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Security

Hardware Firewall On a USB Key 203

Posted by kdawson from the bad-packets-stop-here dept.
An anonymous reader writes "An Israeli startup has squeezed a complete hardware firewall into a USB key. The 'Yoggie Pico' from Yoggie Systems runs Linux 2.6 along with 13 security applications on a 520MHz PXA270, an Intel processor typically used in high-end smartphones. The Pico works in conjunction with Windows XP or Vista drivers that hijack traffic at network layers 2-3, below the TCP/IP stack, and route it to USB, where the Yoggie analyzes and filters traffic at close-to-100Mbps wireline speeds. The device will hit big-box retailers in the US this month at a price of $180." Linux and Mac drivers are planned, according to the article.
Security

Submission + - PCI - Minnesota LAW!

Submitted by
cybermalandro@gmail.com
cybermalandro@gmail.com writes: "Minnesotas governor signed a law requiring companies that have had a security breach and were storing prohibited card data to reimburse banks for the costs of blocking and reissuing cards."
Sci-Fi

Submission + - Indian made car running on compressed air is ready

Submitted by
Gary
Gary writes: "The first commercial car to be powered by compressed air could be about to hit the production lines, as Indian automaker Tata Motors prepares to build ex-Formula One engineer Guy Nègre's design. The City Cat runs on nothing but compressed air — which can be refueled at "air stations," and overnight using a built-in compressor, it has a top speed of 68 mph and a range of 125 miles. The Air Car designers are working on a hybrid version that can compress air while it's operating, potentially making cross-India journeys possible."
Sony

Sony Sued for Blu-Ray Patent Violation 153

Posted by Zonk from the how-shiny-is-too-shiny dept.
Jaidan writes "According to a Gamespot article, a California-based company named Target Technology is suing Sony over patents it allegedly holds for silver based reflective surfaces. The suit claims that products marketed under the Blu-ray name infringe on a patent it owns for reflective layer materials in optical discs. Target is seeking a permanent injunction preventing Sony from violating its patent rights in the future, as well as damages with interest, multiplied due to what it characterizes as deliberate and willful infringement. ' The patent addresses what Target called a need for specific types of silver-based alloys with the advantages (but not the price) of gold. According to the patent, the alloys are also more resistant to corrosion than pure silver. Target does not specify in its suit whether it believes all of Sony's Blu-ray discs infringe on its patent, or the suit applies to just a portion of the discs manufactured. The patent was filed in April of 2004 and granted in March of 2006.'"
Spam

Bye Bye Spam and Phishing with DKIM? 134

Posted by Zonk from the teflon-for-your-mailbox dept.
ppadala writes "While research from PEW Internet (PDF) shows that few users really are bothered by spam, IETF is supporting a public key cryptographic based e-mail authentication mechanism called DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) Signatures . The new spec is supposed to help in fighting both spam and fraud. From Ars Technica: 'DKIM's precursor, DomainKeys, was originally developed by Yahoo. The specifications for DKIM were then extended by an informal group of IT organizations that included companies like Yahoo, Cisco, EarthLink, Microsoft, and VeriSign, among others. It was first submitted by the group to the IETF in mid-2005, but only recently published by the IETF. The spec is still to be incorporated into a more formal draft and submitted for approval, however.'"

Feed Comcast trying to secure in-theater movies for on-demand. For $30-50 each. (engadget.com)

From feed by engfeed

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Oh, you're gonna love this one. So, those familiar with Steven Soderbergh's work know that last year he did a triple-release film called Bubble, which hit theaters, cable, and DVD all at once; definitely a novel idea for getting your media to as many people as possible -- but at what price would this become tantalizing for studios to consider it on a mass-consumer release, like Spidey 3? Comcast, which is working on securing movies currently in theaters for VOD, seems to think that it should cost $30-50 per screening. Per. Screening. Ok, considering some Pay-Per-View event prices, that's not unrealistic if you have a crowd over and charge admission (but we're fairly sure they'll also propose installing a webcam in every VOD user's home to count the eyeballs watching, and sue if it's more than a couple). But greater problems than large private showings face the model: the theater industry is positively fuming about the idea of simultaneous release, making all manner of threats against movie studios that are considering joining up. Don't worry though, somehow we have a feeling not too many people are going to go the BYOT (bring your own theater) method and lay down fifty friggin bones for some DRM laden one-shot viewing of a new movie.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Feed Scientists Attach Genes To Mini-chromosomes In Maize (sciencedaily.com)

From feed by sdfeed
A team of scientists has discovered a way to create engineered mini-chromosomes in maize and attach genes to those mini-chromosomes. This discovery opens new possibilities for the development of crops that are multiply resistant to viruses, insects, fungi, bacteria and herbicides, and for the development of proteins and metabolites that can be used to treat human illnesses.
Businesses

Submission + - PayPal's Recent System Plagues User Accounts

Submitted by Tech_Maker_and_User
Tech_Maker_and_User writes: On Friday, May 11, I had funds from a customer deposit become unavailable to me from my PayPal account. When I called as to why I could not retrieve the funds I was informed by the customer service rep that there is a technical problem and that the problem would soon be resolved. After the weekend, I found that my funds were still unavailable to me for the one deposit. I decided to dig a little deeper and called back but this time spoke to a PayPal customer service representative named Kim. When I asked about the technical issue, she responded, "Do you mean the one plaguing PayPal?" She stated that PayPal recently applied a large system update which has produced this error. "We can see your deposit, but it doesn't reflect in your balance", said Kim. "We have a lot of developers working on this problem even over the weekend, but we cannot give an exact date as to when the problem will be resolved." Kim stated that they are not applying provisional credits because they chose to fix the problem and estimated that it wouldn't be long before the problem is resolved. She added my PayPal account to the "list" of other PayPal accounts that are experiencing this issue.

Feed Guessbots navigate by making informed predictions (engadget.com)

From feed by engfeed

Filed under: Robots

A new system of robotic navigation being developed at Purdue University enhances a bot's ability to get around unfamiliar environments by allowing it to "guess" what unknown areas look like. Unlike the traditional method of "simulataneous localization and mapping" (hilariously nicknamed SLAM), in which bots take detailed measurements of an area to generate maps, the guessbots divide an area into cells and make predictions about "frontier cells," or areas adjacent to cells which have already been mapped. Each frontier cell is then assigned a "confidence score" -- cells with low scores need further investigation, while those with high scores can be added to the map. Initial computer simulations of the system resulted in virtual guessbots needing to map less than 33% of a building to navigate successfully, and while real-life prototyping already underway doesn't seem to have gotten quite as good, it's produced higher-quality maps in shorter amounts of time than SLAM, according to the developers. The guessbots do have limitations, however: they system only works well in highly-structured environments like buildings -- outdoors is probably out -- and like all robotic navigation systems, small measurement errors add up fast. Even still, let's hope this filters down to the consumer level fast -- a navigation system that's able to predict what's coming up next instead of blindly following a map just might keep us from wrecking all those cars.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Data Storage

Submission + - Microsoft briefly reveals online storage service

Submitted by
Lucas123
Lucas123 writes: "This past weekend, Microsoft briefly revealed the online backup service they've been talking about for two years, according to a story on Computerworld. 'The hosted backup service, now called Window Live Folders, will initially offer users 500MB of free storage that they can organize into personal, shared and private folders to separate content and limit access. "Password-protected online file storage. Always available where you need it," the site's tagline read before it went offline.'"

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