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Transportation

Submission + - General Motors: Driverless cars ready by 2018

Submitted by
Gregor Stipicic
Gregor Stipicic writes: " Cars that drive themselves — even parking at their destination — could be ready for sale within a decade, General Motors Corp. executives say. "This is not science fiction," Larry Burns, GM's vice president for research and development, said in a recent interview. GM plans to use an inexpensive computer chip and an antenna to link vehicles equipped with driverless technologies. The first use likely would be on highways; people would have the option to choose a driverless mode while they still would control the vehicle on local streets, Burns said. He said the company plans to test driverless car technology by 2015 and have cars on the road around 2018. "
The Internet

Submission + - Four Root DNS Servers Go IPv6 On February 4th

Submitted by
I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property
I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes: "On February 4th, IANA will add AAAA records for the IPv6 addresses of the four root servers. With this transition, it will finally be possible for two internet hosts to communicate without using IPv4 at all. Certain obsolete software may face compatibility problems due to the change, but those issues are addressed in an ICANN report [PDF]."
Editorial

Submission + - Poll: Favorite irrational number

Submitted by davidwr
davidwr writes: Poll: What is your favorite irrational number:

e
pi
2^0.5
3^0.5
sin(my birthday)
None. I am completely rational
Cowboyneal's favorite song
Security

Submission + - Sears Web "Community" is a Spyware Install (ca.com)

Submitted by
Panaqqa
Panaqqa writes: "After several weeks of security alerts from CA and denials by Sears, spyware security researcher Ben Edelman has joined the chorus accusing Sears of surreptitiously installing Comscore tracking software on the PCs of people who join the Sears "community". Kmart (owned by Sears) is apparently involved also. After installation, the software sends details of all online activities — including secure sites such as banking — directly to Comscore, despite the Sears website's assertion that it does not share collected data with anyone. Various technology blogs are likening this breach of online privacy to the recent Facebook Beacon fiasco."
Government

Submission + - Federal Research Funds for 2008 are Disappointing

Submitted by SoyChemist
SoyChemist writes: Wired Science has asked their readers to complain about the biggest problems with federal research funding. Some of the comments are quite revealing: Lead scientists must rush to buy supplies before their grants expire, they sometimes get stuck when equipment breaks and they did not anticipate replacement parts in their budget, and there are only token incentives for alternative energy research. Worst of all, the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which could exceed $1.2 trillion, are particularly appalling when compared to the measly $6.43 billion requested by the National Science Foundation and $28.6 billion requested by the National Institutes of Health for supporting science in 2008.
Linux Business

Submission + - Time for IBM to set Lotus Notes Free (lotus.com)

Submitted by
hydra
hydra writes: "Ok, upon seeing the call for IBM to set OS/2 free, we thought we'd jump on the bandwagon and ask IBM to go Open Source with Lotus Notes/Domino. Ever since they acquired Lotus Inc and Notes they have marginalised its potential, choosing rather to chop the brand about so it fits in with the exclusive, yet uncool blue and white stripes. Notes was once a ferocious monster waiting to be unleashed, but without Ray Ozzie & co for direction it became a shadow of its real potential — "A real Microsoft Killer", was hung out to dry. So we say, unleash the monster IBM and let the open source community feed its hunger and make this Linux Demon "A real Microsoft Killler" again..."
Space

Submission + - Giant black holes power highest-energy cosmic rays

Submitted by
mcgrew (sm62704)
mcgrew (sm62704) writes: "New Scientist says

The finding, from a telescope array 10 times the size of Paris, solves a long-standing mystery about the origins of the most energetic cosmic rays that strike the Earth's atmosphere....

[T]he origins of the highest-energy particles, which travel within a whisker of the speed of light, have been puzzling. A single proton can have as much energy as a tennis ball served at 100 kilometres per hour.

