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Chrome

Submission + - Chrome Set To Take No. 2 Spot From Firefox (computerworld.com)

Submitted by
CWmike
CWmike writes: "Google's Chrome is on the brink of replacing Firefox as the second-most-popular browser, says the Web statistics firm StatCounter, which shows that Chrome will pass Firefox to take the No. 2 spot behind Microsoft's IE no later than December. As of Wednesday, Chrome's global average user share for September was 23.6%, while Firefox's stood at 26.8%. IE, meanwhile, was at 41.7%. The climb of Chrome during 2011 has been astonishing: It has gained eight percentage point since January 2011, representing a 50% increase. During that same period, Firefox has dropped almost four percentage points, a decline of about 13%, while IE has also fallen four points, a 9% dip. That means Chrome is essentially reaping all the defections from Firefox and IE."
Science

Researcher Builds Life-Like Cells Made of Metal 259

Posted by samzenpus from the devil-in-the-dark dept.
Sven-Erik writes "Could living things that evolved from metals be clunking about somewhere in the universe? In a lab in Glasgow, UK, one man is intent on proving that metal-based life is possible. He has managed to build cell-like bubbles from giant metal-containing molecules and has given them some life-like properties. He now hopes to induce them to evolve into fully inorganic self-replicating entities. 'I am 100 per cent positive that we can get evolution to work outside organic biology,' says Lee Cronin at the University of Glasgow. His building blocks are large 'polyoxometalates' made of a range of metal atoms — most recently tungsten — linked to oxygen and phosphorus. By simply mixing them in solution, he can get them to self-assemble into cell-like spheres."

Submission + - The Evolution of 'Star Trek' (Infographic) (space.com)

Submitted by adumonit
adumonit writes: TV producer, Gene Roddenberry's optimistic vision of the future has captivated fans for nearly half a century. Six television series and 11 films depict humanity hundreds of years in the future, exploring the stars and battling alien enemies that include Klingons, Romulans and Borg.
Power

Submission + - Apple Files Patent For A Zero-Power PSU (conceivablytech.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Apple just filed a patent for a simple, but rather ingenious invention that could cut overall power consumption in any electronic device that depends on a power supply unit (PSU). Apple thinks of a much more complex PSU for the future, which will effectively cut the power draw to zero from a PSU when an electronic device is shut off.
Businesses

Submission + - Algo trading rapidly replacing need for humans (computerworlduk.com)

Submitted by DMandPenfold
DMandPenfold writes: Algorithmic trading, also known as high frequency trading (HFT), is rapidly replacing human decision making, according to a government panel which warned that the right regulations need to be introduced to protect stock markets.

Around one third of share trading in the UK is conducted by computers fulfilling commands based on complex algorithms, said the Foresight panel in a working paper published yesterday.

Nevertheless, this proportion is significantly lower than in the US, where three-quarters of equity dealing is computer generated.

The Foresight panel, led by Dame Clara Furse, the former chief executive of the London Stock Exchange, argued that there are both benefits and severe risks to algorithmic trading.

There was "no direct evidence" that the computer trading in itself increased volatility, it said, but in specific circumstances it was possible for a series of events with "undesired interactions and outcomes" to occur and cause massive damage.
Apple

Submission + - Samsung Tablet Banned in Germany (itworld.com)

Submitted by
itwbennett
itwbennett writes: "A German court has ruled that the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is too similar to Apple's iPad 2 and may not be sold in Germany. But Samsung isn't giving up the fight: 'We will take all available legal options including continuing to aggressively pursue Apple for its ongoing violation of Samsung's wireless technology patents around the world,' a Samsung spokesman said."
Government

Submission + - HIPPA will bite over health-care privacy blunders (networkworld.com)

Submitted by
coondoggie
coondoggie writes: "Healthcare organizations that are performing risk assessments as a way to craft patient-privacy policies might want to consider a new potential attack vector: federal regulators. Later this year, the Department of Health and Human Services is expected to start auditing up to 150 health providers at random through December 2012 in an effort to find medical entities that fail to comply with HIPAA and HITECH regulations about how personal data must be handled securely."
Transportation

Submission + - DoT Grants $15M to Test Car-to-Car Communication (itworld.com)

Submitted by
itwbennett
itwbennett writes: "Car-to-car communications is about to get its first large-scale, real-world test in Ann Arbor, Mich., where the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute will be putting as many as 3,000 cars equipped with short-range radio on the roads, thanks to a $14.9 million grant it just got from the U.S. Dept. of Transportation. DoT reports predict that up to 82 percent of serious accidents among unimpaired drivers can be eliminated or reduced by a little car-to-car negotiation, or early warning that a sedan three cars ahead just hit the brakes even though you can't see it through the giant SUV directly in front of you."

Submission + - Man Faces 75 Year Sentence For Recording Police (youtube.com) 3

Submitted by esocid
esocid writes: 42-year-old Michael Allison of Illinois could spend the rest of his life in prison for recording police in public. He faces five counts of eavesdropping, a class one felony. The Illinois Assistant Attorney General has joined the case and told the judge that citizens do not have the constitutional right to record police.
Censorship

Submission + - False DMCA notices erase Justin Bieber (tmz.com)

Submitted by Imagix
Imagix writes: In a fine case of how blind the DMCA is, a user submitted DMCA notices to YouTube over Justin Bieber's videos. In accordance to their DMCA policy, the videos were all yanked.
Security

Submission + - Kernel.org Trojan Attack Unnoticed for 17 Days (threatpost.com)

Submitted by Trailrunner7
Trailrunner7 writes: The attack that compromised the Linux kernel.org site went unnoticed for 17 days and was only discovered when one developer noticed an odd error message on his personal machine.

""Earlier today discovered a trojan existing on HPA's personal colo machine, as well as hera. Upon some investigation there are a couple of kernel.org boxes, specifically hera and odin1, with potential pre-cursors on demeter2, zeus1 and zeus2, that have been hit by this," an email from a kernel.org admin says.

The email says that the attack apparently happened on Aug. 12 and the Trojan was discovered on Aug. 29.
Businesses

Submission + - Bank of America in battle with bloggers (computerworlduk.com) 1

Submitted by DMandPenfold
DMandPenfold writes: Bank of America (BoA) has taken on two prominent blog sites after accusing them of spreading incorrect rumours.

The bank last week faced two difficult stories on consecutive days, and moved to publicly correct them after the sites shocked investors and the company’s stock price seemed to be affected.

The bank refutes suggestions that its strong response to both blogs was a personal attack on the writers, according to sources close to the situation.

Nevertheless, it publicly attacked Henry Blodget’s credentials in particular, noting he was banned from the securities industry eight years ago after settling fraud charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the US regulator.

Submission + - Possible Habitable Planet 36 Lightyears Away (nationalgeographic.com)

Submitted by rubycodez
rubycodez writes: HD85512b, a planet found by the European Southern Observatory's High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) in Chile, is at the right distance and of the right mass (3.6 times Earth) to possibly harbor life. It is only the second planet found with the right distance and mass parameters to be a viable candidate for further study for life signs.
Businesses

Submission + - H-P Orders More TouchPads (wsj.com)

Submitted by kgeiger
kgeiger writes: Stunned by the overwhelming demand for TouchPads at firesale prices, H-P has ordered another production run. The Wall Street Journal reports H-P lost $207 on every unit sold; perhaps they hope to make up the loss on volume. From the article: 'The decision to manufacture a second run, however, left analysts scratching their heads. The introductory model of the TouchPad costs $306 to manufacture, according to an estimate from research firm IHS iSuppli, suggesting a loss of roughly two-thirds if it is sold for $99.'

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