Tag: entertainment

Security Firms Say Chinese Hackers Behind U.S. Ransomware Attacks

An anonymous reader writes: According to four leading security firms, some of the recent ransomware attacks against U.S. companies have been performed by hacking groups working at the behest of China’s government. From the report, “Security firms Attack Research, InGuardians and G-C Partners, said they had separately investigated three other similar ransomware attacks since December. Although they cannot be positive, the companies concluded that all were the work of a known advanced threat group from China.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Security Firms Say Chinese Hackers Behind U.S. Ransomware Attacks

Razer’s updated Blade gaming laptop has a slimmed-down design

The gaming show GDC has just begun, and Razer used the opportunity to unveil the fifth generation of its popular Blade gaming laptop . The new edition will offer significant performance improvements over its predecessor from 2014, with fresh specs that include an Intel Core i7 CPU, 16GB of DDR4 RAM, a GeForce GTX 970M GPU powered by 6GB of video memory, 802.11 AC WiFI and a PCIe solid-state drive. Additionally, the machine has a 3, 200 x 1, 800 QHD+ display and Chroma backlit keyboard, with a slimmed-down CNC-milled aluminum case that’s less than three-quarters of an inch thick and weighs just 4.25 pounds. In addition, with the release of the its Blade Stealth Ultrabook, which we recently reviewed, Razer is dropping the price on the Blade from $2, 400 to $2, 000 for the 256GB capacity (it’ll be $2, 200 if you want a 512GB drive). What’s more, the Blade will be compatible with Razer’s new “Core” external GPU dock as well, though you won’t get the $100 discount offered with the Stealth. You can pre-order the Blade from Razer’s website starting today. It will begin shipping in April.

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Razer’s updated Blade gaming laptop has a slimmed-down design

Linux Kernel 4.5 Officially Released

prisoninmate writes: Yes, you’re reading it right, after being in development for the past two months, Linux kernel 4.5 is finally here in its final production version. It is internally dubbed “Blurry Fish Butt” and received a total of seven RC builds since January 25, 2016. Prominent features of Linux kernel 4.5 include the implementation of initial support for the AMD PowerPlay power management technology, bringing high performance to the AMDGPU open-source driver for Radeon GPUs, scalability improvements in the free space handling of the Btrfs file system, and better epoll multithreaded scalability. The sources are now available for download from kernel.org. Update: 03/14 13:24 GMT by T : Reader diegocg lists some other notable features (A new copy_file_range() system call that allows to make copies of files without transferring data through userspace; support GCC’s Undefined Behavior Sanitizer (-fsanitize=undefined); Forwarded Error Correction support in the device-mapper’s verity target; support for the MADV_FREE flag in madvise(); the new cgroup unified hierarchy is considered stable; scalability improvements for SO_REUSEPORT UDP sockets; scalability improvements for epoll, and better memory accounting of sockets in the memory controller), and links to an explanation of the changes at Kernel Newbies. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Linux Kernel 4.5 Officially Released

Review: Much-improved Iris GPU makes the Skylake NUC a major upgrade

Andrew Cunningham The new Skylake NUC. 10 more images in gallery Intel’s “Next Unit of Computing” (NUC) mini desktops started off as interesting curiosities, experiments to see just how much computer could fit in a desktop PC that you could hold in your hand. Each subsequent generation has refined the overall concept and added other niceties, making it more and more like a solid consumer-ready computer (albeit one that makes you provide your own RAM and SSD and OS). We looked at Intel’s fourth-generation NUC based on its still-relatively-new Skylake processors. On the outside, less has changed than ever before—Intel has settled on a “look” for the NUC and it’s not messing with the design much. On the inside, you get enough cool upgrades that you can almost forgive Intel’s CPU performance for improving so little in the last three or four years. Model breakdown Specs at a glance: Intel NUC NUC6i7SYK (as reviewed) OS Windows 10 x64 CPU 1.8GHz Core i5-6260U (Turbo Boost up to 1.9GHz) RAM 16GB 2133MHz DDR4 (supports up to 32GB) GPU Intel Iris 540 (integrated with 64MB eDRAM) HDD 256GB Samsung SM951 PCIe SSD Networking 867Mbps 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, Gigabit Ethernet Ports 4x USB 3.0, 1x mini DisplayPort 1.2, 1x HDMI 1.4b, headphones, SD card slot Size 4.53” x 4.37” x 1.26” (115 x 111 x 32mm) Other perks Kensington lock, swappable lids, IR receiver Warranty 3 years Price ~$400 (barebones), about $755 as configured There are four Skylake NUCs as of this writing. Two include a Core i5-6260U with an Iris 540 integrated GPU, and two use a slower Core i3-6100U processor and a slower HD 520 GPU. Each processor comes in two cases: a taller one that makes room for a 2.5-inch hard drive or SSD, and a shorter one that doesn’t. Otherwise, all models share the same basic design, port layout, and other features. Read 27 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Review: Much-improved Iris GPU makes the Skylake NUC a major upgrade

