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janrinok writes:

From the article:

A ribbon-cutting ceremony near the base of the new NASA antenna within the Alaska Satellite Facility (ASF) marked the official beginning for the Near Earth Network (NEN) asset. Operated by the University of Alaska, Fairbanks (UAF), the facility is a prime polar location for NASA and part of its globally distributing ground-based network providing communication services for orbiting spacecraft.

"You call this area the final frontier," said Badri Younes, deputy associate administrator for Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) to the Fairbanks crowd gathered for the ceremony. "At NASA, we see you as the first frontier because you are at the forefront of exploration activities. To everyone who worked to make this a reality, thank you. You have a special relationship with NASA, and we want to continue working with the university to expand this relationship."

Operation of the NASA-owned communication equipment, consisting of three antennas (AS-1, 2 & 3), is the responsibility of the university. The 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week services provide downlink, uplink and coherent tracking to support launches, early orbits and routine on-orbit operations. Development, building and verification testing of NASA's newest antenna were completed just in time to support the launch of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO-2) on July 2.

The NEN provides telemetry, tracking and command (TT&C) services to an extensive and diverse customer base of approximately 35 missions. They include the high-rate Earth Observing System (EOS), Aqua, Aura and QuikSCAT; and Small Explorer (SMEX) missions such as SWIFT, AIM, IRIS and NuStar. The network provides TT&C services for orbiting satellites with periodic passes that average 140 per day. The NEN also supports orbiting satellites through short duration communications services. These missions require daily and sometimes hourly contact.

fleg writes:

An article from The Guardian discusses some basic strategies and tactics for playing video games.

Whatever you're playing, whether it's an intricate hardcore fantasy adventure or a time-killing casual puzzler, the experience is based around a combination of mechanisms, rule sets and conventions that have common roots.

You're never really beating the baddies or winning the world cup, you're only ever challenging the underlying system. However the clock face is decorated, underneath it's the same cogs and wheels making it all work.

So is there a defining set of instructions that can improve your understanding and ability with all games? Well, perhaps - and here's an attempt to find it.

kaszz writes:

Handheld scanners are installed with sophisticated malware by China-based threat actors in order to target shipping and logistics organizations all over the world says the security firm TrapX (report 15 MB PDF).

The attack begins at a Chinese company that provides hardware and software for handheld scanners used by shipping and logistics firms worldwide to inventory items they handle. The manufacturer installs the malware on the embedded Microsoft Windows XP devices.

Experts determined that the threat group target servers that stores corporate financial data, customer data and other sensitive information. A second payload downloaded by the malware then establishes a sophisticated C&C on the company's finance servers, enabling the attackers to exfiltrate the information they're after.

janrinok writes:

A just-published analysis of data received from a satellite in 2004 has shown that at least during that year, livestock in the U.S. emitted more methane into the atmosphere than did the oil and gas industry. In their article published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, a team of researchers from Harvard University, California Institute of Technology and the University of California studying the data note that such emissions were far higher than was reported by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Specifically, the researchers found satellite data showed livestock emitted 13 million tons of methane over the summer in 2004 (the EPA reported 9.7 million tons). They found the satellite data also showed that the combined emissions of the oil and gas industry amounted to 7 million tons (the EPA reported 9.9 million tons).

Unfortunately the sensor on the satellite was unable to show methane amounts after 2004, thus more data is not available. That will, however, change soon as a new satellite with sophisticated atmospheric gas monitoring sensors aboard is set to launch next year. More information on the role that methane plays in changing our climate can be found here.

Two articles have been received regarding the NSA and its activities:

NSA chief knew of Snowden file destruction by Guardian in UK

An Anonymous Coward writes:

Surprising absolutely no one, the Guardian reports that Keith Alexander was fully briefed and supportive of the GCHQ's plan to destroy Snowden-related computers at the Guardian's offices in London.

The revelation that Alexander and Obama's director of national intelligence, James Clapper, were advised on the Guardian's destruction of several hard disks and laptops contrasts markedly with public White House statements that distanced the US from the decision.

White House and NSA emails obtained by Associated Press under freedom of information legislation demonstrate how pleased Alexander and his colleagues were with the developments. At times the correspondence takes a celebratory tone, with one official describing the anticipated destruction as "good news".

A Compromise with the NSA

Another Anonymous Coward writes:

"The NSA wants to know everything we do? Fine, but only if We the People see everything the NSA does. The real problem with the current mass surveillance is asymmetry."

Now we all know that the NSA is not going to open its doors and reveal its secrets - that would be foolhardy in the extreme and seriously endanger the US and its citizens. And despite the sincerely-held views of many of our members and others elsewhere, from the outside there doesn't appear to be anything like a groundswell of dissent in the US regarding Snowden's revelations about the NSA's activities.

