Tag: portfolio-cond

Office 2016 confirmed for September 22 release, February for business

Microsoft today confirmed a previous leak that Office 2016 would be released on September 22nd. But the release of Office 365 ProPlus—the version of the desktop suite that comes with some Office 365 subscriptions—is a little more complex. Office 365 ProPlus, unlike the perpetually licensed, non-Office 365 version of Office, currently receives a steady trickle of monthly feature updates in addition to the security updates that all desktop Office products receive. This will continue with Office 2016—but only for one branch, the “Current Branch.” A new second branch is being created, the “Current Branch for Business” (CBB). The CBB won’t receive these monthly feature updates. Instead, those will happen three times a year—February, June, and October—and these features will lag the Current Branch by four months. Read 4 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Continue reading here:
Office 2016 confirmed for September 22 release, February for business

Static RAM created out of carbon nanotubes

We’re already at the point where the features we etch into processors are about the same size as some molecules—hemoglobin, for example, is five nanometers across. Too much smaller, and the behavior of electrons will become dominated by quantum effects, potentially causing some unpredictable behavior. One potential solution to this is to actually use individual molecules to create the features on chips. Carbon nanotubes are promising candidates, as they naturally come in both semiconducting and metallic forms. But getting the right kind of nanotubes into a structure where they perform consistently has been a challenge. Now, a team has shown that the properties of nanotubes can be manipulated and preserved in a way that could make them useful for electronics. While the work was done with populations of nanotubes rather than single molecules, it did manage to turn the nanotubes into functional RAM. Read 8 remaining paragraphs | Comments

View the original here:
Static RAM created out of carbon nanotubes

Bitcoin cyberextortionists are blackmailing banks, corporations

A number of large UK corporations and institutions, such as Lloyds Bank and BAE systems, have reported a “marked increase” in Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks from the Bitcoin extortionist group DD4BC, which has been operational since last year . The increased aggressions appears concurrent with reports from other organisations. A cybersecurity case study released by Akamai identified 114 DD4BC attacks against the company’s customers since April 2015, with 41 cases taking place in June alone. In comparison, there were only 5 attacks in January and February 2015. “The latest attacks—focused primarily on the financial service industry—involved new strategies and tactics intended to harass, extort and ultimately embarrass the victim publicly,” said Akamai Security Division executive Stuart Scholly in a press release. 58% of DD4BC’s targets are financial institutions, according to Akamai. The group begins with ransom emails that state their demands, which vary anywhere between 1 and 100 bitcoins (about £160 to £16,000), a deadline for compliance, and warning of a “small, demonstrative attack.” Should the victim prove uncooperative, the figure is raised and a more forceful show of force is made. This technique is particularly effective against financial institutions as DD4BC threatens to publicise their attacks, negating the institution’s reputation and trustworthiness. Read 2 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Read the article:
Bitcoin cyberextortionists are blackmailing banks, corporations

Norwegian Pirate Party provides DNS server to bypass new Pirate Bay blockade

Following a court-ordered block of The Pirate Bay and a number of other file-sharing websites in Norway, the Norwegian Pirate Party (Piratpartiet Norge) has now set up free, uncensored DNS servers that anyone can use to bypass the block. While the DNS servers are based in Norway, anyone can use them: if your ISP is blocking access to certain sites via DNS blackholing/blocking, using the Piratpartiet’s DNS servers should enable access. A few days ago, TorrentFreak reported that the Oslo District Court had sided with several Hollywood studios and domestic Norwegian rights holders in a case that sought to block a number of sites, including The Pirate Bay, Viooz, and ExtraTorrent. The court ordered that the country’s major ISPs, including Telia, TeliaSonera, NextGenTel, and Altibox, must block the sites. The Norwegian Pirate Party, as you can probably imagine, isn’t happy with the court-ordered block. In response, it has set up an unblocked DNS server—dns.piratpartiet.no—and a website that shows you how to change your DNS server settings on Windows, Mac, or Linux. Read 5 remaining paragraphs | Comments

View article:
Norwegian Pirate Party provides DNS server to bypass new Pirate Bay blockade

Ex-Tesla engineer accused of illegally accessing former boss’s e-mail

A former Tesla mechanical engineer is facing two counts of felony computer intrusion, according to a Thursday press release from the FBI . Nima Kalbasi, a 28-year-old Canadian citizen, is accused of illegally accessing his former boss’s e-mail account nearly 300 times during a period of about 30 days in late 2014 and early 2015. The 28-year-old Canadian citizen appeared before a federal judge in San Jose, California late last month. He was arrested days earlier while crossing the border from Canada into Vermont. Read 4 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Excerpt from:
Ex-Tesla engineer accused of illegally accessing former boss’s e-mail

