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Android

All Over But the Funding: Open Hardware Spectrometer Kit 62

Posted by timothy from the what-is-the-exact-color-of-your-van? dept.
New submitter mybluevan writes "The Public Laboratory for Open Technology and Science is putting together an open hardware spectrometer kit on Kickstarter. The kits are built using an HD webcam, discarded DVD, and a couple other odd bits. They've also put together a kit for your smart phone and open-source software for desktop, Android, and iOS. Need to analyze the contents of your coffee, the output of your new grow lights, or a distant star on a budget? Just build your own spectrometer, or pick up the limited edition steampunk version." Besides making cool hardware, they'd like to "build a Wikipedia-style library of open source spectra, and to refine and improve sample collection and analysis techniques. We imagine a kind of 'SHAZAM for materials' which can help to investigate chemical spills, diagnose crop diseases, identify contaminants in household products, and even analyze olive oil, coffee, and homebrew beer."
Space

Largest Moon Rock Ever Auctioned Expected To Sell For $380,000 49

Posted by samzenpus from the a-lot-of-cheese dept.
First time accepted submitter amkkhan writes "One lucky space-lover with some extra cash could become the proud new owner of the largest moon rock ever to be auctioned, according to the auction house Heritage Auctions. The moon rock, known as Dar al Gani 1058, is part of a lunar meteorite that was found on Earth in 1988 and is expected to fetch as much as $380,000 at auction."

Comment Re:x86 or ARM? (Score 1) 229

by George_Ou (#41356747) Attached to: AMD's Hondo Chip 'A Windows 8 Product'
AMD might attempt some really bulky overweight tablets that have to be shut down rather than something that behaves like an always on iPad or smartphone. Then again, this applies to Intel's Ivy Bridge parts because they can't do "Connected Standby" either. A high-performance SoC with Connected Standby won't happen for Intel until Haswell in 2013. AMD on the other hand has nothing announced for 2012 or 2013 that does Connected Standby.

Comment Re:x86 or ARM? (Score 2) 229

by George_Ou (#41350081) Attached to: AMD's Hondo Chip 'A Windows 8 Product'
Hondo is a Brazo based "APU" so it's definitely x86. But unlike Intel Clover Trail, AMD Hondo isn't really a tablet chip because it fundamentally lacks "Connected Standby" capability in Windows 8. That means it won't do 30 days of standby in an on state nor is it compatible of meeting the 300 millisecond screen-on requirement. Moreover, Hondo is a 4.9W TDP part while Intel Clover Trail is a 1.7W TDP part.
Security

Frankenstein Code Stitches Code Bodies Together To Hide Malware 111

Posted by timothy from the vould-have-an-enormous-schwangstucker dept.
mikejuk writes "A recent research technique manages to hide malware by stitching together bits of program that are already installed in the system to create the functionality required. Although the Frankenstein system is only a proof of concept, and the code created just did some simple tasks, sorting and XORing, without having the ability to replicate, computer scientists from University of Texas, Dallas, have proved that the method is viable. What it does is to scan the machine's disk for fragments of code, gadgets, that do simple standard tasks. Each task can have multiple gadgets that can be used to implement it and each gadget does a lot of irrelevant things as well as the main task. The code that you get when you stitch a collection of gadgets together is never the same and this makes it difficult to detect the malware using a signature. Compared to the existing techniques of hiding malware the Frankenstein approach has lots of advantages — the question is, is it already in use?" Except for the malware part, this has a certain familiar ring.
Businesses

The Truth About Hiring "Rock Star" Developers 487

Posted by samzenpus from the bang-for-your-buck dept.
snydeq writes "You want the best and the brightest money can buy. Or do you? Andrew Oliver offers six hard truths about 'rock-star' developers, arguing in favor of mixed skill levels with a focus on getting the job done: 'A big, important project has launched — and abruptly crashed to the ground. The horrible spaghetti code is beyond debugging. There are no unit tests, and every change requires a meeting with, like, 40 people. Oh, if only we'd had a team of 10 "rock star" developers working on this project instead! It would have been done in half the time with twice the features and five-nines availability. On the other hand, maybe not. A team of senior developers will often produce a complex design and no code, thanks to the reasons listed below.'"
Businesses

