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Transportation

Electric Airplane Ready For Production 239

Posted by Unknown Lamer from the nuclear-powered-planes-out-next-month dept.
MrSeb writes with news about a production ready electric-hybrid airplane. From the article: "... The four-passenger carbon fiber aircraft isn't really an electric plane but more of a plug-in hybrid plane, much like the Chevrolet Volt. Whatever it is, the Volta Volare aeronautics company of Portland, Oregon says the plane can travel 300 miles on battery power, then a 1.5-liter gasoline engine engages and extends the plane's range to 1,000 miles. The company sees the plane being attractive for its low cost of operation and its environmental friendliness. Aviation gasoline is typically leaded fuel, which has been gone from motor vehicle fuel since the 1980s. On a 200-mile trip in a comparable four-passenger gas-engine private plane, you'd burn $80 worth of avgas, while the electricity to carry the GT4 200 miles would cost only $20 — nice savings, but perhaps a little inconsequential when the plane itself is expected to cost around $500,000. Testing begins this spring on the Volta Volare GT4."
Facebook

Big Internet Players Propose DMARC Anti-Phishing Protocol 92

Posted by timothy from the gotta-have-a-license dept.
judgecorp writes "Google, Microsoft, PayPal, Facebook and others have proposed DMARC, or Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance, an email authentication protocol to combat phishing attacks. Authentication has been proposed before; this group of big names might get it adopted." Adds reader Trailrunner7, "The specification is the product of a collaboration among the large email receivers such as AOL, Gmail, Yahoo Mail and Hotmail, and major email senders such as Facebook, Bank of America and others, all of whom have a vested interest in either knowing which emails are legitimate or being able to prove that their messages are authentic. The DMARC specification is meant to be a policy layer that works in conjunction with existing mail authentication systems such as DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) and SPF (Sender Policy Framework)."

Comment Re:Not all regulation is created equal (Score 1) 191

by JPC-tx2 (#34689678) Attached to: If the FCC Had Regulated the Internet From the Start

I too get frustrated. I think the thing that seperates people seems to be their level of trust in government and regulatory agencies. Certainly it has been a while since we've seen a good reason to trust them...

It's easy to become paranoid and follow that path to its logical conclusion that all government is bad.

It's also easy for people to be naive and trust that people in government will "do the right thing" (and their thinking for them).

Unfortunately, neither of these is the case...

We're witnessing entropy in its societal form.

Comment Not all regulation is created equal (Score 1) 191

by JPC-tx2 (#34676074) Attached to: If the FCC Had Regulated the Internet From the Start

Yes - all the government has is a hammer (regulation).

No - not all hammers are the same.

You're just stating the obvious in a twisted metaphor. Obviously not all regulation is good. It's not all bad/necessary/evil/* either. The debate is (or at least should be) on how to solve the problem, not whether or not to drop the hammer. In keeping with your metaphor - which kind of hammer do you use?
Robotics

A Mind Made From Memristors 320

Posted by Soulskill from the fully-functional dept.
Csiko writes "Researchers at Boston University's department of cognitive and neural systems are working on an artificial brain implemented with memristors. 'A memristor is a two-terminal device whose resistance changes depending on the amount, direction, and duration of voltage that's applied to it. But here's the really interesting thing about a memristor: Whatever its past state, or resistance, it freezes that state until another voltage is applied to change it. Maintaining that state requires no power.' Also theoretically described, solid state versions of memristors have not been implemented until recently. Now researchers in Boston claim that memristors are the new key technology to implement highly integrated, powerful artificial brains on cheap and widely available hardware within five years."
NASA

NASA Delays Discovery's Final Launch To February 62

Posted by Soulskill from the hope-you-brought-a-blanket,-keith dept.
Velcroman1 writes "NASA has postponed the launch of space shuttle Discovery's final mission to no earlier than early February — the latest in a long string of delays that have kept the spacecraft grounded for more than a month. Discovery is now slated to launch no earlier than Feb. 3, with the delay allowing NASA engineers more time to analyze why small cracks developed in the shuttle's huge external fuel tank. The cracks have since been repaired, but NASA wants to make sure similar issues don't pose a future concern."
Security

