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butthurt writes:

The CBC reports that

The company has begun ketchup production in the North York district of Toronto, using tomatoes grown in Canada. In 2014, competitor Heinz (now Kraft Heinz) closed the factory in Leamington, Ontario where Heinz had begun; a wave of nationalist fervour followed when

related story:
Kraft Heinz Proposes a $143 Billion Bid for Unilever

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Miscreants can turn the tables on Microsoft and use its own antivirus engine against Windows users – by abusing it to install malware on vulnerable machines.

A particularly nasty security flaw exists in Redmond's anti-malware software, which is packaged and marketed in various forms: Windows Defender, Windows Intune Endpoint Protection, Microsoft Security Essentials, Microsoft System Center Endpoint Protection, Microsoft Forefront Security for SharePoint, Microsoft Endpoint Protection, and Microsoft Forefront Endpoint Protection. All are, at this moment, at risk. It is switched on by default in Windows 8, 8.1, 10, and Windows Server 2012.

It is possible for hackers to craft files that are booby-trapped with malicious code, and this nasty payload is executed inadvertently and automatically by the scanner while inspecting the data. The injected code runs with administrative privileges, allowing it to gain full control of the system, install spyware, steal files, and so on.

In other words, while Microsoft's scanner is searching a downloaded file for malware, it can be tricked into running and installing the very sort of software nasty it's supposed to catch and kill.

On Monday night, in an emergency update, Microsoft fixed the vulnerability in its security packages. This upgrade will be automatically fetched and installed by the scanner engine on your machines, quietly closing the embarrassing security hole over the next two days.

-- submitted from IRC

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Google's Fuchsia System UI can now be previewed. The operating system could potentially replace Android and even ChromeOS:

Google, never one to compete in a market with a single product, is apparently hard at work on a third operating system after Android and Chrome OS. This one is an open source, real-time OS called "Fuchsia." The OS first popped up in August last year, but back then it was just a command line. Now the mysterious project has a crazy new UI we can look at, so let's dive in.

Unlike Android and Chrome OS, Fuchsia is not based on Linux—it uses a new, Google-developed microkernel called "Magenta." With Fuchsia, Google would not only be dumping the Linux kernel, but also the GPL: the OS is licensed under a mix of BSD 3 clause, MIT, and Apache 2.0. Dumping Linux might come as a bit of a shock, but the Android ecosystem seems to have no desire to keep up with upstream Linux releases. Even the Google Pixel is still stuck on Linux Kernel 3.18, which was first released at the end of 2014.

[...] This all leads us to an interesting point right now: the Fuchsia interface is written with the Flutter SDK, which is cross-platform. This means that, right now, you can grab chunks of Fuchsia and run it on an Android device. Fuchsia first went public in August 2016, and but back then compiling it would get you nothing more than a command line. Thanks to Hotfixit.net for pointing out that the Fuchsia System UI, called "Armadillo" is actually pretty interesting now.

It's possible to download the source and compile Fuchsia's System UI into an Android APK and install it on an Android device. It consists of a wild reimagining of a home screen along with a keyboard, a home button, and (kind of) a window manager. Nothing really "works"—it's all a bunch of placeholder interfaces that don't do anything. There's also a great readme in the Fuchsia source that describes what the heck is going on.

It's about time for Linux Torvalds' domination of the smartphone industry to end.

Also at BGR, ZDNet, ComputerWorld, and The Register. Preview video.

Fuchsia on Google Git.

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

Pandora, which dominates internet radio but has seen its model eclipsed by music streaming companies such as Spotify, said Monday it was open to buyers after securing a fresh $150 million.

Jim Feuille, the chairman of Pandora's board who a decade earlier pushed the model of free access, stepped down with the announcement that private equity firm KKR was injecting $150 million.

"Having secured a significant financial commitment from KKR to strengthen the company's balance sheet, we have positioned the company to evaluate any potential strategic alternatives, including a sale, in the 30 days before the financing is set to close," Feuille said in a statement.

The company appointed Tim Leiweke, the former CEO of entertainment and sporting event giant AEG, to seek out new directors for the board and evaluate options.

