Rombertik will go to great lengths to keep its private parts private.
via Ars Technica
Super secretive malware wipes hard drive to prevent analysis
Pythons Take Over Florida, Are Busted By GPS
One of America’s most delicate ecosystems is invaded with swarms of giant, non-native Burmese pythons. They’re big. They screw up the ecosystem. And they’re hard to find. But researchers may have finally learned how to round ‘em up, thanks to radio and GPS.
The easily camouflaged, semi-aquatic Burmese python can easily hit 20 feet and 200 pounds, and they like to snack on endangered mammals dwelling in the Everglades—making them both hard-to-nab and a serious threat to the local ecosystem. They were first spotted in the region back in 1979.
In a study led by the U.S. Geological Survey, published last month in the journal Animal Biotelemetry, researchers explained how the use of tracking technology over many years has narrowed down the size of the huge snakes’ dwelling range in Florida’s Everglades National Park. It also better explains the animals’ movements and migration. This can help authorities neutralize this threat to the Everglades’ biodiversity.
This study started back in 2006 with 19 wild-caught adult pythons, which were implanted with radio transmitters or GPS devices. Sixteen were radio-tracked with VHF tags for three years, and the other three snakes were monitored with GPS tags for one year. The results determined where the pythons like to hang in the park (on tree islands and near roads, in an average range of around 14 square miles), and that they tend to move to wherever there’s surface water. Before this study, the predators’ movements and habitat ranges within the park were pretty unknown.
This multi-year effort was the largest and longest-running python-tracking study ever (both here and its native habitat of Southeast Asia). The National Park Service says that since 2002, only about 2,000 pythons have been removed from the park—“likely representing only a fraction of the total population.”
In 2013, the state kicked off the inaugural Python Challenge. It was a snake-snatching contest that awarded regular folks thousands of dollars to comb through the Everglades, wrangling and exterminating Burmese pythons. (There’s a second installment set for 2016.) Hopefully this new study can better put the task in tech’s hands.
Leafblower Volcano
(PG-13 Language) A guy and his dad were out in the yard when they had an idea. Take the leaf blower they were using and point it directly into the fiery belly of a chiminea. The result – a fire-belching mini volcano. Mom was not as amused.
via The Awesomer
Leafblower Volcano
Study shows health app Lose It! does help patients with weight loss
A study compares LoseIt! with one-on-one nutritional counselling, finding similar results.
The post Study shows health app Lose It! does help patients with weight loss appeared first on iMedicalApps.
via iMedicalApps
Study shows health app Lose It! does help patients with weight loss
Better Photos Can Sell Your Home Faster, for Thousands of Dollars More
If you’re planning on selling a home soon, you might want to consider hiring a professional photographer or improving your photography skills. Doing so could be worth over $10,000.
Brokerage firm Redfin Corp looked at listings to compare those with professional photos versus amateur ones. It found that for homes listed between $200,000 and $1 million, photos taken with a DSLR sold for $3,400 to $11,200 more relative to their list prices. They were also more likely to sell within six months and up to 3 weeks faster than the listings with amateur photos.
Although the analysis was done in 2013, it repeats a previous study the company had done in 2010 with similar results. It might sound obvious that better photos make your home look better, but it’s interesting to know just how much of a difference this one thing can make.
Look Sharp: Professional Listing Photos Sell For More Money – Research Center | Redfin via Apartment Therapy
via Lifehacker
Better Photos Can Sell Your Home Faster, for Thousands of Dollars More
Most Popular Fan: Vornado
Vornado’s excellent, attractive series of fans blew away the competition to grab the title of best fan.
As you probably expect, Vornado has a fan to fit every need, including:
- The 660 Whole Room Air Circulator
- The 530 Compact Air Circulator
- The 133 Small Room Air Circulator
- The 783 Whole Room Adjustable Height Air Circulator
- The Flippi V8 Personal Air Circulator, which is on my desk at the office
If you’re not willing to pony up for a Vornado, the Honeywell took a distant second place, and is the #1 best-seller in fans.
