The first close observation of human Pluto

The largest solar system members of the ups and downs to Pluto. Since 1930, Clyde Thompson found that Pluto's controversy has been relevant, even if the global textbooks have been known as the "ninth planet" name, and finally was kicked out in 2008, downgraded to " Dwarf planet ".
NASA launched a new field of vision in 2006, the target went straight to Pluto, 9 years later, the United States Eastern time at 14:45 on July 14, 2015, "New Horizons" close range Flying Pluto, became the first to detect the distant dwarf planet of human detectors.
"New Horizons" shaped like a grand piano, carrying a 77 kg propellant, including 10.9 kg of plutonium dioxide as a power source. It is by far the fastest detector, in less than 10 years, flying 4.8 billion kilometers. Its counterparts, as part of Pluto discoverer Clyde Thompson's ashes, and NASA solicitation of 450,000 signatures. On the road, it also visited the Saturn and Neptune.
Pluto had little knowledge of Pluto, the "meeting" to make the understanding of human Pluto revolutionary changes - its diameter is 2370.6 km (± 19.3 km), the density lower than previously thought, the internal may have More ice and less rock, scientists also confirmed that the Arctic is indeed as speculated by the ice composition, but also rich in methane and nitrogen ice.
At present, the "new horizon" probe is still on the line, will enter the mysterious edge of the solar system Kuiper belt, Kuiper belt object is considered to be formed during the solar system has not yet time to grow into a planet's wreckage, recording the solar system initially formed history , So the future "Kuiper Belt" trip, in a sense, is also a glimpse of the origin of the solar system.
"New Horizon" to visit Pluto, in the global media, astronomy, as well as the majority of science and technology enthusiasts of the carnival. There is no doubt that the first human close observation of Pluto, marking the golden age of the planet to explore the arrival of the summit.

Microsoft wins third German patent victory over Google Motorola technology

Microsoft wins third German patent victory over Google Motorola technology

Microsoft has won a third victory in Germany over Google's Motorola unit in the ongoing patent wars between the two companies.

A German court ruled that several Motorola tablets and phones infringe a Microsoft patented method for apps to handle different kinds of user input, such as on-screen letter and numeric keyboards, handwriting and drawing interfaces, and voice recognition, according to the BBC.

Samsung, HTC and others smartphone makers have licensed the technology from Microsoft, but Motorola had resisted. Google now faces additional sales restrictions on its products in Germany unless it makes significant changes to its Android operating system (OS).

Commentators believe it may be easier for Google to pay a licence fee than to issue a software update for its Android OS.

"We're pleased this decision builds on previous rulings in Germany that have already found Motorola is broadly infringing Microsoft's intellectual property," said David Howard, Microsoft's deputy general counsel.

"We will continue to enforce injunctions against Motorola products in Germany and hope Motorola will join other Android device makers by taking a licence to Microsoft's patented inventions."

Google said in a statement that it is waiting for the court’s written decision and is evaluating its options, including an appeal.

The First Watch That Automatically Can Set Itself Anywhere

The First Watch That Automatically Can Set Itself Anywhere...!!

SEIKO ASTRON
Face Size 1.5 inches
Weight 4.8 ounces
Price From $2,300


Even watches that sync with an atomic clock aren’t accurate everywhere. They contain a radio that picks up a signal from a long-range tower connected to atomic clocks around the world. But the towers have a range of only about 1,500 miles, leaving large regions, including South America and Canada, uncovered. The Seiko Astron is the first watch that uses GPS, so it can automatically set the time anywhere.

Seiko engineers connected the Astron’s quartz movement to a custom circuit board that contains a processor and GPS radio. The team programmed the processor with a world map broken into one million square quadrants, each associated with one of 39 time zones. Once a day, the GPS radio turns on and connects with four or more satellites orbiting the globe to pinpoint its location; the processor then determines which time zone it’s in and sets the date and time accordingly. (Users can also force the watch to reset by pressing a button on the side.) The Astron takes 30 seconds to sync, whereas atomic watches can take up to two minutes. And, because the lithium-ion-powered watch’s 1.5-inch face is made from a matrix of seven solar cells, travelers will never be caught with either the incorrect time or a stopped watch.

Government launches £3.8m cyber security institute

Government launches £3.8m cyber security institute

The government has ramped up moves to tackle growing cyber security threats by launching a £3.8m research institute.