Hertz Had Sheriffs On Hand the Day It Cut IT

dcblogs writes: About 300 Hertz IT employees, most located in Oklahoma City, are being impacted [by] a decision to expand its outsourcing to IBM. About 75 will be hired by IBM and those workers [are expected] to receive offers this week while others are facing layoffs. The news was a shock for IT employees. There was “anger, resentment, ” especially by employees who “sacrificed that work/life balance to keep things going here, ” said one employee. Hertz took precautions. On the day that IT employees learned that their work was shifting to IBM, employees noticed Oklahoma sheriff patrol vehicles in the building’s parking lot. They believed plainclothes officers were inside the building. “We consider the safety and security of our people whenever there are circumstances or events that could increase the risk of a disturbance or some form of workplace violence, ” said Bill Masterson, a Hertz spokesman. “Knowing that this was a difficult announcement, we had additional security on hand, ” said Masterson. “Going forward, Hertz IT resources will be focused on development of future products and services for customers, ” he said. The majority of services will be cloud-based. According to the Computerworld article, along with severance pay, benefits also include three months of outplacement assistance. IT employees can receive up to $4, 000 toward retraining or skill certification, said Masterson. IBM India Private Limited, a IBM subsidiary, has filed paper for H-1B visa workers for Hertz Technology offices. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Hertz Had Sheriffs On Hand the Day It Cut IT

Wi-Fi Hotspot Blocking Persists Despite FCC Crackdown

An anonymous reader writes: An examination of consumer complaints to the FCC over the past year and a half shows that the practice of Wi-Fi hotspot device blocking continues even though the agency has slapped organizations such as Marriott and Hilton more than $2 million in total for doing this. Venues argue they need to block hotspots for security reasons, but the FCC and consumers say the organizations are doing this to force people to pay for pricey Internet access. “Consumers who purchase cellular data plans should be able to use them without fear that their personal Internet connection will be blocked by their hotel or conference center, ” FCC Enforcement Bureau chief Travis LeBlanc said in a statement. “It is unacceptable for any hotel to intentionally disable personal hotspots while also charging consumers and small businesses high fees to use the hotel’s own Wi-Fi network. This practice puts consumers in the untenable position of either paying twice for the same service or forgoing Internet access altogether.” Consumers have filed many complaints about Wi-Fi hotspot blocking to the FCC. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Wi-Fi Hotspot Blocking Persists Despite FCC Crackdown

600,000 TFTP Servers Can Be Abused For Reflection DDoS Attacks

An anonymous reader writes: Researchers have discovered that improperly configured TFTP servers can be easily abused to carry out reflection DDoS attacks that can sometimes have an amplification factor of 60, one of the highest such values. There are currently around 600, 000 TFTP servers exposed online, presenting a huge attack surface for DDoS malware developers. Other protocols recently discovered as susceptible to reflection DDoS attacks include DNSSEC, NetBIOS, and some of the BitTorrent protocols. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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600,000 TFTP Servers Can Be Abused For Reflection DDoS Attacks

An Inside Look At How Netflix Builds Code

mmoorebz writes: Netflix is known as a place to binge watch television, but behind the scenes, there’s a lot that goes on before everyone’s favorite show can be streamed. The first step to deploying an application or service is building. Netflix created Nebula, a set of plugins for the Gradle build system, that “help with the heavy-lifting around building applications, ” said the engineers. Once the code has been built and tested locally using Nebula, the team pushes the updated source code to a Git repository. Every deployment at Neflix begins with the creation of an Amazon Machine Image, and to generate them from source, Netflix created what it calls “the Bakery.” It exposes an API that facilitates the creation of AMIs globally, according to the blog. When it comes time to deploy and after the “baking” is complete, teams will use Spinnaker to manage multi-region deployments, canary releases, and red/black deployments. Netflix is continuing to look at the developer experience and determine how it can improve. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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An Inside Look At How Netflix Builds Code

FDA Approves Indego Exoskeleton For Clinical And Personal Use

Science_afficionado writes to note that the FDA “has approved a powered lower-limb exoskeleton created by a team of Vanderbilt engineers and commercialized by the Parker Hannifin Corporation for both clinical and personal use in the United States.” Indego, which allows people paralyzed below the waist to stand up and walk, is the result of an intensive, 10-year effort. The initial development was funded by a grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The device acts like an external skeleton as it straps in tightly around the torso. Rigid supports are strapped to the legs and extend from the hip to the knee and from the knee to the foot. The hip and knee joints are driven by computer-controlled electric motors powered by advanced batteries. The device operates a lot like a Segway with legs and the minimalist design allows users to take it on and off while sitting in a wheelchair. Indego’s clearance came after completion of the largest exoskeleton clinical trial conducted in the United States. It has been available in Europe since November, when it received the CE Mark, the European Union’s equivalent of FDA approval. The initial price is $80, 000. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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FDA Approves Indego Exoskeleton For Clinical And Personal Use

Skype Co-Founder Launches End-To-End Encrypted ‘Wire’ App

An anonymous reader writes: A group of former Skype technologists, backed by the co-founder of the messaging platform, has introduced a new version of its own messaging service that promises end-to-end encryption for all conversations, including by video. Wire, a 50-person start-up mostly made up of engineers, is stepping into a global political debate over encryption that pits privacy against security advocates, epitomized by the standoff between the U.S. government and Apple. Wire, which is headquartered in Switzerland and Germany, two of the most privacy-friendly countries in the world, relays communications through its network of cloud computers where user communications are stored, in encrypted form, on their own devices. It delivers privacy protections that are always on, even when callers use multiple devices, such as a phone or desktop PC simultaneously. For voice and video calls, Wire uses the same DTLS and SRTP encryption standards found in the peer-to-peer WebRTC protocol. Rivals such as Facebook’s Messenger and WhatsApp or Telegram offer encryption on only parts of a message’s journey or for a specific set of services, the company said. “Everything is end-to-end encrypted: That means voice and video calls, texts, pictures, graphics — all the content you can send, ” Wire Executive Chairman Janus Friis told Reuters. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Skype Co-Founder Launches End-To-End Encrypted ‘Wire’ App