Sure, people will tell you that encryption is important to maintaining your online privacy, but how do you wrap your head around the concept? Mozilla wants to help. It’s introducing a web-based game, Codemoji, that illustrates how ciphers work throug…
Source: Engadget – Mozilla made a game to teach you the basics of encryption
Monthly Archives: June 2016
WTHDIJS Video of the Day
Totally not tech related but I couldn’t pass up posting this “what the hell did I just see” video of the day. I’ve seen this over land before but have any of you ever seen something like this over a lake? Regardless, it’s just kinda neat to see this in action.
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Source: [H]ardOCP – WTHDIJS Video of the Day
Corsair Lapdog – Gaming without a Desk
Corsair recently launched its new Lapdog product and to put it simply it let’s you game without a desktop. Its focus is “living room gaming” with the new Corsair Bulldog living room gaming system. While this out of our usual scope, and there are not data points to be collected, we like using it.
Source: [H]ardOCP – Corsair Lapdog – Gaming without a Desk
Micro-Camera Can Be Injected With A Syringe — May Pose Surveillance Concerns
Taco Cowboy quotes a report from ABC Online: German engineers have created a camera no bigger than a grain of salt that could change the future of health imaging — and clandestine surveillance. Using 3D printing, researchers from the University of Stuttgart built a three-lens camera, and fit it onto the end of an optical fiber the width of two hairs. Such technology could be used as minimally-intrusive endoscopes for exploring inside the human body, the engineers reported in the journal Nature Photonics. The compound lens of the camera is just 100 micrometers (0.1 millimeters) wide, and 120 micrometers with its casing. It could also be deployed in virtually invisible security monitors, or mini-robots with “autonomous vision.” The compound lens can also be printed onto image sensor other than optical fibers, such as those used in digital cameras. The researchers said it only took a few hours to design, manufacture and test the camera, which yielded “high optical performances and tremendous compactness.” They believe the 3D printing method — used to create the camera — may represent “a paradigm shift.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Micro-Camera Can Be Injected With A Syringe — May Pose Surveillance Concerns
Brexit Ousts Donald Trump As The Most Deadly Disease In Plague Inc
The people have spoken. According to players of global extinction disease game Plague Inc, Brexit is now deadlier than Donald Trump
and his distant third place rival, Death.
Source: Kotaku – Brexit Ousts Donald Trump As The Most Deadly Disease In Plague Inc
These ABCs of Bug and Animal Deaths Make Us the Monsters
Short film Accidents, Blunders, and Calamities reworks Edward Gorey’s The Gashlycrumb Tinies for a family of possums. It’s an ABCs of accidental animal expirations, with great animation.
Source: io9 – These ABCs of Bug and Animal Deaths Make Us the Monsters
Turtle Beach Demos HyperSound Glass: Transparent Speakers Made of Glass
Turtle Beach has announced that it had built its first transparent directional speakers featuring its HyperSound technology. The company demonstrated an early prototype of the speaker set publicly at the E3 trade show, but does not reveal when it expects the new tech to be commercialized.
Turtle Beach’s HyperSound Glass is comprised of multiple layers of thin transparent films, which can generate a narrow beam of ultrasound (high frequency sound) that delivers audio to a targeted listener (by the time it reaches the targeted spot, ultrasound becomes normal sound) and does not disturb others. Since the speakers produce ultrasound, the audio is inaudible in a very short distance from the speakers and is also claimed to be imperceptible in locations outside of the targeted area. To generate that beam, Turtle Beach uses the HyperSound software technology, which the company already commercializes, but not with glass. According to Turtle Beach, the sound generated by its films maintains clarity over longer distances than traditional loudspeakers (which may well be correct given the size of the “driver”), but the company does not reveal technical specifications of its devices, such as frequency response or wattage.
