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Comment Re:Quoting Homer (Score 1) 586

by alien9 (#34673400) Attached to: Once-Darling Ethanol Losing Friends In High Places
Ethanol needs less compression rates than gas. Keep that on mind. That is the main difference between ethanol and gas engines here (Brazil). Nowadays there are mixed fuel engines for cars that employ an intermediary rates and the injection CPU does the trick of mixing the fuel with air on a proportion that (a) can explode into chamber and (b) does not overload the crank and cylinder systems. Given the standard mower / chainshaw / whatever 4 stroke engine, which has a radically simple carburator to make the mixing and was designed and adjusted to higher compression rates, when ethanol comes to scene you get promptely an hydraulic prop and goodbye, engine.
Apple

Submission + - WikiLeaks App removed from Apple Store (thinq.co.uk)

Submitted by Stoobalou
Stoobalou writes: An 'unofficial' WikiLeaks App which contained published documents from the Cablegate leaks has been withdrawn from the Apple App Store.

The $1.99 App created by developer Igor Barinov has been removed from sale without explanation despite the fact that all of the information contained in it is publicly available.
Security

Submission + - Enterprise SSH key management

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: SSH keys are a very convenient method of authentication, and when combined with a SSH agent make navigating a large environment very easy. The catch is that many security practices require that account credentials be rotated on a regular basis. There are many schemes that enforce solutions to this problem for password-based environments, but I have not seen anything for SSH keys. How has your environment handled this?
Cellphones

Submission + - Intel's Atom: Can It Take On ARM For Mobile? (computerworld.com)

Submitted by CWmike
CWmike writes: Intel will make a big splash at the Consumer Electronics Show on Jan. 6 with its Atom chips featured inside a variety of tablet computers and netbooks, but the chips are not expected to appear in smartphones until the last half of 2011. So far, the smartphone world has been heavily dominated by chips running the ARM architecture.ARM chips from Qualcomm are in 77% of all Android smartphones, leading some to dub the ARM-Android platform Quadroid.' ARM chips also are used in most other smartphones — and most tablets, including Apple's iPad and Samsung's Galaxy Tab. 'Intel has a significant handicap when it comes to mobile and is trying to overcome it,' said analyst Jack Gold. Early Atom chips grew out of Intel's focus on the x86 architecture for the Pentium and other chips for laptops, but those chips weren't power-efficient enough for small mobile devices, he said. 'Intel has to show the smartphone vendors that they have a significant advantage over ARM, whether that is greater power efficiency or the ability to run graphics or small enough chip size,' Gold said. He predicts a 'battle between ARM and Atom.' Intel spokeswoman Claudine Mangano said a third generation of Atom, called Medfield, is scheduled for 2011. Compared with earlier Atom chips, Medfield products will be smaller and more energy-efficient and will deliver higher performance. She gave no other details, but hosed down the idea of a battle with ARM. 'We believe we have a compelling alternative offering for the industry,' she said. 'We believe there's room for many to be successful. We'll just have to see how things play out.'
The Internet

Submission + - Net Neutrality: Fact or Fiction (huffingtonpost.com)

Submitted by
Bucc5062
Bucc5062 writes: "On Tuesday the FCC will vote on the new net neutrality rules to be put into place to protect US citizens from large Internet providers. According to Al Franken, Senator from Minnesota, what the FCC will be presenting is far from true net neutrality, but would seem to lean more in favor of primary providers like Verizon and AT&T:

Although Chairman Genachowski's draft Order has not been made public, early reports make clear that it falls far short of protecting net neutrality.

Senator Franken's position indicates displeasure with not just the FCC, but with the President's backing of the ruling as it seems the President provides a Trojan horse approach to supporting the basis of Net Neutrality. In a related article, Network World makes a similar statement regarding presidential backing while hinting that perhaps the rules need to provide more safety to the consumer. In its current implementation it would seem the rulings will make net neutrality look like Swiss cheese to any major ISP trying to get around an open network."
Science

Submission + - System Identifies Undersea Noises in Real Time (gizmag.com)

Submitted by Zothecula
Zothecula writes: Underwater microphones known as hydrophones have been used for some time, to listen in on whale song and other underwater sounds and there are numerous marine research institutes around the world that have hydrophones continuously monitoring local waters. Until now, however, the audio files from these instruments had to be loaded onto hard drives and analyzed after the fact, to figure out exactly what had been recorded. Researchers from the Applied Bioacoustics Laboratory have now created algorithms that automatically classify the sounds picked up by hydrophones in real time, to the point of even being able to identify the species of whales present... and anyone who's interested can now eavesdrop on those sounds on the Internet.
Government

Careful What You Post, the FBI Has More of These 761

Posted by CmdrTaco from the do-you-see-what-i-see dept.
jamie writes "A comment posted to a website got its author's *friend's* car an unwanted aftermarket addon. The Orion Guardian ST820, a GPS tracking device, was attached to the underside of the car by the FBI. No warrant required. The bugged friend, a college student studying marketing, was apparently under suspicion because he's half-Egyptian. As Bruce Schneier says, 'If they're doing this to someone so tangentially connected to a vaguely bothersome post on an obscure blog, just how many of us have tracking devices on our cars right now ...' The ACLU is investigating." This follows up on our earlier mention of the same student, who turned the tracking device over to the FBI.
Hardware

It's Time To Build the Analytical Engine 127

Posted by CmdrTaco from the future-is-awhile-ago dept.
macslocum writes "John Graham-Cumming is launching a project to finish Charles Babbage's dream and build an Analytical Engine for public display. The goal: inspire future generations of scientists to work on their own 100-year leaps."
Space

Can We Travel To That Exciting New Exoplanet? 662

Posted by CmdrTaco from the i-can't-even-get-to-chicago dept.
An anonymous reader writes "The news last week that exoplanet Gliese 581g may be in the 'Goldilocks zone' and could therefore hold liquid water and alien life got everyone all excited, with good reason. A potentially habitable planet — and only 20 light years away! But to put things in perspective, here are a couple of estimates on what it would take to travel to Gliese 581g. One scientist puts the travel time at 180,000 years based on current space flight technology, while another explains that it could be quite quick if we build a matter-antimatter drive, and can figure out how to bring along 530 times as much mass in fuel as is contained in the ship and cargo itself."
Microsoft

Ballmer Promises Microsoft Tablet By Christmas 356

Posted by CmdrTaco from the also-i-want-pie dept.
judgecorp writes "Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told an audience at the London School of Economics, that there will be tablets running Microsoft's Windows operating system available by Christmas. 'We as a company will need to cover all form factors,' he told an audience of students and press. 'You'll see slates with Windows on them – you'll see them this Christmas.' Mind you, if he's talking about the rumoured HP Windows 7 slate, he may not be so pleased when it appears. A recent YouTube video showed a supposed prototype which has been described as a 'trainwreck in the making.'"

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