Saran999
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Posts posted by Saran999
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D-secret is D-logon string allowing access to everything
A group of embedded device hackers has turned up a vulnerability in D-Link consumer-level devices that provides unauthenticated access to the units' admin interfaces.
The flaw means an attacker could take over all of the user-controllable functions of the popular home routers, which includes the DIR-100, DI-524, DI-524UP, DI-604S, DI-604UP, DI-604+ and TM-G5240 units. According to the post on /DEV/TTYS0, a couple of Planex routers are also affected, since they use the same firmware.
A Binwalk extract of the DLink DIR-100 firmware revealed that an unauthenticated user needs only change their user agent string to xmlset_roodkcableoj28840ybtide to access the router's Web interface with no authentication.
The /DEV/TTYS0 researcher found the user agent string inside a bunch of code designed to run simple string comparisons. For one of those comparisons, “if the strings match, the check_login function call is skipped and alpha_auth_check returns 1 (authentication OK)”, the author notes.
Some commentards to that post claimed to have successfully tested the backdoor against devices visible to the Shodan device search engine.
The /DEV/TTYS0 author, Craig, says the backdoor exists in v1.13 of the DIR-100revA products.
At this point, there's no defence against the backdoor, so users are advised to disable WAN-port access to the administrative interfaces of affected products. -
There was a brief moment when we were excited about the future of curved smarphones. But LG and Samsung are killing that interest very quickly.
Just a few days after Samsung announced its bizarre, curved Galaxy Round, renderings of LG’s own curved smartphone have also leaked out. The device, known as the LG Flex, features a 6-inch curved display, which should make it more comfortable to hold. Or something.
There is a difference, however subtle, between the curved devices from Samsung and LG: While the Galaxy Round is curved on is horizontal axis (side-to-side), the LG Flex is curved on its vertical axis (up and down). It’s too early to say which approach makes more sense for smartphones, but we do know this: These things are going to be an absolute nightmare in your pocket.Do you want your phone curved horizontally or vertically? LG and Samsung are trying out both approaches.
Another thing to point out: While the LG phone is known as the “Flex,” the new device isn’t actually flexible. So don’t get your hopes up on that front just yet.
LG plans to officially announce the LG Flex at an event next month, so we should know pretty soon whether the curved approach to smartphone is really the future of the form factor.
Right now, though, things aren’t looking good.-
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Netflix has added the data for September to its ISP Speed Index, which looks at the ISPs providing their customers with the best Netflix streaming experiences.
As usual, Google Fiber leads the pack. In fact, there aren’t many changes for the month, except Bright House moved up a notch, and Mediacom moved down.
If you look at these lists regularly, you’ll notice it looks a little different this time. They’ve added the gradient bars to better illustrate the difference in performance from provider to provider.
The index is based on data from over 37 million Netflix subscribers and over a billion hours of streaming activity per month.
Last month, Netflix made its high quality HD streams available to all subscribers, regardless of ISP. The company says it doesn’t expect this to have much of an impact on the rankings.
Also last month, Netflix put out its first regional ISP speed index snapshot looking at the greater Boston area.
In related news, Netflix is reportedly in talks with a handful of U.S. cable providers to potentially get the Netflix app on some set-top boxes, as with recent deals with Virgin Media and Com Hem.-
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Everybody hates wires, but if you want crazy speed, they're the way to go. But maybe not anymore. A team of German scientists have developed record-setting Wi-Fi that cooks right along at 100 Gigabits per second. You know, like Google Fiber but times 100.
The tech was developed by a joint team from the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics (IAF) and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), and this isn't their first record. They already set one for the world's fastest Wi-Fi with a 40Gbps connection a few months ago. These guys are legit.
Like the previous 40Gbps tech, this new 100Gbps version uses some super high-frequency signals (237.5 GHz) that let you really pack in the data. At 100Gbps, for instance, you can transmit a whole Blu-ray of data in two seconds flat. The catch is that high-frequency signals like this aren't very good at going through walls like the low frequency ones your average router spits out. So you wind up with something less like a dome of coverage and something more like an invisible cable where the ends need to be able to see each other.
