33032753
submission
DaneM writes:
Recently, a group of student researchers from Yale University brought home a previously-undiscovered fungus that has a voracious appetite for polyurethane. For those not aware, polyurethane comprises many garden hoses, truck seats, shoes, and other durable plastic items--and will be around for your great-grandchildren to watch decompose if you throw it in the dump today. Depending on further study, this new organism may prove to be a solution to a significant part of our slow-decomposing waste problem.
33028149
submission
_0x783czar writes:
Microsoft haters gleefully have latched on to the latest scoop that a Forbes columnist has named Steve Ballmer the worst CEO. It seems that the article has leveled some strong accusations of irresponsible and ineffective business practices; claiming that Microsoft has not progressed over the last 12 years of Ballmer's leadership.
http://www.bgr.com/2012/05/14/microsoft-steve-ballmer-worst-ceo/
(full disclosure: I'm not a Microsoft fan myself and tend to agree with this piece.)
33026249
submission
mask.of.sanity writes:
The Wikileaks-hating, cyber terrorist-fighter The Jester (th3j35t3r) has reportedly been unmasked by a former US army colleague who claims to have served alongside the hacker in the US Special Operations Command.
Twitter user cubespherical uploaded what they claimed to be a direct message exchange with The Jester in which they claimed to release the hackers' resume once a donation of 20,000 BitCoins was received.
The BitCoins would be donated to Wikileaks and help cubespherical "hide".
33026185
submission
CompusecKevin writes:
So I just purchased a new iPad with my blazing fast LTE internet and thought to myself what all can a security professional do from the ipad? I've already installed a great SSH client (that does RDP and VNC too), nessus client, and my VPN is all setup and good to go. What other iPad apps are out there for doing pen testing and the like? No metasploit for iPad yet?
33026079
submission
lukehopewell1 writes:
A Penn State robotics student has gone to the effort of building a working, automated turret from the video game series, Portal.
Powered by a webcam, Arduino boards and hacked up USB-missile launchers, this is one serious piece of kit that is just as adorable as its in-game counterpart.
33024559
submission
slew writes:
Although it hasn't been tested on humans yet, stanford researchers have created a new type of retinal prosthetic that is photovoltaic powered. The gist is that external googles convert an image into infrared light and that light conveys both the image and the power for the retinal implant which means no batteries, or bulky induction coils are required for the retinal implant. This should allow for higher resolution implant (the experimental device has 176 pixels where in contrast the currently available retinal implant from SecondSight is about 60 pixels and requires a bulky inductive antenna). Might be a while till we get to a bionic eye, but this should be quite a help for the sight challenged among us.
33021587
submission
An anonymous reader writes:
Researchers Jon Moeller, Andruid Kerne, and a team from the Interface Ecology Lab at Texas A&M University showcased the latest ZeroTouch multi-finger sensing technology at ACM CHI, in Austin. ZeroTouch is a new spin on infrared sensing technology, which optimizes the sensor readout cycle for a linear array of modulated infrared light receivers.
ZeroTouch is a high performance cost-effective solution for television scale multi-touch sensing, as the researchers showed through integration of the sensor with a 55 inch LCD TV. ZeroTouch also constitutes a precise free-air sensing technology (Kinect can be used as a complementary technology to sense depth). Researcher Bill Hamilton uses ZeroTouch integrated with Wacom Cintiq to showcase new embodied eSports interaction for the open source Zero-K real time strategy game.
33021031
submission
derekmead writes:
Drones are already being tested in civilian airspace, and they're about to become a lot more popular. The first major milestone of the FAA’s Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (.pdf) says that within 90 days of passagethe agency has to permit “local government and public safety agencies” to fly drones that exceed neither 4.4 pounds nor 400-foot altitudes.President Obama signed the $63 billion funding bill Feb. 14, which means the 90 days are now up.
So-called civilian drones are becoming big, big business. The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, a drone industry lobbying group that boasts over 500 corporate members in 55 countries, took credit for language responsible for the FAA’s expedited approval of agencies that are eager to build up drone fleets beginning this year. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that nearly 50 companies are tinkering on some 150 different civilian unmanned systems, from micro drones to airliner-sized giants, all specifically designed to carry surveillance gear, not explosives. Some estimates have the American drone market in 2016 pulling down $6 billion in sales. So, too, will it come as no great shock to hear theFAAgot it together for today’s deadline.
