Microsoft wants you to trade in your MacBook Air for a Surface Pro 3

Ready to kick your MacBook Air to the curb (and wonder how much exactly in in-store credit it’s worth)? Your friendly neighborhood Microsoft Store is ready to help. Peter Bright This weekend, Microsoft Stores launched a trade-in program to encourage sales of the new Surface Pro 3 , but the trade-in promotion named only a single device : the MacBook Air, at a value of “up to $650” toward any Surface Pro 3 purchase. At the lowest specification, that trade-in amount would let buyers walk out of a Microsoft Store with an Intel i3 Surface Pro 3 for as little as $150. Though Microsoft Stores maintain a trade-in program that accepts video games, consoles, Apple iDevices, and PC laptops, this is the first promotion from Microsoft Stores that has actively sought Apple laptops—or, in this case, laptop singular. Seeing as how Microsoft has attempted to position the Surface Pro 3 as the best of both tablet and laptop worlds, the capable, paper-thin MacBook Air is the obvious recipient of Microsoft’s promotional crosshairs. We called the flagship Microsoft Store in Seattle with trade-in value questions, and while the representative said that any Macbook Air could be traded in at stores in the United States and Canada, he insisted that Microsoft won’t break down the exact trade-in value of a given Macbook Air or any other Apple hardware (iPhones, iPads, etc.) without seeing the product in person. The response came even after we tried listing off our MacBook Air’s processor, hard drive, and other specs. This stays in line with Microsoft Store policy through their own website to not disclose trade-in values. Read on Ars Technica | Comments

Read more here:
Microsoft wants you to trade in your MacBook Air for a Surface Pro 3

IE users get new protection against potent form of malware attack

a_codepoet Microsoft developers have fortified Internet Explorer with new protections designed to prevent a type of attack commonly used to surreptitiously install malware on end-user computers. The “isolated heap for DOM objects” made its debut with last week’s Patch Tuesday . Just as airbags lower the chance of critical injuries in automobile accidents, the new IE protection is designed to significantly lessen the damage attackers can do when exploiting so-called use-after-free flaws in the browser code. As the name suggests, use-after-free bugs are the result of code errors that reference computer memory objects after they have already been purged, or freed, from the operating system heap. Attackers can exploit them by refilling the improperly freed space with malicious code that logs passwords, makes computers part of a botnet, or carries out other nefarious behavior. Use-after-free flaws are among the most commonly exploited, often at great expense to end users. Recent in-the-wild attacks that targeted IE versions 9, 10, and 11 capitalized on a use-after-free bug. The bug class has been at the heart of many other real-world attacks on IE that are too numerous to count . (They have also been known to bring down Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.) Wei Chen, an exploit developer with Rapid 7’s Metasploit vulnerability framework, likens use-after-free exploits to sneaking tainted cookies into an already-opened bag of Oreos. Read 5 remaining paragraphs | Comments

View article:
IE users get new protection against potent form of malware attack

​Google wants to sell you your next domain name

Right now, it’s possible to buy a domain name using Google services. You can start the process on Google’s own pages, process the transaction through Google Wallet and manage that domain through Google Apps — but you didn’t actually buy that domain from Google. That’s about to change. Today the search giant announced that it’s testing Google Domains, a registration service that will shift the company away from its dependence on companies like GoDaddy and eNom. Google says it wants to enable a simple and transparent experience, but it’s not quite ready for a full launch just yet — at present the service is only available to a limited group. When it does launch, however, Google says it will have partnerships with several website building partners, including Shopify , Weebly, Squarespace and Wix. Have an idea for a new website? Check out Google Domains at the source link below and request a registration code. Filed under: Internet , Google Comments Via: 9to5 Google Source: Google Domains

