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Media

Submission + - Synchronized Streaming with VLC (youtube.com)

Submitted by
The Hacked Existence Crew
The Hacked Existence Crew writes: "Demonstration of the streaming capabilities of the open source VLC media player. A great demonstration of VLC's ability to compensate for network latency between different end points. This video showcases VLC running on Linux, OSX and Windows machines over both wired and wireless LAN. It also shows the web remote control interface and iPhone connectivity."
Earth

Submission + - MIT Trash Track: Like Google Latitude for Garbage

Submitted by
GeekyKhan
GeekyKhan writes: "Researchers at MIT have developed an innovative system called Trash Track, which uses electronic tags to follow pieces of garbage through their journey to the dump. Although the team invested time and effort into the technological side of the project, they are most interested in quantifying how the knowledge that trash is being tracked could modify people's behavior. If a correlation is found, this could be a phenomenal breakthrough in recycling and waste reduction systems."
Security

Submission + - Nmap 5.00 Released! (nmap.org)

Submitted by
iago-vL
iago-vL writes: "The long-awaited Nmap Security Scanner version 5.00 was just released (download)! This marks the most important release since 1997, and is a huge step in Nmap's evolution from a simple port scanner to an all-around security and networking tool suite. Significant performance improvements were made, and dozens of scripts were added. For example, Nmap can now log into Windows and perform local checks (PDF), including Conficker detection. New tools included in 5.00 are Ncat, a modern reimplementation of Netcat (with IPv6, SSL, NAT traversal, port redirection, and more!), and Ndiff, for quickly comparing scan results. Other tools are in the works for future releases, but we're still waiting for them to add email and ftp clients so we can finally get off Emacs!"
Encryption

Submission + - Two century old cipher solved

Submitted by linuxwrangler
linuxwrangler writes: In 1801, Robert Patterson, a mathematics professor at the University of Pennsylvania sent President Jefferson a letter containing a message coded in what he called a nearly flawless cipher. The puzzle intrigued mathematician and cryptanalyst Lawren Smithline who has now solved the cipher and published his results over 200 years after the letter was originally sent.
Announcements

Submission + - Fermilab Detects "Doubly Strange" Particle (fnal.gov)

Submitted by
DynaSoar
DynaSoar writes: "While its cousin/competitor site, the Large Hadron Collider at CERN remains offline http://science.slashdot.org/science/08/09/24/1451233.shtml Fermilab's Digital Hadron Calorimeter continues to produce significant results. Recently Fermilab announced discovery of the Omega-sub-b baryon, a 'doubly-strange' particle http://www.fnal.gov/pub/presspass/press_releases/CDF-Omega-observation.html . This baryon, containing two strange quarks and one bottom quark, has six times the mass of a proton. "The Omega-sub-b is the latest entry in the "periodic table of baryons." Baryons are particles formed of three quarks, the most common examples being the proton and neutron. ... The observation of this "doubly strange" particle, predicted by the Standard Model, is significant because it strengthens physicists' confidence in their understanding of how quarks form matter. In addition, it conflicts with a 2008 result announced by CDF's sister experiment, DZero. In August 2008, the DZero experiment announced its own observation of the Omega-sub-b based on a smaller sample of Tevatron data. This result contradicted some predictions of the Standard Model, suggesting a 'new physics'. The new result leads to the possibility that the prior results are not accurate." To observe this particle, analysis of DHC data required pouring through a trillion (10^15) observations, finding only 16 instances of the predicted outcome."
Security

Submission + - iPhone SMS Vulnerability Gives Hackers Root Access (infoworld.com)

Submitted by
snydeq
snydeq writes: "Pwn2Own winner Charlie Miller has revealed an SMS vulnerability that could provide hackers with root access to the iPhone. Malicious code sent by SMS to run on the phone could include commands to monitor location using GPS, turn on the phone's microphone to eavesdrop on conversations, or make the phone join a DDoS attack or botnet, Miller said. Miller did not provide detailed description of the SMS vulnerability, citing an agreement with Apple, which is working to fix the vulnerability in advance of Black Hat, where Miller plans to discuss the attack in greater detail. 'SMS is a great vector to attack the iPhone,' Miller said, as SMS can send binary code that the iPhone processes without user interaction. Sequences can be sent to the phone as multiple messages that are automatically reassembled, thereby surpassing individual SMS message limits of 140 bytes."
Graphics

Submission + - Apple may drop NVIDIA following contract fight (appleinsider.com)

Submitted by suraj.sun
suraj.sun writes: Although they've portrayed themselves almost as best friends for several months, Apple and NVIDIA are now rumored in a spat that could see some GeForce chipsets excluded from future Mac models.

