Monthly Archives: May 2015

Selfie sticks banned at US attractions

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“Dozens of attractions in the US have banned the use of the camera extension devices known as ‘selfie sticks’, due to safety concerns. The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Getty Center in Los Angeles, and the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington DC, are among those to have imposed a ban on the gadgets, claiming concerns over the safety of their artwork as well as visitors. Last year, South Korea banned the sale of unlicensed selfie-sticks, claiming the signals emitted by the blue tooth equipped devices could pose a disruption to other equipment using the same radio frequency.  Offenders face a $27,000 fine or up to three years in prison.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/11402619/Selfie-sticks-banned-in-US-attractions.html

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France Moves To Ban Free Drink Refills

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“In a bid to curb the country’s rising obesity rate, the French parliament nearly-unanimously voted on April 1 to ban all free refills on sugary drinks.  The only drink allowed to be served in limitless quantities without charge will be water. ‘It is the role of the law to establish a framework to protect the population against a trade-upmanship that tends to make the ‘free’ surplus of food supply… an argument to attract consumers and encourage them to excessive consumption which can be harmful to health,’ the government’s official nutrition organization said in a statement.”

http://dailycaller.com/2015/04/03/france-moves-to-ban-free-refills/

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Paralyzed man sips beer — using robot arm he controls with his mind

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“Erik Sorto hasn’t been able to move his arms or legs in a decade, after a gunshot wound 13 years ago rendered him quadriplegic. But after scientists implanted chips into his brain three years ago, he’s been able to move a robotic arm — to shake hands; play rock, paper, scissors; and yes, drink beer, according to a study in the journal Science. Sorto is one of a handful of people who have been given brain implants to help move objects with their minds since 2006, when a paralyzed man named Matthew Nagle moved a cursor on a computer using only his thoughts. Since then, scientists have been trying to refine the process to benefit other paralyzed patients.”

http://www.theverge.com/2015/5/21/8639905/brain-control-robot-arm-paralyzed-quadriplegic

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EnChroma Glasses May Permanently Cure Color Blindness

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“In 2010, Don McPherson, a glass engineer working in San Francisco, lent a pair of glasses he had designed to protect doctors’ eyes during laser corrective surgery to a friend to use as sunglasses during a game of Frisbee. Much to the two men’s surprise, the glasses had the unexpected effect of allowing the friend to see hues he had never before experienced.  While the effect of wearing EnChroma glasses is fascinating, it’s what happens after users take off the glasses that is truly noteworthy: Many claim they still see enhanced colors even without the glasses.”

http://www.newsweek.com/2015/05/15/enchroma-glasses-may-permanently-cure-color-blindness-328762.html

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Elon Musk starts his own small, secretive school without grade levels

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“The school is called Ad Astra — which means ‘To the stars’ — and is small and relatively secretive. It doesn’t have its own website or a social media presence.  Christina Simon, who writes about private elementary schools in Los Angeles, has done some digging around Ad Astra.  She says she’s been in contact with a mother whose child attends Musk’s school. The mother told Simon that the relatively new Ad Astra School is ‘very small and experimental,’ and caters to a small group of children whose parents are primarily SpaceX employees.  Musk says in the interview that Ad Astra, which is a year old, currently has 14 kids and will increase to 20 in September.”

http://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-creates-a-grade-school-2015-5

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FBI admits no major cases cracked with Patriot Act snooping powers

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“FBI agents can’t point to any major terrorism cases they’ve cracked thanks to the key snooping powers in the Patriot Act, the Justice Department’s inspector general said in a report Thursday.  Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz said that between 2004 and 2009, the FBI tripled its use of bulk collection under Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which allows government agents to compel businesses to turn over records and documents, and increasingly scooped up records of Americans who had no ties to official terrorism investigations.  Backers say the Patriot Act powers are critical and must be kept intact, particularly with the spread of the threat from terrorists.”

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/may/21/fbi-admits-patriot-act-snooping-powers-didnt-crack/?page=all

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Lindsey Graham Vows: “I’m Gonna Call a Drone and We Will Kill You”

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“At the time, the administration criticized Rand Paul for engaging in ‘wild hypotheticals’ before agreeing that using a drone to kill an American this way would be beyond President Obama’s authority. Yet over the weekend, Sen. Lindsey Graham seemed to suggest that what Paul imagined as a dystopian nightmare could be a reality if the Republican from South Carolina were president. ‘If I’m president of the United States and you’re thinking about joining al-Qaeda or ISIL [Islamic State], I’m not gonna call a judge,’ Graham said. ‘I’m gonna call a drone and we will kill you.'”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/05/18/wonkbook-lindsey-grahams-comments-on-drones-were-very-blunt/

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3D Printed Robot Cracks Combination Locks in Less than 30 Seconds

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“A well-known California hacker Samy Kamkar who is expert in cracking locks has built a 3D-printed machine, calling his gadget the ‘Combo Breaker,’ that can crack Master Lock combination padlocks – used on hundreds of thousands of school lockers – in less than 30 seconds.  A couple of weeks ago, Kamkar introduced the world how a manufacturing flaw in Master Lock combination locks can easily reveal the full combination by carefully measuring the dial interaction with the shackle in eight or fewer attempts.  The hacker has also released the plans, 3D models, and code of Combo Breaker online for free as open source.”

http://thehackernews.com/2015/05/password-combination.html

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NetUSB Driver Flaw Exposes Millions of Routers to Hacking

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“A simple but shockingly dangerous vulnerability has been uncovered in the NetUSB component, putting millions of modern routers and other embedded devices across the globe at risk of being compromised by hackers. NetUSB component is integrated into modern routers sold by some major manufacturers including D-Link, Netgear, TP-Link, ZyXEL and TrendNet.  Until now, only TP-Link addressed the vulnerability and provided a fix for the serious NetUSB vulnerability and scheduled patches for about 40 products. According to SEC Consult, the NetUSB feature was enabled on all devices checked, and the service was still running even when no USB devices were connected.”

http://thehackernews.com/2015/05/netusb-router-hacking.html

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Flawed Android Factory Reset Fails to Clear Private Data from Phones

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“If you’re planning to sell your old Android smartphone then you need to think again because there is a weakness in the Android Factory Reset option that could be exploited to recover your login credentials, text messages, emails and pictures even if you have wiped its memory clean.  Computer researchers at the University of Cambridge conducted a study on Android devices from 5 different vendors and found that more than 500 Million Android devices don’t completely erase data after the factory reset.  The computer researchers found that the data could be recovered from the Android device even if users turned on full-disk encryption.”

http://thehackernews.com/2015/05/android-factory-reset.html

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