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The Almighty Buck

Cash Lifeline For Bletchley Park 63

Posted by CmdrTaco from the hanging-on-by-a-thread dept.
Smivs writes "Bletchley Park, the home to the allied codebreakers during WWII, and a major computing heritage centre, has been given a financial lifeline, reports the BBC. The grant of £330,000 will be used to undertake urgent roof works as the rooms of the Grade II-listed mansion, replete with painted ceilings, timber panelling, and ornate plasterwork, are at risk because the roof has been patched rather than renovated so many times during the 130 years of the mansion's history. The donation follows efforts to highlight the dilapidated state of the huts and other buildings at Bletchley. Discussions are also in progress on a further three-year, £600,000 funding programme for the historic site. 'Bletchley Park played a fundamental role in the Allies winning the Second World War and is of great importance to the history of Europe,' said Dr Simon Thurley, chief executive of English Heritage."

Comment Lasershield Hack (Score 5, Interesting) 377

by __aajwxe560 (#25607997) Attached to: D.I.Y. Home Security
While most home burglars are not necessarily the most sophisticated, I have read a few reports of the ease of use of hacking the LaserShield. This basically involves breaking the communication between the base unit and sensors, such as by just having a two way radio turned to the same frequency and sending some noise over it to break reception. The base unit does not seem to regularly poll the remote sensors from what I can tell, and so is unaware of a break in communication. Engadget has a video demonstrating the hack here.

While little security is better than none, I still think its important to understand the risks of poorly designed wireless security system devices versus well designed ones or even more conventional wired security system devices.
Space

Submission + - Super-speed Internet satellite blasts off in Japan

Submitted by __aajwxe560
__aajwxe560 writes: Japan launched a rocket Saturday carrying a satellite that will test new technology that promises to deliver "super high-speed Internet" service to homes and businesses around the world. The Associated Press said the satellite would offer speeds of up to 1.2 gigabytes per second. The rocket carrying the WINDS satellite — a joint project of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries — lifted off its pad at 5:55 p.m. (0855 GMT).
Science

Video of Wild Crow Tool Use Caught With Tail Cams 203

Posted by Zonk from the and-bernd-heinrich-is-well-pleased dept.
willatnewscientist writes "Scientists from the University of Oxford have recorded New Caledonian crows using tools in the wild for first time. The footage was captured by attaching tiny cameras to their tail feathers. The wireless cameras weigh just 14 grammes and can be worn by the crows without disturbing their natural behavior. The trick has provided the first direct evidence of the birds' using tools in the wild and may represent an important development in animal behavior studies. 'The camera also contains a simple radio transmitter that reveals the crows' location. This lets the researchers track them at a distance of few hundred metres, so that they can catch the camera's video signal with a portable receiving dish. Up to 70 minutes of footage can be broadcast by the camera's chip, and the camera is shed once the bird moults its tail feathers.'"
Power

Submission + - Data centers sucking down electricity bigtime

Submitted by
BobB
BobB writes: "Energy consumption in corporate data centers doubled between 2000 and 2005, due in large part to the spreading use of volume servers, according to a new report. The study, conducted by a staff scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories and a consulting professor at Stanford University, found that servers and associated infrastructure, such as cooling and uninterruptible power supplies, in U.S. data centers consumed about 45 billion kilowatt hours of electricity in 2005, accounting for about 1.2% of the country's electricity consumption, roughly equal to the power drawn by the nation's color televisions. The electricity costs for the servers and associated infrastructure reached $2.7 billion. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2007/021507-study .html"
Portables (Apple)

Submission + - Apple to re-enter the sub-notebook market

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: AppleInsider is reporting that Apple has plans to reenter the sub-notebook market this year. FTFA: "This new tiny MacBook, people familiar with the project say, remains in development ahead of its target launch date around the time WWDC rolls around mid-year. It will be both lighter and more compact than any other Mac portable Apple has put forth in recent years, bundling a display of similarly smaller proportions."

http://appleinsider.com/article.php?id=2500

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