To fix this issue, the GSMA has developed a non-removable SIM that can be embedded in a device for the duration of its life, and remotely assigned to a network. This information can be subsequently modified over-the-air, as many times as necessary.
The GSMA says its new SIM can reduce ongoing operational and logistical costs. Replacing one SIM is not going to break the bank, but replacing a few million could make a dent in any budget, it reckons.
Solar Cells Could Help Windows Generate Power
The Oxford team, led by physicist Henry J. Snaith, made their solar cells using perovskites, a class of mineral-like crystalline materials that has recently grabbed much attention among researchers in photovoltaics. Perovskites have properties similar to inorganic semiconductors and show sunlight-to-electricity conversion efficiencies of more than 15%.
via Solar Cells Could Help Windows Generate Power | Chemical & Engineering News.
MisoSMS: New Android Malware Disguises Itself as a Settings App, Steals SMS Messages
MisoSMS infects Android systems by deploying a class of malicious Android apps. The mobile malware masquerades as an Android settings app used for administrative tasks. When executed, it secretly steals the user’s personal SMS messages and emails them to a command-and-control (CnC) infrastructure hosted in China. FireEye Mobile Threat Prevention platform detects this class of malware as “Android.Spyware.MisoSMS.”
via MisoSMS: New Android Malware Disguises Itself as a Settings App, Steals SMS Messages | FireEye Blog.
Once the app is installed, it presents itself as “Google Vx.” It asks for administrative permissions on the device, which enables the malware to hide itself from the user, as shown in Figure 2.
Right there is a clue that something is not right.
Avaya builds massive Wi-Fi net for 2014 Winter Olympics
Adding to the challenge, “We expect these people to be carrying and using multiple wireless devices,” says Frohwerk. “In Vancouver, we only had to provision one device per user. This means that we really have to have the capability to support up to 120,000 users on the Sochi Wi-Fi network, without issues or interruptions.”
via Avaya builds massive Wi-Fi net for 2014 Winter Olympics – Network World.
It’s interesting that they have to provision devices to users. Is this done manually? Here’s more….
In Sochi, Avaya’s Wi-Fi network will be split into five virtual SSID-based networks. There will be one network for the athletes, two for media (one free, one paid), one for Olympics staff, and one for dignitaries.
Each group will have its own access password, and extra layers of password protection will be added where needed. The Wi-Fi traffic will be distributed using about 2,000 802.11n access points across the Olympics Game sites; including inside the stands for the first time.
Each SSID will need its own range of frequencies so having 5 seems like it would present problems trying to figure out where to place access points so their radio transmissions don’t step on each other. Also there doesn’t seem to be any provisions made for their customers, the people paying to attend these events.
Imgur Wiped Out By Sky Broadband Torrent Site Blocking
Sky regularly pull IP addresses listed on our DNS servers and adds them to their block list. This block list is then used by an advanced proxy system that redirects any requests to the blacklisted IP addresses to a webserver that the ISP owns which returns a blocked page message,” YIFY explains.
Therefore, when YIFY began using CloudFlare servers in Australia, Sky pulled these IP addresses and blocked them in the mistaken belief that they were YIFY’s. Since Imgur uses the same IP addresses, Sky’s automated blocking took the site offline, to the huge disappointment of countless customers.
via Imgur Wiped Out By Sky Broadband Torrent Site Blocking | TorrentFreak.
What happens to the posts you don’t publish?
This paternalistic view isn’t abstract. Facebook studies this because the more its engineers understand about self-censorship, the more precisely they can fine-tune their system to minimize self-censorship’s prevalence. This goal—designing Facebook to decrease self-censorship—is explicit in the paper.
So Facebook considers your thoughtful discretion about what to post as bad, because it withholds value from Facebook and from other users. Facebook monitors those unposted thoughts to better understand them, in order to build a system that minimizes this deliberate behavior.
via Facebook self-censorship: What happens to the posts you don’t publish?.
China lands Jade Rabbit robot rover on Moon
China says it has successfully landed a craft carrying a robotic rover on the surface of the Moon, the first soft landing there for 37 years.
On Saturday afternoon (GMT), a landing module used thrusters to touch down, marking the latest step in China’s ambitious space exploration programme.
Massive surge in Litecoin mining leads to graphics card shortage
Litecoin confirms transactions faster (every 2.5 minutes, rather than every 10 minutes for Bitcoin) and it contains more coins — 84 million coins will be found in total under the LTC protocol, as opposed to 21 million for BTC. Bitcoin and Litecoin prices tend to move together; Bitcoins stratospheric leap over the past month (it’s down from a high of $1200 but trading at $873 as of this writing) has created an odd situation where it’s easier to mine Litecoin and then convert LTC to BTC then it is to just mine BTC to start with.
via Massive surge in Litecoin mining leads to graphics card shortage | ExtremeTech.
Cloud infrastructure pricing is absurd
The top key finding of the 451 Research report: “Cloud computing once promised simple, usage-based charging for resources, similar to other utilities such as electricity; unfortunately, the current reality is far from this ideal.”
The vendors further muddy the water by not being out front about their pricing; 451 Research found that only 64 percent of providers publish their pricing online.
via Confirmed: Cloud infrastructure pricing is absurd | ITworld.
Google now proxies images sent to Gmail users
It’s simple for senders to do this. Embed in each message a viewable image—or if you’re feeling sneaky, a nearly invisible image—that contains a long, random-looking string in the URL that’s unique to each receiver or e-mail. When Google proxy servers request the image, the sender knows the user or message corresponding to the unique URL is active or has been viewed. In Moore’s tests, the proxy servers requested the image each subsequent time the Gmail message was opened, at least when he cleared the temporary Internet cache of his browser. That behavior could allow marketers—or possibly lawyers, stalkers, or other senders with questionable motives—to glean details many receivers would prefer to keep to themselves. For instance, a sender could track how often or at what times a Gmail user opened a particular message.
via Dear Gmailer: I know what you read last summer (and last night and today) | Ars Technica.
The key to this issue is that Gmail now defaults to images on in email which should always be off. In order to fix this Google must cache all images upon receipt of every email. Doing it when a user requests an email defeats the entire purpose. It’s always good practice to view with images off on all email no matter what the provider claims.