drag2share: Dutch Scientists Just Shattered Our Conception Of How Information Will Travel In The Future

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/quantum-teleportation-of-information-2014-5

Physicists at the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands were able to successfully "teleport" information over a distance of 10 feet, reports the New York Times.

There's a lot going on in that idea, so let's break it down.

The rules for the subatomic world are totally unlike the rules for our macroscopic world. A particle can be in multiple places at the same time, and can even disappear on one side of a barrier and reappear on the other side without actually traveling through it. This comes from quantum theory, and while it sounds totally nonintuitive, it's one of the most successful models physicists have for understanding our world.

Many scientists around the world today are working to develop "quantum technology," which is simply any technology that hinges upon these totally "abnormal" properties of the super-small stuff that makes up our world. The Mount Everest of quantum technology would be to build a quantum computer that could quickly solve problems that would leave our classical computers stumped. Instead of the standard bits we use in computers today — ones and zeroes — quantum bits, or "qubits," can describe a one, a zero, or any value in between.

If this all sounds crazy or hard to understand, you're in good company with a lot of smart people. Hang in there. A legitimate, functional quantum computer (it's debatable as to if one has actually been built yet) would be absolutely bursting with computational potential.

Back to our Dutch scientists — they trapped qubits in diamonds and were able to establish a measurement of the qubits' spin. This measurement is the acual information that was "teleported," by way of a process called quantum ! entangle ment. To simplify this idea a lot, entanglement is essentially what happens when one particle copycats another, even over a distance. Change the spin of one particle, the other instantly changes its spin to match.

Einstein famously decried entanglement, calling it "spooky action at a distance." But repeated variations of this experiment only lend more credence to it as a completely valid natural phenomena that we are slowly learning to manipulate.

Forget Google Fiber. Once this stuff is perfected, a quantum internet that's built upon it could mean instantaneous transmission and receipt of data around the world or even the universe! In 1964, an Irish physicist named John Bell predicted that this could be used to transmit data across light years of distance.

While 10 feet is no light year, it's certainly a step in the right direction.

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drag2share: Lookout alert system sends you email when it detects thief-like activities

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/05/29/lookout-theft-alerts/

Getting your phone stolen can make your stomach drop in the blink of an eye, that's why some security app devs, like Lookout's, try to make it easier by offering anti-theft features. The app's latest version comes with a new tool suite called Theft Alerts, which, as you can tell, gets the digital sirens blaring when it detects unusual activities. Lookout studied the common ways thieves deal with stolen phones and now sends out emails when someone removes your SIM card, enables Airplane mode, turns off your device and removes the app as the phone's administrator. You can then decide whether to use the other weapons in Lookout's arsenal, including those that let you lock and wipe a phone remotely.

The software has also long been able to capture and email a picture of the thief (snapped by the phone's front cam) who tries and fails to enter the correct PIN. With this update, though, that feature, along with the other new additions, becomes exclusive to paid users. Luckily, everyone can try out these premium add-ons for free until September 31st... unless you have an iOS device, in which case, you sadly have limited access to the tool suite. Oh, if you're prone to typing in incorrect PIN codes or accidentally deleting apps, don't worry -- Lookout won't flood your inbox if you take time to customize the Theft Alerts suite.

[Image credit: Getty Images/Flickr RF]

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile

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Source: Lookout

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drag2share: 12 Quick Internet Safety Tips That Will Save Your Digital Life From Getting Hacked

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-prevent-cyber-attacks-2014-5

If we've learned anything about cyber security in 2014, it's that hackers are becoming more of a threat than ever before.

Within the past two months companies such as Microsoft, AOL, and eBay have been the victim of security breaches.

And let's not forget about the Heartbleed bug — a giant vulnerability that was discovered within an encryption protocol that guards a massive chunk of the internet.

If you've been laid back about your online habits, now might be a great time to change your ways. 

Here are some tips to help prevent your digital life from being stolen, whether it be a password breach or an internet-wide vulnerability. 

Make sure you've got a superstrong, unique password. In other words, ensure that your password is difficult to guess. One way to come up with a creative password is to brainstorm a random sentence. Take the first letter of each word in that sentence and use that acronym as the base for your password.

