Big Changes From Mozilla Mean Firefox Will Get Chrome Extensions

Mozilla announced yesterday a few high-level changes to the way Firefox and Firefox extensions will be developed; among them, the introduction of “a new extension API, called WebExtensions—largely compatible with the model used by Chrome and Opera—to make it easier to develop extensions across multiple browsers.” (Liliputing has a nice breakdown of the changes.) ZDNet reports that at the same time, “Mozilla will be deprecating XPCOM and XUL, the foundations of its extension system, and many Firefox developers are ticked off at these moves.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Big Changes From Mozilla Mean Firefox Will Get Chrome Extensions

Cheap Thermal Imagers Can Steal User PINs

Bismillah writes: A British infosec company has discovered that cheap thermal imaging attachments for smartphones can be used to work out which keys users press on — for instance — ATM PIN pads. The thermal imprint last for a minute or longer. That’s especially worrying if your PIN takes the form of letters, as do many users’ phone-unlock patterns. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Cheap Thermal Imagers Can Steal User PINs

PSA: Apple will replace your iPhone 6 Plus’ wonky camera

Did you buy an iPhone 6 Plus sometime between last September and this January? Do you notice that your shots taken with its back camera come out all blurry? Yeah, it’s not just you . Turns out, a limited number of these phones shipped with a manufacturing defect. However, Apple is aware of the issue and has already begun issuing replacements for the iSight camera. If you think that you have one of these borked units, go to this website and type in your phone’s serial number. If your unit is part of that bad batch, Apple will replace the camera (not the entire phone) at no charge. Also, if you’re rocking one of the 4.7-inch iPhone 6’s , don’t worry; none of those units suffered from the defect. [Image Credit: Getty Images] Filed under: Cellphones , Cameras , Wireless , Mobile , Apple Comments Via: 9to5Mac Source: Apple Support Tags: apple, iphone, iphone6, iphone6plus, isight, mobilepostcross, PSA

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PSA: Apple will replace your iPhone 6 Plus’ wonky camera

‘Metabolic Switch’ Toggles Our Cells to Store or Burn Fat

It seems like cruel fate that some folks are naturally thin, while others have to work tirelessly to control their weight. But in the future, we may be able to level the playing field, because scientists have just discovered a ‘metabolic master switch’ that determines whether fat-producing adipocytes store or burn energy. Read more…

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‘Metabolic Switch’ Toggles Our Cells to Store or Burn Fat

China’s Dredging In the South China Sea Created 2,900 Acres of New Islands

We’ve known for years that China’s military is spearheading one of the biggest land reclamation projects ever in the middle of the South China Sea. But a report from the Pentagon yesterday says that the project is far larger than previously thought: 2, 900 acres of new land has been created—roughly tripling the size of the entire group of natural islands. Read more…

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China’s Dredging In the South China Sea Created 2,900 Acres of New Islands

An Amazing Ferrofluid Display Brings Nike’s New Sneakers To Life

So far, the most practical use man has found for ferrofluid—the mesmerizing black goo that reacts to magnets in cool ways—is as gorgeous eye candy. And that’s totally OK, because how else would have Nike realized this slick animated display for its new Kevin Durant sneakers? Read more…

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An Amazing Ferrofluid Display Brings Nike’s New Sneakers To Life

San Jose May Put License Plate Scanners On Garbage Trucks

An anonymous reader writes: It’s bad enough that some places have outfitted their police vehicles with automated license plate scanners, but now the city of San Jose may take it one step further. They’re considering a proposal to install plate readers on their fleet of garbage trucks. This would give them the ability to blanket virtually every street in the city with scans once a week. San Jose officials made this proposal ostensibly to fight car theft, but privacy activists have been quick to point out the unintended consequences. ACLU attorney Chris Conley said, “If it’s collected repeatedly over a long period of time, it can reveal intimate data about you like attending a religious service or a gay bar. People have a right to live their lives without constantly being monitored by the government.” City councilman Johnny Khamis dismissed such criticism: “This is a public street. You’re not expecting privacy on a public street.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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San Jose May Put License Plate Scanners On Garbage Trucks

Fix All Your Facebook Mistakes With the Activity Log

You may not yet have stumbled across the Activity Log page in your wanderings around Facebook, but it’s worth exploring. It provides a blow-by-blow account of everything you do on the social network, and you can use it to take back likes or comments, find your favorite posts again, change your privacy settings and more. Read more…

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Fix All Your Facebook Mistakes With the Activity Log

Chatroulette users stumble into a live-action zombie shooter

Chatroulette often brings surprises, but usually not good ones. However, several users were recently greeted with an amazing real life, live-streaming Doom-style first person shooter ( FPS ) game complete with undead characters and a creepy graveyard setting. To play, they talked the hero character through the scenes, giving commands like “Run! Run, fat boy, run!”, “Go for the head shot!” or “Check what’s in that pot!” The “game” was replete with sound effects, blood and guns, including a “rhino turret” and rocket launcher. The reaction of the players was beyond hilarious, with many adapting surprisingly quickly to the scenario (“Hit him again to make sure he’s dead!”). The UK production team from Realm Pictures released a companion making-of video, and it’s hard to believe they only spent £900 (about $1, 450) on the whole thing. There were video and sound effects experts who did their stuff on-the-fly, along with makeup people, a gun touch-up painter (they used nerf guns), and a cosplayer. The main actor wore a motorcycle helmet with a GoPro camera, light and Teradek HDMI transmitter. 30 intrepid extras from a nearby town played the zombies. The producers added plenty of on-the-nose FPS touches like overly-dramatic gun-cocking, comic health avatars and useless hand gestures. The show’s director, who also played the hero witih a Batman-style voice, tried to lead players into making the correct decisions. Many didn’t catch on, resulting in a gruesome death, but those with some experience in the genre eventually got to the final scenario, an encounter with the “Boss.” You’ll definitely want to see how that plays out below. Filed under: Gaming Comments Via: Reddit Source: Realm Pictures (YouTube) Tags: Chatroulette, FirstPersonShooter, FPS, live-action, livestream, omegle, RealmPictures, video

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Chatroulette users stumble into a live-action zombie shooter

We’re Only Beginning To Understand Why Humans Have a Skewed Sex Ratio

The ratio of newborn boys to girls slightly and consistently leans toward males: around 106 boys are born for every 100 girls. If that seems odd to you, it should : the way sperm form suggests that the ratio of X-sperm to Y-sperm should be exactly 50:50–and scientists are only now beginning to understand why the skew occurs. Read more…

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We’re Only Beginning To Understand Why Humans Have a Skewed Sex Ratio