Zuckerberg responds to ‘frustrating’ reports of NSA spoofing Facebook, while the agency denies them

<img alt="President Barack Obama talks on the telephone with President Francois Hollande of France to discuss the situation in Ukraine, in Key Largo, Florida, March 8, 2014.
(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

” data-caption=”President Barack Obama talks on the telephone with President Francois Hollande of France to discuss the situation in Ukraine, in Key Largo, Florida, March 8, 2014.
(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

” data-credit=”Official White House Photo by Pete Souza” src=”http://o.aolcdn.com/hss/storage/adam/6fa6aa74f9010a59eadfd8a340120877/13011820434_7172e92e64_o.jpg&#8221; data-mep=”170631″ />

Yesterday a report from The Intercept exposed NSA documents apparently showing how it could infect “millions” of computers with malware and even masquerade as a Facebook server. Now, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and the NSA have both published responses, with decidedly different takes on the situation. Zuckerberg took to the site to discuss how important trust is on the internet, calling the reports confusing and frustrating, and said he called President Obama directly (pictured above speaking to President Francois Hollande of France last week) to express those feelings. While he waits for “true full reform,” he says Facebook is working on making its services more secure with encryption, secure protocols for traffic, and helping others resolve issues in their services.

Meanwhile, or perhaps in response to Zuck’s direct call, the NSA’s Public Affairs office posted a statement (PDF) calling the reports inaccurate. According to the agency: “NSA does not use its technical capabilities to impersonate U.S. company websites. Nor does NSA target any user of global Internet services without appropriate legal authority.” Check out the full statement and see how it compares to the documents published yesterday for yourself, but after the last year or so of leaks, it’s pretty tough to just take the NSA’s words at face value.

[Image credit: Official White House Photo by Pete Souza]

NSA’s response to recent allegations about malware – http://t.co/9N8THr3roS.

– NSA/CSS (@NSA_PAO) March 13, 2014

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Filed under: Internet, Facebook

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Source: Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), NSA (PDF)

Prepare yourself: Facebook video ads are headed your way soon

Get ready: video ads are set to become a permanent fixture in your Facebook feed by late April or early May. The social network has been testing 15-second spots since December and, after a few delays, officially started offering them as an option to select advertisers today. Both mobile and desktop ads will autoplay in your feed, but won’t have audio unless you click on them (so you won’t have to worry about disturbing your cubemate when you’re Facebook stalking your ex). On mobile, those ads will download only when you’re connected to Wi-Fi, so they won’t gobble up all your mobile data, but you’ll still see them when you’re on the move. There’s no way to opt out of seeing the ads. Though, legend tells of a magical browser extension that can “block” all ads online (not that we’d ever endorse such a thing). Our quick solution? Treat them like the million baby pics your college roommate posts and scroll by as fast as possible.

[Image courtesy Flickr/mkhmarketing]

Filed under: Internet, Mobile, Facebook

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Via: Bloomberg

Inhabitat’s Week in Green: human diamonds, floating farm and a 13-year-old nuclear fusioneer

Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week’s most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us — it’s the Week in Green.

Ever wish you could take a bite out of Kanye West? A new (possibly satirical) startup is taking meat alternatives to an absurd new level, with plans to make salami from animal meat and human tissue from celebrities. No word yet on what Kanye thinks of the venture. In other weird science news, a Swiss company says it is creating diamonds from cremated human remains. The company claims that its so-called memorial diamonds are almost indistinguishable from a typical diamond.

We frequently hear about Jurassic Park-style attempts to revive extinct animals like dinosaurs, but why stop there? A team of scientists recently revived a virus that had had been trapped in the Siberian permafrost for more than 30,000 years. Greenland’s ice sheets are melting at an alarming rate, but a team of French architecture students has hatched a plan to capture some of that fresh water. The students recently unveiled plans for a huge floating farm that uses the water from melting icebergs to grow fruit and vegetables. Providing America’s homeless with a warm place to sleep is an ongoing challenge, and artist Michael Rakowitz is on the case. Rakowitz recently designed the ParaSITE, an inflatable one-person shelter that uses excess HVAC air to keep homeless people warm.

Last week, a 13-year-old boy from England built a nuclear reactor in his parents’ garage and successfully carried out an atomic fusion reaction, making him the world’s youngest nuclear fusioneer. Also on the energy front, reports have surfaced that Facebook may purchase Titan Aerospace, a company that specializes in solar-powered drones. Solar power could also be used to explore distant planets. The company Northrop Grumman says it already has the solar technology to build an unmanned inflatable aircraft that could explore outer space for up to a year unaided. And back here on Earth, Ghana announced plans to build more than 600 megawatts’ worth of solar parks, creating both jobs and solar energy for the West African nation.

A futuristic world of self-driving flying cars may not be that far off. The company Terrafugia recently announced that it’s developing flying cars that can drive and fly on their own. The goal is to create a flying vehicle that is both safer and easier to operate than today’s cars. In other green transportation news, America’s first all-electric school bus began transporting students to and from school in Central California last week. Riding a bike is easy on the environment, and if you buy a bike from one innovative startup, you can also help children in need. Peace Bikes has a “buy a bike, give a bike” policy so for every purchase you make, the company will give a bike to a kid who needs one. Tired of hearing the same old sounds every time you pass through a subway turnstile? James Murphy, the former frontman for LCD Soundsystem, has come up with an idea for musical turnstiles that replace the current beeps with pleasing music.

3D printing tech is developing at a furious pace these days, but scientists at the US Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have plans to make it 500 times faster. The lab has partnered with machine tool manufacturer Cincinnati Incorporated to create a speedy new printer that could make the technology more economically viable. A UCSD professor recently produced a new kind of magnetic material that could revolutionize both computer hard drives and energy storage. High-tech water filtration systems are great, but maybe we’re over-thinking things. A new report by MIT researchers suggests that if you run out of drinking water in the woods, all you need to do is to break off a branch from the nearest pine tree. By pouring lake water through the branch, you can produce up to four liters of drinking water a day. A Kenyan technology company recently unveiled a lightweight and portable internet router that is designed to work anywhere in the world — even in places with sporadic power outages. And for parents who need to pinpoint their kids’ location at all times, a British company recently debuted a new GPS watch that enables parents to track their kids’ movement.

Filed under: Misc, Science

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