Comment Re:Come on, guys... (Score 1) 229
Forget the play button. How'd they get that white text to hover in space like that?
Submission + - Oregon Senator seeks to block COICA (itworld.com)
jfruhlinger writes: The COICA copyright bill may have sailed through committee, but that doesn't mean that it's a done deal. Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, calling the "wrong medicine" to block copyright violations, is threatening to put a hold on the bill, which would block its adoption through at least the end of the year.
Submission + - Bruce Schneier Vs. The TSA (schneier.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Bruce Schneier has posted a huge recap of the TSA controversy, including more information about the lawsuit he joined to ban them. There's too much news to summarize, but it covers everything from Penn of Penn & Teller and Dave Barry's grope stories, other Israeli experts who say this isn't needed and hasn't ever stopped a bomb, the four-year-old girl who was traumatized by being groped and much, much more.
Submission + - Whitehat Hacker's Laptop, Cellphones Seized (net-security.org)
Orome1 writes: The well-known whitehat hacker and security researcher that goes by the handle Moxie Marlinspike has recently experienced firsthand the electronical device search that travelers are sometimes submitted to by border agents when entering the country. He was returning from the Dominican Republic by plane, and when he landed at JFK airport, he was greeted by two U.S. Customs officials and taken to a detention room where they kept him for almost five hours, took his laptop and two cell phones and asked for the passwords needed to access the encrypted material on them.
Comment Re: Priceline for cloud! (Score 1) 114
What we really need is William Shatner pitching "name your own price" for cloud resources.
Yes, you CAN get cycles in a four-star data center located near the major metro area you've selected. I like the resources being commodities - more options, cheaper options. Yum!
Submission + - Oracle: Google 'Directly Copied' Our Java Code (itworld.com) 1
itwbennett writes: On Wednesday, Oracle amended the lawsuit it filed against Google in August, saying that 'approximately one third of Android's Application Programmer Interface (API) packages' are 'derivative of Oracle's copyrighted Java API packages' and related documents. In particular, 'the infringed elements of Oracle America's copyrighted work include Java method and class names, definitions, organization, and parameters; the structure, organization and content of Java class libraries; and the content and organization of Java's documentation,' Oracle says. 'In at least several instances, Android computer program code also was directly copied from copyrighted Oracle America code,' Oracle alleges.
Submission + - The great iPhone serial port hack (computerworld.com.au)
An anonymous reader writes: The iPhone's little know secret, a hidden serial port, is revealed. "The real benefit in all of this is that there are so many console packages for iPhone in Cydia now that you can have a fully functional computer, as useful as a linux box, but without carrying around a laptop."
Comment You still have to share some key or label (Score 1) 90
There has to be some key or label that is shared before radio users can talk to one another. If that wasn't the case, Joe Blow could pick up a radio with this technology and start talking to the local cop on the beat.
Interoperability of existing trunked systems for area-wide communications will make this work. We're doing it in Illinois with STARCOM-21. Price is an issue, but inter-departmental state-wide communications is now possible.
For tactical operations, like at the scene of a fire or police action, good ole two-way peer to peer radio works great. Low tech, grab a radio and go, put it on the right channel and you're there.
Bottom line, cool technology, might have some uses in some industries, but really nothing to see here. Keep moving people.
Submission + - Speeding: Radar Gun vs. GPS -- GPS Wins (hothardware.com) 1
MojoKid writes: "According to a release issued by Rocky Mountain Tracking, an 18-year old man, Shaun Malone, was able to
successfully contest a speeding ticket in court using the data from a GPS device installed in his car. This wasn't just any old make-a-left-turn-100-feet-ahead-onto-Maple-Street GPS; this was a vehicle tracking GPS device — the kind used by trucking fleets — or in this case, overprotective parents. The device was installed in Malone's car by his parents, and the press release makes no mention if the teenager knew that the device was installed in his vehicle at the time."
Submission + - SPAM: A sailing robot to cross the Atlantic
Roland Piquepaille writes: "The Times of London reports that seven robotic craft will compete in a race across the Atlantic Ocean in October 2008. One of them, 'Pinta the robot sailing boat,' has been designed at Aberystwyth University, Wales, UK. Pinta is expected to sail for three months at a maximum speed of four knots (about 4.6 mph or 7.4 kilometers per hour). Its designers hope the Pinta will become the first robot to cross an ocean using only wind power. This 150-kilogram sailing robot costs only £2,500 (US $4,900 or 3,200). The transatlantic race will start between September 29 and October 5, 2008 from Viana do Castelo, Portugal. The winner will be the first boat to reach a finishing line between the Northern tip of St. Lucia and the Southern tip of Martinique in the Caribbean. But read more for additional details and a picture of a robot sailing boat."
Submission + - SPAM: DOE shines $14M on solar energy research
coondoggie writes: "Eleven university solar research projects aimed at developing advanced solar photovoltaic (PV) technology manufacturing processes and products got a $14 million boost today from the Dept. of Energy. Photovoltaic-based solar cells convert sunlight directly into electricity, and are made of semiconductor materials similar to those used in computer chips. When sunlight is absorbed by these materials, the solar energy knocks electrons loose from their atoms, allowing the electrons to flow through the material to produce electricity. The Government Accounting Office recently said the DOE needs to step up its efforts to get inexpensive solar technology to marketing a recent report it said the DOE's R&D goal is for solar power to be unsubsidized and cost competitive with conventional technologies by 2015 by, for example, developing new thin-film photovoltaic technologies using less expensive semiconductor material than crystalline-silicon to reduce solar cell manufacturing cost.
[spam URL stripped]"
Link to Original Source
Link to Original Source
Unreal Creator Proclaims PCs are Not For Gaming 705
An anonymous reader writes "TG Daily is running an interesting interview with EPIC founder and Unreal creator Tim Sweeney. Sweeney is anyway very clear about his views on the gaming industry, but it is surprising how sharply he criticizes the PC industry for transforming the PC into a useless gaming machine. He's especially unhappy with Intel, which he says has integrated graphics chipsets that 'just don't work'."
T-Ray Camera Sees Through Clothes, Preserves Privacy 315
Quite a few readers are sending in stories about ThruVision's products, slated to be demonstrated in Britain next week, that are claimed to use Terahertz radiation ("T-rays") to detect foreign objects under clothing, without revealing body details, from a distance of 25 meters and while the subject is in motion. T-rays lie on the electromagnetic spectrum between infrared and microwaves, and are the subject of lively research efforts worldwide. ThruVision says it developed its products in cooperation with the European Space Agency.
Will Mars be a One-way Trip? 724
alexj33 writes "Will humans ever really go to Mars? Let's face it, the obstacles are quite daunting. Not only are there numerous, difficult, technical issues to overcome, but the political will and perseverance of any one nation to undertake such an arduous task is huge. However, one former NASA engineer believes a human mission to Mars is quite possible, and such an event would unify the world as never before. But Jim McLane's proposal includes a couple of major caveats: the trip to Mars should be one-way, and have a crew of only one person."
Feds Have a High-Speed Backdoor Into Wireless Carrier 229
An anonymous reader writes "An unnamed U.S. wireless carrier maintains an unfiltered, unmonitored DS-3 line from its internal network to a facility in Quantico, Virginia, according to Babak Pasdar, a computer security consultant who did work for the company in 2003. Customer voice calls, billing records, location information and data traffic are all allegedly exposed. A similar claim was leveled against Verizon Wireless in a 2006 lawsuit."
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