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Intel Security Releases Detection Tool For EFI Rootkits After CIA Leak

After WikiLeaks revealed data exposing information about the CIA’s arsenal of hacking tools, Intel Security has released a tool that allows users to check if their computer’s low-level system firmware has been modified and contains unauthorized code. PCWorld reports: The release comes after CIA documents leaked Tuesday revealed that the agency has developed EFI (Extensible Firmware Interface) rootkits for Apple’s Macbooks. The documents from CIA’s Embedded Development Branch (EDB) mention an OS X “implant” called DerStarke that includes a kernel code injection module dubbed Bokor and an EFI persistence module called DarkMatter. In addition to DarkMatter, there is a second project in the CIA EDB documents called QuarkMatter that is also described as a “Mac OS X EFI implant which uses an EFI driver stored on the EFI system partition to provide persistence to an arbitrary kernel implant.” The Advanced Threat Research team at Intel Security has created a new module for its existing CHIPSEC open-source framework to detect rogue EFI binaries. CHIPSEC consists of a set of command-line tools that use low-level interfaces to analyze a system’s hardware, firmware, and platform components. It can be run from Windows, Linux, macOS, and even from an EFI shell. The new CHIPSEC module allows the user to take a clean EFI image from the computer manufacturer, extract its contents and build a whitelist of the binary files inside. It can then compare that list against the system’s current EFI or against an EFI image previously extracted from a system. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Chrome 57 Arrives With CSS Grid Layout and API Improvements

Google has launched Chrome 57 for Windows, Mac, and Linux. From a report on VentureBeat: Among the additions is CSS Grid Layout, API improvements, and other new features for developers. You can update to the latest version now using the browser’s built-in silent updater, or download it directly from google.com/chrome. Chrome is arguably more than a browser: With over 1 billion users, it’s a major platform that web developers have to consider. In fact, with Chrome’s regular additions and changes, developers have to keep up to ensure they are taking advantage of everything available. Chrome 57 implements CSS Grid Layout, a two-dimensional grid-based layout system for responsive user interface design. Elements within the grid can be specified to span multiple columns or rows, plus they can also be named so that layout code is easier to understand. The goal is to give developers more granular control, especially as websites are increasingly accessed on various screen sizes, so they can slowly move away from complex code that is difficult to maintain. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Chrome 57 Arrives With CSS Grid Layout and API Improvements

Verizon FiOS streaming no longer counts toward your data cap

Since chairman and net neutrality skeptic Ajit Pal dropped an FCC investigation into data-free ” zero-rating , ” it’s full speed ahead for carriers on unlimited video streaming. Verizon is piling on with its FiOS Mobile App, which now lets you to stream some 140+ channels, recorded DVR shows and movies on the go without impacting your wireless data cap. The new deal applies to FiOS internet and TV subscribers on Verizon’s 5GB, Small, Medium and Large plans. The app is likely a response to AT&T’s recent wireless plans that let you stream DirecTV Now with no data hit as long as you have both a qualifying mobile and DirecTV Now plan. T-Mobile offers DirecTV and Hulu with no data hit, too, though it has also used the offer to slam rival AT&T. Verizon recently resurrected its Unlimited plan as well, again following the lead of AT&T and T-Mobile. Interestingly, zero-rated FiOS streaming is not included with the Unlimited plan, according to fine print on the company’s FiOS Mobile App page on iTunes, as spotted by The Verge . Instead, it counts toward the 22GB cap — so if you stream lots of TV and exceed it, your speeds could be throttled. Verizon already zero-rated its Go90 video streaming app last year, something that perked up the ears of net neutrality advocates. While free video data sounds like a great thing, organizations like the Electronic Frontier Foundation and ACLU believe that by prioritizing their own content over rivals like Netflix, carriers are creating an uneven playing field. As such, they and other groups wrote the FCC urging it to not eliminate net neutrality rules created in 2015 . “In order to promote continued economic, social, and political growth and innovation, it is imperative that the Internet remain open and accessible to all people in the future, ” the petition says. Source: Verizon

