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Science

Submission + - Real-Time Holograms Beam Closer to Reality (sciencemag.org)

Submitted by sciencehabit
sciencehabit writes: It's not quite the flickering blue projection of Princess Leia begging, "Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope!" from the classic sci-fi movie Star Wars, but holographic projection has just beamed a bit closer to reality. Researchers in Arizona have devised a novel plastic film that can be used to generate holographic 3D images sent electronically from one location to another. The technology opens the door for everything from holographic surgery to movies that literally surround the viewer.
Bug

Why You See 'Free Public WiFi' In So Many Places 260

Posted by Soulskill from the deja-vu-all-over-again dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Almost anywhere you go these days (particularly at airports), if you check for available WiFi settings, you have a pretty good chance of seeing an ad hoc network for 'Free Public WiFi.' Of course, since it's ad hoc (computer to computer) it's not actually access to the internet. So why is this in so many places? Turns out it's due to a bug in Windows XP. Apparently, the way XP works is that if it can't find a 'favorite' WiFi hotspot, it automatically sets up the computer to broadcast itself as an ad hoc network point, using the name of the last connection the computer attempted. So... people see 'Free Public WiFi' and they try to log on. Then their own computer starts broadcasting the same thing, because it can't find a network it knows. And, like a virus, the 'Free Public WiFi' that doesn't work lives on and on and on."
Transportation

Submission + - World's Fastest Hybrid OK'ed for Production (greencarreports.com)

Submitted by thecarchik
thecarchik writes: The Porsche 918 Spyder hybrid supercar, first shown as a concept at this spring's Geneva Motor Show, got official approval as a production model today from the company's board of directors. Just consider the specs: a 500-horsepower, 3.6-liter V-8 engine with a 9200-rpm redline, 0-to-62-mph acceleration of 3.2 seconds, and top speed of 198 miles per hour. Oh, and did we mention it gets 78 miles per gallon on the European cycle? The astounding fuel efficiency comes courtesy of an E-Drive mode that lets the 918 Spyder drive up to 16 miles on pure electric power, though [ahem] not at 198 mph.
Books

Stieg Larsson Is First Author To Sell 1M E-Books 122

Posted by timothy from the nice-tattoo dept.
Hugh Pickens writes "The Guardian reports that the late Swedish journalist Stieg Larsson, author of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, has become the first author to sell more than one million e-books on Amazon. The Swedish noir thrillers feature Lisbeth Salander, an asocial and extremely intelligent hacker and researcher, specialized in investigations of persons, and investigative journalist Mikael Blomqvist. Quercus has sold 3.3M copies of Larsson's books in the UK, and estimates that worldwide sales of the three novels are somewhere between 35-40M copies."
Earth

Submission + - Global warming 'undeniable,' report says (www.cbc.ca) 1

Submitted by BergZ
BergZ writes: Scientists from around the world are providing even more evidence of global warming.
"A comprehensive review of key climate indicators confirms the world is warming and the past decade was the warmest on record," the annual State of the Climate report declares.
Compiled by more than 300 scientists from 48 countries, including Canada, the report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said its analysis of 10 indicators that are "clearly and directly related to surface temperatures, all tell the same story: Global warming is undeniable."
Government

Submission + - FBI May Get Easier Access to Internet Activity (washingtonpost.com)

Submitted by olsmeister
olsmeister writes: It appears the White House would like to make it easier for the FBI to obtain records of a person's internet activities without a court order to do so, via the use of an NSL. While they have been able to this this for a long time, this may expand the type of information able to be gathered without a court order to include things like web browsing histories.
Security

Submission + - ATM hack gives cash on demand (idg.com.au)

Submitted by
angry tapir
angry tapir writes: "Windows CE-based ATMs can easily be made to dole out cash, according to security researcher Barnaby Jack. Exploiting bugs in two different ATM machines at Black Hat, the researcher from IOActive was able to get them to spit out money on demand and record sensitive data from the cards of people who used them. Jack believes a large number of ATMs have remote management tools that can be accessed over a telephone. After experimenting with two machines he purchased, Jack developed a way of bypassing the remote authentication system and installing a homemade rootkit, named Scrooge,"
Privacy

Submission + - FTC Wants Browsers to Block Online Tracking (ecommerce-guide.com)

Submitted by storagedude
storagedude writes: The FTC wants a do-not-track mechanism that would allow Web users to opt out of online behavioral tracking, similar to the national do-not-call registry. The agency's preferred method for accomplishing this would be a browser-based tool that would give users the option of blocking data collection across the Web. The only problem is that the agency may not have the authority to require this, thanks to concerted lobbying efforts by the advertising industry. The first step may just be voluntary measures, to be released this fall.

