Category: Science &Technology

{Apple is headed to court today to defend against allegations that it “abused a monopoly position in the digital music player market”, in a class action lawsuit in California that could cost the company $1 billion, reports Reuters.}

The case in question was brought forward by a group of businesses and individuals who bought iPods between 2006 and 2009, who claim that a 2006 iTunes software update locked music purchased on iTunes so that it could only be played on Apple’s portable music players.

The update also barred RealPlayer music from iPods, which posed a problem for those who owned RealPlayer content, and that discouraged plaintiffs from upgrading to a competing device.

To put it more simply, those who bought music on iTunes and RealPlayer wouldn’t be able to listen to RealPlayer content on their iPods, and switching to a different device would lock them out of their iTunes libraries.

The group is seeking $350 million in damages, which, under antitrust laws, automatically triples to over $1 billion.

Apple says that its iTunes software update included genuine product improvements and shouldn’t be construed as anti-competitive.

Emails and taped deposition excerpts from the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs are expected to be entered into evidence, and top executives Eddy Cue and Philip Schiller are scheduled to testify at Tuesday’s trial in Oakland.

{Radio telescopes on Earth will beam 90,000 messages to Mars on Friday to commemorate the launch 50 years ago of the first robotic probe to visit the planet.}

A U.S. space funding company called Uwingu organized the extraterrestrial shout-out to mark the 50th anniversary of NASA’s Mariner 4 mission and to raise funds for its other projects.

Uwingu’s “Beam Me To Mars” initiative invited interested participants to send digital radio-wave transmissions of their names, messages and pictures to Mars for fees ranging from $5 to $99.

The effort attracted several celebrities including actor and comedian Seth Green and actor George Takei, who portrayed Mr. Sulu on the television series “Star Trek.”

The transmission is scheduled to begin just after 3 p.m. EST/2000 GMT on Friday. Traveling at the speed of light, the messages will take 15 minutes to reach Mars. The entire transmission will be repeated twice.

While there is no one on Mars to answer the call, project organizers say that is beside the point.

Copies of the messages will be delivered to Congress, to NASA headquarters in Washington, and the United Nations in New York as a show of support for space exploration.

“Though no one is on Mars yet to receive the messages, here on Earth people will hear them loud and clear,” Uwingu wrote on the project website.

Uwingu, pronounced “oo-wing-goo” which means “sky” in Swahili, is a privately owned company that raises money to fund space research and educational outreach projects.

Since Mariner 4’s successful flyby of Mars, returning the first pictures of the planet’s surface, more than 20 other spacecraft have successfully visited, orbited or landed on the planet’s surface.

NASA currently has three orbiters and two rovers working on Mars, and the European Space Agency and India each have one Mars orbiter.

The long-term goal of the U.S. space program is to land astronauts on the Red Planet.

{{Reuters}}

{United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has announced the formation of a High-Level Panel to study the scope and functions of a proposed new “technology bank” and dedicated to helping the world’s least developed countries (LDCs) advance out of poverty, the Organization’s spokesperson confirmed yesterday.
}

The High-Level Panel – which is to advise on the organizational and operational aspects of the planned “Technology Bank and Science, Technology and Innovation Supporting Mechanism” – will be chaired by Rwanda’s Romain Murenzi, currently Executive Director of the World Academy of Sciences in Trieste, Italy, and includes five women and five men from LDCs and their development partners from the Global North and South.

Other panel members include, Mohamed Hassan of Sudan, Bruce Lehman of the United States, Tebello Nyokong of South Africa, Dorte Olesen of Denmark, Posh Raj Pandey of Nepal, Michèle Duvivier Pierre-Louis of Haiti, Firdausi Qadri of Bangladesh, Fang Xin of China, Hakan Karatas of Turkey, and the UN Under Secretary-General and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, Gyan Chandra Acharya.

“The Secretary-General has asked the High-Level Panel to prepare practical recommendations on this important matter, which can provide a strong impetus to accelerating structural transformation and sustainable development of the LDCs,” Mr. Ban’s spokesperson said in a note to correspondents.

Constituted in response to a request to the Secretary-General by the UN General Assembly, during its 68th session, the Panel was established “to examine the scope and functions of the proposed Technology Bank, its organizational aspects and its institutional linkages with the UN,” the spokesperson added.

The Panel will hold its first meeting in February 2015 and is expected to submit its report to the Secretary- General during the summer of next year.

