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Biotech

Submission + - Proteins made to order (nature.com)

Submitted by
ananyo
ananyo writes: "Proteins are an enormous molecular achievement: chains of amino acids that fold spontaneously into a precise conformation, time after time, optimized by evolution for their particular function. Yet given the exponential number of contortions possible for any chain of amino acids, dictating a sequence that will fold into a predictable structure has been a daunting task.
Now researchers report that they can do just that. By following a set of rules described in a paper published in Nature (abstract), a husband and wife team from David Baker’s laboratory at the University of Washington in Seattle has designed five proteins from scratch that fold reliably into predicted conformations. The work could eventually allow scientists to custom design proteins with specific functions."
Piracy

Submission + - BitTorrent traffic is up 40 percent from six months ago (techpounce.com) 2

Submitted by
damagedbits
damagedbits writes: "BitTorrent traffic is still booming even though legal streaming services like Netflix and YouTube are on the rise. It's far from its all time high of the mid 2000's, but BT traffic is up 40 percent from six months ago. BitTorrent is responsible for about 11 percent of total Internet traffic in the US."

Submission + - Cloud version of OpenOffice (apache.org)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The Apache Foundation revealed in Sinsheim, Germany their plans for a cloud version of OpenOffice.org based on html5. Chinese and German engineers use OpenOffice in "headless" mode as a base.
Television

Submission + - Fox's attempt to block ad-skipping TV recorder Autohop fails (bbc.co.uk) 2

Submitted by another random user
another random user writes: A bid to block a TV service that allows viewers to automatically skip adverts on recorded shows has been rejected.

Fox had called for a preliminary injunction on Dish Network's Autohop ahead of a copyright ruling.

Broadcasters Fox, Comcast, NBC and CBS have each sued Dish Networks, saying the show recordings are unauthorised.

Fox said it would appeal against the ruling. It says Autohop is "destroying the fundamental underpinnings of the broadcast television ecosystem".

But Dish called the decision not to grant a preliminary injunction a "victory for common sense".

Its Hopper digital video recorder can record and store prime-time content from the four major networks for up to eight days.

And the Autohop feature lets viewers skip advertisements completely — rather than fast-forwarding through them — at the press of a button.
China

Submission + - Government Work Too Boring, Says Chinese Ex-Hacker (itworld.com)

Submitted by
itwbennett
itwbennett writes: "Now working at IBM, 41-year-old Tao Wan, who was once a member of the Green Army hacker group, is dismissive of today's young Chinese hackers. Wan told the audience at the Power of Community security conference in Seoul that 'this generation of hackers are not that technically capable, they just like to show off — young kids with a low technical ability.' Wan went on to say that China's 'overall hacking ability is still less sophisticated that other countries' and that 'they need to become more competitive.' For himself, however, Wan said government work was to boring to pursue."

Submission + - Finding Work Over 60

Submitted by
Hatfield56
Hatfield56 writes: "I've been in IT since the mid-1980s, mainly working for financial institutions. After 16 years at a company, as a programmer (Java, C#, PL/SQL, some Unix scripting) and technical lead, my job was outsourced. That was in 2009 when the job market was basically dead. After many false starts, here I am 3 years later wondering what to do. I'm sure if I were 40 I'd be working already but over 60 you might as well be dead. SO, I'm wondering about A+. Does anyone think that this will make me more employable? Or should I being a greeter at Walmart?"
Power

Submission + - Saphonian Bladeless Wind Turbine Boasts Impressive Efficiency, Low Cost (gizmag.com) 1

Submitted by Zothecula
Zothecula writes: Tunisian green energy startup Saphon Energy has created a new bladeless wind turbine which draws inspiration from the design of a ship’s sails, and promises to convert the kinetic energy of the wind into electricity at up to double the efficiency – and half the cost – of a typical wind turbine.

