France won't Ban TOR & Free Wi-Fi

Despite the French Ministry of Interior's demands, France will not ban the TOR anonymity network or Free public Wi-Fi as a way to help the law enforcement fight terrorism.

French Prime Minister Manual Valls has gone on record saying that a ban on Free public Wi-Fi is "not a course of action envisaged," and he is not in favor of banning the TOR anonymity network, either.

Following the deadly terror attacks on Paris last month, an internal document obtained by Le Monde indicated that French government wanted to block communications of TOR as well as ban the use of Free Public Wi-Fi during states of emergency in an effort to fight terrorism more efficiently.

TOR and Free Wi-Fi Safe in France, PM Says 

"A ban of [free public] Wi-Fi is not a course of action envisaged [and never has been]," Valls said (translated) on Wednesday. 

Neither he is in favor of banning the TOR network, which encrypts and re-routes user traffic through a network of volunteer-operated servers, masking the real identities of users.

"Internet is a Freedom, is an extraordinary means of communication between people, it is a benefit to the economy," Valls added. "It's also a means for terrorists to communicate and spread their totalitarian ideology."

Therefore, he said the police must take some measures to improve their fight against terrorism in light of recent Paris attacks, but whatever measures they take to combat terrorism "must be effective."

The whole world response to recent Paris attacks involves lawmakers in the United States and Europe calling for new laws on technology, forcing the tech companies to put "backdoors" in their products and hand over encryption keys to the government on court orders.

Censys : that scans entire Internet EVERYDAY.

Meet an all-new Hacker’s Search Engine similar to Shodan – Censys.

At the end of last month, security researchers from SEC Consult found that the lazy manufacturers of home routers and Internet of Things (IoT) devices have been re-using the same set of hard-coded cryptographic keys, leaving around 3 millions of IoT devices open to mass hijacking.

But how did the researchers get this number?

Researchers uncovered these devices with the help of Censys – a new search engine that daily scans the whole Internet for all the vulnerable devices.

Censys Maintains Complete Database of Everything on The Internet

Censys is similar to hacker's search engine Shodan, which is designed specifically to locate any devices that have been carelessly plugged into the Internet without much attempt at preventing unauthorized access.

However, Censys employs a more advanced method to find vulnerabilities in the devices and make the Internet a safer place.

Censys is a free search engine that was originally released in October by researchers from the University of Michigan and is powered by the world's biggest search engine Google.

Censys is part of an open source project that aims at maintaining a "complete database of everything on the Internet," helping researchers and companies unearth Online security mishaps and vulnerabilities in products and services.

How Does Censys Work?

Censys collects information on hosts and websites via daily scans of the IPv4 address space – the internet protocol version 4 that routes the majority of the Internet traffic today.

In order to do so, the new search engine uses two companion tools:

• ZMap – an open-source network scanner
• ZGrab – an application layer scanner

Censys then maintains a database of how hosts and websites are configured, allowing researchers to query the data through a search interface, report builder, and SQL engine.

ZMap scans over 4 Billion IP addresses on the Internet and collects new data every day. It also helps determine whether the machines on the internet have security vulnerabilities that should be fixed before being exploited by the hackers.

"We have found everything from ATMs and bank safes to industrial control systems for power plants. It's kind of scary," said Zakir Durumeric, the researcher leading the Censys project at the University of Michigan.

Obvious flaws in addition to issues caused by IT administrator failures can also be found.

Here's the MIT Technology Review on Censys, titled "A Search Engine for the Internet’s Dirty Secrets."

More details on the Censys architecture and functionalities are available in the team's research paper.

If you would like to give Censys a try, you can follow the step-by-step tutorial offered by the developers.

PaperLab Recycles damaged paper and make fresh paper

Epson has developed what they call "the first ever in-office paper recycling machine",  which takes used documents and turns them into clean, white, blank sheets -- in just three minutes.

The PaperLab, which Epson claim will "revolutionise recycling" is capable of reusing 14 sheets of A4 paper per minute -- meaning 6,720 sheets could be produced in a regular eight hour day. It can also produce different kinds of paper -- A3 sheets, thick paper for business cards, coloured paper and even scented paper. 