Previously, IAF and KIT's tech was tested to blast data between the peaks of skyscrapers, and this new version could serve as a bad-ass, cheap, and modular framework for patching holes in fiber lines and bringing high-speed internet to places where it's too cost prohibitive or obnoxious to lay down a ton more fiber infrastructure. Which is to say, a lot of places.
But the best part is, this record probably won't stand for long. According to Swen König, one of the researchers on the project:By employing optical and electrical multiplexing techniques, i.e., by simultaneously transmitting multiple data streams, and by using multiple transmitting and receiving antennas, the data rate could be multiplied. Hence, radio systems having a data rate of 1 terabit per second appear to be feasible.Now just put that in my living room and we'll really be in business.
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Scientists recently discovered a new type of botulinum toxin (a.k.a. botox) that they believe is the deadliest substance known to man. Because they've yet to discover an antitoxin, researchers won't publish the details of gene sequence due to security concerns—a first for the scientific community. Thank God.
When scientists say this stuff is deadly, they mean it. It takes an injection of just 2 billionths of a gram or inhaling 13 billionths of a gram to kill an adult. A spoonful of the stuff in a city's water supply could be catastrophic. The toxin, which comes from the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, blocks the chemical that makes nerves work, causing botulism and death by paralysis. In a comment accompanying a newly published journal article on the new botox, Stanford Medical School professor David Relman said the substance posed "an immediate and unusually serious risk to society."
You'd be right to wonder: If this stuff is so dangerous, why do we have it in the first place? Well, it's not manmade if that's what you're thinking. Before this new discovery, there were seven known branches on the botulinum family tree, but researchers recently found an eighth type of toxin in stool samples of an infant with botulism. It just so turns out that eighth type, known as type H, is the deadliest substance in the world. Scientists are withholding the genetic sequence so that terrorists, for instance, can't synthesize it and do something terrible. Terrorists do like botox, too. It was one of these toxins that the Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo tried to release in downtown Tokyo in the 1990s.
Despite the somewhat sensational nature of this latest discovery, everything is okay for now. This is, however, a rude reminder of how scientific discoveries can always be twisted into weapons of warfare. Unless we keep them secret, that is. -
Video cameras have traditionally been used to document the world in a pretty straightforward manner. But they've become so small, and so versatile, that you can do some incredible things with them. Like the crazy world
The production is a result of a workshop at ECAL, an art and design school in Switzerland. The students there were charged with the task creating videos that the world has never seen. A daunting task no doubt, but whether it was fulfilled or not, the short vignettes show how inventive one can be with technology and a bit of creative thinking.
It's particularly refreshing to see the GoPro capturing interesting footage that is not of some extreme sport. And there's nothing quite like odd experience of rolling down a street suspended in a translucent sphere filled with water. -
ROFLMAO!
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Every time you mix things up, you receive less that you get when you use specific programs for specific tasks.
Firewall is one thing, and PrivateFirewall block and alert on incoming and outgoing connections.But for an antimalware, you have to get file and registry protection, and this something that only a real IDS program (Intrusion Detection System) may offer to you. So, you have to choose, IMO, PrivateFIrewall AND Spybot - Search & Destroy, that's free as well:
http://www.safer-networking.org/dl/
This is not a real time IDS system, but it will protect and sign fairly well your files, so you may have a piece of mind about malware and virus that wish to modify them. If you really wish to play with IPS/IDS, anti-malware and stuff... why not to give a shot to Snort?
www.snort.org
You will have to study a bit... but you already have a bunch (huge bunch) of predefined rules and configurations... this is the PRO choice, when you don't want to pay for it... you'll pay only with your knowledge...
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Granted, but was the weight of your keys, so you don't feel them anymore in your pocket and you loose them, don't having the possibility to get back into your car, or enter in your house, or opening your bank secure box, where all your money and valuables where stored.
I wish I could have my eyes as piercing and strong as those of an healthy and young eagle, not those of a puppy eagle, but a young adult eagle. So, I keep my eyes, but they become stronger and more piercing, ok? No kidding...
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I feel ya, bro! Cheers
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Finally! They have understood that security is for professionals! And there no less secure minded ppls than MS crew... poor guys!
Thanks for sharing this, very funny and informative... perhaps in need to be 'mirrored' in the Fun and Laughs Section too!