Don't use the same password for multiple services. Using the same term for all of your passwords leaves your entire digital life vulnerable to attack. This means that if a hacker has one password, he or she has all of your passwords.

Enable two-factor authentication. Many services, including Google, offer two-factor authentication for logging into your account. Instead of simply entering a username and password to log in, the website will prompt you to enter a code sent to your smartphone to verify your identity.

Apply software updates when necessary. Apple, Google, and Microsoft typically include security bug fixes and patches in their most recent software updates. So don't ignore those annoying prompts and keep your software up-to-date.

Carefully read the permissions before installing apps. This is one of the most prominent ways in which malicious apps can gain access to your personal information. These types of iss! ues have been especially present in the Google Play store. A lot of apps ask for a lengthy list of permissions, and that doesn't mean they're all ill-intentioned. But it's important to be aware of the types of information your apps are accessing, which can include your contacts, location, and even your phone's camera. 

Check the app publisher before installing. There have been numerous instances in which scammers have published apps in the Google Play store posing as another popular app. For example, in late 2012 an illegitimate developer posted an imposter app in Google Play pretending to be "Temple Run." A quick look at the publisher shows that the app comes from a developer named "apkdeveloper," not the game's true publisher Imangi Studios. 

Avoid inserting hard drives and thumbdrives you don't trust into your computer. If you find a random USB stick, don't let your curiosity tempt you to plug it in. Someone could have loaded malware onto it hoping that an interested person was careless enough to insert it into their device. If you don't trust the source, you're better off not putting your computer at risk.

Make sure a website is secure before you enter personal information. Look for the little padlock symbol in front of the web address in the URL bar. Also, make sure the web address starts with the prefix https://. If these things aren't there, then the network isn't secure and you shouldn't enter any  data you wouldn't want made public. 

Don't send personal data via email. Sending critical information such as credit card numbers or bank account numbers puts it at risk of being intercepted by hackers or cyber attacks. 

Keep an eye out for phishing scams. A phishing scam is an email or website that's designed to steal from you. Often times, a hacker will use this email or website to install malicious software onto your computer. These web entities are designed to loo! k like a normal email or website, which is how hackers convince their victims to hand over personal information. Phishing scams are typically easy to spot, but you should know what to look out for. Many of these emails contain spell errors and are written in poor grammar. Here's a great example of a standard phishing email from Microsoft's security blog:

Avoid logging into your important accounts on public computers. Sometimes you've got no choice but to use a computer at the coffee shop, library, or local FedEx. But try not to do it frequently, and make sure you completely wipe the browser's history when you're finished.

Back up your personal files to avoid losing them. You should keep a copy of all important files in the cloud and on some sort of hard drive. If one of them gets hacked or damaged, you'll still have a backup copy.

SEE ALSO: How to create a superstrong password

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drag2share: Hands-on with the PadFone X: ASUS' phone-tablet hybrid arrives in the US

source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/05/28/asus-padfone-x-hands-on/?utm_source=Feed_Classic_Full&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget&?ncid=rss_full

If you're a special sort of person -- I don't know, like a tech writer-- the ASUS PadFone is old news. Since June 2012, Engadget has reviewed three versions of the phone, which comes with a tablet-like dock allowing you to transform it into a big-screen slate. For our American readers, though, it's always been a curiosity -- the sort of thing you could read about, but were unlikely to import all the way from Taiwan. Now you can finally see it for yourselves: AT&T announced earlier today that an American version, the PadFone X, will go on sale June 6th, priced at $199 on-contract. As it happens, I received a loaner unit today at a press event, which means Engadget will have a review up soon, probably closer to the on-sale date. For now, though, I'll regale you with some early impressions of both the 5-inch phone and the 9-inch dock. Come with me if you want to live.

I've only had a short time to play with the PadFone X, but so far, at least, it seems much more comfortable to use in its native handset form. The phone, which rocks a 5-inch screen (small by today's standards), is easy to hold. It's not the thinnest handset I've ever held, but it's light and in fact, I think that slight thickness might actually make it easier to grip. The 1080p display is sharp too, and the viewing angles are good enough that I was able to peek at some guy's email from off to the side, even with me sitting a couple feet away (apologies, dude).

