When in doubt, strip out the moving parts and see what you wind up with. This is the idea inventor Jason Giddings is following as he turns to Kickstarter to help fund the prototype creation for a glass keyboard and mouse, both sporting multitouch functionality. The design uses the same biometric systems that currently capture fingerprints on assorted trackpads and keyboards, and uses a technique known as Frustrated Total Internal Reflection — which incorporates a series of LEDs on the bottom of a device — to bounce infrared light beams around the inside of the glass. This process is interrupted when a finger touches the glass, wherein a simple embedded camera captures the event, processes where the keystroke, mouse click or gesture took place and relays the signal to the computer.

Continue reading Insert Coin: Prototype peripherals incorporate no moving parts, multitouch functionality and freaking lasers

Insert Coin: Prototype peripherals incorporate no moving parts, multitouch functionality and freaking lasers originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Nov 2011 16:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Insert Coin: Prototype peripherals incorporate no moving parts, multitouch functionality and freaking lasers

Continue reading AMD’s getting into the DRAM game, isn’t afraid to shoot the outside J

AMD’s getting into the DRAM game, isn’t afraid to shoot the outside J originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Nov 2011 13:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AMD’s getting into the DRAM game, isn’t afraid to shoot the outside J

Palantir is security software that helps CIA analysts take innocuous events (man comes to U.S. on temporary visa, man takes flight training classes, man buys one-way ticket from Boston to California) and put them into a context where potential threats can become more apparent (the one man is actually several, and they’re all on the same flight).

The technology is based on a system developed by PayPal, and it’s interesting because it’s one of the few examples of counter-terrorism work that is actually proactive. Instead of adding increasingly elaborate airport security rules that are merely responses to the most recently exposed plot, a program like Palantir has the potential to spot plots in the making with less hassle to the general public. That could make it a good thing. On the other hand, Palantir comes with plenty of its own privacy and civil rights concerns. This Bloomberg BusinessWeek story is pretty “rah rah rah” in tone, ironically cheering on all the things that make Palantir seem rather creepy to me. But it is a great example of why countering terrorism is really just one long string of incredibly difficult choices. What matters more, who makes that call, and how do we balance a reasonable desire for safety with a reasonable desire to not be creeped the hell out by our own government?

In October, a foreign national named Mike Fikri purchased a one-way plane ticket from Cairo to Miami, where he rented a condo. Over the previous few weeks, he’d made a number of large withdrawals from a Russian bank account and placed repeated calls to a few people in Syria. More recently, he rented a truck, drove to Orlando, and visited Walt Disney World by himself. As numerous security videos indicate, he did not frolic at the happiest place on earth. He spent his day taking pictures of crowded plazas and gate areas.

None of Fikri’s individual actions would raise suspicions. Lots of people rent trucks or have relations in Syria, and no doubt there are harmless eccentrics out there fascinated by amusement park infrastructure. Taken together, though, they suggested that Fikri was up to something. And yet, until about four years ago, his pre-attack prep work would have gone unnoticed. A CIA analyst might have flagged the plane ticket purchase; an FBI agent might have seen the bank transfers. But there was nothing to connect the two. Lucky for counterterror agents, not to mention tourists in Orlando, the government now has software made by Palantir Technologies, a Silicon Valley company that’s become the darling of the intelligence and law enforcement communities.

The day Fikri drives to Orlando, he gets a speeding ticket, which triggers an alert in the CIA’s Palantir system. An analyst types Fikri’s name into a search box and up pops a wealth of information pulled from every database at the government’s disposal. There’s fingerprint and DNA evidence for Fikri gathered by a CIA operative in Cairo; video of him going to an ATM in Miami; shots of his rental truck’s license plate at a tollbooth; phone records; and a map pinpointing his movements across the globe. All this information is then displayed on a clearly designed graphical interface that looks like something Tom Cruise would use in a Mission: Impossible movie.

As the CIA analyst starts poking around on Fikri’s file inside of Palantir, a story emerges. A mouse click shows that Fikri has wired money to the people he had been calling in Syria. Another click brings up CIA field reports on the Syrians and reveals they have been under investigation for suspicious behavior and meeting together every day over the past two weeks. Click: The Syrians bought plane tickets to Miami one day after receiving the money from Fikri. To aid even the dullest analyst, the software brings up a map that has a pulsing red light tracing the flow of money from Cairo and Syria to Fikri’s Miami condo. That provides local cops with the last piece of information they need to move in on their prey before he strikes.

Fikri isn’t real—he’s the John Doe example Palantir uses in product demonstrations that lay out such hypothetical examples. The demos let the company show off its technology without revealing the sensitive work of its clients.

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CIA threat-tracking technology is fascinating, creepy

DMandPenfold writes “NASDAQ’s aging software and out of date security patches played a key part in the stock exchange being hacked last year, according to the reported preliminary results of an FBI investigation. Forensic investigators found some PCs and servers with out-of-date software and uninstalled security patches, Reuters reported, including Microsoft Windows Server 2003. The stock exchange had also incorrectly configured some of its firewalls. NASDAQ, which prides itself on running some of the fastest client-facing systems in the financial world, does have a generally sound PC and network architecture, the FBI reportedly found. But sources close to the investigation told Reuters that NASDAQ had been an ‘easy target’ because of the specific security problems found. Investigators had apparently expressed surprise that the stock exchange had not been more vigilant.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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FBI Scolds NASDAQ Over Out of Date Patches

In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you’d like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with “Insert Coin” as the subject line.

