Archive for March, 2015
Momma, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Programmers: “A System Tends Toward a Giant Ball of Mud Given Enough Time”
March 13th, 2015I’m one of the early backers of Star Citizen, easily the most ambitious video game project of all time. Never mind that I don’t own hardware that’s minimally powerful enough to play the initial alpha release modules, or an internet connection with datacap large enough to download the final client (which could top 100GB) once […]
Why Hacking a Tesla Battery May Foreshadow an Energy Revolution
March 13th, 2015Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand. — Guys are recovering the battery packs from wrecked electric cars and using them for off-grid solar systems. In the spirit of Quake 3, I salute you: Via: Bloomberg: Afoot is an unprecedented worldwide effort — equivalent to a kind of a tech-age version of the […]
New Barbie Doll Sends Speech from Children to Mattel Over Internet
March 12th, 2015Via: Washington Post: At a recent New York toy fair, a Mattel representative introduced the newest version of Barbie by saying: “Welcome to New York, Barbie.” The doll, named Hello Barbie, responded: “I love New York! Don’t you? Tell me, what’s your favorite part about the city? The food, fashion or the sights?” To revive […]
800,000 Microinverters Remotely Retrofitted on Oahu—in One Day
March 11th, 2015Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand that include Enphase products and services. — Enphase systems are now helping stabilize the grid in Hawaii. Via: IEEE: Utilities are asking more of the rooftop solar systems that increasingly are popping up throughout their distribition grids. As we profile in this month’s Spectrum, leading utilities […]
New Smoking Gun Further Ties NSA to Omnipotent “Equation Group” Hackers
March 11th, 2015Via: Ars Technica: Researchers from Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab have uncovered more evidence tying the US National Security Agency to a nearly omnipotent group of hackers who operated undetected for at least 14 years. The Kaspersky researchers once again stopped short of saying the hacking collective they dubbed Equation Group was the handiwork of the NSA, […]
The CIA Helped Develop Planes that Scrape Cell Phone Data
March 10th, 2015Via: The Verge: The US may be using cellphone-sniffing planes to find suspects across the world, according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal. In November, the Journal revealed the US Marshal’s secret program to locate specific fugitive through airplane equipped to mimic cell towers. Flying over an urban area, the planes can […]
Disney’s Magic Band
March 10th, 2015A cautionary tale. Via: Wired: Will the world at large ever become something akin to Disney World, loaded with sensors attuned to our every move, designed to free us? There are signs. It’s already starting to appear on Disney cruise ships, and Staggs says airlines, sports leagues, and sports teams have asked about the technology. […]
The CIA Campaign to Steal Apple’s Secrets
March 10th, 2015Via: First Look: RESEARCHERS WORKING with the Central Intelligence Agency have conducted a multi-year, sustained effort to break the security of Apple’s iPhones and iPads, according to top-secret documents obtained by The Intercept. The security researchers presented their latest tactics and achievements at a secret annual gathering, called the “Jamboree,” where attendees discussed strategies for […]
New Memories Implanted in Mice While They Sleep
March 10th, 2015Via: New Scientist: Benchenane’s team used electrodes to monitor the activity of mice’s place cells as the animals explored an enclosed arena, and in each mouse they identified a cell that fired only in a certain arena location. Later, when the mice were sleeping, the researchers monitored the animals’ brain activity as they replayed the […]
“CDC Seeks More Clues to Bioterror Lab Accident”
March 10th, 2015Via: USA Today: Federal health investigators are back at the Tulane National Primate Research Center in Louisiana this week seeking the source of the lab accident that has somehow exposed at least seven monkeys to a deadly bioterror bacteria. State officials, meanwhile, are planning to test wildlife and domestic animals in the surrounding area for […]
