Curiosity rover may sample Mars water

Scientists have already found hints of liquid water on Mars… now, they want to take a close look at it. NASA has revealed that the Curiosity rover will investigate recurring slope lineae (those streaks you see above) around Mars’ Gale Crater in hopes of finding water. It’ll first take a photo with its mast camera to verify that there’s water in the first place. If there is, the machine will head over to collect samples. The agency would like to take those photos within a year, so you wouldn’t have to wait too long to get answers.

This doesn’t mean that Curiosity will find life. Mars’ harsh conditions (including fierce radiation) might preclude it, and that’s before you account for the rover’s sample sterilization process. Instead, think of the water mission more as a stepping stone. The findings it collects should help plan a mission intended to find signs of life, so even a mildly successful trip might lead to bigger and better things.

Via: Popular Mechanics

Source: Aviation Week (sign-in required)

Philippines man charged with raiding US celebrities’ accounts

Online attacks against celebrities aren’t limited to perpetrators in the US. American officials have unsealed charges against Peter Locsin, a Filipino who allegedly participated in a plot to compromise the financial accounts of at least five high-profile targets. Officials aren’t naming the victims, but they do mention the CEO of an international corporation and a “well-known socialite and entertainer.” Last year, when Locsin was arrested, the Philippine Star claimed that former FBI director Robert Mueller (shown above) was one of the targets.

The perpetrators reportedly swiped the personal details of their victims (such as Social Security numbers) in order to get access to their bank accounts and credit cards. After that, they went to town with attempts to transfer money, go on virtual shopping sprees or take further control by changing account details.

Prosecutors haven’t yet asked for Locsin to be extradited to the US. However, the penalties could be severe — he faces up to 30 years in prison if he’s convicted. Even if there’s a lighter sentence, it’ll be clear that stealing sensitive info (at least, from the wrong people) can carry a steep price.

Via: Reuters

Source: NJ.com

IRS kills e-filing PINs prematurely due to cyberattacks

The IRS was gearing up to kill e-file PINs later this year, but it has decided to speed up its plans after discovering suspicious activity. These electronic filing personal identification numbers, which people could use to authenticate tax returns filed online, are no longer available on IRS.gov or via the agency’s toll-free phone number. If you’ll recall, identity thieves used malware to steal taxpayers’ info from other websites, which was then used to generate 100,000 PINs, back in February. The thieves were actually gunning for 464,000 PINs, but the agency was able to stop them before they got near that number.

This time, the IRS detected “automated attacks taking place at an increasing frequency” thanks to the additional defenses it added after that initial hack. It said only “a small number” of taxpayers were affected, but it didn’t give an exact number. The IRS chose not to kill the tool back in February, since most commercial tax software products use it. After these recent cyberattacks, though, the agency determined that it would be safer to give up on a verification method that’s scheduled for the chopping block anyway.

The service also took the chance to remind people that a PIN isn’t even necessary to file tax returns. “[Y]ou will need to use your prior-year adjusted gross income (AGI) to validate your signature,” the old request page reads. “If you do not have your prior-year tax return, you may use Get Transcript Online or Get Transcript by Mail to obtain your prior-year AGI. You may use your AGI to validate your signature and continue with electronic filing of your tax return.”

Source: IRS

How to reinstall the software on your Chromebook

You can reinstall a fresh version of the operating system on your Chromebook with an easy-to-use tool and a USB stick or SD card.

If you see the “Chrome OS is missing or damaged” error when you start up your Chromebook, you’ll need to reinstall the operating system. This isn’t normally an issue, but if you were fiddling with the partitioning or trying to install another operating system like Ubuntu, you might see it. It’s fairly easy to fix as long as you have another computer running the Chrome browser (or another Chromebook) with internet access and a USB drive or SD card.

A couple notes before we move on to the instructions. Remove anything you have plugged into your Chromebook, like an SD card or any USB peripherals. This will wipe everything from your Chromebook’s storage, so you won’t be able to access any of your locally stored files when it reboots. It will also wipe the USB or SD card media you’re using as a restore device, so back anything up you want to keep before you get started.

Now on to the instructions!

• On your computer running the Chrome browser or another Chromebook, head to the Chrome Web Store and install the Chromebook Recovery Utility app.

Download: Chromebook Recovery Utility

• Insert a 4GB or larger USB drive or SD card into your computer. Remember, this will wipe it clean so back up your stuff if you want to keep it.
• Start the Recovery Utility app. You’ll be prompted with simple on-screen instructions, and all you really need to know is your Chromebook’s exact model number (look on the bottom of your Chromebook if you don;t know it) and which drive your computer assigned the SD card or USB media to — you can find that out in your computer’s file explorer.

• Give the program five minutes or so to format, download and install your new software. When it’s done, you’ll get a message that things are complete. Eject and remove the media you used for a recovery disk.
• Turn on your Chromebook. If it doesn’t start to the Recovery screen, you can press Escape + Refresh on the keyboard, then press the power button. Let go of the power button, then let go of Escape and Refresh to open the Recovery.
• When you see a message telling you to insert a recovery USB stick or SD card, put in the disk you created in the steps above. Follow the on-screen instructions.

When your Chromebook reboots, you’ll be on the latest build of the operating system and all you will need to do is sign in again. The whole process only takes about 20 minutes, and while you’ll probably never need to do this it’s nice knowing how just in case.

Happy Chromebooking!

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Snowden’s email provider confirms it was an investigation target

It’s a poorly kept secret that officials targeted Lavabit’s secure email service as part of their investigation into Edward Snowden’s leaks. Heck, the US government inadvertently leaked the truth itself. However, a gag order has prevented Lavabit from publicly acknowledging this… until now. In a statement, company founder Ladar Levinson can finally confirm that law enforcement pursued Lavabit in order to access Snowden’s communications. When the investigation began, authorities wanted the provider to hand over an encryption key that would not only expose Snowden, but all 410,000 Lavabit customers. It’s no wonder that Levinson decided to close shop — it’s hard to advertise private email when the feds can theoretically spy on any of your users.

The service creator isn’t just using the newfound liberty to criticize what he sees as suppression of both his free speech rights and the privacy of his former clientele. He’s forming a non-profit, the Lavabit Legal Defense Foundation (LavaLegal for short), to help service providers avoid participating in “unconstitutional activities” that include attempts to order backdoors and otherwise undermine privacy. The donation-based organization will help companies worldwide. It’s hard to say how effective LavaLegal will be, but it might make all the difference if it helps even one company oppose a request it otherwise couldn’t afford to fight.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Ladar Levison (Facebook), Rally.org

Six gadgets made from LEGO bricks

By Cat DiStasio

When kids play with LEGO bricks, their creations are limited only by their imaginations. A few colorful blocks can become a spacecraft, a bulldozer or a skyscraper with just a few moves. Although the LEGO builds from you childhood may not do much on their own, those colorful bricks lend themselves to amazing works of ingenuity when combined with other simple items. To showcase the vast potential of these cherished toys, we’ve rounded up a series of awesome gadgets made from LEGOs. Read on to learn about a working LEGO printer built by a teenager, a prosthetic arm that makes kids the star of any crowd and even a working LEGO camera that shows how it’s possible to create almost anything if you want it badly enough.