Antivirus Firms Short-Changing Customers 205

Posted by Soulskill from the nickles-and-dimes dept.
Barence writes "Two leading security firms have been accused of ripping off customers by cutting short their antivirus subscriptions. AVG and Symantec are offering their own customers discounts on subscriptions via email or pop-ups, but the new subscriptions start immediately, 'short-changing' users who had months left on their existing deal. Both Symantec and AVG owned up to the practice, and said they had no plans to change their ways, instead advising their customers to upgrade as close as possible to the end of the subscription. However, the pair actively send out emails and pop-up messages that encourage customers to upgrade immediately."
The Military

Sarah Palin 'Target WikiLeaks Like Taliban' 1425

Posted by CmdrTaco from the name-calling dept.
DMandPenfold writes "Sarah Palin, who is widely tipped as a possible Republican candidate for president in 2012, has said WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should be hunted down in the way armed forces are targeting the Taliban and Al-Qaeda." So that means we should spend billions of dollars and not catch him? Good plan.
Cellphones

Emergency Broadcast System Coming To Cell Phones 256

Posted by samzenpus from the set-your-emergency-to-vibrate dept.
gambit3 writes "The Emergency Broadcast System that interrupts TV programming in times of crisis is jumping to a new format where it might be able to reach you better — on your cell phone. The communications company Alcatel-Lucent announced Tuesday that it's creating a Broadcast Message Center that will allow government agencies to send cell phone users specific information in the event of a local, state or national emergency. It will be similar to the TV alerts in that the text messages will be geographically targeted for areas where a tornado alert or major road closure, for example, is in effect."
Google

Critics Call For Probe Into Google Government Ties 289

Posted by CmdrTaco from the begin-the-probing dept.
bonch writes "The National Legal and Policy Center has written to the House Oversight Committee to investigate alleged ties between Google and the Obama administration, specifically with regards to the closure of an FTC probe into Google's Wi-Fi privacy breach, when the company admitted to having collected users' unencrypted information over the course of three years. The NLPC compares Google's relationship with the administration to that of Halliburton and cites the timing of a $30,000-a-head Democratic fundraiser at Google CEO Marissa Meyer's home less than a week before the FTC ended its inquiry, where Obama made a personal appearance, as well as the fact that US deputy chief technology officer Andrew McLaughlin is a former Google employee. The NLPC further alleges that the FTC is tougher on other companies, issuing fines to Twitter and Sears for their privacy violations while letting Google off the hook after the company promised to improve its privacy practices."

Comment Re:Maybe some help for Asthmatics (Score 1) 223

by JPC-tx2 (#34026832) Attached to: You Have Taste Receptors In Your Lungs

Why would I buy shares of a company that I "...don't like making money off the hard working backs of all those poor people..."?

I'd buy shares of their competitors if they weren't just as bad...

Do you think that the company who makes Singulair cares about you beyond keeping you alive long enough to extract the maximum amount of money from you that they can?

All they need, is for you to believe their drug is helping and continue buying it. Wether it actually is helping or not offers different pro's and con's for them either way.
Earth

Carnivorous Swamp Beast Discovered In Madagascar 157

Posted by timothy from the does-your-dog-bite? dept.
crudmonkey writes "Researchers have identified a previously unknown species of carnivore lurking in one of the world's most endangered lakes. Durrell's vontsira, named in honor of the late conservationist and writer Gerald Durrell, was first photographed swimming in Madagascar's Lake Alaotra in 2004. Subsequent surveys confirmed the mongoose-like creature was indeed a new species. Durrell's vontsira is the first new carnivorous mammal discovered in Madagascar in 24 years. Little is known about the species, which is roughly the size of a cat."
Robotics

Robot Controlled By Rat Brain 170

Posted by samzenpus from the we're-gonna-need-a-smarter-trap dept.
kkleiner writes "Kevin Warwick, once a cyborg and still a researcher in cybernetics at the University of Reading, has been working on creating biological neural networks that can control machines. He and his team have taken the brain cells from rats, cultured them, and used them as the guidance control circuit for simple wheeled robots. Electrical impulses from the bot enter the batch of neurons, and responses from the cells are turned into commands for the device. The cells can form new connections, making the system a true learning machine."
Image

Darth Vader Robs Long Island Bank 190

Posted by samzenpus from the I-find-our-lack-of-funds-disturbing dept.
Apparently the destruction of the second Death Star has stretched the Galactic Empire's coffers so thin that Lord Vader himself is robbing banks. From the article: "Impotent Rebel Alliance security forces tell Newsday (paywall) that Vader marched into a Chase bank in Setauket around 11:30 a.m. today. Brandishing a completely unnecessary handgun — as he had the power to choke the oxygen out every teller's throat — the fallen Jedi demanded cash."

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