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Submission + - Ask Slashdot: Where Can I Find Good Replacement Batteries? (google.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: I have an old phone with a battery that barely works any more. My current phone's battery is mediocre — I can put up with it, but I've been thinking about getting a new one. My four-year-old ThinkPad holds less of a charge than I'd like, and less than it did when I bought it. In all these cases, the only thing holding me back from buying a new battery is that I'm not sure where to find a good one. Searching for my phone's battery on Amazon yields a dozen results, all fairly cheap. But which are reliable? They all seem to have varying reviews, ranging from "Perfect official factory replacement!" to "Garbage knock-off, worse than the battery I replaced." Part numbers don't seem to help, as the knock-offs replicate those pretty well. I ask you, Slashdot: where can I find a good replacement battery?

Submission + - Google Wants To Test Driverless Cars in a Simulation (theguardian.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Google has been testing its autonomous vehicles on U.S. roads for a while now. In fact, they're required to, by law. "California's regulations stipulate autonomous vehicles must be tested under "controlled conditions" that mimic real-world driving as closely as possible. Usually, that has meant a private test track or temporarily closed public road." It's easy enough to test a few prototypes, but whenever autonomous cars start being produced by manufacturers, it'll become a lot more complicated. Now, Google is lobbying to change that law to allow testing via computer simulation. Safety director Ron Medford said, "Computer simulations are actually more valuable, as they allow manufacturers to test their software under far more conditions and stresses than could possibly be achieved on a test track." Google spokeswoman Katelin Jabbari said, "In a few hours, we can test thousands upon thousands of scenarios which in terms of driving all over again might take decades." Shee adds that simulator data can also easily provide information on how human behavior creeps into driving. "It's not just about the physics of avoiding a crash. It's also about the emotional expectation of passengers and other drivers." For example, when one of Google's computer-controlled cars is cut off, the software brakes harder than it needs to, because this makes the passengers feel safer. Critics say relying heavily on simulation data is flawed because it doesn't take into account how other cars react to the computer's driving.

Feed Google News Sci Tech: Western US Drought Causing Earth's Crust to Rise - Voice of America (google.com)

From feed by feedfeeder

Voice of America
Western US Drought Causing Earth's Crust to Rise
Voice of America
The major drought gripping the western United States is not only drying the landscape, it's causing the land to rise. Researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California at San Diego used GPS data to determine the drought has...
GPS Discovers the West Is So Dry, It's RisingNBCNews.com
California Drought Has Resulted in Mountains Rising Another Half an Inch, New ... University Herald
Drought is causing Earth's crust to rise in the WestPort Huron Times Herald
WallStreet OTC-Los Angeles Times
all 180 news articles

Submission + - 'MythBusters' drop Kari Byron, Grant Imahara, Tory Belleci 1

Submitted by rbrandis
rbrandis writes: In a video announcement Thursday on Discovery Channel, "MythBusters" hosts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman revealed that longtime co-hosts and fan favorites Kari Byron, Grant Imahara, and Tory Belleci are no longer on the show.

"This next season we're going back to our origins with just Adam and me," Hyneman said in the video, which explained that the change took hold as of the season's last episode on August 21.

Submission + - U.S. University Restricts Network Access to Social Media, Political Content 1

Submitted by onproton
onproton writes: Northern Illinois University recently began restricting student access to webpages that contain "illegal or unethical" content which, according to University policy, includes resources used for "political activities...and the organization or participation in meetings, rallies and demonstrations." A student raised concerns after attempting to access the Wikipedia page for Westboro Baptist Church, and receiving a filter message informing him that his access of this page would likely violate the University's Acceptable Use Policy, along with a warning that "all violations would be reviewed." This has lead to questions about whether some policies that restrict student access to information are in the best interest of the primary goal of education.

Submission + - Emulator Brings x86 Linux Apps to ARM Devices (linuxgizmos.com)

Submitted by __aajbyc7391
__aajbyc7391 writes: Eltechs announced a virtual machine that runs 32-bit x86 Linux applications on ARMv7 hardware. The ExaGear VM implements a virtual x86 Linux container on ARMv7 computers and is claimed to be 4.5 times faster than QEMU, according to Eltechs. The VM is based on binary translation technology and requires ARMv7, which means it should run on mini-PCs and SBCs based on Cortex-A8, A7, A9, and A15 processors — but sadly, it won’t run on the ARM11 (ARMv6) SoC found on the Raspberry Pi. It also does not support applications that require kernel modules. It currently requires Ubuntu (v12.04 or higher), but will soon support another, unnamed Linux distro, according to Eltechs, which is now accepting half price pre-orders without payment obligation.

Submission + - Air Force requests info for new engine

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: Corporate welfare: The Air Force on Thursday issued a request for information from industry for the replacement of the Russian-made engines used by ULA’s Atlas 5 rocket.

Companies are being asked to respond by Sept. 19 to 35 questions. Among them: “What solution would you recommend to replace the capability currently provided by the RD-180 engine?” Air Force officials have told Congress they only have a broad idea of how to replace the RD-180. Estimates of the investment in money and time necessary to field an American-built alternative vary widely. Congress, meanwhile, is preparing bills that would fund a full-scale engine development program starting next year; the White House is advocating a more deliberate approach that begins with an examination of applicable technologies.

