Tech remorse: the worst gadgets we ever bought As much as we love technology, it can also be a downer. With every bad gadget purchase, however infrequent, we're reminded that chip-based life forms are cold and indifferent. A touchscreen insists you tapped a full inch to the left from the icon you meant to hit; a laptop spins up its fan as the hard drive refuses to yield a Word document; a voice recorder drains its 4 AAs, dabs the corners of its lips, and dies for the third time today. Gadgets that stubbornly refuse to operate the way the manual, advertisements, packaging, or marginally competent salespeople said they would should not be suffered in silence. The 3Com Ergo Audrey, by Sean Gallagher About the same time 3Com was preparing itself for the scrapheap of history by spinning off its Palm division, the company decided to get into the Internet "appliance" business. Fortunately, I got mine back in the box to 3Com before they euthanized the whole line just seven months after launch. IBM Thinkpad, by Matthew Lasar How did it fail?
Network Security | All New Tech In order to avoid this a variety of data safety measures are adopted by network administers. A lot of the data security measures are related to applications. Computer hardware network security choices also used. See on www.allnewtech.com AMD snubs hackers’ tiny package, will fix raided blog – Register eSecurity PlanetAMD snubs hackers’ tiny package, will fix raided blogRegisterBlack-hat hacking crew r00tbeersec claimed responsibility for the break-in at AMD’s WordPress-driven blog, and followed up the assault with a much bigger raid on Dutch… See on www.theregister.co.uk Computer scientists explore secure browser design – Phys.Org Computer scientists explore secure browser designPhys.Org(Phys.org) — University of California, San Diego computer scientists explored a new approach to secure browser design in a paper presented in August 2012 at the 21st USENIX Security… See on phys.org
The Gates-Funded Toilet Of The Future Today is World Toilet Day. That’s not as silly as it sounds. Two and a half billion people around the world don’t have access to clean toilets, which means they are at risk for a number of diseases--diarrhoeal diseases, in fact, kill someone every 20 seconds. More people die from poor sanitation than measles, malaria, and HIV/AIDS combined. There is some hope. The seeds of Caltech’s toilet design were planted 17 years ago when Caltech engineer (and toilet team leader) Michael Hoffmann patented a design for "multilayered nanostructures doing electrochemical degradation," according to team member Asghar Aryanfar. The toilet features a solar panel that powers an electrochemical reactor, which in turn breaks down waste into sanitized solids (a useful fertilizer) and hydrogen that can be stored in fuel cells to power the reactor on cloudy days.
A Computer Infection that Can Never Be Cured A Computer Infection that Can Never Be Cured: At the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas last week, Jonat… See on www.insidecostarica.com Experts working to shield cars from computer viruses – National Post National PostExperts working to shield cars from computer virusesNational PostBOSTON — A team of top hackers working for Intel’s security division toil away in a West Coast garage searching for electronic bugs that could make automobiles vulnerable… See on life.nationalpost.com
Blizzard Confirms Battle.Net Hacked: Here’s What We Know So Far – Hot Hardware Hot HardwareBlizzard Confirms Battle.Net Hacked: Here’s What We Know So FarHot HardwareHere’s why: Battle.net hacking has become an even hotter topic in the Blizzard community since the launch of Diablo III. See on hothardware.com Aeromobil flying car prototype gets off the ground for the first time There is a saying in flying: “If it looks good, it will fly well.” Stefan Klein, a designer from the Slovak Republic, has announced the first flight of his Aeromobil Version 2.5, a flying car prototype he has been developing over the last 20 years. This vehicle is a strikingly beautiful design with folding wings and a propeller in the tail. View all The Aeromobil V2.5 is a propeller-driven aircraft that also functions as an automobile – or you can think of it it a car with lofty aspirations. This project is not the only flying car around. When the Automobil is a car, the wings are folded straight back along the fuselage and the engine drives the front wheels, while the small back wheels support the tail. As shown in the video below, when the Aeromobil gets to the airport, the driver/pilot pushes a button and the wings fold out for a wingspan of 8.2 m (27 ft), which is comparable to other light sport aircraft of similar weight and power. Source: AVWEB, AEROMOBIL, AUTOSME.sk
How Apple let a hacker remotely wipe an iPhone, iPad, MacBook On Friday, I wrote about how Gizmodo's Twitter account was hacked. It turns out that this was Apple's fault. Let's take a step back. Over the weekend, it quickly became clear that the bigger story was how the whole thing started. First, former Gizmodo employee Mat Honan's iCloud account was hacked. When this came to light, I updated my article with a link to Honan's blog: Emptyage. At 4:50 PM, someone got into my iCloud account, reset the password and sent the confirmation message about the reset to the trash. Honan has since updated his blog post three times. I know how it was done now. The fact a hacker was able to access Honan's iCloud account with the help of AppleCare support is very worrying. As a journalist, I need to point out Honan currently works for Wired. See also:
Prosecutors to Disclose Hundreds of New Names of News Corp. Phone Hacking … – Hollywood Reporter Hollywood ReporterProsecutors to Disclose Hundreds of New Names of News Corp. Phone Hacking …Hollywood ReporterLONDON – Prosecutors in the phone hacking scandal that has engulfed Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. See on www.hollywoodreporter.com ID theft scoring billions in tax refunds A new report from Uncle Sam shows that the feds are wrongly paying out billions in tax refunds each year because of identity theft; even worse, the Internal Revenue Service doesn’t have the power to look at certain … See on www.ameracct.com