See more here:
​Google wants to sell you your next domain name

Globalstar Sat-Fi satellite hotspot available now for $999

Globalstar , the company behind the affordable Spot satellite phone , has a new device on the market that can turn any smartphone into a globally connected handset. Sat-Fi is not a WiFi hotspot in the traditional sense — you can’t simply connect and expect limitless web browsing and media streaming — but it can support email, SMS and voice calls for up to eight connected devices simultaneously. Transfer rates are capped at a paltry 9.6 Kbps, so you’re really limited to text applications, and data is billed by the minute, just like a voice call. Like other satellite devices, you also need a line-of-sight connection between Sat-Fi’s external antenna and the big bird hundreds of miles above in order to make and receive calls, but assuming you’re able to meet that requirement you should be good to go in remote areas all around the world. The device is reasonably priced, at $999, and per-minute rates top out at $1. There are plenty of monthly plans to choose from, too, ranging from $40 for 40 minutes to $150 for unlimited service. Sat-Fi is available now. Filed under: Cellphones , Wireless Comments Source: Globalstar

Continued here:
Globalstar Sat-Fi satellite hotspot available now for $999

Computers are now automatically selecting the best embryos for life

These time lapses are captured by a computer that automatically tracks embryo growth from the moment the sperm enters the egg during in vitro fertilization. It selects the best candidates for implantation in mothers, using special algorithms that look for some key markers during the cell division process. Read more…

Taken from:
Computers are now automatically selecting the best embryos for life

OneDrive just more than doubled its free-storage offering, bringing it up to 15GB.

OneDrive just more than doubled its free-storage offering, bringing it up to 15GB . That’s the same amount you’ll get with Google Drive. On top of that, all versions of Office 365 now come with a full 1TB of storage attached. That’s a lot of spreadsheets. Read more…

Taken from:
OneDrive just more than doubled its free-storage offering, bringing it up to 15GB.

Dolby’s Crazy Atmos Surround Sound Is Coming to Your Living Room

More than t wo years ago , Dolby trotted out Atmos, the most advanced surround sound system in history. It’s been used to bring explosions and battles to deafening life Gravity to The Hobbit, to create chilling, intense movie going experiences to hundreds of theaters. Now Dolby plans to bring Atmos to your house. Read more…

Read the original:
Dolby’s Crazy Atmos Surround Sound Is Coming to Your Living Room

Spectacular photos of the US Navy’s most powerful battleship ever

This is the USS Iowa, the first of the largest, most powerful battleship class ever in the United States Navy, equipped with nine 406mm cannons that could fire nuclear shells —the only American ship in history with this capability. This photo series is old but still stunning. Read more…

Read More:
Spectacular photos of the US Navy’s most powerful battleship ever

Chicago is getting lamp posts that count people and track pollution

Apparently, Chicago is becoming even more like its Watch Dogs doppelganger than we first thought . Researchers are deploying networked, sensor-equipped lamp posts from this July onward to learn how they could help urban planning and safety. They’ll collect environmental data like air quality, noise levels and wind, and they’ll also measure foot traffic by counting the number of passing cellphones. If the project takes off, Chicago officials could easily tell if air pollution is on the rise, or if a narrow sidewalk is creating a choke point. That may seem a bit Orwellian at first glance, and there is a concern that the pedestrian info could be used in tandem with other monitoring techniques to get a better idea of someone’s daily activity. However, team scientist Charlie Catlett tells the Chicago Tribune that all the data collection is anonymous — the smart lights won’t be identifying people, recording sounds or taking pictures. That’s not going to completely assuage privacy advocates worried about a surveillance-happy government , but the initiative may pay off if it makes urban life a little more bearable. [Image credit: Iceninejon, Flickr ] Filed under: Misc , Internet Comments Source: Chicago Tribune

See more here:
Chicago is getting lamp posts that count people and track pollution

Over 300,000 Servers Remain Vulnerable To Heartbleed

An anonymous reader writes “Even though it’s been a couple months since the Heartbleed bug was discovered, many servers remain unpatched and vulnerable. “Two months ago, security experts and web users panicked when a Google engineer discovered a major bug — known as Heartbleed — that put over a million web servers at risk. The bug doesn’t make the news much anymore, but that doesn’t mean the problem’s solved. Security researcher Robert David Graham has found that at least 309, 197 servers are still vulnerable to the exploit. Immediately after the announcement, Graham found some 600, 000 servers were exposed by Heartbleed. One month after the bug was announced, that number dropped down to 318, 239. In the past month, however, only 9, 042 of those servers have been patched to block Heartbleed. That’s cause for concern, because it means that smaller sites aren’t making the effort to implement a fix.”” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Original post:
Over 300,000 Servers Remain Vulnerable To Heartbleed