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Education

Which Language To Learn? 897

Posted by kdawson from the future-proofing-the-skillset dept.
LordStormes writes "I've been a Java/C++/PHP developer for about 6 years now. However, I'm seeing the jobs for these languages dry up, and Java in particular is worrisome with all the Oracle nonsense going on. I think it's time to pick up a new language or risk my skills fading into uselessness. I'm looking to do mostly Web-based back-end stuff. I've contemplated Perl, Python, Ruby, Erlang, Go, and several other languages, but I'll put it to you — what language makes the most sense now to get the jobs? I've deliberately omitted .NET — I have no desire to do the Microsoft languages."
Displays

The World's Smallest Full HD Display 243

Posted by CmdrTaco from the i-can-see-clearly-now dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Ever heard of Ortustech? Probably not. But you have heard of Casio, right? Ortustech is a joint venture between Casio Computer and Toppan Printing to develop small and medium sized displays. Today, the company is announcing a doozy with its 4.8-inch 1920 x 1080 pixel HAST (Hyper Amorphous Silicon TFT) LCD with 160-degree viewing angle, 16.8 million colors, and a pixel density of 458ppi. Amazing when you compare that to the lauded 326ppi of iPhone 4's Retina display."
Botnet

US Reigns As Most Bot-Infected Country 121

Posted by samzenpus from the we're-number-one dept.
Trailrunner7 writes "The US has by far the highest number of bot-infected computers of any country in the world, with nearly four times as many infected PCs as the country in second place, Brazil, according to a new report by Microsoft. The quarterly report on malicious software and Internet attacks shows that while some of the major botnets have been curtailed in recent months, the networks of infected PCs still represent a huge threat."
The Military

Submission + - Russia inflates its military (bbc.co.uk) 1

Submitted by zrbyte
zrbyte writes: I've heard of inflatable prank weapons, but Russia seems to take it seriously, with deploying life-sized inflatable tanks, radar stations, rocket launchers, etc. Deception is the name of the game.

From the article:

The Russian military has come up with an inventive way to deceive the enemy and save money at the same time: inflatable weapons. They look just like real ones: they are easy to transport and quick to deploy.

Submission + - As Goes Chrome OS, So Goes Google's Chrome Browser (ostatic.com) 2

Submitted by Thinkcloud
Thinkcloud writes: If you happen to think, as I do, that Google Chrome is emerging as the very best browser available, it's worth noting a point that we've made many times on OStatic: Chrome's evolution will have everything to do with the ongoing development of Google's upcoming Chrome OS. Chrome OS, Google's first operating system aimed squarely at computing desktops, is an ambitious project for Google, and, from the outset, it's been clear that because the Chrome browser interface--and much of its plumbing--form the UI and guts of Chrome OS, the fate of the operating system and its sibling browser are inextricably tied. As glimpses of version 8 of the Chrome browser appear, this seems more true than ever...
Google

Submission + - World-Changing Awesome Aside, How Will The Self-Dr (techcrunch.com)

Submitted by Thinkcloud
Thinkcloud writes: Google made a stunning revelation this morning: the existence of a secret self-driving car project. Even more amazing: it has been in testing for months, on actual roads across California, and things seem to be running smoothly. Fans of Total Recall, Minority Report, and Knight Rider are hyperventilating at the prospects. And while the technology is likely still a long way from being widely implemented (The New York Times piece on it suggests eight years), there is one big question: why?

Google’s answer seems to be a “betterment of society” one. “We’ve always been optimistic about technology’s ability to advance society, which is why we have pushed so hard to improve the capabilities of self-driving cars beyond where they are today,” Google engineer Sebastian Thrun, who spearheaded the project (and also runs Stanford’s AI Labs, and co-invented Street View), writes today.

That’s great. But Google is still a public company in the business of making money for its shareholders. So one can’t help but wonder what, if any, money-making prospects there are here?

“The Google researchers said the company did not yet have a clear plan to create a business from the experiments,” according to the NYT. Further, they quote Thrun as saying that this project is an example of Google’s “willingness to gamble on technology that may not pay off for years.”

We know Google has a history of idealism — co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, in particular — but this project cannot come cheap. And the fact is that Google remains basically a one-trick-pony when it comes to making money. They are so reliant on search advertising revenues, that if something suddenly happened to the market, they’d be totally screwed. Android may prove to be their second trick, but it’s not there yet.

But there may be more to these automated cars than just an awesomely cool concept. At our TechCrunch Disrupt event a couple weeks ago, Google CEO Eric Schmidt gave a speech about “an augmented version of humanity.” He noted that the future is about getting computers to do the things we’re not good at. One of those things is driving cars, Schmidt slyly said at the time. “Your car should drive itself. It just makes sense,” he noted. “It’s a bug that cars were invented before computers.”

If your car can drive itself, a lot of commuters would be freed up to do other things in the car — such as surf the web. One of Google’s stated goals for this project is to “free up people’s time”. That matched with Schmidt’s vision of mobile devices being with us all the time every day, likely will translate into more usage of Google.

That may sound silly and not worth all the R&D an undertaking as huge as this will require, but don’t underestimate Google. This is a company who cares deeply about shaving fractions of a second off of each search query so that you can do more of them in your waking hours. Imagine if you suddenly had an hour or more a day in your car to do whatever you wanted because you no longer had to focus on driving? Yeah. Cha-ching.

Or imagine if your on-board maps where showing you Google ads. Or you were watching Google TV in your car since you didn’t have to drive. Or you were listening to Google Music with Google ads. It’s all the same. This automated driving technology would free you up to use more Google products — which in turn make them more money. Make no mistake, Google will enter your car in a big way. And automated driving would up their return in a big way.