In the request for information, the Air Force says it is open to a variety of options including an RD-180 facsimile, a new design, and alternative configurations featuring multiple engines, and even a brand new rocket. The Air Force is also trying to decide on the best acquisition approach. Options include a traditional acquisition or a shared investment as part of a public-private partnership. [emphasis mine]

The Atlas 5 is built by Lockheed Martin. This is really their problem, not the Air Force or ULA. In addition, the Air Force has other options, both from Boeing’s Delta rocket family as well as SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. For the government to fund this new engine is nothing more than corporate welfare, at a time when the federal government is swimming in debt and is essentially bankrupt.

Submission + - Securing networks in the Internet of Things era

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Gartner reckons that the number of connected devices will hit 26 billion by 2020, almost 30 times the number of devices connected to the IoT in 2009. This estimate doesn’t even include connected PCs, tablets and smartphones. The IoT will represent the biggest change to our relationship with the Internet since its inception. Many IoT devices themselves suffer from security limitations as a result of their minimal computing capabilities. For instance, the majority don’t support sufficiently robust mechanisms for authentication, leaving network admins with only weak alternatives or sometimes no alternatives at all. As a result, it can be difficult for organizations to provide secure network access for certain IoT devices. Yet IT teams need to set network access policies for all connected devices in order to preserve network security and make the most efficient use of available network resources.

Submission + - I need to know what I need to know.....

Submitted by lloydlamere
lloydlamere writes: I need to know what I need to know. Currently operating a church, the church offices, and a 700 student high school on a 384K DSL internet line. Currently there are 4 internal SSID's for office and public access. On Monday the 25th we get a new Asset. 5 static IP’s with a 18Mbps download AT&T system. Setting: Church building with multiple floors, areas, and 2 buildings. Operates as a church 24/7/365 with most church activity on Sundays and Wednesdays. Office areas are used mostly 0700-1800 daily 7days/week but needs to be available 24/7/365. Office computer systems should not be accessible by public or school. Current distribution of multiple “access points” for wireless through out the building. Objective: Utilize 1 IP for our “intranet” internet access so only company computers, either RJ45 or wireless connected can connect on that particular IP to the internet and to each other. VPN access also needed for up to 20 external computers to access system “off site”. Must have valid ID and password to connect. Utilize 1 IP for our Energy Management system and Security system consisting of 22 Ecobee wireless internet thermostats requiring network access 24/7/365 and a number (20) of security points needed 24/7/365. Utilize 1 IP for on site High School access between 0700-1630 school days only; parental controls needed for site access, assigned ID and PW needed for access. Can be common PW but unique ID based on Student ID system. Utilize 1 IP for “public” access 0700-2300 7/365 using assigned ID and password access. 1 IP to be retained as Spare. What is the most efficient method of accomplishing this and what hardware is needed?

Submission + - Clearpath's public stance on Killer Robots a first in corporate responsibility (robohub.org)

Submitted by Hallie Siegel
Hallie Siegel writes: Last week the Waterloo-based Clearpath publicly pledged not to develop lethal autonomous weapons in support of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots. While the Campaign has garnered significant support since its launch, it has not previously had support from the for-profit robotics sector — making Clearpath's public statement a noteworthy demonstration of corporate responsibility, particularly given the company's background in military applications.

Submission + - EU rules limit vacuum cleaners to 1600W from the 1st of September

Submitted by AmiMoJo
AmiMoJo writes: New EU rules are limiting vacuum cleaner motors to 1600W from 2014/09/01. The EU summary of the new rules explains that consumers currently equate watts with cleaning power, which is not the case. Manufacturers will be required to put ratings on packaging, including energy efficiency, cleaning efficiency on hard and carpeted floors, and dust emissions from the exhaust. In the EU vacuum cleaners use more energy than the whole of Denmark, and produce more emissions than dishwashers and washing machines.

Submission + - Critical Delphi and C++ Builder VCL library bug found

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A buffer overflow vulnerability that could be exploited to execute malicious code has been discovered in the Visual Component Library (VCL) library of Embarcadero's Delphi and C++Builder application development environments, and could, therefore, also affect applications that were built by using the software and that use the affected library. C++Builder and Delphi have been used in software development for many years. Financial institutions, healthcare organizations and companies in several other industries have developed homegrown applications using these products.

Submission + - Google Driverless Car : Who should pay the speeding fines? (blogspot.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: With all the debate surrounding driverless vehicles at the moment, it seems obvious we need to develop a new regulatory framework for socialising the costs (speeding fines, accident compensation, carbon tax, etc) from one vehicle owner to all vehicles owners of the same class.

Inspired by video game design principles, one blogger outlines how we could do this by creating an insurance based licensing scheme for driverless vehicles, with some unexpected consequences.

Submission + - An Ad-Free Internet Would Cost Everyone £140-a-Year (ibtimes.co.uk) 2

Submitted by DavidGilbert99
DavidGilbert99 writes: Research suggests that if we wanted to live in a world without pop-up ads for penis enlargement tablets, then it would cost everyone $230 per year. So how many people would be willing to stump up this kind of cash? Just 2% of the population apparently...

Submission + - Netflix develops Oculus interface (among other hacks)

Submitted by jasper_amsterdam
jasper_amsterdam writes: At the 'Netflix hack day', several cool hacks were developed, including (menu) support for the Oculus Rift, support for Netflix controlling background lighting, and a console interface. Cool stuff, but I should note there isn't necessarily any intention of implementating these. Netflix' tech blog has a report.

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