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Data Storage

Bangladesh Considers Building World's 5th-largest Data Center In Earthquake Zone 65

Posted by samzenpus from the whole-lot-of-shaking-going-on dept.
An anonymous reader writes with news about a government plan to build a Tier IV data center in an earthquake prone district of Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Ministry of Information is considering the establishment of a Tier 4 data centre in Kaliakair, in the Gazipur region, an ambitious build which would constitute the fifth largest data centre in the world, if completed. And if it survives – the site planned for the project is prone to earthquakes. Earthquake activity in the environs is discouraging, with one nearby earthquake seven months ago in Ranir Bazar (3.8), and no less than ten within the same tectonic zone over the last three years, the largest of which measured 4.5 on the Richter scale.
Businesses

Microsoft's Windows 8 App Store Is Full of Scamware 188

Posted by samzenpus from the needs-a-cleaning dept.
Deathspawner writes Windows 8 brought a lot to the table, with one of its most major features being its app store. However, it's not a feature that Microsoft seems too intent on keeping clean. As it is today, the store is completely littered with misleading apps and outright scamware. The unfortunate thing is that to find any of it, all you have to do is simply open the store and peruse the main sections. Not so surprisingly, no Microsoft software seems to be affected by this, but many open-source apps can be found at the store from unofficial sources that have a cost, or will lead the user to download a third-party installer. It's only a matter of time before malware sneaks its way in, if it's not there already.
Medicine

Newly Discovered Virus Widespread in Human Gut 100

Posted by timothy from the right-under-their-noses-and-stomachs dept.
A newly discovered virus has been found by a San Diego State University team to live inside more than half of all human gut cells sampled. Exploring genetic material found in intestinal samples, the international team uncovered the CrAssphage virus. They say the virus could influence the behaviour of some of the most common bacteria in our gut. Researchers say the virus has the genetic fingerprint of a bacteriophage - a type of virus known to infect bacteria. Phages may work to control the behaviour of bacteria they infect - some make it easier for bacteria to inhabit in their environments while others allow bacteria to become more potent. [Study lead Dr. Robert] Edwards said: "In some way phages are like wolves in the wild, surrounded by hares and deer. "They are critical components of our gut ecosystems, helping control the growth of bacterial populations and allowing a diversity of species." According to the team, CrAssphage infects one of the most common types of bacteria in our guts. National Geographic gives some idea why a virus so common in our gut should have evaded discovery for so long, but at least CrAssphage finally has a Wikipedia page of its own.
China

Apple Refutes Report On iPhone Threat To China's National Security 134

Posted by samzenpus from the it-was-other-kids dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Apple has never worked with any government agency from any country to create a backdoor in any of our products or services. We have also never allowed access to our servers," the company said Sunday in a bilingual statement on its China website. Users have to make the choice to enable the iPhones to calculate their locations, while "Apple does not track users' locations — Apple has never done so and has no plans to ever do so," the company said. The statement was in response to allegations by China's top state broadcaster that iOS7 software and its "Frequent Location" service posed a security risk. The data can be accessed easily, although labelled as "encrypted," and may lead to the disclosure of "state secrets," CCTV said.

Comment Re:"Emergency" laws. (Score 1) 147

by tvsjr (#47427491) Attached to: UK Gov't Plans To Push "Emergency" Surveillance Laws

Not that it in any way makes these laws right and proper, but they are probably concerned about things like this:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/british-isis-fighter-al-britani-threatens-3819631

When one of the militant nutjobs is bragging about holding executions in Trafalgar Square... well, it's probably reason for some level of concern.
Medicine

Wireless Contraception 302

Posted by Soulskill from the just-connect-to-you-local-contraeptive-hotspot dept.
Kittenman writes: The BBC is carrying information on a type of contraception (funded in part by Bill Gates) that takes the form of a microchip, inserted under the skin. The chip releases contraceptive hormones to the body until wirelessly advised not to do so. This device has several interesting applications and issues associated with it. The researchers are already working on making the device secure against unauthorized transmissions. There's also the issue of making it easier for governments to control population levels. The chip will be available from 2018. This correspondent will watch the issues with interest.

