A Band of Thieves Dressed Like Apple Workers Keeps Stealing iPhones From NYC Stores

Earlier this year, three individuals stole a total of 67 iPhones from an Upper West Side Apple store. Last week, 19 more iPhones were snatched from a SoHo store . How could these criminals possibly infiltrate the impenetrable security of a retail store run by certifiable geniuses? By dressing like Apple store employees, of course. Read more…

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A Band of Thieves Dressed Like Apple Workers Keeps Stealing iPhones From NYC Stores

China Plans Massive Sea Lab 10,000 Feet Underwater In the South China Sea

An anonymous reader writes: In an effort to hunt for materials, China is planning to build a manned deep-sea platform in the South China Sea. The lab may also serve for military purposes in the disputed waters as well. The lab would be located as much as 3, 000 meters (9, 800 ft) below sea level, according to a recent Science Ministry presentation viewed by Bloomberg. Bloomberg writes: “The project was mentioned in China’s current five-year economic plan released in March and ranked number two on a list of the top 100 science and technology priorities.” There are few public details specifying the timeline of the project, any blueprints, costs or where exactly it will be located. China’s President Xi Jinping considers more than 80 percent of the waters its sovereign territory. The country has even created several artificial islands in the South China Sea covering 3, 200 acres. Last year, the NYT posted a fascinated piece showing clear satellite imagery of the new islands being built. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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China Plans Massive Sea Lab 10,000 Feet Underwater In the South China Sea

Oklahoma State Troopers Use New Device To Seize Bank Accounts During Traffic Stops

mi writes from a report via news9.com KWTV: KWTV writes, “You may have heard of civil asset forfeiture. That’s where police can seize your property and cash without first proving you committed a crime; without a warrant and without arresting you, as long as they suspect that your property is somehow tied to a crime. Now, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol has a device that also allows them to seize money in your bank account or on prepaid cards. If a trooper suspects you may have money tied to some type of crime, the highway patrol can scan any cards you have and seize the money.” But do not worry: “If you can prove that you have a legitimate reason to have that money it will be given back to you. And we’ve done that in the past, ” said Oklahoma Highway Patrol Lt. John Vincent. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Oklahoma State Troopers Use New Device To Seize Bank Accounts During Traffic Stops

Parfumiers are trying to capture the smell of old books

We’ve been writing about the efforts of parfumiers to make book-smell scents ( chemistry , product , hoax ) for many years, but the reality has been pretty disappointing — I bought some smell early on and found that I ended up just smelling like vanilla. (more…)

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Parfumiers are trying to capture the smell of old books

KeePass Vulnerability Could Let Attackers Steal Your Passwords With Shady Updates

KeePass isn’t the most popular password manager around here, but many of our readers use it . The next time you download an update for it, you may want to verify it yourself to prevent a malicious attack. Read more…

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KeePass Vulnerability Could Let Attackers Steal Your Passwords With Shady Updates

Yahoo Preps Auction For 3,000 Patents Worth $1 Billion

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: The Wall Street Journal reports that bids are being accepted for nearly 3, 000 Yahoo patents and pending applications. In April, Yahoo moved 2, 659 patents into a patent-holding company called Excalibur IP LLC, which was seen as a first step toward a patent sale. “This represents a unique opportunity for companies operating in the Internet industry to acquire some of the most pioneering and foundational patents related to Web search and advertising, ” Yahoo said in a statement. Those invited to join the auction include “strategic buyers, private-equity firms, and investment firms focused on intellectual property, ” according to the Journal. Preliminary bids are due by the middle of this month, and the patents are expected to fetch more than $1 billion, according to “people familiar with the matter” who spoke to the Journal. Bloomberg, which also reported on the patent sale, said there was no official reserve price or bidding guidelines. Yesterday, Verizon submitted a $3 billion bid for Yahoo’s core internet business. The sale will include 500 U.S. patents and more than 600 pending applications, but will not include the larger collection of patents going in the patent sale. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Yahoo Preps Auction For 3,000 Patents Worth $1 Billion

Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 14361 Released

An anonymous reader writes from a report via BetaNews: Windows Insider chief Dona Sarkar announced in a blog post that they are releasing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 14361 for both PC and Mobile to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring. This new release includes new features, some improvements to existing features, and various bug fixes that the company hopes to iron out before the Windows 10 Anniversary Update. A LastPass extension for the Microsoft Edge browser, and Hyper-V Container, which will let you use Docker natively on Windows 10, has been added. A series of improvements have been made to Windows Ink, and the Settings app, which includes changes to the colors so it’s more obvious where you are. The Blu-ray icon and Network Quick Action icon have also been updated. You can read the full list of improvements and fixes for PC here. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 14361 Released

7 More Viral Photos That Are Totally Fake

Everything is fake. Or at least it’s starting to feel that way. With the American campaign season still going strong, and the internet still, well… existing, we’ve been seeing a lot of suspicious photos in our social media streams. But don’t fall for any of these. They’re all fake. Read more…

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7 More Viral Photos That Are Totally Fake

University pays almost $16,000 to recover crucial data held hostage

Canada’s University of Calgary paid almost $16,000 ($20,000 Canadian) to recover crucial data that has been held hostage for more than a week by crypto ransomware attackers. The ransom was disclosed on Wednesday morning in a statement issued by University of Calgary officials. It said university IT personnel had made progress in isolating the unnamed ransomware infection and restoring affected parts of the university network. It went on to warn that there’s no guarantee paying the controversial ransom will lead to the lost data being recovered. “Ransomware attacks and the payment of ransoms are becoming increasingly common around the world,” Wednesday’s statement read. “The university is now in the process of assessing and evaluating the decryption keys. The actual process of decryption is time-consuming and must be performed with care. It is important to note that decryption keys do not automatically restore all systems or guarantee the recovery of all data. A great deal of work is still required by IT to ensure all affected systems are operational again, and this process will take time.” Read 2 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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University pays almost $16,000 to recover crucial data held hostage