Many a Sunday morning has involved millions of people all over the world
wishing they hadn't had quite so much.
Their heads throb like a teenage boy's Adam's Apple on seeing Selena Gomez.
Their throats are drier than a sand-technology textbook.
Yet too much beer has always, always meant one big hangover.
Now, however, sensitive Australian scientists claim they might take away at
least some of the pain. They say they've created rehydrating beer.
News-Medical reports that nutrition experts at the Griffith Health
Institute insist they've taken out many of the pesky dehydrative properties of
beer (which cause the hangover) and still made it taste, well, like beer.
The idea was quite simple: make it more like Gatorade. In essence, the
scientists added electrolytes to the beer, in order to keep mind and body
afloat.
The experiment consisted of making people who'd just finished exercising
(and therefore sweating) drink one of four beers. There were two full-strength
brews and two of the lighter variety, one of each with electrolytes added.
Participants were asked to drink 150 percent of the amount of lost body
mass due to exercise. They had to complete their drinking session in one
hour.
You might imagine that beer-drinking after exercise might not be the most
healthy thing to do.
On the one hand, you might never have met an English Premier League soccer
player.
On the other, Associate Professor Ben Desbrow told News-Medical that many
manual workers (techies, for example) do just that. They lift, run around or
type and then sweat. Then they go to the pub.
Perhaps it's not surprising that the best performer with respect to
hydration was the electro-light beer.
The researchers declared it one-third more effective with respect to
hydration than a normal beer.
The trade-off, of course, was that the light beer had less alcohol. In each
case, though, the scientists claim that no one noticed any difference in taste
with any of the beers.
Many vodka drinkers have claimed over the years that they can become
decidedly tipsy and then wake up entirely refreshed.
Some beer drinkers choose, after a heavy night solving the world's major
issues, to drink several large glasses of water before going to bed.
This might mitigate against a hangover, though it might also cause some
waking in the night to go to the bathroom.
I wonder, though, should electro-light beer become commercially available,
whether people would readily select it.
Some hardened beer drinkers believe the morning-after pain is part of the
experience.
Light beer is a soft (and, some feel, relatively tasteless) option already.
Would an electro-light beer seem like little more -- or even less -- than an
alcopop?
Sunday, 18 August 2013
Windows XP was an affected solution in 45 Microsoft safety
Microsoft has reminded, cajoled, and pleaded with users to move off of
Windows XP before assistance for its old OS expires next year. Now Microsoft
warns users that they might be topic to “zero-day” threats for the rest of their
lives if they don’t migrate.
“The pretty 1st month that Microsoft releases security updates for supported versions of Windows, attackers will reverse engineer those updates, uncover the vulnerabilities, and test Windows XP to view if it shares these vulnerabilities,” he wrote. “If it does, attackers will try to develop exploit code that will make the most of these vulnerabilities on Windows XP. Given that a safety update will never turn out to be obtainable for Windows XP to address these vulnerabilities, Windows XP will essentially have a ‘zero-day’ vulnerability forever.”
Zero-day vulnerabilities refer to the way in which hackers can attack an operating technique or other code ahead of a patch is released, fixing the vulnerability. Considering that Microsoft will never ever patch Windows XP once again following April 2014, ultimately some vulneability that affects XP is going to be discovered.
Involving July 2012 and July 2013, Windows XP was an affected windows 7 ultimate activation key solution in 45 Microsoft safety bulletins. Thirty of those also affected Windows 7 and Windows eight, Rains wrote.
Rains acknowledges that some protections in XP will aid mitigate attacks, and third-party antimalware computer software could possibly supply some protection.
“The challenge right here is the fact that you will never know, with any confidence, if the trusted computing base of the method can basically be trusted mainly because attackers are going to be armed with public knowledge of zero day exploits in Windows XP that could allow them to compromise the system and possibly run the code of their option,” Rains wrote.
That’s exactly the same argument that some have lately applied, claiming that hackers will “bank” their zero-day XP attacks until right after subsequent April, then unleash them on the unprotected herds of XP machines. As Rains notes, the sophistication of malware has only enhanced, which means that your XP machine is much more vulnerable, not much less. PCWorld’s Answer Line columnist, Lincoln Spector, agrees.
The problem that some XP users have is that they’re so in adore using the way that Windows XP does issues that they’re reluctant to migrate, particularly to Windows 8. Properly, Windows 7 machines do exist, that offer functionality comparable to XP: here’s the way to discover them.
