The wireless network with a mile-wide range that the “internet of things” could be built on Robotics engineer Taylor Alexander needed to lift a nuclear cooling tower off its foundation using 19 high-strength steel cables, and the Android app that was supposed to accomplish it, for which he’d just paid a developer $20,000, was essentially worthless. Undaunted and on deadline—the tower needed a new foundation, and delays meant millions of dollars in losses—he re-wrote the app himself. That’s when he discovered just how hard it is to connect to sensors via the standard long-distance industrial wireless protocol, known as Zigbee. It took him months of hacking just to create a system that could send him a single number—which represented the strain on each of the cables—from the sensors he was using. Surely, he thought, there must be a better way. The result is an in-the-works project called Flutter. Flutter’s range is 3,200 feet in open air, but multiple Flutters can also cover even larger areas in a “mesh” network.
Largest Cyber-Attack in History Hits Pro-Hong Kong Protest Websites Websites supporting the pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong have been hit with a series of DDoS attacks which have been described as the largest in history.(Bobby Yip/Reuters) A series of cyber attacks against websites supporting Occupy Central protestors in Hong Kong have been described as the biggest cyber attacks ever recorded. Over the last few months two independent news websites which have been covering the Occupy Central protests which began in September following the announcement of a decision by China's Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on proposed electoral reform. The websites, Apple Daily and PopVote, have been vocal supporters of the pro-democracy protests and even carried out mock chief executive elections for Hong Kong. According to Matthew Prince, CEO of Cloudflare, the attacks have hit 500 gigabits per second (Gbps), which tops attacks in February of 400Gbps that were at the time the biggest in internet history. Who is behind the attacks? DDoS amplified
Disney develops 'magical' device to make fingertips sing 10 September 2013Last updated at 07:04 ET By Joe Miller BBC News Disney has demonstrated its new Ishin-Den-Shin audio system Disney has developed a device to transmit sound through the human body. The Ishin-Den-Shin technology uses a standard microphone to record audio and then converts it into an inaudible signal transmitted through the body of the person holding the microphone. When they touch someone's earlobe, an organic speaker is formed and the sound becomes audible, effectively whispering a message into that person's ear. The sound can be passed from person to person using any physical contact. The technology, revealed by the New Scientist, was developed at Disney Research in Pittsburgh and received an honorary mention at this week's Ars Electronica Festival in Linz, Austria. Small vibrations It records sounds through a device fitted to the microphone that creates a "modulated electrostatic field" around the user's skin. The recorded sound can be heard only by the specific ear touched.
3 Internet of Things Security Nuances You May Not Have Considered Over the past 18 months, I’ve been in a variety of situations where I had the opportunity to discuss the Internet of Things (IoT) with various industry professionals, developers and journalists. It intrigued me to realize that many of my viewpoints often differed from others discussing the topic in articles or event presentations. With that in mind, I wanted to share three topics that I find are discussed less frequently. Regardless, these topics should be an important aspect of the conversations we need to be having on this rapidly growing subject. 1. For most people, IoT will be defined as crowd-funded products throughout the next few years. For example, Samsung acquired the IoT hub company SmartThings this August for a reported $200 million, less than two years after it gather $1.2 million in crowdfunding. Why does this matter? 2. I’ve admittedly asked this question many times at events this year, but when was the last time you upgraded your home router’s firmware? 3.
The real plan for Google Glass may be to sell it to businesses, not consumers Yesterday evening in New York City, Google’s Glass team threw a party. It brought together “Explorers” and “Influencers”—the lucky few people who got to try out the computerized glasses Google is developing. Over cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, the diverse crowd gushed about the joys and dissected the drawbacks of the device, which they’ve been wearing for the last few months. The takeaway? Google Glass is not for who you think it is. Though Google has been promoting the device with heart-warming videos on rollercoaster rides and in children’s playgrounds, for the next few years at least, its main customers will be large businesses. Members of the Glass operations team have been on the road showing it off to companies and organizations, and they told Quartz that some of the most enthusiastic responses have come from manufacturers, teachers, medical companies, and hospitals. Those potential uses are manifold. Other uses of Glass would be in medicine.
