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Security

Submission + - Trojan responsible for plane crash? FUD or fact? (electricalchemy.net)

Submitted by pariax
pariax writes: Tired of a week of stories hyping the role the malware infection may have played in the Spanair crash, a security consultant and pilot has dissected the official report on the incident and provides a detailed account of the chain of failures that led to the crash. AV vendors duck and cover!
Software

Submission + - Steam Survery Says: Gamers Using Wrong Resolution 2

Submitted by djdevon3
djdevon3 writes: According to Steam's Hardware Survey of July 2010 a majority of gamers are now playing with 5:4 resolutions instead of 4:3. The most popular resolution used by gamers right now is 1280x1024. Obviously gamers are intending to use 4:3 resolutions but choosing the wrong one... in mass. What would attribute to such widespread misconfiguration of graphics card resolutions? The most likely culprit; gamers were used to 1024x768 as we all were. 1024 sticks in the mind so it's quite easy to understand why someone would choose the incorrect 5:4 resolution especially since there is only a subtle variation of size and text distortion.

So what is the correct resolution for 4:3?
It's actually 1280x960. There is obviously a large lack of education about the correct resolution for 1280, 4:3 users. If we are going to leave 1024 behind it's time to tell your friends and make sure everyone is on the same page especially if they are a gamer. It's almost embarrassing to see such a large technologically driven demographic using technology incorrectly. Gamers are supposed to be on the leading edge of technology (minus porn industry supposedly). See the results for yourself and have a good laugh.

Original Article: LegendaryGamers.net
Idle

Submission + - Guy Trademarks Town Welcome; Sends Invoices (techdirt.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: In yet another example of intellectual property run amok, a guy in the small town of Parry Sound, Ontario has trademarked the phrase "Welcome to Parry Sound," and has been sending $1,000 invoices to anyone using the phrase. He was even able to get Facebook to shut down a group called "Welcome to Parry Sound," by claiming trademark infringement.
Transportation

Submission + - Buckeye Bullet Racer Breaks EV Speed Record (inhabitat.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Ohio State’s lithium ion-powered Buckeye Bullet 2 just shattered the world land speed record for a battery-powered vehicle. The streamlined electric racer averaged 291 miles per in back-to-back tests this week in the Utah Salt Flats. The Bullet, which was designed by students at Ohio State University, may not be coming to a dealership near you anytime soon, but its battery comes from A123 Systems, whose products will also power Chrysler cars and Eaton trucks.
Government

Submission + - Social Security to award massive network deal (networkworld.com)

Submitted by coondoggie
coondoggie writes: The Social Security Administration says it will announce in September a new award for data networking services, jumpstarting a critical IT project that has been delayed for more than a year following a successful — but secretive — legal protest of the original awards.

Submission + - Colo Company Will Submerge Servers (datacenterknowledge.com)

Submitted by 1sockchuck
1sockchuck writes: Liquid cooling is fairly common in high performance computing and supercomputing environments, but seen less often in colocation facilities. Austin-based Midas Networks will soon offer colo customers the opportunity to submerge their servers in a liquid cooling enclosure from Green Revolution Cooling. Increased use of high-density racks has prompted the recent introduction of several new liquid cooling products for data centers, including the Iceotope "cooling bags" for rack-mount servers and Liquid Blade for immersing blade servers.
             

Submission + - GPS Tracking Without a Warrant Declared Legal (yahoo.com) 2

Submitted by jnaujok
jnaujok writes: The Ninth Circuit court has declared that attaching a GPS tracker to your car, as it sits in your driveway, or, by extension on a public street, and then using it to monitor every one of your movements, is totally legal, and can be performed by the police without needing a warrant. So, if you live in the Western United States, big brother has arrived.
Science

Submission + - Possible Treatment For Ebola (ibtimes.com)

Submitted by RedEaredSlider
RedEaredSlider writes: Researchers at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases have found a class of drugs that could provide treatment for Ebola and Marburg hemorrhagic fever.

The new drugs are called "antisense" compounds, and they allow the immune system to attack the viruses before they can do enough damage to kill the patient. Travis Warren, research scientist at USAMRIID, said while the work is still preliminary — the drugs have been tested only on primates — the results are so far promising. In the case of Ebola, five of eight monkeys infected with the virus lived, and with Marburg, all survived.

The drugs were developed as part of a program to deal with possible bioterrorist threats, in partnership with AVI Biopharma.
Hardware Hacking

Submission + - Grad Student Invents Cheap Laser Cutter (reprap.org)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Peter Jansen, a PhD student and member of the RepRap community, has constructed a working prototype of an inexpensive table-top laser cutter built out of old CD/DVD drives as an offshoot of his efforts to design an under $200 open-source Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) 3D printer. Where traditional laser cutters use powerful, fixed-focus beams, this new technique dynamically adjusts the focal point of the laser using a reciprocating motion similar to a reciprocating saw, allowing a far less powerful and inexpensive laser diode to be used. The technique is currently limited to cutting black materials to a depth of only a few millimeters, but should still be useful and enabling for Makers and other crafters. The end-goal is to create a hybrid inexpensive 3D printer that can be easily reconfigured for 2D laser cutting, providing powerful making tools to the desktop.
Privacy

Submission + - 9th Circuit: Gov't can track you in secret w/ GPS (time.com)

Submitted by
EmagGeek
EmagGeek writes: "Even Time Magazine Online thinks that it's scary that "Government agents can sneak onto your property in the middle of the night, put a GPS device on the bottom of your car and keep track of everywhere you go. This doesn't violate your Fourth Amendment rights, because you do not have any reasonable expectation of privacy in your own driveway — and no reasonable expectation that the government isn't tracking your movements."

"The court went on to make a second terrible decision about privacy: that once a GPS device has been planted, the government is free to use it to track people without getting a warrant."

I guess if you can't afford to put gates and access control around your property, then you have fewer rights than those who can."

Comment Oh go (Score 1) 547

by djdevon3 (#33286300) Attached to: ISPs Lie About Broadband "Up To" Speeds
That's because we're passionate and you're obviously NOT. Where would we be if Christopher Columbus said "Yeah I'm fine with the world being flat", or if JFK said "Before this decade is out we won't put a man on the moon because it's too far and the task too hard" or if John Carmack was content with 8 bit graphics.

We don't just want more speed. We want progress and at a fair price. Because these huge companies don't have adequate competition they're happy to stick us with higher bills and stagnant technology. It's obvious you don't understand technology so please put something against your head whose mechanics involve a firing pin and "make it so number 1".

Comment Re:An Efficient Office (Score 1) 97

by djdevon3 (#32894214) Attached to: Data Centers Prepare for a Renewable Future
I really like that idea. Using hot air is easy because there's plenty generated. It's how to use the cold air most efficiently that is the hardest thing to do. Very nice concept. I wouldn't mind reading an article on it. Have you posted the practical application to a blog or something like that?

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