Serious Exploit Found in Firefox: Mozilla Urges Update
After being contacted by a user on August 5, Mozilla has discovered and already built patches for a rather serious exploit. Before getting to that, if you use Firefox you should probably update to version 39.0.3 or Firefox ESR 38.1.1, depending on your version. To have the browser check for the update you can go to 'Help' -> 'About Firefox' and click the 'Check for updates' button.
The exploit comes from how the mechanism for enforcing JavaScript context separation (the "same origin policy") and Firefox's PDF Viewer. (If your Mozilla products do not include the PDF Viewer, like the Android version, you are safe.) The exploit does not allow arbitrary code to be executed, but does inject a JavaScript payload. So far the only observed use of this vulnerability was to transmit potentially sensitive files to a server apparently in Ukraine. Oddly the attack has a developer focus, as the files being searched for included configuration data for subversion, s3browser, and Filezilla on Windows, while on Linux it went after the configuration files in /etc/passwd as well as .bash_history, .mysql_history, .pgsql_history, and .ssh files and keys. Mac users would not be immune to this vulnerability, but were not apparently targeted.
The exploit does not leave a trace on a machine after it runs, so you may want to reset passwords if you use Firefox for Windows or Linux. As the exploit attacked via an ad on a Russian news site though, ad-blockers may provide a level of protection, but that is speculative and dependent on the blocking software and filters used.
Source: Mozilla Security Blog
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Thermaltake Adds Core V1 Snow Mini ITX to Case Offerings
Thermaltake continues to add to the Core lineup of cases with the Core V1 Snow Mini ITX offering after announcing the Core V51 Riing Edition earlier this week. The case sports a white exterior and is split into two chambers, the upper chamber for "cooling performance and efficiency" and a lower chamber for the power supply and cable management. The small form factor case doesn't lack in features with room for four hard drives with modular racks, a 260mm graphics card, CPU coolers up to 140mm in height, and liquid cooling solutions. A single 200mm fan is included at the front of the case with space for two additional 80mm fans in the rear of the case.
Source: Press Release
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GIGABYTE Returns As Official Motherboard of Intel Extreme Masters
The Intel Extreme Masters gaming series from ESL has entered its tenth season, with the second event currently occurring at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany. StarCraft II will be played for the second time this season while Counter-Strike: Global Offensive makes its first appearance after being added for season 10. As the official motherboard and graphics card sponsor of IEM, GIGABYTE has "equipped IEM Contestants with hardware that many gamers have dreamed to use." In addition to providing the hardware used in the tournament PCs, GIGABYTE is showing off its latest G1 Gaming motherboards with technology such as the Killer DoubleShot-X3 Pro which allows "all types of gamers to experience the performance of combining 3 different network interfaces for the most fluid and lag-less connection possible."
Source: Press Release
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Hardware Roundup: Friday, August 7, 2015, Edition
The end of the first week of August is here, but not before some items arrive to get you through to the weekend. Intel's new Core i7-6700K processor gets reviewed to see what kind of boost Skylake can bring to your system. To run the new processor, you'll need a brand new motherboard, and luckily the MSI Z170A Gaming M5 motherboard is reviewed to see if it should be the one for you. If a new video card is what you're after, perhaps the Zotac GTX 970 AMP! Extreme Core Edition, with its custom cooler and high factory overclock, is for you. Or if you need something a little more powerful, we have a look at how the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti in SLI handles the AMD Radeon R9 Fury X in Crossfire. A new case mod uses the Corsair Obsidian 750D case for a very green internal build, complete with rigid tubing for the water cooling setup. Wrapping it all up is a podcast covering the latest news and reviews from the past week.
