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Submission + - Amazon Delivery Drones and Predictive Shipping: Don't Believe the Hype (ibtimes.co.uk)

Submitted by DavidGilbert99
DavidGilbert99 writes: Amazon is seemingly cat nip to journalists. From flying drone to knowing what you are going to order before you even order it, stories related to Amazon have been carried in virtually all publications of note in the last two months — despite the stories themselves having very little news value. The reason for such widespread coverage, David Gilbert at IBTimes UK guesses, is the mythology which has been built up around Amazon and founder Jeff Bezos over the last two decades.

Submission + - Public libraries tinker with offering makerspaces (medium.com)

Submitted by eggboard
eggboard writes: Public libraries are starting to build temporary and permanent labs that let patrons experiment with new arts, crafts, and sciences, many of them associated with the maker movement. It's a way to bring this technology and training to those without the money or time to join makerspaces or buy gear themselves. It seems to extend the mission of libraries to educate, inform, and enrich, but is a seemingly rare move in the direction of teaching people to create for pleasure and professionally. Many libraries are experimenting with experimenting.

Submission + - Bitcoin Exchange CEO Charlie Shrem Arrested on Money Laundering Charge (ibtimes.co.uk)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Charlie Shrem, the chief executive officer of bitcoin exchange BitInstant, has been arrested and charged with money laundering.

Shrem was arrested at JFK airport on 26 January and was also charged, along with alleged co-conspiratior Robert Faiella, of selling more than $1 million (£600,000) worth of bitcoins to users of Silk Road.

Submission + - ATMs could be compromised when Windows XP support ends (networkworld.com)

Submitted by colinneagle
colinneagle writes: The majority of the 420,000 ATMs in the U.S. run XP, and an executive with an ATM software provider says he expects only 15% of bank ATMs in the U.S. to be on Windows 7 by the April 8th deadline when Microsoft will end support for XP. It's apparently not unusual for the ATM industry to move slowly. "As a rule, security patches that directly affect the machines might be issued only once a quarter," the executive said.

And unlike the old Windows PCs sitting in doctor offices that likely don't have an Internet connection, ATM machines have to be wired 24/7 for transactions. It's also unclear how often those independent ATMs found at convenience stores and gas stations that look like they're 30 years old, and which aren't tied to a bank, are updated to prevent hacking.

Submission + - Why Bitcoin Matters

Submitted by Hugh Pickens DOT Com
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes: Marc Andreessen writes in an op-ed in the NYT that Bitcoin is an Internet-wide distributed ledger that gives us, for the first time, a way for one Internet user to transfer a unique piece of digital property to another Internet user, such that the transfer is guaranteed to be safe and secure, everyone knows that the transfer has taken place, and nobody can challenge the legitimacy of the transfer. "The consequences of this breakthrough are hard to overstate," writes Andreessen. "Anyone in the world can pay anyone else in the world any amount of value of Bitcoin by simply transferring ownership of the corresponding slot in the ledger." Andreessen says that Bitcoin can be a powerful force to bring a much larger number of people around the world into the modern economic system. "Only about 20 countries around the world have what we would consider to be fully modern banking and payment systems; the other roughly 175 have a long way to go. As a result, many people in many countries are excluded from products and services that we in the West take for granted." Another use for Bitcoin is micropayments. "Bitcoins have the nifty property of infinite divisibility: currently down to eight decimal places after the dot, but more in the future. So you can specify an arbitrarily small amount of money, like a thousandth of a penny, and send it to anyone in the world for free or near-free," writes Andreessen. "Another potential use of Bitcoin micropayments is to fight spam. Future email systems and social networks could refuse to accept incoming messages unless they were accompanied with tiny amounts of Bitcoin – tiny enough to not matter to the sender, but large enough to deter spammers, who today can send uncounted billions of spam messages for free with impunity." Finally says Andreessen there's been a lot of sensationalistic press coverage that Bitcoin is a haven for bad behavior, for criminals and terrorists to transfer money anonymously with impunity. "Much like email, which is quite traceable, Bitcoin is pseudonymous, not anonymous," says Andreessen. "Every transaction in the Bitcoin network is tracked and logged forever in the Bitcoin blockchain, or permanent record, available for all to see. As a result, Bitcoin is considerably easier for law enforcement to trace than cash, gold or diamonds." Bitcoin offers a sweeping vista of opportunity to reimagine how the financial system can and should work in the Internet era concludes Andreessen, and "a catalyst to reshape that system in ways that are more powerful for individuals and businesses alike."