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Verizon FiOS streaming no longer counts toward your data cap

Futuracha, a beautiful, ornamental typeface that magically adjusts as you type

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETtFvFDSLys Futuracha is a successfully crowdfunded typeface that makes use of Open Type’s wizardry to switch its ligatures as you type, producing beautiful effects — before the crowdfunding campaign, Futuracha users had to hand-set those ligatures, but now it’s just type and go. $50 for a commercial license, $15 for a personal license. Ships in May. ( via Red Ferret )

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Futuracha, a beautiful, ornamental typeface that magically adjusts as you type

Retinal implant could add years to your eyesight

Scientists have been struggling to fight retinal degeneration in an elegant way. The most practical solution so far involves external devices that send wires to the back of your eyes. There might be a much more graceful approach before long, however. Researchers have developed an implant whose light-sensitive material could at least partially restore retinas and preserve your eyesight. Their invention combines a biocompatible substance (in this case, silk) with a conductive polymer and an organic semiconductor to send electricity to nerve cells whenever the implant is subjected to typical environmental light. Previous attempts at photovoltaic devices like this have required either exceptionally bright light or unusual light wavelengths to work, so this would be far more practical in the real world. Early experiments are promising, although they do reveal some limits. Rats with the implants don’t show any improvement over their afflicted peers in low light (since the light-sensitive material isn’t kicking in), but their response to brighter light is nearly as good as that of a healthy animal. And since the materials are organic-friendly, the rats kept the implants in place for 6 months with no inflamed tissue. Don’t get too excited by the discovery. The scientists aren’t entirely clear how the electrical charges turn into nerve responses, for one thing. And as Ars Technica explains , there’s also the question of how much vision the implants are actually restoring. The rats may be responsive to light, but that doesn’t mean that they have the eyesight they did before retinal degeneration kicked in. Look at it this way, though: even if a future human implant only offered a partial fix, it could give basic visual cues to people who might otherwise go blind. Via: Ars Technica Source: Nature

T-Mobile Raises Deprioritization Threshold To 30GB

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TmoNews: T-Mobile’s new deprioritization threshold is 30GB of usage in a single billing cycle. While T-Mo didn’t make an official announcement about the change, you can see in this cached page that the network management policy says 28GB: “Based on network statistics for the most recent quarter, customers who use more than 28GB of data during a billing cycle will have their data usage prioritized below other customers’ data usage for the remainder of the billing cycle in times and at locations where there are competing customer demands for network resources.” Navigating to the webpage today now says 30GB. What this change means is that if you use more than 30GB of data in one billing cycle, your data usage will be prioritized below others for the remainder of that billing cycle. The only time that you’re likely to see the effects of that, though, is when you’re at a location on the network that is congested, during which time you may see slower speeds. Once you move to a different location or the congestion goes down, your speeds will likely go back up. And once the new billing cycle rolls around, your usage will be reset. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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T-Mobile Raises Deprioritization Threshold To 30GB

Volkswagen unveils Sedric, its first fully autonomous vehicle

Volkswagen Group Volkswagen’s plans to develop fully autonomous vehicles that would offer greater comfort and convenience than current cars, while slashing the number of road deaths and truly democratizing mobility, have borne their first fruit. This is Sedric, designed to be a platform for cross-brand ideas, which will feed into subsequent concepts from the group’s car brands. The biggest idea it introduces is its full “Level 5” autonomy: no human driver is required. There’s no VW badge on the front of Sedric because this is the first concept car built by the Volkswagen Group, rather than the Volkswagen car brand. It was devised, designed, developed and constructed by Volkswagen Group’s Future Center Europe in Potsdam and Volkswagen Group Research in Wolfsburg. “We are systematically focusing on our customers, their wishes and requirements for the mobility of the future,” says chief designer Michael Mauer. “The Volkswagen Group Future Centers give us the opportunity to conceptualize and develop new ideas of mobile life.” Read 8 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Volkswagen unveils Sedric, its first fully autonomous vehicle