CPUs
Intel Core i7-6700K @ Neoseeker
Motherboards
MSI Z170A Gaming M5 @ ThinkComputers
Video Cards
Zotac GTX 970 AMP! Extreme Core Edition @ PC Perspective
Dual-GPU Face Off: GeForce GTX 980 Ti SLI vs. Radeon R9 Fury X Crossfire @ TechSpot
Miscellany
Case Mod Friday: Simply Green @ ThinkComputers
Podcast #361 @ PC Perspective
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New Discovery Challenges Theories for Iron-Based Superconductors
Ever since unconventional, or high temperature, superconductors were discovered researchers around the world have been trying to understand how the phenomenon occurs. Now those at Brookhaven National Laboratory and ORNL have discovered that current theories for iron-based superconductors may be wrong. Instead of finding a link between long-range electronic and magnetic order, the researchers found a liquid-like magnetic state exists prior to superconductivity, and may be linked.
Current theories for high temperature superconductors state that long-range electronic and magnetic order, like patterns of electron spins, precede superconductivity. By doping an iron-telluride superconductor with sulfur though, the researchers were able to prevent the long-range order from forming, but the material still became superconducting as temperatures dropped. What they did observe was ordering only on a very local level, which is liquid-like behavior. This behavior comes from two coexisting and competing magnetic phases interacting within the material. Superconductivity came about after the electronic spin correlations changed, which would be like dancers changing partners on the dance floor.
In addition to challenging theories for iron-based unconventional superconductors, the researchers also got results that may require a revision to the model for electron orbitals in metals. The tight binding model has the electrons existing in rigid energy bands, but the spin-liquid state the researchers observed indicate new electron-orbital hybrids. This is likely the result of the sulfur doping and temperature changes.
Source: Brookhaven National Laboratory
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Intel Skylake Processors are Now Available in Select iBUYPOWER PCs
iBUYPOWER, a company that has been delivering some of the best gaming systems for the most discerning gamers since 1995, has officially announced that the latest Intel Skylake processors are available in select systems. Gamers will benefit from the overclocking potential, Turbo Boost Technology, and DDR4 support of the quad core i5-6600K and i7-6700K, allowing them to stay ahead of their competition. Intel's 6th Generation Core processors offers gamers with excellent performance and efficiency, and while a great video card is obviously needed to provide a truly immersive experience, the Intel Skylake systems available from iBUYPOWER can be configured with some of the best computer hardware available today.
Source: TechPowerUp
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TRENDnet Reveals Lifetime Limited Warranty for Metal-Enclosed Switches
TRENDnet, a company who has been building network solutions since 1990 and is a best-in-class wired and wireless networking hardware brand, has announced that its metal-enclosed network switches now come with a limited lifetime warranty. This warranty is only applicable to purchases made within the United States of America and Canada, but is retroactive to products purchased as early as January 1, 2015. Sonny Su, the Technology Director at TRENDnet, noted that, "Our switches have earned their reputation for being durable and reliable, and our limited lifetime warranty policy reflects this confidence in our products."
Source: Press Release
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NVIDIA Supplies Computers Running Black Ops 3 at Gamescom 2015
Treyarch, the developer of the latest upcoming Call of Duty title known as Black Ops 3, has revealed that the computers powering the first person shooter title at Gamescom 2015 have been provided by NVIDIA. The rigs feature an interesting and aesthetically pleasing design, and happen to be running Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 at 4K, thanks to the included NVIDIA GeForce Titan X GPUs. While the game is running at 4K and looks quite amazing at such a resolution, it is being limited to 60FPS. The Director of Development at Treyarch noted that Black Ops 3 is being limited to 60FPS due to G-SYNC, and that the computer builds provided by NVIDIA are more than capable of running the game at 4K with higher framerates.
Black Ops 3 is available for immediate preorder, which will provide customers with access to the beta version of the game. The final release of the latest Call of Duty title is currently scheduled for November 6, 2015.
Source: WCCFtech
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Improving Rechargeable Batteries with Novel Nanoparticle
Since they entered the commercial market, lithium-ion batteries have proven themselves to be invaluable for mobile technologies, but sadly improving them has been difficult. This is because many possible ways to improve them have serious flaws, such as reduced lifespans and fire dangers. Researchers at MIT and Tsinghua University have recently developed a nanoparticle that could significantly improve batteries, without the problems.