Cheers -
Very informative and useful post, Thanks for sharing this @freak
Don’t just head to eBay and buy the cheapest third-party batteries available — buy official batteries from a reputable company. Aftermarket batteries are often built on the cheap, with cut corners and insufficient testing. They can be dangerous — a cheap, counterfeit, and improperly designed battery could literally go up in flames.Most true, there are really a lot of nightmare stories about exploding batteries... it's tough out there, lol!
Sparing money on a battery mean to start to sleep very worried... you'll never know when it will... EXPLODE...
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I was really missing those... and I think that Ronald is becoming more and more mad after all the ill publicity he got! I'm happy about it!
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Macrophobia fear of prolonged waiting
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Legendary iOS hacker MuscleNerd tweeted today that there’s no bootrom exploit out there for A5+ processors, this could mean that iOS 7 jailbreak might end up taking quite some time.
iOS 7 jailbreak MuscleNerd rules out possibility of a bootrom exploit, iOS 7 jailbreak might take time
An exploit is required to jailbreak an iOS device. There are two kinds of exploits, a bootrom exploit and a software level exploit. The latter can easily be patched by Apple through a firmware update, so even if such an exploit is found, the jailbreak is usually limited to one firmware. Bootrom exploits are hardware based and can’t be patched in devices that have already been shipped to customers. This exploit allows at least a tethered jailbreak on any particular firmware. Unfortunately, no bootrom exploit has been found in any iOS device processor after the A4, which powers iPhone 4, iPod touch 4G etc.
There were rumors going around recently that there was a bootrom exploit for A5 and high processors out there, but MuscleNerd has flat out rejected these rumors, saying there’s no even a bootrom dump. There has been talk of an iOS 7 jailbreak, notable developer Ryan Petrich posted an image recently what supposedly was an iPod touch 5G jailbroken on iOS 7. If such a breakthrough has been made, its likely that a software based exploit has been found in iOS 7.
The fact that there’s no bootrom exploit means that iOS 7 jailbreak will take time. Dealing with software level exploits is cumbersome, and a lot of work has to be done before the jailbreak is ready for the public. -
Apple has been fighting a war of attrition against the jailbreaking community since the original iPhone was jailbroken in 2007. The jailbreakers expend resources and time to find a new exploit, but then Apple pushes out a small update to block it. This was a cycle for years, but the flow of reliable jailbreaks has been slowing. There was a jailbreak for iOS 6 the day it launched, but iOS 7 is much more locked down. We’ve been hearing for weeks that a jailbreak is on the way, with iOS developers hard at work, but have yet to see any significant movement. How much longer will it be until there is a reliable iPhone 5S jailbreak?
By gaining root access to iOS, modders are able to give the user privileges to bypass Apple’s security measures and install unapproved software or tweak deep system settings. This usually requires finding a bug or vulnerability in iOS or the boot ROM. Hardware-related vulnerabilities in the Apple A-series chips are also possible, but less common, especially after the iPhone 5 and its A6 chip. Today, without an exploit, an iOS 7 jailbreak simply can’t happen.
Not all hacks are created equal, though. Many of the bugs that make jailbreaks possible only lead to tethered jailbreaks. That basically means you need to plug the iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch into a computer running the jailbreak software every time it boots. If you’re not around a computer with the necessary software, the phone is a brick.
Most users aren’t willing to deal with this, preferring to wait on the untethered jailbreak. The untethered version is a persistent jailbreak that works without the aid of a computer to make the phone or tablet boot up. These unfortunately are much harder to develop — the days of going to an website and getting your iDevice jailbroken with a tap seem to be long gone.
There used to be plenty of iOS jailbreak suites, many of them with caches of new exploits ready to go when Apple patched one. However, it seems like most of the low-hanging fruit is gone now. Tethered jailbreaks have become far more common, and Apple has been continuing to harden the system against even minor exploits. There isn’t yet a jailbreak for iOS 6.1.4, the version prior to iOS 7. Noted iOS hacker Winocm says he has a jailbreak for this version of the platform in the works and will release it before the end of the year.
So when can we expect a jailbreak for iOS 7? Members of evad3rs, the team behind evasi0n (a popular jailbreak tool) previously said an exploit is in the works. More recently, evad3rs modder Planetbeing claimed to have all the pieces in place for an iOS 7 jailbreak. In fact, evad3rs members have successfully run unsigned code on iOS 7. This probably means the necessary exploits have been identified, but the team is still working out the specifics and building a tool for the general public to use.
