Category: reader

Acer’s Chromebook 13 lasts a stunning 13 hours on a charge

Until now, if you wanted a Chromebook with a full HD display, you only had one option: the 13-inch Samsung Chromebook 2 . Want epic battery life? Yep, all roads lead to Samsung there, too. Well, not anymore, anyway. Acer just announced the Chromebook 13, and it matches Samsung nearly spec for spec with an optional 1080p display and NVIDIA’s quad-core Tegra K1 chip, promising up to 13 hours of runtime (details on that after the break). This is interesting for two reasons. First off, although this is essentially the same class of product as what Samsung is selling, it costs $100 less: $299, versus $400 for the Chromebook 2. Sounds good, right? What’s more, this is the first-ever Chrome OS device with an NVIDIA processor inside. This is potentially good news even if you’re not a self-described chip geek: Tegra K1 offers long battery life, just like Samsung’s own Exynos chip, but the graphics should be better for things like gaming and interactive websites — the sorts of rich web apps frequently used in classrooms. And if you’ve ever used a Samsung Chromebook, you know there’s room for improvement there: For all of Samsung’s plus points (a crisp display, comfortable keyboard), the Chromebook 2 is relatively sluggish. But will this be more robust than those new Core i3 models we’re seeing? That remains to be seen. On a superficial note, the Chromebook 13 is definitely more basic-looking than the Chromebook 2. Whereas Samsung’s model comes kitted out with a fake-leather lid, the Chromebook 13 is made of plain white plastic. It’s clear that if Acer made any sacrifices to reach that lower price point, this is it. Then again, this is a perfectly serviceable, if unexciting, design, and the full-sized keyboard is naturally more spacious than what you’ll find on Acer’s older 11-inch Chromebooks . The Chromebook 13 is up for pre-order today, starting at $279 with a 1, 366 x 768 display, and $299 for the full HD model. Of note: The full HD machine is rated for 11 hours of battery life, compared with 13 for the 1, 366 x 767 version. In addition to the US, it will be sold in various European countries, including the UK, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, France, Germany, Russia, Italy, Spain, South Africa and Switzerland. As a heads-up, the Chromebook 13 doesn’t have a touchscreen for now, though that could change: When we asked an NVIDIA rep if a touch edition was in the works, he winked and said “That’s an interesting idea.” Consider it confirmed, folks. Almost. Filed under: Laptops , Google , Acer , NVIDIA Comments

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Acer’s Chromebook 13 lasts a stunning 13 hours on a charge

Meet WordHound, the tool that puts a personal touch on password cracking

Dan Goodin, Ars Technica In the vexing pursuit of passwords that are both easy to remember and hard to crack, many people embed clues into their login credentials, choosing for instance, “playstationplaystationdec2014” to safeguard a recently created gaming account or “L0an@ w0rk!” for an IT administrative account at a financial services company. Now, a whitehat hacker is capitalizing on the habit with a tool that automates the process of launching highly targeted cracking attacks. Dubbed WordHound, the freely available tool scours press releases, white papers, and Twitter accounts belonging to companies or sites that have recently suffered security breaches. The software then generates a list of commonly found words or phrases that attackers can use when trying to convert cryptographic hashes from compromised password databases into the corresponding plaintext passcodes. The tool, devised by security consultant Matthew Marx, was unveiled Wednesday at Passwords 14 conference in Las Vegas. “People are influenced greatly by their environment when choosing a password,” Marx, who works for consultancy MWR Info Security , told Ars. “It could be a work environment, their personal life, or the sport teams they like. I wanted to create a tool that leveraged this human vulnerability.” Read 8 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Meet WordHound, the tool that puts a personal touch on password cracking

Geothermal energy has success in Nevada, wants to spread to the rest of the west

Megan Geuss RENO, NV—On an uncharacteristically rainy day in Western Nevada, a small tour bus of journalists rumbled past security gates at the Ormat Steamboat Complex in Washoe County. We were there to learn about geothermal power, a renewable energy resource produced by transferring heat from underground rocks up to power plants. Most people think of Iceland when they think of geothermal power. On that island, approximately 90 percent of homes are heated by geothermal energy. But some 12 gigawatts of geothermal power are generated worldwide, and the US is one of the largest producers of it, generating nearly 3.4 gigawatts in 2013 . Ormat’s Steamboat Complex is within the Reno city limits, and it’s made up of seven smaller plants that collectively generate 78 megawatts of power. A typical coal-fired power plant can generate around 660 megawatts of power , so Ormat’s 78 megawatts are not a lot by comparison. But when compared to other renewables, geothermal has some advantages. Read 23 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Geothermal energy has success in Nevada, wants to spread to the rest of the west