Microsoft's Sneak Attack On Apple: SkyDrive, Not Surface 150

Posted by timothy from the as-long-as-it-works-on-my-windows-phone dept.
New submitter curtwoodward writes "Microsoft won't become a hardware company — unless you count mice and keyboards, former Microsoftie Charlie Kindel argues — because that would mean competing with Apple on its terms. But Kindel says Microsoft may be embarking on a totally new business model by seeding its connected software services across all platforms. You saw more evidence this week with the release of SkyDrive for Android. 'For that to work, it can't just be Windows,' he says. 'As a matter of fact, to beat Apple, it has to work really well on Apple devices.'"
Moon

LiftPort Wants To Build Space Elevator On the Moon By 2020 210

Posted by Soulskill from the now-we-just-have-to-get-to-the-moon dept.
Zothecula writes "When the late Neil Armstrong and the crew of Apollo 11 went to the Moon, they did so sitting atop a rocket the size of a skyscraper that blasted out jets of smoke and flame as it hurtled skyward. For over half a century, that is how all astronauts have gone into space. It's all very dramatic, but it's also expensive. Wouldn't it be cheaper and easier to take the elevator? That's the question that Michael Laine, CEO of LiftPort in Seattle, Washington, hopes to answer with the development of a transportation system that swaps space-rockets for space-ribbons. LiftPort ultimately wants to build a space elevator on Earth, but the company isn't planning on doing it in one go. Instead, Laine and his team are settling for a more modest goal – building an elevator on the Moon by 2020. This is much easier. For one thing, there’s no air on the Moon, so no icing problems. Also, the lower gravity means that no unobtainium is needed for the ribbon. Kevlar is strong enough for the job. And finally, there’s very little in the way of satellites or debris to contend with."

Comment I wrote about ADS-B homing drones last year (Score 1) 141

by George_Ou (#41089285) Attached to: FAA Denies Vulnerabilities In New Air Traffic Control System
I wrote about ADS-B homing drones last year and why jetliners (high value targets) should avoid beacon accuracy of Navigation Accuracy Category (NAC) level 7 (less than 93 meter accuracy) or better. It would be relatively easy to fly a piston powered model plane controlled by an iPod Touch connected to a GPS with 3-meter accuracy in front of the path of a jetliner carrying a small payload. The model plane wouldn't need to be fast because it would be the jetliner that runs into the model plane. http://www.hightechforum.org/new-airline-navigation-system-easy-target-for-terrorists/
NASA

Did an Unnamed MIT Student Save Apollo 13? 258

Posted by samzenpus from the cut-your-hair-and-get-a-job dept.
lukehopewell1 writes "When the Apollo 13 reported an explosion on board, NASA started a marathon effort to get the three astronauts home. Several options were considered, but history tells how flight director Gene Kranz ordered a slingshot around the moon. The story stayed that way for over 40 years, until this weekend when an ex-NASA press secretary came forward and said that an unnamed MIT grad student came up with the idea to slingshot the spacecraft around the moon. NASA reportedly buried his involvement at the last minute when it was discovered that he was a long-haired, bearded hippie-type.' Now the internet has gone on the hunt to find out who this unnamed hero really is."
Books

Chinese Writers Sue Apple Over IP Violations 143

Posted by samzenpus from the gentlemen-start-your-litigation dept.
hackingbear writes "A group of 22 Chinese authors have filed a claim against Apple, alleging its App Store sells unlicensed copies of their books. The Writers Rights Alliance, founded by Han Han, a young popular Chinese author and the worlds' most popular blogger, who is known for his cynical criticism of the government, petitioned Apple last year to stop electronic distribution of the writers' books and had earlier persuaded Baidu, China's largest search engine, to stop publishing their material on its Baidu Library product."
Android

Google In Battle With Its Own Lawyers 271

Posted by samzenpus from the keeps-your-friends-close dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Google is at daggers end with a law firm it's been using since 2008, after discovering that lawyers in the law firm, named Pepper Hamilton LLP, were representing a patent licensing business that sued Google's Android partners last month. Google has claimed that Pepper Hamilton LLP never provided notice that it was hired by Digitude Innovations LLC, the firm that filed patent infringement complaints against Google's business allies."

Comment Re:To bad the specs once again suck donkey balls (Score 1) 114

by George_Ou (#38861653) Attached to: New Spark Tablet To Come Loaded With KDE's Active Plasma Interface
Specs matter to those of us who neither want to waste time or money. We're not going to buy a device for the sake of being able to have a Linux tablet. There will be $250 quad-core 7" android tablets with beautiful IPS multitouch panels and 1080P megapixel cameras. This Aseigo Linux tablet has comparable specs to a $99 7" Android tablet on the market today.

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