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Submission + - Creepy New Seats Monitor Your Heart Rate, Can Control The Car

Submitted by cartechboy
cartechboy writes: Cars already have the technology to determine when you're drowsy, that's nothing new. But having seats with sensors in them monitoring your heart rate to determine if you're falling asleep, that's new, and creepy. A new project from Nottingham Trent University in the UK is working on an electrocardiogram (ECG) built into the driver's seat to detect heart rate and determine when the driver is too fatigued—or worse, falling asleep—in order to improve road safety. The tech uses circuits integrated right into the seats to monitor heart rate, respiration, and more to monitor alertness and health. The idea is the system can take over using active cruise control, lane-keep assist, and other safety technology if the driver were to be drowsy or fall asleep. Of course, the creepy part is the car knows your health and determines whether it would be more fit to drive than you. Maybe in the future you won't get to decide if you're fit to drive, your car will.

Submission + - How a supercomputer beat the scrap heap and lived on to retire in Africa. (utexas.edu)

Submitted by jorge_salazar
jorge_salazar writes: Pieces of the decommissioned Ranger supercomputer, 40 racks in all, were shipped to researchers in South Africa, Tanzania, and Botswana to help seed their supercomputing aspirations. They say they'll need supercomputers to solve their growing science problems in astronomy, bioinformatics, climate modeling and more. Ranger's own beginnings were described by the co-founder of Sun Microsystems as a "historic moment in petaflop computing."

Submission + - Hack A Tesla Model S Challenge Set With $10,000 Prize

Submitted by cartechboy
cartechboy writes: It seems there's a new hack challenge set every week, but this time, it seems different. A challenge has been thrown down to hack a Tesla Model S with a $10,000 prize. The organizers of a computer security conference have set the challenge and it's open to anyone that registers for the Syscan conference. Taking place in Beijing from July 16-17, the rules for the hack competition haven't been revealed yet but a Model S will be on display for hackers to try their luck on. It's important to note that Tesla itself isn't involved in the competition in any official capacity, nor does it support the competition. If successful, this wouldn't be the first time a Tesla Model S has been hacked. In that instance Tesla was quick to warn people that making changes in the Model S' software would immediately void the car's warranty. Given the car's high-tech nature, it's no shock Tesla's taking security seriously. With $10,000 on the line, it'll be interesting to see if anyone manages to crack the code.

Submission + - Apple Gets Its First Batch Of iPhone Chips From TSMC (businessinsider.com)

Submitted by redletterdave
redletterdave writes: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world’s biggest chip maker by revenue, has shipped its first batch of microprocessors to Apple as the iPhone maker looks to diversify its overseas suppliers. Apple will continue to rely on Samsung for its microprocessors, but as the rivalry between Apple and Samsung heats up in the mobile and soon wearable arenas, the deal with TSMC allows Apple to be less reliant on Samsung and therefore have more leverage with respect to price negotiations for future chips, as TSMC has supplanted Samsung Electronics as Apple’s chief chipmaker for iPhones and iPads. Since 2011, Apple has been striking deals with other display and chip makers around Asia to reduce its dependence on Samsung. As a result of this slowdown in sales, Samsung on Monday announced operating income for its fiscal second quarter had sunk to a two-year low, blaming “weak” sales of low- and medium-end smartphones, strong competition and subpar demand.

Submission + - Tesla Battles Trademark Troll in China

Submitted by cartechboy
cartechboy writes: Looks like Tesla is battling copyright issues over its name in China, as a single businessman there trademark trolls them. Zhan Baosheng has sued Tesla to stop the company from selling cars in China because he filed for the Chinese copyrights of the Tesla name in 2006 and was granted those trademarks in 2009. Baosheng had also set up a website and trademarked the Tesla logo--hoping to profit from Tesla's expected plans to sell in cars in China. Tesla, meanwhile, says its claim to the name has already been upheld by other Chinese authorities and that the lawsuit is without merit. The electric car company has actually considered using the phonetic name "Te Su Le" to sell its cars if needed. China drivers now buy more cars than those in any other country and the market is a key for luxury car sales.

Submission + - Single European Copyright Title on the Horizon (dropbox.com)

Submitted by presroi
presroi writes: It has been 13 years after the last harmonization effort of copyright within the European Union and this period might soon be over. After the election of a new European Parliament in May this year, Jean-Claude Juncker has been nominated to become the new President of the European Commission. He has named a unified copyright his top priority, a statement repeated today at a hearing before the Greens/EFA group in the European parliament (transscript of the question by MEP Julia Reda and his answer in German, Video recording). These statements are coinciding with the upcoming release of a report by the General Directorate in charge of copyright, of which an advanced draft has been already leaked to the internet. The report analyzes four possible policy options, one of which is the introduction of a Single EU Copyright title.

Submission + - New Robot Valet Will Park Your Car at German Airport

Submitted by cartechboy
cartechboy writes: Travelers at Dusseldorf Airport in Germany don't even have to park their cars anymore. Last week the airport began testing a self-driving fork-lift like robot system called "Ray" that delivers cars to and from parking spaces. Drivers simply pull into the parking lot and check the car in on a digital touchscreen. The robot valet takes it from there. Sensors measure the vehicle dimensions so the robot can adjust its arms, pick the car up and park it in one of the 249 automated parking spots. The electric-powered Ray travels up to 6 mph.guided by laser navigation and mapping software With a smart phone app, drivers can even let Ray know they are going through customs, so the car is ready right when you return. Best part — the related video is narrated in German.

