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Comment AMX and Crestron (Score 1) 409

by zarozarozaro (#29882043) Attached to: What is the Current State of Home Automation?
I've been built many systems based on AMX and Crestron platforms. They are pretty much state of the art as far as I know. They are expensive, but if you know what to look for you can find some cheap second hand controllers on the online auction sites.
One drawback is that both of these systems require knowledge of their proprietary languages and protocols. There is another company called Aurora that makes the WACI series of controllers that are more standards compliant, but I have never built a system using their controllers.

Comment Who is in control? (Score 1) 252

by zarozarozaro (#28283447) Attached to: Wired for War
Maybe I'm nuts, but I worry about the possibility of the wrong person gaining control of a military network containing killer robots. It's not a new problem or anything, but if lots of these things are deployed, then you just know security will be less stringent in some situations than others.

Comment Re:The dirty way (Score 1) 695

by zarozarozaro (#26283521) Attached to: Home Generators (or How DTE Energy Ruined My Holidays)

There's a dirty, and illegal way to do it.

First, if you follow these instructions, remember this KEY STEP TURN OFF THE MAIN SWITCH. Also, NEVER turn that main switch on if the generator is running. Finally, the main switch MUST be double throw.

Forget to follow these instructions, and you can very easily kill a lineman or blow up your generator.

Anyways, you just need a three pronged dryer plug, 2 of them, and sufficient length of heavy gauge wire. You create an illegal male - male 3 pronged plug, and connect your generator socket into the 3 pronged plug in your house used for the clothes dryer.

The reason it is illegal is because this form of installation does not prevent you from connecting your generator to the wiring outside your house. If you left the main switch on, you can energize the dead lines outside with 12,000 volts and kill a lineman.

The advantage? As long as the main switch is double throw, and you don't turn it on when the generator is connected, it is pretty safe. And cheap : a double throw switch and circuit box is $200-$500, while this method can be done for $10.

I'm pretty sure the lineman would be killed with 120vac, no?
Privacy

NH Signs Bill That Rejects Federal Real ID 231

Posted by Zonk from the i'm-thinking-we-scrap-the-country-and-start-over dept.
jcatcw writes "New Hampshire is part of a trend to oppose the federal Real ID act. The governor this week signed a bill that forbids state agencies from complying with the controversial federal regulation. The Real ID law, first passed by Congress in 2005, currently requires that all state driver's licenses and other identification cards include a digital photograph and a bar code that can be scanned by electronic readers. Such a federally approved ID card or document would be required for people entering a federal building, nuclear power plant and commercial airplane. The New Hampshire bill, which labeled the Real ID Act as "contrary and repugnant" to the New Hampshire and U.S. Constitutions, was passed in the state Senate by a 24-0 vote in late May."
Security

Thieves Using Stolen Credit Cards to Make Donations 104

Posted by Zonk from the how-nice-of-them dept.
JagsLive writes with a link to a Newsday.com article about 'philanthropist identity thieves'. Credit card thieves appear to be donating to charity with their stolen goods. While it may sound like a strange form of generosity, it's really a method to determine whether a stolen card is valid. "The verification method has become popular because the monitoring software at credit-card companies may not question donations to charities, according the Symantec blog. Santoyo said the schemers usually donate less than $10. American Red Cross spokeswoman Carrie Martin said, 'This happens all the time. We have people at the Red Cross who deal with this type of activity.' Last month alone, the Red Cross refunded 700 fraudulent credit-card transactions, Martin said. That figure doesn't include the transactions the charity blocked because they appeared fraudulent."
Robotics

Ancient Robot Was Programmed with Rope 141

Posted by Zonk from the would-you-like-any-more-mead-master dept.
Pingu93 writes "New Scientist has a feature about the 'worlds first' programmable robot, dating from 60AD. It was designed by a Greek inventor who was, appropriately enough, called Hero. He designed his rolling machine so that it could be programmed using rope and pegs in different configurations. Some of the writers at New Scientist went so far as to build their own version of the robot and the technology blog has some video of it in action."
Television

Matt Groening to be Final Boss in New Simpsons Game 112

Posted by CowboyNeal from the princess-still-in-another-castle dept.
eldavojohn writes "Announced at E3, Mr. Groening will be the final boss in the Simpsons game. Mr. Groening commented on the game: 'They did a send-up of videogames. It's a videogame about videogames; and I'm in the videogame. I'm a boss that you have to fight at the end of the game. It was really fun recording a million ways of dying, going "UGGH, ARGGH, EUURGH!"'"
It's funny. Laugh.

Submission + - Beryl Project Homepage Hacked

Submitted by
Meawoppl
Meawoppl writes: "It seems that the folks at the Beryl project have been violated by a malicious anime nerd. (Here) This is the second major breech of a Beryl related website this year! (Link) Perhaps the goons of rival operating systems fear the up and coming beauty of new Linux display managers?"
The Internet

35 Different Ways of Looking at Social Networks 47

Posted by CowboyNeal from the one-internet-several-reasons dept.
jg21 writes "Social Computing Magazine has just published a list of thirty-five perspectives on online social networking reflecting how protean and difficult to pin down the phenomenon is. It was compiled by Malene Charlotte Larsen, a PhD student at Aalborg University in Denmark, who has been doing research on Danish youngsters and online social networking. She ends with an open request for further perspectives."
Censorship

Submission + - Video game gets banned for violent content (telegraph.co.uk)

Submitted by zarozarozaro
zarozarozaro writes: FTA: A video game which portrayed "casual sadism" and an "unrelenting focus on stalking and brutal slaying" has been banned by censors. The British Board of Film Classification said yesterday that Manhunt 2, sequel to the controversial Manhunt, "constantly encourages visceral killing".
Security

Submission + - Ed Skoudis Reveals Latest Hacking Answers

Submitted by
ddonzal
ddonzal writes: ""Charlotte's Web Site" had everything you could want in a hacking challenge... steganography, web app hacking, a little fun with higher mathematics, secret messages... and now the best part. With references to pi, the Golden Ration, the TV series 24 and of course the beloved children's story, you now have a rare opportunity to get a glimpse into the mind of security expert Ed Skoudis as he reveals not only the answers and winners, but also how he creatively designed this awesome challenge. http://www.ethicalhacker.net/content/view/132/2/"

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