Submission + - This Raspberry Pi Tablet is absolutely gorgeous 1

Submitted by colinneagle
colinneagle writes: It's a Raspberry Pi-based tablet computer, complete with a 10-inch capacitive touchscreen, Wi-Fi, and an absolutely gorgeous wooden and carbon fiber case. Built by Michael Castor in just two weeks (start to finish), this amazing rig gets roughly six hours of battery life and even sports hinges. That's right. It's a polished, wooden tablet that opens, allowing you to get at the internals in case you need (or want) to make any modifications or swap out the SD card. The PiPad was even signed by Eben Upton, the driving force behind the design of the Raspberry Pi itself, which is 14 different kinds of nerd cool.

Michael has even provided a detailed parts list and a walk-through explaining how he built the PiPad. So, if you've been itching to turn your Pi into a tablet computer – and, if you are anything like me, you absolutely have that particular itch – this is an amazing starting point.

Submission + - There's a huge energy scandal happening right underneath your feet (medium.com)

Submitted by gallifreyan99
gallifreyan99 writes: Researchers from Duke revealed today that they had discovered nearly 5,900 gas leaks under the streets of Washington DC, including 12 that posed a serious risk of explosion. And it's not just Washington: a gas industry whistleblower who is part of the team showed this was happening in cities all over America. Why is that a big deal? Leaky pipes cause death, destruction —and the data means natural gas could actually be one of the worst fuels around.

Submission + - DHS Turns to Unpaid Interns for Nation's Cyber Security

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: A week after President Obama stressed the importance of computer science to America, the Department of Homeland Security put out a call for 100+ of the nations' best-and-brightest college students to work for nothing on the nation's cyber security. The unpaid internship program, DHS notes, is the realization of recommendations from the Homeland Security Advisory Council's Task Force on CyberSkills, which included execs from Facebook, Lockheed Martin, and Sony, and was advised by representatives from Cisco, JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Northrop Grumman, the NSF, and the NSA. "Do you desire to protect American interests and secure our Nation while building a meaningful and rewarding career?" reads the job posting for Secretary's Honors Program Cyber Student Volunteers (salary: $0.00-$0.00). "If so, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is calling." Student volunteers, DHS adds, will begin in spring 2014 and participate throughout the summer. Get your applications in by January 3, kids!

Submission + - Google Glass can now search faces in real time (networkworld.com)

Submitted by colinneagle
colinneagle writes: A company called FacialNetwork has developed the first real-time facial recognition app for Google Glass that targets consumers, enabling Glass users to gleam detailed information about nearby people just by looking at them.

Called NameTag, a demo of the technology is shown in a YouTube video. Photos of famous people like Kanye West or Bryan Cranston, the actor of Breaking Bad fame, were strewn about the house as NameTag users tested the functionality. However, apparent users also claim to successfully find information about each other. After one user expresses doubt that the app would work with other people at the demo, he allegedly finds another user’s Facebook account simply by snapping a photo of his face with Glass and searching it on NameTag.

Submission + - Amazon's nightmare: Software hijacks drones mid-air (networkworld.com)

Submitted by colinneagle
colinneagle writes: Although Amazon's proposed drone-based product delivery service is still apparently years away, one hacker has already developed a sort of next-generation pirate ship that could hijack and redirect Amazon's delivery bots mid-air. On his website, Sammy Kamkar explained SkyJack, a witty name for a software he developed that allows a remote operator to take control over a drone while it's still flying.