The research institute in the science of cyber security will act as a virtual organisation bringing together academics in cyber security, mathematics, and computer scientists across the UK. It will comprise of seven universities and has backing from the government’s security arm GCHQ.The institute follows the launch of a recent government advice urging companies to tackle the exponential growth in cyber threats at board-level.

David Willetts, minister for Universities and Science, said the institute would enable businesses, government and individuals to better protect themselves from cyber threats: "Britain has one of the largest online economies in the world and a growing cyber security sector, and we need to ensure this success continues,” he said.

Francis Maude, Cabinet Office minister, added: "The UK's first academic research institute will strengthen capability in a strategically important area, keeping the UK at the forefront of international research in the field."

The research institute will open on October 1 2012 for a period of three and a half years.

University College London has been selected to host the research institute, with Angela Sasse taking the role of director of research.

Sasse said: “I am delighted to be leading the new research Institute.  This is an opportunity to work closely with colleagues from different scientific disciplines to tackle the technical, social and psychological challenges that effective cyber security presents.”

Apple launches the iPhone 5

Apple launches the iPhone 5

The iPhone 5 has a larger 4-inch retina screen, yet is 18% thinner and 20% lighter than its predecessor, the iPhone 4S. The extra height in the device, allows an extra row of apps, which should reduce the number of home screens needed to swipe through.

Specs

• Height: 123.8 mm

• Width: 58.6 mm

• Depth: 7.6 mm

• Weight: 112 grams

• Display: 1136x640 pixels

• Camera: 8 megapixel and HD front facing camera

• Processor: A6 chip (providing longer battery life)

• Memory: 16GB, 32GB, 64GB

Latest Cyber Security Challenge to address Linux skills shortage

Latest Cyber Security Challenge to address Linux skills shortage:

The UK national Cyber Security Challenge has launched another competition aimed at addressing a critical Linux security skills gap.

The majority of internet infrastructure is based on Linux, but Linux is rarely taught in schools and Linux security experts are scarce, according to competition organisers.

Cyber Security Challenge UK runs a series of national inspirational competitions aimed at attracting talented people into the profession and informing them about cybersecurity careers and training.

The latest Sophos Linux Forensics Challenge, which begins on 27 August, will test contestants' skills in identifying security issues on a Linux system. 

As well as detecting a series of attacks against the server, competitors will be asked to detail how it has been compromised and make recommendations on how to fix the problems. 

Competitors will need to be familiar with the configuration of Linux operating systems, as well as typical daemons configured on this platform.

Successful competitors will be able to show potential employers that they have the essential skills needed to protect businesses' crucial web systems, organisers said.

"There have been some steps towards improving the ICT curriculum in schools, but we can no longer stick our heads in the sand," said James Lyne, director of technology strategy at Sophos.

"The web is the main tool used by cybercriminals to target both businesses and consumers, so we still need to do much more to teach vital skills such as Linux programming in schools and universities and to nurture the young Linux generation," he said.

The recent trend of stealing passwords and password hashes has been enabled by the fact that organisations are still not securing their data effectively, said Lyne.

"The frustrating thing is that weak password hashes, malware distribution and database theft can often be easily prevented with simple best practice, which is further evidence that the right focus and skills aren't often in place," he said.

The lack of deep technical skills in cybersecurity is the principal reason that many organisations are unable to defend their computers and networks and data, according to Alan Paller, director of research at the Sans Institute, one of the sponsors of the UK Cyber Security Challenge.

ICO to probe privacy concerns about Tesco website

ICO to probe privacy concerns about Tesco website:

The Information Commissioner's Office is to investigate claims that Tesco's website does not offer sufficient privacy protections to customers.

The UK privacy watchdog's probe comes after security experts raised a number of privacy concerns about the retailer's main website.

The main concern is about the way in which Tesco stores the passwords of shoppers after security researcher Troy Hunt revealed in a blog post that he had received a password reminder in an email from Tesco that contained his password in plain text.

This shows Tesco's password data is not being stored cryptographically, he told the BBC.

Security professionals agree that a more secure method of password recovery is for websites to email users instructions on how to reset their password, rather than revealing the password itself.

Hunt has also criticised Tesco for not using HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) across its entire site to protect users from phishing attacks and data theft.

