Archive for the 'Technology' Category
Microsoft Gets Patent for ‘Avoid Ghetto’ Technology
January 7th, 2012Via: CBS: Microsoft has been granted a patent for its “avoid ghetto” feature for GPS devices. A GPS device is used to find shortcuts and avoid traffic, but Microsoft’s patent states that a route can be plotted for pedestrians to avoid an “unsafe neighborhood or being in an open area that is subject to harsh […]
‘Gamers Are Now in Full Battle Rattle with Official U.S. Army Rifle Controllers, Backpacks and Headsets’
January 6th, 2012Start ’em young. Via: Joystiq: CTA DigitalTM (http://ctadigital.com) today announced a partnership with the U.S. ArmyTM to manufacture U.S. ArmyTM branded video game accessories. Virtual soldiers on the video game battlefield can now take pride in Being Army StrongTM. Rifle controllers, backpacks and headsets with an authentic U.S. ArmyTM design are some of the many […]
Feds Want Judge to Force Suspect to Give Up Laptop Password
January 6th, 2012Reader Question: Which Encryption Software Do I Use? M emailed to ask about the encryption software that I use. For full disk encryption, I use TrueCrypt. Whether or not you believe that TrueCrypt can protect your data from all attackers, when used properly, it can definitely protect your data from attackers that you are likely […]
Recommended Links for WordPress
January 4th, 2012Nathaniel Taintor, of Golden Apples Design, is now actively developing Recommended Links for WordPress. This plugin will allow WordPress administrators to offer Reddit-like social news functionality to their existing users. For years, I have struggled to offer Cryptogon readers a good way of sharing links with me and each other. Reddit is an open air […]
Scientists Grow Sperm in Laboratory
January 3rd, 2012Via: Telegraph: The development opens up the possibility of infertile men being able to father their own children rather than using donor sperm. Researchers in Germany and Israel were able to grow mouse sperm from a few cells in a laboratory dish. In a world first a team headed by Professor Stefan Schlatt, at Muenster […]
Belarus: Browsing Foreign Websites a Misdemeanor
January 3rd, 2012Via: Library of Congress: As stated in an explanatory note published together with the Law, this act was issued to implement the Decree of the Belarusian President of February 1, 2010, on Improvements to the Usage of the National Segment of the Internet. The newly published Law imposes restrictions on visiting and/or using foreign websites […]
The Coming War on General Purpose Computation
January 1st, 2012Via: Cory Doctorow at Chaos Computer Club: The last 20 years of Internet policy have been dominated by the copyright war, but the war turns out only to have been a skirmish. The coming century will be dominated by war against the general purpose computer, and the stakes are the freedom, fortune and privacy of […]
Civilian Contractors in the Kill Chain
January 1st, 2012The absurdity is reaching Strangelovian proportions: “Our No. 1 manning problem in the Air Force is manning our unmanned platforms,” said Gen. Philip M. Breedlove, Air Force vice chief of staff. Via: Los Angeles Times: After a U.S. airstrike mistakenly killed at least 15 Afghans in 2010, the Army officer investigating the accident was surprised […]
‘The First Goal Is an Uncensorable Internet in Space’
December 31st, 2011Here’s one for your Don’t-Hold-Your-Breath file folder. Via: BBC: Computer hackers plan to take the internet beyond the reach of censors by putting their own communication satellites into orbit. The scheme was outlined at the Chaos Communication Congress in Berlin. The project’s organisers said the Hackerspace Global Grid will also involve developing a grid of […]
Raspberry Pi Cases
December 31st, 2011Hint to any enterprising Cryptogon readers out there: People are already searching for cases for the inexpensive Raspberry Pi computers. Google is sending people who are searching for those cases—which I don’t think exist yet—to Cryptogon.
