The MDL Times - Science and Tech. News on MDL

Discussion in 'Serious Discussion' started by kldpdas, Jun 30, 2011.

  1. Katzenfreund

    Katzenfreund MDL Expert

    Jul 15, 2016
    1,373
    832
    60
    China’s Straddling Bus Is Gathering Dust
    Hyped as the future of transit, it now sits indefinitely in an open shed.
    Dec 8, 2016

    Back in August, reports surfaced that China’s straddling bus/train had finally completed its initial road test, marking the first step toward a public rollout. Sadly, as is so often the case these days, the reality hasn’t matched the hype; the vehicle now stands abandoned in the middle of a Hebei city road.

    It seems the company behind the vehicle was hiding a few facts. Firstly, the test run didn’t replicate real traffic conditions - Qinhuangdao city officials weren’t even aware it took place. The firm later admitted that it wasn’t actually a “road test,” but part of “internal testing.”

    There were also questions over how certain vehicles would pass under the TEB. With just under 7 feet of clearance, trucks and traditional buses would face problems when encountering the straddling "bus". And maintenance cost would be tremendous.

    Despite all the negative publicity, more TEB testing was announced in September. But according to the Shanghaiist, a local reporter who went to check up on the vehicle found it in a rusted barn in the middle of the road, watched by a pair of elderly security guards who had also been forgotten. "The managers from the company have long drifted away, and I am unable to contact them," said one.

    http://www.citylab.com/tech/2016/12/china-straddling-bus-project-abandoned/509990/
     
  2. Tiger-1

    Tiger-1 MDL Guru

    Oct 18, 2014
    7,894
    10,735
    240
    @Katz very interesting article thanks :)
     
    Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...
  3. Katzenfreund

    Katzenfreund MDL Expert

    Jul 15, 2016
    1,373
    832
    60
    Yahoo hacked again – One billion accounts affected

    Yahoo has announced another huge security breach, leaving its users fretting once again about their personal information.

    The latest data theft affected more than one billion accounts, Yahoo (YHOO, Tech30) says. That's roughly double the number involved in the cybersecurity incident it announced in September, which is believed to be separate.

    The embattled tech company said it's notifying users who may have been affected by the breach and making them change their passwords.

    The problem is it happened all the way back in August 2013. That means whoever plundered the information has had more than three years to exploit it, security experts say.

    "Yahoo has now won the gold medal and the silver medal for the worst hacks in history," said Hemu Nigam, CEO of online security consultancy SSP Blue.

    http://money.cnn.com/2016/12/15/technology/yahoo-security-breach-billion-users/

    And the expected consequence
    Less than 24 hours after Yahoo disclosed that one billion of its users had personal data stolen by a state-sponsored actor, Verizon is “exploring a price cut or possible exit” from its proposed blockbuster deal to acquire Yahoo, according to Bloomberg.

    My comment: What surprises me is that Yahoo has One billion users. As for being repeatedly hacked, that’s hardly news any more, in fact it’s getting monotonous. And it doesn't seem so effective to me changing passwords well over three years later. Talk of closing the stable door after the horse has bolted.
     
  4. MrMagic

    MrMagic MDL Guru

    Feb 13, 2012
    6,011
    4,152
    210
    Everyone affected should sue Yahoo! for lacking in security and putting their data at risk, that would put an end to them once and for all
     
  5. Tiger-1

    Tiger-1 MDL Guru

    Oct 18, 2014
    7,894
    10,735
    240
    @Katz damn Yahoo! well myself cancelled my account another day and not return nevermore :sneaky:
     
    Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...
  6. wazzock

    wazzock MDL Senior Member

    Oct 22, 2016
    337
    187
    10
    If verizon buy yahoo, it could well cost then a bleeding fortune because of yahoo breaches, they may cancel the deal. you may find yahoo going down the crapper :biggrin:
     
    Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...
  7. R29k

    R29k MDL GLaDOS

    Feb 13, 2011
    5,178
    4,819
    180
    The may well ask for and get a decent price cut.
     
    Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...
  8. Joe C

    Joe C MDL Guru

    Jan 12, 2012
    3,507
    2,082
    120
    The yahoo breach was in 2013, kinda late to do anything about it. Yahoo didn't tell anybody till now.
     
    Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...
  9. Katzenfreund

    Katzenfreund MDL Expert

    Jul 15, 2016
    1,373
    832
    60
    Also late to change the password as they advise. According to their announcement, it appears they didn't even realize they had been hacked and were informed recently about it by the authorities who noticed users data being stolen.
     
  10. Katzenfreund

    Katzenfreund MDL Expert

    Jul 15, 2016
    1,373
    832
    60
    "According to collated research and a recent Harvard Business Review report, the failure rate for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) sits between 70 percent and 90 percent. (Jan 28, 2015)"

    http://www.businessrevieweurope.eu/finance/390/Why-do-up-to-90-of-Mergers-and-Acquisitions-Fail

    Surely company directors know these stats and the chances being heavily against them. Yet, they still keep buying other companies, to boost their ego as I see it, what is called megalomania.
     
