windows – Page 260 – Tech Today w/ Ken May

Wine 2.0 Released

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Softpedia: It’s finally here! After so many months of development and hard work, during which over 6, 600 bugs have been patched, the Wine project is happy to announce today, January 24, 2017, the general availability of Wine 2.0. Wine 2.0 is the biggest and most complete version of the open-source software project that allows Linux and macOS users to run applications and games designed only for Microsoft Windows operating systems. As expected, it’s a massive release that includes dozens of improvements and new features, starting with support for Microsoft Office 2013 and 64-bit application support on macOS. Highlights of Wine 2.0 include the implementation of more DirectWrite features, such as drawing of underlines, font fallback support, and improvements to font metrics resolution, font embedding in PDF files, Unicode 9.0.0 support, Retina rendering mode for the macOS graphics driver, and support for gradients in GDI enhanced metafiles. Additional Shader Model 4 and 5 shader instructions have been added to Direct3D 10 and Direct3D 11 implementation, along with support for more graphics cards, support for Direct3D 11 feature levels, full support for the D3DX (Direct3D Extension) 9 effect framework, as well as support for the GStreamer 1.0 multimedia framework. The Gecko engine was updated to Firefox 47, IDN name resolutions are now supported out-of-the-box, and Wine can correctly handle long URLs. The included Mono engine now offers 64-bit support, as well as the debug registers. Other than that, the winebrowser, winhlp32, wineconsole, and reg components received improvements. You can read the full list of features and download Wine 2.0 from WineHQ’s websiteS. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Wine 2.0 Released

Firefox 51 Arrives With HTTP Warning, WebGL 2 and FLAC Support

Reader Krystalo writes: Mozilla today launched Firefox 51 for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android. The new version includes a new warning for websites which collect passwords but don’t use HTTPS, WebGL 2 support for better 3D graphics, and FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) playback. Mozilla doesn’t break out the exact numbers for Firefox, though the company does say “half a billion people around the world” use the browser. In other words, it’s a major platform that web developers target — even in a world increasingly dominated by mobile apps. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Firefox 51 Arrives With HTTP Warning, WebGL 2 and FLAC Support

5G Internet is the ‘Beginning of the Fourth Industrial Revolution’

Next-generation 5G mobile internet technology marks the beginning of the “fourth industrial revolution, ” the chief executive of Turkey’s leading telecoms player told CNBC on Thursday. From a report: 5G is viewed as a technology that can support the developing Internet of Things (IOT) market, which refers to millions — or potentially billions — of internet-connected devices that are expected soon to come on to the market. Kaan Terzioglu, the chief executive of Turkcell, which has a market capitalization of $23 billion, touted the potential of the technology, saying that while 4G revolutionized the consumer market, 5G could transform the industrial space. “I think this is the beginning of the fourth generation of the industrial revolution. This will be the platform linking billions of devices together, ” Terzioglu told CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Turkcell has been working on 5G technologies since 2013 and this week completed a test in partnership with Ericsson, using the next-generation internet. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Malwarebytes Discovers ‘First Mac Malware of 2017’

wiredmikey writes: Security researchers have a uncovered a Mac OS based espionage malware they have named “Quimitchin.” The malware is what they consider to be “the first Mac malware of 2017, ” which appears to be a classic espionage tool. While it has some old code and appears to have existed undetected for some time, it works. It was discovered when an IT admin noticed unusual traffic coming from a particular Mac, and has been seen infecting Macs at biomedical facilities. From SecurityWeek.com: “Quimitchin comprises just two files: a .plist file that simply keeps the .client running at all times, and the .client file containing the payload. The latter is a ‘minified and obfuscated’ perl script that is more novel in design. It combines three components, Thomas Reed, director of Mac offerings at Malwarebytes and author of the blog post told SecurityWeek: ‘a Mac binary, another perl script and a Java class tacked on at the end in the __DATA__ section of the main perl script. The script extracts these, writes them to /tmp/ and executes them.’ Its primary purpose seems to be screen captures and webcam access, making it a classic espionage tool. Somewhat surprisingly the code uses antique system calls. ‘These are some truly ancient functions, as far as the tech world is concerned, dating back to pre-OS X days, ‘ he wrote in the blog post. ‘In addition, the binary also includes the open source libjpeg code, which was last updated in 1998.’ The script also contains Linux shell commands. Running the malware on a Linux machine, Malwarebytes ‘found that — with the exception of the Mach-O binary — everything ran just fine.’ It is possible that there is a specific Linux variant of the malware in existence — but the researchers have not been able to find one. It did find two Windows executable files, courtesy of VirusTotal, that communicated with the same CC server. One of them even used the same libjpeg library, which hasn’t been updated since 1998, as that used by Quimitchin.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Malwarebytes Discovers ‘First Mac Malware of 2017’

Shamoon disk-wiping malware can now destroy virtual desktops, too

Enlarge / A computer infected by Shamoon System is unable to find its operating system. (credit: Palo Alto Networks) There’s a new variant of the Shamoon disk-wiping malware that was originally unleashed on Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company in 2012, and it has a newly added ability to destroy virtual desktops, researchers said. The new strain is at least the second Shamoon variant to be discovered since late November, when researchers detected the return of disk-wiping malware after taking a more than four-year hiatus. The variant was almost identical to the original one except for the image that was left behind on sabotaged computers. Whereas the old one showed a burning American flag, the new one displayed the iconic photo of the body of Alan Kurdi, the three-year-old Syrian refugee boy who drowned as his family tried to cross from Turkey to Greece. Like the original Shamoon, which permanently destroyed data on more than 30,000 work stations belonging to Saudi Aramco , the updates also hit one or more Saudi targets that researchers have yet to name. According to a blog post published Monday night by researchers from Palo Alto networks, the latest variant has been updated to attack virtual desktops, which have emerged as one of the key protections against Shamoon and other types of disk-wiping malware. The update included usernames and passwords related to the virtual desktop infrastructure products from Huawei, which can protect against a destructive malware through its ability to load snapshots of wiped systems. Read 4 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Shamoon disk-wiping malware can now destroy virtual desktops, too

