Source: http://gizmodo.com/ultrasound-can-let-you-touch-and-feel-3d-shapes-in-thin-1665592066
Touch feedback has been advancing rapidly of recent time, and now we've gotten to the stage where ultrasound can be used to create entire 3D shapes to touch and feel in thin air.
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/12/02/fbi-warns-businesses-over-malware-that-can-override-hard-drive-d/
A number of American security professionals must have quickly switched from lazy Thanksgiving mode to high alert on Monday after receiving a flash warning from the FBI. A five-page document was sent out to US businesses' IT teams warning them against a highly destructive malware, which a group of hackers recently used to infiltrate several companies' computers, reports Reuters. In order for the companies to take preventative measures, the report contained the lowdown on the malware's technical details, such as its ability to override hard drives. The malicious code can apparently shut down and permanently disable computers, as well, making it impossible to retrieve files later on. The FBI issues "flash" warnings to businesses in order to update them about high-risk cyber threats. For this particular one, none of the malware's victims were named, and the agency also wouldn't confirm or deny when Reuters asked if Sony was one of them.
If you recall, Sony Pictures was on the receiving end of a big cyber attack in late November that took down all its computers and led to the leak of several unreleased movies, including Annie and Brad Pitt's Fury. Guardians of Peace (GOP), the group that launched the attack, threatened to unleash more internal data if their demands (which we still don't know the details of) weren't met. On Monday, we've received an email from someone who claims to be the GOP's leader, linking to a public pastebin that contains download links to what he says is part of the data they stole. Since the FBI wouldn't comment on Sony's situation, it's unclear if the company's still investigating what happened, and whether North Korea was truly involved in the incident.
[Image credit: Shutterstock / clarence s lewis]
Filed under: Internet
Source: Reuters
If you post Flickr images with a commercial-use creative commons license, Yahoo has a little surprise: it will soon be free to sell them and keep all the money. It recently decided to peddle canvas prints of selected photos for up to $50, taking 100 percent of the revenue from creative commons users who permit free use of their images. That contrasts with a recent decision it made to give select users with non-commercial-use licenses 51 percent of sales for the same "Wall Art" collections. The new policy has made many of the site's devotees upset -- especially pro account users -- who say that while they're fine with third-party companies using their photos, they're not fine at all with Flickr itself selling them for profit.
Though Yahoo isn't breaking any laws, some feel it has broken the circle of trust with its large community of photographers. Flickr co-founder Stewart Butterfield told the WSJ that "it's hard to imagine the revenue from selling prints will cover the cost of lost goodwill." There is something that artists can do to stop Yahoo from using their work: switch the creative commons license to deny commercial use. Unfortunately, such a scorched-earth approach would also heavily reduce the supply of photos available to other businesses or non-profit groups.Sometimes social engineering can be far more effective than complicated malware when it comes to cyber attacks. Case in point: the cybersecurity firm FireEye has tracked a recent spate of attacks against over 100 healthcare and pharmaceutical companies to a particularly smooth group of hackers. The group -- which FireEye calls "Fin4" -- leverages its knowledge of those industries, financial markets, and native English skills for targeted attacks against executives and other notable employees. Instead of relying on spyware, the group carefully crafts emails that trick recipients into logging into malicious websites to steal their email logins.
These aren't your typical hackers --- FireEye believes Fin4 is made up of Americans or Western Europeans who've worked in the U.S. banking industry. The sophisticated and methodical nature of the attacks also distinguishes them from the hackers who just want to blindly steal data.
Like something out of an airport espionage thriller, Fin4 appears to be gathering information about publicly traded companies in the hopes of getting a leg-up in the stock market. According to FireEye's VP of threat intelligence Dan McWhorter, this is the first time we're seeing such a sophisticated attack aimed at taking advantage of financial markets. But given just how effective it's been, we don't expect it to be the last.
[Photo: Benjamin Howell/Getty]
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/12/01/puzzlephone/
It looks like Google's modular Project Ara smartphone has some fresh competition. Circular Devices has been working on the Puzzlephone, a simpler take on Android phones that you can upgrade yourself. Instead of letting you replace things piece-by-piece, it divides parts into "the Brain" (core electronics and camera), "the Heart" (battery and secondary tech) and "the Spine" (LCD, speakers and basic shape). It's not as flexible as Ara, but it promises a sleeker design that still includes real futureproofing; you can swap in a new module when you want a faster processor, a fresh battery or new features. The goal is to have a base phone that can last for 10 years, rather than two or three.