However, perhaps by being a little more open it might begin to win back the trust of those who currently doubt that the NSA is working in their interests. What would it take for you to be convinced that the NSA was under control and acting in the best interests of every US citizen, and not just the interests of a small number who appear to use it to cling to power? What amount of spying on allies and partners would be acceptable while remembering that each time such activity is discovered it weakens the trust of the ally and can have serious repercussions for US business? Would clearly stating which terrorist plots had been thwarted by intelligence gathered, in part at least, by the NSA be enough? Or have we already passed the point of no return?

buswolley writes:

I am a fan of turn-based, multi-player strategy space-themed war games. I am not a fan of real-time games mostly because I ike to mull my decisions, and it is difficult to get everyone together at the same time.

Currently I play the aging, but still great Space Empires IV. This game has some great features including being very mod-able, and great depth and variety of game play). There are some other old but great space-themed, turned-based strategy games (e.g. Master of Orion), but most of these either had no multi-player, or required everyone to be playing on the same computer.

Anyone on Soylent play a great turn-based strategy games which is space-themed, of which I might not be aware?

Ethanol-fueled writes:

Paraphrased from a Foreign Policy blog (sign-up required):

The popular mobile app "Yo" has been described as the most pointless tech start-up to recently receive major funding. The idea is like a parody of post-modern life: An app for "post-text" communication that does nothing but send the message "yo" to your friends. That's it and it has $1 million in funding. Now, it's been reimagined as a tool in Israel's war against Hamas.

Developed by Israeli coders, Red Alert complements the army's warning sirens that alerts Israelis to incoming rockets. Now, Red Alert has partnered with Yo to send "yo"s anytime a siren sounds in Israel. Each time a rocket triggers the system, you get a "yo."

So far, no word on whether any enterprising developers are monitoring strikes in Gaza using Yo.

frojack writes:

Those government tax refunds, and other stimulus programs don't seem to provide the boost to the economy that government had hoped for. Nor, it turns out, are most Americans spending their paycheck as fast as they arrive. These results were discovered in new research by the University of Michigan and are based on users of a smartphone app that tracks user's spending. For 300 days, the researchers tracked a random sample of about 23,000 anonymous U.S.-based users who received regular payroll or Social Security payments.

They found that individuals shelled out about 70% more than average on the days after a payment arrived. But the bulk of this tended to be monthly bills that were scheduled to occur soon after funds arrived.

So the researchers picked out a single type of spending that's easily influenced by the perception of disposable income: cash shelled out for fast food and coffee. Here, most people's spending barely increased after a paycheck, the team reports online today in Science (paywalled). Obviously, those with lower income tended to spend more of their paycheck than others, and some do in fact spend whatever is available. But by and large, the average user did not increase discretionary spending in response to a bump in income.

The finding suggests that tax rebates and other cash infusions may not boost the economy as some have suggested, as most people would probably save the windfall for a rainy day, and money doesn't necessarily burn a hole in our pockets. The finding could help governments better stimulate the economy. If they could find ways to target tax rebates to people who have little cash in reserve (not to mention pent up demand), the payments might stimulate spending more effectively because these people are more likely to spend it. Harnessing the power of the spendthrift, as it were.

janrinok writes:

There has been some talk recently regarding the use of drones for commercial purposes in the US - that is, until the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) placed restrictions on such usage. Amazon has asked for exemption from rules prohibiting the use of drones for commercial purposes, indicating that they are hoping to move ahead with their proposals to use drones to achieve thirty minute Prime Air deliveries. They require the exemption to enable additional research and develop the concept further. However, many people are still unsure what exactly Amazon are proposing, so Forbes.com have listed 6 things that they think you should know about the proposal:

1. If the FAA grants Amazon an exemption, it does not mean Amazon drones will be flying down your street.
2. Amazon claims their drone technology has advanced significantly in just five months.
3. Amazon wants to innovate and knows that it can't under the FAA's burdensome regulatory regime.
4. Amazon plans to self-regulate, with procedures that exceed current FAA rules for model aircraft.
5. Amazon plans to use technology to keep their operations safe.
6. If the FAA doesn't grant Amazon's request, the company will move their drone R&D operations outside of the U.S.

Of course, each of these points is discussed in more detail in the article.

Despite the 6 points, I still feel that we have a long way to go before drone technology can be used safely and sharing the same airspace as existing air traffic. For example, technology is used today in an attempt to keep all flights safe; I believe that is a little presumptuous of Amazon to think that they can achieve what has so far eluded thousands, if not millions, of hours of work into the problem by researchers around the globe. Nevertheless, research has to begin somewhere and Amazon seem to have the desire and funding to have a stab at it, so perhaps there is an argument for the FAA to consider Amazon's request for an exemption. What do you think?

janrinok writes:

An international operation involving law enforcement agencies and private sector companies is combating the threat from a type of malicious software (malware) used by criminals to steal from bank accounts. In the first project of its kind for a UK law enforcement agency, the National Crime Agency has brought together partners from the law enforcement and private sectors, including the FBI, Europol, BAE Systems Applied Intelligence, GCHQ, Dell SecureWorks, Kaspersky Lab and the German Federal Police (BKA) to jointly address the Shylock trojan.

