Good references

iSpy

Phone-tapping and listening bugs are methods used for spying. How else does the US National Security Agency (NSA) eavesdrop on its targets? Here are the outline a few common ways phone surveillance can happen and what can be done to secure mobile devices.

DIRECT TO PHONE

This happens when connecting to an unsecured public network, using Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, which allows anyone to be connected in the network. On a wireless network, a hacker with the right programme can access one's phone and duplicate the phone's contents or even plant a software that could monitor the phone's activity .

   Similarly, this occurs on Bluetooth connections, especially when connecting to an unknown device.

WAVES

Mobile phones can connect to a network through 2G, 3G and 4G.

   In the latter two, which are newer technologies, the phone will try to authenticate the network, ensuring that transmitters really belong to telecommunications companies.

   But in the case of a 2G network, a hacker can dupe the phone into "believing" it is connected to a base station (or telephone tower) when it is in fact connected to a hacker's system. This allows them to access information on the phone, eavesdrop and even send messages as the user. Even on a 3G/4G network, especially in small cities, hackers can create "noise" in the frequency, which forces phones to be on the 2G network, allowing hackers to easily access one's
phone.

   Some older models of Blackberry smartphones allowed users to be exclusively on a 3G network. But as more users are concerned about battery life, most new models only allow users to turn off the 3/4G function.

SOLUTION

One of the solutions is to use Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), which allows phone calls and texting to be made through the Internet instead of the public telephone network. A popular example is Skype. There are also companies offering encrypted voice services, or secured lines for phone calls that cannot be tapped into.

   But as more governments are putting pressure on such companies to share their users' information, most have shut down in order to not compromise user privacy.

THREE TIPS

1. Disable WI·Fi and Bluetooth when not in use. This is especially if one's phone is set to automatically connect to wireless networks. Many have misconceptions that Bluetooth has a range of about 10m, and WiFi about 250m.

   Experiments, though, have shown Bluetooth devices being able to connect at a range of 2km, while Wi-Fi can reach a range of 250km.

2. Choose your WI-FI networks carefully

Do not join an unfamiliar wireless network, especially if it's unsecured. All a hacker needs to do to get into one's phone is to be on the same wireless network.

   With our phones getting increasingly complex, tapping a phone is now more like hacking into a computer.

3. Be mindful of what applications you download

   Some applications may look attractive, but think twice if they come from a relatively unknown company. Much like fraudulent software on computers, firms now use phone applications like a Trojan horse, which would transmit user data and phone activity to the hackers.

NSA'S PRIMARY SOURCES OF INTELLIGENCE

Half of the intelligence information which is supplied to the White House every morning comes from the NSA. Based in Fort Meade, Maryland, with an annual budget of US$10.8 billion, NSA boasts ground agents, tracking ships and listening
posts to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and reconnaissance satellites.

1.Human Intelligence (HUMINT)

Spies, moles, agents and double agents are part of NSA's 35,000-strong workforce. It is also the largest employer of mathematicians in the US.

2. Signals Intelligence (SIGINT)

Gathering of intel through eavesdropping, listening posts, hacking, wire and phone tapping and decryption devices.

e.g : Spy satellite

3. Electronic Intelligence (ELINT)

Gathering of intel using assets like tracking ships, spy planes, drones and spy satellites.

e.g : RC-135 reconnaisance plane, Global Hawk drone

HOW THE NSA'S PRISM PROGRAM WORKS

Targets foreigners by collecting intelligence from tech giants such as Google and Microsoft. lt also collects e-mails, voice, text and video chats of Americans "incidentally" conversing with a foreign target overseas.

Search

An NSA analyst types one or more search terms, or "selectors".

Tasking

Search request can be sent to multiple sources like a private company and to an NSA access point that taps into the main Internet gateway switches. Tasking at a tech giant is routed to FBI equipment.

Other spy programs

Collects metadata* Includes Upstream, which taps into Internet and telephone networks. Some data comes from telcos.

Results

Data is processed by NSA's Printaura, an automated "traffic cop" system. NSA processes at least 11 types of electronic communications.

A search may yield e-malls, logln credentials, metadata, stored flies and videos. Processed data is sent back to the analyst who made the tasking.

* Metadata: Records of people, locations, equipment, dates and durations of communications.

SOURCE: THE WASHINGTON POST & THE NEW YORK TIMES

I log on this morning and every page on 4chan is filled with hyperlinked words that pop up careerbuilder bullshit, and there are pop-ups that Adblock isn't doing shit against either. No one's talking about it, which makes me worried that something's wrong on my end. What the fuck's going on, guys?

Roman engineering

Roman architecture was distinctive because it brought highly developed engineering skills to bear on large-scale buildings. The Romans made huge strides in engineering, building great aqueducts, large temples, amphitheatres and other structures, some of which are still standing. They did this with the help of materials such as concrete and with innovative structures such as vaults and domes.

