Tag: science

Firefox 27 Released: TLS 1.2 Support, SPDY 3.1, SocialAPI Improvements

jones_supa writes “Mozilla has released Firefox 27 for Linux, Android, Mac, and Windows (download). One of the big changes is enabling support for TLS 1.1 and 1.2 by default. Firefox 27 also supports the SPDY 3.1 protocol. Developers got some new toys: support was added for ES6 generators in SpiderMonkey, the debugger will de-obfuscate JavaScript, and style sheets can be reset by using all:unset. Mozilla also announced some new social integration options. In addition to all these changes, the Android version got some UI improvements and font readability upgrades. For a future release, Mozilla is currently testing a new approach for Firefox Sync in Nightly builds. They recognized the headaches involved with how it works, and they’re now opting to use a simple e-mail and password combination like Google Chrome does. In the old system, users were forced to store an auto-generated authorization code, which, if lost, would render their bookmarks, passwords and browsing history inaccessible. ” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Firefox 27 Released: TLS 1.2 Support, SPDY 3.1, SocialAPI Improvements

North Korea’s State Computers Run This Delightful Mac OS X Knockoff

At first glance, this screen looks strangely familiar. The dock icons, the gray, rounded windows, the whole layout; it’s Mac OS X, except not quite. The top-left icon is the giveaway. This ain’t OS X, it’s Red Star, North Korea’s state-sanctioned operating system. And Version 3.0 looks very Mac-like. Read more…        

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North Korea’s State Computers Run This Delightful Mac OS X Knockoff

This Little Mi-Fi Can Get You Online Anywhere in the World

Look at this little guy. Small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, but powerful enough to enable you to make phone calls, text, and use data virtually anywhere in the world. Like, even on the peaks of remote mountains or in the middle of uninhabited deserts, thanks to the magic of satellites. Read more…        

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This Little Mi-Fi Can Get You Online Anywhere in the World

Air Force Is Sending Brand New Cargo Planes Straight to the Boneyard

The C-27J Spartan is a hell of a plane. Famous for its ability to take off from unfinished runways, it’s a staple used by militaries around the world, including the United States. At least it was until recently. The Air Force is sending its latest batch of beautiful, brand new C-27Js straight to the boneyard in Arizona’s desert . Read more…        

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Air Force Is Sending Brand New Cargo Planes Straight to the Boneyard

HealthCare.gov Can’t Handle Appeals of Errors

PapayaSF writes “The Washington Post reports that roughly 22, 000 people have claimed they were charged too much, steered into the wrong insurance program, or denied coverage, but the HealthCare.gov website cannot handle appeals. They’ve filled out seven-page forms and mailed them to a federal contractor’s office in Kentucky, where they were scanned and entered, but workers at CMS cannot read them because that part of the system has not been built. Other missing aspects are said to have higher priorities: completing the electronic payment system for insurers, the connections with state Medicaid programs, and the ability to adjust coverage to accommodate major changes such as new babies. People with complaints about mistakes have been told to ‘return to the Web site and start over.'” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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HealthCare.gov Can’t Handle Appeals of Errors

A Hacker Found GPS Data in the Audio of This Police Chase Video

It’s incredibly noisy in the cockpit of a helicopter, and you’d assume the sounds you hear in any YouTube police chase video were just the deafening whine of the chopper’s engine. But as one hacker discovered , that monotonous drone can actually hide some useful data, like the helicopter’s GPS coordinates. Read more…        

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A Hacker Found GPS Data in the Audio of This Police Chase Video

FCC Wants To Trial Shift From Analog Phone Networks To Digital

An anonymous reader sends word that the U.S. Federal Communications Commission has given the go-ahead for telecommunications companies to start experimenting with an IP-based telephone protocol. From the article: “The experiments approved by the FCC would not test the new technology – it is already being used – and would not determine law and policy regulating it, FCC staff said. The trials would seek to establish, among other things, how consumers welcome the change and how new technology performs in emergency situations, including in remote locations. ‘What we’re doing here is a big deal. This is an important moment, ‘ FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said. ‘We today invite service providers to propose voluntary experiments for all-IP networks.’ The move in part grants the application by AT&T to conduct IP transition tests as companies that offer landline phone services seek to ultimately replace their old copper wires with newer technology like fiber or wireless.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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FCC Wants To Trial Shift From Analog Phone Networks To Digital

Microsoft’s board is reportedly preparing to name Satya Nadella as the new CEO.

Microsoft’s board is reportedly preparing to name Satya Nadella as the new CEO. Nadella is an internal candidate most recently in charge of the company’s enterprise and cloud endeavors. The company is also reportedly considering replacing Bill Gates as chairman. [ Bloomberg ] Read more…        

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Microsoft’s board is reportedly preparing to name Satya Nadella as the new CEO.

This Insanely Loud Sound System Simulates the Roar of a Rocket Launch

Being shot into space puts spacecraft under extreme stress—but did you know that the sound of the rocket launch can damage a craft? Inside the Large European Acoustic Facility, engineers recreate the incredible noise of a launch to make sure satellites can survive it. According to the ESA, “no human could survive” the sound. Read more…        

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This Insanely Loud Sound System Simulates the Roar of a Rocket Launch