Scientists show that gene editing can 'turn off' human diseases

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/11/29/gene-editing-to-fix-human-diseases/

Gene editing has already been used to fight diseases, but there's now hope that it might eliminate the diseases altgether. Researchers have shown that it's possible to eliminate facial muscular dystrophy using a newer editing technique, CRISPR (Clusters of Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) to replace the offending gene and 'turn off' the condition. The approach sends a mix of protein and RNA to bind to a gene and give it an overhaul.

Via: Huffington Post

Source: Molecular Therapy

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Raspberry Pi's latest computer costs just $5

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/11/26/raspberry-pi-zero/

Over the years, the Raspberry Pi Foundation has enabled universities and hobbyists to create their own DIY computing projects with its affordable boards. But that doesn't mean it's stopping there. Today, the company unveiled its latest programmable computing board, the Raspberry Pi Zero, and it costs just $5 (£4). With its Broadcom BCM2835 application processor (1GHz ARM11 core), 512MB of RAM, a microSD card slot, a mini-HDMI socket supporting 1080p (at 60 frames per second), micro-USB sockets and an identical pin layout to its larger Pi siblings, the Zero can do plenty of heavy lifting, despite its tiny size. For context: at 65mm x 30mm, it's smaller than a credit card and has 40-percent faster chip than the first ever Pi.

Via: Raspberry Pi Blog

Source: The Pi Hut (UK), Pimoroni (UK), Element 14 (UK), Adafruit (US)

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Dell is the latest PC maker with a gaping security flaw (update: solution)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/11/23/dell-security-key-flaw/

Lenovo and Samsung might not be the only big Windows PC makers pre-installing software that compromises your security. Computer buyers have discovered that Dell is shipping at least some PCs (such as the new XPS 15) with a self-signed security certificate that's the same on every system. If intruders get a raw copy of the certificate's private key, which isn't hard, they have an easy way to attack every PC shipping with this code. The kicker? This is much like Lenovo's Superfish exploit, only written by the hardware vendor itself -- Dell had plenty of time to learn from its rival's mistake.

Via: The Inquirer

Source: Reddit

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Apple and Microsoft's advocacy group is against encryption backdoors

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/11/23/itic-encryption-backdoor/

Following Tim Cook's lead, the advocacy group behind Apple, Google, Microsoft and plenty of other big tech firms has come out against calls to weaken encryption, which authorities argue would make it easier to track criminals. "Weakening encryption or creating backdoors to encrypted devices and data for use by the good guys would actually create vulnerabilities to be exploited by the bad guys," said Dean Garfield, the CEO of the Information Technology Industry Counsel (ITIC), who also represents Facebook, Twitter and AOL. It "would almost certainly cause serious physical and financial harm across our society and our economy," he added. The backlash against strong encryption is particularly heated today, following the recent Paris attacks. While secure communications are generally a good thing for consumers, governments (including the US and UK) have argued for backdoors that would allow them to intercept encrypted data. Naturally, that would make life easier for intelligence agencies, but it defeats the point of having encryption at all.

Via: The Guardian

Source: ITIC

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Google now lets you join Hangouts as a guest, no account needed

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/11/19/google-now-lets-you-join-hangouts-as-a-guest-no-account-needed/

The worst thing about organizing an online meeting is squabbling over platform. Should you choose WebEx? Skype? Google? Your decision just got a little easier. As of today, you no longer need to have a Google account to join a meeting Hosted on Hangouts -- just a link.

Source: Google

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