loading-chartbeat – Page 31 – Tech Today w/ Ken May

Sony hack snowballs as movie scripts, celebrity phone numbers leaked

Sony Pictures is in full-blown damage-control mode and has called an all-hands meeting following another huge leak of sensitive, confidential info. The new trove of data released by the so-called GOP (Guardians of Peace) includes more private employee info, actor phone numbers and traveling aliases , legal claims against Sony Pictures, film budgets, scripts and more. As pointed out by the WSJ , it also includes private info of some 40, 000 Sony Pictures ex-employees like home addresses, previous salaries and social security numbers. Many of those folks are incensed with the Culver City-based company, which gave them no guidance on how to protect their identities or sign up for credit monitoring. Suffice to say, much of the information could be highly damaging to Sony’s reputation and bottom line. As pointed out by Fusion , the hackers have thrown many of its business practices into the open, which may make future negotiations with high profile actors, technicians and vendors difficult. Sony Pictures CEO Michael Lynton sent a memo to all employees saying that it had “recognized experts working on this matter” and that the FBI had taken control of the investigation. He also said that employees could meet one-on-one with their managers and called an all-hands meeting for this Friday. Much of the information could be highly damaging to Sony’s reputation and bottom line. Yesterday, Sony released info from the security firm Mandiant, which said the “unprecedented” attack would’ve been difficult to prevent. But many employees expressed disbelief that sensitive info like social securities numbers and salaries would be kept in unprotected folders by a security-conscious company. Some experts also doubt Sony’s claims that the attack was that sophisticated, saying that it should’ve noticed suspicious activity, even if the virus was “undetectable.” One researcher told Mashable that “to protect their image, they need this to be an unpreventable, incredibly sophisticated attack.” Meanwhile, the group allegedly responsible for the hack released another statement along with the leak. The GOP demanded that Sony “stop immediately showing the movie of terrorism” in reference to “The Interview, ” the upcoming Sony Pictures flick that mocks the North Korean government. That marks the first time the hackers have directly referenced the film, which was denounced by the rogue nation. However, another recently discovered email, sent several days ago, demanded monetary compensation instead. All that, along with another email that contained Korean grammatical errors, means investigators still have no idea if the attack came from North Korea or not. Filed under: Home Entertainment , HD Comments Via: Fusion Source: Gist (Github)

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Sony hack snowballs as movie scripts, celebrity phone numbers leaked

NASA: Mars’ Gale Crater held a huge lake for millions of years

Humans have been speculating about water on Mars for hundreds of years, and now thanks to the Curiosity rover we’re getting a better sense of how wet the Red Planet used to be. NASA revealed today that the Gale Crater, the 96-mile wide patch of land Curiosity has been exploring since 2012, held a large lake bed for tens of millions of years. What’s more, the agency found that the three-mile high Mount Sharp, which sits in the middle of the crater, was likely formed by sediment deposits from the lake. The big takeaway? Mars was likely warm enough to house liquid water for long periods of time — perhaps even long enough for life to form. “If our hypothesis for Mount Sharp holds up, it challenges the notion that warm and wet conditions were transient, local, or only underground on Mars, ” said Ashwin Vasvada, NASA’s Curiosity deputy project scientist. The only problem now is that we still don’t know how the Martian atmosphere supported such a wet environment. Curiosity previously found evidence of “vigorous” waterflow , which fueled long-held speculation about water’s presence on Mars. NASA is now focusing the rover’s efforts on on the lowest layers of Mount Sharp, which could give us a better sense of how it was formed. The findings will also help NASA when planning for future missions to seek out evidence of life on Mars, and potentially even affect how the agency approaches manned missions in the 2030s. [Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ESA/DLR/FU Berlin/MSSS] Filed under: Science Comments Source: NASA

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NASA: Mars’ Gale Crater held a huge lake for millions of years