The machine works by utilising a "dry process" to recycle and produce the paper. First, the paper is 'fiberised' -- turned into "long, thin, cottony fibers" then bound, which adds new substances to change the paper's properties, and finally formed into the shape and size of the final product. Epson haven't given much away about the technical details of the machine, but what we do know is that it requires far less liquid than traditional pulping methods. Because the paper is turned into these fibers, Epson also claim that the machine is a way of destroying and recycling confidential documents. 

Epson have also so far not demonstrated the machine working in practice, so it remains to be seen how useful (and, more pertinently, loud, expensive and energy-hungry) the machine would be.

It's not the first revolutionary recycling technique, of course.

• Back in 2014, WIRED reported on a recycling technique that would turn ground-up old car tyres into asphalt, to improve the quality of ageing roads.
• Another, reported in 2013, transformed plastic household waste into the raw materials used in 3D printing by melting down unwanted material and turning into plastic filament, the 'goop' that 3D printers use to form objects.
• The Japanese 'Blest Machine' allowed consumers to recycle plastic into oil in their own homes 
• This remote control car powered itself by turning recycled aluminium scraps like ring pulls -- into hydrogen and then into power

Epson say the PaperLab will be put into production in 2016, and a prototype will be displayed next week at the Toyko Big Sight exhibition next week. 

How biotech tattoos will turn you into a quantifiable canvas?

 

"The tech tattoo is a device that    will just make everyone's lives    easier."

                   Ben Lamm, Chaotic Moon

From fitness trackers like FitBit and Jawbone to the numerous available smartwatches, wearables have become an important part of many people's daily routines. 

It's easy to see why they're functional, convenient and often aesthetically pleasing. But how can you bring wearables closer to the people that wear them?

Chaotic Moon, a technology start-up, think they have a (rather literal) answer. Tattoos.

WHAT IS A BIOTECH TATTOO?

Unusual tech tattoos are nothing new. But combining the pure aesthetics of traditional tattoos with the functionality of wearables is a fresh idea. And Chaotic Moon's 'Tech Tat' does just that. 

Sticking to the skin just like temporary tattoos do, Tech Tats are made of electronic components and are able to monitor your vital statistics -- your heart rate, your blood pressure, your body temperature and more. They have a similar function to wearables like FitBit, but they're easier to wear -- being attached to your skin, they're far less cumbersome. 

Chaotic Moon's tattoos use electroconducive paint to pick up the vital signs from the body. "We use a conductive material to connect the micro controller with a variety of sensors held within a flexible temporary tattoo format," Ben Lamm, CEO of Chaotic Moon explained to WIRED. 

THE WEARABLE MARKET

Chaotic Moon are far from the only team experimenting with wearables, of course.

• Motorola: Back in 2013, Motorola filed a patent for a microphone that consumers would literally have tattooed onto their throats, the idea being that vibrations from the larynx would be picked up and sent to your mobile handset or portable device by WiFi or Bluetooth. 
• University of California, San Diego: Scientists at the University of California at San Diego also developed a temporary tattoo -- which self-powered using sweat. The tattoo uses an enzyme to measure lactate, a substance present in sweat. Athletes and patients often need their levels of lactate measured, but it typically involves a blood test. The tattoo could also collect electrons from the lactate and generate an electric current. 
• Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Korea (KAIST): KAIST created a temporary tattoo from graphene, an ultra-thin material that's both tough and flexible. The material, which sticks to your skin as the other biotech tattoos do, acts as a sensor for vital signs, as well as being having an aesthetically pleasing design. 
• New Deal Design: New Deal Design, a technology agency behind wearables like FitBit, have also discussed wearable tattoos. Their concept, Project Underskin, is a 'smart digital tattoo' that would be used to scan entry into rooms, track the body with a biosensor and even exchange information via touch. Unfortunately, this fairly complex design is, as yet, still a concept rather than a reality, though NDD president Gadi Amit says that once the issue of flexibility is solved, the product could be available within a decade.

THE NEXT STEP FOR WEARABLES (AND TATTOOS)

Chaotic Moon's tattoos are currently in beta -- nobody has one yet.  But the company has high hopes for the Tech Tat. It could be used to track children in crowded places, they say, or for soldiers who need to have their condition monitored in detail. They could also be used for purchasing -- just like Apple Pay. But will tech tattoos be replacing real tattoos any time soon? Unfortunately for tattooed tech-enthusiasts, Lamm thinks not. 

