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The Military

Submission + - DoD Using Plant DNA to Combat Counterfeit Parts (wired.com)

Submitted by smitty777
smitty777 writes: Highlighting another unique way to use cutting edge DNA technology, the US Department of Defense has a new weapont to combat counterfiet parts: plant DNA. This article discusses how plant DNA can be used to make an almost (1 in 1 trillion) unique code for parts identification. This nifty graphic shows some of the ways this could be done; bolts with DNA-marked coating, invisible barcodes, and flourescing inks are some of the possible applications. In a similar but unrelated project, World Micro has a different solution to detect counterfeit items in the military that have been "blacktopped", where items have been re-surfaced to allow remarking.
Piracy

Submission + - SOPA Author Violates Copyright (vice.com)

Submitted by smitty777
smitty777 writes: Jamie Lee Curtis Taete wrote an interesting piece on the official campaign website of Lamar Smith, the author of the Stop Online Piracy Act. According to the article, the site used an uncredited Wiki Commons image without crediting the original artist DJ Shulte. By not giving attribution to the original author, his website could be shut down by his own legislation, if passed. He must have gotten wind of the story, as his current site has been modified.
China

Submission + - iPhone 4s Sales Halted In China Over Violent Crowd

Submitted by adeelarshad82
adeelarshad82 writes: In the run-up to the release of the iPhone 4S this week in Beijing, things got so out of hand that Apple responded by temporarily suspending sales of the device. Mix devoted Apple fans with professional resellers intent on getting first dibs on the latest iPhone which resulted in eggs being thrown at the store (as seen in the video) after the sale was eventually called off.
NASA

Submission + - NASA Open Sources Aircraft Design Software (openvsp.org)

Submitted by sabre86
sabre86 writes: "At the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics Aerospace Sciences Meeting in Nashville, NASA engineers unveiled the newly open sourced OpenVSP, software that allows users to construct full aircraft models from simple parameters such as wing span and fuselage length, under the NASA Open Source Agreement. Says the website, 'OpenVSP allows the user to create a 3D model of an aircraft defined by common engineering parameters. This model can be processed into formats suitable for engineering analysis.'"
Security

Submission + - Major Financial Groups Share Data to Fight Online (wsj.com)

Submitted by smitty777
smitty777 writes: The Wall Street Journal is reporting on an some unprecedented steps being taken by major financial institutions to combat online theft. The intitiatives include a new type of data center that would be used to analyze bank data for potential security threats. Additionally, a quarterly round-table between the rivals to attack security issues was proposed. The article notes that "secuirty threats are pushing the big banks to do something that doesn't come naturally for these secrecy-steeped institutions: share information with one another". This video digs into it a little bit more, and points out that the banks will spend an estimated $1 billion on protection this year, which represents a 12% increase.

Technologically, there has been much discussion of a two factor authentification to improve security. In fact, security officials in Singapore are even hinting at biometric solutions.
Piracy

Submission + - CES Panel discusses SOPA/PIPA vs OPEN (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by Nemesisghost
Nemesisghost writes: From the article:

With all three bills under debate by our elected leaders, CES convened a panel including Congressional staff members, a musician, lawyers, a Web hoster, and a representative of the Copyright Alliance. It was moderated by Rick Boucher, a Democrat who represented Virginia's 9th congressional district in the House for 28 years ending in 2011.
NASA

Submission + - Can A Scientist Define "Life"? (txchnologist.com)

Submitted by ambermichelle
ambermichelle writes: In November 2011, NASA launched its biggest, most ambitious mission to Mars. The $2.5 billion Mars Science Lab spacecraft will arrive in orbit around the Red Planet this August, releasing a lander that will use rockets to control a slow descent into the atmosphere. Equipped with a “sky crane,” the lander will gently lower the one-ton Curosity rover on the surface of Mars. Curiosity, which weighs five times more than any previous Martian rover, will perform an unprecedented battery of tests for three months as it scoops up soil from the floor of the 96-mile-wide Gale Crater. Its mission, NASA says, will be to “assess whether Mars ever was, or is still today, an environment able to support microbial life.” For all the spectacular engineering that’s gone into Curiosity, however, its goal is actually quite modest. When NASA says it wants to find out if Mars was ever suitable for life, they use a very circumscribed version of the word. They are looking for signs of liquid water, which all living things on Earth need. They are looking for organic carbon, which life on Earth produces and, in some cases, can feed on to survive. In other words, they’re looking on Mars for the sorts of conditions that support life on Earth. But there’s no good reason to assume that all life has to be like the life we’re familiar with. In 2007, a board of scientists appointed by the National Academies of Science decided they couldn’t rule out the possibility that life might be able to exist without water or carbon. If such weird life on Mars exists, Curiosity will probably miss it.

Comment Re:not totally ridiculous, just too much (Score 1) 543

by smitty777 (#38661814) Attached to: Pirate Party Leader: Copyright Laws Ridiculous

getting the copyright monopoly must provide something besides just effort, namely originality.

I think you really hit the nail on the head with this one - after all, it would be impossible by definition to copyright something that *wasn't* original. I also agree that effort is a de-coupled issue. The copyright doesn't care whether it was easy or hard for you to come up with your idea. But, whether outdated or not, it is the only means of protection an artist/scientist/whetver has at the current time.

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