Some Android apps caught covertly sending GPS data to advertisers

Some Android apps caught covertly sending GPS data to advertisers: "

The results of a study conducted by researchers from Duke University, Penn State University, and Intel Labs have revealed that a significant number of popular Android applications transmit private user data to advertising networks without explicitly asking or informing the user. The researchers developed a piece of software called TaintDroid that uses dynamic taint analysis to detect and report when applications are sending potentially sensitive information to remote servers.

They used TaintDroid to test 30 popular free Android applications selected at random from the Android market and found that half were sending private information to advertising servers, including the user's location and phone number. In some cases, they found that applications were relaying GPS coordinates to remote advertising network servers as frequently as every 30 seconds, even when not displaying advertisements. These findings raise concern about the extent to which mobile platforms can insulate users from unwanted invasions of privacy.

Jessica Alba's CGI Nude Scene: Is This The Future Of Movie "Nudity"? [Video]

Jessica Alba's CGI Nude Scene: Is This The Future Of Movie "Nudity"? [Video]: "

When the first footage of 'Machete' started to leak out, it seemed like a buffet of celebrity nudity: constant exposed flesh from Lindsay Lohan! Jessica Alba in the shower! Other, future famous women dancing around with nothing on at all! More »

Astronomers have discovered a habitable planet 20 light years away [Space Colonization]

Astronomers have discovered a habitable planet 20 light years away [Space Colonization]: "

Orbiting a nearby red dwarf star called Gliese 581 are 6 planets. One of them is a rocky ball, bigger than Earth, in the 'habitable zone' where water is liquid and temperatures are human-friendly. It's possible we could live there. More »

Judge puts hammer down on Hurt Locker P2P subpoena

Judge puts hammer down on Hurt Locker P2P subpoena: "

A federal judge in South Dakota this week quashed a US Copyright Group subpoena targeting an ISP in his state. Why? Jurisdiction, and a fax machine.

Regional Internet service provider Midcontinent wasn't amused when it received, by fax, a subpoena on August 9 that demanded Midcontinent turn over the name, address, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, and Mac addresses of several “Doe” defendants accused of pirating the film The Hurt Locker. But instead of interacting with the Washington, DC court that issued the subpoena in the first place, Midcontinent instead went to its local federal court, the US District Court for the Southern Division of South Dakota.

Black strings are the bizarre, five-dimensional cousins of black holes [Mad Science]

Black strings are the bizarre, five-dimensional cousins of black holes [Mad Science]: "

Black holes might be infinitely weirder than simply ultra-dense masses from which even light can't escape - they might actually be the end result of the collapse of five-dimensional objects known as black strings. Yeah...this one's going to get weird. More »

Saturn On Psychedelic Drugs [Video]

Saturn On Psychedelic Drugs [Video]: "

The Cassini spacecraft has captured this psychedelic false color view of Saturn's aurora (in green). If we think that Earth's aurora is awesome, imagine watching an aurora larger than a dozen Earths. Here's the time lapse video: More »

debian-main

debian-main: ""

Chris Nolan is meeting with a short list of possible Superman directors [Chris Nolan]

Chris Nolan is meeting with a short list of possible Superman directors [Chris Nolan]: "

The new Superman movie is roaring ahead — The Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan, who's producing, reportedly has five potential directors in mind, and he's meeting with them now. So who's in line to revamp the Man Of Tomorrow? More »

Alien astronomers could spot Neptune through the cosmic dust...but maybe not Earth [Mad Astronomy]

Alien astronomers could spot Neptune through the cosmic dust...but maybe not Earth [Mad Astronomy]: "

Any alien astronomers searching for life-supporting exoplanets could be in for a disappointment if they look at our solar system - the massive amount of dust in the outer solar system could make all the planets except Neptune effectively invisible. More »

Scientific estimate puts total BP oil spill at 4.4 million barrels [Disaster]

Scientific estimate puts total BP oil spill at 4.4 million barrels [Disaster]: "

Research published in Science shows that the BP oil leak pumped out approximately of 4.4 million barrels of oil before being completely capped. That's around 185 million gallons, or 700 million liters. Scientists from Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory studied high resolution footage of the plume, and used a technique known as optical plume velocimetry to gauge the volume. From this, they state that between 22 April and 3 June the output was 56,000 barrels per day, ±21%, after which it increased to 68,000 barrels per day, ±19%, until it was capped on the 15th of July. This is a rate substantially higher than those originally put forth by the Government or BP, which originally started at just 1,000 barrels per day, but in line with current estimates. More »

Photos of nuclear weapons, narrated by the photographer

Photos of nuclear weapons, narrated by the photographer: "

George Yoshitake, a photographer who documented US nuclear blasts (both on the testing field and in war) narrates this NYT slideshow of his work. I don't know what's more striking: the disintegrating materiel or the sight of all those scientists and VIPs watching from their Adirondack loungers.

Capturing the Atom Bomb on Film

(via Kottke)

• Swiss police foil plot to bomb IBM atomic/nanotech research ...


• Animated map of nuclear explosions, 1945-1998


• An alternative to the atomic bomb?


