Source: http://gizmodo.com/ultrasound-can-let-you-touch-and-feel-3d-shapes-in-thin-1665592066
Touch feedback has been advancing rapidly of recent time, and now we've gotten to the stage where ultrasound can be used to create entire 3D shapes to touch and feel in thin air.
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/12/02/fbi-warns-businesses-over-malware-that-can-override-hard-drive-d/
A number of American security professionals must have quickly switched from lazy Thanksgiving mode to high alert on Monday after receiving a flash warning from the FBI. A five-page document was sent out to US businesses' IT teams warning them against a highly destructive malware, which a group of hackers recently used to infiltrate several companies' computers, reports Reuters. In order for the companies to take preventative measures, the report contained the lowdown on the malware's technical details, such as its ability to override hard drives. The malicious code can apparently shut down and permanently disable computers, as well, making it impossible to retrieve files later on. The FBI issues "flash" warnings to businesses in order to update them about high-risk cyber threats. For this particular one, none of the malware's victims were named, and the agency also wouldn't confirm or deny when Reuters asked if Sony was one of them.
If you recall, Sony Pictures was on the receiving end of a big cyber attack in late November that took down all its computers and led to the leak of several unreleased movies, including Annie and Brad Pitt's Fury. Guardians of Peace (GOP), the group that launched the attack, threatened to unleash more internal data if their demands (which we still don't know the details of) weren't met. On Monday, we've received an email from someone who claims to be the GOP's leader, linking to a public pastebin that contains download links to what he says is part of the data they stole. Since the FBI wouldn't comment on Sony's situation, it's unclear if the company's still investigating what happened, and whether North Korea was truly involved in the incident.
[Image credit: Shutterstock / clarence s lewis]
Filed under: Internet
Source: Reuters
If you post Flickr images with a commercial-use creative commons license, Yahoo has a little surprise: it will soon be free to sell them and keep all the money. It recently decided to peddle canvas prints of selected photos for up to $50, taking 100 percent of the revenue from creative commons users who permit free use of their images. That contrasts with a recent decision it made to give select users with non-commercial-use licenses 51 percent of sales for the same "Wall Art" collections. The new policy has made many of the site's devotees upset -- especially pro account users -- who say that while they're fine with third-party companies using their photos, they're not fine at all with Flickr itself selling them for profit.
Though Yahoo isn't breaking any laws, some feel it has broken the circle of trust with its large community of photographers. Flickr co-founder Stewart Butterfield told the WSJ that "it's hard to imagine the revenue from selling prints will cover the cost of lost goodwill." There is something that artists can do to stop Yahoo from using their work: switch the creative commons license to deny commercial use. Unfortunately, such a scorched-earth approach would also heavily reduce the supply of photos available to other businesses or non-profit groups.Sometimes social engineering can be far more effective than complicated malware when it comes to cyber attacks. Case in point: the cybersecurity firm FireEye has tracked a recent spate of attacks against over 100 healthcare and pharmaceutical companies to a particularly smooth group of hackers. The group -- which FireEye calls "Fin4" -- leverages its knowledge of those industries, financial markets, and native English skills for targeted attacks against executives and other notable employees. Instead of relying on spyware, the group carefully crafts emails that trick recipients into logging into malicious websites to steal their email logins.
These aren't your typical hackers --- FireEye believes Fin4 is made up of Americans or Western Europeans who've worked in the U.S. banking industry. The sophisticated and methodical nature of the attacks also distinguishes them from the hackers who just want to blindly steal data.
Like something out of an airport espionage thriller, Fin4 appears to be gathering information about publicly traded companies in the hopes of getting a leg-up in the stock market. According to FireEye's VP of threat intelligence Dan McWhorter, this is the first time we're seeing such a sophisticated attack aimed at taking advantage of financial markets. But given just how effective it's been, we don't expect it to be the last.
[Photo: Benjamin Howell/Getty]
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/12/01/puzzlephone/
It looks like Google's modular Project Ara smartphone has some fresh competition. Circular Devices has been working on the Puzzlephone, a simpler take on Android phones that you can upgrade yourself. Instead of letting you replace things piece-by-piece, it divides parts into "the Brain" (core electronics and camera), "the Heart" (battery and secondary tech) and "the Spine" (LCD, speakers and basic shape). It's not as flexible as Ara, but it promises a sleeker design that still includes real futureproofing; you can swap in a new module when you want a faster processor, a fresh battery or new features. The goal is to have a base phone that can last for 10 years, rather than two or three.
You won't have to wait too long to give the Puzzlephone a try... if everything goes according to plan. Circular Devices is near the prototype stage and hopes to have a shipping product in the second half of 2015, but a finished release is contingent on additional funding. It also faces an uphill battle when Project Ara has the full support of both Google and hardware partners. Still, it's good to know that that an alternative to Ara exists -- you hopefully won't have to settle for a single approach to modular mobile computing.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
Via: Gizmodo
Source: Puzzlephone
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