Although users log into the Tesco website over HTTPS, the browser reverts to HTTP, which does not give users any security assurances, Hunt said.

“HTTP is stateless so the only (practical) way a state, such as being logged in, can be persisted is by passing cookies backwards and forwards between the browser and the website.

“Because they’re being sent over a HTTP connection, anyone who can watch the traffic can see [those] cookies. And copy them. And hijack your session,” he wrote.

In a subsequent blog post, Hunt claims that Tesco have security problems that go far beyond what he originally wrote about, including unverified SQL injection vulnerabilities and verified cross-site scripting vulnerabilities.

Hunt wrote that he has passed the details of cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability to multiple people in senior technology roles at Tesco, but the vulnerability remains unfixed.

"Interestingly, it seems that Tesco’s rather unique approach to security is now coming under scrutiny from the Information Commissioners Office in the UK. Whilst a statement such as 'We are aware of this issue and will be making inquiries' is far from a damning indictment, it will be interesting to see how this unfolds and whether the company may actually be called on those 'lousy' practices," he said.

In various statements issued to the media, Tesco maintains that its security is "robust". The company claims it is never complacent and says there is no evidence to suggest Tesco has been targeted by hackers or that customers' personal details are at risk.

Videogame players, the next Olympians?

It's not exactly an Olympic sport - not yet, anyway - but as the London Games drew to a close this past Sunday, thousands of professional videogame players geared up for an event that for some can be as lucrative as winning a gold medal.

Videogamers have gathered in Cologne, Germany this week for the Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) competition, a professional videogame tournament that runs through August 19.

Professional electronic gaming, or eSports, is relatively new and has been gaining popularity around the world in recent years. Germany and South Korea are two hot markets, and the United States is quickly catching up.

Pro gamers can earn anywhere from $20,000 to $100,000 or more in winnings and make even more in product endorsements, teaching and other sponsorships. Videogame makers say participating in an event can boost a game's popularity.

The IEM event in Germany is expected to attract over 250,000 fans, about 10 percent more than last year, to watch the best videogamers in the world compete in games such as "StarCraft II" and "League of Legends". An additional 20 million people from more than 180 countries will tune in to streams on the Web provided by ESLTV, TwitchTV and CBS Interactive (CBSi) Games.

More than 20,000 fans packed the Anaheim Convention Center in California in June to watch gamers compete for over $200,000 in the Major League Gaming Spring Championship. An additional 35 million online viewers streamed matches for games like "Mortal Kombat", "Soul Calibur V" and "The King of Fighters XIII".

"The Internet streaming phenomena is probably the biggest reason eSports is having a huge rise right now," said Sean "Day(9)" Plott, a leading "StarCraft II" eSportscaster - pro gaming's play-by-play sportscaster. "Streaming has allowed this huge international representation to view matches live or recorded at any time of day."

Multiple leagues now exist with names such as IGN Pro League (IPL), North American Star League (NASL), Dreamhack, Electronic Sports League (ESL), Global StarCraft II League (GSL) and EVO Championship Series (EVO). And some multiplayer tournaments are set up to mimic any professional sports league.

Indeed, one game gaining traction among fans is "League of Legends", in which teams of five compete in multiplayer online battle arenas (MOBA). Teams vie for $5 million in prizes in a format that replicates a real sports season and playoffs.

"Just like the NBA (National Basketball Association), we expect the competition to intensify in the playoffs - the Regional Finals and the Season Two World Championship," said Brandon Beck, co-founder and CEO of Riot Games, which created "League of Legends".

BEERS AND 'BARCRAFT'

Games from Riot and other makers such as Blizzard Entertainment have found success as spectator sports because they have features allowing fans to watch the competitions live in arenas, online at home or in places like sports bars. In fact, Blizzard's "StarCraft II" has become so popular at local watering holes that some gamers have dubbed it "BarCraft".

"We've seen a fair amount of anecdotal evidence that people who discover 'StarCraft II' through eSports eventually purchase and play the game," said Mike Morhaime, co-founder and CEO of Blizzard. "One primary reason we support eSports is to build community and create long-term interest."

Social media also have had a big role in the gaming leagues' growth by allowing pro players to connect with their fans and even play against them.

