Scientists from the institut polytechnique Grenoble INP and the Centre Technique du Papier have developed a novel new product so gratuitous, it almost seems necessary: a silver-crystal coated wallpaper that can block neighbors from freeloading off your Wi-Fi network. The silver crystals are arranged in such a way that they are able to block certain wireless frequencies, not least of which is the same frequency as a WiFI router.

But, what about just setting up a password-protected network? I don’t know. You most certainly can—and should—do that. But if, for whatever reason, an open network is what you desire, this silver snowflake-speckled wall-covering will have your back. Unless you have windows. They’re still working on a clear coating with protective power equal to that of the paper.

Also, there will of course be somebody out there who will buy this, someone who both delights in a room covered floor-to-ceiling in metallic snowflakes and believes said remediation is superior to setting a password (which is free, mind you—this wallpaper, when it’s released in 2013, will cost about as much as mid-grade conventional wallpaper). Who is this person?

Has there not been an unusual amount of weird wallpaper news lately? [DVICE via SlashDot]

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With the House of Representatives’ approval of the controversial CISPA bill, Internet users are worried about possible consequences. RT spoke to Internet activist Aaron Swartz, who said CISPA could be used to spy on people.

RT: Can you explain the difference between this legislation and the previous controversial bills aimed at combating piracy?

Aaron Swartz: The previous bills were about giving the government the power to censor the Internet. And this is more like a Patriot Act for the Internet. It sort of lets the government run roughshod over privacy protections and share personal data about you, take it from Facebook and Internet providers and use it without the normal privacy protections that are in the law.

RT: So as far as individuals are concerned, is it worse than the previous ones?

AS: Yes, it’s worse because it does allow the government to shut down websites for ‘national security’ reasons. It does have all the censorship problems the previous bill did. But it also goes much further and allows them to spy on people using the Internet, to get their personal data and e-mails. It’s an incredibly broad and dangerous bill.

READ FULL ARTICLE AT RT.COM

We know what it’s like to be in a foreign country without a mobile internet connection. Although there are domestic options making it easier to connect our devices abroad, Spanish company iPavement wants to help confused tourists (and their confused devices) by seamlessly integrating hotspots into tiles — which are seamlessly integrated into the ground. It’s unclear whether users will have open access to the entire world wide web, or only controlled info about the city, but the service is at least free to use. The 24kg (53lb) tiles are slightly larger than normal, installed a maximum of 20 meters (66 feet) from one another and only work at temperatures between 10 - 45 degrees Celsius (14 - 113 degrees Fahrenheit). Touristy cloud apps like maps, coupons, and traffic updates in various languages are also a part of the deal, and you would look like less of a tourist without that huge guide to Madrid. Just lose the fanny pack and you’ll be set.

: Mobile Magazine

: iPavement

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Here’s what happens when you proclaim yourself to be the representative of the Anonymous meme. Buzzfeed reports:

Last month, the FBI raided the Dallas home of Barrett Brown, the journalist and unofficial spokesperson for the Internet hacktivist group Anonymous. The Feds seized Brown’s computer and cellphone, searched his parent’s home as well, and demanded his Twitter records, chat logs, IRC conversations, Pastebin info, [and] all his Internet browsing activity. The warrant suggests the government is primarily after information related to Anonymous and the hacking group Lulzec.
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When the FBI and Estonian authorities finally crushed the DNSChanger Trojan network in January, they set up a temporary DNS exchange to maintain connectivity for the millions of infected users until they could wipe the bug from their systems.

Those temporary systems are going offline by the middle of the year, so if you enjoy the Internet and the wonderful pornentertainment it provides, you need to make sure your system is DNSChanger-free by July 9.

Ensuring your system is clean is simple. First off, DNSChanger affects the Windows and Mac OS, not Linux and not mobile platforms. The DNSChanger Working Group (DCWG) website [which is currently borked from massive traffic - ed] can scan your machine for the Trojan and remove it if present. A wide array of commercial antivirus programs can also do it as well—Hitman Pro, TDSSKiller, and Windows Defender Offline, to name a few. These are all easy fixes and should be done well in advance of July 8th. [DCWG via PCWorld, Forbes - Image: Stepan Kapl / Shutterstock]
[POSTED FROM GIZMODO] 

Whether you’re using wireless internet in a coffee shop, stealing it from the guy next door, or competing for bandwidth at a conference, you’ve probably gotten frustrated at the slow speeds you face when more than one device is tapped into the network. As more and more people—and their many devices—access wireless internet, clogged airwaves are going to make it increasingly difficult to latch onto a reliable signal.

