Astronomers discover planet made of diamond | Reuters.
Diamond the size of a planet – Jupiter – found
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Apple forces 3 Samsung phones off the market – not the tablet
This was done on the basis of patent battling. Which goes to show – patents are really great for innovation. Not.
mycheckpoint
Lightweight, SQL oriented monitoring for MySQL
mycheckpoint is an open source monitoring utility for MySQL, with strong emphasis on user accessibility to monitored data.
It is SQL oriented: charts, reports and advances metrics are generated on the fly with views.
mycheckpoint highlights:
- Can act as web server (see sample), providing with live HTML reports. It does not have to: it is not a web-based solution.
- Records MySQL status & variables.
- Records OS (Linux) metrics, such as load average, swap activity, etc.
- Allows for custom queries, the results of which are aggregated along with all other measurements.
- Supports alert conditions, with email notifications on on raised or resolved alerts.
- On the fly HTML reports generation (see sample). HTML is issued by a query, resulting with complete HTML, JavaScript based charts and data.
- On the fly chart generation; charts utilize the Google Chart API.
- Generation of human readable reports.
- Parameters change detection.
- SQL access to data via simple SELECT statements
HP loses 20% of value as a result to kill PC’s and WebOS
From Dust PC is a disaster
For staters, gamers discovered that the PC version of title (avaiable on Steam and Gamersgate) actually requires players to stay connected to the internet at all times to play, despite being informed by Ubisoft in writing that From Dust’s DRM would only require players to be online at time of activation. That didn’t prove to be case at all, because players on Steam found that as soon as they took their clients into “Offline” mode, From Dust cannot be launched. Ubisoft originally amended its original statement with word that an official update regarding From Dust’s online DRM would be forthcoming.
And that’s before players even started playing the game. Once players got over the hurdle of being mislead over the DRM scheme, they found a game that was not optimized in any way for PCs. From Dust on PC currently suffers from choppy framerates, glitches, and no way for players to improve the graphical quality either in-game or through their preferred graphics driver control panels. There isn’t even any anti-aliasing, and that’s just one of the more glaring examples. Players were also disappointed that the system requirements listed on Steam were inaccurate compared to the official ones provided by Ubisoft.
Players were stung so bad by their From Dust experiences on PC that many have taken to requesting refunds on Steam and from Ubisoft. The publisher is even suggests players to get in contact with its customer support in case they do decide to pursue refunds.
From Dust PC erupts with disastrous port – Neoseeker News Article.
This is a real dissappointment, as I have been looking forward to a good new God game for some time now. Guess I’ll have to keep waiting.
Using trees to collect solar more efficiently than flat panels
The Fibonacci tree design performed better than the flat-panel model. The tree design made 20% more electricity and collected 2 1/2 more hours of sunlight during the day. But the most interesting results were in December, when the Sun was at its lowest point in the sky. The tree design made 50% more electricity, and the collection time of sunlight was up to 50% longer!
via The Secret of the Fibonacci Sequence in Trees.
Remarkably, a 13 year old designed this.
HP kills WebOS devices :’-(
In addition, HP reported that it plans to announce that it will discontinue operations for webOS devices, specifically the TouchPad and webOS phones. HP will continue to explore options to optimize the value of webOS software going forward.
WebOS IMHO was the best smartphone OS there was, which never got the marketing push or hardware it deserved.
DARPA Falcon HTV-2 succesfully flies Mach-20
Falcon HTV-2 is an unmanned, rocket-launched, maneuverable aircraft that glides through the Earth’s atmosphere at incredibly fast speeds—Mach 20 (approximately 13,000 miles per hour). At HTV-2 speeds, flight time between New York City and Los Angeles would be less than 12 minutes. The HTV-2 vehicle is a “data truck” with numerous sensors that collect data in an uncertain operating envelope.
via Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
Russian company Orbital Technologies reveals plans for space hotel, visit to cost nearly $1 million
Stealing ATM PINs with thermal cameras
with the plastic PIN pad, it was even possible to determine from the heat signatures not only the numbers pressed but also the number order.
via Stealing ATM PINs with thermal cameras | Naked Security.