The software, which Kamkar calls "Zombie drone" throughout a YouTube video explaining it, runs on a Parrot AR.Drone 2 and scans for other drones' wireless signals while flying. When it detects nearby drones, the software disconnects the target drone from its wireless connection to its operator, then takes the operator's place. The target drone is then subjected to the same control as the one that detected it, and can be controlled by the operator.

Submission + - Worm may create an Internet of Harmful Things, says Symantec (computerworld.com)

Submitted by dcblogs
dcblogs writes: Internet security firm Symantec says it has discovered a new Linux worm that "appears to be engineered to target the Internet of Things." No attacks have yet been found in the wild, it reported. But as Alfred Hitchcock once said, "There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it." The worm discovered by Symantec attacks an old PHP vulnerability that was patched last year, and targets a small subset of Internet of Things devices, such as Linux-based home routers, set-top boxes, security cameras and industrial control systems.

Submission + - WinAMP's long, strange journey may lead to Redmond (networkworld.com)

Submitted by colinneagle
colinneagle writes: Last week, it announced WinAMP would be shut down in December. Merry Christmas.

But now Microsoft is reportedly in talks to pick up WinAMP from AOL and rescue it from the tech graveyard. Now, Microsoft's track record when it comes to music isn't exactly ideal, but at least Microsoft has tried. Zune was a failure but it wasn't a bad idea, and some of its better parts live on in the Windows Phone music app. Microsoft is investing heavily in Xbox Live as a media center, and it could use a competitor to Pandora or iHeartRadio.

If Microsoft doesn't save it, WinAMP supporters are hoping AOL will turn the player over to the open source world. A petition has begun begging AOL to open source all of the WinAMP/ShoutCast code.

Submission + - 'Pawn Stars' take down the Chromebook, on Microsoft's behalf (networkworld.com)

Submitted by colinneagle
colinneagle writes: Microsoft has hired what could be devastatingly effective new pitchmen to bash Google's Chromebook — the cast of "Pawn Stars." The show, which debuted on the History Channel in 2009, remains one of the network's highest-rated shows and its cast enjoys considerable popularity outside of the show.

An online video ad released Tuesday as part of Microsoft's anti-Google campaign "Scroogled" mimics an episode of the show, with the setup of a customer coming into the shop, a woman wanting to turn her Chromebook into a ticket to Hollywood. Rick Harrison, co-owner of the shop with his father, chuckles like he always does and declares it worthless unless you are connected to the Internet. "When you’re not connected, it’s pretty much a brick," he declares.

Submission + - Commercializing open source software with Shareware (networkworld.com)

Submitted by colinneagle
colinneagle writes: Over the last several years I've tried quite a few different mechanisms of earning a living wage by developing, and distributing, open source software: donations, pay-to-download, software feature bounties, fund-raisers...you name it, I've tried it. And all of these attempts have fallen flat on their faces. Yet one thing consistently confounded me. That very same software sells like gangbusters when it is sold, closed source, under a shareware model. It typically has a big, extremely happy user base and great sales numbers. So how could it being open source possibly not work out exceedingly well?

Release software in a “standard” way – say, shareware, for example. Then put the source code up on GitHub to allow the tinkerers and developers of the world to gain access to the GPL licensed code. This would mean that the freedoms of the end users are being respected while the traditional revenue models of closed source software development are being fully utilized.

So, I've started doing exactly this with my software, Illumination Software Creator. If you look at the website you'll notice something: It looks like any normal commercial, closed source software website. (I present this as just an example of how I'm going about things; feel free to ignore my software if you like...it is pretty awesome, though.)

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this sort of model. Do you like it as an end user? Do you feel, as a software developer, that this would work for your projects? Leave your comments below.

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One of the most overlooked advantages to computers is... If they do foul up, there's no law against whacking them around a little. -- Joe Martin

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