Those claiming to be inside the discussions have told SemiAccurate, the new project of a previous Inquirer editor with sources inside NVIDIA, that Apple may not agree to another such deal for 3-4 years as a result of the heated words. It wouldn't result in an immediate exit, as the recentness of implementing NVIDIA chipsets into nearly all Macs means some models will keep their existing designs for a long time, but could already result in some comparatively near-term updates shedding the NVIDIA platform.

While the exact terms that would have set off such a hostile reaction haven't been publicized, it's believed that conflicting opinions over MacBook Pro graphics failures are what would have actually triggered the resistance. As all GeForce 8600M video chipsets are known to have a heat-related defect that gradually renders them inoperable over time, Apple has not only had to replace those June 2007 and newer portables that use the part but to extend its warranty for the issue to three years regardless of whether or not the owner has AppleCare.

Apple Insider : http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/07/01/apple_may_drop_nvidia_chips_in_macs_following_contract_fight.html
Displays

Submission + - Making TV Speakers Transparent (xconomy.com)

Submitted by
waderoush
waderoush writes: "The problem with today's amazingly thin flat-panel TVs (the new Sharp Aquos X is only 1.35 inches thick) is that they also have thin conventional speakers, with predictably tinny sound. A Boston-area startup called Emo Labs wants to fix that problem by turning the entire screen into a speaker. Piezoelectric drivers on the left and right sides of Emo's large, clear plastic membranes put lateral pressure on the sheets, making them flex slightly, producing convincing (and very loud) stereo sound. Now the company just has to convince Asian TV manufacturers to include the technology (which would add 10 to 15 percent to the cost of a TV) in future models."
Hardware Hacking

Submission + - Triple-engined car could smash land-speed record (newscientist.com)

Submitted by wjousts
wjousts writes: New Scientist has a piece about the Bloodhound SSC that is due to try and break the land speed record next year. The "car" will have not one, but three separate engines:

A rocket will boost the car to around 1200 kilometres per hour, (Mach 1) while a Eurofighter jet engine will provide more controllable thrust to coax it up to 1600 km/h (1000 miles per hour). Finally, the car is equipped with a V12 petrol engine to pump the fuel and provide electrical and hydraulic power to the jet and rocket.

Comment Re:Two words (Score 1) 849

by 2starr (#28470951) Attached to: Nielsen Recommends Not Masking Passwords
I *often* type passwords in with people looking over my shoulder at work. I see their point and maybe it could be a system-wide setting... but it's valuable. One of the biggest problems with doing this is that people use the same passwords so often. So, if one is compromised, many will be... and some may be important.
Image

Iran Tries To Pacify Protesters With Lord of The Rings Marathon 419

Posted by samzenpus from the chip-the-glasses-and-crack-the-plates-that's-what-Ahmadinejad-hates dept.
Iranian state television's Channel Two is playing a Lord of the Rings marathon in an attempt to keep people inside watching hobbits and not protesting in the streets. Normally, people in Tehran are treated to one or two Hollywood movies a week, but with recent events the government hopes that sitting through a nine-hour trilogy will take the fight out of most of the protesters. Perhaps this was not the best choice in films if you want your people not to believe that "even the smallest person can change the course of the future."
Hardware Hacking

Submission + - Inside the World's Greatest Keyboard (pcworld.com)

Submitted by
ThousandStars
ThousandStars writes: "PCWorld has a story detailing the creation and longevity of what it calls the "World's Greatest Keyboard," the IBM Model M. After a weak early effort, IBM convened a design team and "Their resulting 101-key design, 1984's Model M, became the undisputed bellwether for the computer industry, with a layout that dominates desktops to this day. As we peek under the hood of this legend, you'll soon see why many consider the Model M to be the greatest keyboard of all time." Today, Unicomp makes a modern Model M, which Slashdot covered earlier."

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