Apple will, of course, patch the holes in one of the upcoming bug fix releases of iOS 7, so Evad3rs may end up waiting for iOS 7.1 to blow the jailbreak exploits. That would give users more time to enjoy the freedom before Apple locks them out again.
Every piece of software has vulnerabilities, but they have to be found and exploited first. The jailbreakers aren’t the only ones looking, either. Apple hunts for the same things on its end because these exploits are security concerns. You can’t blame Apple for patching jailbreak exploits — it’s making iOS more secure for the vast majority of users who don’t jailbreak. When and if a jailbreak is developed for iOS 7, it might not be a good solution. Maybe Apple is close to winning this war. -
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has issued a decision that anti-censorship campaigners say could spell an end to anonymous website comments in the EU.
The judgment came through on Thursday in the case of Delfi AS v. Estonia. Delfi is an Estonian news site that had been found liable by a court in that country for offensive comments posted by anonymous users under one of its stories – it went to the ECHR claiming this violated its right to freedom of expression, but the human rights court disagreed.
This all traces back to the start of 2006, when Delfi carried a story about a ferry company that had changed its routes in a way that delayed the opening of new ice roads to various islands. Enraged readers wrote nasty things about the ferry firm, which successfully sued Delfi, winning around €320 ($434) in damages.
Having established that the comments were defamatory and Delfi should have expected that, given the nature of the article, the ECHR’s ruling (which can still be appealed) noted that the comments had not been taken down by Delfi’s automated system for catching naughty words, nor by its notice-and-take-down system.
Now here comes the crucial bit for online publishers. Although Delfi’s site was clear that commenters were themselves liable for what they wrote, which would theoretically have allowed the ferry company to sue them rather than Delfi, the commenters were anonymous.
And so, according to the ECHR’s subsequent statement:
“Making Delfi legally responsible for the comments was therefore practical; but it was also reasonable, because the news portal received commercial benefit from comments being made.”Index on Censorship’s Padraig Reidy responded by saying :
“It is difficult to see how any site would allow anonymous comments if this ruling stands as precedent.”What it could stand as a precedent for is not entirely clear. The Delfi case was quite specific: it was largely about the legality of Estonia’s interpretation of EU free-expression law (which the court upheld); the comments were apparently merely offensive rather than whistleblowing or anything like that; the fine in question was small and found to be reasonable; and Delfi’s systems for picking up abusive comments seem to have failed in this instance. Also, the EU is not America – it has fairly good guarantees for free expression, but not as cast-iron as those stateside.
But nonetheless, particularly in the context of a wider questioning of anonymous comments, it’s not hard to see why Index on Censorship finds the ruling troubling. There can be great value in anonymous comments, and a ruling such as this may have a chilling effect if it leads publishers and site operators to decide the potential liability is too great.
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They say creativity lies in hiding your sources. At Apple innovation has always been given the top spot. Yet much has become public knowledge before the launch of a product or service. Leakage regarding iPhones and iPads has plagued Apple. The iPad mini created quite a storm when it arrived last year. Possessing the perfect streamlined form that enabled easy handling, the object of desire came at a reasonable rate.
However, even before it came out, expectations went sky high regarding a high resolution Retina display that would accompany the new version of the iPad mini. Then there was the date when this feature would accompany the model. Some have set October 22nd of this year as the slated date. Others say something else.
The changes inside the iPad mini include the incorporation of an A7X microchip. And then the five megapixel camera along with fingerprint authentication system makes it a dream device alright. Mean while, according to the grapevine, the next iPad will be sleeker, slimmer and even lighter in weight.
It will be a cinch to use on a regular basis. The hues in which it will come are space gray and silver both of them sophisticated and pretty mature adult choices. A high energy A7X SoC will feature at its core. Several other products are under construction at Apple. They are to be revealed at the function due on the 22nd of October of this year. The wait is about to be over.
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Taser International, a manufacturer of electronic stun guns, is not the company most people would expect to be bumping elbows with the likes of Twitter, Facebook and Dropbox as it looks for acquisitions.
