Archive for the 'Technology' Category
Major Flaw In Android Phones Would Let Hackers In With Just A Text
July 27th, 2015For Samsung users: Since the payload is in video files, how about unchecking “Auto retrieve” in Multimedia messages in the Samsung Messages app settings? Am I right? Via: NPR: Android is the most popular mobile operating system on Earth: About 80 percent of smartphones run on it. And, according to mobile security experts at the […]
Chevy Spark EV Review
July 24th, 2015Disclosures: I sell solar power systems in NZ and I’m long Enphase Energy. — Via: LaserHacker:
Vulnerability Allows Attackers to Take Remote Control of Chrysler Vehicles Equipped with Uconnect
July 21st, 2015Update: Fiat Chrysler Recalls 1.4 Million Cars After Jeep Hack — Via: Wired: I was driving 70 mph on the edge of downtown St. Louis when the exploit began to take hold. Though I hadn’t touched the dashboard, the vents in the Jeep Cherokee started blasting cold air at the maximum setting, chilling the sweat […]
Boeing Patents Laser-Powered Fusion-Fission Jet Engine for Airplanes, Spacecraft
July 13th, 2015Via: Ars Technica: Assume the brace position. Boeing has received a patent for, I kid you not, a laser-powered fusion-fission jet propulsion system. Boeing envisions that this system could replace both rocket and turbofan engines, powering everything from spacecraft to missiles to airplanes. The patent, US 9,068,562, combines inertial confinement fusion, fission, and a turbine […]
All-Electric Airbus E-Fan Aircraft Crosses the English Channel
July 10th, 2015Via: The Verge: This adorable little two-seater isn’t about to replace Airbus’ airliners, but the E-Fan — a light aircraft powered by lithium-ion batteries and two electric motors — just set a notable aviation milestone by crossing the English Channel. The 36-minute event took place earlier today, departing from Lydd, England and arriving in Calais, […]
FBI Investigating 11 Attacks on San Francisco-Area Internet Lines
June 30th, 2015Via: USA Today: The FBI is investigating at least 11 physical attacks on high-capacity Internet cables in California’s San Francisco Bay Area dating back a year, including one early Tuesday morning. Agents confirm the latest attack disrupted Internet service for businesses and residential customers in and around Sacramento, the state’s capital. FBI agents declined to […]
DARPA: Engineering Organisms That Will Terraform Mars [???]
June 28th, 2015Via: Vice: The goal of terraforming Mars would be to warm up and potentially thicken its atmosphere by growing green, photosynthesizing plants, bacteria, and algae on the barren Martian surface. It’s a goal that even perpetual techno-optimists like Elon Musk think isn’t going to happen anytime soon, but it’s a goal that DARPA apparently already […]
This Robotic Bricklayer Can Build a House in Two Days
June 26th, 2015Via: Engadget: For all the modern tools and heavy machinery found on construction sites these days, one aspect has remained a decidedly manual labor: bricklaying. Just as they did 6000 years ago when masonry was first developed, today’s bricklayers still perform their backbreaking work almost exclusively by hand. But thanks to Australian engineer, Mark Pivac, […]
China’s Troubling Robot Revolution
June 24th, 2015Via: New York Times: OVER the last decade, China has become, in the eyes of much of the world, a job-eating monster, consuming entire industries with its seemingly limitless supply of low-wage workers. But the reality is that China is now shifting its appetite to robots, a transition that will have significant consequences for China’s […]
Google Eavesdropping Tool Installed on Computers Without Permission
June 23rd, 2015Via: Guardian: Privacy campaigners and open source developers are up in arms over the secret installing of Google software which is capable of listening in on conversations held in front of a computer. First spotted by open source developers, the Chromium browser – the open source basis for Google’s Chrome – began remotely installing audio-snooping […]
