New York City will definitely not be having a White Christmas, but when winter finally does arrive, sanitation trucks will be hauling some of the city’s snow-melting salt out of this quite beautiful sculpture. Turns out this is also an incredible story about how city buildings can be done right. Read more…
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NYC’s Road Salt Is Being Stored in a Building That Looks Like a Giant Crystal
Researchers in France have developed a self-setting foam that can repair defects in bones and assist growth. Eventually, this advanced biomaterial could be used to quickly regenerate bone growth and treat degenerative diseases such as osteoporosis. Read more…
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Scientists Create Injectable Foam To Repair Degenerating Bones
Starting next year, Microsoft will be a lot stricter when it comes to adware. In a post on the Technet blog , Redmond has announced that it will block advertising programs “that take choice and control away from users.” The company’s talking about adware that use “man-in-the-middle” (MiTM) techniques, in particular. Those include injecting ads and promotions by proxy, as well as changing DNS settings, without your express consent . They aren’t safe, because they could be used to introduce malware into your system, or even to spy on encrypted data and communication. In order to keep those types of adware off your computer, Microsoft has made it a policy that programs that show ads on the browser can only install, disable or execute programs through the browser itself. That means any ad software that doesn’t notify you via your browser that it wants to download or install something will be blocked off and marked as malware. The company says it will enforce the new rule on May 31st, 2016 and asks developers to comply with the new policy. If all these sound vaguely familiar, it’s because Lenovo’s controversial Superfish adware worked the same way. The PC-maker shipped out laptops with the pre-installed software , which not only injected sponsored links into users’ search results, but also installed man-in-the-middle certificates that would allow third parties to see users’ sensitive data, such as their bank details. After getting a lot of flak, Lenovo eventually agreed to stop preloading its computers with Superfish and provided a tool that can remove it completely from the units that already shipped out. This change by Microsoft effectively bans the root method that Superfish used to hijack Lenovo customer traffic. — SecuriTay (@SwiftOnSecurity) December 21, 2015 Breaking: Microsoft bans all adware use of proxies/Winsock/MitM to inject ads. Violators will be marked malware. https://t.co/kVYfKYJP15 — SecuriTay (@SwiftOnSecurity) December 21, 2015 This is a problem. #superfish pic.twitter.com/jKDfSo99ZR — Kenn White (@kennwhite) February 19, 2015 [Image credit: Nils Geylen/Flickr ] Source: Microsoft Technet
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Microsoft bans adware that use man-in-the-middle techniques
Star Wars: The Force Awakens was always destined for a huge box office debut. The question has been how much of a huge opening would it have? The answer came this weekend: A staggering $238 million in North America and $517 million globally. Read more…
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The Force Awakens Has Obliterated Box Office Records In Its First Weekend
If you had hopes that the FAA’s ban on ridesharing flights would be reversed… well, you’re in for a disappointment. A Washington, DC court has ruled that pilots need commercial licenses for these services to work. You’re a carrier in that case, not just splitting expenses like the plaintiff (Flytenow) claimed — and that means you need the “experience and credentials” to ferry passengers. If you want to fly cross-country without resorting to big airlines, you’ll have to either charter a private flight or hope that a pilot friend will take you. [Image credit: Gordon Chibroski/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images] Source: Bloomberg
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Court says ridesharing for flights is illegal
If you use insider knowledge for your own gain, it could land you in hot water… especially if you hacked the computers at your job to get the information you need. At least that’s what Eddie Tipton, Multi-State Lottery Association’s former security director, is being accused of . Tipton allegedly used a rootkit — a malicious software that activates when a computer boots up — to know a drawing’s winning numbers in advance. He’d then ask an accomplice to buy the winning ticket and to collect the money afterward. He was already convicted of fraud for tampering the lottery in Iowa, but he allegedly tinkered with more drawings in four states within the course of six years. Authorities believe he may be involved in even more instances of fraud, though. So, they’re now investigating winners in 37 other states that have been using the Multi-State Lottery Association’s computers to draw winning numbers since Tipton joined the organization in 2003. Iowa deputy attorney general Thomas H. Miller said: “It would be pretty naive to believe they are the only four [jackpots involved in the scheme.] If you find one cockroach, you have to assume there are 100 more you haven’t found.” So far, the Colorado, Wisconsin and Oklahoma divisions have already confirmed that they handed out jackpots worth $8 million in all to Tipton and his associates. Authorities first suspected Tipton when a New York lawyer tried to claim a $16.5 million jackpot in 2012 and then withdrew instead of revealing who bought the winning ticket. When they released a surveillance video showing the person who bought the ticket at a gas station, Tipton’s co-workers contacted them to say that the mysterious man looked like him. Source: Chicago Tribune , AP
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Insider allegedly hacked lottery software in multiple states
We’re one step closer to being able to regrow a lost tooth, thanks to a new study showing it’s possible to grow multiple teeth from a single root. These teeth can then be implanted to become fully functional. Thus far it has only been tested in rats, but it could lead to a potential revolution in human dental care. Read more…
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We’re One Step Closer to Being Able to Regrow a Lost Tooth
The Backyard Scientist filled a tank to the brim with water balls, which are little polymer beads that expand to slimy squishy balls when soaked in water, and then poured in molten aluminum to create some wild designs. It’s cool because with all the different ways the molten aluminum can move within a vat filled with balls, each pour results in a totally different design. Read more…
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Here’s the cool thing that happens when you pour molten aluminum inside polymer water balls
Hitting a key over and over again actually works for once. Two security researchers in Spain recently uncovered a strange bug that will let you into most Linux machines just by hitting the backspace key 28 times. Here’s how to fix it and keep your data protected. Read more…
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You Can Break Into a Linux System by Pressing Backspace 28 Times. Here’s How to Fix It
This protective lens filter might look like any other, but it’s got an invisible secret. Making use of a new kind of clear ceramic, it’s ten times tougher than most conventional protective filters, so is virtually guaranteed to keep yours lens perfectly safe. Read more…
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Clear Ceramic Makes This Filter 10x Tougher Than Your Usual Lens Protector