You won't have to wait too long to give the Puzzlephone a try... if everything goes according to plan. Circular Devices is near the prototype stage and hopes to have a shipping product in the second half of 2015, but a finished release is contingent on additional funding. It also faces an uphill battle when Project Ara has the full support of both Google and hardware partners. Still, it's good to know that that an alternative to Ara exists -- you hopefully won't have to settle for a single approach to modular mobile computing.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
Via: Gizmodo
Source: Puzzlephone
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-bitcoin-could-change-everything-not-just-finance-2014-12
Bitcoin will change a lot more than finance. It could also change how software is built and upend a bunch of today's biggest web companies, argues Joel Monegro of Union Square Ventures.
His argument starts with the block chain, the shared ledger where every Bitcoin transaction is recorded. Validating these transactions requires computing power. When each transaction is validated, a new block is added to the chain, which makes future transactions even harder to compute.
Bitcoin was designed this way to make sure that the same Bitcoin, which has no physical form, isn't spent twice by the same person. This also gives Bitcoin some inherent value — people or organizations have to spend a lot of money to run the computers that validate transactions, and the complexity of those computations is always increasing as the chain gets longer.
But Monegro argues that these technical underpinnings of the Bitcoin system may have more long-term potential than the currency itself.
That's because the block chain is not controlled by any one person or entity, and information in it is freely available to other software programs. So programmers are starting to build things on top of the block chain that have nothing to do with digital currency.
For instance, some programmers have developed a protocol called La'Zooz for real-time ride sharing. That could eventually disrupt Uber. Others have created OpenBazaar, a protocol for a a peer-to-peer trading network that could disrupt eBay. Both use the block chain for some basic computing tasks.
Here's a simple way of thinking about it. The block chain itself is immutable, like bedrock. Bitcoin is like a building on top of that bedrock — it's got a fo! undation where programmers have defined some of the basics of how it works, then a bunch of stories on top of that where people interact with it.
But it's now possible for other folks to build their own buildings on top of the same bedrock.
"The block chain is great at two fundamental things," explains Monegro. "Distributed consensus, which is basically having a large network of computers agree on a value of something....that's a key component for any decentralized system. The other thing is time-stamping, holding a chronological order of things happening."
As new businesses crop up that depend on these functions, they'll benefit from turning to the Bitcoin block chain, rather than having to build a similar system from scratch.
This concept isn't new. Many tech companies have technology platforms that others can build on, from Microsoft to Google to Facebook.
The Bitcoin block chain is different because everything underlying it is published, and there's no central controlling entity. The whole system works only because all the participants abide by the same set of rules, and any changes are dictated by hard math rather than a CEO or board of directors.
"Facebook wants to own and store the data that is relevant to their operation," says Monegro. "So does Google, so does everyone else. The data they store, they control it. The algorithms they run, they control it to serve their own purposes. A system like this, the protocols you build are open, not controlled by anybody. They work like a machine. They don't discriminate."
There's still reason to be skeptical. Bitcoin itself is still in a very early and tumultuous stage, as the collapse of the Mt. Gox exchange earlier this year showed. Speculation has caused some pretty wild price fluctuations — one Bitcoin is worth about $375 today, down fr! om a pea k of $1,242 in March 2013. That makes it an unreliable store of value, which could eventually drive people away.
Plus, the organizations building on top of the block chain tend to speak in utopian terms that could be a turn-off for outsiders. For instance, La'Zooz describes itself as "a completely decentralized and autonomous organisation. That means that anyone can contribute towards the establishment of its goals in whatever way he or she believes would be the best. Tasks are carried out within autonomous, self-defined circles or teams."
But that kind of utopian vision is how a lot of open-source projects started, and many of them have grown into essential technology. Take the Linux operating system, which runs most of the computers in the biggest data centers in the world, like your bank. Or Apache, which runs the majority of web servers. Or the protocols that formed the basis of the Internet itself.
Monegro and USV's Fred Wilson think that Bitcoin could become the same kind of foundational building block within the next 5 to 10 years.
Monegro's entire post is worth reading if you're interested in the technical vision. Here's a graphic showing the different layers of the platform he believes will built on the block chain, which he's going to detail in a set of follow-up posts:
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Here's another new use for graphene (that will probably never happen): stopping bullets. University of Massachusetts-Amhers researchers have found that everybody's favorite potential wonder-material vastly outperforms steel and even kevlar armor. Testing the ultra-lightweight, 1-atom thick carbon sheets has proved tricky in the past, as they disintegrated on contact with regular bullets. So, the team used laser pulses to fire micron-sized glass bullets into the sheets at around 6,700 mph, about three times the speed of an M16 bullet (see below). Sheets from 30 to 300 layers thick absorbed the impacts much better than the other materials by deforming into a cone shape, then cracking.
