Recharging your devices via solar power just got cooler

Over the past few years, I've tried out a several solar-powered recharging devices, usually in conjunction with summer gift guides or other outdoor gadget projects. For the most part, the solar chargers were big, bulky things that required a lot of heavy lifting in order to recharge your much smaller smartphone, and didn’t seem worth the extra effort in lugging it around on your travels. One exception - the very cool solar-powered flashlights and other devices that incorporate the hand-crank generator. GoalZero, one of the leaders in the solar power market, has upped its game a bit. This week at the Outdoor Retailer Expo in Salt Lake City, the company showed off some new devices aimed at shrinking the size and bulkiness of those solar panels.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

New PCs will be more desirable with Windows 10 Anniversary Update

Windows 10 was expected to save the slumping PC market, but it hasn't. PC shipments are still declining, and people haven't bought new hardware just to get Windows 10.But the Windows 10 Anniversary Update has features that will make new hardware desirable. Moreover, the period to upgrade for free to Windows 10 from older versions has ended, and analysts believe people will buy a new PC instead of shelling out $119.99 to $199.99 for a Windows 10 license.PC makers hope for nothing more than the death of Windows 7, which some users -- especially businesses -- have been hanging on to. Companies like Lenovo and HP are slowly getting rid of lingering Windows 7 Professional PC models, which will ultimately force holdover users to Windows 10. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

27% off Belkin QODE Ultimate Keyboard Case for iPad Air – Deal Alert

Turn your iPad Air into a laptop with the Belkin QODE Ultimate Keyboard Case. The well-spaced keys offer the movement and response of a laptop keyboard, making emails and word processing far easier and more comfortable than typing on a tablet's touchscreen. Smart sensing technology automatically turns the keyboard on when you need to use it, and off when you don't. The case supports multiple viewing angles to help you find the most comfortable position for watching videos or reading blogs. Made of aircraft grade aluminum, the lightweight keyboard acts as a cover offering exceptional protection for your iPad Air while the case prevents it from being scratched. Averages 4 out of 5 stars on Amazon from over 750 people (read reviews). It's list price of $130 has been reduced significantly to just over $94. See it now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

53% off Inateck USB 3.0 Dual-Bay Hard Drive Cloning Station – Deal Alert

This gadget from Inateck will duplicate any 2.5 inch or 3.5 inch SATA HDD/SSD drive quickly and automatically without the need for a computer, by just pushing a button. Once cloning has started, an LED indicator shows you 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% completion status. Or don't kick off the cloning process, and the unit allows you to move files freely between drives as you would an external HDD/SSD. Built-in safeguards protect against overheating, overvoltage, current leaks, short circuits, peak voltage, and other disturbances to ensure safe data access and transfers. The unit currently averages 4.5 out of 5 stars on Amazon from over 720 customers (read reviews). With a typical list price of $79.99, this 53% off deal puts it at just $37.99. See the discounted Inateck HDD/SSD cloning station now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

The People Versus Security

PinkLock

It all comes back to people. People are the users of the system. They are the source of great imagination and great innovation. They are also the reason why security professionals pull their hair out day in and day out. Because computer systems don’t have the capability to bypass, invalidated, and otherwise screw up security quite like a living, breathing human being.

Climb Every Mountain

Security is designed to make us feel safe. Door locks keep out casual prowlers. Alarm systems alert us when our home or business is violated. That warm fuzzy feeling we get when we know the locks are engaged and we are truly secure is one of bliss.

But when security gets in our way, it’s annoying. Think of all the things in your life that would be easier if people just stopped trying to make you secure. Airport security is the first that comes to mind. Or the annoying habit of needing to show your ID when you make a credit card purchase. How about systems that scan your email for data loss prevention (DLP) purposes and kick back emails with sensitive data that you absolutely need to share?

Security only benefits us when it’s Continue reading

Is build back? The Fall of the General Purpose CPU

There's a meme out there that hardware is dead. Maybe not. Hardware is becoming more specialized as the general purpose CPU can't keep up. The tick-tock cycle created by Moore's law meant designers had a choice: build or buy. Make your own hardware to deep inspect 1gps of network traffic (for example) and release later or use an off-the-shelf CPU and release sooner.

Now in the anarchy of a Moore's lawless it looks like build is back. Jeff Dean is giving a talk at #scaledmlconf where he talks about this trend at Google.

CPU@jackclarkSF: Jeff Dean says Google can run its full Inception' v3 image model on a phone at about 6fps. And specialized ASICs are coming. 