UN

{The final batch of 130 troops of 31 Infantry Battalion of the Rwanda Defence Forces (RDF) who were serving in AU/ UN Hybrid Peacekeeping Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), Sudan arrived on 20 November 2014 at 1900Hrs aboard RwandAir. The 31 Infantry Battalion was deployed in Kabkabiya, Salufmra and El Salif in the north of Darfur.}

Upon arrival at Kigali International Airport, the Commanding Officer, Lt Col Kitoko Kadida said that the mission was a success?. “Our mission was to protect civilians which we accomplished well”. He added that during their tour of duty they experienced threats from Armed Groups attacking Internal Displaced Persons (IDPs) Camp in AL Salam. Ethnic conflicts among the communities forced thousands of people to flee their homes to Salufumra IDPs. In both situations Rwanda peacekeepers intervened and saved the lives of people.

Lt Col Kitoko said that the security in Kabkabiya is unpredictable and still volatile but with “current international efforts I hope the situation will stabilise”. Rwanda peacekeepers supported the population with water and medical treatment.

On behalf of RDF Chief of Defence Staff, Brig Gen Johnson Hodari and other Senior Officers welcomed the peacekeepers. He thanked them for the job well done characterised by high level of discipline during their tour of duty. Gen Hodari urged them to uphold the discipline which is the foundation of all achievements by Rwanda Defence Forces.

The last chalk of 55 Infantry Battalion troops that replaced 31 Infantry Battalion in UNAMID was airlifted on 20 November 2014 by the same RwandAir flight that brought home 31 Infantry Battalion.

Rwanda, the fifth biggest troop contributing country in the world, began the relief in place operation on 6 November 2014, for the 5,000 RDF peacekeepers deployed in UNAMID in Sudan, UNMISS in South Sudan and MINUSCA in Central African Republic. The relief in place operation, utilising Rwanda national carrier, Rwanda Air is expected to conclude on 15 February 2015 after transporting over 10,000 troops.

MOD

{An extremely sophisticated computer spying program has been spying on computers in Saudi Arabia, Russia, and other countries since at least 2008, security company Symantec says}

The software, called Regin, is similar in its complexity and the way it hides its presence, to Stuxnet, a computer virus that former U.S. officials say was created by the U.S. and Israel to attack Iran’s nuclear-enrichment facilities.

Symantec said Regin infections were observed between 2008 and 2011, after which it was abruptly withdrawn. A new version of the malware resurfaced from 2013 onwards. It is customizable, in that it deploys different capabilities for different targets.

The spyware targeted private companies, government entities, research institutes, and telecoms companies. The latter were targeted in a way designed to gain access to calls being routed through their infrastructure, Symantec said. The majority of targeted people and organizations were in Russia and Saudi Arabia.

Regin was created and deployed by a nation state, Symantec said, as its structure displays a degree of technical competence rarely seen. “It provides its controllers with a powerful framework for mass surveillance,” and has been used in data collection or intelligence gathering campaigns.

“Symantec believes that it’s likely a western intelligence agency is behind this. The only comparable threat that we’ve seen is Stuxnet – that’s the level of skill and expertise here,” the company told The Wall Street Journal. However, a cyber-security expert from a competing firm, who asked not to be named because he hadn’t seen the forensics on Regin yet, said it was impossible to definitely say who was behind the spy program based just on previous information, like Stuxnet.

Regin has dozens of “payloads” – specific programs meant to do specific things at specific targets. For instance, it has remote access capabilities which allow capturing a computer’s screenshots, taking control of the mouse’s point-and-click functions, stealing passwords, monitoring network traffic, and recovering deleted files.

More specific and advanced payloads discovered include a program that monitors traffic on a Microsoft MSFT -1.50% Internet information server, popular with many web sites, as well as a program that monitors traffic at mobile telephone base stations.

Regin’s central power however is its stealth. Regin’s developers put considerable effort into making it highly inconspicuous, Symantec said, allowing the program to be used in espionage campaigns lasting several years.

It does this through several stealth features, including anti-forensics capabilities, a custom-built encrypted virtual file system and other encryption features.

Symantec said that many components of Regin probably remain undiscovered and additional functionality and versions may exist.
{{
WSJ}}

{In a galaxy far, far away, a mysterious light source is intriguing an international team of astronomers.}

Known as SDSS1133, the cosmic light appears as a bright spot on astronomical surveys, where it has been captured without explanation for six decades.

After analyzing the light source, which is estimated to be more than 90 million light years away, astronomers said they’ve narrowed it down to two likely possibilities.

It could be a supermassive black hole that merged with another and was kicked out of its native galaxy or a remnant of a supernova explosion.

“With the data we have in hand, we can’t yet distinguish between these two scenarios,” said Michael Koss, an astronomer and lead researcher with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, according to NASA.

Koss added that the brightness of the light “has changed little in optical or ultraviolet light for a decade, which is not something typically seen in a young supernova remnant.”

The enigmatic light source is located in the dwarf galaxy Markarian 177 and is located inside the bowl of the Big Dipper. Supermassive black holes are usually found at the center of a galaxy, however, this light source is 2,600 light years from the core, according to NASA.

