Researchers make breakthrough in aviation safety, devise airplane wings that self-heal cracks

airplane

The University of Bristol has devised a way that enables flight wings to self-heal the micro cracks they develop, providing a breakthrough in the safety measures in the aviation field. The research university, which has been working on this since 2008, says self-healing airplane wings could be introduced in the next five to ten years.

What’s fascinating about the self-healing phenomenon is that it takes inspiration from how the human body functions. When we get a cut, our body is able to clot the blood and heal the damage completely over time, and the airplane wing is also doing a similar thing. Except it is utilizing a liquid carbon healing agent instead of white blood cells, of course.

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Microsoft announces 1TB Xbox One, new controller, and Wireless Adapter for Windows

XboxOne_1TBConsole

As someone who just bought a 500GB Xbox One -- the white Halo edition -- I can attest to the awesome capabilities that the console offers. Not only have I been using it to play amazing games like Ori and the Blind Forest, but for watching movies and TV too. Everybody Loves Raymond full series on Netflix? Sweet!

Today, however my new purchase loses a little luster. You see, Microsoft announces an all-new 1TB variant -- double the storage -- in a new matte-black for $399. The controller is slightly tweaked, featuring a 3.5mm jack, improved audio quality and more. Even PC gamers should be excited, as a wireless dongle for the controller is finally coming to Windows.

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Ransomware sees 165 percent increase in 2015

ransom note

The first quarter of this year saw a 165 percent increase in new ransomware driven largely by the new, hard-to-detect CTB-Locker ransomware family, a new ransomware family called Teslacrypt, and the emergence of new versions of CryptoWall, TorrentLocker and BandarChor.

This is the main finding of the latest McAfee Labs Threats Report released today by Intel Security. Among other highlights are a 317 percent increase in Adobe Flash malware samples and the emergence of new efforts to exploit hard drive and SSD firmware.

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Future cars will be able to detect your alcohol levels

Car alcohol detection system

In the future, your car might decide if you’re capable of driving, or drunk out of your mind and unable to drive 200 metres without looking like a GTA character.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) revealed an alcohol-detection technology that it wants to implement in future vehicles. If the technology detects you’ve been drinking, it can decide not to start the car at all.

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Microsoft marshals rivals' support against US Government in cloud database suit

justice the law

It started as an innocuous order by the US Federal Court forcing tech giant Microsoft to provide an email record from one of its cloud database customers held in a database in Ireland. The issue has not only roped in other tech firms for which data forms the core of operations, but also other interested parties including the government of Ireland.

While battle lines in the technology world are always being drawn between the largest players, this time they have coalesced together to fight for the privacy of their databases. At the forefront are rivals and key players in the industry including Apple, and Cisco, who have filed an Amicus Curiae application.

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Cisco announces new embedded security solutions

Cisco

Networking specialist Cisco is announcing new products to provide embedded enterprise security from the data center out to endpoints, branch offices and the cloud.

The company used this week's Cisco Live conference to announce that it's adding more sensors to increase visibility; more control points to strengthen enforcement; and pervasive, advanced threat protection to reduce time-to-detection and time-to-response, limiting the impact of attacks.

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AVG partners with ZTE to bring security to mobile devices

ZTE logo

Mobile security is starting to get attention, but still doesn't garner the same amount as the computer does. That doesn't mean it shouldn't be a concern, only that the average user isn't looking at it that way. However, we're starting to see that landscape slowly changing, with phones coming with built-in security software.

The latest will be devices from Chinese manufacturer ZTE, as the company has partnered with security firm AVG, which has long offered mobile apps to protect consumers.

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How to install iOS 9 beta on your iPhone or iPad right now, with or without a dev account

iOS 9 shown on iPad Air 2 and iPhone 6 Plus

At the WWDC keynote on Monday, Apple demoed iOS 9. New features include updates to Apple Pay, a News app, improved Notes, a more intelligent Siri, updated keyboard, split screen on iPad, and a new low power mode that promises to deliver up to three more hours of battery life.

