X-Geek

Extreme geekiness

There are 699 posts filed in X-Geek (this is page 21 of 70).

A million times brigher than the sun: Astronomers reveal ‘largest yellow star ever’ | The Raw Story

I love astronomy news!

Astronomers have spotted the largest yellow star ever observed in our galaxy and 1,300 times larger than the sun.The yellow hypergiant star HR 5171 A is also in the top-10 of the largest stars known and about one million times brighter than the sun, Olivier Chesneau, whose team made the discovery, said Wednesday.

Despite its great distance of nearly 12,000 light-years from earth, the object can just about be seen with the naked eye.“
The new observations also showed that this star has a very close binary partner, which was a real surprise,” said Chesneau, of the Observatoire de la Cote d’Azur, in Nice, France.

“The two stars are so close that they touch and the whole system resembles a gigantic peanut.”

via A million times brigher than the sun: Astronomers reveal ‘largest yellow star ever’ | The Raw Story.

Critical crypto bug leaves Linux, hundreds of apps open to eavesdropping

Whoopsie! A big security hole has been discovered in a Linux package. It goes to show that Linux is not immune to flaws. The difference is that with Linux anyone can audit the code. This didn’t seem to happen with GnuTLS because apparently the code was really a mess.

Hundreds of open source packages, including the Red Hat, Ubuntu, and Debian distributions of Linux, are susceptible to attacks that circumvent the most widely used technology to prevent eavesdropping on the Internet, thanks to an extremely critical vulnerability in a widely used cryptographic code library.

The bug in the GnuTLS library makes it trivial for attackers to bypass secure sockets layer SSL and Transport Layer Security TLS protections available on websites that depend on the open source package. Initial estimates included in Internet discussions such as this one indicate that more than 200 different operating systems or applications rely on GnuTLS to implement crucial SSL and TLS operations, but it wouldn’t be surprising if the actual number is much higher. Web applications, e-mail programs, and other code that use the library are vulnerable to exploits that allow attackers monitoring connections to silently decode encrypted traffic passing between end users and servers.

via Critical crypto bug leaves Linux, hundreds of apps open to eavesdropping | Ars Technica.

I have obtained Linux Guru status

My score

My score


As part of one job recruiter’s vetting of me as a candidate, I was asked to take an online assessment of my Linux skills. I spent about 30 minutes completing this test, which turned out to be a bit more challenging than I expected. Nevertheless, my score was quite impressive, with a 4.28 out of 4.50 putting me up in the advanced category. My Linux-fu puts me in the 100th percentile for global population and 98th percentile for the company population.

The recruiters I’ve spoken with have all mentioned how in-demand people with Linux skills are. It’s good to know I’ve got skills that employers are looking for.

RALEIGH: Little Raleigh Radio goes live with online broadcast

The N&O writes about Little Raleigh Radio.

RALEIGH — When Little Raleigh Radio’s on-air sign glowed red for the first time a few weeks ago, station founders Kelly Reid and Jacob Downey knew they had made it.After years of planning, they had officially launched a community radio station.“People got to listen, which is one of the most exciting moments we’ve had,” said Reid, who, like Downey, was once a disc jockey at N.C. State’s WKNC 88.1 FM.The station’s mission is to offer music and news programs produced by locals for the Raleigh community. Already, listeners can tune in to shows featuring everything from heavy metal and contemporary classical to museum exhibits and beer.For now, the station is streaming online from a studio off St. Marys Street, but Reid and Downey hope to secure a home on the FM dial – 106.5 – as well.

via RALEIGH: Little Raleigh Radio goes live with online broadcast | Local/State | NewsObserver.com.

What I’ve learned about Google Fiber – Lori Bush – Cary Town Council, At-Large Representative

Cary Town Councilmember Lori Bush discusses what she learned from last week’s visit to the Triangle by Google Fiber representatives.

There’s been a lot of excitement about Google Fiber coming to the Triangle – and I have to admit that I’m on that band wagon. I’ve received more than 100 separate emails from Cary citizens, excited about this possibility!If you’d like to read more about our Cary position on this announcement, the Town has a FAQ on Google Fiber. You can also check out the Open Letter to Cary Citizens from our Mayor.Last week, I met with Google Fiber representatives about their plans for the Triangle, and to learn more. They were in town to meet with the municipalities about the “check list” of items that will make it easier for them to decide if Google Fiber will go forward in this area.Here is what I learned in that meeting.

via What I’ve learned about Google Fiber – Lori Bush – Cary Town Council, At-Large Representative.

