Skriptd

DNS is Broken! LHC discovers Higgs iPhone, people change too fast for Windows

Daniel Fone | August 8, 2008 on 12:00 pm | In News In Tech |

In light of the LHC launch this weekend, The Big Picture has some awesome photos of CERN’s Large Hadron Collider.

Although no schedule has been officially announced, sources in the physics community and CERN’s own Web site indicate that scientists and engineers will try to shoot the first beam of protons through one section of 17-mile-long racetrack on the weekend of Aug. 9. If all goes well, the first protons will begin circulating around the entire machine on Sept. 2 or 3.

And of course, there’s a rap.

I spoke with one of the physicists working on that project.

“What’re you going to see when if fires up?” I asked.

“Tiny pink unicorns,” she replied. “With wings. Faerie pegasuses, really.”

THAT is terrifying.

Yes it is, if it were only true. Is anyone else reminded of Black Mesa?

Update: They’re only kinda starting it this weekend, only kinda not.

—

Turns out that the popular guesses as to the recent DNS vulnerability have vastly understated the problem. In his recent talk at Blackhat, Dan Kaminsky spilled the beans, and it is bad.

Automated software updating systems like those used by Microsoft and Apple  could also be subverted, allowing hackers to trick users into installing malicious software disguised as authenticated software updates.

Dan has released the PPT of his presentation and the second half is particularly worth checking out. To summarize: the web is screwed, any system updates are screwed, all your mail are belong to us, SSL is poked by virtue of the fact that CAs use DNS to authenticate cert requests. There are definite exploits in the wild now, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if someone gets bitten soon.

—

Microsoft is planning for the demise of Windows. I blame it on Google and the rest of the Tubes.

Midori is believed to be under development because Windows is unlikely to be able to cope with the pace of change in future technology and the way people use it.

Jeepers guys - slow down! In any case, I hope it’s more substantial than Redmond’s latest hijinx, Majove.

—

Apple’s 3G iPhone is apparently selling quite well, but it’s definitely a fad.

—

Bonus news: Wired published an interview with astronaut Peggy Whitson about her experiences on her “non-nominal” Soyuz descent back in April.

Whitson: We started noticing some unusual motion. I felt like I was being thrown into my seat, but it’s hard to tell— your sensations after six months of zero gravity are pretty questionable. Then the automatic system commanded a ballistic entry, and the gs started building up very quickly. I saw 8.2 gs on the meter.

Considering that your average roller coaster maxes out around 3g, that’s quite a ride!