Check It Out

Links to cool places or things.

There are 1,530 posts filed in Check It Out (this is page 74 of 153).

Experts hint at meticulous planning behind disappearance of Flight MH370 – The Times of India

Reuters asked airline pilots what it would take to pull off the hijacking of the MH370. The result is one of the best explanations I’ve seen of how complex this was to pull off.

tl;dr: Only an experienced pilot could make this happen.

KUALA LUMPUR: Whether by accident or design, whoever reached across the dimly lit cockpit of a Malaysia Airlines jet and clicked off a transponder to make Flight MH370 vanish from controllers’ radars flew into a navigational and technical black hole.

By choosing one place and time to vanish into radar darkness with 238 others on board, the person — presumed to be a pilot or a passenger with advanced knowledge — may have acted only after meticulous planning, according to aviation experts.

Understanding the sequence that led to the unprecedented plane hunt widening across two vast tracts of territory north and south of the Equator is key to grasping the motives of what Malaysian authorities suspect was hijacking or sabotage.

via Experts hint at meticulous planning behind disappearance of Flight MH370 – The Times of India.

A million times brigher than the sun: Astronomers reveal ‘largest yellow star ever’ | The Raw Story

I love astronomy news!

Astronomers have spotted the largest yellow star ever observed in our galaxy and 1,300 times larger than the sun.The yellow hypergiant star HR 5171 A is also in the top-10 of the largest stars known and about one million times brighter than the sun, Olivier Chesneau, whose team made the discovery, said Wednesday.

Despite its great distance of nearly 12,000 light-years from earth, the object can just about be seen with the naked eye.“
The new observations also showed that this star has a very close binary partner, which was a real surprise,” said Chesneau, of the Observatoire de la Cote d’Azur, in Nice, France.

“The two stars are so close that they touch and the whole system resembles a gigantic peanut.”

via A million times brigher than the sun: Astronomers reveal ‘largest yellow star ever’ | The Raw Story.

Air Force nuke crew failings are worse than reported | The Salt Lake Tribune

Knowing what I know about nuclear mishaps from reading Eric Schlosser’s book Command and Control, I find the lack of integrity of those entrusted with our nation’s nuclear force absolutely terrifying.

The Air Force initially called the overall March inspection outcome at Minot a "success," reflecting the fact that the 91st Missile Wing as a whole was rated "satisfactory." But after The Associated Press learned in May about the "marginal" performance in the missile operations sector of the inspection, the service disclosed that 19 officers had been forced to surrender their launch authority in April because of performance and attitude problems. That was an unprecedented mass sidelining of launch control officers, reflecting what the 91st’s deputy operations commander at the time, Lt. Col. Jay Folds, called "rot" in the force.

Until now, however, it was not publicly known that of 11 crews tested on a launch simulator for the inspection, three were rated Q3, or "unqualified," which the Air Force defines as demonstrating "an unacceptable level of safety, performance or knowledge." Five of the 11 earned a top rating and three got a second-tier rating.

via Air Force nuke crew failings are worse than reported | The Salt Lake Tribune.

How can jet disappear? In the ocean, it’s not hard

How can a jet disappear? Good question. Aircraft flying at altitude just don’t vanish without a trace. If a plane breaks up at altitude it will leave a debris field miles long, easily visible to search and rescue teams. If the plane nosedives into the water then there might not be much visible evidence. However, the seas where MH370 supposedly went down are a shallow 200 feet. This is well within diver depths and wreckage should be easy to locate if not by visuals then certainly by sonar.

The article compares this crash to the Air France 447 crash of 2009 as a way of showing how long it might take to find a crashed plane. This is not an apt comparison as Air France 447 went down in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean in waters up to 15,000 feet deep and far away from shipping lanes (and even flight paths). The MH370 allegedly went down in shallow water near ome of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — In an age when people assume that any bit of information is just a click away, the thought that a jetliner could simply disappear over the ocean for more than two days is staggering. But Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 is hardly the first reminder of how big the seas are, and of how agonizing it can be to try to find something lost in them.

It took two years to find the main wreckage of an Air France jet that plunged into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009. Closer to the area between Malaysia and Vietnam where Saturday’s flight vanished, it took a week for debris from an Indonesian jet to be spotted in 2007. Today, the mostly intact fuselage still sits on the bottom of the ocean.

"The world is a big place," said Michael Smart, professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Queensland in Australia. "If it happens to come down in the middle of the ocean and it’s not near a shipping lane or something, who knows how long it could take them to find?"

via How can jet disappear? In the ocean, it's not hard :: WRAL.com.

RALEIGH: Little Raleigh Radio goes live with online broadcast

The N&O writes about Little Raleigh Radio.

