======================================================================
EMA������ analysts explore four use cases for Gazzang ezNcrypt deployment.
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encryption? See what EMA������ has to say about data security with ezNcrypt.
http://p.sf.net/sfu/gazzang-sdnews
======================================================================
Slashdot Daily Newsletter
In this issue:
* The White House Responds To We the People Petition
* Student Loans In America: the Next Big Credit Bubble
* Climate Change Skeptic Results Released Today
* Federal Contractors Are $600 Screwdrivers
* Multi-Target Photo-Radar System To Make Speeding Riskier
* The Weight of an e-Book
* Ubuntu Heads To Smartphones, and Tablets
* Re-evaluating the Benefits of Cancer Screening
* China Builds 1-Petaflop Homegrown Supercomputer
* Why Fingernails On a Chalkboard Sound Painful
* Military Labs Develop Caffeinated Jerky and "Zapplesauce"
* UK Police Buy Covert Cellphone Surveillance System
* Who 'Owns' the Google Driverless Car IP?
* Microsoft Proposes Fix For E-Voting Attack
* Open Hardware Journal
* <em>They Might Be Giants</em> Answers Your Questions
* HTC Becomes Highest Shipping Smartphone Vendor In the US
* Progress Spacecraft Launch Successful
* First Android Device Certified For DoD Personnel
* Human Blood Protein (HSA) From GMO Rice
* <em>Minecraft</em> Wins Gaming Arts Award
* Boston Dynamics' PETMAN Humanoid On Video
* Authorities Seize Duqu's C&C Servers In Mumbai
* Paper-Based Explosives Sensor Made Using an Inkjet
* Kinect For PCs Early Next Year, Microsoft Eyeing Business Apps
* Another Step Towards Graphene Semiconductors
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| The White House Responds To We the People Petition
| from the thank-you-for-contacting-citizen-support dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Sunday October 30, @23:22 (Politics)
| with 834 comments
| https://politics.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/0018213/the-white-house-responds-to-we-the-people-petition?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
First time accepted submitter Nysul writes "The White House, aiming to
gather the opinion (or marketing data) of the internet nation, asked for
our thoughts by creating the [0]We the People site and now it has
responded to some of the more popular petitions, such as [1]marijuana
reform and [2]separation of church and state. You probably won't be
surprised at [3]the answers."
Discuss this story at:
https://politics.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/0018213/the-white-house-responds-to-we-the-people-petition?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions#!/
1. https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions#!/response/what-we-have-say-about-legalizing-marijuana
2. https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions#!/response/religion-public-square
3. https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions#!/responses
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Student Loans In America: the Next Big Credit Bubble
| from the bursting-education dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Sunday October 30, @20:50 (The Almighty Buck)
| with 715 comments
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/10/30/235248/student-loans-in-america-the-next-big-credit-bubble?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PolygamousRanchKid writes "In late 1965, President Lyndon Johnson stood
in the modest gymnasium of what had once been the tiny teaching college
he attended and announced a program to promote education. Almost a
half-century later these modest steps have metastasized into a huge,
federally guaranteed student-loan industry. On October 25th the Obama
administration added indebted students to the list of banks, car
companies, homeowners, solar manufacturers and others that have benefited
from a federal handout. In response to students burying their obligations
in court during the 1970s, anti-default provisions were imposed to make
it almost impossible to shed student loans in bankruptcy. There are
increasingly loud calls for reform of the system, with demands that range
from a full-fledged bail-out of borrowers to a phased curtailment of
government lending. The changes announced this week are designed to
[0]ease the pressure on struggling graduates. Borrowers who qualify will
get payment relief, not debt relief. The administration says these
changes will have no cost to taxpayers."
Discuss this story at:
https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/10/30/235248/student-loans-in-america-the-next-big-credit-bubble?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://www.economist.com/node/21534792
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Climate Change Skeptic Results Released Today
| from the on-second-thought dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Monday October 31, @09:30 (Earth)
| with 679 comments
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/1255205/climate-change-skeptic-results-released-today?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Irishman writes "A leading climate change skeptic, Richard Muller, will
release results today showing that [0]global warming is indeed happening.
He has shown that two items skeptics look to, urban heat islands and
unreliable weather stations, do not skew the data. The amazing part is
that this research is funded by the Koch brothers, two investors who fund
climate change skeptics whenever possible."