Brits double their broadband data usage, but speeds are still an issue

Broadband usage is soaring in the UK, but the companies piping it into our homes are still playing catch-up . That’s according to Ofcom , which looked into the state of connections across Britain. So how does it all break down? For a start, the average household now uses around 58GB each month (including downloads and uploads), almost double the 30GB of data Brits were moving last year. That increase may have been helped, in part, by an increase in connection speeds. According to the regulator, the UK’s average has increased from 18 Mbps to 23 Mbps over the last 12 months. However, that isn’t the case for everyone; many Brits are still struggling to get a decent connection in their home. In its report, the watchdog said the typical UK household now requires a 10 Mbps connection; anything lower and you’re “likely to be constrained.” However, Ofcom estimates that those speeds are currently unavailable to 15 percent of UK homes. So never mind whether or not you can afford (or want) a broadband package with a faster connection; if you’re living in one of the unsupported areas, you’re stuck with what you’ve got. Ofcom also looked at existing broadband connections across the UK, and how they stacked up to this proposed 10 Mbps threshold. Only a fifth of rural connections are faster, which then rises to 65 percent in semi-urban locations and 70 percent in UK cities. In fact, only 60 percent of broadband connections are faster than 10 Mbps. Given the varied nature of Britain’s communications networks, Ofcom wants to give homeowners some clarity by launching a new site that shows broadband speeds and 3G, 4G, Freeview and digital radio coverage anywhere in the UK. You can enter any street name or postcode, which could prove useful if you’re moving home or worried about a place’s potential connectivity. [Image credit: Dan Tentler, Flickr ] Filed under: Networking , Internet Comments Source: Ofcom Infrastructure Report , Ofcom Interactive Map

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Brits double their broadband data usage, but speeds are still an issue

Disney Research makes HDR videos work better on regular TVs

Disney Research has found a way to preserve the awesome quality of high-dynamic range or HDR videos when they’re shown on consumer-level TVs and displays. See, HDR videos can show shadows and light better than footage taken by conventional equipment can — in fact, the setting’s purpose is to record what we see rather than what the camera sees. Problem is, typical consumer TVs and screens these days aren’t capable of displaying them, unless they go through a process called tone mapping . Unfortunately, existing tonal mapping techniques downgrade HDR videos’ quality, so that most of their details get “lost in translation, ” so to speak, or introduce unwanted effects like flickering and ghosting or after-image. Disney’s new tonal mapping technique, however, prevents these things from happening. If you’d like to know the science behind the technique, make sure to pore over the team’s research paper for more info. Or, you know, you can just watch the video below for a demonstration of what the technology can do. Comments Source: Disney Research

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Disney Research makes HDR videos work better on regular TVs

AT&T throttles unlimited data plans at 5GB, no congestion required

It’s no secret that AT&T throttles its users unlimited data connections. The company has been rather open about the policy. However, the carrier insisted that the practice is used to reign in the biggest bandwidth consumers, only necessary to keep network congestion at a minimum. Well, that doesn’t seem to be the case. Big Blue’s info page for “customers with legacy unlimited data plans” explains that when folks hit the 5GB threshold, they’re gonna experience reduced speeds until the billing cycle is up. The reduction to compensate for congestion bit only applies to phones with unlimited data between the 3GB and 5GB mark. Of course, the FCC claims AT&T hasn’t been clear about such practices, including just how slow the connection can get, despite the carrier claiming throttled customers get a text message when speeds are cut. In fact, an Ars Technica report found those figures to dip to half a megabit per second. At any rate, if you’re a big data user, you can expect slower speeds above 5GB, even when the network’s traffic is manageable. [Photo credit: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images] Filed under: Cellphones , Wireless , Mobile , AT&T Comments Via: Ars Technica Source: AT&T

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AT&T throttles unlimited data plans at 5GB, no congestion required

Hacked hearing aids produce stellar ambient tunes from WiFi signals

What if we could hear the numerous invisible data frequencies that swirl around us every day? That’s exactly what a project from hearing-impaired writer Frank Swain and artist Daniel Jones aims to do. Phantom Terrains is the proper name of the effort, and by hacking Swain’s Bluetooth-enabled hearing aids , the duo has transformed WiFi signals into ambient sounds . So instead of seeing the device as a prosthetic, it’s used as a sort of super power. The modification allows him to stroll around and listen to the range of tones electromagnetic signals provide — like the pattern of a network’s security parameters. And of course, no one else nearby can pick them up. “The project challenges the notion of assistive hearing technology as a prosthetic, re-imagining it as an enhancement that can surpass the ability of normal human hearing, ” the pair’s website explains. “By using an audio interface to communicate data feeds rather than a visual one, Phantom Terrains explores hearing as a platform for augmented reality that can immerse us in continuous, dynamic streams of data.” With plenty of invisible signals floating around, there’s no end to the amount of data that’s ripe for this sort of transformation. And thanks to designer Stefanie Posavec, detailed maps of signal data along the way make for quite the interesting visual compliment. Filed under: Misc , Alt Comments Via: Wired Source: Phantom Terrains

