Comment: Had it in 2003 (Score 1) 107
I had a GigE connection in my dorm at the University of Florida in 2003. Granted, all we did with it was stream music over iTunes and LAN Starcraft, but it was great for geek cred.
Smart Phones Could Know Their Users By How They Walk 96
Posted
by
timothy
from the just-for-the-ministry-of-silly-walks dept.
from the just-for-the-ministry-of-silly-walks dept.
mirgens writes "Technology Review has a short article on new work on gait analysis with the accelerometers built into many smart phones. The work was done at the Norwegian Information Security Laboratory ('Nislab'). The need for more security on mobile devices is increasing with new functionalities and features made available. To improve device security, Nislab proposed gait recognition as a protection mechanism — in other words, if somebody else walks away with your phone, it locks up. While previous work on gait recognition used video sources, for instance to identify people in airports or secure buildings, the Nislab researchers collected the gait data using a Google G1 phone containing the AK8976A embedded accelerometer." What if you're running from a mugger and want to dial 911?
Genetically Altering Trees To Sequester More Carbon 279
Posted
by
Soulskill
from the increasing-the-world's-suv-capacity dept.
from the increasing-the-world's-suv-capacity dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Forests of genetically altered trees and other plants could sequester several billion tons of carbon from the atmosphere each year and so help ameliorate global warming, according to estimates published in the October issue of BioScience. The study, by researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, outlines a variety of strategies (PDF) for augmenting the processes that plants use to sequester carbon dioxide from the air and convert it into long-lived forms of carbon, first in vegetation and ultimately in soil."
Almost-Satnav For Cycling 119
Posted
by
timothy
from the putting-you-in-the-saddle-since-2010 dept.
from the putting-you-in-the-saddle-since-2010 dept.
An anonymous reader writes "A couple of guys (us) in Cambridge have written a cycle routing system, CycleStreets.net, based on open data, and have now released it as a free iPhone app. It's been done on a shoestring, in spare time. There's an API and some disruptive tech in the form of a photo submission screen where street problems can be submitted directly. Because it's open data, you don't have to wait 6 months for the routing to be fixed if there's a bug. Android and .mobi versions are in the works, with the apps being done on GitHub."
US Banks That Offer Transaction History? 359
Posted
by
timothy
from the cron-job-perhaps? dept.
from the cron-job-perhaps? dept.
wirelessdreamer writes "I use a bank in the US that will only allow me to download transaction history in CSV for the previous three months. I have a hard time remembering to pull my transaction history down every three months, and would gladly jump ship to another bank if there is one that lets me download, say three years' worth of transaction history as one of the standard services. Then I can import my data into MySQL and run some reports on it, which is all I'm looking for." What banks out there do the best job at providing users with simple, downloadable data?
NSA Chief Wants Internet Partitioned For Government, 'Critical' Industries 258
Posted
by
timothy
from the little-cubbies-for-everything dept.
from the little-cubbies-for-everything dept.
GovTechGuy writes "NSA chief Keith Alexander, also the head of the US Cyber Command, told reporters that he would like to see the creation of a secure zone on the Internet for government and critical private sector industries such as utility companies and the financial sector. Alexander has repeatedly emphasized the dramatic nature of the cyber threat facing American networks and his comments were a further sign that the Pentagon does not think the war against foreign hackers can be won. Alexander denied the military has any role in safeguarding civilian networks currently, but didn't rule out the option in the future."
GOG.com Not Really Gone 276
Posted
by
samzenpus
from the stepped-out-for-a-minute dept.
from the stepped-out-for-a-minute dept.
gspr writes "On Sunday, Slashdot and many others reported that DRM-free games site GOG.com was shutting down. Now the site is back, revealing that it was all a hoax. According to the site: 'Now it's time we put an end to all the speculations once and for all. It's true that we decided that we couldn't keep GOG.com the way it was so we won't. As you probably know by now, GOG.com is entering its new era with an end of the two-years beta stage and we're launching a brand new GOG.com with new, huge releases.' So it was all an advertising stunt."
Study Shows Testosterone is Bad For High-Stakes Decisions 213
Posted
by
samzenpus
from the grunt-and-sniff dept.
from the grunt-and-sniff dept.
itwbennett writes "According to a study by researchers at the University of British Columbia's Sauder School of Business, young CEOs with higher levels of testosterone in their system are 'more likely to initiate, scrap or resist mergers and acquisitions' — even when it's not in their best interest. 'We find a strong association between male CEOs being young and their withdrawal rate of initiated mergers and acquisition,' says Prof. Levi, whose research relies on the established correlation between relative youth and increased levels of testosterone. 'For instance, young CEOs, who have higher levels of testosterone, tend to reject offers even when this is against their interest.'"
Foxconn's Founder Opens Up About Making iPhones 384
Posted
by
Soulskill
from the piece-of-the-apple-pie dept.
from the piece-of-the-apple-pie dept.
eldavojohn writes "Bloomberg Businessweek has an article of interest resulting from a three-hour interview with Foxconn founder Terry Gou (single page), whose company manufactures 137,000 iPhones a day. The article profiles Gou's rise to Foxconn but also offers some interesting tidbits you might not know. On why he is not opening factories in the United States, Gou frankly states, 'If I can automate in the US and ship to China, cost-wise it can still be competitive. But I worry America has too many lawyers. I don't want to spend time having people sue me every day.' If you're interested in how a modern day Henry Ford thinks, you can read the rest about the man steering the ship of the world's largest producer of electronics components and China's largest exporter. This unprecedented transparency was part of an agreement Gou made with his customers during his delayed response to an increasing number of Foxconn suicides."
Comment: Re:It's been tried, and it failed. (Score 1) 301
Clearly you have never worked in the Veteran's Administration Healthcare service.