Yet another problem in a string of RFID related problems. Yes, your privacy is at risk.
Defects in e-passports allow real-time tracking • The Register.
Defects in e-passports allow real-time tracking
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Monthly Archives: January 2010
DIY Biology
These guys are doing huge wetware experiments in their own home, at a fraction of the cost of government / academic projects. They have a large community and have a repository of hardware plans to get you started for a fraction of the price of a full lab.
DIY Bio: A Growing Movement Takes on Aging | h+ Magazine.
Australian Navy has only one working submarine left
Become a credit terrorist
So these guys who were busted by the bankers in the credit crunch have found a way to fight back: sue the credit collection agencies on technicalities. They win a lot of settlements, get out of their debts and make some money!
Yuneec R430 Electric Aircraft
The E430 is a twin seat, single engine, LSA class aircraft designed to be simple to use, easy to fly and with virtually zero vibration, it's very smooth.
Low noise, no emissions, no fuel, extremely low maintenance and best of all. . . . . it’s environmentally friendly.
Electric flight, once seen as futuristic, has arrived and with E430’s flight times of between 1.5 and 3 hours (depending on configuration) electric flight now becomes a realistic power source for sport aviation. Charging times of 3 hours for as little as $5 make electric a really low cost way to fly and with only 2 main moving parts in the motor (the bearings) the reliability and maintenance are like nothing seen before.
Add to that the delight of smooth, quiet powered flight or silent using its 25:1 glide ratio – the E430 is in a class of its own.
via Yuneec – Electric_Aircraft.
It’s going to be prices at under $100,000 which makes it affordable too!
1/6th scale remote control bomb
This thing splits apart and allows you to use your RC aircraft as a bomber for only $16.95
HobbyKing Online R/C Hobby Store : Quanum RTR Bomb System 1/6 scale Plug-n-Drop $16.95.
the Failure of Full-Body Scanners
Well, they have tested the full body scanner on TV and the guy carrying bomb parts wasn’t stopped. And it’s not like he tried really hard to hide them either – they weren’t particularly small bomb parts and the only cavity he used was his mouth.
Basically they’re just a huge invasion of privacy, an excuse to see you naked. They don’t work.
Schneier on Security: German TV on the Failure of Full-Body Scanners.
Litter Kwitter Cat / Kitten toilet training system
This is bizarre – teach your cat to use your toilet bowl to take it’s shits and pisses, and never have to clean the litter again!
YouTube – Litter Kwitter Cat / Kitten toilet training system amazing.
Hide from Google with Googlesharing
GoogleSharing is a special kind of anonymizing proxy service, designed for a very specific threat. It ultimately aims to provide a level of anonymity that will prevent google from tracking your searches, movements, and what websites you visit. GoogleSharing is not a full proxy service designed to anonymize all your traffic, but rather something designed exclusively for your communication with Google. Our system is totally transparent, with no special “alternative” websites to visit. Your normal work flow should be exactly the same.
via GoogleSharing :: A Special Kind Of Proxy.
Nanoscale: Robot Arm Places Atoms and Molecules With 100% Accuracy
The nanorobotic arm is built out of DNA origami: large strands of DNA gently encouraged to fold in precise ways by interaction with a few hundred short DNA strands. The products, around 100 nanometers in diameter, are eight times larger and three times more complex than what could be built with a simple crystalline DNA array, vastly expanding the space of possible structures. Other nanoscale structures or machines built by Dr. Seeman and his collaborators including a nanoscale walking biped, truncated DNA octahedrons, and sequence-dependent molecular switch arrays. Dr. Seeman has exploited structural features of DNA thought to be used in genetic recombination to operate his nanoscale devices, tapping into the very processes underlying all life.
via Nanoscale: Robot Arm Places Atoms and Molecules With 100% Accuracy | h+ Magazine.
$5M for a Su-27UB
This is a newly overhauled unit, zero-houred. Not bad!
$5M Buys the Ride of Your Life | Autopia | Wired.com.
TorrIndex: magnet search engine
This torrent search engine is different in that it only indexes magnet links, which should be more robust due to the more distributed nature of magnet links.