And Mo Patel captured this slide from the talk:

Stealing payment card data and PINs from POS systems is dead easy

Many of the large payment card breaches that hit retail and hospitality businesses in recent years were the result of attackers infecting point-of-sale systems with memory-scraping malware. But there are easier ways to steal this sort of data, due to a lack of authentication and encryption between card readers and the POS payment applications.POS systems are specialized computers. They typically run Windows and have peripherals like keyboards, touch screens, barcode scanners and card readers with PIN pads. They also have specialized payment applications installed to handle transactions.One of the common methods used by attackers to steal payment card data from PoS systems is to infect them with malware, via stolen remote support credentials or other techniques. These malware programs are known as memory or RAM scrapers because they scan the system's memory for credit card data when it's processed by the payment application on the POS system.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Stealing payment card data and PINs from POS systems is dead easy

Many of the large payment card breaches that hit retail and hospitality businesses in recent years were the result of attackers infecting point-of-sale systems with memory-scraping malware. But there are easier ways to steal this sort of data, due to a lack of authentication and encryption between card readers and the POS payment applications.POS systems are specialized computers. They typically run Windows and have peripherals like keyboards, touch screens, barcode scanners and card readers with PIN pads. They also have specialized payment applications installed to handle transactions.One of the common methods used by attackers to steal payment card data from PoS systems is to infect them with malware, via stolen remote support credentials or other techniques. These malware programs are known as memory or RAM scrapers because they scan the system's memory for credit card data when it's processed by the payment application on the POS system.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How tech’s all-stars are playing the Olympics

From Aug. 5 to Aug. 21 the world will be watching Brazil as it hosts the Games of the XXXI Olympiad; and some of the biggest names in technology are helping put on the show.More than 10,500 athletes from 206 countries (including 555 U.S. Olympians) are expected to compete in 28 sports and 306 events at 37 venues over the course of the 16-day event.Technology companies aren’t just supplying technology; they’re also helping to sponsor the games. Atos, a European IT services company is a Worldwide Olympic Partner; Cisco is an official Olympics supporter and Microsoft and Symantec are official Olympic suppliers.+ MORE OLYMPICS: Rio Olympics pose security risks to travelers +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How tech’s all-stars are playing the Olympics

From Aug. 5 to Aug. 21 the world will be watching Brazil as it hosts the Games of the XXXI Olympiad; and some of the biggest names in technology are helping put on the show.More than 10,500 athletes from 206 countries (including 555 U.S. Olympians) are expected to compete in 28 sports and 306 events at 37 venues over the course of the 16-day event.Technology companies aren’t just supplying technology; they’re also helping to sponsor the games. Atos, a European IT services company is a Worldwide Olympic Partner; Cisco is an official Olympics supporter and Microsoft and Symantec are official Olympic suppliers.+ MORE OLYMPICS: Rio Olympics pose security risks to travelers +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Worth Reading: One second warning

Time, as measured according to the Earth’s rotation, is getting slower. If we want 86,400 seconds to measure precisely one rotation of the earth on its axis then over time each second will have to get shorter. Instead, we defined “one second” as a fixed unit of time based on atomic vibrations (9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation emitted by a caesium-133 atom in the transition between the two hyperfine levels of its ground state). But as the earth’s rotation slows, the fixed time period will mean that the time of day, the solar time, will drift. —potaroo

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Black Hat: Be wary of HTTP/2 on Web servers

Researchers at Black Hat describe finding four flaws – now fixed - in the way the major server vendors implemented HTTP/2, but warn that the year-old Web protocol remains fertile ground for hackers seeking weaknesses in the way it’s rolled out.+More on Network World: IRS warns on super summer scam scourge | Follow all the coverage from Black Hat +A team at security vendor Imperva says they found nothing vulnerable about the protocol itself, but that they created distributed denial-of-service attacks that took advantage of openings left by how servers support the protocol.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Black Hat: Be wary of HTTP/2 on Web servers

Researchers at Black Hat describe finding four flaws – now fixed - in the way the major server vendors implemented HTTP/2, but warn that the year-old Web protocol remains fertile ground for hackers seeking weaknesses in the way it’s rolled out.+More on Network World: IRS warns on super summer scam scourge | Follow all the coverage from Black Hat +A team at security vendor Imperva says they found nothing vulnerable about the protocol itself, but that they created distributed denial-of-service attacks that took advantage of openings left by how servers support the protocol.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

FAA authorizes private robotic space shot to the moon

The Federal Aviation Administration this week granted permission to a privately-held space firm to launch a robotic spacecraft to the moon. Moon Express expects to launch its MX-1 spacecraft on a two-week mission to the lunar surface in 2017.   The MX-1, which is about as large as a suitcase will include instruments and a camera to explore the moon’s surface. +More on Network World: NASA: Top 10 space junk missions+ “The MX-1E is a spacecraft/lander capable of transfer from Earth orbit to the Moon, making a soft landing on the lunar surface, and performing post-landing relocations through propulsive ‘hops,’” the FAA stated. The FAA Office of Commercial Space Transportation holds controlling powers over space launches and their payloads.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

FAA authorizes private robotic space shot to the moon

The Federal Aviation Administration this week granted permission to a privately-held space firm to launch a robotic spacecraft to the moon. Moon Express expects to launch its MX-1 spacecraft on a two-week mission to the lunar surface in 2017.   The MX-1, which is about as large as a suitcase will include instruments and a camera to explore the moon’s surface. +More on Network World: NASA: Top 10 space junk missions+ “The MX-1E is a spacecraft/lander capable of transfer from Earth orbit to the Moon, making a soft landing on the lunar surface, and performing post-landing relocations through propulsive ‘hops,’” the FAA stated. The FAA Office of Commercial Space Transportation holds controlling powers over space launches and their payloads.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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