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Submission + - Transparent Aluminum is 30 years late, but finally here. (phys.org)

Submitted by Charliemopps
Charliemopps writes: Though it's 30 years late, Transparent Aluminum, as predicted in the 1986 film Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, may finally be here. There have been many attempts to create transparent metals in the pass few years, and some have been somewhat successful, if only for a few femtoseconds.

But now, by modifying metals like Silver and Aluminum at the subwavelength scale, researchers are developing "Meta-Materials" that causes light to interact with these metals in new and interesting ways. One of their more promising goals is to create a "perfect lens" which would allow an every day person to view things as small as a virus with the naked eye. Will this eventually lead to whale sized fish tanks as clear as glass with the strength of aluminum? Only time will tell.

Submission + - Hacking Team and Boeing Subsidiary Envisioned Drones Deploying Spyware (firstlook.org)

Submitted by Advocatus Diaboli
Advocatus Diaboli writes: The plan is described in internal emails from the Italian company Hacking Team, which makes off-the-shelf software that can remotely infect a suspect’s computer or smartphone, accessing files and recording calls, chats, emails and more. A hacker attacked the Milan-based firm earlier this month and released hundreds of gigabytes of company information online. Among the emails is a recap of a meeting in June of this year, which gives a “roadmap” of projects that Hacking Team’s engineers have underway. On the list: Develop a way to infect computers via drone. One engineer is assigned the task of developing a “mini” infection device, which could be “ruggedized” and “transportable by drone (!)” the write-up notes enthusiastically in Italian. The request appears to have originated with a query from the Washington-based Insitu, which makes a range of unmanned systems, including the small ScanEagle surveillance drone, which has long been used by the militaries of the U.S. and other countries. Insitu also markets its drones for law enforcement.

Submission + - Techies hire witch to protect computers from viruses and offices from spirits (businessinsider.com)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: Many people have had their computer or smartphone possessed by an evil demon — or at least that's what it can feel like when some mysterious bug keeps causing an app to crash, or your phone keeps shutting off for no reason.

But if you truly think your electronics have been invaded by an evil spirit, there's someone who will take your call — Reverend Joey Talley — a Wiccan witch from the San Francisco Bay Area who claims to solve supernatural issues for techies.

Submission + - Plastic Roads Sound Like a Crazy Idea, Maybe Aren't (ieee.org)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: America has an infrastructure problem. Part of that problem is our roads, which are either in terrible condition or in the process of being torn up by road crews who'll make them betterâ"until, that is, they're in terrible condition again. It's time to try something radical, and for that, we (as always) look to the Dutch for inspiration.

A Dutch construction company called VolkerWessels is partnering with the city of Rotterdam to create a prototype for a prefabricated plastic road. If it works, it would be durable, fast to construct, and way better for the environment than asphalt.

VolkerWessels' PlasticRoad concept is ambitious, to say the least. They envision pulling waste plastic out of the oceans, and then processing it into prefabricated sections of road with integrated utility channels and drainage. The composition and structure of the plastic makes it more durable than traditional asphalt, and VolkerWessels estimates that their plastic roads should last about three times as long as traditional roads.

Now make them out of photovoltaic material.

Submission + - The State of Indiana Believes Car GPS Units are "Containers" to be Searched (techdirt.com)

Submitted by ourlovecanlastforeve
ourlovecanlastforeve writes: "In our view, the GPS unit in this case is akin to a computer or cell phone. The device stores large amounts of information that could not possibly be stored in an ordinary physical container. For that reason, an electronic storage device cannot be treated as a container. Moreover, the location data it does store has been identified by the Supreme Court as private information. Just as the Supreme Court believed that treating a cell phone as a container was “a bit strained,” id. at 2491, we believe that treating the GPS device as a container under the automobile exception is inappropriate."

Submission + - Netflix hoping for free network access from ISPs (fortune.com)

Submitted by sabri
sabri writes: Netflix soared on Wall Street today after their earnings announcement. They also stated that they hope to get more free network access arrangements (aka "free peering"):

Netflix hopes the Charter peering pledge could serve not only its own interests, but establish an industry-wide practice for internet TV. Hastings said he hopes free peering will spare the emerging industry from the sort of battles that continue to plague the cable TV industry industry, in which stations go dark whenever distributor and content owner haggle over a “retransmission” price.

Some may argue Net neutrality, while others would accuse Netflix of freeloading. What's your take?

Submission + - How do you measure a supercomputer's speed? (scientific-computing.com)

Submitted by AG_2011
AG_2011 writes: The 45th TOP 500 list of the world’s fastest supercomputers has just been announced. But, what benchmarks should be applied in the future as supercomputing advances on its way to an exascale supercomputer: the hope for a machine that can do a billion billion calculations a second.

Submission + - Dozens arrested in international crackdown on Darkode crime forum (arstechnica.co.uk)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The FBI and its counterparts in Europe, Brazil, and elsewhere have arrested more than 60 people suspected of carrying out hacking crimes associated with a secretive online forum known as Darkode, according to media reports.

Submission + - Paralyzed Man Hits the Streets of NYC in a New Exoskeleton (ieee.org)

Submitted by the_newsbeagle
the_newsbeagle writes: Robert Woo was paralyzed in 2007 when a construction crane dropped a load of steel on him. Yesterday, he put on the newest "exoskeleton," essentially a pair of smart robotic legs, and strolled out into a busy Manhattan sidewalk. He was demoing the ReWalk 6.0, a $77,000 device that he plans to buy for home use.

Submission + - NSA releases open source security tool for Linux (itnews.com.au)

Submitted by Earthquake Retrofit
Earthquake Retrofit writes: NSA's systems integrity management platform — SIMP — was released to the code repository GitHub https://github.com/nationalsec... over the weekend.
NSA said it released the tool to avoid duplication after US government departments and other groups tried to replicate the product in order to meet compliance requirements set by US Defence and intelligence bodies.

Submission + - Twitter Stock Jumps Nearly 8 Percent on Fake Bloomberg News Post

Submitted by vivaoporto
vivaoporto writes: As posted on Re/code an repercuted in many other outlets Twitter stock jumped nearly 8 percent after a bogus report, attributed to Bloomberg News, said Twitter had received a $31 billion buyout offer.

The fake story, which cited "people with knowledge of the situation," appeared on a website (Google Cache version) made to look like Bloomberg's business news page and claimed that the company had received a takeover offer worth $31 billion.

The website domain, bloomberg.market (now suspended) was registered Friday, according to a search of the nonprofit Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, and the identity of the person or company who registered it is not publicly available.

Close scrutiny flagged a number of questionable elements like the name of Twitter’s former chief executive, Richard Costolo being misspelled.

A search of Internet records showed that the bloomberg.market Internet address was registered on Friday through a Panamanian service meant to keep its customers anonymous.

By late afternoon, the web page for bloomberg.market was no longer operable. A message posted on the page said, “account suspended.”

In May, a fake bid for another company, Avon Products, sent its shares as much as 20 percent higher. That offer involved a document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Last month the SEC sued a Bulgarian man, Nedko Nedev, and said he and five others worked together to violate securities laws by creating fake takeover offers. The SEC said Nedev made fake bids for Tower Group International and Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory as well as Avon.

Robert Heim, a former lawyer at the SEC, said these kinds of schemes will probably persist because news spreads so fast over social media and traders have to react so quickly.

A spokesman for Bloomberg, Ty Trippet, confirmed that the takeover article was fake.“ The story was fake and appeared on a bogus website that was not affiliated with Bloomberg,” Mr. Trippet said in a statement.

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