Comment Re:I guess this has some merit... (Score 5, Funny) 809
They already did, once America was full, they sent them all downunder
The Fastest Processor You Can't Run 236
auld_wyrm writes "Intel is trying to push the news of AMD's Barcelona launch out of the headlines with the release of the Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770, a 3.20 GHz CPU that runs on a 1600 MHz front-side bus. It is the fastest consumer level processor that has come out, but don't plan on running it anytime soon. The ~$1200 price tag, and the lack of any motherboards that support a 1600MHz FSB will stop this unneeded answer to Barcelona from appearing in enthusiast's PCs for Christmas. Still, the benchmarks from this powerful CPU are something awesome to behold."
Submission + - Humans not evolved for IT security
Stony Stevenson writes: Human beings aren't evolved for security in the modern world, and particularly the IT security world, according to security guru Bruce Schneier. He told delegates at the 2007 RSA Conference that there is a gap between the reality of security and the emotional feel of security due to the way our brains have evolved. This leads to people making bad choices.
He says our brains evolved to deal with the reality of security, but emotional aspects also have a big role. Because of this, too often in the industry, products appealed to people's emotions rather than addressing business facts and that was hurting the industry.
He says our brains evolved to deal with the reality of security, but emotional aspects also have a big role. Because of this, too often in the industry, products appealed to people's emotions rather than addressing business facts and that was hurting the industry.
Submission + - Alienware puts 64GB solid-state drives in desktops (computerworld.com)
Lucas123 writes: "In the face of Seagate's announcement this week of a new hybrid drive, Dell subsidiary Alienware just upped the ante by doubling the capacity of its desktop solid-state disk drives to 64GB. Dell has remained silent on the solid-state disk front since announcing a 32GB solid-state option for its Latitude D420 and D629 ATG notebook computers earlier this year. Now, Alienware seems to be telling users to bypass hybrid drives all together. 'Hybrid we consider to be a Band-Aid approach to solid state," said Marc Diana, Alienware's product marketing manager "Solid state pretty much puts hybrid in an obsolete class right now."'"
Submission + - Drug testing entire cities at once
Ellis D. Tripp writes: "Researchers have developed a technique for determining what illicit drugs people might be consuming in a given area, by testing a sample from the local sewage treatment plant. As little as a teaspoonful of untreated wastewater can reveal drug use patterns in a given community. From the article:
"one fairly affluent community scored low for illicit drugs except for cocaine. Cocaine and ecstasy tended to peak on weekends and drop on weekdays, she said, while methamphetamine and prescription drugs were steady throughout the week."
Obviously, any drugs found can't be tied to any specific user, but how much longer until the drug warriors want to deploy automatic sampling units farther upstream of the sewage treatment plant, sampling sewage output from selected neighborhoods, blocks, or even individual houses?
http://www.townhall.com/news/sci-tech/2007/08/21/s cientists_drug-test_whole_cities"
"one fairly affluent community scored low for illicit drugs except for cocaine. Cocaine and ecstasy tended to peak on weekends and drop on weekdays, she said, while methamphetamine and prescription drugs were steady throughout the week."
Obviously, any drugs found can't be tied to any specific user, but how much longer until the drug warriors want to deploy automatic sampling units farther upstream of the sewage treatment plant, sampling sewage output from selected neighborhoods, blocks, or even individual houses?
http://www.townhall.com/news/sci-tech/2007/08/21/
Submission + - Arm wrestling machine recalled for breaking arms (computerworld.com)
Lucas123 writes: "After three players broke their arms while wrestling with a Japanese arcade machine, the manufacturer promised to remove all 150 of the mechanized appendages. Said game maker Atlus' spokeswoman: "The machine isn't that strong, much less so than a muscular man. Even women should be able to beat it.""
Submission + - Robot War Doc, Cancer Breathalyzer at DARPATech (popularmechanics.com)
mattnyc99 writes: DARPATech, the Pentagon research arm's annual R&D free-for-all, has some pretty groundbreaking stuff on display this year: the first portable, self-contained robotic surgeon (which a Defense Dept. scientist said would be deployed by 2009), plus a breath-testing gadget that can scan for multiple diseases (including breast cancer) and three new autonomous 'bots that reflect the Pentagon's increasing need for autonomous machinery as the IED-filled Iraq war continues.
