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Submission + - Japan Plans Moon Base built by Robots for Robots (popsci.com)

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: These ARE the droids we've been looking for. The Japanese space agency, JAXA, has plans to build a base on the Moon by 2020. Not for humans, but for robots, and built by robots, too. A panel authorized by Japan's prime minister has drawn up preliminary plans of how humanoid and rover robots will begin surveying the moon by 2015, and then begin construction of a base near the south pole of the moon. The robots and the base will run on solar power, with total costs about $2.2 billion USD, according to the panel chaired by Waseda University President Katsuhiko Shirai.

Submission + - Feds take aim at comics websites (skunkpost.com)

Submitted by crimeandpunishment
crimeandpunishment writes: The owner of six websites that allow users to view comic books for free could find himself in big trouble, faster than a speeding bullet. The US Attorney's office in Tampa has filed a lawsuit claiming the sites...which offered Batman, Superman, Watchmen and other comics....violate copyright laws, and seeking to shut down the sites and take custody of the domain names. The FBI began investigating the owner of the sites last year.
Google

Submission + - Google Describes Wi-Fi Sniffing in Pending Patent

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: After mistakenly saying that it did not collect Wi-Fi payload data, Google had to reverse itself, saying 'it's now clear that we have been mistakenly collecting samples of payload data from open (i.e. non-password-protected) WiFi networks.' OK, mistakes happen. But, as Seinfeld might ask, then what's the deal with the pending Google patent that describes capturing wireless data packets by operating a device — which 'may be placed in a vehicle' — in a 'sniffer' or 'monitor' mode and analyzing them on a server? Guess belated kudos are owed to the savvy Slashdot commenter who speculated back in January that the patent-pending technology might be useful inside a Google Street View vehicle. Google faces inquiries into its Wi-Fi packet sniffing practices by German and U.S. authorities.
Science

Submission + - What Scientists Really Think About Religion 4

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens
Hugh Pickens writes: "The Washington Post has a book review of "Science and Religion: What Scientists Really Think" by Rice University sociologist Elaine Ecklund who did a detailed survey of 1,646 scientists at elite American research universities that reveals that scientists often practice a closeted faith worrying about how their peers would react to learning about their religious views. "After four years of research, at least one thing became clear: Much of what we believe about the faith lives of elite scientists is wrong. The 'insurmountable hostility' between science and religion is a caricature, a thought-cliche, perhaps useful as a satire on groupthink, but hardly representative of reality," writes Ecklund. Unsurprisingly, Ecklund found that 64 percent of scientists are either atheists (34%) or agnostic (30%) but only five of the 275 in-depth interviewees actively oppose religion and even among the third who are atheists, many consider themselves "spiritual" with one describing his spiritual atheism as being rooted in "wonder about the complexity and the majesty of existence," a sentiment many nonscientists — religious or not — would recognize. "According to the scientists I interviewed, the academy seems to have a “strong culture” that suppresses discussion about religion in many areas," says Ecklund. "Yet so few scientists talk openly about issues related to religion that we do not know the true consequences of having such discussions. To remove the perceived stigma, we would need to have more scientists talking openly about issues of religion, where such issues are particularly relevant to their discipline.""
Networking

Chinese Networking Vendor Huawei's Murky Ownership 170

Posted by kdawson from the worthy-of-neal-stephenson dept.
A month ago we mentioned India's suspicions that telecomm equipment from China might contain backdoors. There hasn't been any smoking gun on such speculation. Now reader littlekorea sends in some background on the ties one important Chinese telecomm vender might or might not have to the government there. "Conspiracy theories abound as to whether networking kit vendor Huawei is owned or controlled by the Chinese government and/or the military-industrial complex. But who really owns Huawei? Kiwi journalist Juha Saarinen headed to Shanghai to find out."
News

Submission + - Location Wild Hackathon Starts Tomorrow

Submitted by locwi
locwi writes: A week-long, worldwide hackathon (with CmdrTaco as one of the judges) starts tomorrow, high noon EST. The aim of Location Wild is to develop the most innovative location-based app using the API of either the open-source location-search service NakdReality, or location infrastructure company SimpleGeo. Entry is free, and the winner will receive $2,500, an iPad, and no other contractual obligations.
Biotech

Submission + - The Rise of Nanofoods (change.org)

Submitted by separsons
separsons writes: Researchers are altering foods at the nanoscale level, changing their tiny molecular structures to enhance certain properties. For example, one group of scientists found a way to hide water within individual droplets of oil, making low-fat mayonnaise taste like the real thing. The process can make spices spicier, potato chips healthier, and make diet food taste just like full-calorie snacks. Nanotech can even help combat global malnutrition. But the process is certainly controversial, and food manufacturers are being tight-lipped about exactly what nanofoods they're working on. So can nanotech create a healthier world, or is it just frightening Franken-food?
Intel