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Thank God the FAA Is Switching to Satellites for Air Traffic Control
As unnerving as it is to hear, air traffic control has always been pretty piecemeal. Relying on a combination of instrumentation—namely, radar, radios, and GPS—as well as good old fashioned eyeballs, pilots do a pretty good job navigating the sky. But they’re about to get a lot better with a new satellite-based system.
Appropriately named NextGen, the new system being deployed widely this year by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) promises to improve every single air traveller’s experience. The key is constant connectivity to precise satellite technology that gives all aircraft and controllers in flight towers access to real-time-data from the time the plane leaves the gate until it arrives at its destination. This means weather problems are more easily spotted and avoided—which is a huge deal since weather causes 70 percent of all delays. Beyond that, the entire air traffic control system is becoming more automated and modernized. The FAA already has a list of NextGen success stories, too.
The NextGen system will get even better as more planes use it, too. “All you need is one aircraft to land and the benefits begin,” said the FAA’s Warren Strickland in a statement. “With connections, the benefits are exponential.” Heck, even an incremental benefit would be nice at this point!
via Gizmodo
Thank God the FAA Is Switching to Satellites for Air Traffic Control
The trailer for Beyond the Brick reminds us why we love Lego so much
A childhood spent building everything from castles, to spaceships, to monsters is all one really needs to remind themselves why Lego is the ultimate toy for everyone from toddlers to seniors. But check out the trailer for Beyond the Brick: A Lego Brickumentary for even more reasons to love all those colorful plastic pieces.
The documentary actually premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival last year, but it’s finally getting a U.S. release on July 31. And even though you probably don’t need much convincing to spend two hours in a theater watching a documentary all about Lego, here’s a clip from the film that the Wall Street Journal posted last year to help further whet your appetite.
You’re reading Leg Godt, the blog with the latest Lego news and the best sets in the web. Follow us on Twitter or Facebook.
via Gizmodo
The trailer for Beyond the Brick reminds us why we love Lego so much
Disabling IPv6 fixes Netflix and AirPlay issues on Apple TV
I’ve been having a lot of issues lately with Netflix on my AppleTV and other iOS devices from home. On Apple TV, the most common outcome of launching Netflix was the dreaded “Netflix is currently unavailable” screen. It has gotten so bad that my kids keep asking to just watch Netflix on Roku! Obviously if […]
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Do you want to feel like a wizard? Check the Kymera wand in Amazon: You can control your Apple TV waving a wand!
via Apple TV Hacks
Disabling IPv6 fixes Netflix and AirPlay issues on Apple TV
This Calculator Helps You Crack Any Master Combination Lock in 8 Tries
Forgot your Master lock combo? Or want some incentive to not use a Master padlock? There’s a website for that.
The video above from Samy Kamar shows how you can crack any Master combination lock within eight tries. It’s a bit long, but here’s Ars Technica’s explanation if you don’t want to sit through the video:
The exploit involves lifting up a locked shackle with one hand while turning the combination dial counterclockwise starting at the number 0 with the other. Before the dial reaches 11, there will be three points where the dial will resist being turned anymore. One of them will be ignored as it is exactly between two whole numbers on the dial. The remaining two locations represent locked positions. Next, an attacker again lifts the locked shackle, this time with less force, while turning the dial clockwise. At some point before a full revolution is completed, the dial will resist being turned. (An attacker can still turn through it but will physically feel the resistance.) This location represents the resistance location. The two locked positions and the one resistance position are then recorded on a Web page that streamlines the exploit.
The page responds with the first digit of the combination and two possible digits for the last digit. By testing which of the possible last digits has more “give,” an attacker can quickly figure out which one is correct. By eliminating the false digit from the Web form, the page will automatically populate the eight possible numbers for the second digit of the combination. Now that the attacker knows the first and last digits and knows the second digit is one of eight possible numbers, the hack is a simple matter of trying each possible combination until the correct one opens the lock.
We’ve previously seen an illustrated guide to cracking a Master lock, but the online tool makes it much easier and in many fewer tries.
Break open any Master Combo Lock in 8 tries or less! | YouTube via Ars Technica
via Lifehacker
This Calculator Helps You Crack Any Master Combination Lock in 8 Tries