New Java Patch on the Way to Fix More Exploits and Bugs
Java hasn't exactly been the most secure product of late, but luckily Oracle is going to try and rectify that tomorrow. An update is scheduled to arrive tomorrow, April 16, to fix 39 critical vulnerabilities with the Java browser plugin, which should definitely be welcome news for computer users. In actuality, 42 bugs are being fixed, just 39 of them are listed as critical due to their abilitiy to be "remotely exploitable without authentication, i.e., may be exploited over a network without the need for a username and password." Oracle didn't specify which bugs are being patched, but Polish company Security Exploration has a running list of Java bugs here to give you an idea of what could be fixed.
Oracle's also adding some help to let users make better decisions on which code is executed in their browsers. Various messages and warning boxes will appear to let you know if there's a potential security risk, and if you don't like the looks of it, just click cancel. Higher-risk apps will have more visible warnings, too, so you'll know exactly what's going on. Basically, when Java 7 Update 21 arrives, be sure to download it to make sure your computer is safe.
Source: Ars Technica
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Putting Nuclear Waste to Work
Like it or not, germs are everywhere and while in many cases, their presence pose no threat to people, there are still some instances when sterilizing them would be best, such as food and medical supplies. One sterilization methods involves exposing the items to high energy gamma radiation, which will damage the germs but not the items, but irradiation can be expensive. Researchers at Oregon State University however have developed a new irradiation technique that uses waste from nuclear plants.
Nuclear waste is an ever growing problem because there is little to no established means of recycling it for future use in a reactor or destroying it such that it poses no harm to the environment. Instead it is simply stored on site, but the researchers suggest using the still energetic waste to irradiate items such as medical supplies and food. Irradiation is already used to sterilize such materials, but it can be quite expensive because of the radioactive materials needed. As nuclear waste is, well, waste just sitting around, it represents a much cheaper alternative.
The researchers estimate that each reactor to implement the irradiation program they have designed could create a $10 million a year revenue stream. This new income could then offset the usual storage cost of the waste, while also paying new employees to run the irradiation systems.
Source: Oregon State University
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Bing Apps for Windows 8 and Windows RT Updated
Microsoft has updated the Bing apps for its Windows 8 operating system. Affected apps include Bing News, Maps, Finance, Travel, and Sports apps. Most of the updates add extra functionality, while a few make current features easier for users to access.
Changes to the News app include an option allowing users to select the different news categories that appear in the app, as well as the option to select a specific source or RSS feed to appear on the users 'Featured sources' list. The app bar has also been modified to allow easier access to a number of features of the program. The Maps app has also been updated to allow users to find local businesses such as restaurants, hotels and banks. The update also adds integration to the People app, allowing users to find the location of their contacts.
A new addition to the Finance app is the addition of a 'Tools' menu, which features a number of utilities designed to assist users in the planning of their financial life such as a mortgage calculator, a currency converter and a number of others. Like the news app, the Finance app bar has been modified to allow users to easily access news from financial sources, as well as a number of other minor changes. Finally, the Travel and Sports apps have had minor modifications to their app bar, such as options to specify travel news sources in the Travel app, and sports news sources in the Sports app.
These updates are available for install directly through the Windows Store for Windows 8 and Windows RT.
Source: CNET
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Hardware Roundup: Monday Edition
Today we have a quartet of reviews covering a very broad spectrum of gear. First up we have a new mid-tower case from Enermax that's aimed at the gaming crowd, complete with watercooling support. Moving on we have an ultra-wide monitor from LG that uses a 21:9 aspect ratio. Next there's a rather unique keyboard from SPEEDLINK. It uses Bluetooth technology to pair with up to five devices for easier typing, plus users can switch between the devices with the Function keys. It also works just fine connected to a computer via USB, so it's a definite multitasker. Lastly we come to the oddest member of the bunch, a solar powered spotlight courtesy of Rosewill. If you're wondering what a spotlight is doing here, perhaps someone has a home survelliance system and needs a way to cut down on the electric bill. This spotlight could be up to the task, so read along to see how it and the others fare.
Cases
Enermax Ostrog GT Mid-Tower Gaming Case @ PC Perspective
Monitors
LG 29EA93 Review: Are Ultra Wide Monitors Next? @ Tech Spot
Keyboards/Mice
SPEEDLINK ATHERA Multi-Profile Keyboard @ Madshrimps
Miscellany
Rosewill RSL-113 Solar Infrared Dual-LED Lights @ Benchmark Reviews
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Creating Condensates for Quantum Computer Clusters
Just about any new computer you can purchase today, and even some smartphones, contain multicore processors, which deliver high performance without a necessarily high clock speed and associated thermal load. Though not exactly thermal load, researchers developing quantum computers foresee problems with ultra-fast designs because these more complex designs are more susceptible to destructive decoherence. An alternative design paradigm is to utilize multiple, simpler quantum computers analogous to multiple cores in modern computers, and researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have recently studied one means of connecting these cores.
Communication is key within quantum computers as the information stored by qubits is so easily destroyed. One way to preserve this information as it travels from one quantum processor to another is to have it travel through a Bose-Einstein Condensate. These condensates are very special materials which behave as though they are a single particle, despite being made up of millions, and this makes it quite resilient to decoherence.
What the researchers did was trigger a phase transition within a condensate and measure how long it takes for the change to ripple through the entire material. The time it takes determines how quickly information could possibly travel between two quantum processors within a quantum computer processor, if they were connected by a condensate.
Source: Georgia Institute of Technology
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