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drag2share: Google's camera app now lets you shoot in different aspect ratios

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/05/28/google-camera-aspect-ratio-update/

Google isn't done getting its Android camera app up to the standards set by third-party software -- not by a long shot. The company is now rolling out an update to Google Camera that lets you choose the aspect ratio for your photos, not just the resolution. If you prefer a movie-like widescreen look to all your pictures, you can crop the image to match. Fans of family portraits, meanwhile, will be glad to hear that the timer has returned; also, creative types can shoot panoramas with fisheye and wide-angle lens effects. The refresh isn't available on every supporting Android device just yet, but we'd give it a few days -- it should hopefully arrive in time for your next big photo safari.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Google

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Via: Android (Google+), 9to5 Google

Source: Google Play

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drag2share: 3D Printing an Entire Chair Is Easy When It's One Big Puzzle

Source: http://gizmodo.com/3d-printing-an-entire-chair-is-easy-when-its-one-big-pu-1582783796

We've been promised that 3D printers will eventually be able to replicate almost anything we want. But how do you go about creating larger objects when your printer's capacity is no larger than a toaster oven? The same way you can fit a Thomas Kinkade painting into a small cardboard box: You turn it into a puzzle.

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drag2share: The $250 MOD-t delivers simplicity and beauty in a 3D printer

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/05/28/new-matter-mod-t/

Affordable desktop 3D printing is imminent, and today another option began its crowdfunding campaign. The folks at New Matter are looking to simplify the process so that anyone can output the items they desire, and to do so they've built the MOD-t. Aside from the clear enclosure for easy viewing and dapper industrial design, the software component is where the ease of use really shines. The outfit worked alongside Frog to develop a user interface that allows for quick design downloads, applying tweaks like you would a photo filter, easily sharing with friends and beaming projects to the minimally-designed printer. "At the end of the day, we wanted to be a 3D printing experience that is meaningful to the way that you currently approach communicating with the people in your life. Create relationships, not just objects," says Frog designer Christine Todorovich.

If you're in need of a quick introduction, Frog has worked with GE, Microsoft, Nike and other Fortune 500 companies on the strategy and design for both products and software -- including Sharp's Feel UX for Android. The firm not only collaborated on the ecosystem and software for the MOD-t, it also helped tweak the overall design of the unit right down to the mechanics. Those came from New Matter's Steve Schell, who engineered the 2-axis motion tech to use a third less parts than other 3D printers with moving platforms. And fewer parts keeps the cost down. If you recall, the Mirco is a $300 option that also takes up less space at a workstation, but offers a bit smaller print size. New Matter and Frog are banking on the experience here, which allows for artists and designers to sell their 3D-printable wares through the same online repository -- similar to Makerbot's Thingverse, but with the added e-commerce. The MOD-t also features WiFi connectivity, which is a feature that has yet to become standard on these output gadgets. What's more, Frog is getting into the venture capital game, and this is the first effort from its Venture Design arm.

Filed under: Peripherals

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Source: Indiegogo

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drag2share: How to Fight Fires With Decommissioned Jet Engines Strapped to a Tank

Source: http://gizmodo.com/how-to-fight-fires-with-decomissioned-jet-engines-strap-1577704679

As the post-conflict cleanup from the first Iraq War demonstrated, oil well fires are nearly impossible to put out without taking extraordinary measures . Luckily, this extreme measure is both super effective and totally badass.

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drag2share: Eureka! A Whisper-Quiet Wind Turbine Based On Archimedes' Screw

Source: http://gizmodo.com/eureka-a-whisper-quiet-wind-turbine-based-on-archimede-1582606998

When they're standing out in a field, miles away from crowded urban centers, the sounds made by a wind turbine's blades aren't a big issue. But when they're perched atop a downtown building, they create noise pollution that's hard to ignore. A Rotterdam-based company might have found a solution, though, with a unique turbine design partially based on Archimedes' famous screw pump.

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drag2share: New Method for Spray-On Graphene Makes the Supermaterial Even Stronger

Source: http://gizmodo.com/new-method-for-spray-on-graphene-makes-the-supermateria-1582695171

An international team of researchers just announced a simple, inexpensive way to spray graphene onto substrates at supersonic speeds. Besides sounding absolutely awesome, the method also offers a solution to a crippling weakness with the supermaterial. In effect, spray-on graphene is simply stronger.

