Monthly Archives: June 2017

Judge Sentences Man To One Year In Prison For Hacking Smart Water Readers In Five US Cities

Posted on by

An anonymous reader writes: A Pennsylvania man was sentenced to one year and one day in prison for hacking and disabling base stations belonging to water utility providers in five cities across the U.S. East Coast. Called TGB, these devices collect data from smart meters installed at people’s homes and relay the information to the water provider’s main systems, where it is logged, monitored for incidents, and processed for billing. Before he was fired by the unnamed TGB manufacturing company, Flanagan’s role was to set up these devices. After he was fired, Flanagan used former root account passwords to log onto the devices and disable their ability to communicate with their respective water utility providers’ upstream equipment. He wasn’t that careful, as the FBI was able to trace back the attacks to his home. Apparently, the guy wasn’t that silent, leaving behind a lot of clues. Flanagan’s attacks resulted in water utility providers not being able to collect user equipment readings remotely. This incurred damage to the utility providers, who had to send out employees at customer premises to collect monthly readings. He was arrested in Nov 2014, and later pleaded guilty.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.



Source: Slashdot – Judge Sentences Man To One Year In Prison For Hacking Smart Water Readers In Five US Cities

We desperately need a way to defend against online propaganda

Posted on by

Enlarge / Would you get your Internet from this van? (credit: Bobotech – Know Your Meme)

We’ve learned something from the investigation into whether Russia meddled in the US election that has nothing to do with politics. Humans are more vulnerable than ever to propaganda, and we have no clue what to do about it.

Social media as weapon

A new report in The Washington Post reveals that the Obama administration and intelligence community knew about Russian attempts to disrupt the 2016 election months in advance. But they did virtually nothing, mostly because they didn’t anticipate attacks from weaponized memes and propaganda bots.

Former deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes told the Post that the members of the intelligence community focused on more traditional digital threats like network penetration. They wanted to prevent e-mail leaks, and they also worried about Russian operatives messing with voting machines. “In many ways… we dealt with this as a cyberthreat and focused on protecting our infrastructure,” he said. “Meanwhile, the Russians were playing this much bigger game, which included elements like released hacked materials, political propaganda, and propagating fake news, which they’d pursued in other countries.”

Read 15 remaining paragraphs | Comments



Source: Ars Technica – We desperately need a way to defend against online propaganda

William Gibson's 'Hinterlands' Is Becoming a Multimedia Animated Franchise

Posted on by

The hand-drawn animation studio Last Studio Standing just announced plans to adapt William Gibson’s scifi story “Hinterlands” into a short film and a television series, with a potential second TV series that could spin off the first.

Read more…



Source: Gizmodo – William Gibson’s ‘Hinterlands’ Is Becoming a Multimedia Animated Franchise

These Finches Have a Brilliant Strategy For Fighting Off Ticks

Posted on by

Everyone is talking about ticks this year, for good reason: This year’s tick forecast is especially bad. But humans aren’t the only ones worried about the horrible little buggers. It seems like at least one bird species safeguards its nests against ticks with a surprising piece of litter. Cigarette butts.

Read more…



Source: Gizmodo – These Finches Have a Brilliant Strategy For Fighting Off Ticks

Seth Stephens-Davidowitz Talks to Us About Secrets 

Posted on by

We’re living in a time of secrets. Whether it’s the health-care bill, Russia’s secret connection with our recent election, or the lies we all tell, secrets plague us all. In this episode of The Upgrade, Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, author of “Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who…

Read more…



Source: LifeHacker – Seth Stephens-Davidowitz Talks to Us About Secrets 

Here's what Nintendo needs to do to make the SNES Classic great 

Posted on by

Before Nintendo unveiled the Switch, its new hybrid game console, to the world, it re-released an old one. The NES Classic Edition was an adorably small box of nostalgia packed with some of the best games for Nintendo’s original home console. Now, th…

Source: Engadget – Here’s what Nintendo needs to do to make the SNES Classic great 

Goodbye Gchat, Hello Chaos

Posted on by

A chat client, in my experience, needs to do one thing besides facilitate a text exchange between two or more parties: It needs to inform you whether someone is or is not available to send and receive such messages. Gchat used to do that fairly well—in a small box of frequent contacts, it displayed which of your past…

Read more…



Source: Gizmodo – Goodbye Gchat, Hello Chaos

How to Install the iOS 11 Public Beta (If You Dare)

Posted on by

Apple just launched the iOS 11 public beta for the whole world to try, and holy heck, don’t get too excited yet. Obviously, your iPhone or iPad will be cooler than all your friends’ are if you’re running the new software before any of them. There will be consequences, though.

Read more…



Source: Gizmodo – How to Install the iOS 11 Public Beta (If You Dare)

Apple Releases First Public Beta Of iOS 11 for iPhone and iPad

Posted on by

Zac Hall, writing for 9to5Mac: Apple has released the first macOS High Sierra public beta for Mac. This allows users who are not registered developers to test pre-release versions of macOS with new features for free. Prior to the public beta availability, macOS High Sierra has only been available to test with a $99/year developer account. You can register for the free public beta program here. [Note: some outlets report that the update is still “coming soon.” […] Apple has released the first iOS 11 public beta for iPhone and iPad. This allows users who are not registered developers to test pre-release versions of iOS with new features for free. You can register for the free public beta program here..

Read more of this story at Slashdot.



