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Microsoft sticking to its guns so far, leaving XP unpatched and exploited

Last month’s Patch Tuesday was meant to bring with it the final ever updates for Windows XP. However, Microsoft went ahead and released another patch for the ancient operating system to fix a flaw that was being exploited in the wild. This month’s Patch Tuesday looks like it’s going to play out a little differently. Microsoft released a critical update for Internet Explorer addressing a flaw in every version from 6 to 11. Although the company says that it’s aware of in-the-wild exploitations of the flaw, this time it says it won’t fix Windows XP. Promise . Of course, last month’s end of support should have meant the same thing, and for no particularly good reason, it didn’t. Microsoft cited the “proximity” of the previous flaw to the end of support as its rationale for issuing the update, but this month’s bugs seem barely less proximal. Read 1 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Microsoft sticking to its guns so far, leaving XP unpatched and exploited

You won’t need roads with this $85,000 hoverbike

With Hyperloop still a twinkle in Elon Musk’s eye, we’ve got to look elsewhere for our futuristic transport. Thankfully, Aerofex has stepped up with its Aero-X, a hoverbike that is finally scheduled to launch in 2017. Two users can ride this motorbike-like vehicle, where the wheels have been replaced with carbon fiber rotors that’ll lift you 10 feet into the air. This first model has a top speed of 45 miles per hour, and a full tank will carry you for an hour and 15 minutes — making it good enough for a short trip to the store. The Aero-X has a weight limit of 310 pounds, so if you’re going to pretend you’ve got a speederbike , probably best to leave the stormtrooper armor at home. Still, it’s available to pre-order right now, assuming you’ve got $85, 000 stashed down the back of the couch, plus the refundable $5, 000 deposit, of course. Filed under: Transportation Comments Via: CNET Source: Aerofex

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You won’t need roads with this $85,000 hoverbike

When Apple Damns Your Texts to iMessage Purgatory

I recently switched from an iPhone to Android, and discovered shortly thereafter that my phone number was still associated with iMessage, meaning that any time someone with an iPhone tried texting me, I’d receive nothing, and they’d get a “Delivered” receipt in their Messages app as though everything were working as expected. Read more…

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When Apple Damns Your Texts to iMessage Purgatory

New planet-hunting hardware needs just a minute to image an exoplanet

PNAS Most of the exoplanets we’ve detected have been spotted during transits, when they pass between their host star and Earth. Almost all the others have been inferred based on the fact that they gravitationally tug at their host star as they orbit around it. Very few exoplanets have been imaged directly, but that may be about to change. Earlier this week, scientists revealed the first images taken with a new instrument, the Gemini Planet Hunter, which has been installed on the (you guessed it) Gemini South telescope located in the Chilean Andes. The new hardware is so efficient that a known exoplanet that once took over an hour and considerable post-processing to image was apparent in a one-minute exposure, with no processing needed. The twin Gemini telescopes (Gemini North is in Hawaii to image the northern sky) are already some of the most advanced hardware on the planet, featuring adaptive optics that correct the gaze of an eight-meter mirror. But directly imaging a planet is a distinct challenge due to the relative brightness of the planet relative to the host star. In terms of our own Solar System, Jupiter would appear 10 9 times fainter than the Sun when imaged at a distance. Read 7 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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New planet-hunting hardware needs just a minute to image an exoplanet

Watch out for data caps: Video-hungry cord cutters use 328GB a month

Free Press The average cord cutter—a person who watches online video instead of subscribing to a cable TV package—isn’t all that far away from going over the typical data usage limits enforced by Internet service providers. Not all ISPs enforce caps. But Comcast, the nation’s largest broadband provider, is rolling out 300GB monthly limits in parts of its territory with $10 charges for each additional 50GB. Time Warner Cable, which Comcast is trying to acquire, offers an optional plan with a measly 30GB cap in exchange for a $5 monthly discount, but almost everyone sticks with the unlimited plan. Sandvine’s latest Global Internet Phenomena  report released today, based on measurements in March, says that Internet users in the United States who appear to be cord cutters “consume on average 212GB a month, more than seven times the usage of a typical subscriber. These ‘cord cutters’ consume an average of 100 hours of video a month and account for 54 percent of total traffic consumed each month.” Read 15 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Watch out for data caps: Video-hungry cord cutters use 328GB a month

Apple Said To Be Testing 1704×960 Resolution Display For iPhone 6

 A new report from 9to5Mac’s Mark Gurman claims Apple is testing a 1704×960 resolution display for its upcoming iPhone. The new display res for the iPhone 6 would allow the device to keep the same screen resolution as the iPhone 5s (16:9) and denser screens in terms of pixels per inch than the current Retina standard, regardless of whether Apple goes with 4.7-inch or 5.5-inch displays on… Read More

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Apple Said To Be Testing 1704×960 Resolution Display For iPhone 6

George R. R. Martin Explains Why He Writes Game of Thrones in DOS

Sometimes, you need the tool that’s best suited to the job in hand. And for George R. R. Martin, that means using an archaic word processor—WordStar 4.0, running on DOS, no less—to write Game of Thrones . He explained why to Conan last night. Read more…

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George R. R. Martin Explains Why He Writes Game of Thrones in DOS

3D printed ‘nano-liver’ could help poisoning and infection victims

When 3D printing and nanotechnology get together for a party the results are actually good for your liver, according to researchers at the UC San Diego. They’ve managed to create a device that uses nanoparticles to trap toxins that can damage cells in the body, helping victims of animal stings, bacterial infections and other toxic horrors. Though nanoparticles are already used to help people with liver damage, they need to be ingested like food and can ironically cause secondary liver poisoning. By 3D printing a “hydrogel matrix” to enclose them, a faux -liver can be created and installed outside the body like a classic dialysis machine. A test device managed to destroy all the pore-forming toxins during in-vitro studies, so let’s hope the research continues — for the sake of some of our future livers. Filed under: Science , Alt Comments Via: Gizmag Source: UC San Diego

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3D printed ‘nano-liver’ could help poisoning and infection victims

Students get iOS apps running (slowly) on Android

Running apps from one mobile platform on another is theoretically great for boosting your app selection, but it’s not a trivial task — even BlackBerry’s Android support is rough. However, some Columbia University students have managed the daunting feat of running iOS apps on Android with their Cider compatibility layer. This isn’t a regular emulator or virtual machine , like you might expect. Instead, it simply tricks apps into believing that they’re in a native environment: they adapt code on the fly to make it work with Android’s kernel and programming libraries. Even 3D benchmarks run properly. Unfortunately, it’s not quite the Holy Grail of cross-platform compatibility… at least, not yet. As you’ll see in the ( sadly vertical ) demo below, most iOS apps run at glacially slow pace. They also don’t have access to most hardware features, so GPS tracking and other staple features are right out. This is still better than previous efforts, though, and it raises hopes that platform exclusives won’t be as important in choosing a mobile device as they have been in the past. Filed under: Cellphones , Tablets , Software , Mobile Comments Via: 9to5 Mac , The Next Web Source: Columbia University

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Students get iOS apps running (slowly) on Android