Discuss this story at:
https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/1255205/climate-change-skeptic-results-released-today?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/30/richard-muller-global-warming_n_1066029.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Federal Contractors Are $600 Screwdrivers
| from the cost-of-doing-business dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Monday October 31, @11:31 (Government)
| with 537 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/152201/federal-contractors-are-600-screwdrivers?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[0]ideonexus writes "Last month an article appeared on Slashdot about how
the government [1]pays IT contractors twice what it pays its own workers.
Missing from the article was how much the IT contractor pays its own
workers. After working for a federal contractor for 10 years, a
[2]document accidentally leaked to employees by the contractor
illustrated the incredible disparity between what the contractor was
paying us and what they were charging the government. Like [3]most
contracts according to the GAO, the government provided our offices,
utilities, computers, and training, leaving our salaries as the only
overhead to the IT contractor, giving them an incredible incentive to
keep them as low as possible to maximize profits. When [4]the top 100
defense contractors cost taxpayers $306 billion, eliminating the federal
contractor middle-man seems like an obvious place to start the austerity
measures."
Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/152201/federal-contractors-are-600-screwdrivers?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://ideonexus.com/
1. http://it.slashdot.org/story/11/09/23/1757257/us-govt-pays-it-contractors-twice-as-much-as-its-own-it-workers
2. http://ideonexus.com/2011/10/31/confessions-of-a-600-hammer/
3. http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-169
4. http://www.govexec.com/features/0807-15/0807-15s3s1.htm
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Multi-Target Photo-Radar System To Make Speeding Riskier
| from the time-to-finish-building-that-stealth-buick dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Monday October 31, @15:01 (Government)
| with 414 comments
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/1846223/multi-target-photo-radar-system-to-make-speeding-riskier?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
mrquagmire writes with this excerpt from Engadget: "Go easy on the gas,
Speed Racer, because [0]Cordon is on its way. Developed by Simicon, this
new speed sensor promises to [1]take highway surveillance to new heights
of precision. Unlike most photo radar systems, which track only one
violator at a time, Simicon's device can simultaneously identify and
follow up to 32 vehicles across four lanes. Whenever a car enters its
range, the Cordon will automatically generate two images: one from
wide-angle view and one closeup shot of the vehicle's license plate. It's
also capable of instantly measuring a car's speed and mapping its
position, and can easily be synced with other databases via WiFi, 3G or
WiMAX."
Discuss this story at:
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/1846223/multi-target-photo-radar-system-to-make-speeding-riskier?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://www.peakgainsystems.com/en/cordon.html
1. http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/31/cordon-multi-target-photo-radar-system-leaves-no-car-untagged-v
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| The Weight of an e-Book
| from the because-he-can dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Monday October 31, @02:21 (Science)
| with 236 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/0251228/the-weight-of-an-e-book?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
whoever57 writes "According to Prof Kubiatowicz from Berkeley, each time
an additional book is downloaded to an e-reader, the mass of the e-reader
increases. The effect doesn't really make the devices more difficult to
carry: the professor calculates that [0]4GB of books would increase its
weight by a billionth of a billionth of a gram��� about the mass of a
single virus or DNA molecule."
Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/0251228/the-weight-of-an-e-book?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/8858355/E-readers-get-heavier-with-each-book.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Ubuntu Heads To Smartphones, and Tablets
| from the have-another-option dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Monday October 31, @10:50 (Ubuntu)
| with 236 comments
| https://linux.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/1352259/ubuntu-heads-to-smartphones-and-tablets?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
First time accepted submitter GuerillaRadio writes "Mark Shuttleworth is
to announce that Canonical will be [0]taking Ubuntu Linux to smartphones,
tablets, and smart TVs at the [1]Ubuntu Developer Summit in Orlando, FL
starting today. Shuttleworth said, 'This is a natural expansion of our
idea as Ubuntu as Linux for human beings. As people have moved from
desktop to new form factors for computing, it's important for us to reach
out to our community on these platforms. So, we'll embrace the challenge
of how to use Ubuntu on smartphones, tablets and smart-screens.'"
