30430811
submission
Hkibtimes writes:
Nikki Perez was waiting to catch a flight at the Amarillo Airport in Texas when North America's deadliest spider, the brown recluse, sunk its venomous fangs into the back of her neck. Over the next few days the her face swelled up to nearly twice its size, shutting one of her eyes, and her right ear began to rot off.
30430389
submission
Trailrunner7 writes:
Those multi-gesture passcode locks on Android phones that give users (and their spouses) fits apparently present quite a challenge for the FBI as well. Frustrated by a swipe passcode on the seized phone of an alleged gang leader, FBI officials have requested a search warrant that would force Google to "provide law enforcement with any and all means of gaining access, including login and password information, password reset, and/or manufacturer default code ("PUK"), in order to obtain the complete contents of the memory of cellular telephone".
The request is part of a case involving an alleged gang leader and human trafficker named Dante Dears in California. Dears served several years in prison for his role in founding a gang in California called PhD, and upon his release he went back to his activities with the gang, according to the FBI's affidavit.
30375245
submission
Hkibtimes writes:
The two top players in the smartphone wars are going head-to-head for the hearts and minds of consumers with the newest versions of Android and iOS – Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) and iOS 5.1.Android 4.0, commonly known as Ice Cream Sandwich, or ICS for short, has been out since Oct 2011. Many might not have realized this, since the OS hasn’t found its way on many devices as of yet. Meanwhile, on Wednesday 7, 2012, Apple showcased and released iOS 5.1 to all who are able to accept it, paving the way for some serious competition.Here’s a quick comparison between the two OSes.
30126257
submission
Hkibtimes writes:
Two strong solar flares are heading towards earth. They will reach earth on 8 March at about 1:25 AM EST. These solar flares are so powerful they can disrupt power grids, satellites, high frequency radio communication and the global positioning system.
30109271
submission
firegate writes:
We've come to rely on a piece of specialty software that costs $7000 per license, with a 10-year expiration on each license. The software checks licensing at startup against an online activation server, and each copy has a $750 annual maintenance agreement to cover updates and support. With support generally unable to solve issues and no product updates in ages, we chose to let the maintenance agreement lapse. A couple of months later, one copy of the software displayed a licensing conflict at startup. The software vendor refused to correct the issue, which was on their end with the licensing server, until we agreed to pay out the annual maintenance fee — despite the fact that we are only one year into the 10-year license window. Are their actions legal, and is there any recourse in situations where software vendors hold licenses hostage in this manner?
30106595
submission
NotSanguine writes:
The cost of claiming a legitimate income tax refund in Hyderabad, India? 10,000 rupees.
The going rate to get a child who has already passed the entrance requirements into high school in Nairobi, Kenya? 20,000 shillings.
The expense of obtaining a driver’s license after having passed the test in Karachi, Pakistan? 3,000 rupees.
Such is the price of what Swati Ramanathan calls “retail corruption,” the sort of nickel-and-dime bribery, as opposed to large-scale graft, that infects everyday life in so many parts of the world.
Ms. Ramanathan and her husband, Ramesh, along with Sridar Iyengar, set out to change all that in August 2010 when they started ipaidabribe.com, a site that collects anonymous reports of bribes paid, bribes requested but not paid and requests that were expected but not forthcoming.
30101917
submission
Zothecula writes:
A flow battery is a rechargeable fuel cell that pumps a solution of charged metals dissolved in an electrolyte through a membrane to convert chemical energy into electricity. Flow batteries can be rapidly "recharged" by replacing the electrolyte liquid while simultaneously recovering the spent material for external recharging. Researchers at the U.S. Department of Defense's Sandia National Laboratories have discovered a new family of metal-based liquid salt electrolytes, for use in just such flow batteries. The electrochemically reversible Metal-based Ionic Liquids (MetILs) could lead to batteries packed with 3-10 times the energy density of other available storage technologies.
30101569
submission
vinn writes:
Wine 1.4 was released today and includes support for a wide range of applications, including Office 2010. There are some major architectural changes, including a built-in DIB engine for better graphics display and a new audio stack designed around the newer Vista / Win 7 system and integrated into the native audio system. Almost every other subsystem received substantial updates, including Direct3D, the Gecko-based web browsing components, and better internationalization. The release notes contain more detail and you can download the source code now, or wait for packages to appear soon.
29795393
submission
Hkibtimes writes:
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) doesn't plan to — and never did — tout prototypes of future devices at the Mobile World Congress or at any other electronics exhibition; it doesn't provide teasers; and it doesn't intentionally misplace prototypes at a San Francisco, California-area bar.
29795047
submission
colinneagle writes:
If Windows 8 is going to be successful at all, it'll be among consumers. And if that happens significantly enough, the increasingly accepted BYOD trend in the enterprise may cause a disconnect between the expectations of employees and the reality of their employers' IT environments. Although employees will see their tablets' compatibility with Windows applications as an opportunity to improve productivity, their migration-fatigued employer will treat it as just another personally owned device. From there, conflict is likely to ensue.
29764013
submission
Hkibtimes writes:
International whistle-blowing Web site WikiLeaks has begun publishing confidential e-mails from a U.S.-based global intelligence company, Strategic Forecasting Inc. (Stratfor). According to details on its site, WikiLeaks is in possession of more than 5 million such electronic documents.