Echo provides a real-time platform bundled with a suite of applications that enables you to transform your website into a vibrant, real-time social experience. One that keeps users engaged as the web continues to evolve.
via Echo – Products.
Malware author taunts security researchers with built-in chat
Security researchers from AVG were decompiling a trojan — it had been originally posted to a Diablo III forum, masquerading as a how-to video — when the malware’s author popped up in a window on their screen. It turned out that the trojan had a built-in chat, as well as a screen-capture facility. The hacker who wrote the malware saw them working on defeating her or his virus and decided to tell them off for their audacity. Franklin Zhao and Jason Zhou, the AVG researchers, wrote up their experience:
via Malware author taunts security researchers with built-in chat – Boing Boing.
New manufacturing technology enables vertical 3D NAND transistors, higher capacity SSDs
According to the folks at Applied Materials, trying to build 3D NAND structures in real life would be like trying to dig a one-kilometer-deep, three-kilometer-long trench with walls exactly three meters apart, through interleaved rock strata — and that’s before we discuss gate trenches or the staircases. Conventional etching systems deal with aspect ratios of 3:1 – 4:1, 3D etching requires an aspect ratio of 20:1 or more — and that’s not easy to pull off.
The Amazon Effect
Amazon’s entry into publishing’s traditional casino is a sideshow. More worrisome, at least over the long term, is the success of Amazon’s Kindle Single program, an effort to encourage writers to make an end run around publishers, not only of books but of magazines as well. That program offers writers a chance to publish original e-book essays of no more than 30,000 words (authors agree to a bargain-basement price of no more than $2.99 in exchange for a 70 percent royalty and no advance).
via The Amazon Effect | The Nation.
This article is very long winded but makes a good history reference for amazon.
Tech manufacturing: A disaster waiting to happen
However, they all share the same Achilles heel – their electronic components come from just one region – south-east Asia. And the really worrying bit? Many of the 10 big players in the IT field are not making good profits, and economic pressure could result in the 10 becoming seven.
via Tech manufacturing: A disaster waiting to happen | TechRepublic.
Licensing/Technology Transfer The Sandia Cooler
Sandia researchers have developed a radically new architecture for air-cooled heat exchangers.
via Sandia National Laboratories : Licensing/Technology Transfer The Sandia Cooler.
In this new device architecture, heat is efficiently transferred from a stationary base plate to a rotating (counterclockwise) structure that combines the functionality of cooling fins with a centrifugal impeller. Dead air enveloping the cooling fins is subjected to a powerful centrifugal pumping effect, providing a 10x reduction in boundary layer thickness at a speed of a few thousand rpm. Additionally, high-speed rotation completely eliminates the problem of heat exchanger fouling. The “direct drive advantage”, in which relative motion between the cooling fins and ambient air is created by rotating the heat exchanger, provides a drastic improvement in aerodynamic efficiency. This translates to an extremely quiet operation. The benefits have been quantified on a proof-of-concept prototype.
The Biggest Changes in C++11 (and Why You Should Care)
It’s been 13 years since the first iteration of the C++ language. Danny Kalev, a former member of the C++ standards committee, explains how the programming language has been improved and how it can help you write better code.
Ubuntu’s Plans To Implement UEFI SecureBoot: No GRUB2
With the GPLv3-licensed GRUB2 not being an option, Canonical then explored using the GRUB Legacy release with EFI patches on top, but they didn’t want to touch that aging code-base. Canonical has decided to use Intel’s efilinux loader that is more liberally licensed and they’re able to make some modifications to provide a simple menu interface.
via [Phoronix] Ubuntu’s Plans To Implement UEFI SecureBoot: No GRUB2.
Android app steals contactless credit card data
He told SC last month that while the weaknesses in the cards was concerning, it was not an effective means to harvest lots of credit card numbers,
However it could be attractive for unskilled users for low-scale fraud.
SSD prices in steady, substantial decline
To get a better sense of the SSD picture, we’ve analyzed a mountain of pricing information dating from early 2011 to Tuesday. The folks at Camelegg graciously provided the data, which we’ve sliced, diced, and compiled in pretty graphs. Camelegg tracks prices at Newegg, which should give us a good sense of what’s going on in the overall market.
via SSD prices in steady, substantial decline – The Tech Report – Page 1.