Archive for March, 2017
A Simple Command Allows the CIA to Commandeer 318 Models of Cisco Switches
March 21st, 2017Via: Ars Technica: Cisco Systems said that more than 300 models of switches it sells contain a critical vulnerability that allows the CIA to use a simple command to remotely execute malicious code that takes full control of the devices. There currently is no fix. Cisco researchers said they discovered the vulnerability as they analyzed […]
China is Fighting Toilet Paper Thieves with Facial Recognition Software
March 21st, 2017Via: The Verge: Biometric authentication is moving from phones to laptops and onward to… public bathrooms. Chinese authorities in Beijing are now combating a toilet paper stealing epidemic by locking the supplies away behind a dispenser powered by facial recognition software, according to a report from The New York Times. The unorthodox method ensures that […]
Has Lithium-Battery Genius John Goodenough Done it Again? Colleagues Are Skeptical
March 21st, 2017Via: Quartz: Researchers have struggled for decades to safely use powerful—but flammable—lithium metal in a battery. Now John Goodenough, the 94-year-old father of the lithium-ion battery, is claiming a novel solution as a blockbuster advance. If it proves out, the invention could allow electric cars to compete with conventional vehicles on sticker price. The improbable […]
David Rockefeller Dies at 101
March 20th, 2017Via: Bloomberg: David Rockefeller, the U.S. banker, philanthropist, presidential adviser and heir to one of history’s most fabled fortunes, has died. At 101, he was the world’s oldest billionaire. He died Monday at his home in Pocantico Hills, New York, according to an emailed statement from Fraser P. Seitel, a family spokesman. The cause was […]
People Dropping Out of Reality to Spend Their Time in Video Games
March 20th, 2017I’ve seen this over on Twitch.tv. I watch a guy who streams a game I play. He’s 25. The only job he ever had was applying window tint to cars at his aunt’s business. Now, he and his brother live in a flop house in Long Beach and stream video games on Twitch at all […]
Britain: Full Time Police Drones
March 20th, 2017Via: Daily Mail: The first 24-hour police drone unit is to be launched, amid fears that forces may have to rely on them because of falling officer numbers. The ‘flying squad’ will pursue suspects, find missing people and help solve murders. Assistant Chief Constable Steve Barry, national spokesman on drones, predicted forces across Britain would […]
Windows 10 Is Bringing Shitty Ads to File Explorer, Here’s How to Turn Them Off
March 18th, 2017— BEGIN POINTLESS RANT ABOUT HOPELESS SITUATION — It’s just incredible how grim Windows is getting. Linux is still terrible on the desktop, and Apple has abandoned macOS to embrace their primary role as a mobile phone company. Even people who stuck with Apple through the near collapse in the 1990s (that’s when I ditched […]
Five Pound Mini-Nukes
March 18th, 2017Via: CNBC: As for the mini-nukes, Del Monte expects they represent “the most horrific near-term nanoweapons.” Nanotechnology opens up the possibility to manufacture mini-nuke components so small that they are difficult to screen and detect. Furthermore, the weapon (capable of an explosion equivalent to about 100 tons of TNT) could be compact enough to fit […]
BMW Says Self-Driving Car to Be Level 5 Capable by 2021
March 17th, 2017Via: Reuters: German carmaker BMW (BMWG.DE) is on track to deliver a self-driving car by 2021, the company’s senior vice president for Autonomous Driving, Elmar Frickenstein, said on Thursday. “We are on the way to deliver a car in 2021 with level 3, 4 and 5,” Frickenstein told a panel discussion in Berlin, explaining the […]
Rex Tillerson: Military Action Against North Korea Is ‘On the Table’
March 17th, 2017Via: NBC: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warned Friday that military action against North Korea was “on the table” if the country continued to develop its weapons program. “If they elevate the threat of their weapons program to a level that we believe requires action then that option is on the table,” he told a […]