From the article:

"It's really in the hands of the private sector," [FTC Chairman Jon] Leibowitz said. "If they want to do a better job of ... giving clear choices and have clearer notice, then I think it's in their hands to avoid legislation. I think if they don't, and if we don't see more progress, I think you're going to see probably in the next Congress a fair amount of interest in moving legislation forward to have more prescriptive rules.
Transportation

Submission + - Chevy Volt: Not Green Enough for California (greencarreports.com)

Submitted by thecarchik
thecarchik writes: Now we know: The first two plug-in cars from major manufacturers will go head-to-head on warranties and lease prices: $350 a month for the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, $349 for the 2011 Nissan Leaf.
Now the choice shifts to other measures, including electric and overall range, as well as the plug-in perks that states like California offer to early adopters to encourage them to opt for electric cars.
This is where it gets interesting. While California loves the Nissan Leaf, current regulations deny Chevy Volt buyers two significant perks: a $5,000 rebate, and permission to drive solo in HOV Lanes.
Security

Submission + - Pizza lovers suffer data breach from Hell (networkworld.com)

Submitted by netbuzz
netbuzz writes: Some 230,000 New Zealanders have been informed that their personal information has apparently fallen into the hands of hackers who compromised the network of a locally famous food chain, Hell Pizza. The company says it suspects “a rogue employee,” but one security expert says Hell’s ordering portal is “about 50 steps of fail.” Several New Zealand celebrities are among the victims and at least one is taking the matter in stride, musing: "My Twitter has been hacked, my Facebook has been hacked and I'm pretty sure half of New Zealand has my phone number already. I have nothing bad to say about Hell."
Security

Submission + - .Org Signed for DNSSEC (esecurityplanet.com)

Submitted by graychase
graychase writes: A major milestone is reached as the first major top-level domain (.org) is now secured with DNSSEC.

The expense to .org for implementing DNSSEC on its infrastructure and operations has not been a small one. While specific figures as to the cost of DNSSEC implementation haven't been released, Afilias, which is the technical operator of the .org registry, told InternetNews.com in 2009 that the DNSSEC implementation would be a multi-million dollar effort.

The cost isn't going to be passed on by .org to domain registrars.

The move toward securing the .org registry with DNS security started back in September 2008, following the Kaminsky DNS flaw disclosure.
Space

Submission + - Jupiter is missing a belt (tgdaily.com)

Submitted by mbone
mbone writes: Jupiter just went through Superior Conjunction (i.e., went behind the Sun as seen from the Earth), so it has been out of view for a while. Now that has returned, it is different — the South Equatorial Belt (SEB) is missing. The SEB has about 10 times the surface area of the Earth, so this is not a small change. Here are a series of photos of Jupiter's new look. The Jupiter Red Spot typically inhabits the southern border of the SEB, but it doesn't seem to be affected by the change. It's a pity that this happened at Superior Conjunction, and that there is no satellite in Jupiter orbit, so details of the change are largely missing.

The SEB has previously gone missing in 1973 and 1990. Since no one really knows what makes the Jovian belts, no one knows why they disappear either. If the belts are really just material from deeper layers coming to the surface, it is possible that the convection has stopped for some reason, or that high altitude clouds have covered it over.
Security

Submission + - Ranum: U.S. Needs Secure Coding Office (threatpost.com)

Submitted by Trailrunner7
Trailrunner7 writes: If the United States wants to remain competitive in the global economy and prevent widespread penetrations of its strategic, corporate and commercial networks, enterprises and government agencies should stop relying on commercial software and go back to writing more of their own custom code. "If we're going to maintain our place in the world, software is not a strategic problem, it is the strategic problem going forward," Marcus Ranum said in a speech Tuesday. "Covert penetration becomes something that you think about on a five, 10 or 20-year scale. Why don't we have a government coding office? We have a government printing office," he said. "Why don't we have a strategic software reserve? "Our own software is probably a greater threat to us than anything other people can do to us."

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