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Mars

Submission + - Mars or Bust! (nbcnewyork.com)

Submitted by tad001
tad001 writes: There is a story up on NBC New York about a Dutch company that wants to start a colony on Mars by 2023. They plan to fund the venture via a reality TV show.

From the article: "In the wake of SpaceX’s first successful commercial mission to the International Space Station last month, Mars One has vowed a much grander feat, according to reports. The firm claims that it will put four people on the red planet every two years beginning in April 2023. By 2033, Mars One boasts there will be 20 colonists on Mars."

The Daily Mail also has an article on the proposed venture.

The kicker, it will be a one way trip. So, would you be willing to trade your green planet for a red one?

Submission + - Asteroids Named for UNIX creators Dennis Ritchie, Ken Thompson

Submitted by MP7124
MP7124 writes: Tom Glinos (7l.com), Geoff Collyer (Bell Labs — Lucent Tech), and David Levy (Shoemaker-Levy 9, Jarnac Observatory) are pleased to announce the naming of asteroids for Dennis Ritchie, and Ken Thompson.

The original Minor Planet Center citations and an orbital animations can be found at: http://news2.7l.com/

They take their place along with other past great scientists in places named for them in the solar system.

Fittingly, these asteroids were discovered and their orbits computed and plotted using primarily UNIX based or derived systems.
Android

Submission + - Apple's Android Killer? (dailymail.co.uk)

Submitted by tad001
tad001 writes: Apple is planning to launch an assault against the burgeoning Android tablet market by releasing an 'iPad Mini' — at a loss-making price of around $250, according to new claims.
The bargain-basement priced tablet will even feature the same 'Retina' display featured on its big brother, bringing the same 3.1million pixels to a smaller 7-8" display.
Sources told Apple fansite iMore that the aggressively-priced tablet will launch in October this year, with Apple potentially selling the sub-$250 tablet at a loss in order to leave no room for competition.
iMore and another website, Daring Fireball, have separately heard that Apple has already built the seven-inch device, and the only decision left is whether to 'go to market'.
Apple

Submission + - Coming iPad Shortage? (dailymail.co.uk)

Submitted by tad001
tad001 writes: The company (Proview Technology) that owns the iPad trademark in China is trying to block export of the device. Apple says it bought world-wide rights years ago. Last year Apple lost a case in China over trademark ownership with a final high court hearing set for Feb 29th. Will this be an opening for other tablet makers?

More info can be found here, here or here.
Networking

Submission + - Email wording a dead giveaway of who's the boss (networkworld.com)

Submitted by alphadogg
alphadogg writes: A Georgia Tech researcher's deep dive into some half a million Enron emails could some day result in smarter messaging software. The email database has shed light on which words are used most frequently in messages going up and down the corporate hierarchy. The top 5 "upward predictors" found in the Enron corpus were "the ability to," "I took", "are available", "kitchen"and "thought you would." The value of identifying such words and phrases is that they can be considered reliable indicators of message types, and that kind of insight could be used to develop artificial intelligence-based messaging systems that automatically prioritize emails.
Iphone

Submission + - Unauthorized iPhone Apps Leak Private Data Less Than Approved Ones (forbes.com)

Submitted by Sparrowvsrevolution
Sparrowvsrevolution writes: In the wake of news that the iPhone app Path uploads users’ entire contact lists without permission, Forbes dug up a study from a group of researchers at the University of California at Santa Barbara and the International Security Systems Lab that aimed to analyze how and where iPhone apps transmit users’ private data. Not only did the researchers find that one in five of the free apps in Apple’s app store upload private data back to the apps’ creators that could potentially identify users and allow profiles to be built of their activities. They also discovered that programs in Cydia, the most popular platform for unauthorized apps that run only on “jailbroken” iPhones, tend to leak private data far less frequently than Apple’s approved apps.

The researchers ran their analysis on 1,407 free apps in the App Store and in Cydia, the unofficial app market for jailbroken phones. Of those tested apps, 21 percent of official App Store apps uploaded the user’s Unique Device Identifier, for instance, compared with only four percent of unauthorized apps.
Japan

Submission + - As Cleanup Efforts Grind On, Giant New Earthquake Looms at Fukushima (vice.com)

Submitted by
pigrabbitbear
pigrabbitbear writes: "The massive rumbling energy released in an earthquake is from built-up stress within the Earth’s crust. Aftershocks aside, one might expect that such a release would let grinding tectonic plates chill out for awhile. Unfortunately, at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, seismic risk has increased since last March’s magnitude 9 earthquake. According to a report published in geoscience journal 'Solid Earth,' the massive quake actually reactivated a seismic fault near the plant."
Google

Submission + - Did Google just shoot itself in the foot? (digg.com)

Submitted by tad001
tad001 writes: Google recently changed the way it returns search results with the new algorithm favoring Google+ entries, supposedly to help "personalize" search results. Sure you can "opt out" but shouldn't this be an "opt in" feature? Why do you have to do something to make it work the way you know and love? Check out the article over at digg and see some examples of how 'Search+ Your World' favors Google+ here.
Is anyone considering a switch to some other search engine? Has Bing matured enough to be your new default search?
Mozilla

Submission + - Mozilla Offers Alternative to OpenID (net-security.org)

Submitted by
Orome1
Orome1 writes: "Mozilla has been working for a while now on a new browser-based system for identifying and authenticating users it calls BrowserID, but its only this month that all of its sites have finally been outfitted with the technology. Mozilla aims for BrowserID to become a more secure alternative to OpenID, the decentralized authentication system offered to users of popular sites such as Google, Yahoo!, PayPal, MySpace and others."

Submission + - Massive sunspot headed towards earth. (adorraeli.com)

Submitted by parallel_prankster
parallel_prankster writes: NY Times reports that a huge sunspot unleashed a blob of charged plasma Thursday that space weather watchers predict will blast past the Earth on Sunday. Satellite operators and power companies are keeping a close eye on the incoming cloud, which could distort the Earth’s magnetic field and disrupt radio communications, especially at higher latitudes. The huge blob of charged gas spotted by NASA satellites is speeding toward Earth at more than 2 million mph. The most damaging solar discharges, which are very rare, can zoom at speeds more than twice that fast. A better link with some animation is available here
Iphone

Submission + - AT&T Servers Failing Under Massive iPhone 4S A (osxdaily.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: AT&T's activation servers are failing repeatedly by the large number of new iPhone 4S users who are trying to activate their new gear. The solution? Call AT&T by dialing 611 and talking to an operator to perform a manual activation with your IMEI and SIM card #, works every time!

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