But -- and there's always a but with graphene -- such sheets are currently too brittle to make into a solid material. The answer might be to stitch graphene flakes together, then vary the orientation to prevent cracking. Whatever, please just let us know us when you actually turn this material into a damn product.
[Image credit: AFP/Getty Images]
Source: http://gizmodo.com/twitter-is-going-to-start-tracking-the-other-apps-on-yo-1663793680
Twitter is starting a new program called App Graph that tracks all of the other apps people have on their phones. You might be wondering why Twitter cares if you're a Candy Crush fiend or if you also use Instagram. It's because Twitter follows the ABT school of sales: Always Be Targetin'.
Source: http://gizmodo.com/adults-who-live-in-treehouses-arent-as-weird-as-you-mig-1663663674
Before I was born, my mom lived in a treehouse in the Smoky Mountains and had a pet goat with one ear. His name was Van Goat. This was the late 70s, and even then, it was a unique lifestyle. But my how treehouse culture has evolved.
Source: http://gizmodo.com/wsj-gopro-is-going-to-make-its-own-drones-1663738793
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that GoPro is going to start making its own consumer drones. Specifically, the action camera company is going to market "multi-rotor helicopters with high-def camera lenses late next year." Makes sense!
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/top-shelf-liquor-tasting-gift-2014-11
It's a great way to discover and explore fine alcohol, from craft batches to well-known brands, and it's currently available with a 44% discount.
You'll receive a hand-sealed tasting box with five different spirits, from scotch to cognac to rum. You'll also get access to the School of Spirits e-learning course to expand your knowledge. If you're giving this as a gift, keep the course for yourself so you sound smarter than you are.
It's a great idea for any aficionado or novice who wants to explore new tastes.
Get 44% off the Top Shelf Liquor Tasting Pack ($33.99 incl. shipping)
Here's exactly what you'll get:
Get 44% off the Top Shelf Liquor Tasting Pack ($33.99 incl. shipping)
SEE ALSO: Essential Items For A Grown-Up Grooming Routine
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Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/huawei-5g-network-speeds-2014-11
We still have a long way to go before we experience the next step after 4G LTE, but telecom companies are already hard at work developing faster, more efficient networks.
Chinese smartphone maker Huawei recently said it's working with three major carriers in South Korea to establish 5G networks.
Huawei's CTO made the announcement at the Startup Nations Summit in Seoul, Korea, according to CNET, saying that the company will be working closely with SK Telecom, KT, and LG Uplus.
SK Telecom is one of the biggest carriers in South Korea, and it commands about half of the wireless carrier market share in the country.
The fact that Huawei is working on 5G technology isn't necessarily new, but this is the first time we're hearing about these carrier partnerships.
There's no set standard for how much faster 5G will be in comparison to 4G LTE, but Huawei's white paper on the subject says the improvements will be "1,000 fold."
Don't expect to see such advancements anytime soon, however. Experts estimate we'll see early signs of 5G in 2020, but widespread deployment isn't likely until 2025. Other big tech companies such as Samsung and Ericsson are also in the process of developing and testing 5G networks.
When 5G does eventually roll out, it'll be about much more than speed. 5G will be designed to support many different types of devices other than phones, such as wearable devices and smart home products.
SEE ALSO: If You Think 5G Is All About Faster Network Speeds, You're Wrong
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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/11/25/amazon-services/
Looks as if the list of things that Amazon doesn't sell just got that little bit shorter after the company started connecting people with local contractors. Customers in a handful of trial cities, including NYC and Seattle, can now use an Angie's List-style site to get tradespeople to visit your home for services. For instance, search for a TV wall bracket on the site and you'll be able to find a professional TV mounter to come and drill the holes so you don't have to. Right now, it's only a limited trial, but imagine if Amazon eventually bundled this sort of thing into Prime? We'd never have to shell out big bucks for an emergency plumber ever again.
Filed under: Amazon
Via: Re/code
Source: Amazon
source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/vip/~3/1H6gKao0KYc/+caseychan
Here's a fascinating visualization created by Muyueh Lee that shows the differences between how the English language and Chinese language each describe colors. On the left, you can see the number of English names for color hues (there's a lot!) and on the right, the number of Chinese names (there's a little!).
Source: http://gizmodo.com/so-many-passwords-with-so-many-stipulations-tru-1663088107
So. Many. Passwords. With. So. Many. Stipulations. [Truth Facts]
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