Tag: linux

Panoramic Picture Taken By China’s Moon Lander

Taco Cowboy writes “Perhaps it’s not much, but China has released a panoramic view of the moonscape where their lander has landed. They ‘stitched’ up some 60 photos taken by 3 cameras on the Chang’e 3 lander, taken from 3 different angles — Vertical, 15 degrees up, and 15 degrees down. From the picture, there is a significant sized crater is seen, several meters wide, off to the left of Yutu, the (jade rabbit) moon rover, and located only about 10 meters away from the Chang’e-3 lander.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Panoramic Picture Taken By China’s Moon Lander

What’s Happening with the iOS 7 Jailbreak? Should I Use It?

Dear Lifehacker, I heard rumors that the new jailbreak for iOS 7 has malware, but others are saying that’s false. I can’t make heads or tails of anything, can you tell what’s actually going on? Read more…        

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What’s Happening with the iOS 7 Jailbreak? Should I Use It?

Overstock.com Plans To Accept Bitcoin

SonicSpike writes “Overstock plans to become the first big U.S. online retailer to accept Bitcoin, as Patrick Byrne, the company’s libertarian chief executive, warms to the virtual currency as a refuge from government control. Mr Byrne told the Financial Times that Overstock planned to start accepting Bitcoin next year – possibly by the end of the second quarter – a decision that he said was driven mainly by his own political philosophy. ‘I think a healthy monetary system at the end of the day isn’t an upside down pyramid based on the whim of a government official, but is based on something that they can’t control, ‘ Mr Byrne said.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Overstock.com Plans To Accept Bitcoin

Microsoft’s Ticking Time Bomb Is Windows XP

Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes “Shona Ghosh writes at PC Pro that the final deadline for Windows XP support in April 2014 will act as the starting pistol for developing new exploits as hackers reverse-engineer patches issued for Windows 7 or Windows 8 to scout for XP vulnerabilities. “The very first month that Microsoft releases security updates for supported versions of Windows, attackers will reverse-engineer those updates, find the vulnerabilities and test Windows XP to see if it shares [them], ” says Tim Rains, the director of Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing group. Microsoft says that XP shared 30 security holes with Windows 7 and Windows 8 between July 2012 and July 2013. Gregg Keizer says that if a major chunk of the world’s PCs remains tied to XP, as seems certain, Microsoft will face an unenviable choice: Stick to plan and put millions of customers at risk from malware infection, or backtrack from long-standing policies and proclamations.” (Read on for more.) Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Microsoft’s Ticking Time Bomb Is Windows XP

Researchers Crack Major HIV Mystery

mrspoonsi sends this news from Scientific American: “The difference between HIV infection and full-blown AIDS is, in large part, the massive die-off of the immune system’s CD4 T-cells. But researchers have only observed the virus killing a small portion of those cells, leading to a longstanding question: What makes the other cells disappear? New research shows that the body is killing its own cells in a little-known process. What’s more, an existing, safe drug could interrupt that self-destruction, thereby offering a way to treat AIDS. The destructive process has caught scientists by surprise. ‘We thought HIV infects a cell, sets up a virus production factory and then the cell dies as a consequence of being overwhelmed by virus. But there are not enough factories to explain the massive losses, ‘ says Warner Greene, director of virology and immunology at the Gladstone Institutes, whose team published two papers today in Science and Nature describing the work. Greene estimates 95 percent of the cells that die in HIV infections are killed through pyroptosis, so the findings raise hope for a new type of treatment that could prevent HIV from progressing into AIDS. ‘Inhibiting activation of the immune system is not a new concept, but this gives us a new pathway to target, ‘ says Robert Gallo. And in fact, a drug already exists that can block pyroptosis.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Researchers Crack Major HIV Mystery

Neglect Causes Massive Loss of ‘Irreplaceable’ Research Data

Nerval’s Lobster writes “Research scientists could learn an important thing or two from computer scientists, according to a new study (abstract) showing that data underpinning even groundbreaking research tends to disappear over time. Researchers also disappear, though more slowly and only in terms of the email addresses and the other public contact methods that other scientists would normally use to contact them. Almost all the data supporting studies published during the past two years is still available, as are at least some of the researchers, according to a study published Dec. 19 in the journal Current Biology. The odds that supporting data is still available for studies published between 2 years and 22 years ago drops 17 percent every year after the first two. The odds of finding a working email address for the first, last or corresponding author of a paper also dropped 7 percent per year, according to the study, which examined the state of data from 516 studies between 2 years and 22 years old. Having data available from an original study is critical for other scientists wanting to confirm, replicate or build on previous research – goals that are core parts of the evolutionary, usually self-correcting dynamic of the scientific method on which nearly all modern research is based. No matter how invested in their own work, scientists appear to be ‘poor stewards’ of their own work, the study concluded.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Neglect Causes Massive Loss of ‘Irreplaceable’ Research Data

"Perfect" Electron Roundness Bruises Supersymmetry

astroengine writes “New measurements of the electron have confirmed, to the smallest precision attainable, that it has a perfect roundness. This may sounds nice for the little electron, but to one of the big physics theories beyond the standard model, it’s very bad news. ‘We know the Standard Model does not encompass everything, ‘ said physicist David DeMille, of Yale University and the ACME collaboration, in a press release. ‘Like our LHC colleagues, we’re trying to see something in the lab that’s different from what the Standard Model predicts.’ Should supersymmetrical particles exist, they should have a measurable effect on the electron’s dipole moment. But as ACME’s precise measurements show, the electron still has zero dipole moment (as predicted by the standard model) and is likely very close to being perfectly round. Unfortunately for the theory of supersymmetry, this is yet another blow.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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"Perfect" Electron Roundness Bruises Supersymmetry

CryptoLocker Gang Earns $30 Million In Just 100 Days

DavidGilbert99 writes “A report from Dell Secureworks earlier this week reported that up to 250, 000 systems have been infected with the pernicious ransomware known as CryptoLocker. Digging a little deeper, David Gilbert at IBTimes UK found that the average ransom being paid was $300, and than on a very conservative basis just 0.4% of people paid the ransom. What does this all add up to? $30 million for the gang controlling CryptoLocker — and this could be ‘many times bigger.'” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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CryptoLocker Gang Earns $30 Million In Just 100 Days

Tesla Gets $34 Million Tax Break, Adds Capacity For 35,000 More Cars

cartechboy writes “The state of California will give Tesla Motors a $34.7 million tax break to expand the company’s production capacity for electric cars, state officials announced yesterday. Basically, Tesla won’t have to pay sales taxes on new manufacturing equipment worth up to $415 million. The added equipment will help Tesla more than double the number of Model S sedans it builds, as well as assemble more electric powertrains for other car makers. In addition to continued Model S production, Tesla plans to introduce the Model X electric crossover in late 2014, as well as a sub-$40, 000 car — tentatively called Model E — that could debut as soon as the 2015 Detroit Auto Show. It turns out California is one of the few states to tax the purchase of manufacturing equipment — but the state grants exemptions for ‘clean-tech’ companies.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Tesla Gets $34 Million Tax Break, Adds Capacity For 35,000 More Cars

Target Has Major Credit Card Breach

JoeyRox writes “Target experienced a system-wide breach of credit card numbers over the Black Friday holiday shopping season. What’s unique about this massive breach is that it didn’t involve compromising a centralized data center or website but instead represented a distributed attack at individual Target stores across the country. Investigators believe customer account numbers were lifted via software installed on card readers at checkout.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Target Has Major Credit Card Breach