If you’re an iOS user, it looks like a great update, and you’ll be able to try out the public beta when it is released in July (the finished version will be released in the fall). But hold on, you don’t want to wait that long? Well the good news is there’s a developer preview already available, and it’s possible to install this with or without a dev account. A word of warning though, don't skip the backup step as according to Apple, "Devices updated to iOS 9 beta cannot be restored to earlier versions of iOS".

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Build a custom Windows setup disc with NTLite

NTLite200-175

Reinstalling Windows is tedious, especially if you need to do it on a regular basis. It’s not just a matter of grinding your way through Windows Setup, it’s everything you have to do afterwards to set the system up properly.

NTLite can save you a stack of time by allowing you to build your own Windows 7/ 8/ 8.1/ 10 custom setup disc, which leaves out the Windows components you don’t need, installs the drivers or service packs you do, and generally sets up the PC to suit your needs.

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Sorry haters, but science proves the Internet really, really loves Apple

Apple A+

During yesterday’s WWDC keynote, Apple showed off new versions of OS X, iOS, and watchOS, as well as taking the wraps off of its new streaming music service and radio station.

While the event was going on, people were tweeting about it, and Oxford University's TheySay linguistics tool monitored Twitter from just before the keynote started to just after it ended, and then used the data from 94,528 Apple-related tweets to work out the overall sentiment, including what people thought about each of the products and services Apple covered. The result was overwhelmingly positive.

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Major Microsoft products lose Facebook integration

facebook_magnifying_glass

Social integration is a key aspect of Microsoft's vision for its most prominent consumer-facing products. For instance, on Outlook.com you can have a Skype conversation, on Skype you can chat with Facebook friends, and on Windows Phone you can see your contacts' social updates, like tweets, in People hub. This is one of my favorite things about the software giant's products. It is also a standout feature that its rivals are not yet offering.

A core component is Facebook integration, which is present in Windows and Windows Phone, as well as Office 365, OneDrive and Outlook.com. But, thanks to an update to Facebook's Graph API, integration with the most-popular social network is going away in all currently-supported products.

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Mid-sized businesses are underusing their IT management

Head on laptop

In 89 percent of mid-sized companies IT management focuses on day-to-day tasks that are often time-consuming and manual which means that business isn't getting the most from its IT investment.

This is one of the main findings of a survey by cloud-based IT management provider Kaseya which looked at 500 mid-sized enterprises globally and compares the practices of IT departments in faster growth companies with those in slower growth companies, and the practices of more mature IT organizations with those of less mature ones.

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EU pushes forward with net neutrality plan, removal of roaming fees

FCC votes in favor of Net Neutrality... just

European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, Günther Hermann Oettinger, is set to meet with national ministers next Friday to try and end the deadlock between national ministers and MEPs on the subject of net neutrality.

Negotiations on the so-called Telco Package had ground to a halt on Tuesday night when national representatives from the Council and those from the European Parliament failed to compromise on net neutrality or roaming charges, The Register writes in a report.

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Botnets for hire mean anyone can launch a DDoS attack

botnet herder

The latest DDoS Threat Landscape Report from security specialist Incapsula reveals that whilst 71 percent of network layer attacks last under three hours, 20.4 percent last for more than five days.

At an estimated cost of $40,000 per hour according to Incapsula, the total cost of these attacks can run into millions of dollars. The longest attack recorded lasted for 64 days.

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iOS 9 introduces six-digit passcode default for Touch ID devices

iOS 9 introduces six-digit passcode default for Touch ID devices

With iOS 9, Apple is improving the mobile operating system in a number of areas. As well as optimizing battery life and storage efficiency, making Siri more intelligent and beefing up multitasking, Touch ID-enabled iPhone and iPad owners will feel the benefit of improved security.

When iOS 9 launches in the fall, the minimum length of passcodes increases from four digits to six. It is already possible to use passcodes of more than four digits, but enforcing a stronger policy from the offset illustrates the importance Apple now places on security.

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