EmagGeek - Slashdot User

Submission + - What's a good Tablet/App Combination for Note-Taki

Submitted by

EmagGeek

on Tuesday November 15, 2011 @07:56AM

" rel="nofollow">EmagGeek writes: "My wife recently started back to school to finish her 4-year degree, and one of the things that we've been considering is procuring for her some kind of tablet that would enable her to take notes in class and save them electronically. This would obviate the need to carry around a bunch of paper, and could even be used to store e-textbooks so she doesn't have to lug 30lbs of books around campus.

At minimum, she would have to be able to write freehand on the tablet with a fine-point stylus, just like she would write on paper with a pen. We've seen what we call those "fat finger" styli and found that they are not good for fine writing.

Having become frustrated with the offerings we've tried so far, I thought I would ping the Slashdot Community. Any suggestions?"

Submission + - Strategic Domain Choices Yield 20GB in Misdirected (cnn.com)

Submitted by

EmagGeek

on Tuesday October 04, 2011 @07:17AM

EmagGeek writes: ""Two researchers who set up doppelganger domains to mimic legitimate domains belonging to Fortune 500 companies say they managed to vacuum up 20 gigabytes of misaddressed e-mail over six months.

The intercepted correspondence included employee usernames and passwords, sensitive security information about the configuration of corporate network architecture that would be useful to hackers, affidavits and other documents related to litigation in which the companies were embroiled, and trade secrets, such as contracts for business transactions."

-- All the more reason to make sure you buy every typo for your domain as well."

Submission + - iPhones found secretly tracking users' locations (cnn.com)

Submitted by

EmagGeek

on Wednesday April 20, 2011 @05:39PM

EmagGeek writes: "Apple devices appear to be tracking their owners' locations and storing data about people's whereabouts without their knowledge, according to a report posted Wednesday on a site called iPhone Tracker.

The unauthorized surveillance started in June 2010, when the latest version of Apple's mobile operating system was released, according to two researchers who say they discovered a hidden tracking file and posted it out of concern for users.

Apple has not responded to the allegations."

Submission + - Researchers discover new turbine drive method (ecnmag.com)

Submitted by

EmagGeek

on Friday April 01, 2011 @10:32AM

EmagGeek writes: "Recently Ephemeral Chimera Laboratories (ECL), specialists in commercialization efforts for novel and radical technologies, announced they are in the process of commercializing a radical bioelectromechanical power system that promises to end energy dependence worldwide. ECL’s novel BB/CB-DERS combines a biological organism with electromechanical energy-harvesting technology to deliver what may eventually become a major source of energy for home and industry once the company has completed its efforts."

Submission + - 9th Circuit: Gov't can track you in secret w/ GPS (time.com)

Submitted by

EmagGeek

on Wednesday August 25, 2010 @01:39PM

EmagGeek writes: "Even Time Magazine Online thinks that it's scary that "Government agents can sneak onto your property in the middle of the night, put a GPS device on the bottom of your car and keep track of everywhere you go. This doesn't violate your Fourth Amendment rights, because you do not have any reasonable expectation of privacy in your own driveway — and no reasonable expectation that the government isn't tracking your movements."

"The court went on to make a second terrible decision about privacy: that once a GPS device has been planted, the government is free to use it to track people without getting a warrant."

I guess if you can't afford to put gates and access control around your property, then you have fewer rights than those who can."

Submission + - Measuring Proficiency in the Engineering Workplace

Submitted by

EmagGeek

on Friday June 04, 2010 @06:54AM

EmagGeek writes: "The current and most common paradigm for reviewing employee performance seems to be the standard annual review of accomplishments against the employee's goals and objectives for the review period. In my company, compensation is determined mostly by the outcome of the goal and objective review. However, titles and ranks (and therefore promotions and career advancement — or ending) are determined by a completely separate set of criteria, among them being engineering expertise. We do not currently have an established way to objectively measure employee proficiency, so I was curious if you've experienced being rated for your engineering proficiency, and if so, how was that accomplished, and also whether you have been promoted or demoted or received an adjustment in compensation as a result of it."

Submission + - Researchers Create 4nm Transistor with 7 Atoms (dailytech.com)

Submitted by

EmagGeek

on Wednesday May 26, 2010 @09:33AM

EmagGeek writes: "University researchers have created a transistor by replacing just seven atoms of silicon with phosphorous. The seven-atom transistor has very hopeful implications for the future of quantum cryptography, nuclear and weather modeling, and other applications.

"The significance of this achievement is that we are not just moving atoms around or looking at them through a microscope," says Professor Michelle Simmons, a co-author of a paper on the subject that is being published by Nature Nanotechnology. The paper is entitled "Spectroscopy of Few-Electron Single-Crystal Silicon Quantum Dots".

"We are manipulating individual atoms and placing them with atomic precision, in order to make a working electronic device," elaborated Simmons. "We have replaced just seven individual silicon atoms with phosphorus atoms. That is amazing exactness"."

