Please note: Facebook has activated its Safety Check after the explosions in Brussels. Access it at
https://www.facebook.com/safetycheck/brusselsexplosions-march2016/ .
TWEAKS & UPDATES
Google is making BinDiff available for free. “BinDiff is a comparison tool for binary files that helps to quickly find differences and similarities in disassembled code. It is used by security researchers and engineers across the globe to identify and isolate fixes for vulnerabilities in vendor-supplied patches and to analyze multiple versions of the same binary.”
USEFUL STUFF
Bit late but I didn’t see it until over the weekend: Top 10 Web sites for researching your Irish ancestors.
Nancy Kraft has a great blog post about saving a mass of gloppy, badly damaged photographic negatives that looked like a total loss. “The negatives had been stored in a refrigerator that quit working some days before staff discovered there was a problem. Some of the emulsion layer on the negatives had turned to liguid and oozed out over the edges of the negatives, making for a gooey mess. I fully expected to just provide moral support as we declared the collection a total loss. Much to our pleasant surprise, we salvaged a lot of the collection!”
AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD
It’s an industrial application, I tell you! Tesla using Google Glass for better production? “Google Glass Enterprise Edition has been leaked in full at this point, but what good is new enterprise-focused hardware unless it’s being used in the field? APX Labs, one of Google’s Glass at Work partners, has confirmed on its site that it has signed renowned maker of electric vehicles Tesla Motors as a client, and we have reason to believe that the company is using the latest unannounced Glass hardware to increase productivity at its Fremont factory…”
YouTube explains (in a video, of course) why it will never run out of video IDs. Never say never.
SECURITY/LEGAL ISSUES
Be careful when you’re typing domain names: missing one letter could have bad consequences. “Our research revealed that there is at least one major .om typosquatting campaign targeting many of the world’s largest organizations. It has already targeted over 300 well-known organizations, including Netflix, and given the spike in activity in February, is likely to only attempt to expand its reach in March. While the typosquatting campaign currently is a relatively unsophisticated effort, this kind of opportunistic behavior is typical of typosquatting and watering hole campaigns.”
RESEARCH AND OPINION
Apparently an executive an Apple thinks that it’s “sad” that people use old computers. And by old he means over five years old. “Phil Schiller, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, took the stage in Cupertino, California, to explain some of the new features and specs on the new iPad Pro. Between showing off a new display and camera, Schiller also took some digs at Windows and PC users, specifically calling out those users who are on computers more than five years old. Schiller said that 600 million people are using PCs that are over five years old. ‘This is really sad,’ he said.” My work computer – the computer on my desk at work – is from 2008. Linux FTW. This was a really boneheaded thing for Mr. Schiller to say.
OTHER THINGS I THINK ARE COOL
Wow! A Chinese oracle bone, scanned and reproduced in 3D! “The high-resolution image of the bone, which measures about 9×14 cm, knits together 1.3 million aspects to allow a seamless view of its entire surface. The image brings into sharp focus not only the finely incised questions on the obverse of the bone, but also the divination pits engraved on the reverse and the scorch marks caused by the application of heat to create the cracks (which were interpreted as the answers from the spirit world). These can be seen more clearly than by looking at the actual object itself, and without the risk of damage by handling the original bone.” Good afternoon, Internet…
I love your comments, I love your site suggestions, and I love you. Feel free to comment on the blog, or @ResearchBuzz on Twitter. Thanks!
Categories: afternoonbuzz