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"gewg_" writes:

Josh Aas of The Internet Security Research Group reported on September 14:

Let's Encrypt passed another major milestone by issuing our first certificate. You can see it in action here

Our cross signature is not yet in place, however this certificate is fully functional for clients with the ISRG root in their trust store. When we are cross signed, approximately a month from now, our certificates will work just about anywhere while our root propagates. We submitted initial applications to the root programs for Mozilla, Google, Microsoft, and Apple today.

We're thrilled to finally be a live [certificate authority]. We'll be working towards general availability over the next couple of months by issuing certificates to domains participating in our beta program. You can request that your domain be included in our beta program by clicking here.

If you want to get involved with Let's Encrypt, please visit this page.

See our prior coverage: EFF Offers Free Certificate Authority to Dramatically Increase Encrypted Internet Traffic, The "Let's Encrypt" Project Generates Root and Intermediate Certificates, and "Let's Encrypt" gets a Launch Schedule.

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

According to Bloomberg, "FTC officials have met with technology company representatives who say Google gives priority to its own services on the Android platform, while restricting others, added the people, who asked for anonymity because the matter is confidential."

Neither the FTC nor Google immediately responded to Ars' request for comment, and both entities declined to speak with Bloomberg, which noted on Friday that the inquiry was "in its early stages and it could end without a case against the company."

Europe's anti-trust investigation may widen to include other Google services.

Earlier this year, the European Commission announced that it had opened an antitrust investigation into Google's Android offerings: "[It] will focus on whether Google has entered into anti-competitive agreements or abused a possible dominant position in the field of operating systems, applications, and services for smart mobile devices."

According to IDC, an industry analysis firm, Android currently retains 59 percent of the American smartphone operating system market, with iOS at 38 percent and Windows Mobile at 2.35 percent. Worldwide, Android has over 82 percent of the market.

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CoolHand writes:

Datamation has an article on how Open Source combined with crowdfunding sites are coming together to produce new innovation:

A modular laptop built with a Raspberry Pi. An ergonomic, programmable, mechanical keyboard made from slabs of maple, so it looks like a solid-state electric guitar. A device that plugs into a wall socket that allows you to control devices from your smart phone.

What do these and hundreds of other devices – from wearable tech to portable solar chargers – have in common?

First, all of them are being crowdfunded. Second, many are being boot-strapped with open source software. The convergence of these two trends is creating an outburst of mini-entrepreneurship unlike anything ever seen before. In doing so, they are making open hardware -- the long-discussed, seldom seen cousin to open source software -- a reality.

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Phoenix666 writes:

Tesla has begun shipping 7kWh stationary batteries—branded by Tesla as Powerwalls—to be installed on the homes of pilot customers. The 7kWh batteries are designed for daily cycling, so they'll likely be attached to homes with solar panels, allowing owners to power their homes at night with power collected by solar panels during the day.

Pure Energy Minerals could sell lithium hydroxide to Tesla at below market price.
"Over the next few weeks, we will continue to ramp up volume production," a Tesla spokesperson explained to Ars via e-mail, adding that 7kWh Powerwalls are initially being delivered to customers in North America, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Australia.

Tesla made headlines in April when it announced the stationary battery, mostly due to the battery's price—at only $3,000, it's considerably cheaper than other lithium-ion batteries its size. The battery can discharge 5 kilowatts during continuous use, a specification that was improved after the battery's announcement—originally Tesla said the 7kWh battery would only discharge 2.2 kilowatts, but critics protested that the lower amount wasn't enough to feed a household off the grid.

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fliptop writes:

Like it or not, the Internet of Things is maturing rapidly. The IoT Security Foundation has been established with the mission of:

" ...to make the Internet of Things secure, to aid its adoption and maximise its benefits. To do this we will promote knowledge and clear best practice in excellent, appropriate security to those who specify, make and use IoT products and systems."

Their first security conference will be held December 1st at Savoy Place, London. Originally spotted on The Eponymous Pickle.

Related:
NSA: Here's $300,000, People. Go Build Us a Safer Internet of Things
Why Have We Yet to Be Enchanted by the Internet of Things?
Internet of Things to Launch in UK Next Year

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Snow writes:

If you used the World Wide Web anytime after 2007, the United Kingdom's Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) has probably spied on you. That's the revelation contained in documents published today by The Intercept, which detail a GCHQ operation called "Karma Police"—a program that tracked Web browsing habits of people around the globe in what the agency itself billed as the "world's biggest" Internet data-mining operation, intended to eventually track "every visible user on the Internet."

Karma Police—apparently named after the Radiohead song—started as a program to track individuals listening to Internet streaming audio "radio stations" as part of a research project into how radicals might "misuse" Internet radio to spread their messages. Listeners to streams that included Islamic religious content were targeted for more data collection in an effort to identify their Skype and social media accounts. The program gradually grew with its success. According to GCHQ documents, by 2009 the program had stored over 1.1 trillion "events"—Web browsing sessions—in its "Black Hole" database. By 2010, the system was gathering 30 billion records per day of Internet traffic metadata. According to another GCHQ document, that volume grew to 50 billion per day by 2012.