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drag2share: ASUS' modular PadFone X is finally coming to AT&T for $199

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/05/28/asus-padfone-x-on-att-june-6th/

AT&T promised back in January that it would launch ASUS' PadFone X hybrid, but the device has been stuck in limbo ever since -- the carrier hasn't given out much more than specs for the phone-and-tablet combo. Today, though, there's finally a date to mark on your calendar. The PadFone X should be available on June 6th for $199 on a two-year contract, or $23 per month if you buy it on an 18-month Next payment plan.

The hardware hasn't changed in the space of half a year, although it's still reasonably current. The core phone is a 5-inch Android device with a speedy Snapdragon 800 processor, 16GB of expandable storage and a 13-megapixel rear camera; the 9-inch tablet shell provides a bigger screen for the docked phone as well as an extra battery and wireless charging. You can't exactly call this a timely launch, but it's still big news for Americans who've previously had to import ASUS' two-in-one device concept.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile, ASUS, AT&T

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Source: AT&T (1), (2)

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drag2share: Leap Motion's latest motion tracking tech can see your joints

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/05/28/leap-motions-beta-tracking-tech-can-see-your-joints/

The Leap Motion controller is a curious little motion sensor, but it isn't always easy to use. The hand-sensing tech has a tendency to lose sight of where your fingers are and almost every application that uses it has its own learning curve. Soon, that might change -- today Leap is launching the public beta for its next generation (V2) tracking software. This free update makes some big promises, including improved resistance to sunlight and infrared interference, better tracking algorithms and, best of all, the ability to track individual joints. We dropped by the company's San Francisco office to try it out and found the update to be a significant improvement.

"V1 is a great experience for early adopters," Leap CEO Michael Buckwald told us. "But what we want to do with V2 is make interacting with the computer the same as interacting with the physical world." Leap's new software helps. The update's predictive software allows the device to track controllers that aren't directly seen by its sensors. Buckwald showed us on a demo machine: a flat hand could easily be seen by a V1-equipped computer, but in a vertical orientation, all but the lowest hanging digit disappeared. V2 accurately tracked all five fingers. It sounds simple, but it's a game changer: developers can now implement more delicate pinch and grab motions. Buckwald pulled up a demo for that too, and asked us to pick up and toss a collection of ragdoll soldiers. It was easy, just as it should be.

The update also encourages developers to include a hand model in their applications. "The vision has always been that using leap should feel just like reaching through the screen and grabbing something," he explains. "That's how it feels with the onscreen hand -- seeing all your joints and fingers and watching it move as your real hand moves." While the onscreen limb isn't quite as flexible as the real deal, it makes the learning curve shallow. " If the actual interaction is a commodity like that, the focus can be on being creative."

The update is available to developers now, but there aren't many applications that use it just yet. Still, it's an encouraging evolution for the Leap Motion controller, and bleeds of the same thing the device always has: potential.

Filed under: Misc

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drag2share: Intel will let you build your own 3D-printed robot later this year

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/05/28/intel-robot-kit/

Intel CEO brought a robotic companion named Jimmy with him on stage at Code Conference today. Jimmy is a 3D-printed robot capable of walking, talking, moving his arms, dancing and even tweeting, and it's the key to Intel's vision of the future of robotics. Starting later this year, the company will make an open source robot kit with 3D-printed parts available to consumers for $1,600, with a research version for $16,000. The former will run on Intel Edison, the company's computer-on-a-chip, while the latter will be powered by a Core i5 processor.

How is the kit set up? The hardware designs will be available online for anyone to build the basic parts using a 3D printer, but the kit itself will contain all of the other parts which you can't print: The motor, batteries, processor and wires are the primary items you'll need to get started.

It's pretty crazy to think that you may soon be able to get your very own personalized robot for just $100 more than Google Glass. But such a kit is part of Intel's goal to lower the barrier of entry to robotics, hopefully making it possible for more people to grab a Jimmy of their own without taking out a second mortgage.

Since the robot is open source, this opens the door for users to download whatever they want to customize their new creation, and gives developers the opportunity to build apps for the same purpose. The idea is that you'll be able to personalize your robot to perform various functions: The sky's the limit, but possible use cases include grabbing a drink for you, singing along, translating and so on. Eventually, Intel plans to offer an app market to expand the capabilities of your robot.