Submission + - Mercedes' Autonomous Trucks Mean Drivers Can Read iPad on Highway

Submitted by cartechboy
cartechboy writes: Big rig operators may not be thrilled to hear it (or maybe they will). Daimler board member Dr. Wolfgang Bernhard was quoted as saying "The truck of the future is a Mercedes-Benz that drives itself." The German automaker has completed a first public road test of an autonomously-driven truck. Radar and stereo cameras keep the rig on the right course once it's at cruising speed, freeing the driver to get "other" work done. (Watch the video to get a sense for a trucker being able to settle in with his iPad.) Mercedes says the self-driving truck could allow drivers to perform tasks that might otherwise be handled by office workers. So maybe it's office workers that need to worry about autonomous trucks, rather than the drivers.

Submission + - Google Glass wearers can steal your password (cnn.com)

Submitted by mpicpp
mpicpp writes: Remember the kid who tried to cheat off you by looking over your shoulder to copy your test answers? He's baaaack.
But this time he's wearing Google Glass — and he's after your iPad PIN.

Cyber forensics experts at the University of Massachusetts in Lowell have developed a way to steal passwords entered on a smartphone or tablet using video from Google's face-mounted gadget and other video-capturing devices. The thief can be nearly ten feet away and doesn't even need to be able to read the screen — meaning glare is not an antidote.
The security researchers created software that maps the shadows from fingertips typing on a tablet or smartphone. Their algorithm then converts those touch points into the actual keys they were touching, enabling the researchers to crack the passcode.

They tested the algorithm on passwords entered on an Apple iPad, Google's Nexus 7 tablet, and an iPhone 5.

Why should you be worried?
"We could get your bank account password," researcher Xinwen Fu said.

Submission + - Microsoft kills off MapPoint and Streets & Trips in favor of Bing Maps 1

Submitted by DroidJason1
DroidJason1 writes: Microsoft has killed off two of its mapping products, MapPoint and Streets & Trips. Both of these services have received their last update and will soon be retired in favor of Microsoft's premier mapping product, Bing Maps. The company has yet to go public with a press release announcing the retirement of these two mapping services, but the Redmond giant has quietly mentioned the fate on both the services' websites. MapPoint was first released back in 1999 and made it easier to view, edit, and integrate maps into software. Streets & Trips was a route planning package. Microsoft is now pushing Bing Maps as the service that can do all this and more.

Submission + - Facial Recognition Might Be Coming To Your Car

Submitted by cartechboy
cartechboy writes: What if you got into your car and you had to authenticate that it was you behind the wheel? That might be what's coming in the near future as Ford's working with Intel to bring facial recognition to the car. The idea would be to improve safety and in-car tech with this system which is being called Project Mobil. When someone enters a Project Mobil-equipped car the system uses front-facing cameras to authenticate the driver. If the driver can't be authenticated it'll send a photo to the vehicle owner's phone asking for permission for this person to drive the vehicle. Once identified, the car can then automatically adjust certain settings to the driver's preference. This could also theoretically allow parents to control how loud their kids listen to the music while driving, how fast they can drive, and even simply monitor them driving. Obviously this NSA-like surveillance tech is a bit creepy on some levels, but there could be a lot of terrific applications for it. While only an experiment, don't be surprised if your dashboard stares back at you eventually.

Submission + - Yes, Men Always Swipe Right: The Game Theory Of Tinder (buzzfeed.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Women have long suspected that every man on Tinder is blindly swiping right and matching with every woman regardless of their profile. Learn how the science of Game Theory actually predicts this stereotypical male behavior.

Submission + - For $10,000 You Could Make Your Car Autonomous

Submitted by cartechboy
cartechboy writes: Tired of waiting for self-driving cars from the automakers? If 2017 and 2020 just feel too far away there's now a solution it's called Cruise, and for $10,000 it'll turn your current ride into a self-driving car. Kyle Vogt started the company and recruited a team of engineers and roboticists from MIT to work on autonomous vehicles. Cruise plans to market the hardware as something that can be retrofitted to existing cars using roof-mounted sensors near the windshield, actuators to operate the controls, and a trunk-mounted computer that manages everything. The idea is that drivers can merge onto the highway and simply hit the "Cruise" button on the dashboard. This will engage the system and basically turns the car on autopilot. The system can use the steering, brakes, and throttle to keep the car in its lane. Currently the first system called RP-1 only works on current-generatinon Audi A4 and S4 models, but one would have to assume there are plans for expanding that. RP-1 is currently available for pre-order with the launch set for near year.

Submission + - A Physicist Says He Can Tornado-Proof the Midwest with 1,000-Foot Walls 1

Submitted by meghan elizabeth
meghan elizabeth writes: University of Drexel physicist Rongjia Tao has a utopian proposal to build three massive, 1,000-foot high, 165-foot thick walls around the American Midwest, in order to keep the tornadoes out.

Building three unfathomably massive anti-tornado walls would count as the infrastructure project of the decade, if not the century. It would be also be exceedingly expensive. So is Tao serious? Absolutely.

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