Firefox will start blocking Flash content next month

Following in the footsteps of the other major browser, Firefox is taking steps to drastically reduce Adobe Flash usage in the near future.

Mozilla recently announced that Firefox will “block certain Flash content that is not essential to the user experience”—in other words, ads and any behind the scenes operations using Flash. Mozilla says that blocking non-essential Flash should reduce crashes and browser hang-ups by as much as 10 percent. The initial blocked content will be restricted to a specific list that Mozilla has put up on GitHub, with plans to add more block targets to the list over time.

In 2017, Firefox will make all Flash content click-to-play by default. In other words, no Flash content will automatically start playing when you load a tab, including video and games. You'll have to manually authorize Flash content to start.

Why this matters: Flash was a crucial element to the web in its early days. Now, however, most if not all of its functionality can be replaced by native web technologies such as HTML5. Plus, NPAPI plugins like Flash are known to cause problems with browser stability, performance, and security. Even Adobe is moving away from Flash on the web. In late 2015, the company released a statement to “encourage content creators to build with new web standards,” which would inevitably lead developers away from Flash.

RIP Flash

Firefox was the last major browser to give Flash a serious kick to the curb.

Google Chrome started pausing non-essential Flash content more than a year ago. Google also plans to make HTML5 the primary option for Chrome by the end of 2016, with only 10 sites white-listed to use Flash.

Microsoft followed Chrome’s lead with Edge in April. Apple, meanwhile, added click-to-play functionality to Safari 7 in 2013, and the upcoming Safari 10 on macOS Sierra will take a much harsher stand, telling websites that Flash isn’t installed on the user’s machine at all. This will force websites with an HTML5 option to use that instead—though Flash will still be available to users as a click-to-play option.

While Firefox is seriously reducing Flash's importance, Adobe's technology will remain as a plugin option for the foreseeable future. Similar to Chrome, Firefox will discontinue support for NPAPI plugins such as Java and Silverlight in March 2017, after pushing back original plans to end plugin support in late 2016. The only exception? Flash.

Iris Scans to Replace Fingerprints

FBI officials have scanned the irises of nearly 460,000 people in a pilot program that may soon replace fingerprints. While iris-scanning technology has been around for more than 25 years, it's just now getting to where it's fast, easy and relatively bug-free.

"It's a powerful bio-metric," said Patrick Grother, a computer scientist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Md., who has been developing algorithms and software for iris scanning. "It's fast to process, it has discriminative power -- my iris doesn't look like your iris, and it has reasonable permanence."

Iris scanning has replaced retinal scans, a method that has been pretty much abandoned since it turned out to be uncomfortable for people to endure, Grother explained. Iris scan technology was featured recently in the AMC mini-series " The Night Manager," based on a John LeCarre spy novel. The lead character used an iris scan camera on his smartphone to access his Swiss bank account (just before a big truck blew up).

Grother says that kind of quick reading ability isn't far away, and several banks are looking at using it. Windows' Lumia Nokia and Fujitsu both have iris scanners to unlock their phones, (similar to the iPhone fingerprint pad) but it's not ready to authenticate other sorts of apps or accounts.

Iris scanning cameras can be hand-held or attached to a wall. They are effective from three to six feet away from the subject's eyes. Soldiers in Iraq have been using them to authenticate Iraqi civilians who are authorized to work inside U.S. military facilities.

The iris is a part of the eye outside of the pupil that is made of collagen in a three-dimensional arrangement. This pattern can be imaged with light at certain wavelengths.

"It's like taking picture of sand dunes from space," he said. "It's a 3-D object."

The FBI's Iris Pilot program is being deployed by law enforcement officials in California, Texas and Missouri during the booking process. The U.S. Border Patrol and Department of Defense are also using iris scans, according to Stephen Fischer, an FBI spokesman.

The next step is collecting iris scans from photographs of people's eyes.

"Iris images enrolled in the FBI Iris Pilot are primarily captured during the booking process in a controlled setting with a camera designed to capture the iris image," Fischer said in an email to DNews. "These cameras capture the iris image in near-infrared light. Research is currently being conducted on the extraction of iris images from high-resolution photographs."

People with brown eyes have more pigment than those with blue eyes, said Grother. That makes it tougher to capture iris information from photographs of brown-eyed folks.

Of course, anyone who blinks, squints or scrunches up their eyes will make it difficult for law enforcement to get a good scan.

Grother and other experts now are developing software to recognize iris patterns from several different camera angles, making it easier to use a hand-held device or smartphone.

Have Aadhaar ? Now Get Passport In Just 10 Days !

