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Hugh Pickens writes:

Alan Feuer writes in the New York Times that it has been three years since Tinder landed in New York City bringing its addictive right swipes and rabid style of flirting to the city’s inherently frenetic technologized dating culture turning the search for love (or at least a nearby body) into a Ritalin-paced video game. For those who are unfamiliar with it, Tinder is a matchmaking service that enables people to connect with one another through no more than a brief swipe on their smartphones. You look at a photo, tagged only with a name, an age and, with a tap, perhaps a short introduction, and then you vote yes by swiping to the right, or no by swiping left. With about one million Tinder users in New York, the largest market in the country, the app plays off our desire for instant gratification while avoiding the embarrassment of rejection, in what the company calls the “double opt-in”: a match between two users will occur only if they each signal that they like the other’s profile. The matched pair can then chat through Tinder’s messaging service and, perhaps, meet. “When you have a population of young, relatively affluent transients, schooled in technology, uprooted from their networks and hoping to find each other, the chances are they’ll look for a solution on their phones,” says Benjamin Karney.

Social scientists say apps like Tinder are incredibly effective at identifying a local population of potential mates and at helping people contact one another (through instant-message systems), particularly in large, anonymous places like New York, where traditional modes of introduction — family connections or religious institutions — might not be available. Of course, having too many options online can make it more difficult for some to choose and commit to just one person to go out with on a Friday night says Paul Eastwick, "It's called the 'paradox of choice,' " There’s tons of research that suggests "if people know they have lots of options, they feel less dependent on and committed to their current option,” says Karney. “If you want to leave your lover, there aren’t just 50 ways these days, there are 150,000 ways.”

"gewg_" writes:

Jim Lynch reports:

It was just a little while ago that the Linux world was shocked to find that CrunchBang Linux had died. The CrunchBang developer felt like it was time to move on, and so CrunchBang users were going to have to let it go and find a new minimalist distro for their computers…until now.

The CrunchBang Plus Plus site is promising to continue the legacy of CrunchBang, but this time it will be based on Debian Jessie packages. The site already has a beta version available for download, and it's promising to have a release candidate soon.

The download page also has this warning:

[...]This is in no way a finished product. The Beta is currently more of a proof-of-concept than a full fledged release.

"7", a regular at comp.os.linux.advocacy (aka "Mr. President"), quips

Dying [is] a known bug in [the] Open Source Linux world. The patches are normally issued within 24 hours.

Related: Crunchbang Linux Development Ceased by Developer

Two Soylentils wrote to tell us of a mystery hanging over Mars:

dx3bydt3 writes:

A mysterious haze, roughly 200km above the surface of Mars was first spotted by amateur astronomers in 2012. Observations and photographs indicated that it persisted for 10 days. One month later it reappeared for another 10 days, but hasn't been observed since. This BBC article discusses some possible explanations for the phenomenon. From the article: "An international team of scientists has now confirmed the finding, but they are struggling to find an explanation." The possible explanations include unusually high clouds, where the atmosphere should be too thin for them to form or inexplicably powerful auroras.

One of the scientists, Dr. Antonio Garcia Munoz, a planetary scientist at the European Space Agency, hopes that by publishing their paper, other scientists may come up with explanations.

tonyPick writes:

Reported at The Conversation is an article on the mystery clouds seen on Mars:

Also covered at Nature, New Scientist and phys.org.

Three stories have been received which describes Kaspersky's malware analysis and their findings. Perhaps of equal interest is that all three reports suggest that the malware may be linked to the NSA. One also notes CDs sent through the USPS (United States Postal Service) seem to have been intercepted and replaced with modified CDs. I'll let you draw your own conclusions and I look forward to the ensuing discussion.

