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Japan

Submission + - Can Japan Send In Robots To Fix Nuclear Reactors? (ieee.org)

Submitted by iztaru
iztaru writes: When it comes to robots, Japan is a superpower, with some of the world's most advanced robotic systems and the highest levels of industrial automation. So it makes sense to ask: Why can't Japan use robots to fix the damaged reactors at the Fukushima Dai-1 nuclear power plant?
Security

Submission + - Iran targets Gmail and Skype with fake SSL hack (pcpro.co.uk)

Submitted by
nk497
nk497 writes: "Iran-based attackers hacked a security certificate authority, Comodo, and set up fake certificates for Hotmail, Gmail and Google, Skype, Yahoo, and Mozilla Firefox extensions. The fake SSL certificates have since been blocked by browsers and Microsoft has issued a patch.

Comodo believes the attack is state-based and politically motivated. "It does not escape notice that the domains targeted would be of greatest use to a government attempting surveillance of internet use by dissident groups," said Comodo's Phillip Hallam-Baker."
Iphone

Submission + - iPhone 4 With Belkin Case Survives 1,000ft Fall (winbeta.org)

Submitted by
BogenDorpher
BogenDorpher writes: "Imagine this. Your iPhone 4 falls for 1,000 feet and survives without a scratch or dent. Pretty amazing stuff.

U.S. Air Force Combat Controller Ron Walker was leaning out of the door on his aircraft to prep for a skydive when his iPhone slipped out of a velcro pocket on his jumpsuit. The phone fell at about 150 m.p.h for roughly 1,000 feet. To give you an idea of how high this is, just think of a 90 story skyscraper."
Transportation

Submission + - Deprivation Study Finds Mobile Info Important (latd.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Latitude Research (www.latd.com) and Next American City (www.americancity.org/) released the results of their Tech for Transit Study last week. Latitude asked 18 participants in Boston and San Francisco to go car-free for a week to uncover how alternative transit measures up to car usage, and what can be done to equalize it in users minds. The report encourages the development of information-based solutions in order to encourage adoption of more sustainable transit.
Firefox

Submission + - Mozilla Firefox 4 Released

Submitted by Shining Celebi
Shining Celebi writes: Mozilla has finally released Firefox 4, a couple months behind schedule. It features hardware accelerated graphics, UI performance improvements, a massive boost in Javascript performance, reduced memory usage, WebGL, a new HTML5 parser, App Tabs, tab grouping via the Panorama feature, bookmark and history syncing, and much more. Many users will also be happy to know the status bar has been more-or-less restored after Mozilla removed it in early betas. Firefox 4 scores over 3 times faster on Sunspider, V8, and Kraken.
Botnet

Submission + - A Brief History of Ruckstock and how it was Killed (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by gr3yh47
gr3yh47 writes: "The Rustock botnet, responsible at its height for sending 30 billion spam e-mails a day, went silent last Wednesday. Its command and control servers, responsible for telling the millions of machines recruited into the network which spams to send, were taken offline. With the botnet now headless, the deluge of spam was halted.

Security researchers tracking spam production immediately noticed the drop in spam volume. But what they didn't know was why the botnet went silent. Rustock's spam output had declined before, only to bounce back. Was this latest drop a temporary hiatus as the botnet's operators prepared to unleash a new torrent of spam, or was it something more?"
Blackberry

Submission + - BlackBerry Playbook Launch Set for April 19 (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: "Research in Motion used a press release this morning to announce that the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet is officially available for pre-orders starting today, with a launch on April 19. The WiFi versions of the PlayBook will be priced at $499, $599, and $699 for 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB, respectively. "
The Internet

Submission + - Splinternet, or how we broke the good old Web (stormdriver.com)

Submitted by
StormDriver
StormDriver writes: "I don’t want to be that scruffy guy with “The end is nigh” sign and some really bad dental problems, but most industry analysts already noticed that global Internet is coming apart, changing into a cluster of smaller and more closed webs. They have even created a catchy name for this Web 3.0 – the Splinternet. How is it happening?"
NASA

Submission + - NASA star satellite recovers from 144-hour glitch (networkworld.com)

Submitted by
coondoggie
coondoggie writes: "There was likely a pretty big sigh of relief at NASA's Ames Research Center this week as the group' star satellite Kepler, recovered from a glitch that took it offline for 144 hours. According to NASA the glitch happened March 14, right after the spacecraft issued a network interface card (NIC) reset command to implement a computer program update. During the reset, the NIC sent invalid reaction wheel data to the flight software, which caused the spacecraft to enter safe mode, NASA stated."
Science

Submission + - Texas man Gets Full Face Transplant (ibtimes.com)

Submitted by RedEaredSlider
RedEaredSlider writes: A Texas man recieved the third full face transplant performed in the U.S. yesterday at Brigham and Women's Hospital.

The patient was Dallas Wiens, whose face was burned in a power line accident in 2008. He was left blinded and with little sensation where his face used to be. Wiens lost his lips, eyes, nose and much of the muscle and nerve tissue because the burns he suffered penetrated to the bones.

Dr. Bohdan Pomahac, director of the Burn Center at Brigham and Women's Hospital and leader of the surgical team, said in a press conference that Wiens will not look the way he did before, nor will he look like the person who donated his face. The reason is that Wiens' bone structure is different and the tissues will change shape as they heal.
Apple

Submission + - iPad 2 forces Samsung to reevaluate Galaxy Tab (edibleapple.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Apple’s iPad competitors are still spec-obsessed, and Apple’s next-gen iPad coupled with the same affordable price point is forcing Samsung to rethink its tablet strategy and pricing methodology altogether.
The South Korean Yonhap News Agency relays a quote from Lee Don-joo, executive VP of Samsung’s mobile division, about Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Tab 10.1 compared to the new iPad.

“We will have to improve the parts that are inadequate,” Don-joo said. “Apple made it very thin.”
Feature aside, Samsung also finds itself in a bind price wise. The upcoming Galaxy Tab, complete with a 10.1-inch screen and Android 3.0, was initially going to be priced higher than the current 7-inch Galaxy Tab. Apple’s iPad 2, however, is forcing Samsung to “think that over.”
United States

Submission + - Made in USA (arstechnica.com) 1

Submitted by beret
beret writes: Cool article detailing that outsourcing (manufacturing, not IT) isn't worth it.

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