Archive for the 'Technology' Category
‘Solar’ Jet Fuel Made Out of Thin Air (Average Efficiency of 1.73%)
May 2nd, 2014This is nowhere near viable (at least in terms of what is publicly acknowledged), but I thought it was interesting anyway. Via: Chemistry World: The dream of producing hydrocarbon fuels from carbon dioxide and sunlight is one step closer thanks to chemists in Europe who have made jet fuel from scratch in a solar reactor […]
Microsoft Includes XP Users in IE Patch
May 1st, 2014*chortle* Via: BBC: Microsoft has said users of its Windows XP operating system will also get the security update it has issued to fix a flaw in the Internet Explorer browser. It issued the update on Thursday to fix a bug that let hackers gain access and user rights to computers. Microsoft ended support for […]
Hackers Can Mess With Traffic Lights to Jam Roads and Reroute Cars
April 30th, 2014Via: Wired: The hacker in the Italian Job did it spectacularly. So did the fire sale team in Live Free or Die Hard. But can hackers really hijack traffic lights to cause gridlock and redirect cars? According to one researcher, parts of the vehicle traffic control system installed at major arteries in U.S. cities and […]
Firefox Classic Theme Restorer
April 29th, 2014I wish Mozilla would stop pointlessly trying to change Firefox’s user interface. Change for the sake of change is retarded. If I wanted to use Chrome, I would. *groan* Anyway, Classic Theme Restorer goes a long way toward “fixing” the new Firefox.
Google’s Self-Driving Car on City Streets
April 28th, 2014Via: Google:
Cody Wilson: Happiness Is a 3-D Printed Gun
April 28th, 2014About two thirds of the way through the interview, he talks about Bitcoin, and I’d really like the handful of people out there who continue to think of Bitcoin as some sort of magic, anonymous money/transaction system to pay very close attention. One more time: It isn’t. Now, do I think his Dark Wallet thing […]
China: Ten Recycled Concrete Houses 3D-Printed in 24 Hours [???]
April 28th, 2014😯 Via: International Business Times: A Chinese construction firm based in Shanghai has succeeded in building 10 houses each measuring 200 square metres in 24 hours by using an enormous 3D printer. The houses are all eco-friendly and constructed from 3D-printed building blocks made from layers of recycled construction waste and glass fibre and mixed […]
Critical Flaw Allows Attackers to Take Control of Windows XP Systems
April 27th, 2014I thought we would see something like this within a week of XP’s 8 April end of life date. It took a bit longer. I’m pretty sure that I won’t post any more about this issue. It just worries me to see so many of you continuing to visit Cryptogon on browsers (especially MS Internet […]
The Desperate Hustle as a Way of Life
April 27th, 2014Via: City Paper: Here is the future: nobody gets any job security. Nobody gets a fair wage while they have a job. Nobody gets a retirement fund or even any guarantee they’ll be able to eat tomorrow. And almost everyone is doing everything they can just to get by—and paying some substantial portion of their […]
Japan’s Plan for Centimeter-Resolution GPS
April 26th, 2014Via: IEEE: A stranger to Tokyo could easily get lost in its urban canyons. And GPS navigation, stymied by low resolution and a blocked view of the sky, might not be much help. But that won’t be the case after 2018. Engineers at Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Electric Corp. report that they’re on track to start up […]
