For your browsing safety — HTTPS

HTTPS is a protocol that provides secure Internet transactions between web browsers & web sites. Recently, a few major sites adopted it:

Netflix will soon use HTTPS to secure video streams

http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/04/it-wasnt-easy-but-netflix-will-soon-use-https-to-secure-video-streams/

reddit goes all-HTTPS

http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/06/reddit-goes-all-https-joining-wikipedia-netflix-and-even-the-feds/

Wikipedia to go all HTTPS, all the time

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/06/14/wikipedia_to_go_all_https_all_the_time/

Google gives sites secured with HTTPS a slight boost in their rankings:

http://searchengineland.com/google-starts-giving-ranking-boost-secure-httpsssl-sites-199446

HTTPS Everywhere is an extension for Firefox, Chrome, & Opera which ensures that HTTPS is always used if a website makes it available:

http://lifehacker.com/https-everywhere-updates-to-keep-you-secure-on-thousand-1695541941

https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere

Some of the issues around HTTPS

https://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/201x/2012/12/02/HTTPS / Data Privacy Day 2012 EFF Electronic Frontier Foundation website websites protect online privacy enabling HTTPS implement HTTPS website data privacy Jolynn Dellinger site page protocol provides secure Internet transactions between web browsers web sites check web page visiting uses HTTPS URL top of your browser HTTPS HTTP "S" stands for secure browsers indicate using secure connection displaying a closed lock corner browser HTTPS protects users Internet surveillance encrypting your connection HTTPS prevents eavesdroppers seeing contents your communication website sensitive data contents email chats login credentials search terms credit card numbers sites support HTTPS turn it on by default failed to implement HTTPS at all open wireless networks coffee shops libraries users sharing network connections strangers tools Firesheep Wireshark trivial matter individuals minimal technical knowledge eavesdrop users reading writing online safeguard privacy reading habits Internet encrypt the web websites enabling HTTPS secure version of a website EFF HTTPS Everywhere browser extension extention Chrome Firefox website visit supports HTTPS included in the HTTPS Everywhere database submit a new rule track analyze implementation HTTPS Web HTTPS-enabled report EFF Access Now test a site's support for HTTPS report it to the community HTTPS is not an anonymity tool eavesdroppers where you are connecting from sites you are connecting to sites track and record your activity Tor anonymity Website administrators site admin protect users' privacy enabling HTTPS on your site /

Red Stripe app helps red-green color-blind people distinguish between the two colors

Credit: Red Stripe/The Gadgeteer

Color-blindness is reduced sensitivity to one or more colors. Most common is a reduced sensitivity to red or green wavelengths. These conditions are collectively known as red-green color-blindness. Practical consequence is not only a difficulty distinguishing red from green, but all colors which include red or green. E.g. a person with reduced sensitivity to red will confuse blue & purple due to reduced ability to see the red in purple.

Red Stripe is an iOS & OSX app which provides a guide to the amount of red in red, orange, & purple objects by superimposing white lines over the object in the camera image.

http://the-gadgeteer.com/2015/06/20/the-red-stripe-app-helps-redgreen-colorblind-people-distinguish-between-the-two-colors/

Red–green color blindness
https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Color_blindness#Red.E2.80.93green_color_blindness / distinguish red from green indicate amount of redness red orange purple objects series of stripes superimposed Red Stripe app device’s camera view objects overlay overlays stripes red component more red more intense stripes app user stripes blue or green objects red green deficiencies see blue yellow stripes help distinguish grayish objects red Red Stripe app iOS devices Mac computers iOS version Red Stripe deutan color vision deficiencies deuteranopia Protanopia deuteranopia protanomaly deuteranomaly
/

Apps may be your smartphone’s biggest security hole

● security company NowSecure reports that the Swift keyboard on all Samsung devices has a security hole &, as owners will be aware, it can’t be uninstalled, or replaced by installing another keyboard. Fortunately, Samsung has promised a replacement “in the next few days”

● researchers at Indiana University have found that the iOS app store is not the iron-clad barrier to malware apps it was widely thought to be

● a team drawing researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information Technology & the Darmstadt University of Technology in Germany, found that faulty security protocols in apps available for all phones, could place personal data at risk

http://www.cnet.com/news/your-mobile-app-has-serious-security-flaws/

http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/keyborad-security-flaw-samsung-phones-version-1434560683/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2015/06/17/big-flaws-in-apple-oses/ / learned your smartphone apps exploited hackers three separate research groups app security flaws Apple Samsung devices cyberintruders cyber intruders take control phone camera microphone GPS stealing personal information listening phone calls good news attacks aimed at specific phones attackers unlikely to target really bad news German researchers flaws affect every phone vulnerability flaw Swift keyboard preinstalled Samsung devices security company NowSecure keyboard can't be uninstalled replace replacing another keyboard app fix problem researchers Indiana University iOS apps containing malware easily get past Apple's scrutiny onto App Store Samsung iPhone team researchers Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information Technology Darmstadt University of Technology Germany apps available for all phones use faulty security protocols compromise personal data Samsung repair keyboard problem German research Colombian software developer reproduce many major apps securing usernames passwords research found 56 million unsecured data sets consumers personal information Fraunhofer Institute email addresses passwords health records sensitive information app users easily stolen manipulated Oliver Kuch Ryan Disraeli fraud services security company TeleSign attack attacks random attacks targeted attacks hacker hacked hacking hack contractor access superclassified classified government documents attack smartphone consumers hacking photos Ryan Disraeli fraud services TeleSign /

Lilly — throw to launch action camera

Lilly is a drone with a built in camera that makes movies of the user &/or takes stills. It's action camera meets selfie.



