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Submission + - Hijacking Ships and Planes with Cheap GPS Spoofers

Submitted by Orome1
Orome1 writes: After demonstrating a successful GPS spoofing attack against a drone (UAV — unmanned aerial vehicle) last June, Cockrell School of Engineering Assistant Professor Todd Humphreys and his student research team have now proved that a GPS flaw and a few relatively cheap tools can be used to hijacks both ships and planes. With a laptop, an antenna, and a custom GPS spoofer that cost only $3,000 to build, the team managed to create a false GPS signal that the crew unknowingly accepted as the correct one and used it for navigation, and this resulted in the ship veering way off the original course. In the meantime, The Economist has published a timely and interesting piece about GPS jamming, which supports Humphreys' claims about how simple and trivial is to disrupt the workings of satellite positioning systems.

Submission + - Asynchronous procedurally-generated competitive multiplayer in the browser

Submitted by richtaur
richtaur writes: Procedurally generated content seems to be all the rage these days. It can be a useful tool for extending content and increasing replayability, but at the slight cost of players losing relative comparisons. When the level design is always different, it can be difficult to compare player skill levels.

In this browser-based alpha, procedural generation is deterministic, backed by a simple linear congruential generator. Each time a dungeon is generated, the seed value for the pseudorandom number generator is cached. When a player’s game is over, a URL is displayed that has the seed and score information encoded within. This makes for a very small amount of data that can easily fit within HTTP GET limitations. When the challenger's game is over, the two scores are compared, and comparative skill levels can be determined.

Submission + - ASCAP petitions FCC to deny Pandora's purchase of Radio Station

Submitted by chipperdog
chipperdog writes: NorthPine.com reports: "ASCAP is firing back against Pandora Radio's attempt to get lower music royalty rates by buying a terrestrial radio station, "Hits 102.7" (KXMZ Box Elder-Rapid City). In a petition to deny, ASCAP alleges "Pandora has failed to fully disclose its ownership, and to adequately demonstrate that it complies with the Commission’s foreign ownership rules." ASCAP also alleges that Pandora has no intention of operating KXMZ to serve the public interest, but is rather only interested in obtaining lower royalty rates. Pandora reached a deal to buy KXMZ from Connoisseur Media for $600,000 earlier this year and is already running the station through a local marketing agreement.
Idle

Submission + - Trees to call for help if illegally felled (mongabay.com)

Submitted by Damien1972
Damien1972 writes: The Brazilian government has begun fixing trees in the Amazon rainforest with a wireless device, known as Invisible Tracck, which will allow trees to contact authorities once they are felled and moved. Here's how it works: Brazilian authorities fix the Invisible Tracck onto a tree. An illegal logger cuts down the tree and puts it onto a truck for removal, unaware that they are carrying a tracking device. Once Invisible Tracck comes within 20 miles (32 kilometers) of a cellular network it will 'wake up' and alert authorities.

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