RALEIGH — When Little Raleigh Radio’s on-air sign glowed red for the first time a few weeks ago, station founders Kelly Reid and Jacob Downey knew they had made it.After years of planning, they had officially launched a community radio station.“People got to listen, which is one of the most exciting moments we’ve had,” said Reid, who, like Downey, was once a disc jockey at N.C. State’s WKNC 88.1 FM.The station’s mission is to offer music and news programs produced by locals for the Raleigh community. Already, listeners can tune in to shows featuring everything from heavy metal and contemporary classical to museum exhibits and beer.For now, the station is streaming online from a studio off St. Marys Street, but Reid and Downey hope to secure a home on the FM dial – 106.5 – as well.

via RALEIGH: Little Raleigh Radio goes live with online broadcast | Local/State | NewsObserver.com.

CIA Accused Of Spying On Senate Intelligence Committee Staffers | Techdirt

Wow. Just wow. CIA spying on the Senate Intelligence Committee that provides oversight for it. Outrageous. I’m amazed that no one at CIA seemed to consider that at the very least this was a Phenomenally Bad Idea.

While at times, it’s appeared that the Senate Intelligence Committee, led by Dianne Feinstein, serves more to prop up the intelligence community than to handle oversight, it has actually clashed quite a bit with the CIA. We’ve discussed a few times how the Committee has been pushing to release a supposedly devastating 6,000 page report about the CIA’s torture program, which cost taxpayers an equally astounding $40 million to produce. However, the CIA has been fighting hard to block the release of the report, arguing that it misrepresents the CIA’s actions.

However, things are getting even more bizarre, as the NY Times is reporting that the CIA is now accused of spying on the Intelligence Committee and its staffers in its attempt to keep that report from being released.

via CIA Accused Of Spying On Senate Intelligence Committee Staffers | Techdirt.

Update: Here’s the McClatchy story.

Now that Little Raleigh Radio is on the online air, what can you actually hear? | Music Feature | Indy Week

Indy Week ran another great story on Little Raleigh Radio, this one focusing on the programming we’ve been “airing” during our preview phase. It feels great to know that people are paying attention!

For nearly five years, Kelly Reid and Jacob Downey had dreamed of and planned for what happened at 4 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 17.Tucked away in a small studio off of St. Mary’s Street, the pair finally took Little Raleigh Radio—their brainchild of a station dedicated to local news, music and interests—online.

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via Now that Little Raleigh Radio is on the online air, what can you actually hear? | Music Feature | Indy Week.

What I’ve learned about Google Fiber – Lori Bush – Cary Town Council, At-Large Representative

Cary Town Councilmember Lori Bush discusses what she learned from last week’s visit to the Triangle by Google Fiber representatives.

There’s been a lot of excitement about Google Fiber coming to the Triangle – and I have to admit that I’m on that band wagon. I’ve received more than 100 separate emails from Cary citizens, excited about this possibility!If you’d like to read more about our Cary position on this announcement, the Town has a FAQ on Google Fiber. You can also check out the Open Letter to Cary Citizens from our Mayor.Last week, I met with Google Fiber representatives about their plans for the Triangle, and to learn more. They were in town to meet with the municipalities about the “check list” of items that will make it easier for them to decide if Google Fiber will go forward in this area.Here is what I learned in that meeting.

via What I’ve learned about Google Fiber – Lori Bush – Cary Town Council, At-Large Representative.

Fiber letter runs in N&O

I wrote a letter to the editor last week after being amazed at all the buzz that was going around about Google considering the Triangle for Google Fiber. It created huge buzz, even though we’re not a sure bet to get it and whatever fiber Google does lay down won’t be lit for at least a year.

Here’s my short-but-sweet letter:

News that Google Fiber might bring gigabit Internet to the Triangle brought to mind the stir that must have accompanied the arrival of the railroad. Sure, a horse and buggy will get you there, but the future rides on fiber optics.

Mark Turner
Raleigh

Why Apple’s Recent Security Flaw Is So Scary

I can’t say for sure whether the National Security Agency had anything to do with this Apple security flaw but it is certainly something the NSA could readily exploit. All the Agency needed to do is control a router between its target and the target’s destination and it would have clear view of the supposedly encrypted traffic.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: America no longer has a monopoly on world-class cryptographers (if it ever did). By encouraging these types of flaws, our government leaves us vulnerable to attacks from foreign nations. Instead, our cryptographers should be working to make American software as secure as it can be.

I hope Apple will track down the developer responsible for this colossal blunder and fire him or her on the spot.

SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer, and it’s what helps ensure that communication between your browser and your favorite websites’ servers remains private and secure. TLS, or Transport Layer Security, is a more recent protocol that does essentially the same. In brief, SSL/TLS is a cryptographic key that lets a browser and a server know they are who they say they are, a secret digital handshake that keeps your financial information safe when you make an Amazon payment or log into wellsfargo.com.

This all happens in the background; your only direct interaction with SSL/TLS is when you notice the lock icon in your search bar has clamped shut. That means you’ve got a direct, private, secure line.

The Apple bug in question—which, again, has been patched in iOS but not yet in OS X, though Apple tells Reuters that fix is coming "very soon"—means that Safari or one of these other affected applications can’t actually know for sure if the servers it’s talking to are who they say they are. Which leaves you and everything you transmit over the web vulnerable to a Man in the Middle attack.

via Why Apple's Recent Security Flaw Is So Scary.