Tesla’s $35,000 Model 3 will start production in 2017

God bless Elon Musk and his Twitter feed. While other companies rely on secretive press offices or employ PR giants to handle their communications, Musk happily uses the 140-character platform to break news about what’s going on at Tesla and SpaceX. Wednesday, we learned that the Model 3—Tesla’s next electric vehicle after the Model X SUV—will go into production in 2017, but only once the Gigafactory is up and running. Model 3, our smaller and lower cost sedan will start production in about 2 years. Fully operational Gigafactory needed. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 2, 2015 The Gigafactory is a $5 billion plant that Tesla is building near Sparks, Nevada in partnership with Panasonic. The plan is to achieve significant economies of scale at the Gigafactory, which will make the Model 3’s $35,000 price tag possible—something Musk also told us via Twitter yesterday. @elonmusk $35k price, unveil in March, preorders start then. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 2, 2015 When the Model 3 hits the streets in 2017 (assuming no Gigafactory-related delays) it won’t have as easy a time in the marketplace as the Model S, which even now still has no real competition. Chevrolet is launching the Bolt next year, a $30,000 EV which will match Tesla’s 200-mile (321km) range. However, Tesla has cleverly positioned itself as a premium brand with the Model S (and forthcoming Model X). Leveraging that cachet to move Model 3s seems like a no-brainer. Read on Ars Technica | Comments

More:
Tesla’s $35,000 Model 3 will start production in 2017

“NightShift” caches Netflix shows on your home network to boost speed

Are you having problems streaming Netflix? A startup called Aterlo Networks claims it has a solution: download Netflix shows and cache them locally so you can view them later without problems. Aterlo’s “ NightShift ” service could theoretically help anyone with slow home Internet connections access high-definition Netflix video. But Aterlo is primarily targeting it at satellite Internet customers who have to abide by strict data caps during the day and evening hours when most people watch streaming video. “Most satellite subscriptions in the US have a 10GB to 25GB monthly usage restriction, which effectively makes it impossible to use Netflix or other streaming video,” Aterlo CTO Scot Loach told Ars in a phone interview. Read 20 remaining paragraphs | Comments

More:
“NightShift” caches Netflix shows on your home network to boost speed

DNA used as velcro to form cells into 3D structures

One of the great hopes for stem cells is that they’ll allow us to eventually replace injured or damaged tissues. But there’s a big gap between the cells of stem cells and anything resembling an organ. Organs are complex, three-dimensional structures populated by multiple cell types. Getting a bunch of cells to form these structures is a significant challenge. One idea has been to use 3D printers. With multiple print-heads and a protein polymer gel, it’s possible to construct a rough approximation of the structure of a mature organ. Now, a team of California scientists has come up with an interesting alternative: use DNA as a sort of cellular velcro to get cells to stick to each other and form a complex, three-dimensional tissue. The basic idea is pretty simple. If they have the appropriate sequences, individual DNA molecules will pair up to form a double helix. If you coat one cell type with a short DNA sequence and then a second cell type with the sequence’s partner, the two cells will stick to each other. And it’s possible to coat a cell’s surface with DNA simply by adding a lipid molecule to the end of the DNA strand. Read 8 remaining paragraphs | Comments

More:
DNA used as velcro to form cells into 3D structures

Wikipedia blocks hundreds of linked accounts for suspect editing

The Wikimedia Foundation, the host of the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, said late Monday that it has suspended 381 accounts or “socks” that it claims accepted or charged money “to promote external interests on Wikipedia without revealing their affiliation.” The foundation said that it believed that activity from so-called “sockpuppet” accounts “were perpetrated by one coordinated group.” The foundation said that volunteer editors spent weeks investigating what it said was a violation of its terms of use . “The editors issued these blocks as part of their commitment to ensuring Wikipedia is an accurate, reliable, and neutral knowledge resource for everyone,” Wikimedia said in a statement. Read 6 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Originally posted here:
Wikipedia blocks hundreds of linked accounts for suspect editing

Microsoft, Google, Amazon, others, aim for royalty-free video codecs

Microsoft, Google, Mozilla, Cisco, Intel, Netflix, and Amazon today launched a new consortium, the Alliance for Open Media. The group plans to develop next-generation media formats—including audio and still images, but with video as the top priority—and deliver them as royalty-free open source, suitable for both commercial and noncommercial content. The issue of patent licenses and royalties continues to plague the video industry. While H.264/AVC video had relatively cheap licensing, it looks as if its successor, H.265/HEVC, is going to be considerably more expensive . Organizations that derive significant income from patent royalties and IP licensing weren’t happy with the low-cost model used for H.264, and so are pushing back. This is a great threat to open source and non-commercial streaming, which has no obvious way to pay the royalties. The HEVC royalty structure would even threaten the viability of commercial streamers such as Netflix. The Alliance for Open Media would put an end to this problem. The group’s first aim is to produce a video codec that’s a meaningful improvement on HEVC. Many of the members already have their own work on next-generation codecs; Cisco has Thor , Mozilla has been working on Daala , and Google on VP9 and VP10. Daala and Thor are both also under consideration by the IETF’s netvc working group, which is similarly trying to assemble a royalty-free video codec. Read 4 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Visit link:
Microsoft, Google, Amazon, others, aim for royalty-free video codecs