Filed under: Robots, Intel

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drag2share: Samsung launches a flexible platform of sensors for wearables

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/05/28/samsung-launches-a-flexible-platform-of-sensors-for-wearables/

At Samsung's "Voice of the Body" event today, the company announced SIMBAND, a modular reference platform for wearable health sensors that it hopes will inspire a new generation of fitness products. This prototype device you see above has a multitude of sensors built right into it, including an optical light sensor that can detect the variation of light absorption through the skin in order to come up with your pulse and other data. There's even an ECG sensor integrated into the watchband so that when you touch the clasp, an electrical route is completed.

Samsung says SIMBAND is completely multimodal -- the optical, electrical and physical components can be swapped out interchangeably, and is entirely built for customization. Another thing that Samsung wanted to drive home was that SIMBAND is designed to be very power efficient (it has a new shuttle battery) while not taking up a lot of space -- the prototype watchface on stage is only about half a size of an SD card. Additionally, it has a 1Ghz 2x ARM A7 28nm chip along with WiFi and Bluetooth technologies.

SIMBAND is designed as an open platform that allows developers to create new applications, and the SDK is slated to be out in the next few months. Through several open APIs that it hopes to release later this year, Samsung hopes to integrate the platform with SAMI (Samsung Architecture for Multimodal Interactions), its internal data collection initiative that attempts to make all that fitness data accessible to other services and devices, such as S-Health, your phone or perhaps your scale.

The potential for the platform goes beyond just fitness trackers. Samsung also says it's working on a partnership with UCSF's Digital Health Innovation Lab to see if these huge data sets can create new predictive models of health and wellness for all of us, and not just on the individual level. This way, it could provide a "truly meaningful impact on health." UCSF has said it's happy to partner with startups to ensure that their application or devices is doing what it's intended to do.

To cap off the event, Samsung announced the Digital Health Challenge, which is essentially a $50 million investment fund aimed at start-ups so that they'll adopt Samsung's open platforms and the latest health technologies.

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Source: Businesswire, Samsung Strategy and Innovation Center

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drag2share: How 'Mind Mapping' Can Revamp The Way You Work

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/using-mind-maps-for-productivity-2014-5

The organizational chart known as a "mind map" may remind you of something you drew in elementary school, but it's actually a powerful productivity tool when used correctly.

The British pop psychologist Tony Buzan coined the term in the '70s for an organizational technique that is like a web of to-do lists.

You begin with a central topic like "Tasks" (to use a general example) and then branch off into subtopics like "Work, Family, Volunteer Work, and Home" spaced out evenly. Then each of these topics gets their own subtopics, a process repeated as necessary. 

One of the main benefits of using a mind map is that it makes it easier to visualize all of the steps in a project, which helps you see gaps, set goals, and better manage your time throughout the week.

There are plenty of apps and online services you can use to create clean, easily managed mind maps, like Xmind, Mindjet, and MindNode. MindMeister is another great tool, and we'll take a look at an example made using its software.

Here's a closeup of its upper-right quarter:

As you can see, it functions as a way to combine your to-do list with your calendar and additional notes in a visual, easy to comprehend way.

Here's a look at the entire mind map for that project:

Mind maps can be adjusted to scale, outlining an entire project or a single day.

Paul Klipp, president of Lunar Log! ic's Pol ish branch, wrote on Quora that he uses a mind map to arrange his weekly schedule. He spent about an hour making his first one with MindMeister and has since spent 15 minutes every Monday updating it.

He explains how he structures his weekly mind map and how it helps him get things done: "Each top-level node is a project. Outcomes are linked to projects. For each outcome, there are linked tasks to accomplish it. This approach lets me focus on one project at a time, and then on one outcome for that project so that I can discover all the tasks required to arrive at the desired outcome."

A mind map's setup also accommodates brainstorming. A project manager can present one to his or her team and have them add branches or adjust details.

Whether you're using it as a weekly planner or a project outline, a mind map can help you group concepts through associations, come up with new ideas, and stay organized.

SEE ALSO: 11 Productivity Hacks From Successful Entrepreneurs

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