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
iOS 9 security blooper lets you BYPASS PINs, eye up photos, contacts
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Official: North America COMPLETELY OUT of new IPv4 addresses
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 gone.
Now’s the time to move to over to IPv6, ARIN boss tells El Reg
Source: Official: North America COMPLETELY OUT of new IPv4 addresses
5.6m, not 1.1m fingerprint images of us gov security cleared people stolen
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. believes was a Chinese espionage operation that affected an estimated 21.5 million current and former federal employees or job applicants. The theft could give Chinese intelligence a huge leg up in recruiting informants inside the U.S. government, experts believe. It also could help the Chinese identify U.S. spies abroad, according to American officials.
Dutch MOD, P&W sign contract to stand up F135 maintenance site
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 F135 maintenance site
Cheap thermal imagers can steal user PINs
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, the FLIR One, which retails for US$249 (A$340).
The company tested several PIN pads in ATMs, locks and safes with the thermal imagers and found they could “leak” the digits entered by legimate users for longer than a minute after use.
Cheap thermal imagers can steal user PINs
The Sensel Morph – finally a replacement Fingerworks Touchstream!
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 gestures the guys at Fingerworks invented before it was bought up (and then commercially killed) by Apple!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1152958674/the-sensel-morph-interaction-evolved
Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science – not doing too well…
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 research is unknown. We conducted replications of 100 experimental and correlational studies published in three psychology journals using high-powered designs and original materials when available. Replication effects were half the magnitude of original effects, representing a substantial decline. Ninety-seven percent of original studies had statistically significant results. Thirty-six percent of replications had statistically significant results; 47% of original effect sizes were in the 95% confidence interval of the replication effect size; 39% of effects were subjectively rated to have replicated the original result; and if no bias in original results is assumed, combining original and replication results left 68% with statistically significant effects. Correlational tests suggest that replication success was better predicted by the strength of original evidence than by characteristics of the original and replication teams.
Source: Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science
Illumibowl – motion activated coloured light for your toilet
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 – strip lighting connected to wifi that changes colour
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 hue | The system
Basically it comes in all shapes and sizes and can turn your house into a nightclub. You run it from your mobile or you can automate the on and off through a website. It plugs into your normal fittings and you have to buy a controller (bridge) that can handle 50 bulbs.
Ex-Secret Service agent who siphoned almost $1m worth of Bitcoin from Silk Road takes plea deal
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 in cash.
Bridges also admitted to lying to investigators and working to obstruct others who were investigating both Silk Road and his own actions.
Source: Ex-Secret Service agent who siphoned Bitcoin from Silk Road takes plea deal
Apply Magic Sauce – Cambridge University Prediction API that takes your Facebook likes and creates a predictive psych-demographic profile
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: Apply Magic Sauce – Prediction API – Test
Translucent Li-ion Battery Charges Itself by Using Sunlight, could be used as smartphone screen
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 pigmented, lowering light transmittance).
The group is led by Mitsunobu Sato, president of Kogakuin University and professor at the Department of Applied Physics, School of Advanced Engineering of the university. The battery was exhibited at Innovation Japan 2015, a trade show that took place from Aug 27 and 28, 2015, in Tokyo.
Source: Translucent Li-ion Battery Charges Itself by Using Sunlight
381 Wikipedia editors ban hammered for extorting article subjects to pay “protection money”
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, the fraudster editors would create complete but unpublished articles about anything from Bitcoin casinos to rock bands. They’d then approach the subject of the article and offer to publish it for a fee. If the subject agreed, the page would go live, and the Wikipedia editors would then offer the subject of the article an insurance policy of sorts. For about $30 a month, they’d “protect the article from vandalism and prevent its deletion.” That’s kind of like how you can pay off the mafia so that you don’t get robbed.
Source: Wikipedia Bans Hundreds of Editors Who Extorted Users for Cash
Ultimate Windows Tweaker
‘Archaeology on steroids’: huge ritual arena discovered near Stonehenge
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 of up to 90 huge standing stones formed part of a C-shaped Neolithic arena that bordered a dry valley and faced directly towards the river Avon.
Researchers used ground-penetrating radar to image about 30 intact stones measuring up to 4.5m tall. The fragments of 60 more buried stones, or the massive foundation pits in which they stood, reveal the full extent of the monument.
Mpow Grip Magic Air Vent Magnetic Car Mount Holder for iPhone and Andriod
How Ashley Madison Hid Its Fembot Con From Users and Investigators
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 Hid Its Fembot Con From Users and Investigators
AI starts here!
Microsoft pushes 3GB Windows 10 to your PC even if you don’t want to upgrade — here’s how to stop it
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 is enabled, and that this is nothing new — it’s been happening since Windows 10 launched on July 29.
Source: Microsoft will download Windows 10 even if you don’t want to upgrade — here’s how to stop it
3GB is a huge amount of bandwidth, especially if you’re on a metered connection!
Yup, the US spied on Japan big time…
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/
Windows 10 Uses Your Bandwidth to Distribute Updates, Disable It Here
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 cap and want fast updates. The problem is, many ISPs have some form of data cap. This can potentially use up your allotment of data without you even realizing it’s happened. To turn it off, follow these steps:
Search for “Check for updates” in the Start menu.
Under “Windows Update” choose “Advanced options.”
Under “Choose how updates are installed” click “Choose how updates are delivered.”
Disable the toggle under “Updated from more than one place.”
Source: Windows 10 Uses Your Bandwidth to Distribute Updates, Disable It Here
Classic Shell – Start menu and other Windows enhancements
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 for Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10
Toolbar and status bar for Windows Explorer
Caption and status bar for Internet Explorer
Source: Classic Shell – Start menu and other Windows enhancements
How to Do a Clean Install of Windows 10, even after free upgrade
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 a Clean Install of Windows Without Losing Your Files, Settings, and Tweaks How to Do a Clean Install of Windows Without Losin There’s nothing like a fresh install of Windows to clear your mind, but it comes at a cost:… Read more Read more
Source: How to Do a Clean Install of Windows 10
This works with a free upgrade too, because Microsoft just “knows” your machine and says it’s ok. How does this work then? A bit creepy!
Behavioral Profiling: The password you can’t change. Your identity through how you type
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 typed. You can then be identified on other websites using the same underlying system. Paul Moore has created a proof-of-concept Chrome extension which changes the output of your typing to the website by randomising the rate at which the browser sends it to the website.
Star Wars Death Star Kitchen Timer Urban Collector
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!
Here’s The Incredibly Hacky Way to Disable Windows 10 Updates – if you know they exist
Windows 10 auto-downloads and auto-installs updates. This is mostly a Good Thing for general security, but becomes a Bad Thing when said update installs a glitchy graphics driver that breaks your desktop. There is a way to disable auto-updates, but it’s not pretty.
Source: Here’s The Incredibly Hacky Way to Disable Windows 10 Updates
Auto updating is an incredibly bad idea – downloading consumes bandwidth (most annoying if you’re on a public wifi), installing causes HD IO and CPU useage (consuming battery and making your laptop hot) and then there is that dreaded auto reboot, where the document or spreadsheet you’ve been working on suddenly disappears in a flash of rebooting now messages.
Please get rid of this, Microsoft! I understand you have auto-update on by default, it’s a good idea for many users, but really, give us a choice!