The Romans borrowed heavily from the Greeks in many aspects of their culture, and their architecture was no exception. They built temples that looked like Greek temples, surrounding them with rows of columns built according to the orders. But the Romans made advances in engineering and building technology, and it is in these areas that they developed some of the most long-lived architectural ideas.

Roman concrete : Probably their most influential idea was concrete, which is easy to think of as a modern invention even though it has been around since Roman times. In fact it was not strictly a Roman ideaboth the ancient Greeks and the people of Campania (the part of southern Italy where Greeks and Etruscans had settled) were using mortar in their stone walls at least as far back as the fourth century BC. But the Romans were good at picking up an idea and running with it, and that is what they did with concrete.

It was the perfect material for a fast-growing empire, where buildings needed to be put up at speed. When they wanted to build a thick, solid wall quickly, Roman builders used a mixture of rubble mixed with concrete, facing it with brick or dressed stones - the result was cheap, fast to build and very strong. Concrete was also ideal for building the curved shapes - especially those of vaults and domes - that the Romans liked so much. And the Romans developed a way of making a very special kind of fast-setting, water-resistant concrete that was ideal for building bridge piers.

Roman vault-building

Creating the precise curves needed to build a vault is a difficult business, especially if you only have stones and ordinary mortar to build with. You have to put up supporting timber formwork, known as centring, cut each stone very carefully and precisely and then lay the stones carefully on top of the timber Only long afterwards, when the mortar has set hard, can the centring be removed. With concrete, however, the centring could be much lighter in weight and there was less skill involved in building the vault above it. Since the concrete set quickly, the centring could be removed sooner and the job finished faster.

Pozzolana : Concrete has been described as a mortar that is mixed with small stones to create a solid, hard mass. It is normally made up of three elements: the aggregate (sand plus stones), the cement (a binding material) and water. The magic was in the binding material, and the Romans discovered an especially effective one - a mixture of lime and a type of volcanic ash known as pozzolana.

Pozzolana came from the hills around the Bay of Naples, the area known as Puteoli or Pozzuoli. The Romans regarded pozzolana with awe and there are descriptions of its properties in the writings of both Pliny (Natural History 35.166) and Vitruvius, who, in his treatise on architecture, points out its key qualities: 'This material, when mixed with lime and rubble, not only furnishes strength to other buildings, but also, when piers are built in the sea, they set under water.' And Vitruvius was right. Roman concrete is so strong that, a thousand years after they were built, and after the masonry facing has been robbed or weathered away, the concrete cores of many Roman buildings still survive.

Spanning rivers : So concrete made with pozzolana was ideal for bridge building. This was important because stone bridges were very difficult to build without fast-setting concrete. In fact, most bridges before the Romans were either very small-scale stone-dapper bridges across streams or wooden structures that had a limited life. So Roman concrete transformed bridge building.

Arches and domes : But its usefulness went further than this, taking Roman architecture in directions unthought of by the Greeks. In particular, it was ideal for creating structures that were curved. Domed buildings, such as the great temple of the Pantheon in Rome or the vast imperial bath-houses, vaulted buildings such as the Romans' great basilicas and all' types of arched structures, were made much more feasible with the use of concrete.

None of these structures was a Roman invention- the Greeks had built domes and vaults before the rise of Rome. But what was significant was the way the Romans extended and developed their use, creating vast domes, such as the one roofing the Pantheon, and huge arched structures. It was the Romans, devoted to building and determined to make ever larger and more magnificent monuments, who made these types of structures into great architectural ideas and developed their huge potential. They transformed the architectural scene.

The Pantheon

One of the greatest of all Roman buildings is the Pantheon, a temple to all the gods, built in the centre of Rome itself. The Pantheon is a circular building roofed with a dome and the interior of the dome, with its pattern of recessed squares (an effect called coffering) is stunningly beautiful. None of this could have been achieved without the careful use of concrete, the main material of the dome. In particular, the builders varied the aggregate used in the concrete, using heavy travertine and tufa for the foundation and the walls up to the first cornice; lighter brick and tufa for the next level; then brick alone; and finally in the topmost part of the dome an even lighter material, volcanic pumice.

Amazon unveils drone delivery plan

BUZZ: US retail giant Amazon's "octocopter" mini-drone would be used to fly small packages to consumers.

Want that Amazon order in just 30 minutes?

Company chief executive officer Jeff Bezos says he hopes to soon deploy an armada of mini-drones able to drop small packages at your doorstep.

   The US online retail giant's revolutionary project still needs safety testing and federal approval, but Mr Bezos believes that Amazon "Prime Air" would be up and running within four to five years.

   "These are effectively drones but there's no reason they can't be used as delivery vehicles," Mr Bezos told CBS television's 60 Minutes programme late on Sunday.

   "I know this looks like science fiction. It's not," he said.

   "We can do half-hour delivery... and we can carry objects, we think, up to five pounds (2.3kg), which covers 86 per cent of the items we deliver."

