Check if your Android phone is patched against the 'Master Key' exploit with this app

After discovering a longstanding exploit in Android firmware dating back to version 1.6 that allowed malicious developers to circumvent software security measures, Bluebox Security released an Android app this week for users to check whether their phone is still vulnerable to the exploit. Since Bluebox's report last week, Google acknowledged the issue and released a patch that it says is in the hands of OEMs and already being pushed out by certain manufacturers (Samsung, for one). The app is thankfully free, and should provide some much-needed reassurance to most Android users. Head to the source link below to snag it for yourself.

Hubble researchers identify color of an exoplanet for the first time

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While exoplanets are seemingly a dime a dozen, their looks have been mysteries; they often exist only as measurements. Scientists using the Hubble Space Telescope have partly solved that riddle by pinpointing the visible color of an extrasolar world for the first time. By measuring reflected light, they can tell that HD 189733b (conceptualized above) is a cobalt blue, much like Earth's oceans. Not that we can claim much kinship, though. The planet is a gas giant 63 light-years away -- its blue tint comes from an atmosphere likely full of deadly silicate. As disappointing as that may be, the discovery should at least help us understand planet types that don't exist in the Solar System.

PlayStation 3 YouTube update adds auto-pairing with mobile device

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The folks at YouTube are updating Sony's PlayStation 3 YouTube app today with additional support for send to TV functionality, making it all the easier to share clips from your mobile device of choice with a living room full of people. Similar to the Xbox 360's SmartGlass functionality, YouTube's send to TV allows for a phone or tablet to be paired via a shared Wi-Fi network with the PS3, enabling videos on your mobile device in the YouTube app to be transferred "instantly" to the big screen -- the service now pairs automatically rather than requiring a PIN. Moreover, today's update looks to be yet another example of YouTube's co-developed DIAL tech. YouTube also added some video stream stabilization in the latest update, should you be experiencing hiccups.

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Thumbs need a break from saving the world from zombies, and want to catch up on the latest PewDiePie videos? The updated YouTube app for Playstation 3 now has the send to TV feature that automatically pairs your phone or tablet with your PS3 on the same Wi-Fi network. Open YouTube on your PS3, click the TV icon on your YouTube app for Android or iPhone, and the video starts playing instantly on your big screen. It'll be like the same awesome feeling you had when you played Metal Gear Solid for the first time. For bonus points, we also made videos play more smoothly and with less buffering. Ok, now back to the zombies...

All Electric Vehicle Rally ends with Tesla S in top spot

There they were, a caravan of nine electric car enthusiasts with a lot of free time on their hands, "tearing" down North America's west coast in a bunch of environmentally conscious vehicles. That was just last week in what organizer Tony Williams called the All Electric Vehicle Rally, and nearly all nine participants arrived in the rally's end location of Tijuana, Mexico.
The convoy started in Blaine, Washington and took to I-5 in four chunks. This year a Tesla Model S piloted by Jack Bowers and Georg Kuhnke arrived first, with just 41 hours of driving time -- a far cry from the eight days and five hours the course took Williams last year. The approximately 1,400 miles were covered by the winner at an average speed of about 34 MPH. Sadly, one Nissan Leaf owner got stuck charging their car for 15 hours in California due to a lack of CHADEMO chargers en route. Despite years of promises, CHADEMO sites haven't made their way south of the Oregon/California border as part of the west coast's Green Highway. Still, that we've reached the point where even some EVs can clear that many miles in under two days using only public chargers is pretty impressive.