Continue reading Insert Coin: Twine connects your whole world to the internet

Insert Coin: Twine connects your whole world to the internet originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Nov 2011 12:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Insert Coin: Twine connects your whole world to the internet

judgecorp writes “Researchers at Stanford University have invented a battery material that could allow batteries to go through 400,000 charging cycles instead of the 400 or so which today’s Li-ion batteries can manage. Among the uses could be storing energy to even out the availability of renewable sources such as sun and wind.” Adds a story at ExtremeTech, “The only problem is, a high-voltage cathode (-) requires a very low-voltage anode (+) — and the Stanford researchers haven’t found the right one yet; and so they haven’t actually made a battery with this new discovery.”

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Stanford Researchers Invent Everlasting Battery Material

If you’ll rewind your mind in time to earlier this week, you might remember a clever proxy server from @plamoni that enabled Siri’s control of a thermostat through spoken commands. Now, the same bit of engineering has been exploited to enable voice control of third-party applications. In this example, FastPdfKit Reader is manipulated by various commands with SiriProxy acting in the middle. A plugin is used to add new commands to the ones recognized by Siri, and finally, the proxy then sends the final commands to the app. Those hoping to get hacking will find a complete list of instructions from the source link below. For everyone else, you’ll find the true magic after the break.

Continue reading SiriProxy enables voice control of third-party apps (video)

SiriProxy enables voice control of third-party apps (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Nov 2011 22:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SiriProxy enables voice control of third-party apps (video)

New submitter Azmodan sends this excerpt from TorrentFreak:
“Ubisoft is known for laying the blame for many problems on the unauthorized downloading of its games. Stanislas Mettra, creative director of the upcoming game I Am Alive, confirms this once again by saying that the decision not to release a PC version is a direct result of widespread game piracy. However, those who look beyond the propaganda will see that there appears to be more to the story than that.”
Another Ubisoft employee made similar comments about upcoming Ghost Recon games. Regarding Ghost Recon Online being free-to-play: “We are giving away most of the content for free because there’s no barrier to entry. To the users that are traditionally playing the game by getting it through Pirate Bay, we said, ‘Okay, go ahead guys. This is what you’re asking for. We’ve listened to you – we’re giving you this experience. It’s easy to download, there’s no DRM that will pollute your experience.'” Regarding Future Soldier having no PC version: “When we started Ghost Recon Online we were thinking about Ghost Recon: Future Solider; having something ported in the classical way without any deep development, because we know that 95% of our consumers will pirate the game. So we said okay, we have to change our mind.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Ubisoft Blames Piracy For Non-Release of PC Game

We’ve spotlighted comic book cover artists before, but now it’s time to list seven graphic novels every designer should know. When you’re at the next design firm holiday party and your co-workers are rambling on about the “complex psychological profiles” of the characters in Watchmen, you can speak up about the hottest graphic novel you just read (as recommended by the Core77 clogger team). Without further ado:

1. Akira – Katsuhiro Otomo

I usually won’t go near manga with a ten-foot pole, but Akira is too mind-blowing to ignore. Otomo’s epic opus is about many things, from telekinesis to love to motorcycles, but most importantly it’s about the relationship between city and self. The setting of Neo-Tokyo constantly reflects the progress of the story, starting off as a dark city full of mystery and ending as a wasteland where only the strong of heart and mind can survive. Neo-Tokyo also survives a series of explosions, nuclear and otherwise, scarily fitting given recent history. The entire series is contained in six telephone book-sized volumes, enough to give your arms a decent work out while reading them.

2. Channel Zero – Brian Wood

Brian Wood, now known for his NY Times-critically acclaimed work DMZ, started off with this series about technology, journalism, and an oppressive government. Wait! That also sounds oddly familiar… Either way, Channel Zero is jam-packed full of street art details and is definitely worth a look.

3. Casanova – Matt Fraction, Gabriel Ba, & Fabio Moon

You could sum up Casanova as a James Bond-like tale of interdimensional espionage, double-agents and giant robots, but, well, that wouldn’t even really scratch the surface. The original printings were drawn in B&W with one other color that changed based on the mood of the issue/chapter, making for graphically and visually engaging art.

(more…)

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Seven Graphic Novels Every Designer Should Know

With Gigabyte’s gaming motherboards doing so well, it’s nice to be reminded that the company makes whole PCs too. The latest in its Booktop line of swiveling tablet hybrids is the T1132, which trumps the T1125 with a 1.6GHz Core i5-2467M processor and a GeForce GT520M GPU with 1GB and NVIDIA Optimus switching technology. You get one USB 3.0, one USB 2.0, eSATA and HDMI on the 1.76kg (3.9-pound) lappie itself, but you can add more ports and an optical drive with the optional docking station. There’s no indication as to availability or whether it’ll cost more or less than the T1125’s original $1300 asking price, but you could always try to snag a free one via Gigabyte’s wanton Facebook bribery competition detailed after the break.

Continue reading Gigabyte updates its netvertible range with the 11.6-inch Booktop T1132

Gigabyte updates its netvertible range with the 11.6-inch Booktop T1132 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Nov 2011 09:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gigabyte updates its netvertible range with the 11.6-inch Booktop T1132