45214575
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Velcroman1 writes:
The House Intelligence Committee is warning that “time is running out” before the next major cyberattack: The Russians, Iranians, Chinese and others are likely already on your computer. "You have criminal organizations trying to get into your personal computer and steal your personal stuff. And by the way, the Chinese are probably on your computer, the Russians are probably on your personal computer, the Iranians are already there,” House Intelligence Committee chairman Mike Rogers (R.-MI) said. “They’re trying to steal things that they think are valuable or use your computer to help them steal from someone else,” he said. “That’s a real problem.”
45138895
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Velcroman1 writes:
The Pentagon has plans to deploy its first ever ship-mounted laser next year, a disruptive, cutting-edge weapon capable of obliterating small boats and unmanned aerial vehicles with a blast of infrared energy. Navy officials announced Monday that in early 2014, a solid-state laser prototype will be mounted to the fantail of the USS Ponce and sent to the 5th fleet region in the Middle East for real-world experience. "It operates much like a blowtorch ... with an unlimited magazine," one official said.
44901177
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Velcroman1 writes:
Turning Apple into cider is a popular sport these days. And Apple is certainly experiencing a lacuna in innovative product introductions (where's the Apple television? where's the Apple watch, when is Apple going to make a better-than-Samsung phone?). Now, the rumor mill is heralding the introduction of Apple radio this summer — but it may be too little, too late. Unlike when iTunes launched more than a dozen years ago, there's competition aplenty. And since the success of iTunes didn't translate into success for the music companies and artists — revenues are roughly half of what they were in the 90s — music execs (and artists) are a lot more skittish about making deals with Apple today. TuneIn CEO John Donham sees an Apple entry as competing more with the likes of Pandora and Spotify than traditional radio. "But Apple has a lot of catching up to do. So it's a story that's going to play out over the next 5 to 7 years," he says.
44677525
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Velcroman1 writes:
More than $1 billion dollars worth of bitcoins now circulate on the web – an amount that exceeds the value of the entire currency stock of small countries like Liberia, Bhutan, and 18 other countries. Bitcoin is in high demand right now — each bitcoin currently sells for more than $90 U.S. dollars — which bitcoin insiders say is because of world events that have shaken confidence in government-issued currencies. “Because of what's going on in Cyprus and Europe, people are trying to pull their money out of banks there,” said Tony Gallippi, the CEO “BitPay.com,” which enables businesses to easily accept bitcoins as payment. “So they buy gold, they put it under the mattress, or they buy bitcoin,” Gallippi said.
44286395
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Velcroman1 writes:
The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) was enacted in 1998. In 2011, the FTC beefed up the measure, preventing sites from collecting personal information from kids such as name, location and date of birth without a parent's consent. This July, new amendments for kids under 13 will go into effect, approved by the FTC in December. The rules are targeted at sites that market specifically to kids. However, even a site like Facebook could be fined for allowing minors to post self-portraits, audio recordings of their voice, and images with geo-location data. There are also new restrictions on tracking data, with cookies or a unique identifier that follow registrants from one site to another. http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/03/19/coppa-stricter-rules-july-underage-kids-on-facebook/">About time, said Denise Tayloe, the CEO of PRIVO, a company that makes an age-verification system called PrivoLock."Somebody damn-well better do something to communicate with parents [so they] understand what their kids are doing," Tayloe said.
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Velcroman1 writes:
Biochemical engineers can now download a piece of software and with a few simple clicks, assemble the DNA for new life forms through their laptops. “With the proper computer tools, biologists can write their own genetic code — and then turn that code into life,” said biochemist Omri Amirav-Drory, who founded Genome Compiler Corp., the company that sells the software. He demonstrated for FoxNews.com at a Starbucks early one morning by manipulating a bacteria's genes on his MacBook. The synthetic biology app is still in beta; on Jan. 15, the company added an undo feature and support for new DNA file formats. Building creatures is increasingly like word processing, it would seem. But such is the strange reality in the age of cheap genome sequencing, DNA synthesizing and "bioinformatics."
43486949
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Velcroman1 writes:
A four-year FBI investigation into the transfer of classified weapons technology to China and other countries from NASA’s Ames Research Center is being stonewalled by government officials, sources tell FoxNews.com. Documents obtained by FoxNews.com, which summarize these and other allegations and were given to congressional sources last week by a whistle-blower, described how a “secret grand jury” was to be convened in February 2011 to hear testimony from informants in the case, including a senior NASA engineer. But federal prosecutor Gary Fry was removed from the case, which was then transferred from one office in the Northern District of California to another where, according to the documents, “this case now appears to be stalled.” “The information is staggering,” the whistle-blower said.
43177171
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Velcroman1 writes:
At a United Nations conference in December, 89 countries voted in favor of international government regulation of the Internet. Specific regulations have not been agreed upon, but FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell said he fears the U.N. may seek further rulings at a 2014 conference in Busan, Korea. "You’ll have international bureaucrats making engineering and business decisions," McDowell said. The U.N. has no power to force the United States to adopt any Internet regulation, and the U.S. refused to sign the December treaty, along with 55 others countries. But if a large number of countries agree on regulations, the Internet could become fragmented, with very different rules applying in different regions of the world. "That becomes an engineering nightmare," McDowell said.
42806433
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Velcroman1 writes:
Ever wonder how troops serving abroad in remote locations and even underwater might get to watch the Super Bowl? The very same highly advanced technology used to pass classified drone video feeds will be deployed this Sunday to ensure U.S. troops can see the Super Bowl — - no matter how far away from home they are. The broadcast is the result of a unique media, government and technology partnership with the American Forces Radio and Television Service, Raytheon and the U.S. Air Force. The Global Broadcast Service (GBS) may be normally used to disseminate video, images and other data, but major sporting events have been broadcast over it as well. The system will be “as small as a laptop, and [equipment] the size of a shoebox and umbrella” yet “in other places will be projected onto large screens in hangers” like aircraft carriers out at sea, explained Raytheon Intelligence and Information Systems’ chief innovation officer Mark Bigham.
42675499
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alancronin writes:
Microsoft released Office 2013 to manufacturing on October 11, 2012. The company made the final bits available to MSDN and TechNet subscribers, as well as volume-licensing customers, before the end of last year. Recently, Microsoft made $10 versions of the final Office 2013 bits available to volume licensees with Software Assurance as part of its Home Use Program.
Microsoft officials have been saying for a couple of months that Redmond planned to make the final bits commercially available in the first calendar quarter of 2013.