The bottom line is this: whilst Microsoft stands to achieve from arguing that customers have to upgrade, the truth is: they do. So for anyone who is nevertheless on Windows XP, commence considering a migration strategy.
http://www.windows7prokeys.com/
“The pretty 1st month that Microsoft releases security updates for supported versions of Windows, attackers will reverse engineer those updates, uncover the vulnerabilities, and test Windows XP to view if it shares these vulnerabilities,” he wrote. “If it does, attackers will try to develop exploit code that will make the most of these vulnerabilities on Windows XP. Given that a safety update will never turn out to be obtainable for Windows XP to address these vulnerabilities, Windows XP will essentially have a ‘zero-day’ vulnerability forever.”
Zero-day vulnerabilities refer to the way in which hackers can attack an operating technique or other code ahead of a patch is released, fixing the vulnerability. Considering that Microsoft will never ever patch Windows XP once again following April 2014, ultimately some vulneability that affects XP is going to be discovered.
Involving July 2012 and July 2013, Windows XP was an affected windows 7 ultimate activation key solution in 45 Microsoft safety bulletins. Thirty of those also affected Windows 7 and Windows eight, Rains wrote.
Rains acknowledges that some protections in XP will aid mitigate attacks, and third-party antimalware computer software could possibly supply some protection.
“The challenge right here is the fact that you will never know, with any confidence, if the trusted computing base of the method can basically be trusted mainly because attackers are going to be armed with public knowledge of zero day exploits in Windows XP that could allow them to compromise the system and possibly run the code of their option,” Rains wrote.
That’s exactly the same argument that some have lately applied, claiming that hackers will “bank” their zero-day XP attacks until right after subsequent April, then unleash them on the unprotected herds of XP machines. As Rains notes, the sophistication of malware has only enhanced, which means that your XP machine is much more vulnerable, not much less. PCWorld’s Answer Line columnist, Lincoln Spector, agrees.
The problem that some XP users have is that they’re so in adore using the way that Windows XP does issues that they’re reluctant to migrate, particularly to Windows 8. Properly, Windows 7 machines do exist, that offer functionality comparable to XP: here’s the way to discover them.
The bottom line is this: whilst Microsoft stands to achieve from arguing that customers have to upgrade, the truth is: they do. So for anyone who is nevertheless on Windows XP, commence considering a migration strategy.
http://www.windows7prokeys.com/
Friday, 2 August 2013
How Google Glass may change the NFL
I have heard it said that some bar owners are quite prepared to walk up to
anyone wearing Google Glass and smack them quite hard.
This might seem a trifle antisocial. There again, that's been said of Google Glass.
And yet there seems to be a place where a touch of Google Glass violence might actually be legal, and even welcome.
It's called the NFL.
Oakland Raiders punter Chris Kluwe is one of those who is a Google Glass Explorer. So he's been wearing his glasses at training camp and shooting scenes from the life of one of the few members of the team desperate not to get hit.
Oddly, though, he believes that Google's glasses can withstand a hit. He told Forbes that he's actually hit a couple of players in drills, while be-Glassed.
Some might offer that the impact of being hit by a punter resembles that of being hit by a Prada clutch. (Of course that's happened to me. It was, apparently, an accident.) Still, it certainly opens the imagination to ever more intimate glimpses of NFL action.
Kluwe has already posted some of his Google Glass videos to YouTube. They are marginally more fascinating than videos of, say, Bon Jovi's keyboard player wearing Glass.
Kluwe insists that Google Glass is a much more pleasant fit under his helmet than, say, a GoPro camera. The Vikings' Adrian Peterson had a camera embedded into his helmet this week. I have embedded the results below.
Kluwe believes that one day technology will allow players to have plays projected into their visors. But where does it stop? Wouldn't it feel like cheating if, as Kluwe suggests, quarterbacks would get a little flashing light to tell them a receiver is open? Where's the fun in that?
Football, though, is a wild sport. And Google Glass can capture the wildness with vast intimacy.
Kluwe told Forbes: "You can see the rush coming in, what it's like going down the field. That's the revolutionary part. When you have the view of running down the field with 21 other guys all moving at real time -- that first person perspective -- no one has gotten that sense before. That's what people want. The speed of the game, how chaotic it is."
Yes, people want chaos.
Which leads me to think about a potential kink in Kluwe's augmented optimism. One can conceive of so many ways -- in so many sports -- that in-headgear cameras could enhance the excitement. Baseball immediately comes to mind.
Football, though, does embrace violence. The only thing is that the players, bloated on ever greater dosages of McDonald's and narcotics, are suffering greater short- and long-term injuries.
The NFL is ever more conscious of the fact that players are inflicting heavier pain on themselves and others. The league is getting sued by players over head injuries.
At what point might some Google Glass footage become too gruesome for public viewing? At what point might someone say no to a close-up of a head snapping back, an eye being gouged, or a groin being thumped?
