GOOGLE+ "SHUTDOWN"

You’ve all be hearing about Google + being shut down and coupled with the recent announcement that Vic Gundotra, who is the head of the social network, would be leaving the company effective immediately. From all this news around it is almost certain that the rumor might be true. So let me clear the air.

Actually Google appears to be testing new “Sign in with Google” button to expand sign-in option beyond Google+. This new Google sign in logo is actually viewable through developer accounts alone, which means the average user won’t see it on any site. The goal behind the improvements is to expand Google’s social sign- in options to support all types of Google accounts.

Vic Gundotra leaving does not affect the social network, with Google claiming that it “has no impact on our Google+ strategy—we have an incredibly talented team that will continue to build great user experiences across Google+, Hangouts and Photos.”

Though Google has a history of closing popular services listed but I do not think the Google+ is one of those services they would be wanting to shut down. It is a superb social networking service pitching it’s tent right next to the likes of Facebook and Twitter and it also has a wide user base and also recent new improvements were made to it.

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HEARTBLEED

Hey guys, we are going to be looking at the internet stunner bug populary known as the Heartbleed. Yeah, a lot of you guys have been hearing about it so I would like to make the name make a meaning to you today and for those of you who know about it already, I guess you just going to be adding to your already acquired knowledge.

The Heartbleed  Bug is a serious vulnerability in the popular OpenSSl cryptographic software library. This weakness allows stealing of our ‘so called’ protected information. SSL/TLS protects our information under normal conditions by provides communication security and privacy over the internet for applications such as web, email, i.m, and some virtual private networks.

The Heartbleed Bug allows anyone on the internet to read the memory of the systems protected by the OpenSSl software. This compromises the secret keys used to identify the service providers and to encrypt the traffic, the names and passwords of the users and the actual content. This allows attackers to eavesdrop on communications and steal data directly from the services and users to impersonate services and users

Unluckily for us, unlike other bugs that come and go, same thing has been done to this particular bug with the release of a newer version but it leaves a big scar on the internet because it has left amount of private keys and other secrets exposed to the internet.

As long as the vulnerable version of OpenSSl is in use it can be abused. Fixed OpenSSl has been released and now it has been deployed. Operating system vendors and distribution, appliance vendors, independent software vendors have to adopt the fix and notify their users. Service providers and users have to install the fixes as it becomes available for the operating systems, networked appliances and software they use

Google security researcher Neel Mehta was the first to discover Heartbleed though it has been found that the Hearbleed flaw has been in in OpenSSl for two years. The Bug was introduced to OpenSSl in December 2011 and has been out in the wild since OpenSSl release 1.0.1 on the 14^th of March 2012. OpenSSl 1.0.1g released on 7^th of April 2014 fixes the bug

According to Google all android version are immune to the Heartbleed bug except for jelly bean 4.1.1. So if what google says is anything to go buy, about 10 million users of the Android OS would be affected.

My heart is currently bleeding from the effect of Heartbleed *winks*. Please guys let’s try to quickly upgrade our phone’s OS in time.

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WONDERS OF 3D PRINTING

Wow. Yeah guys, don’t be surprised I’m starting with a Wow. What am about to talk about really deserves a wow, a very big one, I don’t know who was behind the inception of 3-D printing but trust me guys; it’s been a great success to me though it has not gone escalated commercially because of the price of the printers.

Enough of that, in this article and the next we would be taking a look at the great milestones 3-D printing has been reaching. Today we would be taking the printing of a skull. Yeah, you heard me right, 3 –D printing has gotten to that level.

A Dutch woman with a rare medical condition needed a new skull, Surgeons 3-D printed one for her and put it on her brain like a cap. 3-D printing has been doing a lot of wonders lately with the printing of a fingertip, a hand, a prosthetic eyes, arms, a jaw, and even a new foot for a duck. And now the human skull has been added to the growing list.

The plastic skull was made by an Australian firm and placed on the brain of a Dutch woman at Utrecht University’s University Medical Center in the Netherlands. The operation, which lasted about 23 hours, took place about four months ago, and Dutch news just reported that the patient has resumed her normal life including her work.

“The patient has her sight back entirely, is symptom free, is back to work, and it is almost impossible to see that she’s ever had a surgery”  lead Neurologist Ben Verweij said in a statement.

Prior to the procedure, the woman’s skull was more than three times thicker than a normal skull due to a rare condition. The increased thickness caused the woman’s skull to press on her brain, leading to severe headaches and vision loss. Although the report doesn’t name the condition, Camurati-Engelmann disease is among ailments that can cause skull bones to thicken

“Implants used to be made by hand in the operating theatre using a sort of cement which was far from ideal,” Verweij said of the procedure, according to Dutch News. “Using 3-D printing we can make one to the exact size. This not only has great cosmetic advantages, but patients’ brain function often recovers better than using the old method.”

Verweji says that although portions of skulls have been swapped out in the past, this is the first time an entire cranium has been replaced in a patient. And I bet this is the first time you’ve ever seen a plastic skull get attached to a real live brain.

This is kind of unbelievable for me because am wondering how the operation was carried out. Thumbs up to 3-D printing technology and the Doctors. I love technology.

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