PROTOTYPE

A video posted on the company's website shows the prototype of a drone.

   The body of the device is about the size of a flat-screen monitor and is attached to eight small helicopter rotors and sits on four tail legs.

   The claws under the belly of the device then latch onto a standard-sized plastic bucket that rolls down a conveyer belt at Amazon's fulfilment centre. Inside the bucket is the order.

   The drone lifts off like a giant mechanical insect to deliver the package just 30 minutes after clicking the "pay" button on Amazon.com. Then it returns to base.

   The mini-drones are powered by environmentally friendly electric motors and can cover areas within a 16km radius of the company's fulfilment centres.

   The drones operate autonomously and follow the GPS coordinates they receive to drop the items off the target locations.

   Amazon said the octocopters would be "ready to enter commercial operations as soon as the necessary regulations are in place", noting that the US Federal Aviation Administration was hammering out rules for the use of unmanned aerial vehicles.  - AFP

Since i cant find a Politic section this has to do.

My name is Joe Sills and I plan on running for President in 2016.  I have 0 Political skills, im not corrupt like all the other pigs in office and I do believe i can make a Huge impact if i win.  I plan to reveal info about all the Alien info and what really happened on 9/11 and those responsible and i know if i was to do this i probably get assassinated for doing so.

I know the risk and still like to get the info out there Legally for people to make up their own minds about stuff.  My FB page is www.facebook.com/joesills2016 and my website is www.joesills.com .  I do have a friend who is working to make a better site for me only thing i am truly lacking is someone who can help with a campaign.

I was independent but as we all know that will never get someone into office.  So i took 2 polls and the results were Democrat / Conservative.  I am looking for any help out there from Anyone who is willing to help me do this.  JFK was 43 and was the youngest to be President and if i get in i will be 36 years old then and be considered the youngest.

I do plan to cut all those fat cats salaries way down and a president normally makes $400k a year and i will reduce that to $40k a year to show people i am serious about this.

If there is anything else you like to know just ask and since i did give you all a bit of info im sure its not hard to find my cell number if you like to chat.

Okay guys, I need some programming help. Like enough to make a game with LOK Defiance level of complication. A game for the story and puzzles, not the combat system. But the problem is that the three of us working on the project are all artists and writers. I know the most programming in Python (we're re using BGE because it's less taxing on my computer) which is not nearly enough to make a game of any sort. I can't figure out the documentation out at all...it's too confusing... so can anyone help in any way? Like helping program or pointing me in the right direction to better learn BPy?

Poor password safety habits

Security study finds that most people are vulnerable to hackers as they never change their passwords used for online services.

Three in five United States residents who access e-government services never change their passwords. And half also use the same one for everything from online banking to shopping.

   This makes them easy targets for hackers, according to a study of 346 people in April last year.

   Authentication technology and services companies said: "Based on anecdotal evidence, poor cyber hygiene practices are still prevalent today."

   Passwords are the first line of defence, so it is crucial that they are changed every three months.

   Many cybersecurity experts have also warned against reusing the same password for every account.

   The IT services centre at the Chinese University of Hong Kong recommends using different sets of passwords in different systems by mixing upper and lower case letters, or letters and numbers.

   People should use passwords of at least eight characters - random letters, digits and punctuation - as longer, more complex passwords are harder to crack, it said.

   A five character-long password composed of only lower-case letters takes less than two minutes to crack while one with lower-case letters and numbers takes 10 minutes, according to the university's website.

   A second line of defence involves using one-time passwords, which are valid for only a single login. They are generated randomly on devices called tokens or sent by text message to customers by service providers by service providers such as banks.

   This provides additional security or "two-factor authentication" (2FA).

   Adopting 2FA can help mitigate the risks of poor cyber hygiene practices and protect the user against identity theft and online fraud.

   Users are urged to activate 2FA for their personal e-mail and social networking accounts, too, for peace of mind whether for use in United States or travelling overseas.

   Many online services, including Gmail and Facebook, have introduced 2FA.

   Yahoo and Twitter are among the online service providers that offer 2FA only in certain markets such as the United States.

RESISTANT TO CHANGE

But old habits seem to die hard.

   Ironically, the sort of people who would probably be able to keep their passwords safe without 2FA are just the sort of people most likely to adopt 2FA. And those who would benefit most from 2FA because they do not maintain good cyber hygiene are likely to resist 2FA for being "too hard".

   There are some people who will only take password hygiene seriously after they have suffered some sort of financial loss of their own.

   Although passwords are common that was set up for every United States citizen, but it often contains easy-to-guess numbers, such as birth dates, which hackers can readily find out.

Hey /tech/ies! I need ideas for an easy project for some miscellaneous old as fuck computer parts I got.I have a Parallel tasking II, a video card and a 109 x01 3500 (from a linksys router). Yeah.

https://bitmessage.org/wiki/Main_Page