Intel's New "Smart Glasses" Shoot Laser Beam Directly Into Your Retinahttps://t.co/9sZYFcmISI
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Intel
The “Meltdown” Story: How A Researcher Discovered The “Worst” Flaw In Intel History
– The “Meltdown” Story: How A Researcher Discovered The “Worst” Flaw In Intel History:
Daniel Gruss didn’t sleep much the night he hacked his own computer and exposed a flaw in most of the chips made in the past two decades by hardware giant Intel, something we discussed in “Why The Implications Of The Intel “Bug” Are Staggering.” And as Reuters describes in fascinating detail, the 31-year-old information security researcher and post-doctoral fellow at Austria’s Graz Technical University had just breached the inner sanctum of his computer’s CPU and stolen secrets from it.
Until that moment, Gruss and colleagues Moritz Lipp and Michael Schwarz had thought such an attack on the processor’s ‘kernel’ memory, which is meant to be inaccessible to users, was only theoretically possible.
“When I saw my private website addresses from Firefox being dumped by the tool I wrote, I was really shocked,” Gruss told Reuters in an email interview, describing how he had unlocked personal data that should be secured.
Gruss, Lipp and Schwarz, working from their homes on a weekend in early December, messaged each other furiously to verify the result.
“We sat for hours in disbelief until we eliminated any possibility that this result was wrong,” said Gruss, whose mind kept racing even after powering down his computer, so he barely caught a wink of sleep.
Gruss and his colleagues had just confirmed the existence of what he regards as “one of the worst CPU bugs ever found”.
The flaw, now named Meltdown, was revealed on Wednesday and affects most processors manufactured by Intel since 1995.
Read moreThe “Meltdown” Story: How A Researcher Discovered The “Worst” Flaw In Intel History
Intel To Produce 7nm Node At Fab 42, Announces $7 Billion Investment To Finish Construction
– Intel To Produce 7nm Node At Fab 42, Announces $7 Billion Investment To Finish Construction:
Intel CEO Brian Krzanich announced at the White House that the company is investing $7 billion to complete its Fab 42 in Chandler, Arizona. The investment will prepare the fab for 7nm production. Krzanich proclaimed that “we support the Administration’s policies to level the global playing field and make U.S. manufacturing competitive worldwide through new regulatory standards and investment policies.” The statement comes amidst Intel’s disagreement with the current administration’s immigration policies. Intel’s stance made news this week as the company became a vocal opponent of President Trump’s policy.Read moreIntel To Produce 7nm Node At Fab 42, Announces $7 Billion Investment To Finish Construction
In Today’s Layoff News: Microsoft Fires 1,850; Intel Cuts 350; Shell Terminating 2,200
– In Today’s Layoff News: Microsoft Fires 1,850; Intel Cuts 350; Shell Terminating 2,200:
How do you know the Fed is justified in hiking again, the economy is recovering, and the market are zooming higher? One hint is the just announced thousands in layoffs in both the energy and tech sector, among which are Shell, which announced it would layoff 2,200 jobs; Microsoft reporting it would cut 1,850; and Intel terminating up to 350 jobs in Germany.
The details:
Read moreIn Today’s Layoff News: Microsoft Fires 1,850; Intel Cuts 350; Shell Terminating 2,200
Intel Fires A Massive 12,000 Workers, 11% Of Its Entire Workforce
“Confused? Don’t be: it’s all part of the new normal recovery, and don’t forget the spin: don’t think of its as 12,000 highly paid engineers and tech workers fired, think of it as 12,000 brand spanking new waiters and bartenders.”
There were some rumors reported late last week that the world’s biggest chip maker was about to fire a major portion of its workforce. Moments ago the company confirmed these rumors, when it reported that it was firing a whopping 11% of its entire workforce, laying off a massive 12,000 workers.
Read moreIntel Fires A Massive 12,000 Workers, 11% Of Its Entire Workforce
Intel’s New Mobile Chips Are Always Listening
– “Hello, Computer” – Intel’s New Mobile Chips Are Always Listening (MIT Technology Review, Sep 5, 2014):
Tablets and laptops coming later this year will be able to constantly listen for voice commands thanks to new chips from Intel.
A new line of mobile chips unveiled by Intel today makes it possible to wake up a laptop or tablet simply by saying “Hello, computer.” Once it has been awoken, the computer can operate as a voice-controlled virtual assistant. You might call out “Hello, computer, what is the weather forecast today?” while getting out of bed.
Tablets and lightweight laptops based on the new Core M line of chips will go on sale at the end of this year. They can constantly listen for voice instructions thanks to a component known as a digital signal processor core that’s dedicated to processing audio with high efficiency and minimal power use.
