Author: kenmay

First Ultraviolet Quantum Dots Shine In an LED

ckwu with word that South Korean researchers have created the first UV-emitting quantum dots, and employed them in the creation of a flexible LED. Their achievement is notable because no one has previously succeeded in making quantum dots capable of emitting light at wavelengths shorter than 400 nm, which defines the upper range of the UV spectrum. Writes ckwu: To get quantum dots that emit UV, the researchers figured out how make them with light-emitting cores smaller than 3 nm in diameter. They did it by coating a light-emitting cadmium zinc selenide nanoparticle with a zinc sulfide shell, which caused the core to shrink to 2.5 nm. The quantum dots give off true UV light, at 377 nm. An LED made with the quantum dots could illuminate the anticounterfeiting marks on a paper bill. The article names a few applications of the technology, besides, including water sterilization and industrial applications. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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First Ultraviolet Quantum Dots Shine In an LED

Google Photos Hands-On: So Good, I’m Creeped Out

I have taken 1235 photos and videos with my phone since May 28th, 2014, most of which I will never look at. Even if there are good photos, I’ll probably miss them. It’s just too much shit to crunch with my puny human brain. Can the new Google Photos help? Read more…

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Google Photos Hands-On: So Good, I’m Creeped Out

Uh Oh, GIFs Finally Work on Facebook

Here’s some news: You can now embed GIFs on Facebook. Well, technically, you can post a link to a GIF, and Facebook will produce the animation, just like pretty much every other social network’s been doing for years. Read more…

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Uh Oh, GIFs Finally Work on Facebook

Everything We’ve Learned About Mummies Using 21st Century Technology

Researchers in fields from epidemiology to genetics are studying mummies, using the latest imaging technology. Now we know more than ever before about what lies beneath the mummies’ wrappings — and these long-dead people are telling us a lot about ancient lives and cultures. Read more…

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Everything We’ve Learned About Mummies Using 21st Century Technology

Feds Bust a Dark-Web Counterfeit Coupon Kingpin

Sparrowvsrevolution writes: The dark web has become the go-to corner of the Internet to buy drugs, stolen financial data, guns…and counterfeit coupons for Clif bars and condoms? The FBI indicted Beauregard Wattigney yesterday for wire fraud and trademark counterfeiting on digital black market sites Silk Road and Silk Road 2. Wattigney allegedly spoofed coupons for dozens of products and sold collections of them online in exchange for Bitcoin. The FBI accused him of doing $1 million worth of collective damage to the companies he made coupons for, but a fraud consultancy believes the total financial cost of his actions was much higher. Wattigney also offered expensive lessons that taught people how to make their own coupons. “In his tutorials, [he] explained the simple breakdown of barcode creation using the increasingly universal GS1 standard: GS1 codes begin with a ‘company prefix’ that can be copied from any of the company’s products. The next six digits are the ‘offer code, ‘ which can be any random number for a counterfeit coupon, followed by the savings amount listed in cents and the required number of item purchases necessary to receive the discount.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Feds Bust a Dark-Web Counterfeit Coupon Kingpin

FCC Proposes To Extend So-Called "Obamaphone" Program To Broadband

jfruh writes: The FCC’s Lifeline program subsidizes phone service for very poor Americans; it gained notoriety under the label “Obamaphone, ” even though the program started under Reagan and was extended to cell phones under Clinton. Now the FCC is proposing that the program, which is funded by a fee on telecom providers, be extended to broadband, on the logic that high-speed internet is as necessary today as telephone service was a generation ago. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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FCC Proposes To Extend So-Called "Obamaphone" Program To Broadband

A Huge List of Brands That Come With Lifetime Warranties

When you plan to have something for a long time, it makes sense to pay for quality. And it makes even more sense when companies will replace your item if it wears out or becomes unusable. GOBankingRates rounds up 32 brands with lifetime warranties. Read more…

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A Huge List of Brands That Come With Lifetime Warranties

The $100 Peachy 3D Printer is amazing

$100 buys you a snap-fit 3D printer. Whitney Hipolite of 3DPrint.com says the resin-based Peachy Printer is ” amazing .” One of the great things about the Peachy Printer is that since it is only available in kit form, it can can be completely customized to the size you want. Read the rest

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The $100 Peachy 3D Printer is amazing

Google debuts Android M, which is all about ‘polish and quality’

Like clockwork, Google lifted the veil on Android M at its I/O developer conference today, an event that’s traditionally served as the company’s launchpad for its mobile OS updates. No, we don’t yet know what the “M” stands for (we’d love to see Android Marzipan), but as usual that’s not stopping Google from divulging details. After the bold redesign that was Android Lollipop , M is more focused on refining the entire Android experience. “For [Android] M we’ve gone back to the basics, ” said Google SVP Sundar Pichai. “We’ve really focused on polish and quality, we’ve literally solved thousands of bugs.” Those improvements start with more granular app permissions. Android M breaks down permissions into categories like location, camera and contacts. And rather than dealing with permissions before you install an app, you’ll be prompted as the apps require specific features (yes, a lot like iOS). David Burke, VP of engineering at Google, showed off the new permissions on stage by having WhatsApp request microphone access. The new permissions should make it a lot clearer what exactly apps are doing on your phone — they’re certainly a lot more informative than the dump of security information we’ve seen on Android up until now. Android M will also let developers improve the web experience inside of their apps by using Chrome Custom Tabs. Pinterest, for example, now pops up speedy little web windows whenever you tap on a link. Basically, developers will be able to make their in-app web experiences feel just like the apps themselves. Google’s also making deep linking between apps a core feature of Android M, which allows apps to point to specific screens in other apps. (Think of it like being linked to a specific web page, rather than just a home page.) Developing… Don’t miss out on all the latest news and updates from Google I/O 2015. Follow along at our events page . Filed under: Mobile , Google Comments

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Google debuts Android M, which is all about ‘polish and quality’

Android M embraces USB Type-C, MIDI devices

USB Type-C is still a rarity today, but as the year goes on, the new port is going to begin showing up in more and more devices. In anticipation of this, Google has introduced a handful of features in the Android M release to support some of Type-C’s new features. Google hasn’t released a ton of information about the new features, but the most significant ones relate to the USB Power Delivery spec . A menu that pops up when you plug one USB Type-C device to another asks you what kind of connection you’re trying to make. The standard MTP and PTP file and photo transfer protocols, available in current versions of Android, are on this list, but the menu will also ask you if you’d like to charge the device or use it as a power supply for another device. The USB selection pop-up in Android M. Google This effectively makes Android M devices with USB Type-C ports into external batteries. Your tablet can charge your phone. Your phone could charge a camera battery or Bluetooth headset. Not every device combination makes sense (using a large laptop or tablet battery to charge a small phone battery seems useful; using a small phone battery to charge anything else seems ill-advised) but for compatible devices, it will be a handy feature. Read 4 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Android M embraces USB Type-C, MIDI devices