CNN is reporting on "CityTree", a unique 10-foot tall mobile installation which removes pollutants from the air." An anonymous reader quotes their report: Berlin-based Green City Solutions claims its invention has the environmental benefit of up to 275 actual trees. But the CityTree isn't, in fact, a tree at all -- it's a moss culture. "Moss cultures have a much larger leaf surface area than any other plant. That means we can capture more pollutants," said Zhengliang Wu, co-founder of Green City Solutions. The huge surfaces of moss installed in each tree can remove dust, nitrogen dioxide and ozone gases from the air. The installation is autonomous and requires very little maintenance: solar panels provide electricity, while rainwater is collected into a reservoir and then pumped into the soil... "We also have pollution sensors inside the installation, which help monitor the local air quality and tell us how efficient the tree is." Wu said. Its creators say that each CityTree is able to absorb around 250 grams of particulate matter a day and contributes to the capture of greenhouse gases by removing 240 metric tons of CO2 a year... Wu also argued that the CityTree is just one piece of a larger puzzle. "Our ultimate goal is to incorporate technology from the CityTree into existing buildings," he said. So far they've installed 20 CityTrees -- each of which costs about $25,000.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

I didn't realize the Moves app was bought by Facebook. It gets a lot of data about the people who use it. I might have thought twice, might not even have installed it, if I had known it was a front for Facebook. Funny thing, when you go to the App Store, it doesn't tell you there either. How is a user supposed to know that this innocuous app is actually a tentacle of the Internet's octopus.

Gianni Infantino says he expects the diplomatic situation to revert back to normal by the time the tournament is played.

Morocco, a close ally of the Gulf countries, says it will remain neutral and offers to facilitate dialogue.

An anonymous reader quotes Engadget: You think you're safe from malware since you never click suspicious-looking links, then somebody finds a way to infect your PC anyway. Security researchers have discovered that cybercriminals have recently started using a malware downloader that installs a banking Trojan to your computer even if you don't click anything. All it takes to trigger the download is to hover your mouse pointer over a hyperlink in a carrier PowerPoint file. According to researchers from Trend Micro and Dodge This Security the technique was used by a recent spam email campaign targeting companies and organizations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The emails' subjects were mostly finance-related, such as "Invoice" and "Order #," with an attached PowerPoint presentation. The PowerPoint file has a single hyperlink in the center that says "Loading... please wait" that has an embedded malicious PowerShell script. When you hover your mouse pointer over the link, it executes the script. Trend Micro writes that "while the numbers aren't impressive, it can also be construed as a dry run for future campaigns, given the technique's seeming novelty," adding "It wouldn't be far-fetched for other malware like ransomware to follow suit."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Perl extension for BackupPC libraries

Inspection and Modification Protocol to interface with proxies, IDS...

Validate method/function parameters

library for inspection of data on various network layers

Minimalist stored procedure mapper based on LedgerSMB's DBObject

The new president's party is expected to hold a majority in parliament, as many French voters abstain from the poll.

An anonymous reader quotes 4K.com: On June 3, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket was placed into low-orbit for the sake of launching its Dragon spacecraft into their eleventh Commercial Resupply Services mission (CRS-11) to the International Space Station... Last week SpaceX shared on their Youtube channel the remarkable 4K UHD footage of the landing, and since many of us are not used to watching this kind of footage except for Sci-Fi movies or video games, the landing seems almost Hollywood-level surreal, especially since it happens so quickly and accurately. You can watch the video at 4k and 60 fps here if you happen to own a 4K TV or UHD PC monitor with the right hardware specs... The footage above isn't SpaceX's first 4K video of one of its launches. The company has also previously released other videos of even more impressive landings directly onto the surfaces of drone ships. The article also reminds readers that "If you are by any chance looking to send something or someone out of space, Elon Musk's company offers reasonable prices for their launching services, starting at $62 million for its Falcon 9 and $90 million for the Falcon Heavy."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

In raucous meeting, lawmakers discuss controversial government plan to hand over two strategic islands to Saudi Arabia.

Interior ministry's decision comes as Qatar insists it will not retaliate to Saudi-Emirati blockade with such measures.

The movement sees its military capability as its only deterrent against Israeli aggression and expansion.