And even though men dominate the players' groups, women such as Florence "flo" Yao, Sasha "Scarlett" Hostyn, and Madeleine "MaddeLisk" Leander are rapidly working their way to the top.

Kelly "Mrs. Violence" Kelley, a professional "Call of Duty: Black Ops" player who works with CBSi Games, believes these young women will encourage more female gamers to go pro and compete in the male-dominated eSports arena.

Sponsors have taken notice. Big brands including Dr. Pepper, Sony Ericsson and Bic Razors pay anywhere from $500,000 a year in multimillion-dollar, multi-year deals to connect with the growing audience at league events.

Energy drink Red Bull has organized its own competitions, such as the Red Bull Battlegrounds Invitational in Austin, Texas where 16 of the world's top "StarCraft II" players competed for $41,000 in front of 5,000 paying fans.

"I think in the future we're going to see more of these types of events with sponsors getting directly involved and connecting with not only the professional players, but also this growing fan base," eSportscaster Michael "Husky" Lamond said.

16% of UK adults have never used the internet:

Figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) show that 7.82 million adults in the UK – 16% of the total adult population – have never used the internet.

The ONS statistics for the second quarter of 2012 show a 10% decline in the number of adults who have not used the internet.

Almost all 16 to 24 year olds (99%) have used the internet but only 29% of adults aged 75 years and over have used the internet.

A total of 87% of men have used the internet compared to 82% of women, said the ONS.

The research revealed that disabled people are three times more likely never to have used the internet than people without a disability.

London and south-east England have the  highest rate of internet use with 88% of adults, while Northern Ireland had the lowest proportion of internet users, at 77%.

Solar shades Concept

Solar shades Concept 
(by designers Hyun-Joong Kim and Kwang-Seok Jeong)

It is called Infinite Energy: SIG, the sunglasses are designed to turn the rays that it blocks out into electrical energy, providing protection and power all at the same time. The sunglasses have a wire sticking out of them that you can plug into your gadgets....!!!!

Hackers steal personal details of 8.7 million mobile subscribers

Hackers have accessed the personal details of 8.7 million mobile phone subscribers to South Korea's second largest telecommunications company.

Police have arrested two people for allegedly hacking into the network system of KT Corporation, formerly Korea Teleco, and selling the data.

The suspects are believed to have stolen the personal information of more than half of KT's 16 million subscribers since February, according to local reports.

South Korea's National Police Agency's cyber terror response team said seven others were charged with buying the leaked data for telemarketing purposes.

Police suspect the telemarketers used the data to contact customers whose contracts were close to expiration or were considered likely to change mobile phone plans.

"It took nearly seven months to develop the hacking program and (the suspects) had very sophisticated hacking skills," an official at the cyber response team is quoted as saying.

KT has apologised for the data breach, saying it has taken steps to prevent further leakage.

"In light of this incident, we will strengthen the internal security system and raise awareness of security among all employees to prevent causing inconvenience to customers," the company said.

Highlighting the reputational damage caused by data breaches, market commentators have said angry subscribers may mount a class action lawsuit against the company.

The KT data breach comes a year after a spate of hacking attacks which targeted South Korean government departments, financial firms and a social networking site and web services portal run by SK Telecom.

In the worst breach in South Korea to date, hackers accessed 35 million user accounts in the attack on SK Telecom, which has links to the state monopoly phone company, Korea Telecom.

The breach was revealed by the Korean Communications Commission, which claimed to have traced the source of the incursion back to computer IP addresses based in China.

Vodafone appoints new CEO of Cable & Wireless Worldwide

Vodafone today announced a new CEO for Cable & Wireless Worldwide (C&WW) following its acquisition of the global telecoms giant.

Nick Jeffrey, who began his career back in 1991 at C&WW, will take on the role with immediate effect, leaving his current post as the head of Vodafone’s global enterprise business.

His replacement will be the enterprise business unit director of Vodafone Germany, Jan Geldmacher, who will also begin his new job straight away.

Jeffrey will work with Vodafone UK CEO Guy Laurence to integrate both C&WW’s commercial and back office operations into the Vodafone group, while the acquired company’s network and technology assets will be taken over by Vodafone CTO Steve Pusey.

This will leave C&WW’s CEO, Gavin Darby, out of a job, but he will work with Jeffrey to help the transfer of power until October.