Submission + - Apple recalls iPad due to counterfeit capacitors (gather.com)

Submitted by

EmagGeek

on Thursday April 01, 2010 @08:42AM

EmagGeek writes: "SEATLLE (AP) — Apple today recalled all of its new iPad tablet computers after learning that it had been sold thousands of counterfeit components that could cause short circuits in the device. A spokesperson for Apple, speaking on condition of anonymity, said "we learned Monday that many of our iPad devices were failing factory test with short circuited capacitors. Upon further research, we discovered that we had received the components from an unauthorized vendor, and that those components were not genuine."

The spokesperson said there could be a delay in the delivery of iPads to many customers for several months while the recalled units are repaired, and that it was very important for all iPads to be returned for repair, because the components could explode if short circuited.

He would not say whether the recall would need to be extended to other Apple products, such as the popular iPod, iPhone, and iMac line of personal computers."

Submission + - US Government Bails Out Tesla Motors (cnn.com)

Submitted by

EmagGeek

on Wednesday June 24, 2009 @01:23PM

EmagGeek writes: ""The Obama Administration will lend Tesla Motors $465 million to build an electric sedan and the battery packs needed to propel it. It's one of three loans totaling almost $8 billion that the Department of Energy awarded Tuesday to spur the development of fuel-efficient vehicles. Tesla has long been counting on the loan to help it build the sedan it unveiled in March and had been in discussions with the agency for about nine months. It had sought $350 million to retool a factory to build the car and $100 million to manufacture battery packs and drivetrain components.""

Submission + - DARPA Creates Remote Controlled Insects (ieee.org)

Submitted by

EmagGeek

on Friday February 20, 2009 @07:03AM

EmagGeek writes: "Attempts by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to create cybernetic insects (hybrids of biological and electronic bugs) have yielded ultralow-power radios to control the bugs' flight and a method of powering those circuits by harvesting energy, according to research that will be reported this week at the IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC)

Electrodes and a control chip are inserted into a moth during its pupal stage. When the moth emerges the electrodes stimulate its muscles to control its flight.

This is creepy beyond all belief. I expect a run on bug lights any day."

Submission + - The Most Advanced Robotic Quadruped on Earth (bostondynamics.com)

Submitted by

EmagGeek

on Friday August 15, 2008 @06:14PM

EmagGeek writes: "BigDog is the alpha male of the Boston Dynamics family of robots. It is a quadruped robot that walks, runs, and climbs on rough terrain and carries heavy loads. BigDog is powered by a gasoline engine that drives a hydraulic actuation system. BigDog's legs are articulated like an animal's, and have compliant elements that absorb shock and recycle energy from one step to the next. BigDog is the size of a large dog or small mule, measuring 1 meter long, 0.7 meters tall and 75 kg weight.

This thing looks truly amazing. I can think of a number of uses for a robot such as this, including search and rescue, hostile package delivery, and more. Let the SkyNet tags fly!"

Submission + - Man Sues Time Warner For Having To Rent Cable Box (kansascity.com) 1

Submitted by

EmagGeek

on Thursday August 14, 2008 @07:16AM

EmagGeek writes: "Matthey Meeds, a real-estate agent, was so irritated about having to pay the monthly rental fee that on Tuesday he filed an antitrust suit against Time Warner Cable and its 84 percent owner, Time Warner Inc. The suit alleges that, by linking the provision of premium cable services to rental of the cable box, the companies have established illegal tying arrangements.

"Time Warner's improper tying and bundling harms competition," Meeds' lawsuit states. "Since the class can only rent the cable box directly from Time Warner, manufacturers of cable boxes are foreclosed from renting and/or selling cable boxes directly to members of the class at a lower cost."

I pay Comcast over $25/mo for my two DVRs. I'd love to just be able to buy them or build my own. I can't wait to see how this unfolds."

Submission + - Superconducting Power Grid Launches in New York (ieee.org)

Submitted by

EmagGeek

on Friday July 11, 2008 @06:02AM

EmagGeek writes: "There is an article in IEEE about a new superconducting power grid that was energized in April in New York State. The lines operate at 138kV and are cooled to 65-75K to maintain superconductivity. These lines are run underground and can carry 150 times more electricity than copper lines of the same cross section (the article didn't say if they meant current or energy). The project is funded with taxpayer dollars through the Department of Energy."

Submission + - US University Values Diversity over Education

Submitted by

EmagGeek

on Monday January 22, 2007 @11:55AM

EmagGeek writes: "According to a CNN Article, "Experts argue that if the United States is to remain competitive with other countries in the engineering field, it will have to find better ways to encourage women to join the profession." Apparently, the quality and competence of an engineering class has more to do with its gender composition than the quality and competence of the students.

From the Article:

Women received 18 percent of the 78,200 engineering degrees given out in 2003-04, the latest data available from the U.S. Department of Education. That's the same percentage as in 1998 and only slightly more than the 16 percent in 1996."

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