Month: November 2013

Amazon’s next-gen Kindle Paperwhite reportedly arriving in Q2 with a sharper screen, lighter design

Amazon only just released a new Kindle Paperwhite e-reader two months ago, but we’re already hearing rumors that a newer model is on the way. According to a new report from TechCrunch , the new version, to be released in early Q2 of next year, will boast a sharper 300-pixel-per-inch screen, allowing it to better compete with models like the Kobo Aura , which has a 265-ppi screen. (Not that Kobo’s represents much of a threat to Amazon’s book-selling empire.) Also it’s worth noting that E Ink makes the displays for basically all these e-readers, so it seems unlikely that Amazon would hold an exclusive on a 300-ppi panel — at least not for long. Additionally, TechCrunch claims the new Paperwhite will have a lighter design that mimics the new Kindle Fire HDX tablets , with chamfered edges, a rear power button and a glass screen that sits flush with the bezels. The device is also rumored to have haptic feedback along the edges, which will give vibrating feedback when you do things like move to the next page. There’s no big software update planned, apparently, although Amazon is said to be working on a new custom font that’s more conducive to marathon reading sessions. We suppose if this report is true, all will be revealed over the coming months — hopefully those of you who just bought a new Paperwhite won’t be too cheesed off by the timing. Filed under: Amazon Comments Source: TechCrunch

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Amazon’s next-gen Kindle Paperwhite reportedly arriving in Q2 with a sharper screen, lighter design

Why is this fresh tomato orbiting in space at 4.8 miles per second?

No, this is not a photoshop. You are looking at a fresh tomato—a cosmomato ? A tomatonaut ?—floating in space, orbiting at 4.791 miles per second, 230 miles above your heads. Why the hell is there a tomato in space? Read more…        

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Why is this fresh tomato orbiting in space at 4.8 miles per second?

Report: NSA Put Spyware on Over 50,000 Networks Worldwide

Netherlands newspaper NRC Handelsblad reports today that newly-reviewed documents indicate the NSA has covertly installed spying malware on over 50, 000 computer networks worldwide. The documents, leaked by Edward Snowden, include a map of areas where the malware is installed . Read more…        

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Report: NSA Put Spyware on Over 50,000 Networks Worldwide

Interactive graphic shows the timelines of the Eleven Doctors

While we await “The Day of the Doctor, ” the BBC invites us to travel back in Doctor Who history with an infographic sure to keep fans busy until they watch the 50th anniversary special. Read more…        

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Interactive graphic shows the timelines of the Eleven Doctors

IRS Left Taxpayer Data Vulnerable and Lied About It

Bruce66423 writes with news that the IRS hasn’t made much progress improving its poor IT security. From the article: “The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration found that the IRS had only partially implemented 42 percent of the corrective plans it checked off as completed in recent years. … The review (PDF) showed that the IRS failed to properly track its progress toward completing many of the fixes auditors had recommended in recent years. The agency closed most of the cases without adequate documentation and did not always upload the necessary information into a database that helps ensure compliance. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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IRS Left Taxpayer Data Vulnerable and Lied About It

Detecting Chemicals Through Bone

MTorrice writes “To understand the brain and its chemical complexities, researchers would like to peer inside the skull and measure neurotransmitters levels as the brain at work. Unfortunately, research methods to measure levels of chemicals in the brain require drilling holes in the skull, and noninvasive imaging techniques, such as MRI, can’t detect specific molecules. Now, as a first step toward a new imaging tool, chemists report they can detect molecules hidden behind 3- to 8-mm-thick bone.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Detecting Chemicals Through Bone

Intel’s 128MB L4 Cache May Be Coming To Broadwell and Other Future CPUs

MojoKid writes “When Intel debuted Haswell this year, it launched its first mobile processor with a massive 128MB L4 cache. Dubbed “Crystal Well, ” this on-package (not on-die) pool of memory wasn’t just a graphics frame buffer, but a giant pool of RAM for the entire core to utilize. The performance impact from doing so is significant, though the Haswell processors that utilize the L4 cache don’t appear to account for very much of Intel’s total CPU volume. Right now, the L4 cache pool is only available on mobile parts, but that could change next year. Apparently Broadwell-K will change that. The 14nm desktop chips aren’t due until the tail end of next year but we should see a desktop refresh in the spring with a second-generation Haswell part. Still, it’s a sign that Intel intends to integrate the large L4 as standard on a wider range of parts. Using EDRAM instead of SRAM allows Intel’s architecture to dedicate just one transistor per cell instead of the 6T configurations commonly used for L1 or L2 cache. That means the memory isn’t quite as fast but it saves an enormous amount of die space. At 1.6GHz, L4 latencies are 50-60ns which is significantly higher than the L3 but just half the speed of main memory.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Intel’s 128MB L4 Cache May Be Coming To Broadwell and Other Future CPUs

Failed Software Upgrade Halts Transit Service

linuxwrangler writes “San Francisco Bay Area commuters awoke this morning to the news that BART, the major regional transit system which carries hundreds of thousands of daily riders, was entirely shut down due to a computer failure. Commuters stood stranded at stations and traffic backed up as residents took to the roads. The system has returned to service and BART says the outage resulted from a botched software upgrade.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Failed Software Upgrade Halts Transit Service

Checking In with Via Motors: Yep, Those Full-Sized Electric Pick-Up Trucks are On the Way

Following yesterday’s popular discussion on Americans and trucks , we got to wondering: Whatever happened to Via Motors ? To refresh your memory, back in January we brought you the story of an American company taking fresh-off-the-assembly-line trucks from Detroit and turning them into E-REVs (Extended Range Electric Vehicles): Powerful yet environmentally-friendly 100-m.p.g. beasts of burden. The company estimated delivery of the first models by mid-2013, but that vague date period has decidedly come and gone. We looked into it mostly afraid to find they’d gone belly-up, but were pleased to find they’re alive and well, and still leaping hurdles on their way to production. Vehicles have to be crash-tested to meet American safety regulations, and even though the trucks Via aims to produce are existing models that have already been crash-tested by their original manufacturer (General Motors), re-rigging them with electric motors requires a whole new crash test. So last month they smashed up a bunch of their cargo van models—and passed with flying colors. “The engineering work done to integrate the VIA’s electric technology has been exceptional and the vehicles have exceeded our expectations in all tests that were performed, ” says Alan Perriton, president of VIA Motors. “We are now moving on to complete certification and begin mass production.” To that end, just weeks ago Via brought their factory online in Mexico, near the GM factory that cranks out Silverados, one of the vehicles Via hacks up. Here’s a look at the facility: (more…)

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Checking In with Via Motors: Yep, Those Full-Sized Electric Pick-Up Trucks are On the Way

Hack Wireless Into a SNES Controller with a Logitech Receiver

DIYer Warrior_Rocker wanted to make his classic SNES controller wireless, so he decided to hack in a USB Logitech receiver and transmitter so the controller could work with modern devices. Read more…        

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Hack Wireless Into a SNES Controller with a Logitech Receiver