Comment: Apparently some are *really* tiny (Score 1) 293
One of the diagrams in the article at gizmag shows a 30 mVA transformer to handle the output of the module. I guess you could light a few LEDs with that one!
Comment: Re:Nope (Score 2) 115
The truth us that no one but the programmers want to make good and secure programs.
Not even most of the programmers I have come into contact with, either directly or via their code, want to make much of an effort at doing things correctly, much less securely. Some can't even be bothered to test thoroughly. Much of the time this is made worse by management pushing unreasonable schedules. Thus it is no wonder that many pieces of software are insecure and can be exploited.
Comment: Re:What sphere of Uranium? (Score 1) 356
Wouldn't the uranium exist as an alloy with all of the other metals in the core and thus be dispersed? It appears the melting point of uranium is lower than that of iron.
Comment: Don't wanna be kissing Ms. Piggy! (Score 1) 88
Anyone else think the thing looks like a pig?
LightSquared Says GPS Tests Were Rigged-> 1
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itwbennett
itwbennett writes "Would-be cellular carrier LightSquared claims that the company's LTE network was set up to fail in GPS intereference tests. 'Makers of GPS (Global Positioning System) equipment put old and incomplete GPS receivers in the test so the results would show interference, under the cover of non-disclosure agreements that prevented the public and third parties from analyzing the process,' LightSquared executives said on a conference call with reporters Wednesday morning."
Link to Original Source
Link to Original Source
Supercomputer Cools Off Using Groundwater->
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by
gManZboy
gManZboy writes "The Department of Energy is no stranger to supercomputers, and its Pacific Northwest National Lab has proven that it can continue to be an innovator in the field by using what the lab calls a unique groundwater-fed cooling system in the lab's newest supercomputer, Olympus.
The novel cooling system translates normal groundwater into big savings for the new 162 teraflop supercomputer, which is being used in energy, chemical, and fluid dynamics research.
The setup translates into 70% less energy use than traditionally cooled systems."
Link to Original Source
The novel cooling system translates normal groundwater into big savings for the new 162 teraflop supercomputer, which is being used in energy, chemical, and fluid dynamics research.
The setup translates into 70% less energy use than traditionally cooled systems."
Link to Original Source
US Supreme Court upholds removal of works from Pub-> 2
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by
langelgjm
langelgjm writes "While much of the web is focused on the SOPA and PIPA blackout, supporters of the public domain today quietly lost a protracted struggle that began back in 2001.The Supreme Court, in a 6-2 decision, rejected the argument that Congress did not have the power to convey copyright upon works that were already in the public domain. The suit was originally filed to challenge provisions that the U.S. adopted when signing the TRIPs agreement. Justices Breyer and Alito dissented, arguing that conveyed copyright on already existing works defied the logic of copyright law. Justice Kagan recused herself. The text of the opinions is available here (PDF)."
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Link to Original Source
Working for Apple isn't as dreamy as the company's->
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thetechblock
thetechblock writes "For many, the prospect of working for Apple at its Cupertino, California headquarters is tantamount to a career in the NBA – and just as far-fetched. But life within the walls of Apple’s Infinite Loop, the company’s campus, is more the stuff of nightmares than dreams, according to Adam Lashinsky, author of a new book that plumbs the depths of the secretive tech giant."
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Link to Original Source
NASA: Solar blasts decreased orbital debris in 201->
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by
coondoggie
coondoggie writes "While high-levels of solar activity is not good news for satellites, GPS and electronics they can have one benefit: such massive solar bursts can decrease the amounts of dangerous orbital debris. In fact the NASA Orbital Debris Program Office today said the increase in solar activity over the past year actually decreased the number of cataloged debris in Earth orbit during 2011. This increase in the Sun's activity, known as the solar maximum is expected to peak next year."
Link to Original Source
Link to Original Source
Comment: Re:Erm... (Score 2) 151
Who the hell steals an ATM out of the wall to get customer data?
Presumably the real reason for ripping it out of the wall is to get to the cash contained therein. According to TFA, the more refined thieves install some malware on the ATM which is running Windows XP or OS/2 that gathers the information and saves it to an encrypted file on storage local to the ATM, then they read out the encrypted file later. In the virutalization scheme, the ATMs become a thin client only responsible for updating the display and sending key presses and card information back to the centralized VM. Of course, this does not appear to prevent someone from adding some hardware to piggy back on the card reader and keyboard and save it to memory in the skimming device itself.