Tag: wired

OS X 10.9 said to focus on the “power user”

OS X 10.9 will reportedly focus on the “power user,” according to sources speaking to 9to5Mac . The release, code-named “Cabernet,” isn’t expected to significantly overhaul how the operating system functions, but will reportedly bring over more iOS features that could benefit OS X. What might those features be? According to 9to5Mac’s sources, Apple has been “testing a new multi-tasking system” that’s similar to the app-switcher within iOS. “The multitasking feature will be functional for applications in the background, according to this person. Additionally, Apple could use app-pausing technologies from iOS to pause background application processes in OS X,” the site wrote, though apparently it’s unclear whether this feature will make the official 10.9 release. The other “power user” features reportedly include modifications to the Finder that would bring a tabbed browsing mode, an updated version of Safari with “a redesigned backend for improved page loading, speed, and efficiency,” and the ability to keep different Spaces open on separate monitors. Read 1 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Continue Reading:
OS X 10.9 said to focus on the “power user”

Man accused of placing GPS device on victim’s car before burglarizing her home

A burglary suspect currently on trial in Johnson County, Kansas allegedly put a GPS tracking device on a victim’s car to determine whether anyone was home. The victim, an unnamed Overland Park woman, told her story to the  Kansas City Star on Friday. Overland Park police, Leawood police, and Johnson County prosecutors declined to comment on the GPS allegation to the newspaper. According to the Star , the suspect, Steven Alva Glaze, allegedly burglarized the woman’s home on March 25. The victim owns a jewelry business in the Kansas City suburb. Glaze is now on trial for 14 counts of criminal damage to property, theft, attempted burglary, and burglary for the alleged crimes. The use of GPS tracking devices surreptitiously installed on cars recalls the famous Jones v. United States case, in which the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in 2012 that law enforcement does not have the authority to warrantlessly place a device on a criminal suspect’s vehicle. However, the use of GPS by criminal suspects to track victims still seems to be quite rare. Read 4 remaining paragraphs | Comments

View post:
Man accused of placing GPS device on victim’s car before burglarizing her home

Tesla CEO says he’ll pay more to speed up LA freeway widening: “I’ve super had it”

Tesla CEO Elon Musk says that he would be willing to donate even more money as a way to accelerate the widening of a major north-south highway in Los Angeles, known as the 405 Freeway. So far, he’s already donated $50,000 out of a total cost that has now ballooned to $1.1 billion, but he said he’d gladly pay more to add more workers. “[I’d pay more] as a contribution to the city and my own happiness,” Musk told the Los Angeles Times on Thursday . “If it can actually make a difference, I would gladly contribute funds and ideas. I’ve super had it.” On Wednesday, the city received the dubious honor of having the worst traffic in the country , according to data company Inrix. Read 3 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Visit site:
Tesla CEO says he’ll pay more to speed up LA freeway widening: “I’ve super had it”

Apple supercharges R&D with extra $500 million spent in last six months

Apple product sales are flattening out a bit compared to last year, save for iPads. Casey Johnston Apple boosted its research and development spending by 33 percent in the second quarter of 2013 compared to the same period last year, according to a quarterly report filed with the Securities Exchange Commission. If the rate of spending continues, Apple could drop over $4 billion on R&D this fiscal year. During the quarter ending March 30, 2013, Apple spent $1.119 billion on R&D, compared to $841 million from a year ago. In the first six months of its fiscal year, Apple has spent $2.129 billion total on R&D, while it spent only $1.599 billion last year. Apple stated that the spending for the quarter was up 33 percent due to “an increase in headcount” and “expanded R&D activities.” The statement went on to say that the “focused investments” in R&D are “directly related to timely development of new and enhanced products that are central to the Company’s core business strategy. As such, the Company expects to make further investments in R&D to remain competitive.” Read 1 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Read the original:
Apple supercharges R&D with extra $500 million spent in last six months

Java users beware: Exploit circulating for just-patched critical flaw

If you haven’t installed last week’s patch from Oracle that plugs dozens of critical holes in its Java software framework, now would be a good time. As in immediately. As in, really, right now . In the past few days, attack code targeting one of the many remote-code-execution vulnerabilities fixed in Java 7 Update 21 was folded into either the folded into the RedKit or CrimeBoss exploit kit. By Sunday, that attack code was being actively unleashed on unsuspecting end users, according to a short blog post published by a researcher from antivirus provider F-Secure. The post doesn’t say where the attacks were being hosted or precisely how attackers are using them. Still, Oracle describes the vulnerability as allowing remote code execution without authentication. And that means you should install the patch before you do anything else today. The track record of malware purveyors of abusing advertising networks, compromised Apache servers , and other legitimate enterprises means readers could encounter attacks even when they’re browsing a site they know and trust. Read 3 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Originally posted here:
Java users beware: Exploit circulating for just-patched critical flaw