Russian Sanctions Retaliation Escalates: Dumps Intel/AMD And Now Foreign Cars
– Russian Sanctions Retaliation Escalates: Dumps Intel/AMD And Now Foreign Cars (ZeroHedge, July 18, 2014):
Ignoring for one second yesterday disastrous air crash in Ukraine, the ‘boomerang’ of sanctions continues to be thrown back and forth between the US and Russia. Having restricted Russian firm’s access to USD funding, Putin has come out swinging. His first act was to demand that state departments and state-run companies will no longer purchase PCs built around Intel or AMD processors (which might explain AMD’s slashing their outlook); but now he has hit out at the heart of what has made America great (in the eyes of some) – banning the use of foreign cars for officials in favour of home-produced cars.
Read moreRussian Sanctions Retaliation Escalates: Dumps Intel/AMD And Now Foreign Cars
Russia To Swap Intel-AMD Processors For Local Technology
Image: The NSA is not an independent agency nor does it merely answer to those in Washington. It is a manifestation of an overreaching corporatocracy that will stop at nothing to expand its various monopolies.
The key to defeating the NSA is not attacking it directly but by undermining and replacing the corporate interests that created it and direct it in the first place.
– Russia to Swap Intel-AMD Processors For Local Technology (Activist Post, June 22, 2014):
Russia’s ITAR-TASS News Agency reported in an article titled, “Russia wants to replace US computer chips with local processors,” that:
Russia’s Industry and Trade Ministry plans to replace US microchips Intel and AMD, used in government’s computers, with domestically-produced micro processor Baikal in a project worth dozens of millions of dollars, business daily Kommersant reported Thursday.
It also stated:
The Baikal chips will be installed on computers of government bodies and in state-run firms, which purchase some 700,000 personal computers annually worth $500 million and 300,000 servers worth $800 million. The total volume of the market amounts to about 5 million devices worth $3.5 billion.
In addition to the obvious financial benefits for Russia of locally manufacturing processors, there are several other dimensions within which the move will be beneficial, including in terms of national security.
Read moreRussia To Swap Intel-AMD Processors For Local Technology
Intel’s New TV Box To Watch You While You are Watching It!
– Intel’s new TV box to point creepy spy camera at YOUR FACE (Register, Feb 13, 2013):
One day we’re gonna watch you like it’s 1984
Intel has confirmed it will be selling a set-top box direct to the public later this year, along with a streaming TV service designed to watch you while you’re watching it.
The device will come from Intel Media, a new group populated with staff nicked from Netflix/Apple/Google and so forth. Subscribers will get live and catch-up TV as well as on-demand content – all delivered direct from Intel over their broadband connections. It’s a move which will put Chipzilla firmly into US living room, and no doubt ignite a host of privacy concerns from those who want to watch without being watched.
Read moreIntel’s New TV Box To Watch You While You are Watching It!
Intel Researchers Develop ‘Intelligent’ Surveillance Cars That Send Video Footage From Accidents to Authorities And Even Take Over Control From Motorists.
“Camera systems that can recognise street signs and then take over control of a car ….”
What could possibly go wrong?
Intelligent cars fitted with aircraft-style black boxes that can send video footage and information about driving behaviour during accidents to the police and insurance companies are being developed by computer scientists.
An electrical car with Intel Connected Car applications sits on display at the Intel Research Day in Mountain View, California
The car, which is being developed by researchers at computer chip giant Intel, will record information about the vehicle speed, steering and braking along with video footage from inside and outside the vehicle.
This would be automatically sent to police and insurance companies in the event of an accident to make it easier to determine the cause of car crashes and identify the person responsible.
The device forms part of an intelligent car envisaged by researchers at computer chip giant Intel. They are developing technology that will transform cars into smart vehicles that are able to detect dangers on the road and even take over control from motorists.
They have been in discussions with car manufacturers about developing cars that are permanently connected to the internet and other vehicles using wireless technology.
Camera systems that can recognise street signs and then take over control of a car if the motorist tries to drive the wrong way up a one-way street, for example, are being developed for use in vehicles.
Google TV: Google Aims to Offer Internet on Your TV
Google is set to move into the living room with a computer operating system that will bring the internet to home televisions.
The company is working with the chipmaker Intel and Sony, the electronics giant, to introduce Google TV this week at a conference for 3,000 Google software developers in San Francisco.
The aim is to get them to create new and innovative applications in the same way that outside developers have created new software programs for smartphones.The system will be based on its Android platform, which was developed 18 months ago for mobile phones. There are already more than 50,000 applications available for Android.
The aim now is to put the web on to televisions via a new generation of television sets and set-top boxes, further blurring the line between home entertainment and computing.
