Comment Re:Words, Not Communication (Score 1) 225
Maybe you should ask Shredder to help you with your spelling.
$80 Android Phone Sells Like Hotcakes In Kenya 205
kkleiner writes "Earlier this year, the Chinese firm Huawei unveiled IDEOS through Kenya's telecom titan, Safaricom. So far, this $80 smartphone has found its way into the hands of 350,000+ Kenyans, an impressive sales number in a country where 40% of the population lives on less than two dollars a day. The smartphone is the exemplar of a truly liberating device, and thanks to Android and Huawei, it has the potential to reach virtually untapped markets."
Submission + - Rock Paper Scissors Programming Contest (rpscontest.com)
An anonymous reader writes: An online Python programming contest to create rock paper scissors AIs. There are already over one thousand entries. Playing randomly is *not* the optimal strategy!
Submission + - Android app-makers careless with some data: study (cio.com.au)
swandives writes: Researchers from Pennsylvania State University and North Carolina State University have concluded a lot of the software written for Google's Android mobile phones falls short when it comes to user privacy and security. The findings come from a study into the top 1100 free applications available in the Android Market. It should be noted that the researchers didn't find anything malicious, but a surprising number of the programs used unique identifiers such as the phone's IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number — sometimes without obtaining permission to do so from the user. One concern is that these unique identifiers could be linked to Android users in databases, essentially providing a stealthy way to track what mobile phone users are doing online, similar to the tracking cookies stored by Web browsers. Unlike a tracking cookie, a mobile phone's IMEI cannot be deleted.
Submission + - Eve Online Space Heist - One Trillion ISK (gamergaia.com) 1
Calidreth writes: EVE Online is famous for its stories of theft, underhanded dealings, criminal empires and general unscrupulous play. For EVE players this is generally an accepted part of the game and part of the risk players run. The type of scheme might be old, but the profits were big in the latest EVE Online scam that has broken records and is now being called the biggest scam in the game's history.
Submission + - Canadian judge rules domain names are property (domainnamewire.com)
farrellj writes: "A recent decision in the Ontario Appeals court has ruled in favour of Tucows, saying that domain names are considered property, rather than being a license. This has major ramifications for a people both inside and outside Canada, doubly so since Tucows is a major domain registrar. This ruling comes from a very high court, which means that any appeal must go to the Supreme Court of Canada. So there is a good chance this ruling will stand."
Submission + - NAND Flash Can Verify a Device's Identity (itworld.com)
itwbennett writes: "Researchers at UC San Diego and Cornell University have developed software that they say can detect variations in flash behavior that are unique to each chip. The system uses 'physically unclonable functions' (PUFs), or variations in manufacturing that are unique to each element of each flash chip. Swanson described one PUF that his team has worked with, called Program Disturb. It uses a type of manufacturing flaw that doesn't affect normal operation but causes problems under test conditions."
Submission + - See the PyPy JIT in action (blogspot.com)
derGoldstein writes: Project PyPy is an alternative implementation of Python, with the main advantage being a Just In Time (JIT) compiler which speeds up your code considerably. They've announced the first public release of jitviewer, which is a visualization tool that helps you understand how your code is being compiled by PyPy's JIT, all the way down to assembly. If you just want to see how it looks and play with it, they've setup an online demo — just select a file, and click "Show Assembler".
Submission + - When Patents Attack (thisamericanlife.org)
An anonymous reader writes: NPR's This American Life has an excellent story on the evolution of the patent troll. It looks like even the guy who coined the phrase "patent troll" took the "if you can't beat 'em join 'em route" and is now gleefully and very profitably plying victims. It is especially hard to understand why people who are already wealthy choose to engage in this sleazy money-grubbing, technology-killing extortion. I guess there is no limit on greed, ethical or otherwise.
Comment Re:Tit for tat (Score 1) 197
Do you know what solid state means? It generally means that the circuit uses transistors instead of vacuum tubes. I'm pretty sure all TVs use transistors today.
Submission + - Get your own action figure - in Japan (makezine.com)
derGoldstein writes: Makezine points to a very interesting shop in Akihabara that will make miniature clones of your face. This page contains photos of the process and the results. After the miniature head is printed in 3D it's painted and attached to a doll of your choice. Some of the models they produce beg for an exorcism...
The Science Behind Fanboyism 272
crookedvulture writes "We've all encountered fanboys. They lurk on messageboards and in comment threads, ready to trumpet the benefits of their product or brand of choice with Cheeto-stained fingertips. And it's not their fault. This analysis of the scientific research on the subject reveals that our brains unconsciously develop an affinity for products we choose over similarly attractive alternatives. Duh, right? But what's really interesting is that this affinity exists not just among adults, but also children, monkeys, and even amnesic subjects with no memory of their original choices. We're all hard-wired to be fanboys, it seems. Some of us just do a better job of overcoming our subconscious tendencies."
How Printed Circuit Boards Are Made 88
An anonymous reader writes "Ever wanted to see how printed circuit boards are made en masse at a professional production house? Well, here you go. The folks over at Base2 Electronics recently got to tour Advanced Circuits, a PCB production house. They took some rather incredible pictures and explained the process along the way."
Experimental "Smart Town" To Be Built In Japan 91
StormDriver writes "Basically, Fujisawa SST is envisioned as a bottom-up approach to energy efficiency — a green village built from scratch with modern green technologies rather than less-efficient older tech. Panasonic wants to use it as a template for other larger communities in Japan and elsewhere. If all goes as planned, Fujisawa SST will start receiving residents in March of 2014 and finish filling up its houses by 2018."
Comment Re:Obligatory TMNT Reference (Score 1) 223
Chevy Nova?
