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Submission + - Google Bringing Android to Your Car (slashdot.org)

Submitted by Nerval's Lobster
Nerval's Lobster writes: Android: It’s not just for mobile devices anymore. Google has announced an Open Automotive Alliance (OAA) that will attempt to “optimize” Android for in-vehicle use. Participating automobile manufacturers include Audi, GM, Hyundai and Honda; Nvidia is also a partner. “Wouldn’t it be great if you could bring your favorite apps and music with you, and use them safely with your car’s built-in controls and in-dash display?” read a Jan. 6 note on Google’s Official Android Blog. “Together with our OAA partners, we’re working to enable new forms of integration with Android devices, and adapting Android for the car to make driving safer, easier and more enjoyable for everyone.” Putting Android into vehicles will “create new opportunities for developers to extend the variety and depth of the Android app ecosystem in new, exciting and safe ways,” the posting added. “But this is just the beginning; we welcome other automotive and technology companies to join the OAA, to work together to build a common platform to drive innovation in the car and bring Android to the open road.” The alliance is still very much in its early stages, with the first Android-integrated cars expected to hit the road by the end of 2014. Alliance members have reached out to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in order to make the platform as safe as possible. (No word on whether Google will attempt to integrate Android with its self-driving cars.) Google isn’t the only tech company positioning its mobile OS as ideal for cars: over the past several months, Apple has reached agreements with a number of automobile companies (including Honda and Hyundai) to integrate Siri Eyes Free into the driving experience. Siri Hands Free allows drivers to dictate texts and emails, listen to incoming texts and emails, set up calendar entries and alarms, check the weather, navigate, and receive sports scores and stock quotes.

Submission + - Australian team working on engines without piston rings

Submitted by JabrTheHut
JabrTheHut writes: An Australian team is seeking funding for bringing an interesting idea to market: cylinder engines without piston rings. The idea is to use small groves that create a pressure wave that acts as a seal for the piston, eliminating the piston ring and the associated friction. Engines will then run cooler, can be more energy efficient and may even burn fuel more efficiently, at least according to the story at http://www.motoring.com.au/news/2013/aussie-invention-eliminates-piston-rings-40773. Mind you, they haven't even built a working prototype yet. If it works I'd love to fit this into an older car...

Submission + - Computer Scientists Invents Game-Developing Computer AI (hothardware.com)

Submitted by MojoKid
MojoKid writes: Over the past few years, short game writing "jams" have become a popular way to bring developers together in a conference with a single overarching theme. These competitions are typically 24-48 hours long and involve a great deal of caffeine, frantic coding, and creative design. The 28th Ludum Dare conference from held from December 13 — 16 of this past year was one such game jam — but in this case, it had an unusual participant: Angelina. Angelina is a computer AI designed by Mike Cook of Goldsmiths, London University. His long-term goal is to discover whether an AI can complete tasks that are generally perceived as creative. The long-term goal is to create an AI that can "design meaningful, intelligent and enjoyable games completely autonomously." Angelina's entry into Ludum Dare, dubbed "To That Sect," is a simple 3D title that looks like it hails from the Wolfenstein era. Angelina's initial game is simple, but in reality Angelina is an AI that can understand the use of metaphor and build thematically appropriate content, which is pretty impressive. As future versions of the AI improve, the end result could be an artificial intelligence that "understands" human storytelling in a way no species on Earth can match.

Comment Re:Why do we support liers? (Score 1) 409

by Nominei (#39635215) Attached to: Apple Snubs Security Firm That Spotted Mac Botnet

Apple products are overpriced, insecure, not upgradable, developed by a CEO who believed integrity is optional, and makes it's outsized profits on breaking labor laws in developing countries.

Weird... You can replace "Apple" in that sentence with "Dell", "Sony", and "HP" and it still makes sense!!

Why do the supposed 'creative' class continue to support this pile of dung?

Because it's a SHINY piece of dung, of course! All the COOL kids have shiny dung, why don't you want shiny dung too?!

Comment Re:"We don't know the antivirus group inside Apple (Score -1) 409

by Nominei (#39635155) Attached to: Apple Snubs Security Firm That Spotted Mac Botnet

Soon my armies shall pour forth from the shattered sandbox, ravaging this OS and all hope of resistance. My minions will find the vulnerability, wherever you choose to hide it. Then, at long last, BSD shall reign as the prime OS.

Ah, the fantasy of all Linux fanboys. "Oh those (choose one: Mac / Windows) users will finally realize that the operating system they use is full of flaws, and will move over to the wonderful (choose one: BSD / Ubuntu / other Linux flavor) operating system, and all computer problems will be solved forever."