• If an A-Bomb Falls


• RIP, Atomic Ed Grothus, curator and proprietor of the Black Hole ...


• HOWTO survive a nuclear attack - Mutual of Omaha, 1951

NASA shoots lasers at the Moon, because science is awesome [Space Porn]

NASA shoots lasers at the Moon, because science is awesome [Space Porn]: "

Last night was 'International Observe the Moon Night', and of the 400 or so Moon-centric gatherings around the world, this one had to be the most spectacular, as NASA shot laser blasts at the Moon...for strictly scientific purposes, honest. More »

The Carina Nebula is a cosmic ice sculpture [Space Porn]

The Carina Nebula is a cosmic ice sculpture [Space Porn]: "

7500 light-years from Earth, the radiation of nearby stars is carving the cold molecular clouds of the Carina nebula into these strange, fantastical shapes. It's a bit like carving ice figures here on Earth...except these sculptures are one light-year tall. More »

Extreme X-rays may be signature of lame black hole

Extreme X-rays may be signature of lame black hole: "

Last summer, we reported on an extremely bright object that may have been an intermediate mass black hole. The existence of black holes this size has been hotly debated, in part because we've never observed one. The object, 2XMM J011028.1-460421 or (more
conveniently) HLX-1, is a source of ultraluminous X-rays near the
spiral galaxy ESO
243-49. Newly reported results, appearing in an upcoming edition of The Astrophysical Journal, confirm that HLX-1 is over 100 times brighter than typical objects in
its class, and a factor of 10 times more luminous than its nearest
peer.

The prior work could not conclusively rule out the possibility that the X-rays were produced by a foreground star or background galaxy. With new observations made using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope
in Chile, the researchers were able to obtain an optical spectrum of
HLX-1. With this spectrum, it was possible to calculate a
precise distance between HLX-1 and Earth.

Using some more advanced techniques, it was possible to separate the light from HLX-1 and the light generated by ESO
243-49. The analysis proved that HLX-1 is indeed part of ESO
243-49, and not one of the alternatives, like a supermassive black hole in the center of a distant
galaxy, or a source in our own galaxy. Given its location, the previous brightness
calculations are correct.

While still not conclusive, these new
findings strengthen the case that HLX-1 is an intermediate mass black
hole. According to Sean Farrell, one of the authors, 'This [the result] is very difficult to explain without the presence of an
intermediate mass black hole of between ~500 and 10,000 times the mass
of the Sun. HLX-1 is therefore (so far!) weathering the scrutiny of the
international astronomy community.' The team has secured time on the Hubble Space Telescope to take the
highest resolution images of the host galaxy to date in the hopes of learning
more about this intriguing object.

The Astrophysical Journal, 2010. DOI: upcoming

SD, SDHC and SDXC cards get speed injection

SD, SDHC and SDXC cards get speed injection: "

The SD Association has announced that it has increased the speed of its latest edition of SD memory cards, by creating a new, dual-row pin memory card design.

The new system is fully backwards compatible with readers, in that it doesn't alter the shape or size of the cards and it has been designed for use with both full-size and micro versions of SD.

No new system is complete without a fancy number after it, so the SD Association is calling this now generation of cards SD 4.0.

HD support

'Our innovative dual-row pin design ultimately lets consumers using equipped products to manage the massive storage capacity found on SDXC memory cards at incredible speeds,' explained Norm Frentz, chairman of the SD Association about the new setup.

'SD can now support high definition video from Hollywood movie studios, television broadcasts, or HD videos taken on your latest vacation. SD is a very popular, extremely portable and easy-to-use storage medium that has enhanced the enjoyment and portability of music, photos and data.'

The new speedier versions of SD have a UK release date of 2011, after the 4.0 specification is finalised.

The Carriage

The Carriage: ""

Hot water around giant carbon star creates interstellar mystery

Hot water around giant carbon star creates interstellar mystery: "

Hot water discovered around a giant carbon star requires a new theory for the chemistry around stars to be explained. The new theory could significantly alter our understanding of what materials exist in interstellar space, and where water and life could exist in the universe.

'It makes us realize that the chemistry in all stars can be much more complex than we thought it was,' said astronomer Leen Decin of the Instituut voor Sterrenkunde in Belgium, lead author of the study published Sept. 2 in Nature. 'If we don't understand what is created from these old stars, we don't know what the main ingredients of new stars and planets are made from.'

Incredible Obi Wan Kenobi Lightsaber Replica

Incredible Obi Wan Kenobi Lightsaber Replica: "

Built with astounding precision and detail, this Obi Wan Kenobi lightsaber prop features a step by step DIY tutorial complete with high-res photos. The lightsaber is machined in precision detail with an aluminum and steel body and a string of blue LEDs housed in a polycarbonate tube illuminates the saber blade.

Like a true Star Wars fan, he included the authentic touch using a speaker to mimic the classic lightsaber hum. There is even a volume dial to control the intensity. If you have the tools for the job, the seven pages build instructions and the high resolution photos should be enough to help you build your own.

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