New Botnet Hunts for Linux — Launching 20 DDoS Attacks/Day at 150Gbps

A network of compromised Linux servers has grown so powerful that it can blow large websites off the Internet by launching crippling Distributed Denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks of over 150 gigabits per second (Gbps). The distributed denial-of-service network, dubbed XOR DDoS Botnet, targets over 20 websites per day, according to an advisory published by content delivery firm Akamai

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Does What Happens in the Arctic Stay in the Arctic?

It all began with my fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Benner. Back then my school had a weather station and one day she had asked me to collect wind speed and temperature data. I soon found myself in charge of the morning weather forecast and soon this was my favorite part of the day. Little did I know that in the years that would follow, I'd pursue my passion for clouds and meteorology to become a research scientist at NASA. Working at NASA is every bit as cool as it sounds! Everyday is different and I always find myself working with new scientific tools to uncover mysteries about our planet Earth. Lately I've been studying the cryosphere, or the world's frozen places, where I'm using scientific visualizations to understand the impacts of climate change in the Arctic. In particular I'm focusing on melting sea ice to understand how it affects Arctic cloud formation. Arctic clouds are made up of tiny liquid droplets and ice particles that form from condensation and then freezing of water vapor. Water vapor is a necessary ingredient for Arctic cloud formation, and evaporation from the Arctic Ocean can serve as an important source of water vapor. But when sea ice sits on the Arctic Ocean it acts as a lid that prevents evaporation and may limit Arctic cloud formation. Over the past decade the amount of Arctic sea ice has declined dramatically and we think this trend may be influencing Arctic cloud formation. I created a visualization showing the hypothesized response of clouds to melting in sea ice (below). The difference between the left panel, "Current Conditions," and the right panel, "Future Conditions," is that less sea ice in the future leads to more evaporation, and more evaporation leads to more water vapor and increased cloudiness. This hypothesis is where I base my research, using state-of-the-art NASA satellite instruments including CALIPSO and CloudSAT. To begin my investigation, I combined data from many different NASA satellite instruments on various satellites. Each instrument measures unique information that I combine to see the full picture of the Arctic climate system. CloudSat, CALIPSO, and MODIS provide data about the clouds. SSM/I measures sea ice cover and CERES measures the amount of energy leaving the Earth. While the instruments are on different satellites, they observe the same location on the Earth within a few minutes of each other. This is because they are flying in a formation we call a "train constellation," which is similar to the way train carriages follow one another in a single path. So why am I interested in sea ice and clouds? Sea ice and cloud coverage in the Arctic has a big effect on the surface temperature of the ocean. And as the global climate warms, the Arctic is expected to heat up twice as fast as the rest of the world because of a process known as ice albedo feedback. Ice is very bright and reflects a large amount of the Sun's energy back to space. In contrast, the ocean is very dark and it efficiently absorbs the sun's energy. Putting these concepts together, the ice albedo feedback results in a warmer surface temperature because when ice melts, energy that would have been reflected into space is instead absorbed by the ocean. But clouds, like ice, are also bright. So if clouds increase as sea ice melts, then the ice albedo feedback will decrease because clouds will reflect the solar energy in place of the ice that was there before. Exactly how much clouds influence this ice albedo feedback is the focus of my work. The visualization below demonstrates the ice albedo feedback process. Understanding the Arctic climate system is critical because Arctic temperature and sea ice cover has a global effect on plants, animals, and humans. For example, experts are uncovering evidence that warmer Arctic temperatures may cause stronger winter storms in the United States. These changing weather patterns have an enormous influence on society, from our energy demand to our ability to grow food. Using scientific visualization tools not only helps me better understand these processes, but can help me better communicate my discoveries to others. Looking back, I'm not sure if my interest in weather was average or unusual for a fourth grade student. But I do know that if I didn't embrace my passion, I'd be doing something very different today. I love my career at a NASA because it allows me to work on projects that impact the lives of everyday people - and that includes inspiring students just like you to embark on your own journey in Earth science. -- Patrick Taylor, Research Scientist (NASA Langley Research Center)

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Dust in the Wind

Each year, millions of tons of dust from the Sahara Desert in Africa is swept up into the atmosphere. The dust travels across the Atlantic Ocean, with some of it reaching as far as the Amazon Rainforest. African dust contains phosphorus, which is an important nutrient for plants, so each year the Amazon Rainforest is fertilized by dust blown all the way from Africa! We created this data visualization to tell the incredible story of this great migration. To create this visualization, I used data from NASA's CALIPSO satellite, which measures aerosols in the atmosphere. Using Autodesk Maya and Pixar's Renderman software (the same software Pixar uses to make movies), I created a virtual Earth with vertical walls for each time the CALIPSO satellite passed over the dust cloud. Each wall has a picture (we call them "textures") that represents the data collected by the satellite at that location. Each wall slices through the dust cloud, and shows us a cross-sectional view of dust distribution in the atmosphere. Although dust clouds can be seen in satellite imagery as hazy brown sections, it's hard to determine their altitude. Knowing the height at which dust travels will help scientists determine where the dust will go, how it moves at different altitudes and how it will interact with the Earth's climate. CALIPSO allows scientists to clearly see the shape of a dust cloud in three dimensions. The second section of the visualization describes dust flux, or how much dust flows through a specific region over a period of time. To visualize flux, I used a particle system in Autodesk Maya that creates particles at a rate and velocity relative to the flux value for a region at each time step. As the flux value increases, additional particles are created and they move faster. As flux goes down, fewer particles are created and they move slower. The result is a particle cloud that changes shape with the seasons as flux values go up and down. What is the most challenging part of creating scientific visualizations? The greatest challenge to creating a scientific visualization is finding the right balance between visuals that are technically accurate, and are easy to understand. A really good visualization is one that ANYONE can look at, both scientists and non-scientists, and come away with the same appreciation and understanding. That being said, this is also my favorite part of the job! Everyday at NASA, I get to work with satellite data to determine the best way to share that data with others. The goal is to create a visualization that is both accurate and compelling to look at. I love this challenge because it's both technical and artistic. We try our best to use common artistic principles of color, composition, and storytelling when communicating technical data. I sometimes use the term 'technical artist' because we combine our skills in visual arts and storytelling with our technical backgrounds to communicate science. It's a fantastic role for anyone interested in both art and science/engineering! --Kel Elkins , Visualizer (NASA GSFC Scientific Visualization Studio)

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Anonymous Hero

Archive for Anonymous Hero. ... Anonymous Hero Stops UVic Sex Assault. Posted on September 29, 2015 by Crash Davis. Source: Times Colonist.

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Microsoft Chooses Ubuntu Linux for their Cloud-based Azure HDInsight Big Data Solution

Earlier this month, Microsoft surprised us all with the announcement that they built a Linux kernel-based operating system, Azure Cloud Switch (ACS), for developing software products for Network Devices. Now, Microsoft just announced that they have selected Ubuntu as the operating system for their Cloud-based Big Data services. <!-- adsense --> Yes, Microsoft needs Linux. To expand

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