The sell-off of the firm will also see its CFO, Ian Gibson, acting CTO, Dave Broady, and acting human resources (HR) director, Jane Little, move on, to be replaced by Vodafone Turkey’s CFO Diego Galli as finance director, Vodafone network services unit director John Thompson as technology director, and Vodafone Netherlands’ HR director Francesco Bianco as C&WW’s HR director.

Mark Allison, currently head of the Vodafone global enterprise commercial team, will take on the job of integration director. Again, all these roles will begin with immediate effect.

“Nick [Jeffrey] is an excellent leader with a deep understanding of enterprise customers' needs, a track record in value creation and familiarity with C&WW's business,” said Vittorio Colao, CEO of the Vodafone group. “Similarly, with his strong background in multinational client leadership, Jan [Geldmacher] will be well-placed to succeed Nick as CEO of Vodafone Global Enterprise.”

Vodafone bought C&WW in April this year for £1.04bn. India’s Tata Communications was though to be the front runner, but it dropped out of the bid just a week before the deal was finalised.

The technology behind the BBC's Olympics coverage:

The Olympic Games on home soil will be the final instalment of the most operationally challenging period in the BBC’s history, and the broadcaster’s chief technology officer (CTO) John Linwood told Computer Weekly’s CW500 Club about the “terrifying” challenge of providing live coverage of all events at the Olympics, thinking the unthinkable and balancing this with his day job as a corporate IT chief.

The BBC has this year faced several major challenges, from broadcasting the Diamond Jubilee and the European football championships not to mention the Proms, and live music festival the Hackney Weekend, all while moving large chunks of its operation from London to Manchester, and into its newly expanded Broadcasting House location. “This year has been the biggest operational challenge we have had,” says Linwood.

For example, the corporation is running 24 live high-definition (HD) TV channels ensuring that every second of the London Olympics can be watched live or recorded from multiple devices.

While his day job of running IT at the BBC goes on with things like bring your own device schemes and upgrading Microsoft Exchange being planned, it is the fact that the London 2012 Olympics is set to be the most digital and technology enabled event in history, with all sports available for viewing from multiple devices, that keeps him awake at night.

“This is the biggest digitised event ever and has been terrifying me for years,” says Linwood. “The terrifying thing for us is the fact that everybody will be watching this during the day on lots of different devices.”

Juniper and Riverbed enter technology partnership:

Juniper Networks and Riverbed Technologies are partnering to utilise their network and application capabilities.  

The two firms announced the tie-up claiming the application and the network were converging. They said there was a need for next-generation systems capable of giving the performance, scale and security that both layers require.

“This multi-faceted partnership will allow us to expand our addressable markets by providing customers with integrated solutions that increase the efficiency of their IT infrastructure,” said Eric Wolford, executive vice-president and general manager of the products group at Riverbed.

“We'll work closely with Juniper to bring solutions to market that impact the performance of the entire enterprise and close the gap between data and the geographically dispersed people accessing that data from all around the world on various platforms.”

The first part of the deal will see Juniper pay $75m to licence Riverbed's application delivery controller (ADC), enabling it to build it into its existing network products and create new solutions using the technology.

Next, the two companies will work together on integrating Riverbed's Steelhead technology into the Juniper Networks' Junos Pulse client software.

Riverbed's Steelhead software gives employees access to corporate files and apps through mobile devices. Juniper Networks, Junos Pulse client software manages networks through mobile devices to deliver a single system on mobiles or tablets.

Finally the firms will develop wide area network (WAN) optimisation and application acceleration products in the hope its two teams will create superior solutions to the individual ones on the market.

"We are excited to partner with Riverbed to bring innovative, ground-breaking technologies to our enterprise customers,” added Bob Muglia, executive vice-president of software solutions at Juniper.

“Riverbed's application acceleration and WAN optimisation solutions will complement our strategic focus on delivering high-performance networking infrastructure and further enhance our position in both datacentre and consumer and business device domains. Our joint efforts with Riverbed will enable us to push the future of application networking." 

The partnership was announced on the same day as Juniper’s second quarter results for 2012, which showed the company needed new ways of making money. Revenue was down 4% year-on-year to $1.04bn and net income per share dropped dramatically by 39% to $0.19.

Juniper claimed customers were keen on its products, but the current economic climate meant they were cautious about investment priorities and the timing of their project deployments.