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Mars

Submission + - Curiosity Snaps 'Arm's Length' Self Portrait (discovery.com)

Submitted by
astroengine
astroengine writes: "Using its robotic arm-mounted MAHLI camera, NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has snapped, quite possibly, the most iconic image to come from the mission so far. By stitching together 55 high-resolution photos, the rover has snapped an "arm's length" self portrait, capturing its location in the geologically interesting area known as "Rocknest", including its recent scoop marks in the Martian soil and the base of Mt. Sharp."
Crime

Submission + - 80,000lbs Of Walnuts Purloined In Northern California (huffingtonpost.com)

Submitted by Penurious Penguin
Penurious Penguin writes: While not quite as epic or bitter as losing 600 barrels of maple syrup — in two separate heists, 80,000lbs of walnuts have been stolen in Northern California since last week. The heist was discovered after the walnuts failed to reach their destinations in Miami, FL and Dallas, TX. If you happen to see a large man (approximately 6' 2") driving a white semi-trailer and munching on $300,000 worth of walnuts, it may be the villain. Officers with highly trained squirrels have yet to be posted at interstate weigh-stations.

Submission + - NYC Data Center Needs Focus on Fuel (slashdot.org)

Submitted by
Nerval's Lobster
Nerval's Lobster writes: "Who knew that the most critical element of operating a data center in New York City was ensuring a steady supply of diesel fuel? In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, the challenges facing data center operators in the affected zones include pumping water from basements, waiting for utility power to be restored, and managing fuel-truck deliveries. And it’s become increasingly clear which companies had the resources and foresight to plan for a disaster like Sandy, and which are simply reacting. Here’s the latest on providers around the New York area."
Government

Submission + - Department of Homeland Security Wants Nerds for a New 'Cyber Reserve' (vice.com)

Submitted by
pigrabbitbear
pigrabbitbear writes: "Just three weeks after Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told an audience at the Sea, Air and Space Museum that the U.S. is on the brink of a “cyber Pearl Harbor,” the government has decided it needs to beef up the ranks of its digital defenses. It’s assembling a league of extraordinary computer geeks for what will be known as the “Cyber Reserve.”"
Robotics

Submission + - Vanderbilt University Steps Into the Exoskeleton Market (gizmag.com)

Submitted by Zothecula
Zothecula writes: For people who are unable to walk under their own power, exoskeletons offer what is perhaps the next-best thing. Essentially “wearable robots,” the devices not only let their users stand, but they also move their legs for them, allowing them to walk. While groups such as Berkeley Bionics, NASA, Rex Bionics, and ReWalk are all working on systems, Nashville’s Vanderbilt University has just announced the development of its own exoskeleton. It is claimed to offer some important advantages over its competitors.
Power

Submission + - Volcano power plan gets U.S. go-ahead (gizmag.com) 2

Submitted by cylonlover
cylonlover writes: Having successfully negotiated the challenging regulatory slopes of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Department of Energy, and a host of Oregon state agencies, the Newberry Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) demonstration project is in the process of creating a new geothermal reservoir in central Oregon. The core of the new reservoir is a two mile (2.7 km) deep well drilled about four miles (5.4 km) from the center of Newberry Volcano. The rock surrounding the wellbore reaches temperatures in the order of 600 F (300 C), and is nearly impermeable to water. That, however, is about to change.

Newberry Volcano is one of the largest and youngest volcanoes in the United States. Having last erupted about 1,300 years ago, it consists of over 400 individual volcanic vents, which, when combined, form a broad mounded landform referred to as a shield volcano. The Newberry EGS Demonstration geothermal reservoir is being formed in the high-temperature, low-permeability deep lava of the volcano's northwest flank.
Government

Submission + - NASA teams to build gyroscopes 1,000X more sensitive than current systems (networkworld.com) 3

Submitted by
coondoggie
coondoggie writes: "NASA today said it would work with a team of researchers on a three-year, $1.8 project to build gyroscope systems that are more than 1,000 times as sensitive as those in use today. The Fast Light Optical Gyroscope project will marry researchers from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center; the US Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center and Northwestern University to develop gyroscopes that could find their way into complex spacecraft, aircraft, commercial vehicles or ships in the future."
Networking

