45307527
submission
backabeyond writes:
These guys want to let anyone submit messages that they'll start broadcasting into space in hopes that extraterrestrials will hear them. It looks like they're serious about it — they applied for an experimental license from the FCC. And what's cool is that they're planning to use the Jamesburg Earth Station, which was used to receive images from the first steps made on the moon.
45307131
submission
ananyo writes:
Francis Crick’s Nobel medal fetched US$2.27 million at an auction in New York yesterday. The proud new owner is Jack Wang, chief executive of 'Biomobie' that intends to sell walnut-sized, flying-saucer-shaped electromagnetic devices that it claims have medically regenerative powers.
The closely watched sale featured a range of Crick memorabilia that the family had kept in storage for many years. Up for auction along with the medal — awarded for Crick’s role in the 1953 discovery of the structure of DNA — were his lab coat, sailing logbooks and garden journals. Expectations were high because the day before, auctioneer Christie’s had brokered the sale of a letter from Crick (PDF) to his 12-year-old son for $6 million, more than triple the pre-sale estimate. The letter went to an anonymous bidder.
The new owner of the Crick medal is a a Chinese-born American who says that his motivation for purchasing the medal was to stimulate research into the “mystery of Bioboosti”, which, he says, produces electromagnetic stimulation that can “control and enable the regeneration of damaged organs”. Those benefits are, needless to say, so far unproven.
Crick's family has said it will donate at least 20% of the proceeds from the sale of the medal and other items to the Francis Crick Institute, a biomedical research centre scheduled to open in London in 2015.
45305447
submission
kube00 writes:
This gaming generation will be known for quite a few things. One of them will be the resurgence and interest in retro gaming; an idea Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft took an interest in. Gamers saw remakes, ports, and other forms of retro games from the past make it to their favorite consoles. The big question is which one of them handled retro gaming better this generation?
45305405
submission
SirKron writes:
Although IE8 is officially supported for Office365 users until April 8, 2014, Microsoft has alienated customers stuck using the older IE8 browser with the new Wave 15 functionality of Office365 to very slow performance or complete inability to get to their email and applications. Microsoft's stance is to provide good user experience their service requires a modern browser and they cannot provide that experience on IE8. From the support article IE8 users should upgrade or deal with the slow performance.
45305323
submission
NikoJamison writes:
The Movoto blog took a look at 'nerd' metrics to come up with a never-before glimpse into what it means to be a nerd and came out with its Top 10 Nerdiest Cities in America list. There were some surprises here, but overall, the fact that a non-coast city could take the top honors might mean that nerds are finally mainstream.
45304627
submission
Aquineas writes:
Hugo Teso demonstrated his exploit at The Box Conference in Amsterdam yesterday. Apparently he exploited the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) which is largely unsecured.
45304449
submission
Bob the Super Hamste writes:
CNN is reporting that PETA is looking into using drones to monitor hunters and farmers. Specifically PETA wants to use drones where ever animals may be abused to killed. At present they do not possess any drones or have specific locations selected for deployment. The article point out that PETA isn't the first group to deploy drones to watch hunters and mentions the incidents with the group SHARK that has made news previously when their drones were twice shot down while monitoring pigeon hunts.
45304439
submission
Zothecula writes:
The Global Positioning System (GPS) has proved a boon for those with a bad sense of direction, but the satellite-based system isn’t without its shortcomings. Something as simple as going indoors or entering a tunnel can render the system useless. That might be inconvenient for civilians, but it's potentially disastrous for military users for whom the system was originally built. DARPA is addressing such concerns with the development of a self-sufficient navigation system that can aid navigation when GPS is temporarily unavailable.
45304021
submission
msm1267 writes:
Microsoft announced last night that it has stopped pushing a security update originally released on Patch Tuesday because the fix is causing some PCs to blue screen. Microsoft recommends users uninstall the patch, which is also causing compatibility with some endpoint security software.
MS13-036 was part of this week’s Patch Tuesday update. It addressed three vulnerabilities in the Windows Kernel-Mode Driver, which if exploited could allow an attacker to elevate their privileges on a compromised machine.
Users began reporting issues earlier this week with some systems failing to recover from restarts, or applications failing to load, after the patch was installed.
45303915
submission
ananyo writes:
Toxic chemicals are accumulating in the ecosystems of the Himalayas and the Tibetan plateau, researchers warn in the first comprehensive study to assess levels of organic pollutants in that part of the world. Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are carbon-based compounds that are resistant to break-down. Some originate from the burning of fuel or the processing of electronic waste, and others are widely used as pesticides or herbicides or in the manufacture of solvents, plastics and pharmaceuticals. Some POPs, such as the pesticide dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and the herbicide Agent Orange, can cause diseases such as cancers, neurological disorders, reproductive dysfunction and birth defects. The researchers found large amounts of POPs (including DDT) in various components of the ecosystems such as soil, grass, trees and fish in the Himalayas and in the Tibetan plateau, especially at the highest elevations.
45303909
submission
nk497 writes:
The latest PC sales stats don't make for positive reading — especially for Microsoft, with Windows 8 taking much of the blame for struggling desktop and laptop sales. But can a single OS really be blamed for taking out an entire market. Analysts suggests it's much more complicated than that: a new version of Windows doesn't actually boost the market, but the confusion around the Metro screen and a lack of affordable touch devices hasn't helped — nor has competition from tablets. While Windows 8 must accept some of the blame for the continuing PC slump, but even if it was a barnstorming OS, would it have made a difference? "Let’s face it," said one analyst. "PCs had their run, and it lasted close to 20 years... Interest among consumers is shifting to other types of device."
45303753
submission
damn_registrars writes:
Nintendo of Japan has announced that at the end of June it will be canceling the services of several of the channels that are built in to the original Wii, including the Weather, News, Everybody Votes, and Mii Contest. This will also effect the WiiConnect24 services, though should not effect the Wii shopping channel.
45303093
submission
hypnosec writes:
The UK Government will be examining whether free to download apps are putting unfair pressure on kids to pay up for additional content within the game through in-app purchases. Office of Fair Trading (OFT), UK, will be carrying out the investigation of games that include ‘commercially aggressive’ in-app purchases after a number of cases have been reported whereby parents have incurred huge bills after their kids have spent huge amounts on in-app purchases.
45302931
submission
lkcl writes:
Rhombus Tech and QiMod have working samples of the first EOMA-68 CPU Card, featuring 1GByte of RAM, an A10 processor and stand-alone (USB-OTG-powered with HDMI output) operation. Upgrades will include the new Dual-Core ARM Cortex A7, the pin-compatible A20. This is the first CPU Card in the EOMA-68 range: there are others in the pipeline (A31, iMX6, jz4760 and a recent discovery of the Realtek RTD1186 is also being investigated).
The first product in the EOMA-68 family, also nearing a critical phase in its development, will be the KDE Flying Squirrel, a 7in user-upgradeable tablet featuring the KDE Plasma Active Operating System. Laptops, Desktops, Games Consoles, user-upgradeable LCD Monitors and other products are to follow.
And every CPU that goes into the products will be pre-vetted for full GPL compliance, with software releases even before the product goes out the door. That's what we've promised to do: to provide Free Software Developers with the opportunity to be involved with mass-volume product development every step of the way. We're also on the look-out for an FSF-Endorseable processor which also meets mass-volume criteria which is proving... challenging.
