Electric-only cars might be envogue right now, but Toyota is pursuing another eco-friendly alternative to gasoline engines with its FCV concept . The company is now claiming the vehicle will be available sometime in 2015—at least if you live in California where (hopefully) hydrogen refill stations will be plentiful by then. Read more…
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Water Vapor Will Be the Only Emission From Toyota’s New Fuel Cell Car
Hemp is a useful crop. It’s used to make paper, cloth, food, fuel, and many other products. But hemp farming in the United States has been illegal for 56 years. The government outlawed hemp cultivation because it didn’t want people hiding marijuana crops in hemp fields (they look the same, but hemp does not contain psychoactive compounds, at least not enough to matter). Interestingly, products made from hemp are legal in the US, but they must be imported from countries that aren’t as insufferably schoolmarmish. This year, however, US farmers are starting to grow hemp again. Colorado and Washington legalized marijuana for recreational use, and some farmers are taking this as permission to grow non-psychoactive hemp in those states. (Hemp, both the inert and psychoactive varieties, is still prohibited under federal law). The first company in line to buy US-grown hemp is Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps. Alternet’s April M. Short has a good article about the movement. The U.S. is one of the fastest expanding markets for hemp in the world, and imports currently come primarily from Canada and China. America imported $11.5 million worth of hemp products in 2011, up from $1.4 million in 2000, the majority of which is used to make granola bars, cooking oils, and personal care products. Steenstra says in addition to supporting American farmers, a local hemp industry will bring the prices down, and mitigate ecological impacts. Dr. Bronner’s is based in California, where just last month a bill to legalize hemp was passed— contingent upon the Justice Department’s reaction. The law requires California to regulate the farming, processing, and sales of hemp for oilseed and fiber, just as soon as the federal government says it’s okay to do so. Hemp Returns to U.S. Soil After 56 Years — and Magic Soap King Dr. Bronner’s Is Ready to Buy
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US farmers cautiously growing hemp again after 56 years of brain-dead prohibition
Security researchers have uncovered evidence of a new piece of malware that may be able to take gigabytes’ worth of data hostage unless end users pay a ransom. Discussions of the new malware, alternately dubbed PrisonLocker and PowerLocker, have been occurring on underground crime forums since November, according to a blog post published Friday by Malware Must Die, a group of researchers dedicated to fighting online crime. The malware appears to be inspired by CryptoLocker, the malicious software that wreaked havoc in October when it used uncrackable encryption to lock up victims’ computer files until they paid hundreds of dollars for the decryption key. PowerLocker could prove an even more potent threat because it would be sold in underground forums as a DIY malware kit to anyone who can afford the $100 for a license, Friday’s post warned. CryptoLocker, by contrast, was custom built for use by a single crime gang. What’s more, PowerLocker might also offer several advanced features, including the ability to disable the task manager, registry editor, and other administration functions built into the Windows operating system. Screen shots and online discussions also indicate the newer malware may contain protections that prevent it from being reverse engineered when run on virtual machines. Read 1 remaining paragraphs | Comments
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Researchers warn of new, meaner ransomware with unbreakable crypto
Aurich Lawson / Thinkstock AT&T today confirmed a long-rumored plan to monetize wireless data caps by charging content providers for the right to serve up video and other media without chewing up consumers’ monthly data limits. Sometimes called 1-800-DATA, AT&T billed the plan as “a new way for eligible 4G customers to enjoy mobile content and apps over AT&T’s wireless network without impacting their monthly wireless data plan.” Basically, the price of data is being charged to content providers instead of consumers. The rates for consumers and business will be similar. “We will offer AT&T Sponsored Data providers a wide range of options,” an AT&T spokesperson told Ars. “Customers will be billed according to usage, with costs varying by amounts of usage. Rates are comparable to consumer rates.” Read 15 remaining paragraphs | Comments