Taser is the best-known maker of a class of weapons known as electric control devices, which are intended to give law enforcement officials a nonlethal method of immobilizing suspects with electrical shocks.
But a medical study last year said the devices could pose significant health risks, including cardiac arrest, and Amnesty International, the human rights group, released a report blaming Tasers for the deaths of at least 500 people held in custody in the United States since 2001. And Taser is currently named as a defendant in 23 lawsuits in which plaintiffs say wrongful death or personal injury stemmed from its devices, according to the company’s most recent quarterly filing with securities regulators. Taser has said its products are less risky for civilians than firearms.
A Taser International device, with a built-in video camera to record activity, meant to subdue targets with jolts of electricity.Taser International, via Mkt A Taser International device, with a built-in video camera to record activity, meant to subdue targets with jolts of electricity.
It was the lawsuits that, through a chain of events, brought Taser into closer contact with Silicon Valley companies. About seven years ago, Taser developed a miniature camera that attached to its devices so law enforcement officers could record the situations in which the devices were needed. Eventually, Taser began offering wearable cameras that officers could clip to their glasses, chests and helmets.
“We said, how can we help law enforcement and ourselves and anyone using our devices tell the truth about the situation,”said Jason Droege, general manager of Evidence.com, a cloud service run by Taser.
But police officers shooting video through wearable cameras and smartphones have created big new technology challenges for police departments, which must manage the vast numbers of photos and videos that the devices capture. The files have to be stored securely, with audit trails that show who had access to them and other controls that prevent tampering. Taser created Evidence.com to help law enforcement agencies do all this.
In an effort to bolster its new direction, Taser plans to announce on Thursday that it has acquired a start-up based in Seattle called Familiar that is in a business that seems to have almost no connection with Taser’s own. Familiar runs a service that turns ordinary smartphones and tablets into digital picture frames, letting friends and family members automatically broadcast photos and videos to each others’ devices.
Facebook, Dropbox and Twitter also had conversations with Familiar about an acquisition, according to a person briefed on the discussions who declined to be named because the conversations were confidential.
Slater Tow, a spokesman for Facebook, declined to comment, as did Jim Prosser, a spokesman for Twitter. Dropbox did not respond to a request for comment.
As part of the deal, which this person said was for less than $10 million, five people from Familiar will join Taser. Mr. Droege said Taser was attracted to the expertise that Familiar had in creating a consumer-friendly service for securely moving video and images among devices.“For us, that’s super important,”he said.
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With BlackBerry on life support, it’s time to accept the likelihood that there won’t be a BlackBerry a year from now. Your business will be in for a rude awakening if it relies on the once-mighty smartphone for mobile communication and productivity.
You don’t need to abandon BlackBerry immediately and run for the lifeboats, but you do need to know what your options are. Here are five things you should start thinking about now in order to prepare for a transition away from BlackBerry.
1. If not BlackBerry, what?
If you’ve built your entire mobile ecosystem around BlackBerry, the first issue you need to address is which mobile platform (or platforms) you should switch to if BlackBerry ceases to be an option.
Figuring out what you especially like about the BlackBerry platform is the first step to choosing a suitable successor.
“Ownership matters,” says John Dasher, vice president of product marketing for Good Technology “Assuming your BlackBerry devices are company-owned, is your go-forward plan the same? Or is BYOD in your future? Or maybe a mixture of the two options? The answer here potentially affects your security model and deployment plan.”
Take a step back and consider why your business uses BlackBerry devices. Which BlackBerry features or benefits are most important to your business or your users? With those considerations in mind, you can compare Android, iOS, and Windows Phone to determine which platform(s) can best meet your needs.
2. Mobile device management
BlackBerry essentially invented the concept of mobile device management (MDM). BlackBerry Enterprise Server gives companies direct control over their mobile ecosystem, as well as the tools needed to provision, protect, and manage BlackBerry devices.
BlackBerry is unique among the major mobile device manufacturers in offering its own proprietary ecosystem. Android, iOS, and Windows Phone devices, in contrast, rely on the wireless service providers—and companies that use them have to invest in and implement some sort of third-party MDM system to manage it all.
If you switch to iOS or Android, BlackBerry can still help you with device management.