Available for pre-order now at a reduced price. $999 when it ships in February 2016.

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/may/13/lily-drone-personal-videographer-selfie

http://the-gadgeteer.com/2015/06/09/lily-camera-throw-it-away/#comments

Manufacturer’s web site
https://www.lily.camera/

FAQ
https://www.lily.camera/our_faq/ / device fly flight flying 20 minutes tracking owner shooting photos video footage Camera. Reinvented web site website consumer drone capture attention selfie drone launch drones take selfies for us tapping touchscreen button testing humanity’s multi-tasking capabilities drone formula throw it in the air device follows shooting high-definition video photographs bystanders Lily pitched skiers snowboarders athletes other active types hovering alternative strapping GoPro camera helmets shooting footage first-person viewpoint shoot 1080p HD video 60 frames-per-second 720p video 120 frames-per-second slow-motion action 12-megapixel still photographs two hours to charge stay in the air for 20 minutes flight time endurance device fly a maximum of 15m minimum of 1.75m above owner’s head avoid accidents average speed of 15 miles per hour wear a tracking device Lily follows them device hovering in place recover the signal if it loses landing smoothly action runs out of battery Lily’s manufacturer opened pre-orders charged immediately rather group of graduates from Berkeley University in California tinkering with robots personal robotics chief executive Antoine Balaresque spark privacy arguments always pointing at you less than 100ft from you motors make noise spying on neighbours /

Chevrolet & Nissan reveal plans for second-life uses for old Volt & Leaf batteries

Uses for batteries which are no longer suitable for automotive purposes have been covered previously on these pages. Hybrid batteries have been repurposed at Yellowstone National Park.

General Motors has a system utilising five used Chevrolet Volt battery packs at its new Enterprise Data Center at its Milford Proving Ground in Michigan. Combined with wind turbines & a solar array, the site draws no net energy from the grid on an annual basis.


Credit: General Motors/Green Car Reports

Nissan has inked a deal with Green Charge Networks to deploy used automotive batteries for energy storage. GCN will share energy savings with host sites.

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1098734_chevy-nissan-reveal-second-life-uses-for-electric-car-batteries / most common questions electric cars what happens battery packs car junked thrown away recycled components lithium ion LiIon battery electric car vehicle EV electric-car batteries recycled second life removed taken out car they were supplied in pack store 70 percent original energy capacity considered no longer usable car viable energy storage device uses utility carmakers second-life reuse battery packs General Motors GM Nissan top three plug-in electric car makers five battery packs used Chevrolet Volts providing electricity help keep the lights on GM's new Enterprise Data Center Milford Proving Ground Michigan installation housing 2-kilowatt wind turbines 74-kW solar array energy producing 100 megawatt-hours of energy a year supply energy office building lights five Volt batteries wired in parallel supply power outage net zero energy annual basis grid-tied Nissan GCN Green Charge Networks deploy used lithium-ion battery packs electric cars stationary energy storage Green Charge Networks largest provider commercial energy storage install and manage energy storage unit cost advantage new markets for stationary storage host site shares savings energy cost GCN little or no upfront cost installing unit Nissan provide used packs electric cars Nissan Leaf engineering teams develop storage unit /

LastPass has been hacked — change your master password now

LastPass is a password manager — many people have so many passwords, they can’t remember them all. Password managers exist to store passwords in encrypted form. To access, the user needs a master password. That’s one more password, but with that one password, the user has access to all of his/her other passwords.

LastPass is widely regarded as one of the better ones.

One problem — LastPass has been hacked, so, time for users to update master passwords.

Redmond Pie:
http://www.redmondpie.com/psa-lastpass-was-hacked-change-your-master-password-right-now/

Engadget:
http://www.engadget.com/2015/06/15/lastpass-hacked/

Lifehacker
http://lifehacker.com/lastpass-hacked-time-to-change-your-master-password-1711463571

What LastPass has to say about it:
https://blog.lastpass.com/2015/06/lastpass-security-notice.html/ / security vitally important even more important store more more our lives online banking information photos our kids stored kept in the cloud our data information kept behind secure passwords passwords kept LastPass 1Password highly recommended users LastPass customers suffered data breach reset their passwords precaution LastPass confident hackers gain access any information user’s account LastPass account email addresses password reminders authentication hashes users should change LastPass master password as soon as possible time to panic confident encryption measures sufficient protect vast majority of users LastPass strengthens strong password authentication hash random salt 100,000 rounds of server-side PBKDF2-SHA256 rounds performed client-side additional strengthening makes it difficult attack stolen hashes significant speed LastPass user data passwords usernames sites stored accessible at any time reset your LastPass master password best course of action use that same password elsewhere change that password as well security notice LastPass website /

EVs Rock

Credit: Tesla Motors

Got that right! / EV electric vehicle battery LiIon lithium ion battery car Tesla Motors Model S vanity plate charge recharge range charge recharge /