Google Apache mod_pagespeed
mod_pagespeed is an open-source Apache module that automatically optimizes web pages and resources on them. It does this by rewriting the resources using filters that implement web performance best practices. Webmasters and web developers can use mod_pagespeed to improve the performance of their web pages when serving content with the Apache HTTP Server.
Android app logs keystrokes using phone movements
respawn_redux – how to respawn user’s deleted cookies
Telex: Anticensorship in the Network Infrastructure
Telex is a new approach to circumventing Internet censorship that is intended to help citizens of repressive governments freely access online services and information. The main idea behind Telex is to place anticensorship technology into the Internet’s core network infrastructure, through cooperation from large ISPs. Telex is markedly different from past anticensorship systems, making it easy to distribute and very difficult to detect and block.
via Telex: Anticensorship in the Network Infrastructure.
New airport scanners alarmed by sweaty armpits. DE says they false positive 7/10 times
So the Aussies are having alarm bells go off on them when they shouldn’t as well as the Germans.
New airport scanners alarmed by sweaty armpits | Technically Incorrect – CNET News.
Using fMRI / EEG to detect lying
A Flexible, Transparent Lithium-ion Battery
Stanford scientists used a grid-structured electrode, which is fabricated by a microfluidics-assisted method, such that the feature dimension in the electrode is below the resolution limit of human eyes, and, thus, the electrode appears transparent. By aligning multiple electrodes together, the amount of energy stored increases readily without sacrificing the transparency. In addition, the battery is flexible, further broadening their potential applications.
TestFlight | iOS beta testing on the fly
An Analysis of Anonymity in the Bitcoin System: Bitcoin is not Anonymous
Bitcoin is not inherently anonymous. It may be possible to conduct transactions is such a way so as to obscure your identity, but, in many cases, users and their transactions can be identified. We have performed an analysis of anonymity in the Bitcoin system and published our results in a preprint on arXiv.
via An Analysis of Anonymity in the Bitcoin System: Bitcoin is not Anonymous.
Charlie Miller Finds Way to Hack MacBook Battery | News | The Mac Observer
Security researcher Charlie Miller has announced that he has found a way to hack the chips that control the batteries in Apple’s MacBook, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air. Using these chips, he was able to brick (or ruin) batteries, or even install persistent malware that would survive a physical hard drive change.
via Charlie Miller Finds Way to Hack MacBook Battery | News | The Mac Observer.
Basically the heat controllers only have 2 default passwords, which means you can install malware in the bios which overheats and explodes the batteries.
i-FunBox | File Manager, Browser, Explorer, Transfer Tool for iPhone, iPad & iPod Touch via USB
NMM multimedia middleware
Motama’s key technology – called Network-Integrated Multimedia Middleware (NMM) – provides a ground-breaking new software solution for networked multimedia systems, spanning from embedded and mobile devices, to PCs, to large-scale computing clusters. NMM is available as commercial or Open Source version.
Our middleware forms the basis of our own products and is licensed to world leaders in the areas of home entertainment, networking, mobility, and content processing and distribution.
via Motama GmbH.
Extramon – Dual Monitor Software
Extramon lets you use a second computer as a second monitor, giving you a dual-monitor computer. In fact, both of your computers become dual-monitor computers. And you can operate them both from a single keyboard and mouse.
via Extramon – Dual Monitor Software.
Maxivista Multi Monitor – Dual Monitor – KVM switch
MaxiVista turns any spare Desktop, Laptop or Netbook PC into a second monitor for your primary computer. No extra multi monitor hardware is required. Simply extend program windows across multiple screens as if it were one big monitor. Increase your productivity by using a multiple monitor software.
via Multi Monitor – Dual Monitor – KVM switch.
This works by installing virtual VGA drivers on all the PC’s involved.