Oh, what am I talking about? America loves violence. It's only things like Janet Jackson's bare breast that might shock the Super Bowl-viewing public.
Just imagine if there'd been a Justin Timberlake Google Glass view of that.
This might seem a trifle antisocial. There again, that's been said of Google Glass.
And yet there seems to be a place where a touch of Google Glass violence might actually be legal, and even welcome.
It's called the NFL.
Oakland Raiders punter Chris Kluwe is one of those who is a Google Glass Explorer. So he's been wearing his glasses at training camp and shooting scenes from the life of one of the few members of the team desperate not to get hit.
Oddly, though, he believes that Google's glasses can withstand a hit. He told Forbes that he's actually hit a couple of players in drills, while be-Glassed.
Some might offer that the impact of being hit by a punter resembles that of being hit by a Prada clutch. (Of course that's happened to me. It was, apparently, an accident.) Still, it certainly opens the imagination to ever more intimate glimpses of NFL action.
Kluwe has already posted some of his Google Glass videos to YouTube. They are marginally more fascinating than videos of, say, Bon Jovi's keyboard player wearing Glass.
Kluwe insists that Google Glass is a much more pleasant fit under his helmet than, say, a GoPro camera. The Vikings' Adrian Peterson had a camera embedded into his helmet this week. I have embedded the results below.
Kluwe believes that one day technology will allow players to have plays projected into their visors. But where does it stop? Wouldn't it feel like cheating if, as Kluwe suggests, quarterbacks would get a little flashing light to tell them a receiver is open? Where's the fun in that?
Football, though, is a wild sport. And Google Glass can capture the wildness with vast intimacy.
Kluwe told Forbes: "You can see the rush coming in, what it's like going down the field. That's the revolutionary part. When you have the view of running down the field with 21 other guys all moving at real time -- that first person perspective -- no one has gotten that sense before. That's what people want. The speed of the game, how chaotic it is."
Yes, people want chaos.
Which leads me to think about a potential kink in Kluwe's augmented optimism. One can conceive of so many ways -- in so many sports -- that in-headgear cameras could enhance the excitement. Baseball immediately comes to mind.
Football, though, does embrace violence. The only thing is that the players, bloated on ever greater dosages of McDonald's and narcotics, are suffering greater short- and long-term injuries.
The NFL is ever more conscious of the fact that players are inflicting heavier pain on themselves and others. The league is getting sued by players over head injuries.
At what point might some Google Glass footage become too gruesome for public viewing? At what point might someone say no to a close-up of a head snapping back, an eye being gouged, or a groin being thumped?
Oh, what am I talking about? America loves violence. It's only things like Janet Jackson's bare breast that might shock the Super Bowl-viewing public.
Just imagine if there'd been a Justin Timberlake Google Glass view of that.
Lookout's 'Operation Dragon Lady' uncovers mobile malware industry
Russians have turned stealing money from Android smartphone users into an
entire industry, according to a security app maker's investigation.
Lookout Inc. studied how 10 Russian groups convince users to download what appears to be a legitimate mobile app. During the supposed download process, a computer code is run that sends a premium text message from the user’s phone. Premium text messages result in an extra fee at the bottom of phone bills, typically about $3 to $18 in this case. The hackers eventually get that money.
The organizations have built an impressive distribution chain, said Ryan Smith, senior research and response engineer at Lookout.
A few bosses build the malicious code. Thousands of foot soldiers customize and peddle them. Web developers and social media experts are paid to help distribute links to the malicious downloads.
PHOTOS: Top smartphones of 2013
The scam run by these organizations targets Russians and Eastern Europeans, especially those looking for pornography apps. The attack is less prevalent in the U.S. But Lookout wants to stay ahead of the curve, improve blocking features in its app and show the hackers that targeting Westerners will be a losing proposition.
“Russians are very smart and clever,” Smith said. “They are starting a trend showing that text-message fraud can be commoditized, and it’s important for us to look at their tools and tactics to keep it from spreading.”
The research firm MarketsandMarkets says Lookout’s mobile security app is the most used consumer app of its kind in the world, thanks largely to a distribution agreement with the leading phone maker, Samsung Electronics Co. Lookout claims 45 million users.
Google Inc., which leads development of the Android operating system, has released features to prevent premium text-message fraud. The newest version of its operating system, 4.3, provides three alerts before a premium text message is sent.
Phone carriers in the U.S. have stemmed the problem by waiting two months before turning money over to recipients. That gives victims plenty of time to fight the small, unknown charges. In Russia, Smith said, there is little delay between the sneaky sending of the message and the money transfer.
Lookout's researchers had noticed that its app was catching several similar attempts to send text messages. The company began “Operation Dragon Lady” in December. Nearly a third of the apps were traced back to 10 organizations.