As part of this activity, law enforcement agencies are taking action to disrupt the system which Shylock depends on to operate effectively. This comprises the seizure of servers which form the command and control system for the trojan, as well as taking control of the domains Shylock uses for communication between infected computers. This has been conducted from the operational centre at the European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) at Europol in The Hague. Investigators from the NCA, FBI, the Netherlands, Turkey and Italy gathered to coordinate action in their respective countries, in concert with counterparts in Germany, Poland and France.

Shylock - so called because its code contains excerpts from Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice - has infected at least 30,000 computers running Microsoft Windows worldwide. Intelligence suggests that Shylock has targeted the UK more than any other country, although the suspected developers are based elsewhere. The NCA is therefore coordinating international action against this form of malware.

Symantect describe the Trojan here, although this assessment was made in 2011 and the number of infections is significantly lower than the current estimates stated above.

cnst writes:

It has finally happened. Bob Beck of The OpenBSD Foundation has just announced that the first release of LibreSSL portable is now available, and can be found in the LibreSSL directory of your favourite OpenBSD mirror.

libressl-2.0.0.tar.gz has been tested to build on various versions of Linux, Solaris, Mac OS X and FreeBSD.

This is intended to be an initial portable release of OpenBSD's libressl to allow the community to start using it and providing feedback, and has been done to address the issue of incorrect portable versions being attempted by third-parties. Support for additional platforms will be added as time and resources permit.

lhsi writes:

Abstract: http://iopscience.iop.org/2041-8205/782/2/L24/

By using a new telescope made by stitching together telephoto lenses, astronomers have discovered seven previously unseen galaxies while probing a nearby spiral galaxy.

The Yale scientists will tackle a key question next: Are these seven newly found objects dwarf galaxies orbiting around the M101 spiral galaxy, or are they located much closer or farther away, and just by chance are visible in the same direction as M101?

If it's the latter, Merritt said, these objects represent something entirely different. "There are predictions from galaxy formation theory about the need for a population of very diffuse, isolated galaxies in the universe," Merritt said. "It may be that these seven galaxies are the tip of the iceberg, and there are thousands of them in the sky that we haven't detected yet."

Merritt stressed that until they collect more data and determine the distances to the objects, researchers won't know their true nature. But the possibilities are intriguing enough that the team has been granted the opportunity to use the Hubble Space Telescope for further study.

Anonymous Cowhand writes:

On Wednesday, the International Astronomical Union announced that they'll soon allow astronomy clubs and other organizations to suggest names for exoplanets, with a public vote deciding which names win.

For the first time, in response to the public's increased interest in being part of discoveries in astronomy, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) is organizing a worldwide contest to give popular names to selected exoplanets along with their host stars. The proposed names will be submitted by astronomy clubs and non-profit organisations interested in astronomy, and votes will be cast by the public from across the world through the web platform NameExoWorlds. This platform is under development by the IAU in association with Zooniverse. The intention is that millions of people worldwide will be able to take part in the vote. Once the votes are counted, the winning names will be officially sanctioned by the IAU, allowing them to be used freely in parallel with the existing scientific nomenclature, with due credit to the clubs or organizations that proposed them.

Our days of celebrating distant planets with names like OGLE-05-390L b may soon be over. In a year, we could be calling it Magrathea, Krypton, or even Westeros.

AnonTechie writes:

It may smell of flatulence and have a reputation for being highly toxic, but when used in the right tiny dosage, hydrogen sulfide is now being being found to offer potential health benefits in a range of issues, from diabetes to stroke, heart attacks and dementia. A new compound (AP39) could hold the key to future therapies, by targeting delivery of very small amounts of the substance to the right (or key) places inside cells.

Scientists in Exeter have already found that the compound protects mitochondria - the "powerhouse" of cells, which drive energy production in blood vessel cells. Preventing or reversing mitochondrial damage is a key strategy for treatments of a variety of conditions such as stroke, heart failure, diabetes and arthritis, dementia and aging. Mitochondria determine whether cells live or die and they regulate inflammation. In the clinic, dysfunctional mitochondria are strongly linked to disease severity.

Abstract: http://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticleLanding/2014/MD/c3md00323j#!divAbstract

Hairyfeet writes:

EGC has just released their Best Gaming CPUs of 2014 and while there are no real surprises (high end is i7, mid is a mix, low end has AMD being the better buys) my question would be...does it really matter anymore with CPUs so insanely powerful for several generations now?

Pretty much any mainstream game plays well with even 5 year old Phenom II X4s and C2Qs with tests by Tom's Hardware showing that both AMD and Intel able to stay above 30 FPS on most games so do we really need to care about CPUs when it comes to gaming anymore?