. Forever. Experiment with shades of white, from invigorating blue/white to cozy yellow/white. Or play with all the colors in the spectrum. Source: Meet Read more about Philips Hue – strip lighting connected to wifi that changes colour[…]
The US Department of Justice (DoJ) said Bridges admitted to using a seized administrator account on Silk Road in order to lift Bitcoin from various accounts and deposit them into his own wallet. He then sold off the Bitcoin on the Mt Gox exchange between March and May of 2013 and came away with $820,000 Read more about Ex-Secret Service agent who siphoned almost $1m worth of Bitcoin from Silk Road takes plea deal[…]
his is a prediction of your psycho-demographic profile based on your Facebook Likes. It uses a snapshot of your digital footprint to visualise how others perceive you online and therefore may not be an entirely accurate picture of who you really are. You could take more psychometric tests as well and compare the results! Source: Read more about Apply Magic Sauce – Cambridge University Prediction API that takes your Facebook likes and creates a predictive psych-demographic profile[…]
A Japanese research group prototyped a translucent lithium-ion (Li-ion) rechargeable battery that can charge itself by using sunlight. With the battery, the group aims to realize a “smart window,” which is an almost transparent window that functions both as a large-area rechargeable battery and as a photovoltaic cell (when the window receives sunlight, it is Read more about Translucent Li-ion Battery Charges Itself by Using Sunlight, could be used as smartphone screen[…]
Wikipedia is no stranger to scandals, but a quiet update on its administrators’ announcement board reveals a big problem. The site’s CheckUser team recently banned 381 editors’ accounts for “undisclosed paid advocacy.” In other words, these Wikipedians were secretly shilling for brands and even resorting to extortion. The scam is relatively straightforward. Using sockpuppet accounts, Read more about 381 Wikipedia editors ban hammered for extorting article subjects to pay “protection money”[…]
Available for all versions of Windows, this offers a plethora of tweaks for your system.
Researchers find hidden remains of massive Neolithic stone monument, thought to have been hauled into position more than 4,500 years ago Source: ‘Archaeology on steroids’: huge ritual arena discovered near Stonehenge Archaeologists have discovered the remains of a massive stone monument buried under a thick, grassy bank only two miles from Stonehenge. The hidden arrangement Read more about ‘Archaeology on steroids’: huge ritual arena discovered near Stonehenge[…]
For only $6,- this looks like a great way to mount your smartphone
The developers at Ashley Madison created their first artificial woman sometime in early 2002. Her nickname was Sensuous Kitten, and she is listed as the tenth member of Ashley Madison in the company’s leaked user database. On her profile, she announces: “I’m having trouble with my computer … send a message!” Source: How Ashley Madison Read more about How Ashley Madison Hid Its Fembot Con From Users and Investigators[…]
After a concerned Windows user wrote in to the Inquirer, reports blew up this week that Microsoft is downloading Windows 10 installation files onto users’ machines without them reserving a copy of the new operating system. We reached out to the company to set the record straight; we confirmed that this occurs when Automatic Updates Read more about Microsoft pushes 3GB Windows 10 to your PC even if you don’t want to upgrade — here’s how to stop it[…]
US spied on Japanese PM Abe, Mitsubishi, and so much more • The Register http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/07/31/nsa_spied_on_japan_mitsubishi/
This new distribution method works a lot like torrents do. Everyone has Windows 10 on their machine, so each person seeds a little bit of the files to those who need it, distributing the load across multiple computers and helping everyone download updates quickly. This is a great feature for those who have no data Read more about Windows 10 Uses Your Bandwidth to Distribute Updates, Disable It Here[…]
Classic Shell™ is free software that improves your productivity, enhances the usability of Windows and empowers you to use the computer the way you like it. The main features are: Highly customizable start menu with multiple styles and skins Quick access to recent, frequently-used, or pinned programs Find programs, settings, files and documents Start button Read more about Classic Shell – Start menu and other Windows enhancements[…]
Windows 10 is finally here, and your computer will automatically prompt you to upgrade. But if you’d rather start fresh, you can do a clean install—you just need to follow a few steps in the right order.http://lifehacker.com/5983652/how-to… How to Do a Clean Install of Windows Without Losing Your Files, Settings, and Tweaks How to Do Read more about How to Do a Clean Install of Windows 10, even after free upgrade[…]
You can be identified by how you type, even behind proxies and Tor. Protect yourself with KeyboardPrivacy. Source: Behavioral Profiling: The password you can’t change. Some websites are storing your typing patterns and it turns out that after some training, systems can identify who is in a system by the way in which passwords are Read more about Behavioral Profiling: The password you can’t change. Your identity through how you type[…]
Star Wars Death Star Kitchen Timer Urban Collector Note, it’s a pre-order, so no idea if and when, but it sure looks good to me!