Day: February 1, 2016

Oracle pulls plug on Java browser plug-in

February 1, 2016 Joyce Varghese Leave a comment Tech

Oracle announced earlier last week its decision to cut the Java browser plug-in. It will not be included in the next version of the kit for Java developers. This plug-in had been a frequent target of hackers and decision to remove was fueled by the browser maker’s withdrawal of support for the plug-in.

Oracle did realize that plug-ins have become unwanted in a tech world that has become increasingly mobile. In a release they stated “the rise of web usage on mobile device browsers, typically without support for plugins, increasingly led browser makers to want to restrict and remove standards based plugin support from their products, as they tried to unify the set of features available across desktop and mobile versions.”

Jim McGregor, lead analyst at Tirias Research, said that Google and Microsoft have already left out the Java plug-in. “It’s an evolution of the software environment,” he told TechNewsWorld. “Plug-ins were great when we were first trying to enable multimedia features at websites, but the way that things are programmed now, they’re more a security hazard than a benefit.”

Plug-ins are closely related to browser extensions. They were initially created to allow non-HTML content to be viewed from within the browser. Something like a PDF could be viewed right from the browser instead of a different program opening up.  This won’t affect many consumers but businesses could be impacted.

Overall, the purpose of this is to improve security. Simon Crosby, CTO at Bromium said this is “a good-step forward.” Craig Williams, senior technical leader at Cisco’s Talos Security Intelligence and Research Group told TechNewsWorld “by removing plug-ins from the browser, we remove this attack surface, making all users more safe from both known and unknown zero-day vulnerabilities.” Pulling the plug means developers will have to move any apps that use it to another technology.

Article via TechNewsWorld, January 30, 2016

Photo: oracle via Dave [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs]

LGBTQ Community Continue to Struggle in Society

February 1, 2016 Sandy Tang Leave a comment Human Rights

Many Americans today fall into the misconception that the LGBTQ community no longer struggle with inequality.

Inequality remains an issue for the queer community as society continues to raise discussion pertaining to whether or not they should be segregated from the rest of the community. The recent legalization of same-sex marriage is a big step closer to being equal — but society fails to realize that there is more to equality than just granting permission to marry.

In more than half the states today, employers are still legally permitted to fire employees based on their sexuality. When surveyed, the crowd that claimed to support equality for all also contradicted themselves with their own conflicted beliefs.

“Although the other half of those surveyed believe everyone deserves lawful rights, regardless of sexuality or gender identity, many of those same people still maintain beliefs that perpetuate inequality of the queer community, according to findings.”

The reality of these injustice acts prove that LGBTQ activism still exists for a reason. Inequality for the queer community and other communities that are also facing social obstacles will not end until society works together to make a change.

 

Article via Mashable, 21 January 2016
Photo: Protesting Mayor Sullivan’s veto of AO 64 by Mel Green [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs]