On April 27th, a Russian resupply ship to the ISS started spinning out of control shortly after reaching space. For more than a week, Progress 59 has been hurtling around the Earth in an increasingly unstable orbit, but tonight, it re-entered safely (and violently) over the Pacific Ocean. Read more…
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Russia’s Rogue Spacecraft Disintegrated Safely
The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors has halted a plan to approve the purchase of a cell-site simulator , better known as a stingray. The secretive surveillance devices can be used to determine a phone’s location, but they can also intercept calls and text messages. During the act of locating a phone, stingrays also sweep up information about nearby phones—not just the target phone. Earlier this year, Ars reported on how the FBI is actively trying to “prevent disclosure” of how these devices are used in local jurisdictions across America. The move, happening in one of the primary counties in Silicon Valley, marks an unusual occasion that a local government has turned away from federal funds that would be used to acquire such a device. The device was approved initially during a February 24, 2015 meeting, despite a testy exchange between the Santa Clara Sheriff’s Office and Supervisor Joe Simitian, a former state senator with a penchant for an interest in privacy issues. Simitian’s office didn’t immediately respond to Ars’ request for comment. Read 19 remaining paragraphs | Comments
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In rare move, Silicon Valley county gov’t kills stingray acquisition
jfruh writes: If you use a Mac, you probably recognize MacKeeper from the omnipresent popup ads designed to look vaguely like system warnings urging you to download the product and use it to keep your computer safe. Now the Ukranian company behind the software and the ads may have to pay millions in a class action suit that accuses them of exaggerating security problems in order to convince customers to download the software. Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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MacKeeper May Have To Pay Millions In Class-Action Suit
mpicpp sends word about particularly bad virus making the rounds. “A computer virus that tries to avoid detection by making the machine it infects unusable has been found. If Rombertik’s evasion techniques are triggered, it deletes key files on a computer, making it constantly restart. Analysts said Rombertik was ‘unique’ among malware samples for resisting capture so aggressively. On Windows machines where it goes unnoticed, the malware steals login data and other confidential information. Rombertik typically infected a vulnerable machine after a booby-trapped attachment on a phishing message had been opened, security researchers Ben Baker and Alex Chiu, from Cisco, said in a blogpost. Some of the messages Rombertik travels with pose as business inquiry letters from Microsoft. The malware ‘indiscriminately’ stole data entered by victims on any website, the researchers said. And it got even nastier when it spotted someone was trying to understand how it worked. ‘Rombertik is unique in that it actively attempts to destroy the computer if it detects certain attributes associated with malware analysis, ‘ the researchers said.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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Self-Destructing Virus Kills Off PCs
Over the years, Nintendo has crafted a diverse roster of beloved video game characters. They’re colorful and instantly recognisable, so inevitably some fans have wondered whether a Disney-style theme park could be built around them. Well, wonder no more. Nintendo announced today that it’s teaming up with Universal to build new rides in some of its theme parks. It’s staying tight-lipped on the details, but says to expect “spectacular, dedicated experiences” based on Nintendo games, characters and worlds. The move is another sign that Nintendo is becoming less protective over its homegrown video game franchises. The company is already working with DeNA to develop new mobile games, and last month the Wall Street Journal reported that a Legend of Zelda TV show was in the works. That rumor was later shot down (at least partly) by Iwata, but it still signalled Nintendo’s willingness to work with others. After all, these sorts of initiatives could help Nintendo to capture the imagination and support of a whole new generation of gamers. Something that’s increasingly important, given the lacklustre sales of the Wii U. So what Nintendo rides would you like to see in Universal’s theme parks? A rollercoaster based on F-Zero , or a haunted house inspired by Luigi’s Mansion ? Of course, there’s always Nintendo Land if you need some inspiration… Filed under: Gaming , Nintendo Comments Source: Nintendo
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Nintendo rides are coming to Universal’s theme parks
During a thunderstorm, it’s normally the lightning bolts that take over Instagram — after all, it’s a little difficult to apply the X-Pro II filter to a soundwave. That is, if you’re a heliophysicist armed with rockets, your own lightning bolt, and some heavy science. Read more…
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Here’s The First-Ever Picture Of Thunder
Spider silk is one of the world’s strongest natural materials . Graphene is a super material with many amazing uses . So, oddly, scientists decided to combine the two by spraying spiders with the carbon-based wonder material—and the results were surprisingly impressive. Read more…
The classic point-and-click adventure Grim Fandango has made its way to iOS and Android . Originally released by LucasArts, Grim Fandango was remastered by creator Tim Schafer’s Double Fine Productions for PlayStation 4, Vita, PC, Mac and Linux earlier this year. Unlike many mobile ports of traditional games, Grim Fandango ‘s point-and-click gameplay should lend itself to extended plays on iPad and Android tablets quite nicely, although playing on smaller phones may prove problematic. The mobile version of the critically acclaimed game includes the re-release’s improved graphics and audio along with additional features like an optional director’s commentary. Grim Fandango is priced at $9.99 in both Google Play and Apple’s App Store for one week only, after which it’ll be sold at $14.99. If you don’t have that kind of equipment but are still keen to play it, Double Fine is applying the same 33% discount to the game on both Steam and the PlayStation Store. Filed under: Gaming , Mobile , Apple , Google Comments Source: Double Fine Productions , (Google Play) , (App Store)
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‘Grim Fandango Remastered’ comes to Android and iOS
Reddit is about to host a lot more than links and comments. The social site is launching a dedicated team that will produce original video content. It’ll initially focus on bringing the spirit of Ask Me Anything sessions to video, but it’ll eventually look at covering stories from subreddits and individual users — if you’ve seen the “Explain Like I’m Five” adaptation, that’s a hint at where Reddit is going. It’s hard to tell if this will click with a community that’s more about impromptu discussions than slick presentations, but Reddit is clearly willing to find out whether or not there’s money to be made in moving pictures. Filed under: Internet Comments Source: The Verge
Technology is filled with all kinds of rumors, real and fabricated. It gives us a look at might be and will be. BitStream gathers these rumors all in one place to divine what the future has in store. Read more…
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iOS 9 May Be Getting an All-New Siri