Prism HUD
Prism HUD is a resource monitor for windows that pops up information about memory, network, disk or cpu useage once the values exceed a certain threshold. Free download.
VESA approves DisplayPort 1.2
Display Port allows the data for up to 4 1920 x 1200 monitors to be streamed through one cable, as well as 3D, USB and audio data.
DisplayPort 1.2 receives final VESA blessing, grows into a real standard — Engadget.
How to brag
It turns out that it is ok to brag, but only if the subject you are bragging about is brought up by another party in the conversation.
BPS RESEARCH DIGEST: How to brag.
British Airwars treats men like paedophiles
BA has implemented a policy whereby children are not allowed to sit next to men they don’t know. Flight attendants patrol the aisles and if they find a strange man they start shouting if he doesn’t want to change places. Not only is it sexist, it’s also extremely rude and embarrasing for the passenger.
Mirko Fischer had this happen to him when he was sitting next to his pregnant wife and has had enough, so he’s suing BA.
Bizarrely, BA can’t see the idiocy in their policy and won’t issue statements.
Businessman Mirko Fischer sues British Airwars ‘for treating men like perverts’ | Mail Online.
IBM patents patenting
They’ve been awarded a patent on designing, develloping and maintaining a patent portfolio.
<sarcasm>No, the patent system isn’t getting out of hand</sarcasm>
It seems to be running around naked with its’ underwear on its’ head and staws up its’ nose, flailing arms holding mini lightsabers.
Patentkampioen IBM patenteert patenteren | Webwereld.
Pack a Gun to Protect Valuables from Airline Theft or Loss
Don’t know if this will work in Europe, but in the US, a starter gun is considered a weapon. You simply declare you are carrying a weapon at baggage check in, they issue a little label you sign and they stick on the bag, and the bag doesn’t get rifled or checked, because the TSA most definitely doesn’t want to lose weaponry in the airline system.
Pack a Gun to Protect Valuables from Airline Theft or Loss – Security – Lifehacker.
3G GSM encryption cracked in less than two hours
GSM encryption is falling apart at the seams! Using an unoptimised implementation of a proof of concept on a PC, Israeli researchers managed to break the KASUMI system in under 2 hours.
3G GSM encryption cracked in less than two hours — Engadget.
Humanity fail – Avatar makes people depressed
Apparently the inability to live as a 9 foot tall, blue, cat humping alien is driving some people to suicide.
James Cameron’s completely immersive spectacle “Avatar” may have been a little too real for some fans who say they have experienced depression and suicidal thoughts after seeing the film because they long to enjoy the beauty of the alien world Pandora.
“Ever since I went to see ‘Avatar’ I have been depressed. Watching the wonderful world of Pandora and all the Na’vi made me want to be one of them. I can’t stop thinking about all the things that happened in the film and all of the tears and shivers I got from it,” Mike posted. “I even contemplate suicide thinking that if I do it I will be rebirthed in a world similar to Pandora and the everything is the same as in ‘Avatar.’ “
http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Movies/01/11/avatar.movie.blues/index.html
Full body scanners – worse than you think
It turns out that not only can they store and send the images they make, if you invert the colours of the scan in photoshop, you get a proper colour image of the body scanned.
US airport body scanners can store and export images • The Register.
Dutch online court
This court is legal and runs entirely through the internet, meaning it’s cheaper, fixed price and can dispense justice a whole lot faster than the regular courts.
e-Court – De Eerste Nederlandse Online Rechtbank.
Google Plans to Alter Street View Reality
They have applied for a patent to change billboards in Street View to whatever Google advertisers want, instead of the real content of the billboard.
Google Plans to Upgrade Old Billboards in Street View.
El Dorado Found
It turns out that you can use Google Earth to find whole civilisations in places that people have always thought could never be inhabited by large groups of people. The City of Z or El Dorado has been found this way, it will take archaologists decades to clear it and view it all.
Google Earth helps find El Dorado – Times Online.
iWebKit
This is a collection of css, images, icons, javascripts, form fields etc to easily make iphone websites which have the look and feel of iphone apps.
iWebKit – Make a quality iPhone Website or Webapp.