Astronomers found it difficult to explain how particles are accelerated to such enormous speeds.
The article says these new findings herald "the beginning of cosmic ray astronomy"."
Space

Submission + - Russia to Build New Spacecraft by 2020 (techluver.com)

Submitted by
Tech.Luver
Tech.Luver writes: "Russia has launched a project to create a new generation of spacecraft and boosters, the head of national space administration said on Friday, making clear that they would not appear on orbit before 2020. "A tender to design a new booster and spaceship has been announced," Itar-Tass news agency quoted Roskosmos chief Anatoly Perminov as saying. Leadership in space exploration was an issue of national pride in the Soviet Union, which was the first to launch a satellite and a human into space. Although badly hit in the years of post-Soviet political and economic turmoil, the space sector remains one of a few where Russia remains competitive and on which it pins hopes to diversify its economy heavily reliant on oil and gas exports. ( http://techluver.com/2007/11/09/russia-to-build-new-spacecraft-by-2020/ )"
Security

Submission + - Apocalypse Soon? Naval Group to Discuss Extinction 2

Submitted by Maria Williams
Maria Williams writes: Wired says Should the U.S. military be thinking more about asteroid shields, lifeshield bunkers and antimatter weapon shields? Oh, and an alien shield.

If these defensive systems/catastrophic scenarios are something you feel the Navy should be pondering, visit the Lifeboat Foundation's plea for donations. Lifeboat Foundation is dedicated "to helping humanity survive existential risks." The Chief of Naval Operations Strategic Studies Group contacted the foundation because it wants its future leaders to have the "opportunity to gain insights into the activities of the Lifeboat Foundation and have discussion about different programs you have to help 'safeguard humanity'."
Spam

Submission + - CAPTCHA broken - thanks to a virtual stripper (bbc.co.uk) 3

Submitted by
Dynamoo
Dynamoo writes: "A few months ago there was some speculation that spammers had managed to break the security CAPTCHA for many webmail systems and were using them to spread viruses and junk email. The problem was that no-one could actually demonstrate a mechanism to defeat the security code.

However, an novel approach has been documented by the BBC, suggesting that a virtual stripper application may be partly to blame. The woman in the application progressively undresses if the user types in the correct CAPTCHA code.. a code that is actually being generated by the Yahoo! mail security check. The application itself is a trojan, dubbed TROJ_CAPTCHAR.A by Trend."
Censorship

Submission + - How to Dodge the Chinese Internet Censor (eweek.com)

Submitted by
eweekhickins
eweekhickins writes: "A report written by a tech worker in China describes the pervasive censorship, abetted by ample manpower and funding estimated at $27 billion in U.S. dollars. The author, Mr. Tao, also writes that plenty of Chinese are finding ways to resist censorship, and offers tips on how to keep evading Big GeGe (that's older brother). Not surprisingly, self-censorship is very prevalent. Also not surprisingly, the authorities are starting to catch on to things like RSS feeds. It's another race for survival between the tiny mammals and the lumbering dinosaurs."
Privacy

Submission + - Bill would let ID theft victims seek restitution (news.com)

Submitted by
verybadradio
verybadradio writes: "A bipartisan bill that would let victims of identity theft seek restitution for money and time they spent repairing their credit history was introduced on Tuesday in the Senate.

The legislation would also give federal prosecutors more tools to combat identity theft and cybercrime, according to sponsors Democrat Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Republican Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania."
It's funny. Laugh.

Submission + - Technology's 10 most mortifying moments (computerworld.com)

Submitted by
jcatcw
jcatcw writes: "Tech history is full of moments that make you say 'ouch.' Computerworld's top ten include three Microsoft mortifiers: Gates' presentation at Comdex Spring in 1998, Ballmer's dance routine, and Vista's speech recognition troubles. Other items include the Australian government's project to provide a so-called porn filter to parents that was cracked in an half hour by a 16-year-old (hormones plus brains creates a very powerful force) and Sony's rootkit debacle. So far, Gates and the BSOD is winning the reader poll."

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