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Submission + - Whatever happened to technology innovation? (foxnews.com) 1

Submitted by Velcroman1
Velcroman1 writes: Aside from "disruptive," there's probably no more overused buzzword than "innovation." Every speech, every business discussion, every CEO presentation is peppered with the word. Apparently, every idea, every new business, and every startup is staggeringly "innovative." Some argue that there hasn't been much technological innovation since the personal computer and the integrated circuit. That's a dry spell of 30 to 40 years, depending upon when you think PCs really began to make a difference in scientific and industrial quarters. Some people, recalling a famous 2003 headline from the Onion — "48-Hour Internet Outage Plunges Nation Into Productivity" — blame the Web. But we could be slowly awakening from our Web slumber. There are plenty of people hard at work, struggling for long hours in research labs and "skunk works" around the world trying to solve what seem like intractable problems. Here are a few of these endeavors and technology trends that show the most promise.
Security

Submission + - 'DDoS-as-a-Service' being picked over C&C botnets (techworld.com)

Submitted by Qedward
Qedward writes: Apparently cybercriminals are sidestepping the need to launch DDoS attack from large networks of malware-compromised bot PCs by using simpler server ‘booter shells’ and the cloud.

According to COO at Prolexic Neal Quinn: “For hackers, DDoS attacks have never been easier to launch, while for their victims, the power and complexity of attacks is at an all-time high. The threat of a DDoS attack has never been more likely or its potential impact more severe. We’ve entered the age of DDoS-as-a-Service."

‘Booter shells’ or plain ‘booters’ are simple PHP, .ASP or Perl script template files planted on compromised servers to direct Get/Post commanded HTTP floods to overload target servers.
Apple

Submission + - Apple blocks Dropbox-based apps (pcpro.co.uk)

Submitted by
Barence
Barence writes: "Apple is rejecting apps that use the new Dropbox SDK because they inadvertently allow users to buy extra online storage without Apple taking a cut.

Online storage service Dropbox is commonly used by iOS developers as a way of allowing users to share files created within their apps to other devices.

Dropbox's latest SDK has incurred the wrath of Apple, because users who don't have the Dropbox app installed on their iPhone/iPad are instead pushed to Dropbox's website via the Safari browser. Here, they can click a link to the desktop version of the service, which allows them to buy extra Dropbox storage without Apple taking its usual 30% cut.

"Apple should reject all web browser apps because they can take you to a page that lets you purchase stuff," writes one infuriated developer. "Go Apple! Crack down on all commerce!""
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft Plans Waste-Powered Data Centers (datacenterknowledge.com) 1

Submitted by miller60
miller60 writes: Microsoft is going off the grid with its data centers. This week the company unveiled plans for "data plants" that will be housed at landfills or water treatment plants, and harness their methane output for use in fuel cells to power their servers. “Without a bold shift in strategy, our entire industry will become more dependent on a costly, antiquated, and constricted power grid,” writes Microsoft's Christian Belady. “Independence from the power grid will allow our industry to minimize its impact and ease some of the constriction already taking place."
Education

Submission + - Happy Pi Day (piday.org)

Submitted by
EuNao
EuNao writes: "Happy Pi Day Slashdot, today share a little mathematics with your child. Try and show the mathematics around you, bake a round cake or pie, decorate it with some geometric shapes. Teach your children the area formula for a circle by helping them write it on some sugar cookies. There are countless other things you can do with your child, use today to instill wonder in mathematics. You and your child won't regret it. Get your geek on and learn a little bit about Euler's identity and Pi Day, listen to the Mathematical Pi Song on Youtube or visit the Pi Day Official Site."
Power

Submission + - Electric Cars Could Fill Up at the MetILs Pump (gizmag.com)

Submitted by Zothecula
Zothecula writes: A flow battery is a rechargeable fuel cell that pumps a solution of charged metals dissolved in an electrolyte through a membrane to convert chemical energy into electricity. Flow batteries can be rapidly "recharged" by replacing the electrolyte liquid while simultaneously recovering the spent material for external recharging. Researchers at the U.S. Department of Defense's Sandia National Laboratories have discovered a new family of metal-based liquid salt electrolytes, for use in just such flow batteries. The electrochemically reversible Metal-based Ionic Liquids (MetILs) could lead to batteries packed with 3-10 times the energy density of other available storage technologies.
Facebook