As pointed out above, the HyperSound tech is not something completely new. At present, Turtle Beach offers its HyperSound Clear 500P speaker system for those with hearing problems and their families. The HyperSound Clear 500P do not feature transparent speakers, but can beam loud audio to a specific spot, whereas those around will hear normal volume audio. The product does not use glass/films, but a special metallic grill to produce ultrasound.
Turtle Beach claims that the HyperSound Glass could be integrated into various monitors, desktop speakers, and automotive dashboard glass to deliver sounds to specific listeners. Turtle Beach does not plan to build products based on the HyperSound technology exclusively itself, but can license it to others.
The HyperSound Glass technology is still work in progress and we have no idea when this tech could be commercialized. Nonetheless, since Turtle Beach showed off prototypes at E3, it is highly likely that the technology is nearly ready.
Source: AnandTech – Turtle Beach Demos HyperSound Glass: Transparent Speakers Made of Glass
The Mental Trick Pro Athletes Use for Better Portion Control
If you’re trying to develop a healthier diet, learning to manage your portions
is an important step. This simple rule of thumb from a nutritionist who works with pro athletes can make visualizing appropriate portions easier.
Source: LifeHacker – The Mental Trick Pro Athletes Use for Better Portion Control
Overwatch Players Stage A McCree Shootout For The Ages
Today on Highlight Reel we have shootouts, flesh-eating horses, Dark Souls nopes, Mei denial, and much more.
Source: Kotaku – Overwatch Players Stage A McCree Shootout For The Ages
Combat AI beats the Air Force's top tactical experts
A new artificial intelligence flight combat system dubbed ALPHA has taken on one of the Air Force’s top tactical experts and won. Retired USAF Colonel Gene Lee — an experienced combat instructor with “considerable fighter aircraft expertise” &m…
Source: Engadget – Combat AI beats the Air Force’s top tactical experts
Doom’s first big post-release update is coming on June 30.
Doom’s first big post-release update is coming on June 30. The update includes a photo mode, bug fixes, lobby improvements, and most importantly, the ability to place a gun in the center of the screen, like the old games. Hell yes!
Source: Kotaku – Doom’s first big post-release update is coming on June 30.
For Google, building its own smartphone doesn’t make a lot of sense
A Google Phone? Maybe someday?
Over the weekend, The Telegraph reported that Google has plans to release a Google-branded phone that will “see Google take more control over design, manufacturing, and software.” Google is apparently sick and tired of the iPhone “dominating” the high end of the smartphone market, and the company appears to believe a Google-built smartphone can solve this problem in a way that a Nexus device cannot.
The report further says that the Google Phone will appear “by the end of the year” and that it will exist in addition to the Nexus program, which the report says is “expected to continue this year with handsets made by Taiwanese company HTC.”
I’m skeptical.
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Source: Ars Technica – For Google, building its own smartphone doesn’t make a lot of sense
New Spider-Man: Homecoming Set Photos Have the Webslinger Suited Up for Action
Sporting a Jansport backpack and full Spider-Man suit, the webslinger is riding the back of a truck in a brand new series of photos from the set of Spider-Man Homecoming.
Source: io9 – New Spider-Man: Homecoming Set Photos Have the Webslinger Suited Up for Action
Eighteen Million Americans Are Drinking Water That Isn’t Properly Tested for Lead
About six months ago, just as Flint began to acknowledge its lead crisis, a water testing expert from an EPA task force predicted that “every major city east of the Mississippi
” was underestimating lead levels in their water. A big report from the NRDC now confirms that about 18 million Americans are living with lead testing violations.
Source: Gizmodo – Eighteen Million Americans Are Drinking Water That Isn’t Properly Tested for Lead
Watch a Man Eat Food From the Civil War
Food is one of the pieces of common ground that people of all cultures share. Food is the one language we’re all forced to speak. And then there’s Steve1989 MREinfo. He just likes to eat really old military rations. It’s kind of his thing.
