Month: October 2016

Welcome to the machine—Yahoo mail scanning exposes another US spy tool

Enlarge (credit: Aurich / Thinkstock) Imagine a futuristic society in which robots are deployed to everybody’s house, fulfilling a mission to scan the inside of each and every residence. Does that mental image look far-off and futuristic? Well, this week’s Yahoo e-mail surveillance revelations perhaps prove this intrusive robot scenario has already arrived in the digital world. Days ago, Reuters cited anonymous sources and reported that Yahoo covertly built a secret “custom software program to search all of its customers’ incoming e-mails for specific information.” Yahoo, the report noted, “complied with a classified US government directive, scanning hundreds of millions of Yahoo Mail accounts at the behest of the National Security Agency or FBI.” Reuters then followed up, saying Yahoo acted at the behest of the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. Not to be outdone, The New York Times   reported Yahoo used its system designed to scan for child pornography and spam to search for messages containing an undisclosed “signature.” The Times said a FISA judge found probable cause to believe that this digital signature “was uniquely used by a foreign power.” The scanning has ceased, the report noted, but neither of the news agencies said how long the search lasted and when it began. Read 13 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Welcome to the machine—Yahoo mail scanning exposes another US spy tool

Cops arrest hundreds of people allegedly involved in IRS phone scam

Enlarge (credit: Brendan Smialowski / Getty Images News) Hundreds of people in Mumbai, India have been detained in relation to a massive telephone scam where fake callers “from the IRS” targeted Americans. In said calls, scammers tried to convince recipients that they were from the IRS in order to con victims into forking over thousands of dollars payable via prepaid credit cards. According to The Guardian , 200 Indian police officers raided nine locations across one of India’s largest cities. “Seventy workers have been formally arrested and around 630 others are being investigated,” Paramvir Singh, the police commissioner of Thane, told the British newspaper. “We expect that many more people will be arrested.” Read 4 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Cops arrest hundreds of people allegedly involved in IRS phone scam

Microsoft Allows Users To Remove Some System Applications in Windows 10 Insider Preview 14936

Until now, Microsoft restricted users from deleting many of the system applications on Windows 10. But it is finally giving users that option in the latest Windows 10 Insider Preview — 14936. From an article on Ghacks:If you open the Mail and Calendar application for instance, you will notice that the uninstall button is active now. This means that you can remove the system app from the machine without having to resort to Powershell or third-party programs to do so. Users who are on the stable version of Windows 10 cannot uninstall system apps using the apps & features menu currently. It seems likely that Microsoft will introduce the feature with the next feature update, codename Redstone 2, which will be out in 2017. Before you start jumping up and down in joy, note that some system applications cannot be removed. While you can uninstall Mail and Calendar, Calculator, Groove Music, Maps, and Weather, you cannot remove Alarm & Clock, Camera, Cortana, Messaging, and others. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Microsoft Allows Users To Remove Some System Applications in Windows 10 Insider Preview 14936

Mark Zuckerberg’s Absurd ‘Social VR’ Demo Was Brutal

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg showed off the company’s experiments with social virtual reality experiences that allow you to chat with your friends using avatars in headsets like Oculus’s Rift. It was really weird. The demo app allows you to chat with avatars of your friends, travel to places like Mars or Facebook’s Headquarters, and take virtual reality selfies to share to Facebook. Read more…

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Mark Zuckerberg’s Absurd ‘Social VR’ Demo Was Brutal