Etcher Is the Easiest Way to Make a Raspberry Pi SD Card

Windows/Mac/Linux: While it’s gotten easier over the years to make a Raspberry Pi SD card, it’s still a little confusing for people new to the idea of burning images. Etcher is a cross-platform tool that simplifies the process dramatically. Read more…

Who needs a six-inch touchscreen Windows desktop?

Dutch startup Ockel believes that what the world needs right now is a six-inch, Windows 10 desktop PC that’s also kind of a tablet. Ish. The nonfunctioning prototype was on show at CES, with final models expected to reach Indiegogo backers in May. Which give us a few months to wonder what exactly we’d ever use it for. Ockel made a name for itself building credit card-sized PCs for people who wanted to take their desktop with them wherever they went. The Sirius B (and its pro-edition brother) were both hits, prompting the company to build a version that you could use on the go. That product was the Sirius A, a wedge-shaped device with eight regular-sized ports at the back and a touchscreen up top. Both versions are pitched as full-bodied desktops that you can happen to use in motion, with full-size USB (and USB-C), HDMI, DisplayPort and even an Ethernet jack. The vanilla edition will run Windows Home and ships with 4GB RAM / 64GB Storage, while the Pro version runs Windows Pro and packs 8GB RAM/128GB storage. Both, however, will run off the same Intel Atom x7-Z8750 processor. The company won’t be drawn on a battery size, but it’s hoped that it’ll last for up to four hours at a time. As Ockel’s Nathalie van Wijkvliet explains, the idea was to create a desktop that you could take with you and use, should the need arise. She said that “it’s not a smartphone, not a tablet and not a PC, ” but an amalgamation of the three. It’s hoped that the device will be used by doctors on their rounds in a hospital and as a more elegant remote control for a smart home. That’s great, but for the fact that the Ockel Sirius A will retail for $700 (Regular) or $800 (Pro) and — have you heard of these things called laptops? If you want a desktop you can take with you, then you can pick one of those up for a lot less than $700. If you want a portable computing device that’s a little less demanding that can also double as a smart home control, then grab a $200 premium Android tablet. This device reminds me a little of the Neptune Pine , another crowdfunding success that looked great on paper and wasn’t great in reality. The notion of having a slightly shrunk-down smartphone on your wrist was great in theory, but… not so much in use. I’m sure a small subset of people will find a reason to love it but everyone else should maybe steer clear. Nick Summers contributed to this post. Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2017. Source: Indiegogo

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Who needs a six-inch touchscreen Windows desktop?

Firefox 52 Borrows One More Privacy Feature From the Tor Browser

An anonymous reader writes: Mozilla engineers have added a mechanism to Firefox 52 that prevents websites from fingerprinting users using system fonts. The user privacy protection system was borrowed from the Tor Browser, where a similar mechanism blocks websites from identifying users based on the fonts installed on their computers, only returning a list of “default fonts” per each OS. While sabotaging system font queries won’t stop user fingerprinting as a whole, this is just one of the latest privacy-related updates Mozilla has added to Firefox, taken from Tor. Back in July 2016, Mozilla engineers started the Tor Uplift project, which aims to improve Firefox’s privacy features with the ones present in the Tor Browser. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Watch Rope Get Made From a Tree Using a Thousand-Year-Old Technique

Making rope is hard. Making rope the way the Vikings did it over a thousand years ago is even harder. First, you have to find the right tree. Then, you have to strip the bark of the tree when the sap is rising. And then, you soak the bark you just harvested in the sea for three to four months before you can even think about turning it into rope. Read more…

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Watch Rope Get Made From a Tree Using a Thousand-Year-Old Technique

Android Ransomware Infects LG Smart TV, Company ‘Refuses’ To Help

Security firms have been warning us for more than a year about the possibility of Android malware jumping from phones and tablets to other Android-powered devices, such smart TVs. The latest incident involving ransomware on a smart TV involves software engineer Darren Cauthon, who revealed that the LG smart TV of one of his family members was infected with ransomware right on Christmas day. What’s worse? He claims LG wouldn’t help him with perform factory reset of the device. From a report: Based on a screenshot Cauthon posted online, the smart TV appears to be infected with a version of the Cyber. Police ransomware, also known as FLocker, Frantic Locker, or Dogspectus. The infected TV is one of the last generations of LG smart TVs that ran Google TV, a smart TV platform developed by Google together with Intel, Sony, and Logitech. Google TV launched in 2010, but Google discontinued the project in June 2014. In the meantime, LG has moved on from Google TV, and the company’s TVs now run WebOS. Cauthon says he tried to reset the TV to factory settings, but the reset procedure available online didn’t work. When the software engineer contacted LG, the company told him to visit one of their service centers, where one of its employees could reset his TV. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Android Ransomware Infects LG Smart TV, Company ‘Refuses’ To Help