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Comment Safety Is the Issue (Score 1) 317

by Leonard777 (#44180329) Attached to: Why Automakers Should Stop the Infotainment Arms Race
I work for a company that develops infotainment systems for auto manufacturers. I totally agree that I would love to have the full capability of my smart phone OS of choice at my finger tips. I would love to not have to re-learn a new UI for every car! That said, one of the primary concerns of auto-makers when it comes to UI is safety and driver distraction. This is a big deal because as of today there are relatively light government restrictions on what can be done in a vehicle, and the auto makers want to keep it that way. To do this they try to be self policing. Simply mirroring a smart phone screen onto a larger in-vehicle display relinquishes too much control and allows end users to do things that can (reasonably or otherwise) be deemed unsafe while driving. I know there are apps that aim to prevent this, and there are other solutions being considered as well, but it is important to understand that this is the driving force behind independent UI designs, not just an overblown auto-manufacturer ego or cost cutting solution.
Australia

Australian Billionaire Wants To Build Jurassic Park-Style Resort 409

Posted by Soulskill from the what-could-possibly-go-wrong dept.
lukehopewell1 writes "Australian billionaire Clive Palmer has already floated a plan to rebuild the Titanic to scale and sail it around the world, but now the mining magnate has found a new use for his money: cloning dinosaurs. Palmer reportedly wants to clone a dinosaur and let it loose in one of his resorts in Queensland, Australia. The billionaire has already been in touch with the scientists who helped clone Dolly the sheep to see what it would take to clone a dinosaur from DNA."
Transportation

8 Grams of Thorium Could Replace Gasoline In Cars 937

Posted by Soulskill from the it's-cheap-on-the-auction-house-too dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Thorium, an abundant and radioactive rare earth mineral, could be used in conjunction with a laser and mini turbines to easily produce enough electricity to power a vehicle. When thorium is heated, it generates further heat surges, allowing it to be coupled with mini turbines to produce steam that can then be used to generate electricity. Combining a laser, radioactive material, and mini-turbines might sound like a complicated alternative solution to filling your gas tank, but there's one feature that sells it as a great alternative solution: 1 gram of thorium produces the equivalent energy of 7,500 gallons of gasoline."
Power

MIT Unveils First Solar Cells Printed On Paper 125

Posted by timothy from the let's-give-them-some-post-unveiing-privacy dept.
lucidkoan writes "MIT researchers recently unveiled the world's first thin-film solar cell printed on a sheet of paper. The panel was created using a process similar to that of an inkjet printer, producing semiconductor-coated paper imbued with carbon-based dyes that give the cells an efficiency of 1.5 to 2 percent. That's not incredibly efficient, but the convenience factor makes up for it. And in the future, researchers hope that the same process used in the paper solar cells could be used to print cells on metal foil or even plastic. If they're able to gear efficiencies up to scale, the development could revolutionize the production and installation of solar panels."
Security

What Free Antivirus Do You Install On Windows? 896

Posted by timothy from the is-clamav-no-longer-good? dept.
Techman83 writes "After years of changing between AVG Free + Avast, it's coming time to find a new free alternative for friends/relatives who run Windows. AVG and Avast have been quite good, but are starting to bloat out in size, and also becoming very misleading. Avast recently auto updated from 4.8 to 5 and now requires you to register (even for the free version) and both are making it harder to actually find the free version. Is this the end of reasonable free antivirus, or is there another product I can entrust to keep the 'my computer's doing weird things' calls to a minimum?"
Science

New Material Sets Stage For All-Optical Computing 53

Posted by timothy from the good-ping-times dept.
An anonymous reader writes with this excerpt from the International Business Times: "Researchers have made a new material that can be used to guide waves of light, a breakthrough that could lead to ultra-fast computing. Georgia Tech scientists are using specially designed organic dyes that can process and redirect light without the need to be converted to electricity first. ... 'For this class of molecules, we can with a high degree of reliability predict where the molecules will have both large optical nonlinearities and low two-photon absorption,' said [Georgia Tech School of Chemistry professor Seth] Marder." According to the article, using an optical router could lead to transmission speeds as high as 2,000 gigabits per second, five times faster than current technology.
Earth

Chilean Earthquake Shortened Earth's Day 374

Posted by kdawson from the ice-skater-effect dept.
ailnlv writes "Days on Earth just got shorter. The recent earthquake in Chile shifted the planet's axis by about 8 cm and shortened days by 1.26 microseconds 'The changes can be modeled, though they're difficult to detect physically given their small size. ... Some changes may be more obvious, and islands may have shifted. ... Santa Maria Island off the coast near Concepcion, Chile’s second-largest city, may have been raised 2 meters (6 feet) as a result of the latest quake ...'"
Businesses

New Rules May Raise Cost of Buying Gadgets Online 171

Posted by timothy from the in-their-infinite-wisdom dept.
ericatcw writes "Buying your next laptop or smartphone online could suddenly get a lot more expensive if a little-known US Department of Transportation proposal to tighten rules around the shipment of small, Lithium-Ion battery-powered devices by air goes through, says an industry group opposing the move. The changes, designed primarily to reduce the risk from Lithium-Ion batteries, would also forbid air travelers from carrying spare alkaline or NiMH batteries in their checked-in luggage, according to the head of the Portable Rechargeable Battery Association. The proposal is under review until March 12. It can be viewed and commented upon by members of the public."
Cellphones

Snow Leopard Drops Palm OS Sync 290

Posted by timothy from the exclusivity-demands-it dept.
adeelarshad82 writes "It's been just a little over a month since Apple blocked iTunes sync with Palm Pre, and now Apple takes that strategy one step further by blocking Snow Leopard sync with Palm-OS powered smartphones. Even though Palm has officially retired Palm OS and is now focusing hard on its next-generation WebOS in the Palm Pre, the company is still selling Palm OS-powered smartphones; two current models are the Treo Pro on Sprint and the Centro."
Movies

Sam Raimi To Direct World of Warcraft Movie 298

Posted by Soulskill from the this-is-my-boomstick dept.
Decado writes "Blizzard has just announced that Sam Raimi is to direct the new World of Warcraft movie. 'Raimi, acclaimed director of the blockbuster Spider-Man series, will bring the forces of the Horde and the Alliance to life in epic live-action film. Charles Roven's Atlas Entertainment will produce alongside Raimi's Stars Road Entertaiment.' While it's still early in the process, does this offer hope that someone might finally make a good movie based on a game IP?"
Portables

Acer To Launch 3D Notebook In October? 135

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the jumping-right-out-at-you dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Acer is planning to announce a 3D notebook computer by end of October. If Acer indeed comes out with a 3D laptop then it'll be the world's first manufacturer to do so. The most interesting thing about Acer's machine is that it requires no special glasses. The 15.6-inch notebook features built-in software which can convert regular 2D movies to 3D and directly support 3D movies." Update: 06/08 23:18 GMT by T : According to the linked story, the no-glasses version is still in the works; the current iteration does still require special glasses.
The Military

$10M For Unmanned Aircraft That Can Perch Like a Bird 176

Posted by samzenpus from the UAV-wanna-cracker dept.
coondoggie writes "Unmanned aircraft maker AeroVironment got an additional $5.4 million to further develop a diminutive aircraft that can fly into tight spaces undetected, perch and send live surveillance information to its handlers. Last Fall, AeroVironment, got $4.6 million initial funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop the Stealthy, Persistent, Perch and Stare Air Vehicle System (SP2S), which is being built on the company's one-pound, 29-inch wingspan battery-powered Wasp unmanned system."

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