Read moreGoogle TV: Google Aims to Offer Internet on Your TV
NSA Helping Microsoft to Improve Windows 7 Security
A little help on security from the NSA. (Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images)
The National Security Agency has been working with Microsoft Corp. to help improve security measures for its new Windows 7 operating system, a senior NSA official said on Tuesday.
The confirmation of the NSA’s role, which began during the development of the software, is a sign of the agency’s deepening involvement with the private sector when it comes to building defenses against cyberattacks.
“Working in partnership with Microsoft and (the Department of Defense), NSA leveraged our unique expertise and operational knowledge of system threats and vulnerabilities to enhance Microsoft’s operating system security guide without constraining the user’s ability to perform their everyday tasks,” Richard Schaeffer, the NSA’s Information Assurance Director, told the Senate Judiciary Committee in a statement prepared for a hearing held this morning in Washington. “All this was done in coordination with the product release, not months or years later in the product cycle.”
The partnership between the NSA and Microsoft is not new.
In 2007, NSA officials acknowledged working with Microsoft during the development of Windows Vista to help boost its defenses against computer viruses, worms and other attacks. In fact, the cooperation dates back to at least 2005, when the NSA and other government agencies worked with Microsoft on its Windows XP system and other programs.
The NSA, which is best known for its electronic eavesdropping operations, is charged with protecting the nation’s national security computing infrastructure from online assaults.
Read moreNSA Helping Microsoft to Improve Windows 7 Security
Global Economic Crisis Accelerating
– Obama administration considers launch of ‘bad bank’ (Telegraph)
– US Initial Jobless Claims Match Highest Since ’82 (Bloomberg)
– Barack Obama inauguration: this Emperor has no clothes, it will all end in tears (Telegraph)
– Despite billions, banks still teeter on the brink (MSNBC)
– Microsoft to shed 5,000 jobs (Financial Times)
– Intel to Cut at Least 5000 Jobs (New York Times)
– GM Gets $5.4 Billion Loan Installment From Federal Government (CNNMoney)
– US jobless claims surge, housing start tumble (Forbes)
– Housing Starts, Permits in US Slump to Record Low (Bloomberg)
– Banks Foreclose on Builders With Perfect Records (New York Times)
– Jim Rogers: Now it’s time to emigrate, says investment guru (Independent)
– Saudi prince’s firm loses $8.3B in 4Q (AP)
– Investors flee after brutal losses at global markets (Emirates Business)
– Indians Flee Dubai as Dreams Crash – Fall out of Economic Crisis (Daijiworld):
It’s the great escape by Indians who’ve hit the dead-end in Dubai.
– China growth slows, Bank of Japan sees deflation (Forbes):
(Reuters) – China’s economy slowed sharply in the fourth quarter and Japan’s central bank on Thursday predicted two years of deflation as Asia’s largest economies buckle under the strain of the financial crisis.
– Roubini Sees China Recession Despite ‘Massaged’ GDP (Bloomberg)
– Asian economic woe grows as China slows and Japanese exports plunge (Telegraph):
China’s economy may have ground to a halt entirely between the third and fourth quarters of last year and Japanese exports plunged 35pc in December, underlining the scale of the slowdown in Asia.
– ZIMBABWE: Inflation at 6.5 quindecillion novemdecillion percent (IRIN)
– Sony forecasts $2.9bn operating loss (Financial Times)
– Hedge funds’ $400bn withdrawals hit (Financial Times)
– Google income drops 68% on one-time charges (IHT)
– Is Britain facing bankruptcy? (Guardian)
– Manufacturing outlook plummets (Financial Times)
– Car production plummets as pressure for industry bail-out grows (Telegraph)
– London’s Evening Standard sold to ex-KGB agent (Reuters)
– AIG starts $20bn auction of Asian unit (Financial Times):
AIG, the stricken insurance giant, on Wednesday kicked off the sale of its Asian life assurance unit – one of its most prized assets – in the hope of raising up to $20bn to help repay the $60bn US government loan that is keeping the group alive.
– UBS to Cut Securities Jobs, Close More Debt Units (Bloomberg)
– Japanese Housewives Desperate After Currency Scheme Collapses (Bloomberg)
– New age of rebellion and riot stalks Europe (Times Online)
– Increase in burglaries shows effect of recession (Guardian)
– Chinese media issues stinging attack on Barack Obama and George W Bush (Telegraph)
– Barclays may lose control to Gulf investors (Telegraph)
– Cars to be crushed in insurance crackdown (Scotsman)
– Investors say jailed pilot swiped money for years (Washington Post)
– Capital One Reports $1.42 Billion Loss on Charges (Bloomberg)
– Nokia reports sharp fall in profits (Financial Times)