Thursday, May 29, 2014

drag2share: Dutch Scientists Just Shattered Our Conception Of How Information Will Travel In The Future

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/quantum-teleportation-of-information-2014-5

Higgs Boson

Physicists at the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands were able to successfully "teleport" information over a distance of 10 feet, reports the New York Times.

There's a lot going on in that idea, so let's break it down.

The rules for the subatomic world are totally unlike the rules for our macroscopic world. A particle can be in multiple places at the same time, and can even disappear on one side of a barrier and reappear on the other side without actually traveling through it. This comes from quantum theory, and while it sounds totally nonintuitive, it's one of the most successful models physicists have for understanding our world.

Many scientists around the world today are working to develop "quantum technology," which is simply any technology that hinges upon these totally "abnormal" properties of the super-small stuff that makes up our world. The Mount Everest of quantum technology would be to build a quantum computer that could quickly solve problems that would leave our classical computers stumped. Instead of the standard bits we use in computers today — ones and zeroes — quantum bits, or "qubits," can describe a one, a zero, or any value in between.

If this all sounds crazy or hard to understand, you're in good company with a lot of smart people. Hang in there. A legitimate, functional quantum computer (it's debatable as to if one has actually been built yet) would be absolutely bursting with computational potential.

Back to our Dutch scientists — they trapped qubits in diamonds and were able to establish a measurement of the qubits' spin. This measurement is the acual information that was "teleported," by way of a process called quantum ! entangle ment. To simplify this idea a lot, entanglement is essentially what happens when one particle copycats another, even over a distance. Change the spin of one particle, the other instantly changes its spin to match.

Einstein famously decried entanglement, calling it "spooky action at a distance." But repeated variations of this experiment only lend more credence to it as a completely valid natural phenomena that we are slowly learning to manipulate.

Forget Google Fiber. Once this stuff is perfected, a quantum internet that's built upon it could mean instantaneous transmission and receipt of data around the world or even the universe! In 1964, an Irish physicist named John Bell predicted that this could be used to transmit data across light years of distance.

While 10 feet is no light year, it's certainly a step in the right direction.

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drag2share: Lookout alert system sends you email when it detects thief-like activities

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/05/29/lookout-theft-alerts/

Siren light.

Getting your phone stolen can make your stomach drop in the blink of an eye, that's why some security app devs, like Lookout's, try to make it easier by offering anti-theft features. The app's latest version comes with a new tool suite called Theft Alerts, which, as you can tell, gets the digital sirens blaring when it detects unusual activities. Lookout studied the common ways thieves deal with stolen phones and now sends out emails when someone removes your SIM card, enables Airplane mode, turns off your device and removes the app as the phone's administrator. You can then decide whether to use the other weapons in Lookout's arsenal, including those that let you lock and wipe a phone remotely.

The software has also long been able to capture and email a picture of the thief (snapped by the phone's front cam) who tries and fails to enter the correct PIN. With this update, though, that feature, along with the other new additions, becomes exclusive to paid users. Luckily, everyone can try out these premium add-ons for free until September 31st... unless you have an iOS device, in which case, you sadly have limited access to the tool suite. Oh, if you're prone to typing in incorrect PIN codes or accidentally deleting apps, don't worry -- Lookout won't flood your inbox if you take time to customize the Theft Alerts suite.

[Image credit: Getty Images/Flickr RF]

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Source: Lookout

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drag2share: 12 Quick Internet Safety Tips That Will Save Your Digital Life From Getting Hacked

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-prevent-cyber-attacks-2014-5

student computer laptop studying

If we've learned anything about cyber security in 2014, it's that hackers are becoming more of a threat than ever before.

Within the past two months companies such as Microsoft, AOL, and eBay have been the victim of security breaches.

And let's not forget about the Heartbleed bug — a giant vulnerability that was discovered within an encryption protocol that guards a massive chunk of the internet.

If you've been laid back about your online habits, now might be a great time to change your ways. 

Here are some tips to help prevent your digital life from being stolen, whether it be a password breach or an internet-wide vulnerability. 

Make sure you've got a superstrong, unique password. In other words, ensure that your password is difficult to guess. One way to come up with a creative password is to brainstorm a random sentence. Take the first letter of each word in that sentence and use that acronym as the base for your password.

Don't use the same password for multiple services. Using the same term for all of your passwords leaves your entire digital life vulnerable to attack. This means that if a hacker has one password, he or she has all of your passwords.

Enable two-factor authentication. Many services, including Google, offer two-factor authentication for logging into your account. Instead of simply entering a username and password to log in, the website will prompt you to enter a code sent to your smartphone to verify your identity.