If you want to switch from BlackBerry to Windows Phone, you’re on your own. But if you choose to migrate to iOS, Android, or both, BlackBerry can help. It offers its customers BlackBerry Mobile Fusion, which extends the familiar BES environment so that it can manage Android and iOS devices along with BlackBerry hardware.
It’s not a permanent solution, but BlackBerry Mobile Fusion gives you a short-term means of transitioning from BlackBerry by attrition. Eventually, however, you may still need to migrate to a third-party MDM.
3. Secure messaging
One hallmark of BlackBerry is BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), its messaging back end. BlackBerry built its reputation on reliable, secure mobile communications. If you’re transitioning from BlackBerry to another mobile platform, the role that BBM used to play for your business will be hard to fill.
“BlackBerry is still the only cell phone provider that bypasses the carriers for messaging,” says Rob Enderle, principal analyst with Enderle Group. “Depending on Internet speed, you may be able to use an instant messaging technology, but it will need to be a secure form, the clients will need to be able to run the related software, and you’ll likely need a low-latency guarantee of service from your carrier to get this to work.”
BlackBerry had plans (now on hold) to offer BlackBerry Messenger for both Android and iOS devices.
At first blush, Apple’s iMessage may look like a similar platform-specific messaging tool. But iMessage is essentially just SMS text messaging with a little extra Apple polish. BBM has much greater depth of features and is more secure, requiring users to do more than just provide someone’s phone number in order to connect and chat.
BlackBerry intended to ease this transition by offering a BBM app for both iOS and Android. The app would have enabled an organization to begin switching to one or both of those platforms, while maintaining the security, reliability, and familiarity of BBM. The apps are currently on hold, however, following a botched launch that caused BlackBerry to pull the whole thing for the time being.
4. Data protection
BlackBerry is synonymous with mobile security. BlackBerry customers are accustomed to end-to-end encryption out of the box and built-in data protection technologies to secure company data against unauthorized access.
Android, iOS, and Windows Phone are—first and foremost—consumer devices. They can function as well as or better than BlackBerry mobile devices in many business and productivity roles, but they treat things like encryption and data protection more as options than as default features.
As you assess your mobile platform options for replacing BlackBerry, consider how each handles the critical job of protecting data—both on the device itself and during its transfer across the airwaves. Make sure that the inherent security features and capabilities of the mobile platform you choose meet your needs, and confirm that your IT admin will be able to manage and enforce security policies on the mobile devices involved.
5. Alternative apps
Good Technology’s Dasher stresses that apps are crucial, and should play a significant role in your choice of a mobile platform to replace BlackBerry. “Your BlackBerry is likely used for email, calendar and contacts. In the destination plan, think about the additional apps that are needed to ensure employee productivity.”
Finding suitable replacements for your BlackBerry apps is an essential part of making a successful transition to a new platform.
List all of the BlackBerry apps you depend on: email, contacts, calendar, CRM (customer relationship management), VPN, and any others. Then determine whether those same apps are available on other mobile platforms.
If they’re not, you’ll have to do additional research to find appropriate alternatives. If you plan to migrate by attrition, make sure that the alternative app can work alongside the BlackBerry app; and check to see whether you can integrate or transfer data from the old app to the new one to smooth the transition.
Keep calm and carry on
Harry Brelsford, founder of SMB Nation and a loyal supporter of BlackBerry, believes that businesses could use up to 24 months to plan and execute the next phase of their mobility strategy. He notes some potentially serious disruptions on the horizon, including how the Nokia/Microsoft deal will play out, and (of course) what company will acquire BlackBerry. The future is murky.
“It’s one of those strange times in technology,” Brelsford says, “where we don’t know what we don’t know.” -
The journey was long and full of baby steps, but we’ve finally reached the destination: Google updated its terms of service on Friday to allow the company to slap your real name and face alongside ads, under an expansion of its “shared endorsements” program.
Getting here took a while, and it took a slow expansion of the Google+ social service.
First, Google+ users had to sign up for the service with their real names, rather than pseudonyms. Next, all new Google Accounts—even if you only wanted Gmail—required you to sign up for Google+. Then, back in May, Google began coaxing veteran YouTubers into adopting Google+ accounts, and a few weeks ago, the company announced that all YouTube comments will be powered exclusively by Google+.
