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Submission + - Google Offers a Cool Million Bucks For a Better Inverter

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: With the Little Box Challenge, Google (and IEEE, and a few other sponsors like Cree and Rohm) is offering a $1 million prize to the team which can "design and build a kW-scale inverter with the highest power density (at least 50 Watts per cubic inch)." Going from cooler-sized to tablet sized, they say, would make whole lot of things better, and the prize is reserved for the best performing entrant.

"Our testing philosophy is to not look inside the box. You provide us with a box that has 5 wires coming out of it: two DC inputs, two AC outputs and grounding connection and we only monitor what goes into and comes out of those wires, along with the temperature of the outside of your box, over the course of 100 hours of testing. The inverter will be operating in an islanded more—that is, not tied or synced to an external grid. The loads will be dynamically changing throughout the course of the testing, similar to what you may expect to see in a residential setting." he application must be filled out in English, but any serious applicants can sign up, "regardless of approach suggested or team background, will be successful in registering." Registration runs though September.

#power #google #invertor #contest #ieee #technology

Submission + - When fully autonomous cars are the norm, will you miss driving? (robohub.org)

Submitted by AJung Moon
AJung Moon writes: Regardless of the chatter about autonomous cars, there's people who actually enjoy the driving experience and may not be willing to trade the joy of driving for convenience. Perhaps this might be just another issue of preference, similar to how some people still prefer to drive a stick shift (standard/manual transmission) over automated transmission. We’d like to know what you think. Will you miss driving your non-autonomous car? Why or why not?

Submission + - Verizon's offer: Let us track you, get free stuff (cnn.com)

Submitted by mpicpp
mpicpp writes: Are you comfortable having your location and Web browsing tracked for marketing purposes? If so, Verizon's got a deal for you.

The wireless giant announced a new program this week called "Smart Rewards" that offers customers credit card-style perks like discounts for shopping, travel and dining. You accrue points through the program by doing things like signing onto the Verizon website, paying your bill online and participating in the company's trade-in program.

Verizon emphasizes that the data it collects is anonymized before it's shared with third parties.
The program is novel in that offers Verizon users some compensation for the collection of their data, which has become big business for telecom and tech companies. Some privacy advocates have pushed data-collecting companies to reward customers for their personal information in the interest of transparency.

Comment A law to violate personal space (Score 1) 13

by ripvlan (#47501591) Attached to: White House petitioned to save those in hot cars

Yeah - I can see it now... "I saw a dog panting in the locked car" ... "oh - your purse is missing from the front seat?! don't know anything about that, and you're right...there wasn't a dog in the car"

Liberals need a law to do the right thing. Ask first for permission!

Don't most states have a Good Samaritan law? and isn't that enough?

Submission + - MIT's Ted Postol presents more evidence on Iron Dome failures (thebulletin.org) 1

Submitted by Lasrick
Lasrick writes: In a controversial article last week, MIT physicist Ted Postol again questioned whether Israel's vaunted Iron Dome rocket defense system actually works. This week, he comes back with evidence in the form of diagrams, photos of Iron Dome intercepts and contrails, and evidence on the ground to show that Iron Dome in fact is effective only about 5% of the time. Postol believes the real reason there are so few Israeli casualties is that Hamas rockets have very small warheads (only 10 to 20 pounds), and also Israel's outstanding civil defense system, which includes a vast system of shelters and an incredibly sophisticated rocket attack warning system (delivered through smart phones, among other ways).

Submission + - Amazon launches 'Kindle Unlimited', a subscription service for eBooks.

Submitted by rtoz
rtoz writes: The online retail giant Amazon has announced that it's launching an e-book subscription service named as "Kindle Unlimited."

For $9.99 per month, Kindle Unlimited offers more than 600,000 books and thousands of audiobooks across a range of devices.

There are number of popular titles listed, including Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and the Hunger Games.
Currently it's available for US customers only. We can access "Kindle Unlimited" from http://www.amazon.com/kindleun...

And, amazon is sending email to kindle publishers about this subscription plan.