Link: http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/09/gchq-tried-to-track-web-visits-of-every-visible-user-on-internet/

I'm sure none of are really surprised by this, but I'm curious... How many of you (if any) are tunneling all their traffic through VPN providers to get around this monitoring?

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jdavidb writes:

Fan series Star Trek Continues premiered their fifth episode at the Salt Lake Comic Con. Contributors to their Kickstarter received a private link where they could view the episode; the episode was scheduled to premier to the general public on September 26.

Star Trek Continues produced four prior episodes and three shorts, at impressive enough quality that fans contributed over $300,000 in two kickstarter campaigns. They money went to fund additional episodes that are coming out this year as well as the construction of a set for Engineering and a planet set. Already the set includes scrupulously detailed replicas of the original Desilu sets where Star Trek was filmed in the sixties. There are several online featurettes about the construction including a tour and a specific look at constructing the captain's chair.

Several Trek alumni have been involved in producing the series. Michael Dorn and Marina Sirtis have portrayed computer voices, Michael Forest has reprised the role of Apollo that he portrayed in original series episode "Who Mourns For Adonis?", and Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott is portrayed by Chris Doohan, son of James Doohan, who originated the role. The fourth episode was dedicated to the memory of Leonard Nimoy.

Not a Trek alum, but the right kind of nerds (like my kids) will recognize Grant Imahara from MythBusters, portraying Mr. Sulu.

[Updated.] The Star Trek Continues official channel on YouTube has just released episode V: "Divided We Stand" — the four prior episodes are also available on the official channel.

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

A Tuesday copyright roundtable discussion, hosted by Nashville's Belmont University and led by the House Judiciary Committee, opened with one of the past year's most successful songwriters announcing just how little money he'd made from more than 178 million streams of a song he co-wrote: $5,679.

That means Nashville songwriter Kevin Kadish, the co-writer of the hit 2014 Meghan Trainor song "All About That Bass," made close to $31.90 for every million streams. According to a report by The Tennessean, Kadish didn't clarify to the roundtable's five members of the House of Representatives exactly how the songwriting proceeds were split between himself and Trainor (who shared songwriting credits on "Bass"), but he did allege that the average streaming-service payout for a song's songwriting team is roughly $90 per million streams.

"That's as big a song as a songwriter can have in their career, and number one in 78 countries," Kadish said. "But you're making $5,600. How do you feed your family?"

Of course, Kadish doesn't only make money from streams, but presumably has an additional income from touring and merchandise.

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

Netflix offered some interesting viewer data via a press release on Wednesday, which the video-streaming service says is proof that its "all episodes at once" strategy about TV series' seasons is working.

Through analysis of 16 nations' Netflix watching habits over multiple months in 2015, the company found a key piece of data: which episode of a given series that, after seeing it, convinced 70 percent of viewers to stick it out and stream its entire season. Netflix's release noted that for Breaking Bad, that clincher was the second episode, while Orange Is the New Black and Dexter reached that mark with their third episodes.

They should also release the moments when series jump the shark.

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

[translation mine] The number of artificial satellites is growing: the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) reported that at the end of August there were 1300 registered satellites in orbit, 80 more than last year. As the Infographic of the Week from Statista and Spiegel shows, China has built out its capability and has now overtaken Russia.

Most of the satellites originated from the USA, as before. Last year it was 512, according to current statistics it's now 549. The majority of the global increase tracks back to China and the USA. For Russia, in comparison, the UCS database shows it has four fewer satellites this year than last.

Germany has 24 satellites, among which are two it operates jointly with the USA. It also participates in various European projects. Of the 24 German satellites 10 are occupied in commercial- and civil Earth surveillance, to produce classic satellite images.

The UCS database is here.

Original Submission

To some he was an Islamist extremist, to others a radical feminist, to others a neo-Nazi. These are all online identities that seem to have belonged to Joshua Goldberg - but in reality he was none of these things. They were simply online aliases used to whip up ideological hatred, with seemingly dangerous and even violent real-world consequences.

In reality he is a 20-year-old man living in his parents' house in Florida, spent huge amounts of time online - and has now been arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. So why did a young man take on all of these cloaks and identities? Potaka and McMahon (journalists) say that if Joshua Goldberg did have an ideology, it was one based on an extreme interpretation of the idea of free speech. But his aliases were so many and so contradictory that it's difficult to tell what he really believed, or even if online essays published under his own name really represent his views.

Goldberg has been arrested, on suspicion of terrorism offences, but hasn't yet been indicted. He is currently undergoing an evaluation to see if he is mentally fit to stand trial.

http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-34292809

Original Submission

"exec" writes:

The central US state of Oklahoma has gone from registering two earthquakes a year to nearly two a day and scientists point to a controversial culprit: wastewater injection wells used in fracking.

Located in the middle of the country, far from any major fault lines, Oklahoma experienced 585 earthquakes of a magnitude of 3.0 or greater in 2014. That's more than three times as many as the 180 which hit California last year.