"The board is squarely focused on maximizing stockholder value as we move ahead," he said. Pandora's shares tumbled more than two percent Monday even as Wall Street struck a new record.

Torrents don't have ads, and don't time out.

Original Submission

butthurt writes:

TidBITS reports on a malicious e-mail

According to Google, "no other data was exposed" besides the contact lists and the attack was stopped after about an hour, with "fewer than 0.1 percent" of Google Mail (Gmail) users affected.

This Motherboard article says the attacker was able to use OAuth to impersonate Google. A security researcher says

[...] he warned Google directly about this vulnerability in 2012, and suggested that Google address it by checking to [...] ensure the name of any given app matched the URL of the company behind it.

Additional coverage:

• The Atlantic
• Recode
• Slate
• PC World
• The Next Web

Original Submission #1  Original Submission #2 

butthurt writes:

The Telegraph reports on work published in Current Biology (DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.03.076) in which researchers

Gamma oscillations are brain waves that oscillate at frequencies in the 30 to 80 Hz range. One researcher told the Telegraph:

Our findings imply that in designing buildings, it may be important to avoid the types of visual patterns that can activate this circuit and cause discomfort, migraines, or seizures [...] Even perfectly healthy people may feel modest discomfort from the images that are most likely to trigger seizures in photosensitive epilepsy.

Related stories:
Migraine, Epilepsy Drug Caused Serious Birth Defects in Thousands of French Children
Epilepsy-Triggering Suspect Charged, More Details on the Arrest
Alleged Epilepsy-Triggering Troll Arrested by the FBI
Epilepsy Patient Assaulted Via Twitter
Easing Epilepsy With Battery Power

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Is there room for launch companies smaller than the United Launch Alliance and SpaceX?

Vector Space Systems successfully launched a full-scale model of its Vector-R rocket on Wednesday in Mojave, California. The test flight, which remained under 50,000 feet for regulatory purposes, allows the company to remain on track to begin providing launch services for small satellites in 2018, said Jim Cantrell, the company's chief executive and cofounder.

The Arizona-based rocket company is one of a handful of competitors racing to the launch pad to provide lower-cost access to space for small satellites. These satellites are generally under 500kg in mass and often much smaller (the industry trend is toward smaller, lighter, more capable satellites). The Vector-R rocket will eventually be capable of launching a payload of up to 45kg to an orbit of 800km above the Earth. Other companies trying to reach this market include US-based Virgin Orbit and New Zealand-based Rocket Lab. Neither company has begun commercial launches.

[...] The market seems ready for micro-launchers. For now, smaller payloads must typically "share" rides to space on larger rockets, and they cannot count on a launch date. Instead of being treated as excess cargo, Vector intends to offer these small satellites the capability to launch within three months of demand. Vector will launch these small payloads into any desired orbit from Kodiak Launch Complex in Alaska or Cape Canaveral in Florida. Launch costs will range from $2 million to $3 million.

Also at NASASpaceFlight.

Original Submission

DeathMonkey writes:

Doubts about vaccines helped fuel Minnesota's biggest outbreak of measles in decades, and attracted determined vaccine skeptics eager to exploit fear, health officials say.

But the outbreak has not only caught people's attention; it has helped demonstrate that anti-vaccine activists are wrong, state and county health officials say.

At least 48 people have been infected, nearly all of them children, and 11 kids are in the hospital with pneumonia and other dangerous complications, the Minnesota department of health says. They expect more.

"We've seen that the vaccine rates in the community that's being affected right now were once about the same or even a little higher than our average. They've dropped to about half of that," Johnson added.

"And unfortunately now we are seeing the result. Measles is spreading rapidly in the community and 11 children are hospitalized. And at the same time there is no evidence of any corresponding drop in autism in the community."

http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/measles-outbreak-minnesota-caused-vaccine-skeptics-n756246

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

While medical marijuana has been promoted as a treatment for a variety of ailments, finding anyone who promotes it as a memory boost is rare. Yet a German-Israeli team of researchers has just published a paper suggesting that at least in aging mice, marijuana does just that. Both in terms of mental performance and gene activity in the brain, treatment with pot's active ingredient seems to restore older mice to a state resembling that of youth. But getting to that point took a month of treatments at levels that might affect mental performance as well.