Submission + - Cisco pricing undercut by $100M in big Cal State University network project (networkworld.com) 1

Submitted by alphadogg
alphadogg writes: The $100 million price differential between the Alcatel-Lucent and Cisco proposals to refresh California State University's 23-campus network revealed earlier this week was based on an identical number of switches and routers in various configurations. CSU allowed Network World to review spreadsheets calculating the eight-year total cost of ownership of each of the five bidders for the project. "Everybody had to comply with this spreadsheet," said CSU's director of cyberinfrastructure.
Programming

Submission + - Does Coding Style Matter?

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: Over at Smashing Magazine, Nicholas C. Zakas makes the case for Why Coding Style Matters. 'Coding style guides are an important part of writing code as a professional,' Zakas concludes. 'Whether you're writing JavaScript or CSS or any other language, deciding how your code should look is an important part of overall code quality. If you don't already have a style guide for your team or project, it's worth the time to start one.' So, how are coding style guidelines working (or not) in your world?
Electronic Frontier Foundation

Submission + - Secret Stingray Warrantless Cellphone Sippenhaft (wsj.com) 2

Submitted by Penurious Penguin
Penurious Penguin writes: Last year a Slashdot story mentioned the case of Daniel David Rigmaiden, or "the Hacker". With the help of an IMSI-catcher device, law enforcement had been able to locate and arrest the elusive "Hacker", leading to U.S. v. Rigmaiden. But far more elusive than the "Hacker", is the IMSI-catcher device itself — particularly the legalities governing its use.

The secrecy and unconstitutionality of these Man In The Middle devices, e.g. "stingrays", has caught some attention. The EFF and ACLU have submitted an amicus brief in the Rigmaiden case; and EPIC, who after filing a FOIA in February and receiving a grossly redacted 67 out of 25,000 (6,000 classified) pages on the "stingray" devices, is now requesting a district judge expedite disclosure of all documents. Some Judges also seem wary of the "stingray", having expressed concerns that their use violates the Fourth Amendment; and additionally, that information explaining how the technology is used remains too obscure.
Perhaps the most controversial aspect of ISMI-catchers is their several-kilometer range. When a "stingray" is used to spoof a cellphone tower, thousands of innocent users may be collaterally involved. And while the government claims to delete all gathered data unrelated to the target, it also means no one else can know what that data really was. The government claims that because only attributes of calls — but not their content — are captured in the attack, search warrants aren't necessary. The use of a pen-register (outgoing) and trap & trace (incoming) device, requires little more than a mewl of penal curiosity before a court, and no warrant or follow-up on the case is needed. The pen/trap seems unwieldy enough, as the EFF explains:

Most worrisome, we've heard some reports of the government using pen/trap taps to intercept content that should require a wiretap order: specifically, the content of SMS text messages, as well as "post-cut-through dialed digits" (digits you dial after your call is connected, like your banking PIN number, your prescription refill numbers, or your vote for American Idol). intercept information about your Internet communications as well.

Precisely what data these "stingrays" collect will hopefully be soon revealed through such efforts as those of EPIC.
It should be noted that the Stingray is one of multiple devices with the same application. The Stingray and several others are trademarks of the Harrison Corporation. Some are quite pricey ($75,000), and others are, as mentioned last year by a Slashdot reader, peculiarly affordable — and available.
For a more comprehensive overview of the subject, see the WJS article in the primary URL.
Role Playing (Games)

Submission + - How to Prepare Yourself for Space Travel (pamhoffman.com) 3

Submitted by
ShadoCat
ShadoCat writes: "Everyday Spacer has been running a series of articles about how to prepare yourself for space travel. The article about using Role Playing Games is especially interesting to me since I've been a gamer since '78. It makes me wish that I had a group to play with out here in the back of beyond.

Maybe some non-gamers will see that and get interested in RPGs as a simulation too."

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