Submission + - $50,000 Zero-Day Exploit Smashes Adobe Reader Sandbox (krebsonsecurity.com) 1

Submitted by tsu doh nimh
tsu doh nimh writes: Software vendor Adobe says it is investigating claims that instructions for exploiting a previously unknown critical security hole in the latest versions of its widely-used PDF Reader software are being sold in the cybercriminal underground, Krebsonsecurity.com writes. The finding comes from malware analysts at Moscow-based forensics firm Group-IB, who say theyâ(TM)ve discovered that a new exploit capable of compromising the security of computers running Adobe X and XI (Adobe Reader 10 and 11) is being sold in the underground for up to $50,000. This is significant because â" beginning with Reader Xâ" Adobe introduced a âoesandboxâ feature aimed at blocking the exploitation of previously unidentified security holes in its software, and until now that protection has held its ground. Adobe, meanwhile, says it has not yet been able to verify the zero-day claims.
Government

Submission + - Bradley Manning offers partial guilty plea to military court (cnet.com)

Submitted by
concealment
concealment writes: "During a pre-trial hearing in military court today, Manning's attorney, David Coombs, proposed a partial guilty plea covering a subset of the slew of criminal charges that the U.S. Army has lodged against him.

"Manning is attempting to accept responsibility for offenses that are encapsulated within, or are a subset of, the charged offenses," Coombs wrote on his blog this evening. "The court will consider whether this is a permissible plea.""
Power

Submission + - Quantum entangled batteries could be the perfect power source (extremetech.com)

Submitted by
MrSeb
MrSeb writes: "Two European theoretical physicists have shown that it may be possible to build a near-perfect, entangled quantum battery. In the future, such quantum batteries might power the tiniest of devices — or provide power storage that is much more efficient than state-of-the-art lithium-ion battery packs. In a quantum system, some quantum states have energy that can be extracted, reducing the system to a passive, neutral energy state. Robert Alicki of the University of Gdansk in Poland, and Mark Fannes of the University of Leuven in Belgium, theorize that it should be possible to build a quantum battery that is full of energy-rich quantum states — and then, somehow, recharge it when you run out of juice. Better yet, the physicists also theorize that quantum entanglement could be used to create an even more efficient quantum battery. In essence, Alicki and Fannes say that you can link together any number of quantum batteries, allowing you to extract all of the stored energy in one big gulp. Their research paper goes on to say that with enough entanglement, these batteries would be perfect — with no energy lost/wasted during charge or discharge."
Iphone

Submission + - Samsung's Galaxy S III steals smartphone crown from iPhone (bgr.com)

Submitted by zacharye
zacharye writes: The best-selling smartphone in the world is no longer an iPhone. New data released on Thursday by market research firm Strategy Analytics finds that Samsung’s Galaxy S III was the world’s top-selling smartphone model in the third quarter this year, displacing Apple’s iPhone for the first time in years. Samsung announced earlier this week that cumulative Galaxy S III channel sales reached the 30 million unit milestone and according to Strategy Analytics, 18 million of those were shipped in Q3 2012. During the same period, Apple shipped an estimated 16.2 million iPhone 4S handsets, slipping into the No.2 spot for the quarter...
Your Rights Online

Submission + - Australia abandons plans for a mandatory internet filter (itnews.com.au)

Submitted by littlekorea
littlekorea writes: The Australian Government has officially abandoned plans to legislate a mandatory internet filter. The news ends a four-year campaign by the ruling party to implement legislation that would have compelled ISPs to block a list of URLs dictated by Australia's telecommunications regulator, the ACMA. ISPs have instead been told to block a list of known child pornography sites maintained by INTERPOL.
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft's Hidden Windows 8 Feature: Ads (hothardware.com)

Submitted by
MojoKid
MojoKid writes: "Despite the fact that I've been using Windows 8 for the past three weeks, I somehow managed to overlook a rather stark feature in the OS: ads. No, we're not talking about ads cluttering up the desktop or login screen (thankfully), but rather ads that can be found inside of some Modern UI apps that Windows ships with. That includes Finance, Weather, Travel, News and so forth. On previous mobile platforms, such as iOS and Android, seeing ads inside of free apps hasn't been uncommon. It's a way for the developer to get paid while allowing the user to have the app for free. However, while people can expect ads in a free app, no one expects ads in a piece of software that they just paid good money for."
Hardware

Submission + - Optical camouflage used to render car interiors invisible (geek.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Keio University in Japan is using optical camouflage to make the interior of a car effectively invisible. Professor Masahiko Inami at Keio University believes the camo can be adapted so the driver would no longer see the interior of the car as it is replaced with a constantly updated exterior view.