And, of course, none of this speaks to what, if anything, Google would actually charge for such technology implementation. You would have to believe that if and when it’s available, this automated driving tech would be built-in to cars. Would car manufacturers pay Google for it and pass off some of the costs to customers? Or would this all be subsidized by the above ideas?

It’s way too early to get into that, I’m sure. And in 8 years, there will be things out there that we can’t even imagine right now. But it’s interesting to think about. The Google Car.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I have little doubt Google is being sincere in their broader hopes for such a technology. Here’s their key blurb on that:

According to the World Health Organization, more than 1.2 million lives are lost every year in road traffic accidents. We believe our technology has the potential to cut that number, perhaps by as much as half. We’re also confident that self-driving cars will transform car sharing, significantly reducing car usage, as well as help create the new “highway trains of tomorrow.” These highway trains should cut energy consumption while also increasing the number of people that can be transported on our major roads. In terms of time efficiency, the U.S. Department of Transportation estimates that people spend on average 52 minutes each working day commuting. Imagine being able to spend that time more productively.

That first part is awesome. If we could halve the number of traffic deaths each year, it would be world-changing. And if energy consumption could be cut, it could re-shape economies and save our future. But again, don’t gloss over the last part. Freeing up those 52 minutes a day to be productive — that’s a lot of potential money for Google.

And that’s great too. If Google can spend the time and money working on such amazing technology they should be rewarded for it. There’s no rule that says you shouldn’t be able to make money by changing the world. And Google can’t be praised enough for trying.
Australia

Submission + - Australia under increasing cyber attacks (techeye.net)

Submitted by bossanovalithium
bossanovalithium writes: The Australian military networks are under continuous attack by foreign intelligence agencies.

According to the country's top electronic spy unit, the Defence Signals Directorate, Foreign spooks are are making 700 attempts a month this year, up from 200 a month last year.

Submission + - One giant leap for Big Brother (wired.com)

Submitted by JerryQ
JerryQ writes: It is a simple step from this new technology to record sounds in public places, including stadiums, the microphones will not need to be in a circle, and, after the event, replay any conversation within range. The scope for intrusion is truly terrifying. At least here in the UK the government would never sanction it. mmmph.
Iphone

Submission + - iPhone 4 limera1n jailbreak launched (thinq.co.uk)

Submitted by Stoobalou
Stoobalou writes: Inveterate Apple hacker Geohot has released the first working jailbreak for iOS 4.1-based devices, including the iPhone 4 — and makes the claim that his hack is 'unpatchable'.

The release of "limera1n" comes just prior to the planned launch of the Greenpois0n jailbreak tool based around the SHAtter exploit — but its early launch means that Greenpois0n will now not be released, in order that the exploit code can remain secret from Apple until it's needed.
Privacy

Submission + - HTML5 Draws Concern Over Risks to Privacy (nytimes.com)

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens
Hugh Pickens writes: "The NY Times reports that in the next few years, HTML5 will provide a powerful new suite of capabilities to Web developers that could give marketers and advertisers access to many more details about computer users ' online activities. The new Web language and its additional features present more tracking opportunities because the technology uses a process in which large amounts of data can be collected and stored on the user's hard drive while online. Because of that process, advertisers and others could, experts say, see weeks or even months of personal data that could include a user's location, time zone, photographs, text from blogs, shopping cart contents, e-mails and a history of the Web pages visited. "HTML5 opens Pandora's box of tracking in the Internet," says Pam Dixon, the executive director of the World Privacy Forum. Meanwhile Ian Jacobs, head of communications at the World Wide Web consortium, says the development process for HTML5 will include a public review. "There is accountability," Jacobs says. "This is not a secret cabal for global adoption of these core standards.""
Idle

Submission + - Russian army upgrades its inflatable weapons (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by jamax
jamax writes: From the TFA:
"The Russian military has come up with an inventive way to deceive the enemy and save money at the same time: inflatable weapons. They look just like real ones: they are easy to transport and quick to deploy. You name it, the Russian army is blowing it up: from pretend tanks to entire radar stations..."
But the interesting thing is these decoys are not dumb — actually they appear to be highly advanced for what I thought was a WWII-grade aerial photography countermeasures. Apparently they have heat signatures comparable with the military tech they represent, as well as the same radar signature...
And they have ballistic missiles among these inflatables, too!
Just imagine buying half a dozen of these toys and inflating them during a vacation in, say, Cuba... Just for lolz of course!

Submission + - New threat set to dethrone Zeus to (zdnet.com.au) 1

Submitted by mask.of.sanity
mask.of.sanity writes: The position of the infamous Zeus trojan may be usurped by a new upstart that is unknown to four of the six largest antivirus companies and has already been used by a criminal group to empty bank accounts across Europe and America.

The latest incarnation of the CarberP trojan possesses most of the tricks used by Zeus to steal millions of dollars from bank accounts around the world, and targets the most popular operating systems and web browsers including Microsoft's Windows 7, Vista and XP, as well as the Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox web browsers.
Science

Morphing Metals 121

Posted by samzenpus from the forge-ahead dept.
aarondubrow writes "Imagine a metal that 'remembers' its original, cold-forged shape, and can return to that shape when exposed to heat or a magnetic pulse. Like magic out of a Harry Potter novel, such a metal could contract on command, or swing back and forth like a pendulum. Believe it or not, such metals already exist. First discovered in 1931, they belong to a class of materials called 'shape memory alloys (SMA),' whose unique atomic make-up allows them to return to their initial form, or alternate between forms through a phase change."

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