Source: Slashdot – Apple Releases First Public Beta Of iOS 11 for iPhone and iPad

Apple Releases First Public Beta Of MacOS High Sierra for Mac, iOS 11 for iPhone and iPad

Posted on by

Zac Hall, writing for 9to5Mac: Apple has released the first macOS High Sierra public beta for Mac. This allows users who are not registered developers to test pre-release versions of macOS with new features for free. Prior to the public beta availability, macOS High Sierra has only been available to test with a $99/year developer account. You can register for the free public beta program here. […] Apple has released the first iOS 11 public beta for iPhone and iPad. This allows users who are not registered developers to test pre-release versions of iOS with new features for free. You can register for the free public beta program here..

Read more of this story at Slashdot.



Source: Slashdot – Apple Releases First Public Beta Of MacOS High Sierra for Mac, iOS 11 for iPhone and iPad

Google gives students interactive tools for STEM and internet safety

Posted on by

Google launched a new browser-based Google Earth this past April, adding educational tools to make it easier for teachers to show the world off to students without having to leave the classroom. The company also collaborated with the BBC to create a…

Source: Engadget – Google gives students interactive tools for STEM and internet safety

Beautiful Cutaway Of Jake And Finn's Treehouse From Adventure Time

Posted on by

adventure-time-treehouse-1.jpg

Note: Larger version HERE, but some worthwhile closeups after the jump.

This is a cutaway of Jake and Finn’s treehouse from Adventure Time as drawn by Russian artist Max Degtyarev. I wouldn’t mind a poster of it. And by poster I mean life-size physical recreation in my backyard, which is technically my apartment building’s parking lot, which floods when it rains, which thankfully isn’t that often because it soaks into my upholstery and makes my car smell, which already smells bad enough on account of all fast food bags of rotting leftovers in the backseat. I’m what most people would refer to as a disgusting monster, as evidenced by all the 1-star reviews and ‘disgusting monster’ comments I’ve gotten driving Uber. I also don’t obey stop signs, stop lights, or GPS directions.

Keep going for a bunch of closeups.

Source: Geekologie – Beautiful Cutaway Of Jake And Finn’s Treehouse From Adventure Time

Turkey pulls evolution from its high school curriculum

Posted on by

Enlarge / A young Charles Darwin, before evolution had caused any public controversy. (credit: National Library of Medicine)

In the US, opponents of evolution have tried to undercut instruction on the topic by suggesting schools should “teach the controversy.” The national education authorities in Turkey, however, have decided that teachers should avoid any hint of controversy in the classroom. In service of that goal, the country is pulling evolution out of its high school curriculum entirely. The change will be implemented during the upcoming school year, 2017-2018.

In Turkey, the curriculum for state-run schools is set by the national government. The move against education in biology came as the state education authorities were undertaking a review of the national curriculum. Reports indicate that the review largely resulted in an emphasis on religious themes and Turkish culture and history, at the expense of information on Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his role in the founding of the modern Turkish state.

But science got caught up in the process somehow. According to the head of the national board of education, Alpaslan Durmus, the problem is that Turkish students aren’t given the necessary scientific background to separate the theory from the controversy that it has generated in some communities:

Read 2 remaining paragraphs | Comments



Source: Ars Technica – Turkey pulls evolution from its high school curriculum

Regulators suggest $7.5 billion coal gasifier facility give up, burn natural gas

Posted on by

Enlarge / Cranes stand at the construction site for Southern Co.’s Kemper County power plant near Meridian, Mississippi, U.S., on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2014. Photographer: Gary Tramontina/Bloomberg via Getty Images (credit: Getty Images)

A coal gasification plant in development in Mississippi is more than $4 billion over budget and years past deadline—and now it may have to rethink plans to burn gasified coal in favor of cheaper natural gas after a recommendation from state regulators.

The recommendation was made to prevent potential rate increases as the Kemper County plant continues to face cost overruns. Kemper was supposed to be up and running by 2014, for less than $3 billion. But the plant has now run up a $7.5 billion tab and may need redesigns on a critical part, a process that could take up to two years to complete, according to E&E News. No official decision has been made yet, but the Mississippi Public Service Commission made it clear last week that burning cheaper natural gas instead of gasified coal may be a long-term solution for the facility.

Kemper already burns natural gas at its facility, but Southern Company, which owns Kemper, has poured billions into building “transport integrated gasification” (TRIG) technology. TRIG converts lignite coal into synthesis gas using a two-round process to convert a higher percentage of lignite into gas at a low temperature. Syngas made from lignite coal burns cleaner than burning the pulverized coal itself, and, with the addition of a carbon capture unit, Kemper expects to reduce greenhouse gas and particulate pollution by 65 percent. The syngas production process for lignite coal was developed by Southern with the help of the Department of Energy at the National Carbon Capture Center in Wilsonville, Alabama.

Read 6 remaining paragraphs | Comments



Source: Ars Technica – Regulators suggest .5 billion coal gasifier facility give up, burn natural gas

Use Toilet Seat Covers to Blot Your Oily Skin

Posted on by

If you’re the type to use blotting paper to sop up the sweat or oil on your face, you’ve perhaps wondered which ones are best. Are the most expensive ones better? Should you get the sheets that smell like flowers? Or should you just pass on oil blotting sheets altogether, opting instead for a hanky or a perpetually…

Read more…



Source: LifeHacker – Use Toilet Seat Covers to Blot Your Oily Skin