That may be jarring at first, but it does make a lot of sense from a visibility perspective. Nothing outside is hidden from the driver, and turning to see where you are reversing would allow the driver to see very clearly what obstacles there are. Importantly, the projection retains a sense of depth as to where things actually are in relation to the vehicle. Another advantage of such a system is it can render daylight visuals even when it’s dark outside, again meaning better visibility for the driver.
Security

Submission + - Adobe Reader zero-day found, selling for $50k (scmagazine.com.au)

Submitted by mask.of.sanity
mask.of.sanity writes: A new exploit is being reportedly sold on underground cybercrime forums that is capable of compromising machines running the latest versions of Adobe Reader.

The exploit escapes the sandbox in Windows-based Reader installs of versions X and IX. It was selling for as much as US$50,000 on a few small underground criminal websites.

It was already incorporated into a version of the hugely popular Blackhole exploit kit.

Concerned users can protect themselves by switching pdf readers.
Android

Submission + - Microsoft Office for Android will appear in early 2013 (blogspot.de)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: For months, keep the rumors that Microsoft plans to bring its Office package on the smartphones. Originally, it was then that the Microsoft Office for Android should appear in November. But now there is tangible evidence of a Microsoft Office release for the Green Men in early 2013.
Biotech

Submission + - Ear-powered medical devices in development (gizmag.com)

Submitted by cylonlover
cylonlover writes: Our ears work by converting the vibrations of the eardrum into electrochemical signals that can be interpreted by the brain. The current for those signals is supplied by an ion-filled chamber deep within the inner ear – it’s essentially a natural battery. Scientists are now looking at using that battery to power devices that could be implanted in the ear, without affecting the recipient’s hearing.

The “battery chamber” is located in the cochlea. It is internally divided by a membrane, some of the cells of which are designed to pump ions. The arrangement of those specialized cells, combined with an imbalance of potassium and sodium ions on opposite sides of the membrane, are what creates the electrical voltage.

A team of scientists from MIT, the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, and the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology have recently succeeded in running an ultra-low-power radio-transmitting chip using power from these battery chambers – in guinea pigs’ ears.
Lord of the Rings

Submission + - New Dinosaur Named After the Eye of Sauron (nationalgeographic.com) 1

Submitted by
SchrodingerZ
SchrodingerZ writes: "A new study shows that 95 million years ago, the dinosaur Sauroniops pachytholus roamed northern Africa. The fossil, originally found in southern Morocco, only consisted of the upper skull, which included the eerie looking eye socket which resembles the Eye of Sauron from the Lord of the Rings movies. Andrea Cau, the leader of the study in Bologna, Italy, explains "The idea of a predator that is physically known only as its fierce eye reminded me of Sauron, in particular as depicted in Peter Jackson's movies." Using skull comparison, it is theorized the two-legged meat-eater would have been 40 feet tall, challenging the Tyrannosaurus Rex in height. More fossils are needed for a full analysis, but so far it is very clear this dinosaur towered over many."
Hardware

Submission + - Samsung may start making ARM server chips (computerworld.com.au)

Submitted by
angry tapir
angry tapir writes: "Samsung's recent licensing of 64-bit processor designs from ARM suggests that the chip maker may expand from smartphones and tablets into the server market, analysts believe. Samsung last week licensed ARM's first 64-bit Cortex-A57 and Cortex-A53 processors, a sign the chip maker is preparing the groundwork to develop 64-bit chips for low-power servers, analysts said. The faster 64-bit processors will appear in servers, high-end smartphones and tablets, and offer better performance-per-watt than ARM's current 32-bit processors, which haven't been able to expand beyond embedded and mobile devices. The first servers with 64-bit ARM processors are expected to become available in 2014."

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