Critical vulnerability under “massive” attack imperils high-impact sites [Updated]

Enlarge / One of two publicly available exploits for a critical Apache Struts vulnerability. (credit: Kevin Beaumont ) In a string of attacks that have escalated over the past 48 hours, hackers are actively exploiting a critical vulnerability that allows them to take almost complete control of Web servers used by banks, government agencies, and large Internet companies. The code-execution bug resides in the Apache Struts 2 Web application framework and is trivial to exploit. Although maintainers of the open source project patched the vulnerability on Monday , it remains under attack by hackers who are exploiting it to inject commands of their choice into Struts servers that have yet to install the update, researchers are warning. Making matters worse, at least two working exploits are publicly available. “If you run it against a vulnerable application, the result will be the remote execution of commands with the user running the server,” Vicente Motos wrote of one of the exploits in a post published late Wednesday afternoon on the Hack Players website. “We have dedicated hours to reporting to companies, governments, manufacturers, and even individuals to patch and correct the vulnerability as soon as possible, but the exploit has already jumped to the big pages of ‘advisories,’ and massive attempts to exploit the Internet have already been observed.” Read 8 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Critical vulnerability under “massive” attack imperils high-impact sites [Updated]

Nvidia GTX 1080 Ti review: The fastest graphics card, again

Enlarge (credit: Mark Walton) Specs at a glance: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti CUDA CORES 3584 TEXTURE UNITS 224 ROPS 88 CORE CLOCK 1,480MHz BOOST CLOCK 1,1582MHz MEMORY BUS WIDTH 352 bits MEMORY BANDWIDTH 484GB/s MEMORY SIZE 11GB GDDR5X Outputs 3x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x HDMI 2.0b with support for 4K60 10/12b HEVC Decode Release date March 9, 2017 PRICE Founders Edition (as reviewed): £700/$700. Partner cards priced at: £700/$700. I find it odd that a room full of otherwise seemingly normal human beings (press excluded) would cheer at being charged £700/$700 for the GTX 1080 Ti, even if it does claim to be the fastest gaming graphics card money can buy. After all, that £700 could otherwise be spent on an entire gaming PC, the latest iPhone, a return flight from London to Los Angeles, or 139 bottles of the finest Scottish craft beer . Besides, surely those Americans in attendance at Nvidia’s grand GTX 1080 Ti reveal in San Francisco had more pressing things to worry about? After all, life isn’t all graphics cards and iPhones when your health is on the line . Still, Nvidia was true to its word: the GTX 1080 Ti is indeed the fastest gaming graphics card money can buy—even faster than the £1,100/$1,200 e-peen extension that is the Titan X Pascal . It’s a hell of a lot faster than the GTX 1080 too—which now sits in a “cheaper” price bracket of £500/$500—by as much as 30 percent. It’s the first graphics card since the Titan XP that can play many games in 4K at 60FPS without having to fiddle with settings—you just whack everything on ultra and start playing. Plus it’s a quiet graphics card, in its Founders Edition form at least, thanks to the improvements Nvidia has made to its iconic all-metal shroud. Read 28 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Nvidia GTX 1080 Ti review: The fastest graphics card, again

School Assignment Leads to Discovery of WWII Plane With Pilot’s Body Still Inside

When 14-year-old Daniel Kristiansen was assigned a World War II project for history class, his father jokingly suggested he look for a German plane that had allegedly crashed at the family farm. Well wouldn’t you know it, he actually found the damned thing—along with the dead airman’s remains. It’s being called one of… Read more…

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School Assignment Leads to Discovery of WWII Plane With Pilot’s Body Still Inside

Ken May

Author: kenmay