Apply software updates when necessary. Apple, Google, and Microsoft typically include security bug fixes and patches in their most recent software updates. So don't ignore those annoying prompts and keep your software up-to-date.

Carefully read the permissions before installing apps. This is one of the most prominent ways in which malicious apps can gain access to your personal information. These types of iss! ues have been especially present in the Google Play store. A lot of apps ask for a lengthy list of permissions, and that doesn't mean they're all ill-intentioned. But it's important to be aware of the types of information your apps are accessing, which can include your contacts, location, and even your phone's camera. 

Check the app publisher before installing. There have been numerous instances in which scammers have published apps in the Google Play store posing as another popular app. For example, in late 2012 an illegitimate developer posted an imposter app in Google Play pretending to be "Temple Run." A quick look at the publisher shows that the app comes from a developer named "apkdeveloper," not the game's true publisher Imangi Studios. 

Avoid inserting hard drives and thumbdrives you don't trust into your computer. If you find a random USB stick, don't let your curiosity tempt you to plug it in. Someone could have loaded malware onto it hoping that an interested person was careless enough to insert it into their device. If you don't trust the source, you're better off not putting your computer at risk.

Make sure a website is secure before you enter personal information. Look for the little padlock symbol in front of the web address in the URL bar. Also, make sure the web address starts with the prefix https://. If these things aren't there, then the network isn't secure and you shouldn't enter any  data you wouldn't want made public. 

Don't send personal data via email. Sending critical information such as credit card numbers or bank account numbers puts it at risk of being intercepted by hackers or cyber attacks. 

Keep an eye out for phishing scams. A phishing scam is an email or website that's designed to steal from you. Often times, a hacker will use this email or website to install malicious software onto your computer. These web entities are designed to loo! k like a normal email or website, which is how hackers convince their victims to hand over personal information. Phishing scams are typically easy to spot, but you should know what to look out for. Many of these emails contain spell errors and are written in poor grammar. Here's a great example of a standard phishing email from Microsoft's security blog:

Phishing

Avoid logging into your important accounts on public computers. Sometimes you've got no choice but to use a computer at the coffee shop, library, or local FedEx. But try not to do it frequently, and make sure you completely wipe the browser's history when you're finished.

Back up your personal files to avoid losing them. You should keep a copy of all important files in the cloud and on some sort of hard drive. If one of them gets hacked or damaged, you'll still have a backup copy.

SEE ALSO: How to create a superstrong password

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Wednesday, May 28, 2014

drag2share: Hands-on with the PadFone X: ASUS' phone-tablet hybrid arrives in the US

source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/05/28/asus-padfone-x-hands-on/?utm_source=Feed_Classic_Full&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget&?ncid=rss_full

If you're a special sort of person -- I don't know, like a tech writer-- the ASUS PadFone is old news. Since June 2012, Engadget has reviewed three versions of the phone, which comes with a tablet-like dock allowing you to transform it into a big-screen slate. For our American readers, though, it's always been a curiosity -- the sort of thing you could read about, but were unlikely to import all the way from Taiwan. Now you can finally see it for yourselves: AT&T announced earlier today that an American version, the PadFone X, will go on sale June 6th, priced at $199 on-contract. As it happens, I received a loaner unit today at a press event, which means Engadget will have a review up soon, probably closer to the on-sale date. For now, though, I'll regale you with some early impressions of both the 5-inch phone and the 9-inch dock. Come with me if you want to live.

I've only had a short time to play with the PadFone X, but so far, at least, it seems much more comfortable to use in its native handset form. The phone, which rocks a 5-inch screen (small by today's standards), is easy to hold. It's not the thinnest handset I've ever held, but it's light and in fact, I think that slight thickness might actually make it easier to grip. The 1080p display is sharp too, and the viewing angles are good enough that I was able to peek at some guy's email from off to the side, even with me sitting a couple feet away (apologies, dude).

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drag2share: Google's camera app now lets you shoot in different aspect ratios

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/05/28/google-camera-aspect-ratio-update/

Google Camera for Android

Google isn't done getting its Android camera app up to the standards set by third-party software -- not by a long shot. The company is now rolling out an update to Google Camera that lets you choose the aspect ratio for your photos, not just the resolution. If you prefer a movie-like widescreen look to all your pictures, you can crop the image to match. Fans of family portraits, meanwhile, will be glad to hear that the timer has returned; also, creative types can shoot panoramas with fisheye and wide-angle lens effects. The refresh isn't available on every supporting Android device just yet, but we'd give it a few days -- it should hopefully arrive in time for your next big photo safari.

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Via: Android (Google+), 9to5 Google

Source: Google Play

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