All books enrolled in "KDP Select" with U.S. rights will be automatically included in Kindle Unlimited.

"KDP Select" authors and publishers will earn a share of the KDP Select global fund each time a customer accesses their book from Kindle Unlimited and reads more than 10% of their book.

Submission + - New Critroni Crypto Ransomware is First to Use Tor for Command and Control

Submitted by Trailrunner7
Trailrunner7 writes: There’s a new kid on the crypto ransomware block, known as Critroni, that’s been sold in underground forums for the last month or so and is now being dropped by the Angler exploit kit. The ransomware includes a number of unusual features and researchers say it’s the first crypto ransomware seen using the Tor network for command and control.

The Critroni ransomware is selling for around $3,000 and researchers say it is now being used by a range of attackers, some of whom are using the Angler exploit kit to drop a spambot on victims’ machines. The spambot then downloads a couple of other payloads, including Critroni. Once on a victim’s PC, Critroni encrypts a variety of files, including photos and documents, and then displays a dialogue box that informs the user of the infection and demands a payment in Bitcoins in order to decrypt the files.

“It uses C2 hidden in the Tor network. Previously we haven’t seen cryptomalware having C2 in Tor. Only banking trojans,” said Fedor Sinitsyn, senior malware analyst at Kaspersky Lab, who has been researching this threat. “Executable code for establishing Tor connection is embedded in the malware’s body. Previously the malware of this type, this was usually accomplished with a Tor.exe file. Embedding Tor functions in the malware’s body is a more difficult task from the programming point of view, but it has some profits, because it helps to avoid detection, and it is more efficient in general.”

Submission + - Gene Therapy Converts Heart Cells Into "Biological Pacemakers" (gizmag.com)

Submitted by Zothecula
Zothecula writes: Pacemakers serve an invaluable purpose, by electrically stimulating a recipient's heart in order to keep it beating at a steady rate. The implantation of a pacemaker is a major surgical procedure, however, plus its presence in the body can lead to complications such as infections. Now, for the first time, scientists have instead injected genes into the defective hearts of pigs, converting unspecialized heart cells into "biological pacemakers."

Submission + - New treatment stops type II diabetes (sciencedaily.com)

Submitted by multicsfan
multicsfan writes: Injection of protein FGF1 stops weight induced diabetes in its tracks in mice. There appear to be no side effects. The cure lasts 2 days at a time. Future research and human trials are needed to both better understand and create a working drug. There are no signs of hypoglycemia.

Comment Re:This is not a contract issue (Score 1) 534

The government has certain protections not afforded to the rest of us. You can't sue the gov't for certain things (like having an accident on the highway). I don't recall what this protection is called. But I don't believe it can be extended.

Therefore - is SWAT responsible for things that go wrong? And can they be individually sued ? The Govt can contract - but can they extend protections?

Ooooh, what an interesting definition they've put on themselves.

Comment Re:Only if... (Score 1) 427

by ripvlan (#47324435) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: What Would It Take For You To Buy a Smartwatch?

I'm growing weary of the "smartphone" - yes, it is very nice to have. But I look at my life and being mobile. Personally a smaller phone would be better - my phone is not my computer.

I'm reminded of the Dilbert where he's surfing the web with one eye on his smartwatch, "h..t..t..p...://w...w...w..."

My watch tells me the time. Sure I could fish around in my pockets and pull out the phone, turn it on, then put it back in my pocket. Or glance at my wrist - done. Although I don't really need to know the time - guessing tends to be good enough. A quick glance is important.

Hence - what is a wearable for me: My watch is jewlery/dressy, waterproof, shockproof, multiple years between charges...and above all cheap. If I smash it - I'll buy a new one. It is small, doesn't weigh much, and is fast & good at doing it's main function.

I've wished that my phone could come apart into a smaller piece. Reading SMS ("hi - we're running late"), Weather alerts, and phone call (emergency), and a few other basic functions when I'm out hiking/biking etc. Having a hunk of aluminum and glass in my pocket is not inconvenient (and some want a bigger phone?!)