Discuss this story at:
https://linux.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/1352259/ubuntu-heads-to-smartphones-and-tablets?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://m.zdnet.com/blog/open-source/ubuntu-linux-heads-to-smartphones-tablets-and-smart-tvs/9834
1. http://summit.ubuntu.com/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Re-evaluating the Benefits of Cancer Screening
| from the equations-that-are-impossible-to-balance dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Monday October 31, @14:19 (Medicine)
| with 220 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/1744203/re-evaluating-the-benefits-of-cancer-screening?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
uncleO writes "An article in the NY Times describes two studies that
[0]weigh the harm caused by cancer screenings against the benefits they
provide. From the article, 'Two recent clinical trials of prostate cancer
screening cast doubt on whether many lives ��� or any ��� are saved. And it
said that screening often leads to what can be disabling treatments for
men whose cancer otherwise would never have harmed them. A new analysis
of mammography concluded that while mammograms find cancer in 138,000
women each year, as many as 120,000 to 134,000 of those women either have
cancers that are already lethal or have cancers that grow so slowly they
do not need to be treated. ... In recent years, researchers have found
that many, if not most, cancers are indolent. They grow very slowly or
stop growing altogether. Some even regress and do not need to be treated
��� they are harmless."
Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/1744203/re-evaluating-the-benefits-of-cancer-screening?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/30/health/cancer-screening-may-be-more-popular-than-useful.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| China Builds 1-Petaflop Homegrown Supercomputer
| from the home-is-where-the-chart-is dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Monday October 31, @12:12 (China)
| with 165 comments
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/1512228/china-builds-1-petaflop-homegrown-supercomputer?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[0]MrSeb writes "Drawing yet another battle line between the incumbent
oligarchs of the West and the developing hordes of the East, [1]China has
unveiled a new supercomputer that uses entirely-homegrown processors ���
8,704 of them, to be exact. The computer is called [2]Sunway BlueLight
MPP and it has a peak performance of just over 1 petaflop ��� or around the
15th fastest supercomputer in the world. Sunway uses the ShenWei SW-3
1600, a 16-core, 64-bit MIPS-compatible (RISC) CPU. The process used to
make the chips is not known, but it is likely 65 or 45nm, a few
generations behind Intel's latest and greatest. Each of the 139,264 cores
runs at 1.1GHz, the entire system has 150TB of memory and 2PB of storage,
and of course it's water-cooled. The ShenWei chips are based on the
Loongson/Godson architecture, which China ��� as in, the country itself ���
probably reverse engineered from a DEC Alpha CPU in 2001 and has been
developing ever since. Sunway is significant for two reasons: a) It's
very low-power; it consumes just one megawatt, about half of its
contemporaries and one seventh of the US's Jaguar ��� and b) This is
China's first significant supercomputer to be built without Intel or AMD
processors."
Discuss this story at:
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/1512228/china-builds-1-petaflop-homegrown-supercomputer?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://mrseb.co.uk/
1. http://www.extremetech.com/computing/102461-east-vs-west-china-builds-record-breaking-homegrown-supercomputer
2. http://laotsao.wordpress.com/2011/10/29/sunway-bluelight-mpp-%E7%A5%9E%E5%A8%81%E8%93%9D%E5%85%89/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Why Fingernails On a Chalkboard Sound Painful
| from the enjoy-your-goosebumps dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Monday October 31, @16:05 (Science)
| with 131 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/1951258/why-fingernails-on-a-chalkboard-sound-painful?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
sciencehabit writes "Some sounds are excruciating. Take fingernails
squeaking on a chalkboard. The noise makes many people shudder, but
researchers never knew exactly why. A new study finds that there are two
factors at work: the knowledge of where the sound is coming [0]from and
the unfortunate design of our ear canals. 'The offending frequencies were
in the range of 2000 to 4000 Hz. Removing those made the sounds much
easier to listen to. Deleting the tonal parts of the sound entirely also
made listeners perceive the sound as more pleasant, whereas removing
other frequencies or the noisy, scraping parts of the sound made little
difference.'"
Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/1951258/why-fingernails-on-a-chalkboard-sound-painful?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2011/10/cover-your-ears.html?ref=hp
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Military Labs Develop Caffeinated Jerky and "Zapplesauce"
| from the military-power-lunch dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Monday October 31, @13:58 (The Military)
| with 127 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/1621209/military-labs-develop-caffeinated-jerky-and-zapplesauce?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A military research facility outside Boston has come up [0]two new super
foods for MREs (Meal, Ready to Eat). Soon soldiers will able to stay
awake during guard duty thanks to caffeinated meat sticks. They'll have
the energy for extended patrols from a "super-charged" applesauce. From
the article: "'There is a lot of science that goes into this,' said David
Accetta, a spokesman for the Natick Soldier Research, Development &
Engineering Center, where every item put into an MRE is tested and
tasted. 'And that���s what a lot of people don���t realize. It���s not just a
bunch of cooks in the kitchen making up recipes.'���
Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/1621209/military-labs-develop-caffeinated-jerky-and-zapplesauce?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| UK Police Buy Covert Cellphone Surveillance System
| from the getting-a-better-net dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Monday October 31, @05:22 (Privacy)
| with 92 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/0255236/uk-police-buy-covert-cellphone-surveillance-system?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
digitig writes "UK Metropolitan Police have purchased a '[0]covert
surveillance technology that can masquerade as a mobile phone network,
transmitting a signal that allows authorities to shut off phones
remotely, intercept communications and gather data about thousands of
users in a targeted area.' Other customers apparently include 'the U.S.
Secret Service, the Ministry of Defence and regimes in the Middle East.'"
Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/0255236/uk-police-buy-covert-cellphone-surveillance-system?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/oct/30/metropolitan-police-mobile-phone-surveillance
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Who 'Owns' the Google Driverless Car IP?
| from the patent-lawyers-are-already-salivating dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Monday October 31, @17:48 (Google)
| with 91 comments
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/2053219/who-owns-the-google-driverless-car-ip?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
theodp writes "Google co-founder Sergey Brin recently revealed that he is
now leading Google's efforts to [0]ready a driverless car for the
consumer market, but one big, publicly-unanswered question is: Who
exactly owns the intellectual property behind the highly-touted vehicles?
To develop the Google Car, the company said it [1]tapped 'the very best
engineers from the DARPA Challenges,' a series of autonomous vehicle
races organized by the U.S. government which provided university teams
with [2]millions in development funding and millions more in prizes. Last
year, Carnegie Mellon reported that 8 of the 15-member Google Car team
[3]had current or past ties to DARPA Challenge participants CMU and
Stanford. Whether Google's sponsorship of the Stanford Racing Team and
CMU Tartan Racing entitled it to the IP is unclear. Clouding matters
further is that key Google Car Team members are listed as inventors of
autonomous car technology in pending patents assigned to the likes of
General Motors and Toyota, and it was reported that the credit (and
liability) for another key team member's [4]successful robotic,
autonomous Prius project was his-and-his-alone, not Google's. Could
another party lay claims to the technology, or does Google have all of
its IP ducks in a row on this one?"
Discuss this story at:
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/2053219/who-owns-the-google-driverless-car-ip?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://www.mercurynews.com/top-stories/ci_19150854
1. http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/what-were-driving-at.html
2. http://news.cnet.com/Stanford-robot-passes-driving-test/2100-11394_3-6191180.html
3. http://www.cmu.edu/homepage/computing/2010/fall/driven-to-innovate.shtml
4. http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-10042320-76.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Microsoft Proposes Fix For E-Voting Attack
| from the taking-out-the-trash dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Monday October 31, @17:09 (Microsoft)
| with 86 comments
| https://politics.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/2016226/microsoft-proposes-fix-for-e-voting-attack?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trailrunner7 writes "Microsoft Research has proposed [0]mitigation for a
known potential attack against verifiable electronic voting machines that
could help prevent insiders from being able to alter votes after the
fact. The countermeasure to the 'trash attack' involves [1]adding a
cryptographic hash to the receipts that voters receive (PDF). Many
verifiable voting systems already include hashes on the receipts, but
that hash is typically made from the ballot data for each specific voter.
The idea proposed by Microsoft Research involves using a running hash
that would add a hash of the previous voter's receipt to each person's
receipt, ideally preventing a privileged insider from using discarded
receipts to alter votes. The trash attack that the mitigation is designed
to address involves election workers or others who might be motivated to
change votes gathering discarded receipts and then altering those votes."