"In theory they could work as real tattoos," Lamm told WIRED. "But when we embed into the dermal layer of our skin, a lot has to be considered. Conductivity is lost through the natural resistance of our skin, for example, and the materials we use to produce the circuit would probably have to be adapted."

"I can see them working alongside real tattoos -- I just don't think they'll augment or replace real tattoos". 

What Lamm does hope for is widespread adoption. And although many of the suggested uses of the tech are fairly extreme -- military tracking being one example -- he's hopeful that they'll become as omnipresent as the FitBit. 

"We see these being used by everyone," said Lamm. "The tech tattoo is a device that will just make everyone's lives easier."

"This kind of technology can work in complex situations as well as for home use. You could monitor your child's temperature while they're sick, or just monitor your own sleep patterns."

"This kind of device has the potential to become another part of life, and to streamline your day-to-day interactions. They could potentially help you build a more quantified self." 

Earin Earbuds Review: Genuinely Wireless

In 2014, Earin launched its Kickstarter campaign to bring truly wireless earbuds to the market, not ones boasting Bluetooth but with a cable strung between them.

Not only were these to be properly wireless, they were to be the world's smallest of their kind (a title that may soon be taken by the Dot earbuds). So, big ambitions then. And thanks to this as well as some nice industrial design on the mock-ups, the effort pulled in over 8,000 backers pledging just shy of £1m.

The promised delivery date was back in January, but better late than never WIRED has got its own pair to play with, and we've been doing just that for a couple of weeks now.

What first strikes you about the Earins is that the company has clearly put some of that impressive investment into some quality packaging. The unboxing is a nice experience. A solid, heavy cardboard box with inlaid magnets yields satisfyingly when pulled apart to reveal the cylindrical aluminium charging capsule holding the buds within, nestled in its own snug recess.

As companies such as Apple know, this sort of attention to detail with packaging is so important and starts the consumer experience on exactly the right note, as opposed to hacking away at impenetrable vacuum-formed plastic casings with scissors in an attempt to free some tech encased inside.

Assembling the earphones is simple, remove the earbuds form the capsule (also nicely magnetically sealed), thus waking them up, attach the Comply foam tips to each of the wireless buds, go to your Bluetooth settings on your phone/tablet and select Earin L -- this is because your device links with the left bud then this syncs with the right one over a secure connection.

To charge the buds you place them back in the metal casing which holds a 600mAh li-on battery, which on a full charge can refuel your earbuds with their 60mAh batteries three times before the power runs dry. The case charges via a standard Micro USB, and takes 75mins to do so.

You get just under three hours of play time with each charge of the buds in stereo, and this can be boosted to up to 11 hours if you go mono, but WIRED didn't try this as you only wear one bud and can end if looking like Star Trek's Lieutenant Uhura. You get an audible warning a few minutes before the buds run out of charge. To turn off the buds just put them back in the capsule.

Unlike other Bluetooth earphones, which have been heavy to wear, the Earins are a joy to put in your lug holes -- snug, thanks to those foam tips, and light -- just 3.5g each. Rubber winged stabilisers come supplied however if your pair doesn't feel secure. Once you have them in though they are hard to spot and are subtle on the user. Yet, once seen they are interesting enough for WIRED to be asked about them on a couple of occasions on the daily commute.

Vigorous exercise with the Earins cannot be recommended, as once they fall out they are hard to spot on dark floors or pavements, but for walking and the usual jostling of train and tube travel they coped just fine.

The audio produced by the Earins is not earth-shattering, but perfectly good. However, WIRED did experience quite a few drop outs of sound despite our phone being located just in the back pocket (thought it should be noted we are getting the same issue with Bose's wireless SoundLink 2 headphones). Also there were more than a few occasions where the sound dropped to just the left channel before re-establishing contact with the right one again -- which was not terrible but unwelcome and certainly distracting.

An accompanying app is basic but clear, and it allows you to tweak balance, check battery status on each bud or boost the bass, should you desire -- but not much else.

In conclusion, despite the sound issues, WIRED likes this first attempt from Earin. The industrial design is superb and the quality of construction matches it. The sound reproduction is nice, too -- but there are intermittent problems with the stability of the sound, sadly. Still, the idea of using the metal case to both top up earbud charge on the go as well as protect the Earins is a fine one. And they are indeed very small, comfortable and discreet to wear.