A paper by Koss and his team is being published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society on Friday, according to NASA.

Whatever the light source is — astronomers are closer than ever to solving another one of the mysteries of space.

ABC News

{A Russian website has been posting live video streams from unprotected webcams in homes and businesses around the globe, Britain’s Information Commissioner’s Office warned on Thursday.}

The website has gained access to the webcams using the cameras’ default login credentials, which are freely available online but often don’t get changed by their owners during the set-up process.

Baby monitors and CCTV networks are among the systems that have been compromised, explained Simon Rice, the ICO’s group manager for technology.

The Russian site, insecam.cc, appeared to be down on Thursday afternoon.

Reportedly listed on the offending site, according to the BBC, were streams from more than 250 countries and other territories, including 4,591 cameras in the United States, 2,059 in France, 1,576 in the Netherlands and 500 in the UK.

Foscam is the most commonly listed camera brand, followed by Linksys and then Panasonic, the BBC reported. Foscam also is the brand of baby monitor that reportedly was compromised last year in a Texas family’s home.

The Band-Aid Solution

“It isn’t hard for people to get access to webcams when default credentials are not changed,” Jarad Carleton, a principal consultant with Frost & Sullivan, told TechNewsWorld. “Users should always change default credentials, but many times people don’t.”

Many people also mistakenly believe that “nobody would be interested in hacking dad or granddad’s webcam,” Carleton added, “but any potential burglar or thief would love the intel a webcam can offer. Personally, I keep a Band-Aid over the webcam on my laptop, and I know of a lot of security professionals that do the same.”

It’s surprising that computer manufacturers haven’t started including a simple manual shutter to cover webcam lenses when they aren’t in use, he said.

“What’s even more disturbing is they have webcams on smart TVs now without manual shutters,” Carleton pointed out. “So, if you mount one of those TVs on the wall in your bedroom and it gets hacked, someone could see a lot of you and your partner.”

‘An Important Message’

Though this latest case is new, the problem has been around for some time, said Ken Westin, a security analyst for Tripwire.

“The Russian website making these feeds public is creepy, but it just provides the public with the same information security researchers and malicious hackers have had access to for years,” Westin told TechNewsWorld.

“Hopefully, the silver lining of the publicity this website is generating is that consumers will become more aware of the default settings on cameras, as well as the general security vulnerabilities in these devices,” he said.

Indeed, “the warning by the ICO about Web camera security is an important message to those who put too much trust in the default security settings of devices that we put in our homes,” observed Mark Stanislav, security project manager with Duo Security.

“Many users assume that the vendor has implemented security best practices, but often find out entirely too late that their camera has been abused by voyeurs on the Internet,” he told TechNewsWorld.

Mind the Network

What should webcam users do to protect themselves?

Changing the default password on the camera is a critical first step — but it’s not enough by itself, Westin warned.

“You also need to secure the network that camera is connected to,” he advised. “If an Internet-connected camera is on an open WiFi network, anyone sitting outside your house can connect to the network and see the camera feed.”

Consumers shopping for new Internet-enabled cameras should be sure to buy a reputable brand that provides security updates to their firmware.

“Security features may not be at the top of your list of cool camera features, but this website demonstrates why they matter,” Westin said.

An Ever-Present Risk

Finally, no matter how good they think their security may be, consumers should always be mindful of what they do in front of an Internet-connected camera, Stanislav told TechNewsWorld.

In general, “the risk of someone viewing your camera on the Internet must be weighed against the value you find in having such a device on your network and in your home,” he said.

“Even great technology companies make mistakes,” said Stanislav, “and it’s vital that consumers understand they will always face some risk using an IP camera in their home to having their privacy exposed.”

TECH NEWS WORLD

{High-resolution pictures have now been released of the Philae probe in the act of landing on Comet 67P last Wednesday.}

They were acquired by the Narrow Angle Camera on the Rosetta satellite, which had dropped the little robot towards the surface of the “ice mountain.”

The images are presented as a mosaic covering the half-hour or so around the “first touchdown” – the probe then bounced to a stop about 1km away.

Philae lost battery power on Friday and is no longer communicating with Earth.

But European Space Agency controllers have not given up hope of hearing from the plucky robot again – if it can somehow get enough light on to its solar panels to recharge its systems.

Getting a precise fix on its location, to then photograph its present predicament would provide a better idea of whether this is likely to happen.

The new NAC images will certainly help in this respect because they show the direction the lander took as it bounced away.

At the weekend, Esa presented some fascinating views of the first touchdown taken by Rosetta’s navigation cameras, but the Osiris NAC system has substantially better resolution.

The mosaic is produced by the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, which operates Osiris.