Source: Gizmodo – Watch a Man Eat Food From the Civil War
Works For Me: 5,000 Year Old Cuniform Paystub Shows Workers Paid In Beer
This is a 5,000 year old cuniform paystub tablet from the Mesopotamian city of Uruk (an area now in modern Iran) that indicates workers getting paid in beer. Getting paid in beer is cool and all, but I don’t want to get paid ENTIRELY in beer. How about half beer, a quarter Slim Jims, and a quarter chips? Oh — and another third ice cream. “That doesn’t add up.” Maybe I worked overtime.
Writing in New Scientist, Alison George explains what’s written on the 5,000-year-old tablet: “We can see a human head eating from a bowl, meaning ‘ration,’ and a conical vessel, meaning ‘beer.’ Scattered around are scratches recording the amount of beer for a particular worker.” Beer wages were by no means limited to Mesopotamia. In ancient Egypt, there are records of people receiving beer for their work–roughly 4 to 5 liters per day for people building the pyramids.
You know what I really want to get paid in? “Magic beans?” Exactly. And you know what I’m going to do with them? “Trade them to the witch that lives in the swamp for an amulet you need for a quest?” But not just any amulet! “The Amulet Of Sacred Passage.” And what is that gonna get me? “Past the two big-tittied Sphinx ladies with the laser eyes in The Neverending Story?” Come on, think, this is real life we’re talking about not some kid’s movie.
Thanks to DieselNuts, who wants to get paid in diesel fuel, new tires and car washes only.
Source: Geekologie – Works For Me: 5,000 Year Old Cuniform Paystub Shows Workers Paid In Beer
The Bitter End Of The Great Autobot Decepticon War
In the first of four prelude videos leading to the Transformers: Combiner Wars animated series, Autobot leader Optimus Prime recalls how he ended the last great war. Here’s a hint: one stands, one falls.
Source: Kotaku – The Bitter End Of The Great Autobot Decepticon War
Feevy Tracks Your Child's Fever, or Other Symptoms Of Illness
iOS: There are few things more nerve-wracking for a parent than a sick or feverish child, and if your doctor tells you to wait it out, that’s what you have to do. Luckily, Feevy is a new iPhone app that will help you track your child’s temperature and progress, and report back to your doctor if things change.
Source: LifeHacker – Feevy Tracks Your Child’s Fever, or Other Symptoms Of Illness
Researchers Find Game-Changing Helium Reserve In Tanzania
An anonymous reader writes from a report via CNN: Helium is an incredibly important element that is used in everything from party balloons to MRI machines — it’s even used for nuclear power. For many years, there have been global shortages of the element. For example, Tokyo Disneyland once had to suspend sales of its helium balloons due to the shortages. The shortages are expected to come to an end now that researchers from Oxford and Durham universities have discovered a “world-class” helium gas field in Tanzania’s East African Rift Valley. They estimate that just one part of the reserve in Tanzania could be as large as 54 billion cubic feet (BCf), which is enough to fill more than 1.2 million medical MRI scanners. “To put this discovery into perspective, global consumption of helium is about 8 billion cubic feet (BCf) per year and the United States Federal Helium Reserve, which is the world’s largest supplier, has a current reserve of just 24.2 BCf,” said University of Oxford’s Chris Ballentine, a professor with the Department of Earth Sciences. “Total known reserves in the USA are around 153 BCf. This is a game-changer for the future security of society’s helium needs and similar finds in the future may not be far away,” Ballentine added.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Researchers Find Game-Changing Helium Reserve In Tanzania
Blizzard has announced that Overwatch’s competitive mode is launching on PC today.
Blizzard has announced that Overwatch’s competitive mode is launching on PC today. Due to the launch’s timing, the first competitive season will only be 1.5 months long. The mode will undergo some big changes before the fall season. Competitive mode’s console launch will happen sometime next week.
Source: Kotaku – Blizzard has announced that Overwatch’s competitive mode is launching on PC today.