Rimac’s electric bike can go 150 miles on a single charge

Rimac has revealed a new electric bicycle that is just as impressive as its LaFerrari-killing , million-dollar Concept One supercar, in its own way. With a massive 3kWh battery, the Greyp G12H can go up to 240 km (150 miles) on a single charge, making it the longest-range e-bicycle out there. If you have a 10 mile round trip to work, each would cost 2.3 cents, making it one of the cheapest powered transportation options, too. “Cheap” is strictly related to energy consumption, however. The Greyp G12S, the company’s current model that has a shorter 75 mile range but is faster at 70 km/h (44 mph) costs €8, 380, or around $9, 400. That’s Lionel Messi money (he bought a custom version), and the new model isn’t likely to be cheaper, as the battery is double the size. That said, other long-endurance models like those from Optibike are in that ballpark too. The G12H and faster G12S both look more like motocross bikes than electric bicycles, and Greyp markets the latter as such (see the video, above). Given the 107 pound weight of the G12S model, in fact, the pedals are mostly for show, and the G12H should weigh at least that much. Other features include “Supernova” lights, a custom rack, and biometric sensor to activate the e-bike. There’s no word yet on availability or cost, but Greyp says the price tag and range will depend on the battery option you choose.

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Rimac’s electric bike can go 150 miles on a single charge

Surgeons complete first uterus transplants from live donors in US

A team of surgeons at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas have achieved something that hadn’t previously been done in the US. With the help of a Swedish surgical team, doctors performed the first uterus transplants from living donors . The experimental procedures took place between September 14th and 22nd with four total transplants. While the first three were unsuccessful, the fourth patient is showing positive results based on follow-up tests. The transplanted uteri were removed from those first three patients and they’re expected to resume normal activity soon. For the fourth patient, tests indicate good blood flow to the uterus with no signs of rejection or infection. “We are cautiously optimistic that she could ultimately become the first uterine transplant recipient in the US to make it to the milestone of uterine functionality, ” a statement from Baylor University Medical Center explained. 16 uterine transplants have been performed around the world thus far. In fact, the Swedish team that assisted doctors at Baylor are considered experts on the procedure. There have been five births following procedures they’ve completed. Following these most recent transplants, both surgical teams say they’ve gained valuable knowledge from the three unsuccessful cases that will prove beneficial to future operations. Changes will include updates to protocols and post-op management with special attention to the thickness of the uterine veins. Back in February, the Cleveland Clinic performed the first uterus transplant in the US. In that case, the 26-year-old recipient would have needed to have the organ removed after one or two pregnancies due to medications that kept her body from rejecting it. Due to compromised blood flow caused by an infection in the weeks that followed, the transplanted uterus was removed in March. Via: CNN Source: Baylor University Medical Center (1) , (2)

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Surgeons complete first uterus transplants from live donors in US

Spotify ads briefly served malware to your PC

Some Spotify listeners got more than just free music with their ad-supported software. Multiple users report that the streaming service was serving malware-laden ads that would pop up your default web browser in a bid to compromise your system. Reportedly, some of these didn’t even require your input to do damage. And they weren’t specific to any one platform, either — Linux, Mac and Windows users all saw the same behavior, although it’s not clear that the hostile code could damage all three platforms. In response, Spotify tells us that this was the result of an “isolated issue” with an ad, and that it has since “shut it down.” Only a “small number of users” ran into the malware, it says. You can read the full statement below. With that said, it’s bound to be slightly embarrassing when the company ran into a similar issue in 2011. It’s also a reminder of one of the smaller perks of paying for a subscription service: when you don’t get ads in the first place, you’re not at risk of receiving rogue ads. “A small number of users have experienced a problem with questionable website pop ups in their default browsers as a result of an isolated issue with an ad on our free tier. We have now identified the source of the problem and have shut it down. We will continue to monitor the situation.” PSA: uninstall Spotify free, their ads are plagued with malware right now. pic.twitter.com/DUOqDrnDUZ — Volp (@VolpRS) October 5, 2016 Via: The Next Web , 9to5Mac Source: Spotify Community , Volp (Twitter)

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Spotify ads briefly served malware to your PC

Nokia makes a play for 5G with purchase of US startup

Nokia has signalled fresh commitment towards 5G infrastructure with the acquisition of Eta Devices—a small US-based startup that specialises in improving power efficiency at base stations. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based outfit has around 20 staff, some of whom work at its research and development site in Stockholm, Sweden. Nokia said it hoped the buyout, financial details of which weren’t disclosed, allow it “to enhance base station energy efficiency, an increasingly important area for operators on the path to 4.9G and 5G.” Read 4 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Nokia makes a play for 5G with purchase of US startup