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Submission + - Some volcanoes 'scream' at ever-higher pitches until they blow their tops (washington.edu)

Submitted by vinces99
vinces99 writes: Swarms of small earthquakes often precede a volcanic eruption. They can reach such rapid succession that they create a "harmonic tremor" that resembles sound made by some musical instruments. A new analysis of an eruption sequence at Alaska's Redoubt Volcano in March 2009 shows the harmonic tremor glided to substantially higher frequencies and then stopped abruptly just before six of the eruptions. Scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey's Alaska Volcano Observatory have dubbed the highest-frequency harmonic tremor at Redoubt Volcano “the screams” because the episodes reach such high pitch compared with a 1-to-5 hertz starting point. Alicia Hotovec-Ellis, a University of Washington doctoral student in Earth and space sciences and an author of two papers examining the phenomenon, has created a 10-second recording and a one-minute recording that provides a 60-times faster representation of harmonic tremor and small earthquakes.

Submission + - Android At Risk Of Getting Banned In India By The Goverment (muktware.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Telecom Minister, Kapil Sibal plans to ban Android in India, accusing the mobile OS to carry adult applications which are unsuitable for minors.He has asked the media to come up with suggestions to deal with the issue, before taking any step.
        “I want you people to suggest how can we close it. If we want to close it, you will attack us. I want all the media to come together and tell the minister how to deal with it so that if I do something about it, you don’t attack me,”

Submission + - Tiny ion engine runs on water (discovery.com)

Submitted by symbolset
symbolset writes: Discovery News is covering a project by two engineers from the University of Michigan to pair cubesats with tiny ion engines for inexpensive interplanetary exploration. The tiny plasma drive called the CubeSat Ambipolar Thruster (CAT) will ionize water and use it as propellant with power provided by solar cells. In addition to scaling down the size of ion engines they hope to bring down the whole cost of development and launch to under $200,000.

Submission + - Rogers Moto X Demo Video Reveals Google's Android Superphone Coming in August (hothardware.com)

Submitted by MojoKid
MojoKid writes: A leaked tech demo posted to YouTube shows off Motorola's upcoming Moto X smartphone, a seemingly high-end device that is sure to win over a few fans with its wealth of new tricks and features. The Moto X handset, which is launching exclusive to Rogers in Canada (no mention of US market carriers) this August, will be available in black and white, but a key selling point of the device comes from its voice activated features. The tech demo heavily emphasizes Google Now, which Moto X users can engage without touching the device. In the demo, a woman is shown asking Google Now what the weather will be like in Toronto while she types away on a computer, never having to reach down to tap the handset. It was also previously leaked that the Moto X will ship with a 4.4-inch display (1280x720), 1.7GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 8960 processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, 10MP rear-facing camera, 2MP front-facing camera, and of course Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.

Submission + - Balmer's Bargain Blowouts: Microsoft Slashes Tablet Prices (theverge.com)

Submitted by McGruber
McGruber writes: Thursday, The Verge broke the news (http://www.theverge.com/2013/7/11/4514888/microsoft-surface-rt-tablet-price-cuts) that Microsoft was slashing the price of its tablets — the price of the 32-gig Surface RT plummented by 42%! Staples, TigerDirect and many other retailers are already selling the tablets at the lowered prices.

I wonder what Microsoft will do for customers who purchased a tablet right before the pricedrop?

Submission + - How do you deal with programmers who have not stayed current? 1

Submitted by skaffen42
skaffen42 writes: The recent Ask Slashdot about becoming a programmer later in life got me thinking about a related question. How do you deal with programmers who have not stayed current with new technologies?

In the hiring process this is easy, you simply don't hire them. However, at most companies I have worked at there are usually a few programmers who have been employed there for long enough that the skill-set they were originally hired for has become irrelevant. At the same time they have not bothered to stay current with newer technologies. They usually have enough business knowledge that they provide some value to the company, but from a technical perspective they are a slowly increasing liability. As an example, I work with a developer who is 10 years my senior, but still doesn't understand how to write concurrent code and cannot be trusted to use a revision control system without causing a mess that somebody else will have to clean up. On top of that he is really resistant to the idea of code reviews, which I think is due to him disliking people he considers junior to him making suggestion about how to improve his code.