Google+ integration throughout Google’s services seemed pretty handy at first. When searching the Play Store, the power of “shared endorsements” showed you when your friends like a given app (not unlike what iOS and OS X users see when looking for game recommendations in Apple’s Game Center app). When searching the web, Google+ identified when your buddies +1’d a given site. Now, Google’s bringing your real name, face, reviews, and comments to Search ads across the web.
But while Facebook forces all users to participate in “sponsored stories,” Google gives you the opportunity to opt out of its ad program. Minors will be automatically excluded, but you’ll have to manually tell Google to leave your name out of its ads if you’re over 18. Fortunately, it’s easy to do so.
How to tell Google to stop using your face and name in ads
To stop Google from using details from your Google+ profile in its advertising campaign, you’ll need to head to the Shared Endorsements page on Google+.
The Shared Endorsements page spells out the details of the program. If you scroll down below all the words and pictures, you’ll see a single settings option on the page: “Based upon my activity, Google may show my name and profile photo in shared endorsements that appear in ads.” Simply uncheck the box and click Save and you won’t have to worry about your face and name appearing in Google’s ads.
Here’s the settings option you need to change.
Opting out of the ad campaign doesn’t opt you out of all Shared Endorsements, however; your persona will still appear alongside websites you +1 and apps you like while your friends are scouring the web or Google Play.
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Apple is in the final approval process for its new "Spaceship" campus in Cupertino, California.
The company hopes to finish construction of the Spaceship three years from now, in the middle of 2016.
Next week, the city of Cupertino, California will vote whether or not to give Apple final approval for its new "spaceship" headquarters, which will be located about a mile away from the company's current campus.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=618en9VJ7N8
The San Jose Mercury News got an exclusive look at a giant model of Apple's new headquarters, complete with some impressive lighting and a bunch of tiny people for scale. When built, the campus is going to be massive, yet surrounded by plenty of green space. There will also be external buildings for top-secret research and development projects, an underground parking garage, and a theater for keynotes and company presentations.
But it hasn't broken ground yet.
First Evidence Found of a Comet Strike on Earth
in World News
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About 28 million years ago a comet exploded over Egypt, creating a 3600°F (2000°C) blast wave that spread out over the desert below. The fiery shockwave melted the sand, forming copious amounts of yellow silica glass scattered over 2,300 square miles (6,000 square kilometers) of the Sahara.
Polished into the shape of a scarab beetle, a large piece of this glass found its way into a brooch owned by the famed Egyptian boy king Tutankhamen.
said study co-author David Block, an astronomer at Wits University in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Saharan Surprise
A tiny slice of the black pebble was put through isotopic analysis, which definitely ruled out that it came from a meteor. Instead, the analysis showed that the pebble possessed the unique chemical signature of a comet, measured in terms of elements such as argon and carbon.
Block says.
While meteors are known to enter the Earth's atmosphere frequently—one can be seen as a shooting star every 15 minutes or so on any random night—not so with comets.
The implosions of comets in planetary atmospheres are exceedingly rare events—the only other definitive case of a comet hitting a planet was back in 1994 when comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 impacted Jupiter's atmosphere.
Astronomical Odds Inspire Caution
And it's because of this rarity that Earth scientist Andrew Glikson of the Australian National University in Canberra, who was not involved in this study, questions if these yellow glass objects, called tektites, might instead have been created through much more common meteoric events, as seen at many impact sites around the world.
asks Glikson.
While this extraterrestrial glass is considered common around many impact sites, geologist Gerald Johnson, who was not involved in the study, says that beyond the compelling evidence the team presents in their chemical workup of the black pebble, it's not surprising that the research community may be wary of these results.
said Johnson, a meteor impact researcher at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.
Solar System Origins
Microscopic dust particles from these icy interlopers have been collected from the upper atmosphere and from Antarctic ice, and have been scooped up by space probes.
But having a chance to study sizable comet material firsthand would be exceptional, and Block and his team believe it can offer a unique chance to study the birth of our solar system.
Cosmic particles called presolar grains formed in the stellar cloud of gas and dust that gave birth to our solar system, and are thought to have remained within comets and meteors.
said Block.
The comet study will be published in an upcoming issue of Earth and Planetary Science Letters.