Conan O’Brien Cuba video | BGR

Posted on March 6, 2015 by StevenTorresRamos

With relations between the United States and Cuba finally thawing, Conan O’Brien decided to take a trip down to the beautiful island to give us a glimpse of what it’s really like to live there.

Along the way, Conan introduces himself to several yipping dogs and tries to speak with them in his very limited Spanish, visits a local shop that literally sells only one brand of every type of good, and shows us the country’s ridiculous looking archaic pay telephone booths. Oh, and for good measure he’s also happy to discover that the Spanish word for “the sandwich” is “el sandwich,” which tells him everything he needs to know about ordering food.

Check out the whole thing below.

via Conan O’Brien Cuba video | BGR.

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Splash Drone shrugs off water and launches rescue flares

Posted on March 6, 2015 by StevenTorresRamos

When drone meets water, the videos can be amazing — except that most drones hate water and can’t even be flown in the rain. However, there’s a new product on Kickstarter called the Splash Drone that isn’t deterred by a little H20. The drone itself is waterproof, as are the circuits, wires and GPS, letting you land and take off from fresh or salt water. The creators (who were responsible for the Mariner Drone product) also built a waterproof gimbal, so that all you need to film around water is a GoPro camera in a waterproof housing. The Splash Drone isn’t the only waterproof model out there, but it can pull off a few other unique tricks.

It also packs a two pound payload release mechanism, letting you transfer bottles of, er, water between boats, Netflix-delivery-style. Another neat trick is an mechanism that lets you deploy an emergency flare for up to 15 minutes to get you out of (or into) trouble. Spec-wise, the craft has a 2-axis gimbal, 2.4GHz radio controller, GoPro dive case, GPS assist, follow-me mode, smartphone app-based control, 17 minute flight time and wireless video. A basic DIY kit (without the payload release or other options) starts at $389, while a ready-to-fly bird with those flares and payload release is $799 for early backers. If you’re looking for autonomy, follow-me and mission planning options start at $1,299.

Click Link below for video;

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/urbandrones/splash-drone-a-waterproof-drone-with-autonomous-fe/widget/video.html

via Splash Drone shrugs off water and launches rescue flares.

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9 Facts About Computer Security That Experts Wish You Knew

Posted on March 5, 2015 by StevenTorresRamos

Every day, you hear about security flaws, viruses, and evil hacker gangs that could leave you destitute — or, worse, bring your country to its knees. But what’s the truth about these digital dangers? We asked computer security experts to separate the myths from the facts. Here’s what they said.

1. Having a strong password actually can prevent most attacks

Yahoo’s Chief Information Security Officer Alex Stamos has spent most of his career finding security vulnerabilities and figuring out how attackers might try to exploit software flaws. He’s seen everything from the most devious hacks to the simplest social engineering scams. And in all that time, he’s found that there are two simple solutions for the vast majority of users: strong passwords and two-factor authentication. Continue reading →

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Watch hermit crabs form a line from biggest to smallest to trade shells

Posted on March 5, 2015 by StevenTorresRamos

This is a clip from an episode of BBC’s Life Story and it shows how orderly (and also completely chaotic) hermit crabs can be when it comes to trading homes. They all meet up in front of a shell, line themselves up from biggest to smallest and then trade shells with each other by jumping from one to the next.

via Watch hermit crabs form a line from biggest to smallest to trade shells.

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Found: A Legendary Lost Civilization Buried In the Honduran Rainforest

Posted on March 3, 2015 by StevenTorresRamos

The City of the Monkey God. La Ciudad Blanca, or The White City. All the names given to the lost city rumored to exist in a pristine Honduran rainforest sound mythical, but National Geographic reports that now we have evidence that the legendary city was real.

This week, an expedition returned from a remote—and still secret—Honduras location where they confirmed the long-rumored existence of not just a hidden city, but a whole civilization, one that is so foreign to archaeologists that it doesn’t even have a name yet. It’s an incredible discovery, but before we get to the details, let’s look at how long this news has been coming. continue reading click link below >>

via Found: A Legendary Lost Civilization Buried In the Honduran Rainforest.

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Productivity Future Vision

Posted on March 2, 2015 by StevenTorresRamos

How could emerging technologies transform the way we get things done 5-10 years in the future? Watch Kat, a young independent marine biologist, and Lola, a corporate executive, work together in a highly interconnected and information rich future.

Productivity Future Vision.

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Proposed privacy bill protects industry more than it does people

Posted on March 2, 2015 by StevenTorresRamos

If the return of Frank Underwood stoked a thirst for real drama from the nation’s capitol, perhaps the White House’s late-Friday news dump of the proposed Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights will whet your whistle. Alongside common-sense things like Congress finding that Americans “cherish privacy as an element of their individual freedom” in the draft, are headings pertaining to transparency, individual control, security and accountability. In regards to that first one, the bill states (PDF) that companies make their policies for exactly what they do with your data readable without the need for a legalese translator. In addition to that, companies would need to disclose what they’re doing with the reams of data they’re collecting on all of us and comply with requests for data deletion, as well. You’d also be able to request a look at the data collected by companies. Sounds good, right? Well, as the Associated Press reports, that isn’t quite the case.

The bill would essentially strip away some of the Federal Trade Commission’s power Continue reading →

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FCC approves net neutrality rules, reclassifies broadband as a utility

Posted on February 26, 2015 by StevenTorresRamos

It’s a good day for proponents of an open internet: The Federal Communications Commission just approved its long-awaited network neutrality plan, which reclassifies broadband internet as a Title II public utility and gives the agency more regulatory power in the process. And unlike the FCC’s last stab at net neutrality in 2010, today’s new rules also apply to mobile broadband. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler laid out the basic gist of the plan earlier this month — it’ll ban things like paid prioritization, a tactic some ISPs used to get additional fees from bandwidth-heavy companies like Netflix, as well as the slowdown of “lawful content.” But now Wheeler’s vision is more than just rhetoric; it’s something the FCC can actively enforce.

“It [the internet] is our printing press; it is our town square; it is our individual soap box and our shared platform for opportunity,” said FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel during today’s open commission meeting. “That is why open internet policies matter. That is why I support network neutrality.” Continue reading →

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Spam Alert!

Posted on February 26, 2015 by StevenTorresRamos

trojanSeveral variations of DHL spam have been seen today. Some are linked to hacked websites. Others have malware attached (e.g., in a zip file). They include subject lines like “DHL TRACKING PARCEL — PLEASE LOGIN TO TRACK PARCEL ” Some sent to overseas customers are written in German. BE CAREFUL!!!

Posted in Hacking, Interesting, Tech, tips | Leave a comment

Amazing video shows how dust moves from the Sahara Desert to Brazil

Posted on February 26, 2015 by StevenTorresRamos

Here’s an awesome 3D visualization from NASA that shows how the Sahara Desert helps fertilize the Amazon rainforest even though they’re on two different continents that are separated by an entire ocean. The Saharan dust is carried over by wind and the phosphorous in the dust is essential to the Amazon.

It’s really neat how the world’s largest desert is responsible for creating the world’s largest rain forest. It’s also interesting that the amount of phosphorus in the sand sent from the Sahara—22,000 tons—is about the same amount that the Amazon loses from rain and flooding every year.

In total, about 27.7 million tons of dust is blown over from the Sahara to the Amazon. NASA says that’s enough to fill 104,980 semi trucks.

via Amazing video shows how dust moves from the Sahara Desert to Brazil.

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