Discuss this story at:
https://politics.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/2016226/microsoft-proposes-fix-for-e-voting-attack?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. https://threatpost.com/en_us/blogs/microsoft-research-proposes-e-voting-attack-mitigation-103111
1. https://research.microsoft.com/pubs/155590/The%20Trash%20Attack.pdf
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Open Hardware Journal
| from the i-think-you-mean-gnu-slash-hardware dept.
| posted by Unknown Lamer on Monday October 31, @19:10 (Open Source)
| with 83 comments
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/2221206/open-hardware-journal?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[0]Bruce Perens writes "Open Hardware Journal is a new technical journal
on designs for [1]physical or electronic objects that are shared as if
they were Open Source software. It's an open journal under a Creative
Commons license. [2]The first issue contains articles on 'Producing
Lenses With 3D Printers,' 'Teaching with Open Hardware Submarines,' 'An
Open Hardware Platform for USB Firmware Updates and General USB
Development,' and more." Mr. Perens has [3]promised to be around tonight
to answer any questions readers might have.
Discuss this story at:
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/2221206/open-hardware-journal?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://perens.com/
1. http://openhardware.org/journal/
2. http://openhardware.org/journal/2011/11/
3. http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?cid=37901570&sid=2502686&tid=114
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| <em>They Might Be Giants</em> Answers Your Questions
| from the This-was-the-vehicle-these-were-the-people dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Monday October 31, @13:37 (Music)
| with 82 comments
| https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/1247236/they-might-be-giants-answers-your-questions?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Earlier this month you got a chance to ask They Might Be Giants about
[0]DIY albums, nerd culture, and science songs. Below you'll find their
responses. Thanks to the band for taking time to answer questions. I wish
them another 30 years of making music and success!
This story continues at:
https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/1247236/they-might-be-giants-answers-your-questions?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
Discuss this story at:
https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/1247236/they-might-be-giants-answers-your-questions?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| HTC Becomes Highest Shipping Smartphone Vendor In the US
| from the king-of-the-hill dept.
| posted by Unknown Lamer on Monday October 31, @19:49 (Businesses)
| with 76 comments
| https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/2253201/htc-becomes-highest-shipping-smartphone-vendor-in-the-us?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An anonymous reader writes with an excerpt from an article in BGR:
"Samsung blew past Apple and Nokia in the third quarter to become the No.
1 smartphone vendor in the world, but another emerging smartphone vendor
stole the top spot in the U.S. according to a new report. Market research
firm Canalys on Monday released country-level smartphone shipment
estimates and according to its figures, HTC shipped 5.7 million own-brand
smartphones and another 700,000 T-Mobile-branded handsets last quarter to
[0]take the top spot with 6.4 million total devices shipped."
Discuss this story at:
https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/2253201/htc-becomes-highest-shipping-smartphone-vendor-in-the-us?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Progress Spacecraft Launch Successful
| from the that-went-better dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Monday October 31, @12:53 (ISS)
| with 71 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/1629230/progress-spacecraft-launch-successful?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zothecula writes "The future of the International Space Station (ISS)
became more secure on Sunday, October 30, 2011 when the Russian space
agency Rosocosmos carried out a [0]successful launch of an unmanned
Progress spacecraft. The 15,718 lb (7,130 kg) cargo ship carried its
three tons of supplies into orbit and successfully deployed its solar
arrays without incident. This launch confirms that the Soyuz-U launch
vehicle is once again [1]safe to carry the manned spacecraft needed to
ferry crews to the ISS."
Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/1629230/progress-spacecraft-launch-successful?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2011/10/31/russian-spacecraft-launched-successfully/
1. http://www.gizmag.com/progress-spacecraft-launch/20326/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| First Android Device Certified For DoD Personnel
| from the handheld-fragmentation-grenade dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Monday October 31, @16:27 (Android)
| with 68 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/203223/first-android-device-certified-for-dod-personnel?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
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[0]aneroid writes "The Defense Information Systems Agency ([1]DISA) has
[2]certified its first secure mobile device running Android 2.2 ��� the
[3]Dell Streak 5. It is certified for use in the Defense Department's
secure but unclassified communications. 'Although the Streak 5 is no
longer available commercially, Dell is supplying it to DOD because the
military likes the form factor,' said John Marinho, director of Dell
enterprise mobility solutions. It 'includes a set of Android application
interfaces designed to enhance the security of the device. Besides being
able to transmit secure unclassified messages, the device can have its
data remotely wiped in the event of loss or theft.' The device also has
the ability to lock down after multiple unsuccessful password entries and
allows admins to remotely control the peripherals and security policy
levels on the device. You may recall that [4]President Obama got an
NSA-certified phone-PDA to use instead of his BlackBerry. We also
discussed a related article last year about the [5]US Army considering
smartphones. So, how soon will we start seeing other smartphone vendors
bid for secure-communications-devices contracts?"
Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/203223/first-android-device-certified-for-dod-personnel?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. mailto:aneroid@gmail.com
1. http://www.disa.mil/
2. http://defensesystems.com/articles/2011/10/28/disa-approves-first-andriod-device-for-dod.aspx
3. http://en.community.dell.com/dell-blogs/direct2dell/b/direct2dell/archive/2010/05/25/dell-streak-the-versatile-5-inch-android-tablet.aspx
4. http://www.zdnet.com/news/obamas-new-blackberry-the-nsas-secure-pda/262060
5. http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/10/12/19/2322237/us-army-considers-a-smartphone-for-every-soldier
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Human Blood Protein (HSA) From GMO Rice
| from the tasty-and-lifesaving dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Monday October 31, @18:29 (Medicine)
| with 61 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/2114252/human-blood-protein-hsa-from-gmo-rice?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
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eldavojohn writes "Wuhan University researchers working with the National
Research Council of Canada and the Center for Functional Genomics at the
University at Albany announced that they have genetically modified rice
[0]to produce a medically useful protein chemically identical to human
serum albumin. This protein is used to treat burns, traumatic shock and
liver disease at a global demand rate of 500 tons each year. Normally,
this would be extracted from blood donations, but now you can just grow
rice and extract it at a rate of 2.75 grams of protein per kilogram of
rice. After testing on rats with liver cirrhosis, the same response was
shown as the protein from blood. This is important for China after a
spike in demand and lack of supply lead to [1]fake albumin medicine
flowing through Chinese hospitals. Worried about these GMO crops
cross-pollinating regular crops? The researchers referred to a study
indicating 'a very low frequency (0.04-0.80%) of pollen-mediated gene
flow between genetically modified (GM) rice and adjacent non-GM plants.'
Nature has [2]a slightly more detailed article with a reference to the
peer review publication."
Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/2114252/human-blood-protein-hsa-from-gmo-rice?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jLVPIQ1sTs4U-kA4u3AoNLHe07TQ?docId=CNG.2e0e7390fe09bcedbeca652ba90d702b.2c1
1. http://www.china.org.cn/english/health/220774.htm
2. http://www.nature.com/news/2011/111031/full/news.2011.621.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| <em>Minecraft</em> Wins Gaming Arts Award
| from the pixelated-beauty dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Monday October 31, @17:30 (Games)
| with 57 comments
| https://games.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/2057245/minecraft-wins-gaming-arts-award?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An anonymous reader writes "The BBC reports that [0] Minecraft has won a
new arts award for games, beating the likes of Portal 2 and Ilomilo. The
prize was announced at the finale of the GameCity videogame culture
festival in Nottingham. From the article: 'Minecraft does involve
traditional staples of gaming, including night-roaming monsters and the
chance to fight multiplayer battles online. However, it was ultimately
selected on the basis of its mood and ability to encourage gamers to
become creative. "It's the broadest definition of art that you can have,"
said Mr. Hall.'"
Discuss this story at:
https://games.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/2057245/minecraft-wins-gaming-arts-award?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-15509330
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Boston Dynamics' PETMAN Humanoid On Video
| from the somebody-help-john-connor-hide dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Monday October 31, @15:44 (Robotics)
| with 54 comments
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/194257/boston-dynamics-petman-humanoid-on-video?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An anonymous reader writes "IEEE reports that Boston Dynamics has
unveiled video footage showing its [0]biped humanoid robot PETMAN
walking, kneeling, and doing push-ups. Boston Dynamics is building the
robot for the US Army, which will use it to test chemical protective
suits for soldiers. The requirement was that the robot had to be the
approximate size of a 50th percentile adult male (180 pounds, nearly 6
feet tall) and capable of a full range of dynamic movements. The company
says PETMAN could also be used to survey disaster zones and access
hazardous environments."