Submission + - School district sued by ACLU over student's free speech rights (startribune.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The ACLU is suing Minnewaska Area Schools and Pope County, according to this article in the StarTribune. At issue: school administrators and a sheriff's deputy forced a girl to hand over login information to her Facebook and email accounts, after she posted on Facebook that she 'hated' a school hall monitor who had been 'mean' to her, and cursed in a separate Facebook comment because someone reported her. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and an order that would restrain school officials from attempts to regulate or discipline students based on speech made outside of school hours and off school property. See also this article from the West Central Tribune.
Government

Submission + - RIAA CEO Hopes SOPA Protests Were a 'One-Time Thing' (internetevolution.com)

Submitted by hapworth
hapworth writes: Cary Sherman, CEO of the RIAA, is at it again. After posting a controversial op-ed in The New York Times saying Wikipedia and Google "misinformed" the public about SOPA and PIPA, Sherman said in an interview yesterday that he hopes the SOPA protests were a "one-time experience." He also said that Wikipedia and Google users were duped into thinking SOPA was a bad bill because they assume "if it comes from these sources, it must be true." In another hilarious comment, Sherman blames the Internet for making it impossible for Congress to get out its side of the story, and for not spreading information with the same "clarity and integrity" of broadcast journalists.
Hardware

Submission + - Speech-jamming gun silences from 30 meters (extremetech.com)

Submitted by
MrSeb
MrSeb writes: "Japanese researchers have created a hand-held gun that can jam the words of speakers who are more than 30 meters (100ft) away. The gun has two purposes, according to the researchers: At its most basic, this gun could be used in libraries and other quiet spaces to stop people from speaking — but its second application is a lot more chilling. The researchers were looking for a way to stop 'louder, stronger' voices from saying more than their fair share in conversation. The paper reads: 'We have to establish and obey rules for proper turn-taking when speaking. However, some people tend to lengthen their turns or deliberately interrupt other people when it is their turn in order to establish their presence rather than achieve more fruitful discussions. Furthermore, some people tend to jeer at speakers to invalidate their speech.' In other words, this speech-jamming gun was built to enforce 'proper' conversations. Can you imagine the effect of such a device if you used it at a political rally, when pointed at Santorum, Romney, Paul, or Obama? Or what if it was used on the audience by a totalitarian state?"
Japan

Submission + - 18000 x norm radiation in San Francisco tap wate (alexanderhiggins.com) 2

Submitted by M4n
M4n writes: Despite countless reassurances that no harmful levels of radiation from the Japan nuclear fallout would hit the US from the EPA, the University of Berkeley in California is now reporting that rainwater in San Francisco water has now been detected at levels 18,100% above federal drinking water standards.

Iodine-131 was measured in a rainwater sample taken on the roof of Etcheverry Hall on UC Berkeley campus, March 23, 2011 from 9:06-18:00 PDT. The 3 Liters of rainwater collected contained 134 Becquerels of Iodine for an average of 20.1 Becquerel per liter, which equates to 543 Picocuries per litre.

The federal drinking water limit for Iodine-131 is 3 Picocuries per liter, putting the rainwater sample at 18,100% above the federal drinking water limit.

Submission + - Sugar Is Sugar TV ad (bloggernews.net) 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The industry sponsored Corn Refiners Association have started a series of of TV adverts to stem the growing movement away from HFCS (High Corn Fructose Syrup). This might be an uphill battle based on the mounting scientific evidence. Even Hunts, part of Conagra, have switched sides on HFCS. Clearly the CRA have an issue. The Youtube copy of the advert posted by the CRA has a 95% disapproval rating.
Government

Submission + - US Government Domain Seizures Failing Miserably (torrentfreak.com)

Submitted by
ktetch-pirate
ktetch-pirate writes: "Operation In Our Sites, a US Government led domain seizure action to deal with piracy, is pretty much a failure. TorrentFreak has examined a significant number of sites that have gone on pretty much unhindered, despite the seizures. Already some questions have been asked about the constitutionality of the seizures, and the evidence used as justification, but it seems the end results weren't as good as boasted either."

Submission + - Congress passes self passing bill! (govtrack.us) 3

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: "If the House has not received a message from the Senate before April 6, 2011, stating that it has passed a measure providing for the appropriations for the departments and agencies of the Government for the remainder of fiscal year 2011, the provisions of H.R. 1, as passed by the House on February 19, 2011, are hereby enacted into law." — This speaks for itself, pitchforks and torches anyone?

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