Comment Re:Classic Obama (Score 2) 211

I don't know what the hell to think about Obama anymore. The guy we elected was smart, charismatic, capable, articulate; he ran a brilliant campaign that took out the heavily favored Hilary Clinton. He came across as a man with the intelligence, principles, and pragmatism to fix the nations problems... or at least not fuck it up as catastrophically as George W. Bush did. So where the hell did that guy go?

Same guy... what you saw was an act, and millions of people fell for it hook, line, and sinker. Now, since he's in his second term and Congress is unlikely to grow the cojones to impeach him, he simply doesn't care.
Canada

Krebs on Microsoft Suspending "Patch Tuesday" Emails and Blaming Canada 130

Posted by samzenpus from the who's-to-blame dept.
tsu doh nimh writes In a move that may wind up helping spammers, Microsoft is blaming a new Canadian anti-spam law for the company's recent decision to stop sending regular emails about security updates for its Windows operating system and other Microsoft software. Some anti-spam experts who worked very closely on Canada's Anti-Spam Law (CASL) say they are baffled by Microsoft's response to a law which has been almost a decade in the making. Indeed, an exception in the law says it does not apply to commercial electronic messages that solely provide "warranty information, product recall information or safety or security information about a product, goods or a service that the person to whom the message is sent uses, has used or has purchased." Several people have observed that Microsoft likely is using the law as a convenient excuse for dumping an expensive delivery channel.

Comment Re:packet radio? (Score 1) 371

by tvsjr (#44116539) Attached to: FCC Considering Proposal For Encrypted Ham Radio
So, who charges $20K for programming software? CPS for the latest and greatest APX7000 portable is $265 for a 3-year subscription and runs on your favorite WinXP, Win7, or Win8 machine. The USB interface cable is sub-$100. And, by the way, several Motorola radios are capable of front-panel programming, to include the entire APX line (mobile and portable), the XTS2500/5000, etc.
Crime

Nigerian Scam Artists Taken For $33,000 229

Posted by timothy from the respectfully-for-your-most-elegant-attention-and-regards dept.
smitty777 writes "An Australian woman who was being used by a group of Nigerian scam artists stole over $33,000 from the group who employed her. Her bank account was being used to funnel the cash from a dodgy internet car sales website. Irony aside, it makes one wonder how these folks ever got the nerve to go to the police with this matter. Those of you wondering, this article offers some answers to the question of why so many of these scams originate from this area."

Comment Re:Thats given me an idea... (Score 3, Insightful) 416

by tvsjr (#38764952) Attached to: What To Do With a 1,000 Foot Wrecked Cruise Ship?

Quite correct. Bunker C (type 6 fuel oil) is a thick black sludge similar in consistency to molasses and must be preheated above 200 degrees F before it becomes combustible.

If you're going to have to pull it out and preheat it prior to burning, may as well load it on another ship and do something useful with it.

Comment Re:some detail, best post! (Score 1) 84

by tvsjr (#38515402) Attached to: More Details On Drug Cartel's Clandestine Communications Network

For clarity, I'm not seeing a mesh network here. A mesh network is defined as a "swarm" or "cloud" of clients, where each client talks to multiple other clients to transfer data from the client to some endpoint. Typically, these networks are "self healing", where they gain and lose connections to other clients as those clients move in and out of range.

With the gear I'm seeing here, this is a typical linked repeater system. A subscriber (mobile or portable radio) talks to a repeater. His voice is (typically) repeated locally, but also retransmitted down the linked system to be broadcast elsewhere. There are quite a few amateur radio examples out there - check out Armadillo Intertie and Cactus Intertie. Disclaimer: I'm a member of Armadillo, which is affiliated with Cactus. We use 440MHz UHF repeaters, with backhaul links on 420MHz, 900MHz, microwave, and via the Internet. There are many other linked systems out there - MOTOTRBO systems that link using IP Site Connect, other conventional/analog systems, etc.

If mesh is your thing, google HSMM-MESH. This is a self-healing, fault-tolerant, amateur radio mesh networking system using off the shelf WRT54s (did you know 2.4GHz was actually an amateur radio band?) and some custom firmware to provide link-state routing, etc. Pretty cool stuff.

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