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Hacked hearing aids produce stellar ambient tunes from WiFi signals

New tech uses ultrasound to create haptics you can ‘see’ and touch

We’ve seen haptic feedback in mid-air before , but not quite like this. The folks from Bristol University are using focused ultrasound in a way that creates a 3D shape out of air that you can see and feel. We know what you’re probably thinking: How do you see something made of air? By directing the apparatus generating it at oil. As you do. According to the school, the tech could see use in letting surgeons feel a tumor while exploring a CT scan. Or, on the consumer side of things, to create virtual knobs you could turn to adjust your car’s infotainment system without taking your eyes off the road. The tech can also apparently be added to 3D displays to make something that’s both visible and touchable. If you’re curious about what it looks like in action, we’ve embedded a video just below. Filed under: Science , Alt Comments Source: University of Bristol

Play ‘Breakout’ on your Nintendo 3DS by drumming the Mario theme

Ready to use the browser in your new Nintendo 3DS more than you likely ever have so far? As spotted by the Verge , Japanese user Guiro@Sumaburu found an Easter egg that lets you play a gloriously silly version of Breakout . All you need to do is open the browser, tap on it to the rhythm of the Mario theme song (yep), and then click on your favorite site of choice. That’ll let you smash its link into smithereens in a way that Breakout inventor Steve Wozniak likely never imagined back in 1975 . Filed under: Gaming Comments Via: The Verge Source: Guiro@Sumaburu (Vine)

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Play ‘Breakout’ on your Nintendo 3DS by drumming the Mario theme

New Bluetooth devices will connect directly to the internet

For all the talk of an Internet of Things , many Bluetooth devices aren’t very internet-savvy; they usually have to rely on WiFi (or another gadget entirely) to hop online. That’s going to change very shortly with the advent of Bluetooth’s new 4.2 spec . If a sensor, smart light bulb or other low-power device supports the new technology, it can connect directly to the internet (through a router or other access point, at least) without needing a go-between. That’s potentially huge for home automation — you could control all your appliances and light fixture from anywhere in the world without requiring special hubs. There’s a lot more going on besides this, of course. Privacy is now much more important; Bluetooth 4.2 makes it harder to track a device without your permission, so a store with iBeacons (as an example) can’t follow you around unless you’ve installed an app. The new wireless tech is also up to 2.5 times faster, and it should be both more power-efficient and reliable. The gotcha with all these updates? You’ll have to wait. The Bluetooth 4.2 standard is ready now (internet access is due within a month), but device makers will still have to implement it before you can see any benefit. You probably won’t get to use 4.2-capable devices until sometime in 2015 as a result, but there are enough heavy-hitting features that your patience may pay off. Filed under: Household , Peripherals , Networking , Internet , Mobile Comments Source: Bluetooth SIG

FBI warns businesses over malware that can override hard drive data

A number of American security professionals must have quickly switched from lazy Thanksgiving mode to high alert on Monday after receiving a flash warning from the FBI. A five-page document was sent out to US businesses’ IT teams warning them against a highly destructive malware, which a group of hackers recently used to infiltrate several companies’ computers, reports Reuters . In order for the companies to take preventative measures, the report contained the lowdown on the malware’s technical details, such as its ability to override hard drives. The malicious code can apparently shut down and permanently disable computers, as well, making it impossible to retrieve files later on. The FBI issues “flash” warnings to businesses in order to update them about high-risk cyber threats. For this particular one, none of the malware’s victims were named, and the agency also wouldn’t confirm or deny when Reuters asked if Sony was one of them. If you recall, Sony Pictures was on the receiving end of a big cyber attack in late November that took down all its computers and led to the leak of several unreleased movies, including Annie and Brad Pitt’s Fury . Guardians of Peace (GOP), the group that launched the attack, threatened to unleash more internal data if their demands (which we still don’t know the details of) weren’t met. On Monday, we’ve received an email from someone who claims to be the GOP’s leader, linking to a public pastebin that contains download links to what he says is part of the data they stole. Since the FBI wouldn’t comment on Sony’s situation, it’s unclear if the company’s still investigating what happened, and whether North Korea was truly involved in the incident. [Image credit: Shutterstock / clarence s lewis] Filed under: Internet Comments Source: Reuters

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FBI warns businesses over malware that can override hard drive data