Therefore the mobile watch sounds good. It must have week of battery - I can't be tied to a power cord, esp when traveling. Waterproof, show the time, weather alerts (the only news that really matters), and since it is a sensor - measure some data to help monitor daily goals for exercise. And above all - needs to look nice, and not be a piece of black rubber.

Although being able to take a photo and post to {insert social media of week} could be fun.

Submission + - Research Project Pays People to Download, Run Executables (threatpost.com)

Submitted by msm1267
msm1267 writes: Incentivized by a minimal amount of cash, computer users who took part in a study were willing to agree to download an executable file to their machines without questioning the potential consequences. The more cash the researchers offered, capping out at $1, the more people complied with the experiment.

The results toss a big bucket of cold water on long-standing security awareness training advice that urges people not to trust third-party downloads from unknown sources in order to guard the sanctity of their computer. A Hershey bar or a Kennedy half-dollar, apparently, sends people spiraling off course pretty rapidly and opens up a potential new malware distribution channel for hackers willing to compensate users.

The study was released recently in a paper called: “It’s All About The Benjamins: An empirical study on incentivizing users to ignore security advice.” While fewer than half of the people who viewed the task actually ran the benign executable when offered a penny to do so, the numbers jumped to 58 percent when offered 50 cents, and 64 percent when offered $1.

Submission + - Robotic Device for detecting Leaks in Pipes of Gas, Oil or Water. (mit.edu)

Submitted by rtoz
rtoz writes: Researchers at MIT have devised a robotic system that can detect leaks quickly and with high accuracy by sensing a large pressure change at leak locations.
This new system can detect leaks of just 1 to 2 millimeters in size, and at relatively low pressure.
The system can detect leaks in gas pipes, water pipes, or in petroleum pipelines.
The researchers have begun discussions with gas companies and water companies about setting up field tests under real-world conditions.

The robotic device consists of two parts.
One part is, a small robot, with wheels to propel it through pipes.
And another part is, a drum-like membrane that forms a seal across the width of the pipe.
When a leak is encountered, liquid flowing toward it distorts the membrane, pulling it slightly toward the leak site. That distortion can be detected by force-resistive sensors via a carefully designed mechanical system, similar to the sensors used in computer trackpads , and the information sent back via wireless communications.

Submission + - DIY physics: A spark chamber on a steel tower, for no reason. (douglasruuska.com) 6

Submitted by Gigabit Switchman
Gigabit Switchman writes: Slightly deranged hoopy frood (and artist) Douglas Ruuska has convinced a bunch of folks to help him build a functioning spark chamber (which is pretty cool, high voltage FTW), and then to put it on top of a steel tower covered with a few kW of addressable LEDs. Because that totally makes sense. The particle detectors will output data to a BeagleBone that controls the LEDs, and the design is being open-sourced once it's functional. Details at the story URL. (They're also running a Kickstarter, but I'm not linking that.)

Submission + - US Supreme Court invalidates patent for being software patent (swpat.org)

Submitted by ciaran_o_riordan
ciaran_o_riordan writes: The US Supreme Court has just invalidated a patent for being a software patent! To no fanfare, the Court has spent the past months reviewing a case, Alice v. CLS Bank, which posed the question of "Whether claims to computer-implemented inventions ... are directed to patent-eligible subject matter". Their ruling was just published, and what we can say already is that the court was unanimous in finding this particular software patent invalid, saying: "the method claims, which merely require generic computer implementation, fail to transform that abstract idea into a patent-eligible invention", and go on to conclude that because "petitioner’s system and media claims add nothing of substance to the underlying abstract idea, we hold that they too are patent ineligible". The 'End Software Patents' wiki has a page for commenting the key extracts and listing third-party analyses. Analysis will appear there as the day(s) goes on. Careful reading is needed to get an idea of what is clearly invalidated (file formats?), and what areas are left for future rulings. If you can help, well, it's a wiki. Software Freedom Law Center's website will also be worth checking in the near future.

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