19111554
submission
PatPending writes:
Manufacturers of smart phones shipped more devices than manufacturers of personal computers (sans tablet PCs) in the fourth quarter of 2010, according to research, making mobile devices as the computing platform of choice earlier than many industry-watchers had expected.
The growth in smart phones will continue to surge, analysts said, as the high-end models improve and the middle tier gets more affordable.
19045504
submission
PatPending writes:
From the article:
Hackers have repeatedly penetrated the computer network of the company that runs the Nasdaq Stock Market during the past year, and federal investigators are trying to identify the perpetrators and their purpose, according to people familiar with the matter.
The exchange's trading platform—the part of the system that executes trades—wasn't compromised, these people said. However, it couldn't be determined which other parts of Nasdaq's computer network were accessed.
Investigators are considering a range of possible motives, including unlawful financial gain, theft of trade secrets and a national-security threat designed to damage the exchange.
18782060
submission
PatPending writes:
In a prior Slashdot story, Honeywell To Sell Miami-Dade Police a Surveillance Drone, and this summary of Drones on The Home Front, drones are now used by the Texas Department of Public Safety; the Mesa County Sheriff's Office, Colorado; the Miami-Dade County, Florida, Police Department; and the Department of Homeland Security. But what about privacy concerns? "Drones raise the prospect of much more pervasive surveillance," said Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst with the American Civil Liberties Union's Speech, Privacy and Technology Project. "We are not against them, absolutely. They can be a valuable tool in certain kinds of operations. But what we don't want to see is their pervasive use to watch over the American people."
18580768
submission
PatPending writes:
German firm X-pire is poised to launch software the third week of this month allowing users to have photos uploaded to websites erased automatically after a certain time, said Michael Backes, founder of X-pire. The software will cost two euros per month.
Their software assigns an electronic key to each photo; the key is valid for a limited time period. Thereafter the web server checks whether the photo has expired and blocks it from being displayed if its time is up.
Internet surfers already have the power to delete photos from social networking websites like Facebook, but "experience shows that they don't get round to it," Backes said. "Most Facebook users, for example, are passive users. They go on, they put on a lot of private information and almost never come back on or they forget their password," he said.
"The software is not designed for people who understand how to protect their data but rather for the huge mass of people who want to solve the problem at its core and not to have to think about it any more," added Backes.
However, it will not protect cautious users against third parties downloading their pictures and saving them. "When people put photos on line, it's so they can be seen... our software is not a panacea, not absolute protection," he said.
18268412
submission
PatPending writes:
A Minnesota start-up company, LVX, is developing products under several patents and about a dozen pending applications, e.g., "Building illumination apparatus with integrated communications, security and energy management", that puts clusters of LEDs in a standard-sized ceiling light fixture. The LEDs are in optical communication with special modems attached to office computers. The first generation of the LVX system will transmit data at speeds of about three megabits per second, roughly as fast as a residential DSL line. LVX Chief Executive Officer John Pederson said a second-generation system that will roll out in about a year will permit speeds on par with commercial Wi-Fi networks. It will also permit lights that can be programmed to change intensity and color. Pederson said the next generation of the system should get even more efficient as fixtures become "smart" so the lights would dim when bright sunlight is coming through a window or when a conference room or hallway is empty. Hurdles: speed and installation costs. No word on the reliability and security of this system.
17844984
submission
PatPending writes:
A 10 page Powerpoint presentation that security and privacy analysis Christopher Soghoian recently obtained through a Freedom of Information Act Request to the Department of Justice, reveals that law enforcement agencies routinely seek and obtain real-time surveillance of credit card transaction. The government's guidelines reveal that this surveillance often occurs with a simple subpoena, thus sidestepping any Fourth Amendment protections.
17736188
submission
PatPending writes:
FTFA: The investigative arm of the Homeland Security Department appears to be shutting down websites that facilitate copyright infringement. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has seized dozens of domain names over the past few days, according to TorrentFreak. ICE appears to be targeting sites that help Internet users download copyrighted music, as well as sites that sell bootleg goods, such as fake designer handbags. The sites are replaced with a note from the government: "This domain named has been seized by ICE, Homeland Security Investigations."