So how do my fellow Slashdotters handle situations like this? How do you help somebody like this to improve their skill-sets? And most importantly, how do you do so without stepping on anybody's feelings?

Submission + - Samsung reportedly working with Galaxy S4 Zoom (cosimple.com)

Submitted by harsh..itt
harsh..itt writes: As the Samsung‘s flagship Galaxy S4 started rolling out globally, Samsung has also reported to also launch an smaller version of its flagship smartphone. Reports has claimed that Samsung is preparing at least two variants of its rumored Galaxy S4 Mini.

A report from SamMobile, which also has reported many leaks about Samsung, says that Samsung is working with Galaxy S4 Zoom. Reportedly, the phone will feature a 16MP autofocus camera with optical image stabilisation and 10X optical zoom, as the name suggests, the original Galaxy S4 comes with an 13MP camera, the company is looking to give users an ultimate smartphone camera experience by offering the highest resolution in a smartphone in its portfolio. In comparison, other Samsung devices such as Galaxy Note II and Galaxy S III feature 8MP units.

The reports claims that the Galaxy S4 Zoom will come with a 4.3-inch display with 960x540p resolution and 256ppi pixel density. It will come with 8GB of internal storage, and can be further expandable upto 64FB via microSD card. The phone will run full flavoured Android 4.2 Jelly Bean OS with TouchWiz Nature UX. In connectivity, the phone includes Bluetooth 4.0 and Wi-Fi with White and Black color options. While there are no expectations and rumors about the Processor and RAM for the device.

Submission + - (Highly divided) Federal Circuit opinion finds software patent-ineligible

Submitted by ais523
ais523 writes: The Federal Circuit has divided CLS Bank vs. Alice Corp., a case about various sorts of patents, including software patents. Although the judges disagreed, to a lesser or greater extent, on the individual parts of the ruling, eventually, more than half decided that the patents in question — algorithms for hedging risk — were ineligible patent matter, and that merely adding an "on a computer"-like clause to an abstract algorithm does not make it patentable. Coverage is available at Patently-O and Groklaw, or you can read the opinion itself.

Submission + - Bloomberg Reporters Caught Spying on Terminal Users

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: Big Bloomberg is watching you. CNN reports that was the unsettling realization Goldman Sachs execs came to a few weeks ago when a Bloomberg reporter inadvertently revealed that reporters from the news and financial data provider had surveillance capabilities over users of Bloomberg terminals. 'Limited customer relationship data has long been available to our journalists,' acknowledged a Bloomberg spokesman. 'In light of [Goldman's] concern as well as a general heightened sensitivity to data access, we decided to disable journalist access to this customer relationship information for all clients.' Business Insider is now reporting on allegations that Bloomberg reporters used terminals to spy on JPMorgan during the 'London Whale' disaster; Bloomberg bragged about its leadership on this story.

Submission + - Snapchats Don't Disappear (forbes.com)

Submitted by nefus
nefus writes: Forensics Firm Has Pulled Dozens of Supposedly-Deleted Photos From Android Phones. A 24-year-old forensics examiner from Utah has made a discovery that may make some Snapchat users think twice before sending a photo that they think is going to quickly disappear. Richard Hickman of Decipher Forensics found that it’s possible to pull Snapchat photos from Android phones simply by downloading data from the phone using forensics software and removing a “.NoMedia” file extension that was keeping the photos from being viewed on the device. He published his findings online and local TV station KSL has a video showing how it’s done.

Submission + - Demonoid Resurrection Dismissed As Malware Was Legitimate (torrentfreak.com)

Submitted by wo1verin3
wo1verin3 writes: Previously reported on Slashdot was a story about a malware attempt masquerading itself as a Demonoid resurrection. It turns out this really was Demonoid making a comeback. With the site now back online with a new host, TorrentFreak caught up with its admins who tell us they have no malicious intent and simply want to bring a community back to together. While there is still uncertainty, one thing is absolutely clear – they do have the old Demonoid database.

Submission + - Android Apps Found on Google Play Download Spyware 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A new piece of Android malware has been discovered with two components: a downloader available on Google Play and the spyware app it downloads. The authors have disguised their scheme under the guise of font-installing apps. The threat, detected as “Android.TechnoReaper” by security firm Webroot, thankfully does not appear to be too popular.

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