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Comment Re:Already used in the UK (Score 2, Informative) 545

by YodaYid (#33426230) Attached to: Building Prisons Without Walls Using GPS Devices

I'm sure that http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093894/ was a great movie, but I don't feel like clicking on a stupid obfuscated link just to know you are talking about The Running Man.

p.s. The book was a million times better, but there was no GPS tracking. In the book, the game show relied on defaming the hero's character and manipulating the public into turning him in.
Transportation

Submission + - Supercritical Fuel Results in 30% MPG Increase (greencarreports.com)

Submitted by thecarchik
thecarchik writes: A flurry of innovations to boost fuel efficiency is in the pipeline. One of them comes from a startup, Transonic Combustion, which claims its technology delivers fuel into the cylinder in a supercritical state--essentially, a fourth state of matter (after solid, liquid, and gas) in which the liquid is heating above its boiling point at very high pressure. When gasoline is injected into the cylinder as a supercritical liquid, Transonic says, it burns faster, cleaner, and closer to the center of the combustion chamber, meaning less energy is wasted as heat loss through the cylinder walls.
Mozilla

Submission + - Firefox 4 to Force HTTPS Connections (threatpost.com)

Submitted by Trailrunner7
Trailrunner7 writes: In an effort to help mitigate man-in-the-middle attacks that make normal HTTP connections look like secured HTTPS sessions, Mozilla is adding support in Firefox 4 for a new technology called HTTP Strict Transport Security that enables site operators to tell browsers to always request an HTTPS session on future visits.

The technology, which is also known as ForceTLS, is currently an IETF draft specification and Mozilla officials say it should give users more confidence in HTTPS connections over time. Right now, the existence of HTTPS in front of a URL in a browser's address bar is nothing close to a guarantee that the connection is actually a secure one. There are myriad man-in-the-middle attack scenarios that introduce a high level of uncertainty for SSL connections.
Government

Submission + - Wind Based Air Defense (nytimes.com)

Submitted by anorlunda
anorlunda writes: The NYT has a story called, "Wind Turbine Projects Run Into Resistance." It tells about military opposition to wind farm projects; especially in the Mohave Desert of California. Apparently, the spinning blades interfere with radar, both military radar and weather radar.

They go on to say, "The military says that the thousands of existing turbines in the gusty Tehachapi Mountains, to the west of the R-2508 military complex in the Mojave Desert, have already limited its abilities to test airborne radar used for target detection in F/A-18s and other aircraft."

Now there's a road map to a modern air defense system. Just put wind farms around your most important targets and the US military will be hindered in attacking you by air.

Submission + - Diaspora Confirms Release Date of Sept 15th (joindiaspora.com)

Submitted by Tokerat
Tokerat writes: Diaspora has posted an update on their progress, although a bit late, which confirms a release date of Sept 15th, 2010.

"Since August is nearly over, it is time for an update and answers to some questions. We have been coding. We have Diaspora working, we like it, and it will be open-sourced on September 15th."

Also, it sounds as though they're making progress and working with some interesting folks, and made a few changes to their development timeline:

"The publicity and money that you have given us has let us work with great designers like Janice Frasier, through her new program LUXr, whose constant reminders that we are not the user have kept us honest and focused. Pivotal Labs has also helped us prioritize, and we have pushed back more technical features like plugins and APIs in favor of simple and high value features. Our original goals remain the same, and these features are still in our timeline."

Now, where are the demo videos?

Comment Re:It's Sad... (Score 1) 117

by YodaYid (#32480174) Attached to: Australian Police To Investigate Google Over Wi-Fi Scanning

Why are you assuming that Google is only scanning for open WiFi Routers? My understanding is that they are scanning *all* routers, whether they are secure or not (mine is secured - I also turned off SSID broadcasting. Thanks for the condescension, though). Just because your router is "secure" doesn't mean Google can't get information about it, like the SSID and MAC address.

Comment Re:It's Sad... (Score 0) 117

by YodaYid (#32478938) Attached to: Australian Police To Investigate Google Over Wi-Fi Scanning

You're actively broadcasting information about your home network and then complaining when somebody listens.

I'm not actively broadcasting anything - my router is. It may seem like a silly distinction, but as far as I'm concerned, all I want is private wireless service in the confines of my own home. The fact that my router is sending out information beyond the bounds of my home is an unfortunate side effect of physics. Your argument is akin to "If you don't want someone to watch you with an infrared camera, stop giving off so much heat!" Sorry, I can't help it. That doesn't mean it's okay for you to set up an IR camera outside my home.

The only information Google ever collect is the information you give them, be it through using their services or buy specifically buying a wireless rooter to broadcast it to them. If you don't like them collecting information stop giving it to them.

I didn't give Google anything. They sent a van to my street and took it, without my consent or permission.

Comment Re:Just wear a mask (Score 1) 71

by YodaYid (#32002886) Attached to: Hacking Big Brother With Help From Revlon

You're missing the point of his thesis - he's trying to make face detection evasion fashionable, so it's a lot more subtle than wearing a mask.

The idea is more like hipster makeup that would not tip off the police that anything was wrong.

Just so people are aware, this particular Masters program at NYU is part of the art school.

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