It details Philae’s descent, and the impact mark it leaves on 67P’s surface. You then see the 100kg probe heading away on its initial bounce.

This rebound reached hundreds of metres above the comet and lasted almost two hours.

When Philae came back down, it made another small leap, which took it into a high-walled trap.

Telemetry and pictures from the robot itself indicate this location is covered in deep shadow for most of 67P’s day.

As a consequence, Philae receives insufficient solar power to re-boot and form a radio link to the orbiting Rosetta spacecraft.

Esa cannot be sure the robot will ever come back to life, but even if it does not the agency says it is “hugely happy” with what was achieved in the 60 hours following landing.

The probe managed to complete more than 80% of its planned primary science campaign on the surface.

This data was pulled off the robot just before its sagging energy reserved dropped it into sleep mode.

Little of the results have so far been released by the various instrument teams. The one major exception is MUPUS.

This sensor package from the German space agency’s Institute for Planetary Research deployed a thermometer on the end of a hammer.

It retrieved a number of temperature profiles but broke as it tried to burrow its way into the comet’s subsurface.

Scientists say this shows the icy material underlying 67P’s dust covering to be far harder than anyone anticipated – having the tensile strength of some rocks.

It also helps explain why Philae bounced so high on that first touchdown.

The 4km-wide comet has little gravity, so when key landing systems designed to hold the robot down failed at the crucial moment – the probe would have been relying on thick, soft, compressive layers to absorb its impact.

However much dust it did encounter at that moment, it clearly was not enough to prevent Philae making its giant rebound.

BBC

{Skype on Friday announced Skype for Web, a new version of its VoIP service that can be used in a browser rather than through the dedicated application.}

“Perhaps you’re sitting at a computer that doesn’t already have Skype downloaded,” explained Jonathan Watson, a senior product marketing manager with Skype. “Or maybe you’re on the go and using an Internet cafe or hotel computer where you can’t download Skype at all. Using Skype for Web makes it more convenient to get to your conversations.”

To use Skype for Web, users simply sign in on Skype.com. From there, they can connect and start instant messaging directly from their browser. Voice or video calls will require a small plug-in.

Now in beta, the service works with Internet Explorer, Chrome on Windows, Firefox and Safari, but it initially will be available only to a small number of users. It will be rolled out worldwide in the coming months, Watson said.

A Boon for Employees

The new service promises to be “quite useful, because it opens up the number of computers that can use Skype significantly,” Roger Entner, principal analyst at Recon Analytics, told TechNewsWorld.

In particular, it will make Skype available for the first time to employees at companies “where the IT department locks down the computer and doesn’t let you install software,” Entner explained. “I’ve worked in quite a few companies like that.”

In addition to its Voice over Internet Protocol functionality, Skype is also a useful messaging service, he added.

“That’s one thing a lot of people don’t realize,” Entner said. “I have Skype chat channels with 40 or 50 people in them.”

Thanks to the Web feature, that’s now possible on “all the computers being held hostage by IT departments,” he pointed out.

‘A Long Time Coming’

Though a plug-in currently is required for voice and video calls, Skype is working with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer team to implement the technology necessary for real-time communications on the Web, Watson pointed out.

“With WebRTC, there won’t be any downloads or installs — you can just get straight to your conversation,” he said.

“Skype for Web has been a long time in coming,” Andy Abramson, CEO of Comunicano, told TechNewsWorld.

“Microsoft is late to the party when it comes to WebRTC,” he said. “The optics are not in their favor, so they are trying to do something to correct that.”

Firefox and Google Chrome both support WebRTC, while Apple’s Safari and Internet Explorer require a plug-in, Abramson pointed out.

In many ways, “this is nothing more than a catch-up play for Skype vs. Google Hangouts,” he said.

The Benefit of WebRTC

It could take some time for WebRTC to become commonplace.

“While I think WebRTC services will become more pervasive over time as mobile carriers move all voice, text and data to IP-based LTE networks, mainstream use is years away,” said Ritch Blasi, Comunicano’s senior vice president for mobile and wireless.

“There will always be early adopters and Skype enthusiasts who will find the browser-based service easier to use — that’s the fundamental benefit of WebRTC,” he told TechNewsWorld.

However, “it will take some time for it to reach the scale of use seen by mobile services,” Blasi added.

Efforts Better Spent Elsewhere?

In any case, while Skype’s availability through the browser “may be of interest to people not already using Skype or other messaging/communications apps,” it doesn’t really offer any advantage to mobile users or to anyone who has already downloaded Skype on their PC, Jim McGregor, founder and principal analyst with Tirias Research, told TechNewsWorld.

“The company would be better off work working on more distinct features, especially for mobile users,” he added, “because the other mobile apps are often preferred over Skype.”

Tech News World