Archive for the 'Technology' Category
Popular Security Software Came Under Relentless NSA and GCHQ Attacks
June 22nd, 2015Via: First Look: The National Security Agency and its British counterpart, Government Communications Headquarters, have worked to subvert anti-virus and other security software in order to track users and infiltrate networks, according to documents from NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. The spy agencies have reverse engineered software products, sometimes under questionable legal authority, and monitored web […]
Scientists Build Toy Car Propelled by Evaporating Water
June 22nd, 2015The rotor version reminds me of nitinol, which uses a temperature differential instead of evaporation. Via: Guardian: Machines that harness the power of evaporating water have been created by scientists in the US. Researchers at Columbia University in New York have built a miniature car that draws on the process to propel itself along, as […]
Glued to the Screen: A Third Grade Class Where Kids Spend 75% of the Day on iPads
June 19th, 2015Via: Hechinger Report: When the 24 third-graders in Morgan Mercaldi’s class arrive at the Jackson Avenue School every morning, they take their iPads out of their backpacks and put them on their desks. The tablets will remain there, or in hands and laps, until the children put them in their packs to take them home. […]
.mil Follies: How to Blow $6 Billion
June 18th, 2015This is chicken feed compared to the F-35 catastrophe. Via: Ars Technica: But the program meant to fix the mess, called the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS), instead became a massive 15-year software and hardware development mess of its own, involving five sub-programs and multiple multi-billion dollar contracts. It has been a financial disaster for […]
Homeland Security to Open Silicon Valley Office
June 17th, 2015Via: USA Today: The Department of Homeland Security plans to open a satellite office in Silicon Valley, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson told a crowded hall at RSA, the world’s largest computer security conference, on Tuesday. It’s also pushing back against moves by tech companies to digitally encode computer traffic to protect it […]
Man Faced 20 Years in Prison For Clearing Web Browser History
June 17th, 2015Via: Alternet: Khairullozhon Matanov, a former taxi driver, is scheduled to appear in US Federal Court next week to face sentencing on charges of obstruction of justice related to the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing. Matanov did not participate in or have any prior knowledge of the bombings, according to U.S. authorities. However, those facts are […]
GM, Nissan Will Offer Old Electric Car Battery Packs for Stationary Energy Storage
June 17th, 2015The aftermath of the Tesla Powerwall announcement has been pretty hilarious. Now everyone is coming out with stationary batteries for home and business use. However, nobody besides Tesla is willing to say how much their systems will cost. Via: MIT Technology Review: The Nissan Leaf went on sale in December 2010, which means that the […]
Hackers Have Personnel Data on Every U.S. Government Employee
June 11th, 2015Via: AP: Hackers stole personnel data and identity numbers for every federal employee, a government worker union said Thursday, saying that the cyber theft of U.S. employee information was more damaging than the Obama administration has acknowledged.
Obama Lawyers Asked Secret Court to Ignore Public Court’s Decision on Spying
June 11th, 2015Via: Guardian: The Obama administration has asked a secret surveillance court to ignore a federal court that found bulk surveillance illegal and to once again grant the National Security Agency the power to collect the phone records of millions of Americans for six months. The legal request, filed nearly four hours after Barack Obama vowed […]
Manufacturing of Asus Graphics Cards Now 100% Automated
June 11th, 2015Via: Geek: According to Asus, every single graphics card in use today has been manufactured with the help of one or more human workers. But that is no longer the case. Asus has figured out how to make graphics cards in a completely automated process, with the first human to interact with a card being […]
