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Security

Australian Gov't May Employ a Homegrown Quantum Key System 141

Posted by timothy from the lasers-spin-counterclockwise-there dept.
mask.of.sanity writes "The Australian government is trialling a new Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) system built by Aussie scientists. QKD is considered the world's toughest security because the slightest attempt to intercept the one time keys, coded into lasers at the quantum level, will disrupt the beam. The technology differs from current cryptography tech primarily because it's cheap. Well, less than the $US100k price tag of rival systems. It uses off-the-shelf networking gear instead of proprietary technology, and is built on open standards, so it's easier to install. The random key is encoded at the quantum level in the sidebeam in the phase and amplitude, or brightness and colour, of a highly tuned laser beam. The creators, who built the system in part for their Ph.Ds, said it can be used to transport the most sensitive data like critical infrastructure and secret commercial IP. The days of hand-delivered security keys are numbered."
Displays

First Touch-Screen, Bendable E-Paper Developed 174

Posted by timothy from the don't-sign-contracts-written-on-this dept.
Al writes "The first touch-screen flexible e-paper has been developed by a team from Arizona State University and E-Ink (the company that makes the technology for Amazon's Kindle and Sony's Reader). Jann Kaminski and colleagues at ASU's Flexible Display Center say the main challenge is that most touch-screen technologies do not respond well to being flexed. So they used an inductive screen, which relies on a magnetized styluses to induce a field in a sensing layer at the back of the display. The first adopters for the technology are likely to be the US Army. Watch a video of the device being tested."

Comment Re:The whole point of Chrome (Score 0, Flamebait) 294

by ednopantz (#26998631) Attached to: The Future of Google Chrome

No kidding. I find it amazing that javascript-- that abortion of a compromise of a hack is what holds the web together.

There was a moment when they could have had java....but no. They picked js because it would be quicker to download a browser with a js engine. And instead every web page has 800K of hacky js scripts attached to it.

Comment Re:Mac reliability (Score 1) 450

by ednopantz (#26937409) Attached to: Ma.gnolia User Data Is Gone For Good

Even past the hardware and cost issues: How many people out there can they turn to for help?

For every XAMP (xserve..apache..?) setup, there have to be 5000 ubuntu/debian/redhat/whatever LAMP installs.

When you run into problems, you don't want to be the only admin dealing with that problem--you want there to be thousands of other admins dealing with the same issue. With luck, one of them has already solved whatever problem you have.
Sci-Fi

Ricardo Montalban Dead At 88 280

Posted by samzenpus from the welcome-to-fantasy-island dept.
DesScorp writes "Ricardo Montalban, immortalized as Khan in the Star Trek franchise, is dead at age 88, passing at his Los Angeles home. Montalban had a long and successful career on television and film. The voice of Rich Corinthian Leather is silenced, but we still have the memories."
Windows

In-Depth With the Windows 7 Public Beta 785

Posted by kdawson from the ctrl-alt-del-makes-him-blink dept.
Dozer writes "With the Windows 7 public beta out, Ars Technica has an in-depth look at the release. There's praise for Windows 7's UI changes and polish as well much-needed changes to UAC, but also a warning that those who have problems with Vista won't like Windows 7 much better. 'If you couldn't stand Vista's UI (whether it's because you didn't like Explorer, Aero, Control Panel, UAC, or anything else), Windows 7 is unlikely to do much to help, as it builds on the same UI. If Vista's hardware demands were too steep, Windows 7 will likely cause you the same grief, as its hardware demands match. And if Vista didn't work with a program or device you need to use, Windows 7 will offer no salvation, as its compatibility is virtually identical.'"

Comment Re:getting rid of the secret ballot (Score 1) 715

by ednopantz (#26145245) Attached to: Tech Firms Oppose Union Organizing

An optional secret ballot is the same as no secret ballot. When the union guys come around "I'm using the secret ballot" is the same as "I'm voting against the union."

There's no reason to have card check except it allows union organizers to bring the integrity of an ACORN voter registration drive to a union election.
NASA

Depressed Astronauts Might Get Computerized Solace 138

Posted by CmdrTaco from the just-email-them-porn dept.
alphadogg writes "Clinical tests on a four-year, $1.74 million project for NASA, called the Virtual Space Station, are expected to begin in the Boston area by next month. The effort is designed to address the onset of depression in astronauts while they are in outer space. In the project, sponsored by the National Space Biomedical Research Institute, a recorded video therapist guides astronauts through a widely used depression therapy called 'problem-solving treatment.'" Here's a related story from a few weeks ago. Those astronauts got it rough.
Education

Russia Mandates Free Software For Public Schools 271

Posted by CmdrTaco from the in-soviet-russia-joke-makes-you dept.
Glyn Moody writes "After running some successful pilots, the Russian government has decided to make open source the standard for all schools. If a school doesn't want to use the free software supplied by the government, it has to buy commercial licenses using its own funds. What's the betting Microsoft starts slashing its prices in Russia?"

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