One way to improve lithium-ion batteries is to change the materials used as electrodes. Currently graphite is used for the anode, and it can store about 0.35 ampere-hours per gram (Ah/g), but other materials have much higher charge storage capacities, like aluminum at 2 Ah/g. The issue with aluminum, and many other materials, is that it swells so much when it receives lithium ions that it could cause electrical contacts to disconnect and damage the electrolyte. What the researchers have done to address this problem is create yolk-shell nanoparticles of aluminum and titanium-oxide. In this configuration, the aluminum yolk is free to swell within the shell, as there is plenty of separation between the yolk and the shell, unlike core-shell nanoparticles where the components are bonded together. The new nanoparticles have a charge capacitor of 1.2 Ah/g at a normal charging rate, and 0.66 Ah/g when charged six times faster than normal, after 500 charge-discharge cycles.
The researchers actually created the nanoparticles by accident when they were processing aluminum particles and found the aluminum shrunk within the titanium-oxide shell they formed around it. This is actually very good news too, because the process is so simple it is easily scalable.
Source: MIT
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BIOSTAR Announces Gaming Z170X Motherboard for Intel Skylake CPUs
BIOSTAR has announced the newest addition to its Gaming Z170 lineup, the Gaming Z170X, targeted at the latest Intel Skylake CPUs. The board is built around Intel socket 1151 with four DDR4 slots, three PCIe x16 3.0 slots, and support for SATA Express 16Gb/s storage. The board has a broad array of rear panel connections including six USB 3.0, two HDMI, one DisplayPort, and two gigabit Ethernet. Touch OC functionality is included which allows "overclockers to enjoy the best performance from their system with a touch of a finger." The Gaming Z170X has an MSRP of $219.
Source: Press Release
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G.SKILL Ripjaws 4 Set DDR4 Frequency Record
Overclocker Chi-Kui Lam has set a new world record in DDR4 memory frequency using G.SKILL Ripjaws 4 memory at a speed of 4795.8MHz. The new record was set using the latest Intel i7-6700K CPU running on an ASRock Z170 OC Formula motherboard. Liquid nitrogen was used to keep all system components running at an acceptable temperature. The Ripjaws 4 series from G.SKILL has also been used to set new highs in several benchmarks when paired with the Intel Skylake CPU including 3DMark, Aquamark, and Cinebench.
Source: Press Release
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Hardware Roundup: Thursday, August 6, 2015, Edition
A new day is here, and with it comes a couple of items to get you closer to the weekend. We have a review of the ASUS Z170-A motherboard to use with the new Intel Skylake processors without breaking the bank, while still giving you USB 3.1, SATA Express and M.2, and overclocking potential. For those needing a new video card, there's the Zotac GTX 980 Ti AMP! Extreme, which has a triple fan cooler and a factory overclock to deliver some crazy fast performance.
Motherboards
ASUS Z170-A @ ThinkComputers
Video Cards
Zotac GTX 980 Ti AMP! Extreme @ Bjorn3D
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Advanced Hybrid Electric Switches Made
Semiconductors are critical to computers because they allow for nanoscale electronic switches to be built. They do have limits though, as the switches can only go so small and they put out a fair amount of heat. For some time now researchers have been working on switches without semiconductors, and those at Michigan Technological University have made an important discovery towards that goal.
This discovery is a hybrid material consisting of a sheet of graphene that has had pinholes put in it so boron nitride nanotubes could grow off of the sheet. Graphene is an atom-thick sheet of carbon that is highly conductive, while boron nitride can be made a single molecule thick and is a great insulator. Both of these materials feature the same hexagonal pattern, so they actually connect very nicely, and where they do heterojunctions are formed. These junctions are what make the hybrid material viable as an electronic switch, due to how the electrons flow near and around them.
Switches made from this hybrid material could potentially operate at very high speeds because of a high switching ratio, thanks to the great difference in conductivity between the two materials.
Source: Michigan Technological University
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