Category: reader

Over the Antarctic, the Smallest Ozone Hole In a Decade

hypnosec writes “The ozone layer seems to be on a road to recovery over Antarctica; according to Europe’s MetOp weather satellite, which is monitoring atmospheric ozone, the hole over the South Pole in 2012 was the smallest it’s been in the last 10 years. The decrease in size of the hole is probably the result of reduction in the concentration of CFCs, especially since the mid-1990s, because of international agreements like the Montreal Protocol.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Over the Antarctic, the Smallest Ozone Hole In a Decade

Linux Foundation’s Secure Boot Pre-Bootloader Released

hypnosec writes “The Linux Foundation’s UEFI Secure Boot pre-bootloader for independent Linux distros and software developers has finally been released. Announcing the release of the secure boot system James Bottomley noted that the signed pre-bootloader was delivered by Microsoft on February 6th. Bottomley has released two validated files PreLoader.efi and HashTool.efi. Bottomley has also created a bootable mini-USB image that provides “an EFI shell where the kernel should be and uses Gummiboot to boot.” Just last week the pre-bootloader had to be rewritten to accommodate booting of all versions of Linux.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Linux Foundation’s Secure Boot Pre-Bootloader Released

Printable AR-15 Mag Gets More Reliable; YouTube Pulls Video of Demo

Wired reports that the 3-D printed AR-15 magazine from Defense Distributed we mentioned a few weeks back has been improved through design, and is now robust enough to last through firing (at least) several hundred rounds, rather than fewer than a hundred as in the previous iteration. CNET says the video demonstration on YouTube was first yanked, then restored, but as of now seems to have been yanked again. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Printable AR-15 Mag Gets More Reliable; YouTube Pulls Video of Demo

FBI employees love the BitTorrent

TorrentFreak used the ScanEye BitTorrent monitoring service to check what was being downloaded by IP addresses associated with the FBI. There’s a lot: As can be seen above there is a particular interest in movies and TV-show downloads at the FBI’s largest division. Some of the titles are relevant to the intelligence community such as “Homeland”, “The Girl Who played With Fire”, “The Good Wife” and “Dexter”. Other titles, including the Aussie soap opera Home and Away, are more general entertainment. The big question is of course why these FBI IP-addresses are showing up in BitTorrent swarms. The most likely explanation is that employees were downloading these videos for personal entertainment. This wouldn’t be much of a surprise really, as we’ve seen this before at congressional offices the Department of Justice, national parliaments, record labels and movie studios. FBI Employees Download Pirated Movies and TV-Shows [Ernesto/TorrentFreak]

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FBI employees love the BitTorrent

Seattle Mayor returns police drones to the manufacturer

Seattle’s police force were very hot-to-trot for a pair of new surveillance drones, an issue that became a lightning rod for criticism of the scandal-haunted force. After public outcry, the city’s mayor simply returned the UAVs to their manufacturer Later this afternoon, Mayor Mike McGinn will announce that he is grounding the Seattle Police Department’s controversial drone program and returning the two remotely controlled planes to the vendor, according to sources at City Hall who asked not to be named. “The mayor and chief had a conversation and agreed it was time to end the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle program,” one of the sources tells us. “It had become a distraction to the two things the department is working hard on, general public safety and community-building work.” The news comes on the heels of—and largely in response to—an angry hearing yesterday held by Seattle City Council member Bruce Harrell, who was considering legislation to restrict the use of the drones for police investigations. The program has created a slowly burning outcry since 2010, when the city purchased the units for intelligence gathering with the help of a federal Homeland Security grant. Crime Mayor Will Kill SPD’s Drone Program [Dominic Holden/The Stranger] ( Thanks, Fipi Lele! )

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Seattle Mayor returns police drones to the manufacturer

DHS Can Seize Your Electronics Within 100 Mi.of US Border, Says DHS

dreamstateseven writes “In a not-so-unexpected move, the Department of Homeland Security has concluded that travelers along the nation’s borders may have their electronics seized and the contents of those devices examined for any reason whatsoever — all in the name of national security. According to legal precedent, the Fourth Amendment — the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures — does not apply along the border. The memo highlights the friction between today’s reality that electronic devices have become virtual extensions of ourselves housing everything from e-mail to instant-message chats to photos and our papers and effects — juxtaposed against the government’s stated quest for national security. By the way, the government contends the Fourth-Amendment-Free Zone stretches 100 miles inland from the nation’s actual border.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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DHS Can Seize Your Electronics Within 100 Mi.of US Border, Says DHS

Google aiming to build $82 million aircraft facility at SJC, probably launch more Project Glass demos from it

It’s no secret that Google has an interest in the automotive industry , but over the years the popular search engine has also managed to amass quite the collection of aircraft. So much in fact, the company is in the process of inking an $82 million construction deal that would bring its fleet to Mineta San Jose International Airport. Pending city council approval, the privately funded facility would generate an annual $2.6 million rent lease, around $400,000 in fuel revenues and create 236 jobs. If agreed upon, the 29-acre Googleport will take up to two years to build and will include an executive terminal along with hangers to house the company’s private Boeing 737 and 747 jets. Google currently parks its jets at Moffett Federal Airfield, where the company has offered to renovate NASA Ames’ Hanger One in exchange for two-thirds of its facility space to house its planes. There’s no word if either deal will affect the other, but as it stands San Jose’s city council is expected to vote on its proposal sometime in April. Filed under: Misc , Google Comments Via: Gizmodo Source: Mercury News

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Google aiming to build $82 million aircraft facility at SJC, probably launch more Project Glass demos from it

Use Photoshop’s Color Lookup Adjustment Layer to Quickly Applies Color Effects to Photos

Thanks to apps like Instagram , color effects that emulate film stocks and vintage camera styles have become increasingly popular. While we’ve seen Photoshop actions that provide these effects , and you can even make your own , if you’ve got Photoshop CS6 you have a built-in tool that’s far more flexible: Color Lookup. More »

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Use Photoshop’s Color Lookup Adjustment Layer to Quickly Applies Color Effects to Photos

E-Mail Hack Exposes Bush Family Pictures, Correspondence

New submitter rHBa sends this article about another high-profile email account breach: “The apparent hack of several e-mail accounts has exposed personal photos and sensitive correspondence from members of the Bush family, including both former U.S. presidents. The posted photos and e-mails contain a watermark with the hacker’s online alias, ‘Guccifer.’ … Included in the hacked material is a confidential October 2012 list of home addresses, cell phone numbers, and e-mails for dozens of Bush family members, including both former presidents, their siblings, and their children. … Correspondence obtained by the hacker indicates that at least six separate e-mail accounts have been compromised, including the AOL account of Dorothy Bush Koch, daughter of George H.W. Bush and sister of George W. Bush. Other breached accounts belong to Willard Heminway, 79, an old friend of the 41st president who lives in Greenwich, Connecticut; CBS sportscaster Jim Nantz, a longtime Bush family friend; former first lady Barbara Bush’s brother; and George H.W. Bush’s sister-in-law. ” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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E-Mail Hack Exposes Bush Family Pictures, Correspondence