[...] The researchers performed the tests with mice in different age groups: two months, 12 months, and 18 months. That's roughly young, middle-aged, and elderly for mice. The mice were subjected to tests of learning and memory. In both tests, the animals that had received THC showed no decline with age. All the treated mice consistently tested as if they were two months old.

Something similar was found when the authors looked at gene activity in the brain. As mice age, a variety of genes see their activity go up or down; a number of the genes here have been associated with aging's effects on the brain in earlier studies. After four weeks of THC, however, these genes ended up being active at levels similar to those seen in two-month-old mice.

takyon writes:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/11338/qualcomm-announces-snapdragon-660-630-mobile-platforms

Qualcomm is bringing some premium experiences to its mid-tier lineup with the addition of the Snapdragon 660 and Snapdragon 630 Mobile Platforms. Improved connectivity, enhanced imaging, faster charging, and even machine learning features, in addition to the usual CPU and GPU improvements, help make these 600-series parts particularly interesting.

Qualcomm has been aggressively pushing more advanced LTE modems throughout its product portfolio recently, giving at least some of the SoCs in the 600 and even 400 tiers a minimum of Category 7 LTE performance (300Mbps DL / 100Mbps UL) with a Snapdragon X8 LTE modem. But after the debut of Qualcomm's first gigabit LTE modem—the Snapdragon X16 (1.0Gbps DL / 150Mbps UL)—in the Snapdragon 835 SoC this year, along with its successor the Snapdragon X20 (1.2Gbps DL / 150Mbps UL), Qualcomm is ready to bring even higher performance to its new 600-series platforms. Both the Snapdragon 660 and Snapdragon 630 get the same Snapdragon X12 LTE modem that appeared in last year's flagship Snapdragon 820/821 SoCs. This is a Category 12/13 modem capable of up to 600Mbps throughput on the downlink (3x20MHz CA, 256-QAM) and 150Mbps on the uplink (2x20MHz CA, 64-QAM).

[...] Another advanced feature supported by the Snapdragon 660 and 630 is Qualcomm's Quick Charge 4 fast-charging technology, which was previously only available with Snapdragon 835. Quick Charge 4 promises up to 20% faster charging and 30% higher efficiency than the previous generation Quick Charge 3.

[...] Both of the new Snapdragon 660 and 630 platforms include features and capabilities previously seen only in the premium 800-tier, and also add new technologies like Bluetooth 5 and LPDDR4 RAM support (up to 8GB), which reduces power consumption and improves bandwidth compared to LPDDR3. The Snapdragon 660 sounds particularly compelling, because it appears to deliver a very similar experience to last year's Snapdragon 820 but, presumably, at a lower price point.

Also at Tom's Hardware.

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

Social skills are an oft-cited weakness for geeks. If that describes you, this may help:

When do we really learn good conversation skills? Well, we don't. We're just kind of expected to pick them up...

And we wonder why people aren't better communicators. How can you be that person people love to talk to?

I've posted a lot of research and expert interviews on the subject so let's round up the info and make it actionable.

In this post you'll learn:

        How to make a good first impression.
        How to be a great listener.
        What the best subjects to discuss are.
        How to prevent awkward silences.
        How to politely end a conversation.

Each section contains links to further reading if you have a particular need for improvement.

Original Submission

Fnord666 writes:

WikiLeaks continues to release revealing documents from its Vault 7 cache. This time around the organization introduces us to a CIA tool called Archimedes -- previously known as Fulcrum.

As before, there is little to confirm whether or not the tool is still in active use -- or, indeed, if it has actually ever been used -- but the documentation shows how it can be installed on a LAN to perform a man-in-the-middle attack.

The manual itself explains how Archimedes works: "Archimedes is used to redirect LAN traffic from a target's computer through an attacker controlled computer before it is passed to the gateway. This enables the tool to inject a forged web server response that will redirect the target's web browser to an arbitrary location. This technique is typically used to redirect the target to an exploitation server while providing the appearance of a normal browsing session."