First satellite with high-resolution public imaging launches on August 13th

If you’ve been wondering just when a company would take advantage of the US’ relaxed rules for accurate satellite imaging, you now have a date to mark on your calendar: Lockheed Martin has set the launch of DigitalGlobe’s high-resolution WorldView-3 satellite for August 13th. You won’t see results from it right away, but its creators can start selling extra-sharp pictures (with detail down to the 10-inch level) six months after the craft is up and running. The data should lead to much nicer imagery in online mapping services from companies like Google and Microsoft (both of which are DigitalGlobe customers), although it’s not just cosmetic. Higher-res photos will help track large farms, spot mineral deposits and otherwise deliver a clearer view of our planet that has previously been limited to the government — don’t be surprised if it’s easier to spot landmarks on a map without using markers. Filed under: Science , Internet , Microsoft , Google Comments Source: DigitalGlobe

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First satellite with high-resolution public imaging launches on August 13th

Chicago Mayor Praises Google For Buying Kids Microsoft Surfaces

theodp (442580) writes “Google earned kudos from Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel this week for teaming up with Staples to fund the projects of 367 of the city’s 22, 519 public school teachers on “begfunding” site DonorsChoose.org. “Everything that you asked for…every project that the teachers put on to help their students learn, exceed and excel here in the city of Chicago, you now have fully funded, ” Mayor Emanuel said. “Chicago’s hardworking public school teachers are doing all that they can-and more-to support their students, but they need more help, ” said Rob Biederman, head of Chicago Public Affairs at Google. “We jumped at the chance to join with DonorsChoose.org and Staples to make Chicago’s local classroom wishes come true.” So what kind of dreams did Google make possible? Ironically, a look at Google Chicago’s Giving Page shows that the biggest project funded by Google was to outfit a classroom with 32 Microsoft Surface RT tablets for $12, 531, or about 6.5% of the $190, 091 Google award. Other big ticket projects funded by Google included $5, 931 for a personal home biodiesel kit and $5, 552 for a marimba (in the middle of the spectrum was $748 for “Mindfulness Education”). In addition to similar “flash-funding” projects in Atlanta (paper towels!) and the Bay Area, Google and DonorsChoose have also teamed up this year to reward teachers with $400, 000 for recruiting girls to learn to code (part of Google’s $50 million Made With Code initiative) and an unknown amount for AP STEM teachers who passed Google muster (part of Google’s $5 million AP STEM Access grant).” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Chicago Mayor Praises Google For Buying Kids Microsoft Surfaces

Netflix Now Works On Linux With HTML5 DRM Video Support In Chrome

An anonymous reader writes “Beginning with the Chrome 38 Beta it’s now possible to watch Netflix without any Wine/Silverlight plug-ins but will work natively using Chrome’s DRM-HTML5 video capabilities with Netflix. The steps just involve using the latest beta of Chrome and an HTTP user-agent switcher to tell Netflix you’re a Windows Chrome user, due to Netflix arbitrarily blocking the Linux build.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Netflix Now Works On Linux With HTML5 DRM Video Support In Chrome

Jell-O and Marshmallows Make a Quick and Tasty Fondant

Fondant icing is the ingredient cake artists use to create their masterpieces. Grocery stores don’t always carry it, though, and it’s expensive if they do. Use some marshmallows and flavored gelatin instead and make your own. Read more…

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Jell-O and Marshmallows Make a Quick and Tasty Fondant

Find Your Computer’s BIOS Version From the Command Line

The next time you update your PC or try to troubleshoot compatibility problems, you’ll may need to know your current BIOS. You could reboot the computer, but it’s much easier to use the Windows command line utility. Read more…

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Find Your Computer’s BIOS Version From the Command Line

F-Secure: Xiaomi Smartphones Do Secretly Steal Your Data

They may be well reviewed and China’s new top selling phone, but reader DavidGilbert99 writes with reason to be cautious about Xiaomi’s phones: Finnish security firm F-Secure has seemingly proven that Xiaomi smartphones do in fact upload user data without their permission/knowledge despite the company strongly denying these allegations as late as 30 July. Between commercial malware and government agencies, how do you keep your phone’s data relatively private? Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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F-Secure: Xiaomi Smartphones Do Secretly Steal Your Data