But radio waves are just one part of the spectrum that can carry our data. What if we could use other waves to surf the internet?

One German physicist, Harald Haas, has come up with a solution he calls “data through illumination”—taking the fiber out of fiber optics by sending data through an LED lightbulb that varies in intensity faster than the human eye can follow. It’s the same idea behind infrared remote controls, but far more powerful.

FULL ARTICLE AND VIDEO AT INFO WARS

For 350,000 unsuspecting Internet users infected with the DNSChanger malware, the Web will cease to function on July 9. Here’s why, and how to check your PC before zero hour.

If you’re one of an unlucky 350,0000 Internet users out there, your Internet connection could black out on July 9.

In an effort to clean up the mess left behind by an “Internet fraud ring,” the FBI is urging Internet users to check their computers for an infection by a DNSChanger, a DNS redirecting malware that infected over 4.2 million computers, and could still affect many.

In November 2011, in an FBI sting called “Operation Ghost Click,” six Estonian nationals were arrested for running a sophisticated crime ring. Their malware, DNSChanger, netted them over $14 million in illicit revenue. The malware in question worked like this: When you click on a link to a website or type in its URL, your computer sends a request to a DNS server, which translates the URL into the appropriate IP address. The IP address is sent back to your browser, which can then find the website in question. The DNSChanger would hijack the requests of infected users and redirect the requests to their own DNS servers. Their DNS servers would then translate the URLs into an illegitimate IP address and trick the browser into displaying a different website. Essentially, trying to access YouTube could send you to a porn site.

READ FULL ARTICLE AT DIGITAL TRENDS

Jacob Sullum writes on Reason:

Yesterday the Justice Department unsealed an indictment that charges eight men from three countries with running “a sophisticated online drug marketplace that sold everything from marijuana to mescaline to some 3,000 people around the world,” AP reports:

“The Farmer’s Market”…allowed suppliers of drugs—including LSD, Ecstasy and ketamine—to anonymously sell their wares online. They hooked up with buyers in 34 countries and accepted various forms of payment, including cash, Western Union and PayPal transactions, the indictment claims….

The market “provided a controlled substances storefront, order forms, online forums, customer service, and payment methods for the different sources of supply” and charged the suppliers a commission based upon the value of the order, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles.

“For customers, the operators screened all sources of supply and guaranteed delivery of the illegal drugs,” the statement said …. The marketplace allegedly used the Tor network, which spreads website and email communications through a volunteer network of servers around the world in order to mask Internet address information…”

Read More: Reason.
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Would you sell off your privacy in return for a $5 gift card every three months? Ars Technica reports:

Google quietly started up the Screenwise data collection program Tuesday night, taking the e-mail addresses of people interested in “add[ing] a browser extension that will share with Google the sites you visit and how you use them.” For their participation, Google offers users a $5 Amazon gift card for every three months they stay with the program. Less publicly, Google also started looking for people who would install a piece of hardware on their network to do more extensive monitoring.

POSTED FROM DISINFORMATION  

Iran has had it up to here with the Internet—Google’s easy access to information, iTunes’ funneling in or Western Media, and don’t even get them started on Stuxnet—all totally the Internet’s fault. So, to preserve theocratic rule in the modern era, Iran is cutting off the Internet. Like, completely.

Iran has already taken steps to filter the filth of the Internet from reaching its citizens. Iranian leaders cut off VPN access before recent elections (who needs the BBC when you have state-run media?) and are currently working on their own “Clean Internet,” which should be functional by August.

Well, not so much of an Internet as a National Intranet. One that would block Western influences like Google and Yahoo, replacing them with government-sanction and search engines and email. Users will be required to register with the government to obtain access. Google and Yahoo will be blacked out by May with the rest of the World Wide Web going dark by mid-summer, according to Reza Taghipour, the Iranian minister for Information and Communications Technology. [IBT via The Register - Image: Maxim Tupikov / Shutterstock.

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