  11. Joe C

    Joe C MDL Guru

    Jan 12, 2012
    3,507
    2,082
    120
    AT&T has been using Yahoo mail for some time now, if Verizon overtakes Yahoo means screwing AT&T's mail service and defeating your competition, or at least make AT&T find another email service. It's how corporate works
     
    Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...
  12. Katzenfreund

    Katzenfreund MDL Expert

    Jul 15, 2016
    1,373
    832
    60
    LG to launch PJ9 levitating speaker at CES 2017

    LG is taking the idea of a wireless speaker a step further with the launch of a Bluetooth speaker that plays music while floating in mid-air.

    [​IMG]

    The LG PJ9 levitating speaker uses electromagnets housed within a base station - or Levitation Station, as LG refers to it - to make the speaker hover a few centimetres in the air.

    Sound comes courtesy of a 360-degree omnidirectional speaker inside the floating section of the PJ9 and a subwoofer inside the base.

    Connect a Bluetooth device, phone or tablet to the speaker (you can connect up to two devices at once) and you'll get 10 hours of music before the portable speaker runs out of battery.

    And the floating speaker has a special move: when the battery is running out of juice, the speaker will lower itself onto the Levitation Station in order to charge, all without interrupting your music.

    Thanks to its rechargeable battery, LG’s levitating speaker is good for using outside, promising to withstand “adverse weather conditions”.

    http://www.whathifi.com/news/lg-to-launch-pj9-levitating-speaker-ces-2017
     
  13. Katzenfreund

    Katzenfreund MDL Expert

    Jul 15, 2016
    1,373
    832
    60
    Smart TVs aren't immune to ransomware

    Security experts for years have been warning consumers that smart TVs are a prime target for hackers. Aside from the fact that sets with microphones and cameras can serve as excellent eavesdropping devices, we’re now seeing connected TVs being hit with ransomware.

    As Bleeping Computer highlights, software engineer Darren Cauthon recently posted a photo on Twitter of a family member’s LG smart TV (model 50GA6400) that had been bricked by Android malware. Based on the image, the publication believes the set was infected with a version of the Cyber.Police ransomware, sometimes referred to as FLocker, Frantic Locker or Dogspectus.

    https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/android-ransomware-infects-lg-smart-tv/
     
  14. Katzenfreund

    Katzenfreund MDL Expert

    Jul 15, 2016
    1,373
    832
    60
    I was just thinking...

    As smart TVs can be attacked by viruses (see above), a smart advertiser could infect them with his smart adware designed to replace the TV's own ads. Then people wouldn't even notice they've got adware infection.
     
  15. R29k

    R29k MDL GLaDOS

    Feb 13, 2011
    5,178
    4,819
    180
    Smart people might be aware :D the problem is smart tv's are actually dumb !
     
    Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...
  16. Michaela Joy

    Michaela Joy MDL Crazy Lady

    Jul 26, 2012
    4,068
    4,649
    150
    Not as dumb as the idiots who sit around them, fixated on the drivel that pours from them. ;)
     
    Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...
  17. Katzenfreund

    Katzenfreund MDL Expert

    Jul 15, 2016
    1,373
    832
    60
    Drug used to treat Alzheimer's could regenerate teeth, eradicating the need for fillings
    Great news for people who dread getting fillings

    Jan 10, 2017

    Most adults will have to endure fillings at some point in their lives, but an end to the uncomfortable procedure could be in sight after scientists from the Dental Institute at King's College London discovered a way of stimulating tooth regrowth and repairing cavities.

    The team found that when a biodegradable sponge was soaked in the drug Tideglusib and put inside a cavity, it could encourage cells in the dental pulp to heal small holes in mice teeth, leading to "complete, effective natural repair" in four to six weeks.

    While teeth are able to regenerate a thin band of dentine – the layer between the enamel and the pulp of the tooth – it’s not enough to repair large cavities that are the result of tooth decay.

    Tideglusib heightens the activity of stem cells in the dental pulp, triggering them to develop into odontoblasts (specialised tooth cells) and boosting the production of dentine. As the sponge – made from collagen - degrades, new dentine is regenerated to replace it. "The sponge is biodegradable, that's the key thing,” one of the researchers, Prof. Paul Sharpe, told the BBC. “The space occupied by the sponge becomes full of minerals as the dentine regenerates so you don't have anything in there to fail in the future."

    The researchers estimate that the treatment could become commercially available within three to five years.

    http://news.nationalpost.com/health...-repair-cavities-regrow-teeth?__lsa=d3fd-623d
     
  18. Tiger-1

    Tiger-1 MDL Guru

    Oct 18, 2014
    7,894
    10,735
    240
    @Katz yep very good news this drug can help millions of persons around the world I'm happy :)
     
    Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...
  19. gorski

    gorski MDL Guru

    Oct 21, 2009
    5,558
    1,479
    180
    Especially with my BSE... :D :D :D
     
    Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...
  20. Michaela Joy

    Michaela Joy MDL Crazy Lady

    Jul 26, 2012
    4,068
    4,649
    150
    Maybe they can also target PTSD for veterans who have suffered the horrors of war.
     
    Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...