Submission + - U Delaware breaks solar power efficiency record (renewableenergyaccess.com) 1
mdsolar writes: "Renewable Energy Access is reporting that a consortium led by researchers at the University of Delaware has achieved 42.8% efficiency with a silicon solar cell. The method uses lower concentration (factor of 20 magnification) than the previous record holder Boeing-Spectrolab made cell (40.7% efficiency) so that it may have a broader range of applications since tolerances for pointing the device will be larger. They are now partnering with DuPont to build engineering and manufacturing prototypes under DARPA's Very High Efficiency Solar Cell program which supports work towards achieving 50% efficiency. It is expected that these cells can help improve the military battery logistics pipeline, providing "soldiers with more power at reduced weight." They expect to be in production in 2010. On a roof, such cells would require less than half the surface area to produce the same amount of power as today's standard solar panels. This might leave room for panels to power plugin hybrids for cases where roof area is too limited to do this with standard panels."
Submission + - Blue Blu-ray?
TopSpin writes: According to this story, at Japan's recent euphemistically named Adult Treasure Expo 2007, adult filmmakers said Sony had begun offering technical support — which was later confirmed by Sony PR, which stated that Sony would offer support to any filmmaker working on the format, no matter their industry. Apparently, Blu-ray is now the preferred media for Japanese porn.
Submission + - Firm Sues Sony Over Cell (next-gen.biz)
An anonymous reader writes: On July 26, Newport Beach, Calif.-based Parallel Processing filed a complaint against Sony Corp. of America, alleges the PS3's Cell processor infringes on an existing patent, and demands the "impounding and destruction" of all of Sony's infringing processors .
Canadian Theatre Chain Sued for Abusive Search 374
An anonymous reader writes "A Canadian theater chain has been sued for an abusive search for camcording equipment. A Montreal woman is seeking $60,000 in damages for the search, which comes after the Canadian government caved to US pressure and enacted anti-camcording legislation."
Submission + - What we know about the FBI's CIPAV spyware
StonyandCher writes: What is CIPAV? CIPAV, which stands for "Computer and Internet Protocol Address Verifier," is secret surveillance software that the FBI used last month to help identify whoever was e-mailing bomb threats almost daily to a Washington high school. The software collects a wide range of information from the target PC and sends it back to control — in this case, the FBI — and automatically records every outbound communication, though not the contents of said communication. If that sounds like a bot, well. ...
An affidavit by an FBI agent last month revealed some of the workings of CIPAV. In this article, Computerworld attempts to dissect CIPAV's purpose and raises a number of questions such as: What happens to the data the CIPAV collects? Does the CIPAV capture keystrokes? Can the CIPAV spread on its own to other computers, either purposefully or by accident? Does it erase itself after its job is done?
An affidavit by an FBI agent last month revealed some of the workings of CIPAV. In this article, Computerworld attempts to dissect CIPAV's purpose and raises a number of questions such as: What happens to the data the CIPAV collects? Does the CIPAV capture keystrokes? Can the CIPAV spread on its own to other computers, either purposefully or by accident? Does it erase itself after its job is done?
Submission + - On the rPath to virtual containerization (interopnews.com)
AlexGr writes: "By Jeff Gould (Interop News): It's becoming increasingly clear that the most important use of virtualization is not to consolidate hardware boxes but to protect applications from the vagaries of the operating environments they run on. It's all about "containerization," to employ a really ugly but useful word.
Until fairly recently this was anything but the consensus view. On the contrary, the idea that virtualization is mostly about consolidation has been conventional wisdom ever since IDC started touting VMware's roaring success as one of the reasons behind last year's slowdown in server hardware sales.
http://www.interopnews.com/news/on-the-rpath-to-vi rtual-containerization.html"
Password Vulnerability In Firefox 2.0.0.5 176
Paris The Pirate writes "According to a message posted over the weekend on the Full-Disclosure mailing list, the latest version of Firefox, 2.0.0.5, contains a password management vulnerability that can allow malicious Web sites to steal user passwords. If you have JavaScript enabled and allow Firefox to remember your passwords, you are at risk from this flaw."
Five Finger Keyboards 177
Tijaska writes "Mobile devices are becoming more capable all the time, but their small screens and keyboards limit their usefulness. This article shows ways in which five buttons located on the edges of a mobile could be used in combinations to generate 325 or many more different characters, making a full-sized keyboard unnecessary. If that sounds like a tall story, remember the case of the retired 93 year old telegraph operator who used a Morse key to send a text message faster than a teenager could send it via mobile phone (see here)."
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"If you want to eat hippopatomus, you've got to pay the freight." -- attributed to an IBM guy, about why IBM software uses so much memory