To expedite the passport issuing system, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) has now decided to rely on Aadhaar card for identification of the applicant and on the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) database for validation of his/her criminal antecedents.

The simplified police verification system seeks to resolve issues raised from time to time regarding prior police verification and consequent delay in issuance of passports. In the new format, the applicant would apply online; he or she needs only to attach the Aadhaar card as the sole address and identity proof. The applicant will get the appointment within three days and in another seven days, the passport will be processed and dispatched.

Here is how you can get passport in JUST 10 DAYS through online process:

Step 1 – Register yourself at Passport Seva Portal

Go to this link http://www.passportindia.gov.in/AppOnlineProject/welcomeLink to register yourself.

If you are a new user, click on ‘register now’ link and fill in details like your ‘passport kendra’, date of birth, and email id.

 You will receive you login ID on your registered email ID. Thereafter, you will be redirected to the home page.

Step 2 – Login

Activate your account by clicking on the link received on your email ID. Login through your user name and password. Thereafter, click on the link ‘Apply for Fresh Passport’ or ‘Re-issue of Passport’. You will get two options; click on the second one to fill the application form online.

  

Step 3 – Choose your option

If you are applying for passport for the first time, click on ‘Apply for Fresh Passport’ link. Thereafter, you will be required to fill in some forms. Take your time while providing with your details, lest there should be a mistake. For once the passport process fails, it takes a lot of time to reapply.

Step 4 – Fill in family details

Once you have filled in the details, save it. You can now access this page anytime by using your user name and password. In the next page, fill in your family details.

You can save it and move to the next page where provide with your address; save it too. Provide with your emergency contact details afterwards.

Step 5 – Pay and schedule appointment

At ‘View Saved/Submitted Applications’ page, clink on Pay and Schedule Appointment link and fix your appointment time. After submitting the form you will be required to make online payment through your credit card, debit card, or internet banking.

Step 6 – Print application receipt

After completing the process, click on Application Receipt link to get the printout, which will contain application reference number and appointment number.

Step 7 – Carry original documents

Carry to your designated Passport Seva Kendra original documents. Well, within next 7 days, you will receive your passport at home. You can also take its copy online.

Yerka Project

Yerka Project - 3 Students Innovation Project

Biking is a great form of transportation with one huge drawback – theft. With enough time a skilled bike thief can get through just about any lock. Three Chilean students, well-acquainted with the anguish of having a beloved bike stolen, are developing a clever solution to this problem.

From left to right, Andres Roi Eggers, Juan Jose Monsalve and Cristobal Cabello. They’re building a bike they say can’t be stolen. (Rodolfo Lagos)

Sure, a thief can beat any lock, but what if the bike is the lock? Sawing through a bike’s frame to steal it ruins its resale value. There’s less incentive to steal a bike when you have to break it in the process.

Childhood friends Andres Roi Eggers and Cristobal Cabello met Juan Jose Monsalve at Adolfo Ibanez University in Santiago, Chile, and set out to create the “unstealable” bike in an engineering class. They call it the Yerka Project, which “has a similarity with a Nordic word that means strength,” Monsalve told me.

“We wanted to use as many components of the bike as possible, so as a rider you don’t have to carry any lock whatsoever to secure your bike,” Eggers said.

The lower beam of the frame consists of two arms that can be opened up to wrap around a pole for locking purposes. The bike is then secured by using the seat post to connect the arms.

The prototype is the result of two years of work. They experimented with a PVC model of a bike frame before buying a bike for a rideable prototype. The group tried using the upper crossbar to serve as the two arms, but found that didn't work.

The prototype in their Video uses a key to lock the seat post once it is slid in place. But Eggers said they are building prototypes that lock with combinations, and through a smartphone. (Using Bluetooth to control a lock has been done before.)

The group is also designing prototypes for a bicycle with a step-through frame, and a bike with gears.

While they claim the bike can’t be stolen, what about the wheels and handlebars? Plenty of thieves are happy to make off with just a wheel. That’s why many cyclists, myself include, use a cable that connects to a U-lock and loops through both wheels.

Eggers points to options such as locking skewers, which offer better protection for wheels.

(Rodolfo Lagos)

“This might be an option, but we are also working on our own way or method to secure them,” he said. “The idea is to secure as many components as we can, making a comfortable bike to ride, that is safe and that has the slick look of a traditional urban bicycle.”

Eggers expects their first batch of bikes to be available within six to eight months. The guys are also planning to launch a Kick starter campaign by December to raise funds for mass production and global sales. The start-up is working out of Garage UAI, which provides work space, advice and business connections.