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AT&T turns data caps into profits with new fees for content providers
Kindle for iOS has been updated with a slew of new features, including flashcards, improved in-book search, a redesigned dictionary, filters for bookmarks and highlights, and more. Read more about the update here . Read more…
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Kindle for iOS has been updated with a slew of new features, including flashcards, improved in-book
We’ll admit, the touchless controls on the Moto X have spoiled us. It’s far too enjoyable to jolt the smartphone out of a deep slumber by speaking a keyword-based trigger phrase (for the X, it’s “OK Google Now”) and commanding it to do our bidding. And while Motorola managed to integrate this feature into its flagship smartphone without taking a huge hit on battery life, there’s always room for improvement. Audience , a manufacturer of digital voice and audio processors that are commonly found in a large number of smartphones, is introducing its next-gen chip with VoiceQ, an always-listening feature the company claims is even more efficient and powerful than Moto’s X8 chipset. VoiceQ, much like its Moto X rival, will be continually ready and waiting for your trigger phrase (it’s “OK Audience” by default) and verbal commands. Your mileage may vary here, since it’ll be up to each handset maker to program those phrases and commands to their own satisfaction. The difference between the two devices, Audience tells us, is that VoiceQ not only uses a lot less power (less than 1.5mA) as it listens for you, it also doesn’t require you to pause between the trigger and the commands; you won’t find yourself speaking the same command twice just to ensure the phone heard the whole thing. VoiceQ isn’t the only enhancement to the next-gen chips , known as the eS700 series. It also comes with noise suppression for windy conditions, a type of speech-restoration tech that filters out extremely noisy situations and 48kHz voice processing. In other words, if touchless controls aren’t really your thing yet, at least your smartphone will be much clearer on the other end for whoever you call. Device manufacturers are already testing samples of Audience’s new chips, and company reps tell us that we can expect to see it show up in the second half of this year. Filed under: Cellphones , Wireless , Mobile Comments
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Audience’s new voice processors offer always-on listening without sacrificing battery life
With the exception, perhaps, of the traditional trade show flu, nothing’s thicker in the air CES than overlapping WiFi signals. Phones, PCs, SmartTVs, game consoles , tablets and routers are all desperately reaching out to something to connect to, and D-Link is happy to oblige. This year, the company is debuting the DIR-510L, a $100 portable router that doubles as a device charger. In addition to crafting wireless and ethernet signals into a local hotspot, this router can stream content from connected USB devices, share files wirelessly from any device plugged into its two USB ports and even charge gadgets with its built-in 4000mAh battery. If the diminutive router’s range is too short for you, the firm is offering a pair of dual-band WiFi range extenders for $60 and $90, depending on how much bandwidth you need. That extended network area will come in handy if you pick up D-Link’s new WiFi Baby Camera, a lightweight child monitor that lets you peek in on your children from any device with a WiFi or cellular internet connection. The $180 shooter is outfitted with night vision, temperature and motion sensors and can even play pre-recorded lullabies on cue. If you’re looking for something a bit more advanced, the company is also showing off a new mydlink Network Video Recorder for small businesses — a $380 surveillance system with remote access, up to 4TB of video storage space and support for nine cameras. The gadgets are all being shown at CES 2014 this week, but you can find the details at the company’s product pages in the adjacent source links. Filed under: Internet Comments Source: D-Link(1) , (2) , (3) , (4)
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D-Link hits CES with portable router and charger combos, WiFi range extenders and surveillance equipment