In North Korea, hackers are a handpicked, pampered elite Fall asleep to the sound of Wikipedia When one thinks of edits to Wikipedia, back and forth bickering and arguments over minutia generally come to mind. A project called Listen to Wikipedia offers a very different vibe, however, as it translates Wikipedia edits into soothing sounds and pleasant animations. Using the data provided by Wikipedia's recent changes feed, bells are used to convey additions, while string noises represent subtractions from articles. Higher pitched noises are for smaller edits, while larger edits are translated into lower pitched tones. Deep swells of sound accompany new users joining the service. All of the various noises work together in surprising harmony, creating a zen-like mood to go along with the furious edits being made to Wikipedia's database. In addition to the soothing sounds, Listen to Wikipedia also displays circles of various colors and sizes that correspond to the size of edits and who made them.
The top 10 data breaches of the past 12 months Most Internet users are accustomed to changing their online passwords regularly. They limit their shopping to sites with a trusted security certificate, and use companies like PayPal for safe transactions. But the last year has demonstrated that even the most cautious user is vulnerable to data breaches that can lead to fraud and identity theft. Luckily, timely disclosure about these breaches is becoming more standard for the organizations affected, enabling users to act quickly to change their passwords and check their credit reports. Here are the top ten data and security breaches of the past twelve months—the year some have called the year of the stolen password. 1. The Heartbleed encryption bug is probably the biggest and best-known breach of the last 12 months (if not the last few years). A massive number of companies were affected including Amazon, Pinterest, Reddit, Tumblr, Airbnb, Wordpress, and Wattpad. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Keeping Your Laptop Plugged in All the Time Will Kill Its Battery Faster | Gadget Lab Power down. Photo: Ariel Zambelich/WIRED Laptops are our indispensable lifeline to the majesty that is the Internet. In order to squeeze as much life out of your lithium-polymer battery, once your laptop hits 100 percent, unplug it. Cadex Electronics CEO Isidor Buchmann told WIRED that ideally everyone would charge their batteries to 80 percent then let them drain to about 40 percent. Buchmann would know. You can battle this degradation by keeping the lid open and your laptop out of your actual lap while using it. While those are simple fixes, Buchmann admits that putting the 40 to 80 percent battery-status workflow into practice is easier said than done. A search of Windows and OS X apps yielded nothing that would alert a user when a computer reached both an 80 percent charge and a 40 percent discharge.
Banks push for tokenization standard to secure credit card payments | Computerworld A group representing 22 of the world's largest banks is pushing for broad adoption in the U.S. of payment card technology called tokenization, citing shortcomings in the planned migration to the Europay MasterCard Visa (EMV) smartcard standard over the next two years. The Clearing House Payments Company (TCH), whose owners include Bank of America, Citibank, Capital One and JP Morgan Chase, is working with member banks to see how tokenization can be applied to online and mobile payment environments to protect against fraud. The effort stems from what the group says is the need to address gaps in the EMV standard involving mobile and online transactions. "EMV has been out there for close to 20 years" and has served its purpose well, said Dave Fortney, senior vice president, product development and management for The Clearing House. While the planned migration has its benefits, EMV is not quite the panacea that many assume it is, Fortney said. Tokenization is not new.
See Some Art While You Can — Google Will Eventually Replace Museums | Raw File The prints in the series Anonymous Paintings are enlarged reproductions of museum artworks that have been imaged by Google Street View technology and later blurred by Google on its Art Project website. They are inkjet prints stretched on cotton panels, but they are also emblematic of the fascination that has built around Google’s Street View glitches and blurrings. Initially launched in 2011, Google Art Project was redesigned in April 2012 expanding the number of museums with the “walk-through” feature from 17 to 51. Now, you can saunter through the Metropolitan Museum of Art, MoMA and The Frick Collection from your living room. The blurred Anonymous Paintings were created by João Enxuto and Erica Love. Due to copyright issues, artworks that are on loan at a given institution — and therefore not under its direct ownership — may not be imaged or distributed as part of Google Art Project. In Spring, the duo completed a Whitney Independent Study Program and developed their ideas further.