Intel Targets AMD With Affordable Unlocked CPUs 207

Posted by kdawson from the overclock-at-will dept.
EconolineCrush writes "For years, AMD has catered to gamers and enthusiasts with mid-range Black Edition processors whose unlocked multipliers make overclocking easy. Intel has traditionally reserved unlocked multipliers for its ultra-expensive Extreme CPUs, but it has now brought the feature to affordable models that compete directly with AMD's most popular processors. The Core i5-655K and Core i7-875K have two and four cores, respectively, and they're priced at just $216 and $342. It appears that both will easily hit speeds in excess of 4GHz with air cooling. Surprisingly, even at stock speeds, the i7-875K offers better performance and power efficiency per dollar than just about any other desktop CPU out there."
Programming

Submission + - How to get a game-obsessed teenager into coding 6

Submitted by looseBits
looseBits writes: I have a friend who's 14 year-old son spends all his time gaming like any normal teenager however she would like to find a more productive interest for him and asked me how to get him into coding. When I started coding, it was on the Apple II and one could quickly write code that was almost as interesting as commercially available software however times have changed and it would probably take years of study if starting from scratch to write anything anyone would find mildly interesting. Does anyone have any experience in getting their children into programming? How did you keep them interested if the only thing they can do after a week is make the computer count to 10 and dump it on the screen?
Botnet

Symantec Finds Server Containing 44 Million Stolen Gaming Credentials 146

Posted by Soulskill from the who-wants-to-buy-a-level-80-paladin dept.
A Symantec blog post reports that the company recently stumbled upon a server hosting the stolen credentials for 44 million game accounts. It goes on to explain how the owners of the server made use of a botnet to process that mountain of data: "Now it's time to turn those gaming credentials into hard cash. But how do you find out which credentials are valid and thus worth some money? Three options come to mind: 1) Log on to gaming websites 44 million times! 2) Write a program to log in to the websites and check for you (this would take months). 3) Write a program that checks the login details and then distribute the program to multiple computers. Option one naturally seems next to impossible. Option two is also not very feasible, since websites typically block IP addresses after multiple failed login attempts. By taking advantage of the distributed processing that the third option offers, you can complete the task more quickly and help mitigate the multiple-login failure problems by spreading the task over more IP addresses. This is what Trojan.Loginck's creators have done."

Submission + - GPS-based air traffic control system taking off (skunkpost.com)

Submitted by crimeandpunishment
crimeandpunishment writes: Many drivers can't get along without their GPS. Soon pilots and air traffic controllers may be the same way. The Obama administration has given airlines the green light to moving toward a GPS-based air traffic control system. The new system will let pilots see the same aircraft location displays that controllers see, along with other aircraft on the ground. It's expected to take at least a decade before the new system is complete. The new equipment will cost up to $4 billion to install...which airlines and small plane owners say they can't afford.
Security

Submission + - Adobe May Change to Monthly Patch Cycle (threatpost.com)

Submitted by Trailrunner7
Trailrunner7 writes: Adobe, which has been under fire for the security of its flagship products, Flash and Reader, for some time now, may be on the verge of changing its patching process to push fixes out on a monthly schedule, which would coincide with Microsoft's monthly Patch Tuesday releases. The change would be the second major adjustment to Adobe's patching process in the last year or so. In 2009 the company moved to a scheduled quarterly patch release process in an effort to give its customers a better chance to plan for testing and deployment. That change was generally well-received and Adobe has been releasing its patches on the same day as Microsoft's Patch Tuesday. Now Adobe may change the schedule again in order to get patches out more quickly. The company is considering releasing its security fixes for Reader on a monthly schedule, the same day as Microsoft releases its patches
Robotics

Submission + - Willow Garage Launches Era Of Open Source Robots (singularityhub.com)

Submitted by kkleiner
kkleiner writes: Last night open source robot company Willow Garage officially announced its pr2 robot to the world at its headquarters in Menlo Park, CA. Willow Garage founder Scott Hassan gave a speech on how his company is going to usher in a new era of robotic advancement. Eleven of Willow Garage's prized PR2 robots performed a synchronized flag dance that wowed the crowd. Demos of robot prowess were presented throughout the night and we were able to get up close to see the PR2 in all of its metallic and silicon glory. It is no exaggeration to say that Willow Garage is about to revolutionize the field of robotics. Still not convinced? Check out a highlight video of Willow Garage's ambitious open source initiative.
Games

Submission + - Blizzard Boss Says DRM Is A Waste Of Time (thinq.co.uk) 2

Submitted by Stoobalou
Stoobalou writes: Blizzard founder, Frank Pearce reckons that fighting piracy with DRM is a losing battle.

His company — which is responsible for the biggest videogame of all time, the worryingly-addictive online fantasy role player World of Warcraft — is to release Starcraft 2 on July 27th and Pearce has told Videogamer that the title won't be hobbled with the kind of crazy copy protection schemes which have made Ubisoft very unpopular in gaming circles of late.

Starcraft 2 will require a single online activation using the company's Battle.net servers, after which players will be allowed to play the single-player game to their hearts' content, without being forced to have a persistent Internet connection.

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