Known for suddenly coming on the scene last year with some of the cheapest Ultra HD televisions around , Seiki is getting into the accessories game with its new U-Vision HDMI cable. The $40 HDMI cable packs Technicolor 4K-certified video processing that it claims promises the best edge restoration, noise reduction and other tweaks available, all performed by the USB-powered Marseille Networks VTV-1222 chip within. While we usually prefer that our signal pass to the TV unaltered, so far Seiki’s UHD TVs haven’t proven to pack the most sophisticated scalers within. Also helping its case are industry darlings like the Darbeevision Darblet that many are using to improve the quality of their HD video on passthrough. We saw the cable in action and while the demo seemed clean, the demo reel didn’t give us much of an opportunity to compare what it was actually doing. The cable will go on sale sometime in the first quarter of this year, and arrive as an adapter in Q2. Dana Wollman contributed to this report. Filed under: Displays , Home Entertainment , HD Comments Source: Seiki
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Seiki U-Vision HDMI cable promises to squeeze 4K upconversion out of 1080p video
When NVIDIA unveiled its G-Sync tech that alleviates lag, screen tearing, and stuttering, it counted Philips among the companies that would make monitors with its secret sauce. Now that CES has rolled around, Philips has finally revealed a panel that uses the graphic titan’s technology. The panel ( catchily dubbed 272G5DYEB) measures up at 27 inches, carries a resolution of 1, 920 x 1, 080, a 144Hz refresh rate, 1, 000:1 contrast ratio and displays up to 16.7 million colors. If you’re fixing to connect the screen to your PC via HDMI, you’re out of luck as it only sports a DisplayPort. Enjoying the buttery visuals will drain your pockets of $649 when the monitor arrives this spring. Of course, if you can’t wait till then, a modified ASUS VG248QE is already available with G-Sync from a handful of boutique PC outfits . Filed under: Displays , Gaming Comments
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Philips’ 27-inch monitor with NVIDIA’s G-Sync tempts gamers with silky-smooth visuals
I come across a lot of strange objects in my research: books bound in human skin , prosthetic noses made of silver , iron coffins with safety devices to prevent premature burial. But perhaps one of the strangest objects I’ve seen is the one pictured on the left. This is a depiction of the infamous tooth worm believed by many people in the past to bore holes in human teeth and cause toothaches. But before I tell you about this fascinating piece of art, let me give you a quick lesson in dental folklore. Tooth worms have a long history, first appearing in a Sumerian text around 5,000 BC. References to tooth worms can be found in China, Egypt and India long before the belief finally takes root (pun intended) into Western Europe in the 8th century. [1] Treatment of tooth worms varied depending on the severity of the patient’s pain. Often, practitioners would try to ‘smoke’ the worm out by heating a mixture of beeswax and henbane seed on a piece of iron and directing the fumes into the cavity with a funnel. Afterwards, the hole was filled with powered henbane seed and gum mastic. This may have provided temporary relief given the fact that henbane is a mild narcotic. Many times, though, the achy tooth had to be removed altogether. Some tooth-pullers mistook nerves for tooth worms, and extracted both the tooth and the nerve in what was certainly an extremely painful procedure in a period before anaesthetics. [2] The tooth worm came under attack in the 18 th century when Pierre Fauchard—known today as the father of modern dentistry—posited that tooth decay was linked to sugar consumption and not little creatures burrowing inside the tooth. In the 1890s, W.D. Miller took this idea a step further, and discovered through a series of experiments that bacteria living inside the mouth produced acids that dissolved tooth enamel when in the presence of fermentable carbohydrates. Despite these discoveries, many people continued to believe in the existence of tooth worms even into the 20 th century. The piece of art at the top of the article is titled ‘The Tooth Worm as Hell’s Demon.’ It was created in the 18 th century by an unknown artist, and is carved from ivory. It is an incredibly intricate piece when you consider it only stands a little over 4 inches tall. The two halves open up to reveal a scene about the infernal torments of a toothache depicted as a battle with the tooth worm, complete with mini skulls, hellfire, and naked humans wielding clubs. It is, without a doubt, one of the strangest objects I’ve come across in my research; and today, I pass this random bit of trivia on to you in the hopes that you may use it someday to revive a dying conversation at a cocktail party. 1. W. E. Gerabek, ‘The Tooth-Worm: Historical Apsects of a Popular Belief,’ Clinical Oral Investigations (April 1999): pp. 1-6. 2. Leo Kanner, Folklore of the Teeth (1928).
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The Battle of the Tooth Worm