Author: kenmay

Internet Explorer to start blocking old Java plugins

This month’s Patch Tuesday update for Internet Explorer will include a new feature: it will block out-of-date ActiveX controls. More specifically, it will block out-of-date versions of the Java plugin. Although Microsoft is describing the feature as an ActiveX block, the list of prohibited plugins is currently Java-centric. Stale versions of Flash and Silverlight will be able to stick around, at least for now, though Microsoft says that other out-of-date ActiveX controls will be added to the block list later. Old, buggy versions of the Java plugin have long been used as an exploit vector, with Microsoft’s own security report fingering Java in 84.6 to 98.5 percent of detected exploit kits (bundles of malware sold commercially). Blocking obsolete Java plugins should therefore go a long way toward securing end-user systems. Read 1 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Internet Explorer to start blocking old Java plugins

Disney Is Reportedly Building a Major Star Wars-Themed Attraction

Star Tours! You’re gonna have company! After hints last year of a potential Star Wars Land in the works, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced today that the theme park(s) would be getting new attraction(s) tied to everyone’s favorite space saga, and the elusive plans will be revealed next year . Read more…

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Disney Is Reportedly Building a Major Star Wars-Themed Attraction

Pandora deal helps indie musicians get noticed on internet radio

Pandora’s relationship with music labels hasn’t exactly been cozy, with more than a few legal disputes over royalties . Today, though, it’s extending an olive branch. The internet radio service has forged a deal with the Merlin rights agency’s 20, 000-plus indie labels to help their artists get discovered. The move will use Pandora’s music discovery techniques to bring “additional exposure” to these musicians when they’re relevant to listeners. They’ll also have direct access to playback data (to help decide on set lists and tour locations), and they’ll get custom communication channels to reach fans. The agreement is big, whether you’re an up-and-coming artist or just want to hear music beyond the big three record companies. Merlin’s labels represent about 10 percent of streaming music worldwide, so you’re likely to notice if you listen to enough tunes. Of course, this isn’t quite a selfless gesture. On top of the extra attention it draws to Pandora, the pact gives the company a better shot at offering service outside of the US. It has offerings in Australia and New Zealand, but the lack of direct artist connections has made it hard to expand elsewhere. That may prove crucial — Pandora has to compete against international heavyweights like Apple and Spotify in the online radio space, so it might not want to depend on one country for its success. [Image credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images] Filed under: Internet Comments Via: CNET Source: Pandora (1) , (2)

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Pandora deal helps indie musicians get noticed on internet radio

After 10 years, Rosetta probe catches up with its comet destination

Today, the European Space Agency announced that its Rosetta mission successfully arrived at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko after a 10-year journey. As the probe approached over the past several weeks, it provided greater detail on the oddly shaped comet, which was venting water as its orbit drew it closer to the Sun. Now, at just 100km from the comet’s surface, Rosetta is providing detailed images of a truly otherworldly landscape. 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko occupies an elliptical orbit that takes it from areas beyond Jupiter to somewhere in between Earth and Mars (currently, it’s midway between Jupiter and Mars). That presents a significant challenge, since any probe intended to track the comet must roughly match its orbit before approaching—or it would need a prohibitive volume of propellant to slow down. This explains Rosetta’s 10-year journey, which included four orbital flybys of Earth and Mars to put it in place for a gradual approach. Earlier this year, Rosetta successfully woke from hibernation , and it’s been imaging the comet during its approach. Early images indicated that 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko has a two-lobed structure that some have compared to a rubber duck, albeit one with an unusually large head. The second lobe, corresponding to the duck’s body, is broader and more oblong. Read 3 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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After 10 years, Rosetta probe catches up with its comet destination

Color-Changing Stained Glass Makes It Easy For Cathedrals To Redecorate

A group of Japanese researchers from the University of Tokyo, the Segawa Laboratory at RCAST, and Sony have created a prototype glass panel with intricate designs that’s able to change color based on the how much energy is supplied from an attached rechargeable battery. In other words, it’s stained glass for a generation who swaps their smartphone’s wallpaper five times a day. Read more…

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Color-Changing Stained Glass Makes It Easy For Cathedrals To Redecorate

Facebook Seeks Devs To Make Linux Network Stack As Good As FreeBSD’s

An anonymous reader writes Facebook posted a career application which, in their own words is ‘seeking a Linux Kernel Software Engineer to join our Kernel team, with a primary focus on the networking subsystem. Our goal over the next few years is for the Linux kernel network stack to rival or exceed that of FreeBSD.’ Two interesting bullet points listing “responsibilities”: Improve IPv6 support in the kernel, and eliminate perf and stability issues. FB is one of the worlds largest IPv6 deployments; Investigate and participate in emerging protocols (MPTCP, QUIC, etc) discussions, implementation, experimentation, tooling, etc. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Facebook Seeks Devs To Make Linux Network Stack As Good As FreeBSD’s

What you should expect from Apple’s “iPhone 6”

It hardly seems like it’s been a year since the iPhone 5S was released, but word on the street is that Apple is planning to reveal its next-generation iPhone on September 9. That’s just over a month from now, and the rumor mill has been in full swing all summer, churning out speculation about what Apple will introduce. Since 2008’s iPhone 3G, iPhones released in even numbered years get a new design while phones in odd numbered years are just and sped up and tweaked. Since this is a redesign year, people are especially interested in seeing how Apple moves the platform forward. This close to a new iPhone’s launch, rumors firm up a little and begin to agree on specific aspects of the new hardware. Apple has a big supply chain and sells tens of millions of phones a quarter—given the sheer scale of the operation, it’s inevitable that details will leak. We knew most of the particulars about the iPhone 5S and 5C well before they were officially announced, and there’s no reason to believe that this year will be any different. Now that we have a probable date for the announcement, we’ve rounded up the most credible and plausible rumors (combined with a few educated guesses) to make a rough sketch of what the next-generation iPhone will probably look like. We tried to stick to sources that have been relatively reliable in the past—some of the better reporting from rumor sites and prominent Apple watchers, assertions from major publications like the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg , and clear, not-obviously-faked pictures of individual components form the basis of our information here. In aggregate, everything we’ve heard so far gives us a pretty good idea of what we can expect next month. Read 26 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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What you should expect from Apple’s “iPhone 6”

Justin.tv Shuts Down Amid Reports Google Is Acquiring Twitch

An anonymous reader writes Twitch today announced that the Justin.tv website, mobile apps, and APIs are no longer in service. A very simple explanation is given for the shutdown: since rebranding the company to Twitch Interactive in February 2014, all resources are now focused on Twitch.tv. The news today will almost certainly further fuel the rumors that Google is acquiring, or has already acquired, Twitch. Purchases are often followed by consolidation, as well as cutting off any excess limbs. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Justin.tv Shuts Down Amid Reports Google Is Acquiring Twitch

Whitehats recover, release keys to CryptoLocker ransomware

It must be one of these… Joseph No Whitehat hackers have struck back at the operators of the pernicious CryptoLocker ransom trojan that has held hundreds of thousands of hard drives hostage. Through a partnership that included researchers from FOX-IT and FireEye, researchers managed to recover the private encryption keys that CryptoLocker uses to lock victims’ personal computer files until they pay a $300 ransom. They also reverse engineered the binary code at the heart of the malicious program. The result: a website that allows victims to recover the key for their individual content. To use the free service, victims must upload one of the files encrypted by CryptoLocker along with the e-mail address where they want the secret key delivered. Both FOX-IT and FireEye are reputable security companies, but readers are nonetheless advised to upload only non-sensitive files that contain no personal information. Read 3 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Whitehats recover, release keys to CryptoLocker ransomware