The Newly-Discovered "Equation Group" Deemed World's Top Hackers

c0lo writes offering a story that was published here only a few hours ago. He also noted:

Kaspersky declined to publicly name the country behind the spying campaign, but Wired points some possible NSA connections:

Although the researchers have no solid evidence that the NSA is behind the tools and decline to make any attribution to that effect, there is circumstantial evidence that points to this conclusion. A keyword—GROK—found in a keylogger component appears in an NSA spy tool catalog leaked to journalists in 2013. The 53-page document details—with pictures, diagrams and secret codenames—an array of complex devices and capabilities available to intelligence operatives. The capabilities of several tools in the catalog identified by the codenames UNITEDRAKE, STRAITBAZZARE, VALIDATOR and SLICKERVICAR appear to match the tools Kaspersky found. These codenames don’t appear in the components from the Equation Group, but Kaspersky did find “UR” in EquationDrug, suggesting a possible connection to UNITEDRAKE (United Rake). Kaspersky also found other codenames in the components that aren’t in the NSA catalog but share the same naming conventions—they include SKYHOOKCHOW, STEALTHFIGHTER, DRINKPARSLEY, STRAITACID, LUTEUSOBSTOS, STRAITSHOOTER, and DESERTWINTER.

[More after the break.]

Anonymous Coward writes:

A new collaborative project arrived and its goal is pretty ambitious: solving complex problems => Eris Solver.

It all started from the observation that nothing exists online to solve complex problems with multiple solutions. The most popular question-answer websites like Quora or Yahoo.answer are not conceived to deal with complex questions. This website uses brainstorming techniques coupled with the Problem Tree Methodology to solve complex problems. In simple words: decomposing the main issue into subsequent small-ones and providing solutions to the sub-issues with the results taking the form of a node tree.

Users are free to provide meaningful content in the nodes and therefore may help in advancing the understanding of the causes of the issues or to provide solutions to the ultimate sub-issues. Contributions are placed under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license. When Wikipedia proved that collective intelligence could provide quality contents able to compete with the major encyclopedias, Eris Solver intends to channel the wisdom of the crowd to find the best solutions to the most complex problems available.

stormwyrm writes:

Torrentfreak reports that KickassTorrents has lost access to the Kickass.so domain, the .SO registry having banned it. The popular torrent site has moved several times over the years to different domains for similar reasons, the .so domain being the most recent.

The Somalian domain of the most-visited torrent site on the Internet is now listed as "banned" by the .SO registry, forcing the site's operators to find a new home.

While KickassTorrents is down for the moment, it is expected that the site will move its operation to a new domain name later today, or revert back to Kickass.to.

The article also states in a few further updates that KickassTorrents has indeed reverted to kickass.to and is again operational, however, I've just tried visiting it myself at this writing and it still seems to redirect to the now inaccessible .so domain.

An Anonymous Coward writes:

You might say that CJ Phillips and Charlie Rainwater, a gay couple from rural Washington County, own a piece of the developing Republican presidential campaign of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

Years ago, the two bought the domain name for one of the likeliest web addresses that the Bush team might want—JebBushforpresident.com—and say they plan to use it to talk about same-sex marriage and other issues affecting gays.

http://www.oregonlive.com/mapes/index.ssf/2015/02/oregon_gay_couple_own_jebbushf.html

hash14 writes:

Dan Goodin of Ars Technica writes about a newly-discovered hacking platform recently revealed by Kaspersky.

They are labeling the operators 'Equation Group,' and multiple zero-day exploits in the malware kit appear to be related to those which were used by Stuxnet to hack Iran's Natanz nuclear facility in 2010. It is by far the most advanced malware ever discovered, going so far as to flash malicious firmware on the hard disks of no fewer than 12 vendors. Much of the malware was distributed through usual channels such as Java vulnerabilities or ad networks, but it was even found on CDs which were mailed to attendees of a conference in Houston in 2009 which were intercepted and modified to deliver the malicious payload.

The sophistication of the operations and the malware itself leave little doubt that Equation Group is is a state-sponsored organization. The scariest part of it might be that the operation is over 14 years old and unfortunately, much of the malware is yet to be reverse-engineered. Kaspersky has been reaching out to white hats for further assistance in determining the nature and capabilities of the software.

cafebabe writes:

The Shockwave Rider, published in 1975, is set in an era of clandestine think-tanks and a nascent industry of manufacturing in orbit. It is heavily influenced by Future Shock by Alvin Toffler and this would have been apparent even if it wasn't explicitly referenced. It is not central to the plot but it is hinted that gambling is heavily restricted in North America and concentrated on Public Delphi Boards which allow people to stake money on world events. Indeed, canvassing general opinion is sufficiently profitable for churches to collect it along with prayer requests. However, there is also a (prescient) dark side to this futurology because it is stated that the NSA manipulates the results.

