Trailrunner7 writes “A security researcher discovered a simple vulnerability in Verizon Wireless’s Web-based customer portal that enabled anyone who knows a subscriber’s phone number to download that user’s SMS message history, including the numbers of the people he communicated with. The vulnerability, which has been resolved now, resulted from a failure of the Verizon Web app to check that a number entered into the app actually belonged to the user who was entering it. After entering the number, a user could then download a spreadsheet file of the SMS activity on a target account. Cody Collier, the researcher who discovered the vulnerability, said he decided right away to report it to Verizon because he is a Verizon customer and didn’t want others to have access to his account information. ‘I am a Verizon Wireless customer myself, so upon finding this, I immediately looked for a way to contact Verizon. I wouldn’t want my account information to exposed in such way, ‘ Collier said via email.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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Biological Clock Discovered That Measures Ages of Most Human Tissues
starr802 writes “A biological clock capable of determining how old different human tissues and cells are has been discovered by a team of researchers from the University of California Los Angeles (abstract). ‘To fight aging, we first need an objective way of measuring it. Pinpointing a set of biomarkers that keeps time throughout the body has been a four-year challenge, ‘ Steve Horvath, a professor of human genetics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and of biostatistics at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health said in a statement. ‘My goal in inventing this clock is to help scientists improve their understanding of what speeds up and slows down the human aging process.'” Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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Biological Clock Discovered That Measures Ages of Most Human Tissues
The Hidden Easter Eggs That Link Star Wars and Indiana Jones
From a young age I was introduced to what are still two of my favourite movie franchises of all time – Star Wars and Indiana Jones . I suppose it was inevitable, really. With parents who named me after a Doctor Who character, I would expect them to continue being awesome as I grew up. Read more…
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The Hidden Easter Eggs That Link Star Wars and Indiana Jones
NSA’s New Utah Data Center Suffering Meltdowns
linuxwrangler writes “NSA’s new Utah data-center has been sufferering numerous power-surges that have caused as much as $100, 000 damage per event. The root cause is ‘not yet sufficiently understood’ but is suspected to relate to the site’s ‘inability to simultaneously run computers and keep them cool.’ Frustrating the analysis and repair are ‘incomplete information about the design of the electrical system’ and the fact that “regular quality controls in design and construction were bypassed in an effort to fast track the Utah project.”” Ars Technica has a short article, too, as does ITworld. Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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NSA’s New Utah Data Center Suffering Meltdowns
Over 100 Missing Episodes of Doctor Who Located
MajikJon writes “The BBC junking policies of the ’60s and ’70s resulted in the loss of hundreds of episodes of the classic series in its earliest years. Through the work of ardent fans over the succeeding decades, dozens of these lost episodes have been painstaking recovered and added back into the BBC archives. Now, it seems, the searchers have struck the mother lode. According to the Wikipedia, there are currently 106 missing episodes of the serial. If reports are correct, we may finally get to see all the episodes.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.
DOJ Hasn’t Actually Found Silk Road Founder’s Bitcoin Yet
Techdirt has an interesting followup on the arrest and indictment of Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, in connection to which the FBI seized 26, 000 or so Bitcoins. From the Techdirt piece: “However, in the criminal complaint against Ulbricht, it suggested that his commissions were in the range of $80 million — or about 600, 000 Bitcoins. You might notice the disconnect between the 26, 000 Bitcoins seized and the supposed 600, 000 Ulbright made. It now comes out that those 26, 000 Bitcoins aren’t even Ulbricht’s. Instead, they’re actually from Silk Road’s users. In other words, these were Bitcoins stored with user accounts on Silk Road. Ulbricht’s actual wallet is separate from that, and was apparently encrypted, so it would appear that the FBI does not have them, nor does it have any way of getting at them just yet. And given that some courts have argued you can’t be forced to give up your encryption, as it’s a 5th Amendment violation, those Bitcoins could remain hidden — though, I could see the court ordering him to pay the dollar equivalent in restitution (though still not sure that would force him to decrypt the Bitcoins).” The article also notes that the FBI’s own Bitcoin wallet has been identified, leading to some snarky micropayment messages headed their direction. Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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DOJ Hasn’t Actually Found Silk Road Founder’s Bitcoin Yet
How to Create Your Own Windows 8 Disc for a Customized Clean Install
Reinstalling Windows is a long, grueling experience. Once you get the OS running you have to download updates, track down the right drivers, install your apps, and put everything else together. Alternatively: here’s how to create a custom installation disc with everything already on it. Read more…
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How to Create Your Own Windows 8 Disc for a Customized Clean Install
3mm Inexpensive Chip Revolutionizes Electron Accelerators
AaronW writes “Scientists and engineers at the US DOE SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University have developed an advanced accelerator technology smaller than a grain of rice. It is currently accelerating electrons at 300 million volts per meter with a goal of achieving 1 billion EV per meter. It could do in 100 feet what the SLAC linear accelerator does in two miles and could achieve a million more electron pulses per second. This could lead to more compact accelerators and X-ray devices.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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3mm Inexpensive Chip Revolutionizes Electron Accelerators
Amazon Introduces Mayday, A Unique And Amazingly Useful Live Tech Support System For Kindle
Live support has always been a dream for major retailers. While chat solutions already exist, today Amazon announced a new support service available on Kindle HD products called Mayday. It is a single-click, hardware-support solution that lets users work with a remote tech support representative to solve problems with their tablets. The service allows you to see the remote tech support person in a small window on your screen and also displays your screen on the support person’s computer where they can watch what you’re doing online, annotate the screen, and even tap through the interface. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said it’s like “actually very similar to having someone standing next to you” and offering tech support. The service is unique to Amazon, and the company built a full infrastructure to support it at their HQ in Seattle and on board the hardware. By compressing the video signals, they are able to send more data to the devices from tech support and allow tech support to see the data remotely. Amazon’s goal is a 15-second response time, and they will ramp up staffing around major holidays when Kindles are flying fast and furious under the Easter tree. While some may be concerned about privacy, rest assured the support person will not be able to see out of your camera, and you can mute your audio at any time. Bezos equated the experience to going into a store for tech support. “If you went to some physical store location to ask for help for your device, they’re going to see everything, ” said Bezos. More important, however, is how many people the service will help. “Are we in charge of our devices or our devices in charge of us? Getting good tech support isn’t easy, but it’s important, ” he said. The service will be available on the new Kindle Fire HDX tablets. You can read more about the service at Amazon’s Mayday page .
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Amazon Introduces Mayday, A Unique And Amazingly Useful Live Tech Support System For Kindle
Linus Torvalds Admits He’s Been Asked To Insert Backdoor Into Linux
darthcamaro writes “At the Linuxcon conference in New Orleans today, Linus Torvalds joined fellow kernel developers in answering a barrage of questions about Linux development. One question he was asked was whether a government agency had ever asked about inserting a back-door into Linux. Torvalds responded ‘no’ while shaking his head ‘yes, ‘ as the audience broke into spontaneous laughter. Torvalds also admitted that while he as a full life outside of Linux he couldn’t imagine his life without it. ‘I don’t see any project coming along being more interesting to me than Linux, ‘ Torvalds said. ‘I couldn’t imagine filling the void in my life if I didn’t have Linux.'” Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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Linus Torvalds Admits He’s Been Asked To Insert Backdoor Into Linux