The Encryption Tools the NSA Still Can’t Crack Revealed in New Leaks

Most of us— at least the cynical ones —assume that the NSA has probably beaten most of the encryption technologies out there. But a new report from Der Spiegel that draws on documents from Edward Snowden’s archive shows that this simply isn’t true. There are some tools that the NSA, as recently as two years ago, couldn’t crack. Read more…

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The Encryption Tools the NSA Still Can’t Crack Revealed in New Leaks

The Bank of England is using Facebook and Twitter to help set interest rates

When you’re the central bank in charge of determining interest rates for millions of UK inhabitants, being able to predict economic trends is of paramount importance. To do this, the Bank of England has numerous tools at its disposal, but research often depends on assessing trends from the past. In an attempt to become a little more timely, the Bank has set up a special taskforce that will begin scraping internet searches and social networks like Facebook and Twitter for clues about the state of Britain’s economy at any given time. According to Sky News , the world’s eighth oldest bank will now assess the frequency of job searches and monitor prices online to understand potential unemployment rates and monitor inflation. It will also gauge language used on social networks to better understand the state of some financial markets. It’s another example of the shift towards “big data, ” where companies collect and analyse huge sets of digital data rather than use traditional database techniques to detect patterns as they happen. The Bank of England says it used these techniques to help impose new controls on the housing market earlier in the year, and hopes this “big shift from the past” will help it better judge Britain’s financial status in the future. [Image credit: Bank of England, Flickr ] Filed under: Internet Comments Via: Sky News

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The Bank of England is using Facebook and Twitter to help set interest rates

Know Your Type: Five Mechanical Keyboards Compared

MojoKid writes As a power user, you notice certain things that the average person might not. One of those is the difference between typing on a sweet mechanical keyboard with luxurious key action, versus pounding away on a run-of-the-mill squishy plank that relies on membrane switches to register your keystrokes. The difference may seem subtle to the uninitiated, though even casual typists can recognize that there’s something inherently superior about a mechanical keyboard. Of course, it’s the mechanical key switches that are responsible for elevating the typing experience. These are better than the rubber domes found in membrane keyboards in a number of ways, including feel, responsiveness, and durability. Mechanical keyboards are growing in popularity, as word is spreading about how good they are. In turn, keyboard manufacturers have responded by feeding more mechanical models into what was once a niche market. If you go out in search of a mechanical keyboard, you’ll now find a mountain of options. This roundup further reinforced something we’ve known for a long time, which is that mechanical keyboards are the superior choice for both gaming and daily typing chores. That doesn’t mean they’re all created equal — there are different key switches to choose from, and features vary from one plank to the next. The choice of key switch type is highly subjective but we can say that Cherry MX key switches are indeed of higher quality than knock-offs like the Kailh switch. That’s not to say Kailh switches are bad, just that you can discern a difference when going from one to the other. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Know Your Type: Five Mechanical Keyboards Compared

Time Lapse Videos Capture The True Beauty Of Space At 17,150 MPH

Watching the world go by from the window of a plane at Mach 0.8 is hard to beat, but when it comes to an expanded world view, nobody gets a better picture than the residents of the International Space Station. Check out this time-lapse compilation by Germany’s Alexander Gerst. Read more…

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Time Lapse Videos Capture The True Beauty Of Space At 17,150 MPH

Wall.e Restaurant Staffed With Robots Opens in China

Yet another new restaurant with robot servers has opened in China. And the owners seem determined to test Disney’s patience with intellectual property laws. Why? The name of the restaurant is apparently Wall.e — just like the cute little robot worker from the 2008 Pixar film. Read more…

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Wall.e Restaurant Staffed With Robots Opens in China

Russia wants to collect the DNA of every creature

Institutions have already been amassing huge DNA collections to catalog the world’s creatures, but Moscow State University might just top them all. It’s planning to build “Noah’s Ark, ” a repository for the genes of every creature, living or extinct — as long as the genes are readable, they’ll either be cryogenically frozen or stored as pure data. Not surprisingly, it’s going to be a massive undertaking in more ways than one. The Russian government is spending the equivalent of $194 million on the facility, which should occupy an enormous 166 square miles when it’s finished in 2018. The collection won’t just be about bragging rights. The university hopes to spur on a younger generation of scientists, and the Ark will connect to other genetic facilities both across Russia and (hopefully) the world. If all goes smoothly, researchers will always have a way to compare genes and even clone animals that are difficult or impossible to find in the wild. [Image credit: Alamy] Filed under: Science Comments Via: Gizmodo Source: RT News

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Russia wants to collect the DNA of every creature

California DMV will miss its deadline for driverless car regulations

This week, California’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) announced that it will miss a state Senate deadline to establish public regulations for self-driving cars by January 1, 2015. The Los Angeles Times reports safety concerns are the main motivation behind the delay. Possible regulations will now be discussed at a public workshop in Sacramento in late January, and the DMV will gather feedback from industry, academic, and consumer groups in the meantime.  The   LA Times  notes  ” there are currently no federal safety standards or independent organizations that test the safety of these vehicles.” So according to  USA Today , that leaves the state’s DMV essentially with three courses of action: follow the current US system (manufacturers self-certifying vehicles), opt for a European system (independent companies provide verification), or get into the Herculean task of providing its own testing. Despite the lack of standards for the public, 2014 was a banner year for the advancement of driverless cars. In May, Google publicly revealed the prototype for its in-house built self-driving car , which initially did not include traditional components like a steering wheel, accelerator, brakes, mirrors, or soundsystem. The cars were capped at 25mph and did not allow humans to take over piloting. (Google revealed the first genuine build of its prototype last Monday in a blog post.) Read 2 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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California DMV will miss its deadline for driverless car regulations