At the top, a few developers build the key technical parts of the app and create premium numbers. Others can log onto a website and customize the app. Lookout declined to publish the names of the websites, saying it did not want others to consider using them.
One website the company showed featured penguins cheerfully sitting on a phone that was pouring out gold coins.
“They want it to make it look fun and easy to do,” Smith said.
The sites make it a competition to distribute the app to as many as people as possible. Scoreboards show which users are raking in the most money. Smith said they even hold competitions, giving six-digit bonuses to top distributors.
During the customization process, distributors can make the apps mirror dozens of different apps, including games, browsers, instant messaging programs and porn.
They load special code onto malicious websites and then recruit people to help get links to the dangerous download pages. Smith said Lookout reported 50,000 Twitter accounts solely designed to draw people to the fake apps.
Some top distributors make $12,000 a month, Smith said. Others who put less effort in can walk away with a few hundred dollars.
Lookout doesn’t have any deals in Russia to make its app a default on new phones. Many Eastern Europeans also have older versions of Android. Still, the company said adding users in Russia was not an immediate focus. The U.S. and Western Europe remain the primary market for attracting people to its $30-a-year service.
The rare occurrence of text-messaging malware in the U.S. is more likely to come from enterprising individuals, Smith said. But text-message fraud is already becoming an issue in Southeast Asia.
“By having all this information available about distribution channels, we’re keeping a much closer eye on them,” Smith said. “As soon as they move, we move.”
Lookout Inc. studied how 10 Russian groups convince users to download what appears to be a legitimate mobile app. During the supposed download process, a computer code is run that sends a premium text message from the user’s phone. Premium text messages result in an extra fee at the bottom of phone bills, typically about $3 to $18 in this case. The hackers eventually get that money.
The organizations have built an impressive distribution chain, said Ryan Smith, senior research and response engineer at Lookout.
A few bosses build the malicious code. Thousands of foot soldiers customize and peddle them. Web developers and social media experts are paid to help distribute links to the malicious downloads.
PHOTOS: Top smartphones of 2013
The scam run by these organizations targets Russians and Eastern Europeans, especially those looking for pornography apps. The attack is less prevalent in the U.S. But Lookout wants to stay ahead of the curve, improve blocking features in its app and show the hackers that targeting Westerners will be a losing proposition.
“Russians are very smart and clever,” Smith said. “They are starting a trend showing that text-message fraud can be commoditized, and it’s important for us to look at their tools and tactics to keep it from spreading.”
The research firm MarketsandMarkets says Lookout’s mobile security app is the most used consumer app of its kind in the world, thanks largely to a distribution agreement with the leading phone maker, Samsung Electronics Co. Lookout claims 45 million users.
Google Inc., which leads development of the Android operating system, has released features to prevent premium text-message fraud. The newest version of its operating system, 4.3, provides three alerts before a premium text message is sent.
Phone carriers in the U.S. have stemmed the problem by waiting two months before turning money over to recipients. That gives victims plenty of time to fight the small, unknown charges. In Russia, Smith said, there is little delay between the sneaky sending of the message and the money transfer.
Lookout's researchers had noticed that its app was catching several similar attempts to send text messages. The company began “Operation Dragon Lady” in December. Nearly a third of the apps were traced back to 10 organizations.
At the top, a few developers build the key technical parts of the app and create premium numbers. Others can log onto a website and customize the app. Lookout declined to publish the names of the websites, saying it did not want others to consider using them.
One website the company showed featured penguins cheerfully sitting on a phone that was pouring out gold coins.
“They want it to make it look fun and easy to do,” Smith said.
The sites make it a competition to distribute the app to as many as people as possible. Scoreboards show which users are raking in the most money. Smith said they even hold competitions, giving six-digit bonuses to top distributors.
During the customization process, distributors can make the apps mirror dozens of different apps, including games, browsers, instant messaging programs and porn.
They load special code onto malicious websites and then recruit people to help get links to the dangerous download pages. Smith said Lookout reported 50,000 Twitter accounts solely designed to draw people to the fake apps.
Some top distributors make $12,000 a month, Smith said. Others who put less effort in can walk away with a few hundred dollars.
Lookout doesn’t have any deals in Russia to make its app a default on new phones. Many Eastern Europeans also have older versions of Android. Still, the company said adding users in Russia was not an immediate focus. The U.S. and Western Europe remain the primary market for attracting people to its $30-a-year service.
The rare occurrence of text-messaging malware in the U.S. is more likely to come from enterprising individuals, Smith said. But text-message fraud is already becoming an issue in Southeast Asia.
“By having all this information available about distribution channels, we’re keeping a much closer eye on them,” Smith said. “As soon as they move, we move.”
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