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Handhelds

Flexible, Color OLED Screens For E-Readers 118

Posted by Soulskill from the still-waiting-on-a-kindle-killer dept.
nadiskafadi writes "Taiwanese researchers have shown off several flexible display technologies in an endeavor to promote e-readers and e-paper. One of the newest technologies from the Industrial Technology Research Institute was a flexible 4.1-inch color OLED (organic light emitting diode) display, which it claims is for the next era of portable devices."
Games

3D Video Game Collaboration Used To Solve Crimes 45

Posted by Soulskill from the world-of-csi-craft dept.
eldavojohn writes "Reuters explains how the National Science Foundation's Cyber-Enabled Discovery and Innovation (CDI) program is funding research used to implement real life crimes in a CSI-like game. They will use IC-CRIME's laser scanner technology and the Unity platform (which recently enjoyed the release of a freeware version) to recreate the crime scene as closely as possible. The crime scene will then be hosted for multiple remote crime scene investigators to explore concurrently while discussing what they see, sharing their data and experience as well as learning and asking questions."
Security

Hackers Broke Into Brazil Power Grid Operator's Website Last Thursday 85

Posted by kdawson from the wolf-no-really-this-time-i-mean-it dept.
An anonymous reader writes "A week ago, 60 Minutes had a story (we picked it up too) claiming that hackers had caused power outages in Brazil. While this assertion is now believed to be in error, hackers were inspired by the story actually to do what was claimed. Last Thursday, they broke into ONS, the operator of the grid (Google translation; Portuguese original). DarkReading has specific details on the SQL injection vulnerabilities the hackers probably used."
Technology

New Optomechanical Crystal Allows Confinement of Light and Sound 91

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the crystal-lightswitch-rave dept.
PBH writes "Physicists and engineers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have developed a nanoscale crystal that traps both light and sound. The interaction of light quanta (photons) and sound quanta (phomons) are so strong that they produce significant mechanical vibrations. 'Indeed, Painter points out, the interactions between sound and light in this device—dubbed an optomechanical crystal—can result in mechanical vibrations with frequencies as high as tens of gigahertz, or 10 billion cycles per second. Being able to achieve such frequencies, he explains, gives these devices the ability to send large amounts of information, and opens up a wide array of potential applications—everything from lightwave communication systems to biosensors capable of detecting (or weighing) a single macromolecule. It could also, Painter says, be used as a research tool by scientists studying nanomechanics. "These structures would give a mass sensitivity that would rival conventional nanoelectromechanical systems because light in these structures is more sensitive to motion than a conventional electrical system is."'"

Comment The maps are not the biggest gain (Score 1) 162

by grilled-cheese (#29797531) Attached to: Surfacescapes D&D Demo
While it is nice to be able to play with nice maps, the amount of extra effort to create/find/buy them is a deterrent. Our group does just fine with a laminated piece of posterboard and dry erase markers. It's extremely quick, reusable, and flexible in the amount of data it can hold. So until I see something actually marketed with that same set of features+, and I'm rich enough to afford it, it makes no difference. The only thing we can't do very well, and neither can a Surface interface is a 3 dimensional playing field.

The area where automation comes in the most handy is in the combat accounting. A more beneficial piece of software would be a projectable or multiview system in which information such as damage, status effects, turn order, and turn progression was displayed to everyone. It would mean no more having to ask who needs healing, or who's turn it is because somebody delayed their actions. The players are still in control of their own characters and the specific character accounting such as what powers have been used, but basic information such as maximum hit points and initiative are all that is required.
Security

Vulnerability, Potential Exploit In Cisco WLAN APs 35

Posted by timothy from the just-wrap-it-in-tin-foil dept.
An anonymous reader writes "The AirMagnet Intrusion Research Team has uncovered a new wireless vulnerability and potential exploit associated with Cisco wireless LAN infrastructure. The vulnerability involves Cisco's Over-the-Air-Provisioning (OTAP) feature found in its wireless access points. The potential exploit, dubbed SkyJack by AirMagnet, creates a situation whereby control of a Cisco AP can be obtained, whether intentionally or unintentionally, to gain access to a customer's wireless LAN."
Networking

How To Build a 100,000-Port Ethernet Switch 174

Posted by kdawson from the stretching-the-fabric dept.
BobB-nw writes "University of California at San Diego researchers Tuesday are presenting a paper (PDF) describing software that they say could make data center networks massively scalable. The researchers say their PortLand software will enable Layer 2 data center network fabrics scalable to 100,000 ports and beyond; they have a prototype running at the school's Department of Computer Science and Engineering's Jacobs School of Engineering. 'With PortLand, we came up with a set of algorithms and protocols that combine the best of layer 2 and layer 3 network fabrics,' said Amin Vahdat, a computer science professor at UC San Diego. 'Today, the largest data centers contain over 100,000 servers. Ideally, we would like to have the flexibility to run any application on any server while minimizing the amount of required network configuration and state... We are working toward a network that administrators can think of as one massive 100,000-port switch seamlessly serving over one million virtual endpoints.'"
Programming

Submission + - How do remote developers meet with eachother? 1

Submitted by grilled-cheese
grilled-cheese writes: As my software company continues to grow, we find it harder to maintain the group consensus on software engineering. This is mostly due to people being out of the office or working abroad. When looking for ways to bring those developers back into normal discussions, what are some of the techniques and technologies that could be employed?
The Internet

Submission + - What would you use to authenticate a 3rd party?

Submitted by
grilled-cheese
grilled-cheese writes: "I'm a system administrator who works with generating customized websites for universities containing private data. I'm wondering what the community thinks about authentication systems to hook in 3rd parties. One of the guidelines I use to protect customers is "If I ever know a credential, I don't want it". The best and only solution I've found to this point is CAS (Central Authentication Service). I'd really like to hear more suggestions for alternatives to offer."

Comment Tips on Online Dating (Score 1) 1354

by grilled-cheese (#28417433) Attached to: Where Does a Geek Find a Social Life?
If you are interested in using an online dating site, there is basically only one important factor. The site that has the most people in your area. There are some really well-built, expensive, or high SNR sites out there. I'll leave out the commercial sites I've played with, but the freebie sites that I've used, and been pleased with, are PlentyOfFish and OkCupid.com. I've used craigslist as well, but got too much spam to pay attention to the good responses.

Good Luck.

Comment Nanotech & Enhancing Renewable Energy (Score 2, Interesting) 599

by grilled-cheese (#28289433) Attached to: Why Isn't the US Government Funding Research?
I would think something like nanotechnology or enhancing existing renewable energy sources. It would be really cool for consumer-grade solar power to actually create competition with the electric utility industry. As well as the extremely broad applications of nanomanufacturing and biotech that could be gained by learning to manipulate/control objects smaller than any current instruments can match.

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