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Transportation

King Tut's Chariot a Marvel of Ancient Engineering 124

astroengine writes "King Tutankhamun, who ruled Egypt over 3,000 years ago, looks as if he was chauffeured around the desert in one of the earliest-known high-performance vehicles. Tut's chariots surpass all monumental structures of the pharaohs in engineering sophistication. Discovered in pieces by British archaeologist Howard Carter when he entered King Tut's treasure-packed tomb in 1922, the collection consisted of two large ceremonial chariots, a smaller highly decorated one, and three others that were lighter and made for daily use. 'These vehicles appear to be the first mechanical systems which combine the use of kinematics, dynamics and lubrication principles,' said Alberto Rovetta, professor in robotics engineering at the Polytechnic of Milan."
The Internet

No, Net Neutrality Doesn't Violate the 5th Amendment 322

An anonymous reader writes "Yesterday we discussed the theory that net neutrality might violate the 5th Amendment's 'takings clause.' Over at TechDirt they've explained why the paper making that claim is mistaken. Part of it is due to a misunderstanding of the technology, such as when the author suggests that someone who puts up a server connected to the Internet is 'invading' a broadband provider's private network. And part of it is due to glossing over the fact that broadband networks all have involved massive government subsidies, in the form of rights of way access, local franchise/monopolies, and/or direct subsidies from governments. The paper pretends, instead, that broadband networks are 100% private."

Submission + - How Far Can Perpendicular Recording Go? (conceivablytech.com)

peterkern writes: Samsung has a new hard drive and says it can now store 667 GB on one disk, which comes out to be about 739 Gb/inch2. That is more than five times the density when perpendicular recording was introduced back in 2006 and is getting close to the generally believes soft limit of 1 Tb/inch2. It’s great that we can now store 2 TB on one hard drive and 3 TB hard drives are already feasible. But how far can it go? It appears that the hard drive industry may start talking about heat-assisted magnetic recording soon, again.
Cellphones

Android Outsells iPhone In Last 6 Months 514

tomhudson writes "Despite all the hype about Apple's latest iPhone, Android has sold more in the last 6 months (27% of all smartphone sales) than Apple (23%). The gains for Android are coming at the expense of RIM (still #1 at 33%, down from 45% a year ago), Windows Mobile (11%, down from 20%) and the iPhone (down from 34% at it's peak 6 months ago). If the current trend continues, Android is expected to be #1 within the year."
Firefox

Submission + - Firefox May Overtake IE in Europe This Month (conceivablytech.com)

peterkern writes: History in the making: It appears that the July browser market share reports are somewhat inconsistent, but if we believe StatCounter, then it looks like Firefox will be overtaking Microsoft’s IE in terms of market share next month. Both browsers are now within 1 point of 40% market share – IE above and Firefox below. Europeans appear to be more crazy about Firefox than Americans: In Germany, Firefox has a stunning 61% market share, while IE has only 25%. Google’s Chrome is, according to StatCounter, now above 10% market share. ConceivablyTech has more details, including market share data from StatCounter and NetApplications.
Science

Submission + - Chernobyl Has Lasting Negative Impact (bbc.co.uk)

ninguna writes: The largest wildlife census of its kind conducted in Chernobyl has revealed that mammals are declining in the exclusion zone surrounding the nuclear power plant. While some stories seem to indicate Nature recovering. The actual picture isn't quite so great (does this really surprise anyone?).
Cellphones

Submission + - Hacker builds $1,500 cell-phone tapping device (wired.com)

suraj.sun writes: A security researcher created a $1,500 cell phone base station kit (including a laptop and two RF antennas) that tricks cell phones into routing their outbound calls through his device, allowing someone to intercept even encrypted calls in the clear. Most of the price is for the laptop he used to operate the system.

The device tricks the phones into disabling encryption and records call details and content before they are routed on their proper way through voice-over-IP.

The low-cost, home-brewed device, developed by researcher Chris Paget, mimics more expensive devices already used by intelligence and law enforcement agencies — called IMSI catchers — that can capture phone ID data and content. The devices essentially spoof a legitimate GSM tower and entice cell phones to send them data by emitting a signal that's stronger than legitimate towers in the area.

Encrypted calls are not protected from interception because the rogue tower can simply turn it off. Although the GSM specifications say that a phone should pop up a warning when it connects to a station that does not have encryption, SIM cards disable that setting so that alerts are not displayed. Even though the GSM spec requires it, this is a deliberate choice on the cell phone makers, Paget said.

Wired: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/07/intercepting-cell-phone-calls/

Submission + - Verizon Changing Users Router Passwords 2

Kohenkatz writes: "I have Verizon FIOS at home and my Verizon-supplied Actiontec router had the password "password1" that the tech assigned to it when he set it up three years ago. I received an email from Verizon that said "we have identified that your router still had a password of either password1 or admin1 and we have changed it to your serial number." I checked and it actually had been changed. I believe this to be in response to the Black Hat presentation (http://it.slashdot.org/story/10/07/16/122259/Millions-of-Home-Routers-Are-Hackable) about the hackability of home routers. I am upset about this because Verizon should not have any way to get into my router and change the settings, especially because I own the router, not them! I looked in the router's settings and I see port 4567 goes to the router and is labeled "Verizon FIOS Service". Is this port for anything useful other than Verizon changing settings on my router? What security measures does Verizon have to protect that port from unauthorized access?"

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