"It's completely unprecedented," said George Choy, a seismologist at the US Geological Survey.

As of last month, Oklahoma has already experienced more than 600 quakes strong enough to rattle windows and rock cars. The biggest was a 4.5-magnitude quake that hit the small town of Crescent.

http://phys.org/news/2015-09-state-quakes-year.html

-- submitted from IRC

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

For the first time in decades, skygazers are in for the double spectacle Monday of a swollen "supermoon" bathed in the blood-red light of a total eclipse.

The celestial show, visible from the Americas, Europe, Africa, west Asia and the east Pacific, will be the result of the Sun, Earth and a larger-than-life, extra-bright Moon lining up for just over an hour from 0211 GMT.

"It will be quite exciting and especially dramatic," predicted astronomer Sam Lindsay of the Royal Astronomical Society in London. "It'll be brighter than usual, bigger than usual."

The Moon will be at its closest orbital point to Earth, called perigee, while also in its brightest phase.

The resulting "supermoon" will look 30 percent brighter and 14 percent larger than when at apogee, the farthest point—which is about 49,800 kilometres (31,000 miles) from perigee.

And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;

[Ed. Note: Here is a selection of other writeups from around the web. Wired has a nice article with a graphic of this being the last in a tetrad (sequence of four total lunar eclipses over the span of about two years.) NASA has a story on the supermoon eclipse which notes: "The last supermoon/lunar eclipse combination occurred in 1982 and the next won't happen until 2033."

Lastly, but possibly the best article of the bunch, Universe Today's coverage has excellent explanations and graphics, as well as a chart for viewing times for each of the phases for each of the time zones in the USA.]

Update: This eclipse is of a supermoon (technically, it's called perigee-syzygy; see: perigee and syzygy) Depending on your time zone, it runs from late Sunday September 27th into the early hours of Monday September 28th. Adapting information available at the Universe Today link, we have:

Original Submission

AnonTechie writes:

Lawrence Livermore scientists have come up with a new theory that may identify why dark matter has evaded direct detection in Earth-based experiments.

A group of national particle physicists known as the Lattice Strong Dynamics Collaboration, led by a Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory team, has combined theoretical and computational physics techniques and used the Laboratory's massively parallel 2-petaflop Vulcan supercomputer to devise a new model of dark matter. It identifies it as naturally "stealthy" (i.e. like its namesake aircraft, difficult to detect) today, but would have been easy to see via interactions with ordinary matter in the extremely high-temperature plasma conditions that pervaded the early universe.

"These interactions in the early universe are important because ordinary and dark matter abundances today are strikingly similar in size, suggesting this occurred because of a balancing act performed between the two before the universe cooled," said Pavlos Vranas of LLNL, and one of the authors of the paper, "Direct Detection of Stealth Dark Matter through Electromagnetic Polarizability". The paper appears in an upcoming edition of the journal Physical Review Letters and is an "Editor's Choice."

[Also Covered By]: http://phys.org/news/2015-09-theory-stealth-dark-universe-mass.html

[Source]: https://www.llnl.gov/news/new-stealth-dark-matter-theory-may-explain-mystery-universes-missing-mass

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

The Fifth Amendment right against compelled self-incrimination would be breached if two insider trading suspects were forced to turn over the passcodes of their locked mobile phones to the Securities and Exchange Commission, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

"We find, as the SEC is not seeking business records but Defendants' personal thought processes, Defendants may properly invoke their Fifth Amendment right," US District Judge Mark Kearney of Pennsylvania wrote.
...
In the latest case, the SEC is investigating two former Capital One data analysts who allegedly used insider information associated with their jobs to trade stocks—in this case, a $150,000 investment allegedly turned into $2.8 million. Regulators suspect the mobile devices are holding evidence of insider trading and demanded that the two turn over their passcodes.

Two words: NSA backup.

Original Submission

An Anonymous Coward writes:

The Los Angeles Times has published a story critical of JLENS, the Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System. Begun in 1998, the program is intended to track airborne objects", according to an Army spokesperson, but the Army acknowledged that it can also monitor road-going vehicles and watercraft, a capability that has raised concern about mass surveillance. Built by Raytheon, the system includes two blimp-like tethered balloons, equipped with radar sets. Power and data are carried over the 15,000-foot (4.6 km) cables by which the balloons are moored.

Unknown to most Americans, the Pentagon has spent $2.7 billion developing a system of giant radar-equipped blimps to provide an early warning if the country were ever attacked with cruise missiles, drones or other low-flying weapons.

After nearly two decades of disappointment and delay, the system — known as JLENS — had a chance to prove its worth on April 15. That day, a Florida postal worker flew a single-seat, rotary-wing aircraft into the heart of the nation's capital to dramatize his demand for campaign finance reform.

[...] Seventeen years after its birth, JLENS is a stark example of what defense specialists call a "zombie" program: costly, ineffectual and seemingly impossible to kill.

• 2013 story in Popular Mechanics
• Wikipedia page

Original Submission