IBM’s solar tech is 80% efficient thanks to supercomputer know-how

IBM Research’s prototype HCPVT system in Zurich. By borrowing cooling systems used in its supercomputers, IBM Research claims it can dramatically increase the overall efficiency of concentrated photovoltaic solar power from 30 to 80 percent. Like other concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) collectors, IBM’s system at its Zurich laboratory uses a mirrored parabolic dish to concentrate incoming solar radiation onto PV cells. The dish uses a tracking system to move with the sun, concentrating the collected radiation by a factor of 2,000 onto a sensor containing triple-junction PV cells. During daylight hours, each 1-sq cm PV chip generates on average between 200 and 250 watts of electrical power, harnessing up to 30 percent of the incoming solar energy. Ordinarily, the remaining 70 percent of energy would be lost as heat. But by capturing most of that heat with water, IBM Research says it is able to reduce system heat losses to around 20 percent of the total incoming energy. This results in a bottom-line efficiency of 80 percent for its CPV collector, dubbed HCPVT for High Concentration Photovoltaic Thermal. Unlike a regular CPV system, HCPVT delivers its energy in two forms: electricity and hot water. Read 7 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Read the original post:
IBM’s solar tech is 80% efficient thanks to supercomputer know-how

Japanese police ask ISPs to start blocking Tor

Erich Ferdinand Authorities in Japan are so worried about their inability to tackle cybercrime that they are asking the country’s ISPs to block the use of Tor . According to The Mainichi , the National Police Agency (NPA, a bit like the Japanese FBI) is going to urge ISPs to block customers if they are found to have “abused” Tor online. Since Tor anonymizes traffic, that can be read as a presumption of guilt on anyone who anonymizes their Web activity. The Japanese police have had a torrid time of late when it comes to cybercrime. Late last year a hacker by the name of Demon Killer began posting death threats on public message boards after remotely taking control of computers across the country. The police arrested the four people whose IP addresses had been used and reportedly “extracted” a confession, but they were forced into a humiliating apology when the hacker kept posting messages while the suspects were in custody. Read 9 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Visit site:
Japanese police ask ISPs to start blocking Tor

Former Hostgator employee arrested, charged with rooting 2,700 servers

Aurich Lawson A former employee of Hostgator has been arrested and charged with installing a backdoor that gave him almost unfettered control over more than 2,700 servers belonging to the widely used Web hosting provider. Eric Gunnar Gisse, 29, of San Antonio, Texas, was charged with felony breach of computer security by the district attorney’s office of Harris County in Texas, according to court documents. He worked as a medium-level administrator from September 2011 until he was terminated on February 15, 2012, according to prosecutors and a company executive. A day after his dismissal, Hostgator officials discovered a backdoor application that allowed Gisse to log in to servers from remote locations, including a computer located at the Hetzner Data Center in Nuremberg, Germany. He took pains to disguise his malware as a widely used Unix administration tool to prevent his superiors from discovering the backdoor process, prosecutors said. “The process was named ‘pcre’, a common system file, in order to disguise the true purpose of the process which would grant an attacker unauthorized access into Hostgator’s computer network,” a Houston Police Department investigator and the document’s “affiant,” Gordon M. Garrett, wrote in an affidavit. “Complainant told affiant he searched Hostgator’s computer network and found the unauthorized ‘pcre’ process installed on 2723 different Hostgator servers within the computer network.” Read 7 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Link:
Former Hostgator employee arrested, charged with rooting 2,700 servers

Bitfloor, number four Bitcoin-based exchange, shuts down for good

On Wednesday evening, Bitfloor , the number four Bitcoin-based exchange (behind Mt. Gox, BTC-E, and Bitstamp) announced that it is closing its doors “indefinitely.” “Unfortunately, our US bank account is scheduled to be closed and we can no longer provide the same level of [US dollar] deposits and withdrawals as we have in the past,” wrote Roman Shtylman , the exchange’s founder. “As such, I have made the decision to halt operations and return all funds. Over the next days we will be working with all clients to ensure that everyone receives their funds. Please be patient as we process your request.” Ars reached out to Shtylman to find out more details, but he did not immediately respond. Read 2 remaining paragraphs | Comments

See the article here:
Bitfloor, number four Bitcoin-based exchange, shuts down for good

Microsoft scores biggest patent licensee yet: Foxconn

Foxconn Zhengzhou facility, under construction in February 2012. Bert van Dijk / flickr One company—Taiwan’s Foxconn—makes a staggering 40 percent of the world’s consumer electronic devices. Starting now, Microsoft will be getting paid a toll on a large number of those devices. The company’s long patent-licensing campaign has landed its biggest client yet in licensing Foxconn, formally named Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Foxconn has agreed to take a license for any product it produces that runs Google’s Android or Chrome operating systems. The Redmond software giant has insisted for years now that any company making Android phones needs to license its patents. That campaign has generally been successful; so successful , in fact, that by 2011 Microsoft was making more money from patent licensing than from its own mobile phone system. Read 9 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Originally posted here:
Microsoft scores biggest patent licensee yet: Foxconn