Fiber letter runs in N&O

I wrote a letter to the editor last week after being amazed at all the buzz that was going around about Google considering the Triangle for Google Fiber. It created huge buzz, even though we’re not a sure bet to get it and whatever fiber Google does lay down won’t be lit for at least a year.

Here’s my short-but-sweet letter:

News that Google Fiber might bring gigabit Internet to the Triangle brought to mind the stir that must have accompanied the arrival of the railroad. Sure, a horse and buggy will get you there, but the future rides on fiber optics.

Mark Turner
Raleigh

Why Apple’s Recent Security Flaw Is So Scary

I can’t say for sure whether the National Security Agency had anything to do with this Apple security flaw but it is certainly something the NSA could readily exploit. All the Agency needed to do is control a router between its target and the target’s destination and it would have clear view of the supposedly encrypted traffic.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: America no longer has a monopoly on world-class cryptographers (if it ever did). By encouraging these types of flaws, our government leaves us vulnerable to attacks from foreign nations. Instead, our cryptographers should be working to make American software as secure as it can be.

I hope Apple will track down the developer responsible for this colossal blunder and fire him or her on the spot.

SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer, and it’s what helps ensure that communication between your browser and your favorite websites’ servers remains private and secure. TLS, or Transport Layer Security, is a more recent protocol that does essentially the same. In brief, SSL/TLS is a cryptographic key that lets a browser and a server know they are who they say they are, a secret digital handshake that keeps your financial information safe when you make an Amazon payment or log into wellsfargo.com.

This all happens in the background; your only direct interaction with SSL/TLS is when you notice the lock icon in your search bar has clamped shut. That means you’ve got a direct, private, secure line.

The Apple bug in question—which, again, has been patched in iOS but not yet in OS X, though Apple tells Reuters that fix is coming "very soon"—means that Safari or one of these other affected applications can’t actually know for sure if the servers it’s talking to are who they say they are. Which leaves you and everything you transmit over the web vulnerable to a Man in the Middle attack.

via Why Apple's Recent Security Flaw Is So Scary.

N&O spreads flawed password advice

Courtesy Davide Restivo

Courtesy Davide Restivo


In today’s Connect section of the News and Observer, reporter John Bordsen asked a panel of technology experts about how to protect oneself from online hackers. I have a few beefs with this article which I’ll describe here.

The first is from Dr. Magdy Attia, dean of the College of STEM at Charlotte’s Johnson C. Smith University:

Change your passwords and make them long. “Your password should be changed every month or every two months – and make it hard to guess,” Attia said. “Some people use kids’ names, birthdates or whatever. But there are software packages that can scan a large number of passwords to find out what can work. A hacker can use these tools to scan for possibilities.”

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Time Warner Cable raising Internet rates 40%

Time-Warner-Cable
As a customer of Earthlink’s cable modem service, I’ve been happy being relatively immune to the frequent and outrageous price hikes imposed by Time Warner Cable on its customers. I’ve heard grumblings recently from my friends unfortunate enough to still be Time Warner Cable customers that their Internet rates were going up. Thinking I was once again free from this nonsense, I chirped at how my rates weren’t rising.

Then a friend pointed out the insert in this month’s bill, clearly stating that, yes, my rates would be going up. How much, you say? By thirty-eight percent!

That’s right: Internet service that has been $41.95 per month would now be $57.99, an almost 40% jump in one month.
Continue reading →

How To Stop Facebook From Tracking You – Business Insider

Facebook’s cookies track you across the web. Here’s advice on how to curb Facebook’s appetite for your information.

Most people don’t realize that Facebook can continue to monitor their internet activity, even if they are no longer logged into the site.Using "Facebook Connect," and other social plug-ins, Facebook is able to set up a cookie on any site that has a "Like" or "share" button, giving Facebook access to a startling amount of user information. Technically, the purpose of these plug-ins is to authenticate users, but it still has the ability to collect personal information such as the IP address of your computer, browsing data, outside login information, phone numbers, etc.

via How To Stop Facebook From Tracking You – Business Insider.