17613686
submission
PatPending writes:
Eastern District of New York Press Release
Defendant's Criminal Activities Extended to the National Security Sector
A four-count indictment was returned by a federal grand jury in Brooklyn today charging Lin Mun Poo, a resident and citizen of Malaysia, with hacking into a computer network of the Federal Reserve Bank and possessing more than 400,000 stolen credit and debit card numbers.1 The defendant was arrested on a criminal complaint shortly after his arrival in the United States on October 21, 2010, and has been held in custody since then. The case has been assigned to United States District Judge Dora L. Irizarry.
17587602
submission
PatPending writes:
Article; Paraben website. From the article:
Amber Schroeder, CEO of Paraben Corp., said, "A lot of people don't realize how dirty surfing the Internet can be for your machine."
The Porn Stick is one of Paraben's hottest new products.
"It's designed to actually go out and find illicit images and content on your computer and allow you to go through them and remove them," Schroeder said.
It's not just parents who are buying the Porn Stick. In fact, Paraben's biggest customer is spouses, in particular women.
17549662
submission
PatPending writes:
A Gizmodo investigation has revealed 100 of the photographs saved by the Gen 2 millimeter wave scanner from Brijot Imaging Systems, Inc., obtained by a FOIA request after it was recently revealed that U.S. Marshals operating the machine in the Orlando, Florida courthouse had improperly-perhaps illegally-saved [35,000] images [low resolution] of the scans of public servants and private citizens.
17340496
submission
PatPending writes:
Scariest speed camera of all... It checks your insurance, tax and even whether you are tailgating or not wearing a seatbelt (it's a safety belt, you insensitive clod!)
17228098
submission
PatPending writes:
From TFA: Russia has opened a criminal case against a man accused of involvement in a major spamming operation flooding the Internet with advertisements for the anti-impotence drug Viagra, a top Russian daily reported on Wednesday.
The paper said the charges were unprecedented in Russia, a major center for spammers, which is under pressure from Western partners to clamp down on abuse of the Internet.
Moscow police Tuesday raided the home of Igor Gusev who is accused of illegally operating a spam network that helped earn his partner company $120 million, the Kommersant daily reported, citing investigator Yevdokia Utenkova.
Gusev's lawyer, Vadim Kolosov, confirmed a criminal case had been opened against his client, but said he was innocent.
17055006
submission
PatPending writes:
Print friendly URL: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/10/13/future-today-robot-jetpacks-coming/print
The Martin Aircraft Company, makers of the world's only commercial jetpack (Slashdot, July 2008, and more recently (March 2010)), has built an unmanned version of the device.
It's called the Martin Skyhook UAV and it is remote-control operated from the ground using the same on-board remote control electronics as the popular Predator drone. It has the same specifications as the manned version of Martin's jetpack: Lift is generated by two turbofans driven by a 2-liter, 200-horsepower engine that can theoretically take the craft as high as 8,000 feet. It boasts a range of 31 miles and a maximum speed of 63 miles per hour, and it runs on ordinary gasoline, not jet or rocket fuel. It can carry loads of up to 220 pounds.
"We are seeking a cornerstone investor to help fund the final development phase and to enable the company to get the first aircraft to market. We think we could have it in field trials in nine months."
Is this the next installment for Skynet?"
15157210
submission
PatPending writes:
Engineers at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Germany (surely the greatest of all institutes) have turned a massive robot arm into a Ferrari F1 simulator, discovering a new strain of awesome in the process.
The contraption, known as the CyberMotion Simulator, consists of an industrial robotic arm fitted with a racing seat, a force feedback steering wheel and a 3D simulation of the Monza Formula 1 track beamed from a projector on to a curved display.
When occupants turn the wheel, the car reacts on screen while the arm flings them through the air, mimicking the violent direction changes they'd feel in an F1 car.
15007354
submission
PatPending writes:
On August 5, 2010, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals various concepts behind a newly advanced Smart Bicycle System in development. The premise is rather like Apple's Nike + iPod system for runners except for cyclists. While the system is for individuals, it's also designed to work with teams of cyclists so that they could communicate with each other on-the-fly about course difficulty or perceived problems. The Bicycle system monitors speed, distance, time, altitude, elevation, incline, decline, heart rate, power, derailleur setting, cadence, wind speed, path completed, expected future path, heart rate, power, and pace. The system could utilize various sensors built-into the iPhone in addition to working with sensors already built-into the bike itself. Apple's patent is extraordinarily detailed and packed with interesting twists that the sporting cyclist will really appreciate.