The book opens with the protagonist captured and interrogated. This led me to believe that the story being told in flashback was a cheap plot device to put all of the big action at the beginning and/or construct the artifice of a Greek tragedy story arc. (See the Fight Club book for linear story versus the Fight Club film for flashback.) Fortunately, there are several twists which stop this being predictable. However, this requires a hard slog through some of the second act before being rewarded in the third act. In part, this occurs because the book has its own back-history. Like Earth by David Brin, one wishes for the back-history to be expounded in an appendix.

Like Earth, long-term secrecy is assumed to be greatly diminished or even undesirable. Like Earth, home network terminals were assumed to be an outgrowth of the era's technology and, accordingly, with information billed piecemeal by the telco. Ignoring these issues, no read/write privileges are considered beyond corporate autonomy. So, no distinction is made between using credentials to access someone's public file and using the same credentials to make payment. And false information is sufficiently rare to be the focus of the story. (It can be inferred that people would type their Social Security Number into a public terminal in an airport while being able to anonymously pay various scrip or precious metals for a domestic flight.)

Despite the apparent transparency, think-tanks with vast slush funds scour lethally aggressive schools for young talent and plucks them into obscurity. Some of the alumni of intensive hothousing (at US$3 million per year) then become sleeper agents in trans-national corporations where they have, presumably, unrestricted access to a corporate extranet.

The protagonist is somewhere between Catch Me If You Can, Fletch and The Prisoner while the antagonist would be unremarkable in The Adjustment Bureau or Minority Report. The clash of ideology leads to sparring dialogue and has the tension of the protagonist and antagonist meeting in Heat. Unlike many books from the 1970s, the characters aren't nicotine-addled vegetarians cloistered in self-driving cars and international politics is left intentionally vague   with the exception of China. Presumably, the sum of brains is of primary importance after food and sanitation is resolved.

The Shockwave Rider is thought- provoking and a thoroughly enjoyable story with some engaging characters. Even if one finds the story incredulous, it is a fully formed narrative consistent with Alvin Toffler's Future Shock. It also a time capsule from the 1970s and forms a chronological companion to David Brin's Earth.

Gordon Shure writes:

With less than two days to go in its second 'Kirkstarter' campaign, fan-made Star Trek tribute series Star Trek Continues is on the cusp of gaining sufficient funds for its upper stretch goals. The makers intend to make at least a further two shows, with three or even four possible should sufficient cash be raised. The first three episodes, videos of which are located here, here and here respectively, are made in the style of the original 1960s Star Trek series and gained multiple awards plus praise from Eugene Roddenberry, son of Trek creator Gene Roddenberry:

"I do have to say—and I said this after 'Lolani'—I’m pretty damn sure my dad would consider this canon. The fact that you do stories that mean something, that have depth, that make us all think a little bit... I really think he would applaud you guys. And I applaud you guys. And as far as I am concerned, it is canon. So thank you." Eugene said, at a recent screening of the Fairest of Them All episode in Las Vegas.

acid andy writes:

The Korea Times reports:

LG Display blasted Samsung Display on Sunday for allegedly stealing its display panel technology, following a prosecution decision to indict several Samsung employees involved in a case of alleged industrial spying.

The article says that an LG spokesman called it an "illegal and organized theft of our large organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) display panel technology committed by Samsung Display employees". It also mentions a response by Samsung:

Samsung Display also released a statement on Sunday, expressing regret over the accusation and urging LG Display to stop making slanderous accusations.

Over on OLED-Info.com it's mentioned that these are the latest events in a long running fight between the two companies:

with lawsuits launched by both sides and even accusations of stolen prototype TVs. In 2013 two two Korean arch-rivals agreed to resolve their OLED dispute ... But settlement negotiation failed, and it seems that the OLED wars are far from over.

Whilst OLED screens are used in many mobile devices, the technology is still a long way from widespread adoption in desktop and laptop monitors. Manufacturers seem to be focusing on high end OLED televisions first. For example, LG's 65" 4k curved OLED TV, the 65EC9700 is now shipping in the US and UK.