Source: betanews

Original Submission

isj writes:

O'Reilly and Software Improvement Group conducted a survey about secure coding: https://www.oreilly.com/ideas/the-alarming-state-of-secure-coding-neglect
Much of it is as expected but I stumbled upon this tidbit:

"[Static analysis] was reported as being used by 25% of respondents. One-third of those who didn't use it said it was too expensive. The rest of the non-users were fairly evenly divided among other explanations: tools were not available for their technology, were too hard to use, had too many false positives, or were not usable in Agile development."

When developing I have almost always used compiler warnings (gcc/acc/icc/cxx/clang) and dedicated tools cppcheck/flexelint/coverity-scan/pvs-studio/clang-analyze so the above snippet depressed me because catching errors sooner rather than later makes them much cheaper to fix. Static analysis tools can require much configuration, can be expensive, and be time-consuming, and I guess that for some languages such tools don't even exist. The part about static analysis tools not fitting a development process struck me as downright odd.

What is your take on this? Why aren't you using static analysis (and if you do: which one and for what?)

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

A new study led by the University of Delaware found that kids who are bullied in fifth grade often suffer from depression and begin using alcohol and other substances a few years after the incidents.

"Students who experienced more frequent peer victimization in fifth grade were more likely to have greater symptoms of depression in seventh grade, and a greater likelihood of using alcohol, marijuana or tobacco in tenth grade," said the study's leader, Valerie Earnshaw, a social psychologist and assistant professor in UD's College of Education and Human Development.

The study involved researchers from universities and hospitals in six states, who analyzed data collected between 2004 and 2011 from 4,297 students on their journey from fifth through tenth grade. The findings were published online in the medical journal Pediatrics.

The students were from Birmingham, Alabama; Houston, Texas; and Los Angeles County, California. Forty-four percent were Latino, 29 percent were African American and 22 percent were white.

Do you see this being true in your own life, or in the lives of others you know?

Peer Victimization, Depressive Symptoms, and Substance Use: A Longitudinal Analysis (open, DOI: 10.1542/peds.2016-3426) (DX)

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

Out in the sunlight, the new device is nothing special. It produces a device efficiency of a bit over 11 percent. Given that silicon cells are well above 20-percent efficiencies, this isn't likely to start a mass migration to the technology.

But internally, the device's quantum efficiency seemed quite a bit better, as it was able to extract usable electrons from nearly every photon that was absorbed. The researchers write "the internal quantum efficiency ranges between 90 percent and practically 100 percent," although there are some losses from the connections with the external wiring.

So they decided to give it a test under conditions where those photons were limited: indoor lighting. Even bright indoor lighting is typically only one percent of what you'd get on a sunny day. Unlike the Sun, most lights are also biased toward producing photons in the visible range—which nicely corresponds to the sensitivity of the device's dyes.

Under indoor lighting, the device's efficiency shot up to nearly 29 percent, close to the record for a single-material solar cell. So the researchers tested it against that record holder, gallium arsenide, which is expensive enough that it's normally reserved for uses like space-based solar panels. And the dye-sensitized version won, with gallium arsenide's efficiency dropping to about 20 percent in the dim light.

Soon you may be able to power your basement lab with ambient light.

Original Submission

FBI Director James Comey Sacked

butthurt writes:

The Washington Post reports that:

Previously:
Clinton Told FBI She Relied on Others' Judgment on Classified Material
FBI Recommends No Prosecution for Clinton

F.B.I. Director James Comey Is Fired by Trump

takyon writes:

President Trump has fired FBI Director James Comey:

President Trump has fired the director of the F.B.I., James B. Comey, over his handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails, the White House said Tuesday.

[...] Under the F.B.I.'s normal rules of succession, Mr. Comey's deputy, Andrew G. McCabe, a career F.B.I. officer, becomes acting director. The White House said the search for a new director will begin immediately.

I never liked Comey (see this cluster of stories), but I doubt there will ever be an FBI Director I like.

Related:
We're Stuck With Comey

Earlier in the day...

FBI Director Comey Misstated Huma Abedin Evidence at Last Week's Hearing