Discuss this story at:
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/194257/boston-dynamics-petman-humanoid-on-video?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
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| Authorities Seize Duqu's C&C Servers In Mumbai
| from the following-the-trail dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Monday October 31, @10:11 (Security)
| with 53 comments
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/1325237/authorities-seize-duqus-cc-servers-in-mumbai?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
wiredmikey writes "In Mumbai, Indian authorities seized components from
servers in a data center after Symantec informed them that they were
[0]communicating with the command and control infrastructure used by Duqu,
the Trojan that is touted as the precursor to the next Stuxnet. According
to a report from Reuters, officials the Department of Information
Technology in India [1]seized hard drives and other components from a
server hosted in a Mumbai data center. Security vendors and government
labs are worried that malware such as Duqu and Stuxnet are the building
blocks needed in order for attackers to target critical infrastructure.
Based on the initial analysis of Duqu, many researchers warned that it
was the second generation development of Stuxnet, but this is still the
subject of much debate, with some experts now saying that the connection
between the two malicious programs is questionable."
Discuss this story at:
https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/1325237/authorities-seize-duqus-cc-servers-in-mumbai?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://www.securityweek.com/india-seizes-servers-linked-duqu-experts-question-its-relation-stuxnet
1. http://ca.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idCATRE79R61S20111028?pageNumber=3&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true
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| Paper-Based Explosives Sensor Made Using an Inkjet
| from the let-me-print-something-up-for-you dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Monday October 31, @08:50 (Printer)
| with 40 comments
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/126245/paper-based-explosives-sensor-made-using-an-inkjet?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
cylonlover writes "Detecting explosives is a vital task both on the
battlefield and off, but it requires equipment that, if sensitive enough
to detect explosives traces in small quantities, is often expensive,
delicate and difficult to construct. Researchers at the Georgia Tech
Research Institute have developed a method of manufacturing [0]highly
sensitive explosives detectors incorporating RF components using Ink-jet
printers. This holds the promise of producing large numbers of detectors
at lower cost using local resources."
Discuss this story at:
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/126245/paper-based-explosives-sensor-made-using-an-inkjet?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://www.gizmag.com/printable-explosives-detector-gatech/20308/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Kinect For PCs Early Next Year, Microsoft Eyeing Business Apps
| from the flail-around-to-send-your-tps-report dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Monday October 31, @18:07 (Input Devices)
| with 33 comments
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/2111226/kinect-for-pcs-early-next-year-microsoft-eyeing-business-apps?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An anonymous reader writes "Microsoft has announced that its Kinect
motion-control system [0]will be available for PCs in early 2012, and
that [1]they're planning to take it into the business world as well.
'Microsoft plans to launch a commercial program for the peripheral early
next year, giving businesses the tools to develop customized applications
for their companies and industries. The pilot program already includes
such familiar names as Toyota, book publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
and design firm Razorfish. All totaled, over 200 "marquis brand"
companies in 25 countries have signed up for the program... And while the
majority of those companies have opted to keep their names hidden for now
for competitive reasons, Microsoft is working with them to get the
applications up and running, so they can debut as soon as possible. Just
don't expect the Redmond-based company to do any first party apps for
this program.'"
Discuss this story at:
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/2111226/kinect-for-pcs-early-next-year-microsoft-eyeing-business-apps?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://www.shacknews.com/article/70853/kinect-for-windows-launching-early-2012
1. http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/38206/Microsoft_Takes_Kinect_To_The_Business_World.php
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Another Step Towards Graphene Semiconductors
| from the next-step dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Monday October 31, @08:10 (Technology)
| with 31 comments
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/0317256/another-step-towards-graphene-semiconductors?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
derGoldstein writes "Ars has an article up about the two latest 'papers
demonstrating that, if you change the way the graphene stacks, you obtain
a voltage-controlled bandgap ... Between these two papers, a fairly
complete [0]understanding of the bandgap behavior in three-layer graphene
has been obtained, leaving only the challenge of making the stuff.'"
Discuss this story at:
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/10/31/0317256/another-step-towards-graphene-semiconductors?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2011/10/graphene-is-better-as-a-threesome.ars
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