It doesn't matter what problems there are with Macs or PCs. New computers show up, ready to use, with lots of friends/family/neighbors around who also use the same operating systems, and lots of support is available (compentent or not) and that is what will get used.

Linux is irrelevant to 99% of computer users, and will not change. I'm not knocking Linux - when implemented correctly, its far more secure, stable and better performing than either OS X or Windows 7. But reality is knocking, Linux fanboys, and you're ignoring the facts of life.

Comment Re:I'm not going to make the tablet mistake again. (Score 1) 255

by Nominei (#39402819) Attached to: New iPad Jailbroken Already

There is a Graffiti app for android tablets. Unfortunately, the capacitive screens in the tablets doesn't lend itself well to the precision that a palm pilot stylus gave on the resistive screens they used. I used Graffiti for all of ten minutes before I gave up and removed it from the tablet. Graffiti is best remembered fondly, it doesn't hold up on tablets.

By the way, I barely touch my tablet... it's a toy, not a useful tool.
Idle

Submission + - Syrian President's email hacked... Password was 12345 (talkingpointsmemo.com) 1

Submitted by Nominei
Nominei writes: The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports that the Syrian President, aides and staffers had their email hacked by Anonymous, who leaked hundreds of emails online. Reportedly, many of the accounts used the password "12345" (which their IT department probably warned them to change when the accounts got set up, of course).

Link to original news article: http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/bashar-assad-emails-leaked-tips-for-abc-interview-revealed-1.411445
Science

Submission + - Tiny Zaps Boost Memory (sciencemag.org)

Submitted by sciencehabit
sciencehabit writes: Ever feel like you could use a little jolt to perk up your brain? Six epilepsy patients recently got exactly that. While they were in the hospital awaiting surgery to mitigate their seizures, they volunteered for an unusual experiment: Taking advantage of platinum electrodes surgeons had implanted in the patients' brains, researchers zapped the volunteers with mild pulses of electrical current. The jolts enhanced the patients' ability to learn their way around a virtual city.
China

Submission + - Is China a Cyber Paper Tiger? (the-diplomat.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Despite the hype in the Western media, two new surveys suggest that China isn't as big a cyber threat as many believe. ecent writings in the Chinese press have more of a “China is vulnerable” flavor and suggest that analysts, if not characterizing the country’s cyber strategy as weak, think there’s a great deal of work that remains to be done.

Comment Re:Unrealistic expectations (Score 1) 533

by Nominei (#37938470) Attached to: Consumer Tech: an IT Nightmare

I agree with you up to a point. If your customers are complaining about paying you $110/hour, you're doing it wrong. I charge my customers $110/hour (when I do hourly work) with no complaints. When doing work as IT professional that charges the going rate that most IT professionals charge, the part that customers like most is customer service - hold their hand and reassure them that they aren't idiots for "breaking" their speakers by muting the sound on accident, and don't say anything negative about the $35/hour guys, just point out that you got the problem resolved and you will continue getting problems resolved, every time, and they'll come back.

Whether they make bad business decisions or not is irrelevant. Of course they are making bad decisions. Small business owners, by and large, don't know how to be business owners. But as an IT professional, when a business owner brings me a hare-brained scheme to improve their technology, I see it as a sales opportunity, not a "stupid owner/stupid idea" scenario.
Businesses

MS Buying Yahoo? Bad Idea, Even At a Discount 141

Posted by timothy from the bing-bing-bing-we-have-a-winner dept.
jfruhlinger writes "Nearly four years ago, Microsoft tried to buy Yahoo, but eventually withdrew the offer in the face of resistance from Yahoo's leadership. This week rumors resurfaced that Microsoft was once again bidding on the struggling Internet pioneer, this time for significantly less money. But even at a discount, it might be a pretty bad idea for Microsoft to get involved in the unfocused, money-losing Yahoo."
Networking

Submission + - The Importance of Networks in Daily Life (net-security.org)

Submitted by
Orome1
Orome1 writes: "Demonstrating the increasing role of the network in people's lives, an international workforce study by Cisco revealed that one in three college students and young professionals considers the Internet to be as important as fundamental human resources like air, water, food and shelter. The Cisco report also found that more than half of the study's respondents say they could not live without the Internet and cite it as an "integral part of their lives" – in some cases more integral than cars, dating, and partying. These and numerous other findings provide insight into the mindset, expectations, and behavior of the world's next generation of workers and how they will influence everything from business communications and mobile lifestyles to hiring, corporate security, and companies' abilities to compete."

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