"gewg_" writes:

The Center for American Progress reports

According to a new report (PDF) from the Brennan Center for Justice, it is still hard to pinpoint the most substantial cause of crime reduction in the last two decades. Based on researchers' findings, however, we do know what wasn't responsible: mass incarceration.

Over a 23-year period, 1990-2013, the country's overall crime rate plummeted, but incarceration accounted for less than 10 percent of the drop. Between 1990-1999, violent crimes such as murder, forcible rape, aggravated assault, and non-negligent manslaughter dropped 28 percent, as the incarceration rate skyrocketed by 60 percent.

In the subsequent 13 years, violent crime dropped another 27 percent, but the incarceration rate rose by a mere 1 percent. When compared to 11 other factors like income growth, more policing, and less alcohol consumption, incarceration only impacted 7 percent of the lower crime rate in the 1990s. That tiny percentage dropped down to one during the later years examined by the report.

[...]Brennan concluded that the use of the prison system has simply plateaued. "Incarceration in the U.S. has reached a level where it no longer provides a meaningful crime reduction benefit." In other words, more incarceration does not guarantee less crime, so the onus of criminal justice reform should explore alternative methods to a counterproductive system of imprisonment.

As of February 5, the federal prison population remains slightly above 210,315, while the total prison and jail population hovers around 2.3 million--the largest of any country in the world. On average, taxpayers pay $31,286 per inmate (PDF), a trend that's criticized on both sides of the aisle.

mendax writes:

The Register recently published a very interesting story about the history and science behind a rather ubiquitous piece of chronological technology, and, tongue in cheek, issues a warning:

The atomic clock celebrates its 60th birthday this year. [The article] looks at the story of this enabling technology that lies behind GPS and DAB and discusses its roots in quantum mechanics and relativity. Readers are warned that they might need to lie down for a while after reading this article.

joekiser writes:

I thought it this would be fun everybody. I thought it might be interesting to compare desktop screenshots and see what other SoylentNews user interfaces look like. Tiling window manager or stacking? Desktop environment or not? Are you minimalist? What operating systems are you using?

What about your phone/tablet/phablet?

I'll start: Desktop and Cellular Phone.

Hugh Pickens writes:

Brian Chen writes in the NYT that two companies, Republic Wireless and FreedomPop, that reduce cellphone costs by relying on strategically placed Wi-Fi routers are at the forefront of a tantalizing communications concept that has proved hard to produce on a big scale, The concept championed by the two little companies in their nationwide services is surprisingly simple. They offer services that rely primarily on Wi-Fi networks, and in areas without Wi-Fi, customers can pull a signal from regular cell towers. “Wi-Fi first is a massive disrupter to the current cost structure of the industry,” says Stephen Stokols. “That’s going to be a big shock to the carriers.” For $5 a month, customers of Republic Wireless can make calls or connect to the Internet solely over Wi-Fi. For $10 a month, they can use both Wi-Fi and a cellular connection from Sprint in Republic’s most popular option. Republic Wireless’s parent company, Bandwidth.com, a telecommunications provider with about 400 employees, developed a technique to move calls seamlessly between different Wi-Fi networks and cell towers. “You can’t pretend these companies are major players by any stretch. But I think their real importance is proof of concept,” says Craig Moffett. “They demonstrate just how disruptive a Wi-Fi-first operator can be, and just how much cost they can take out.”

In major cities, the Wi-Fi-first network makes sense. People use smartphones frequently while sitting around their offices and apartments, and Wi-Fi can handle the job just fine. But once people start moving around, it is not so simple. The benefit of a cell service is that your phone can switch among multiple towers while you are on the go which wi-fi is not designed to handle. Google may be experimenting with a hybrid approach similar to the small companies’. A person briefed on Google’s plans, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the conversations were private, says the company wants to make use of the fiber network it has installed in various cities to create an enormous network of Wi-Fi connections that phones could use to place calls and use apps over the Internet. In areas out of reach, Google’s network would switch over to cell towers leased by T-Mobile USA and Sprint. Still many wonder if even the biggest companies could make a Wi-Fi-based phone network work. “There are just so many places where Wi-Fi doesn’t reach," says Jan Dawson "and the quality of Wi-Fi that you can find is often subpar."