Windows 8 comes with a couple of new or tweaked commands that may actually be pretty handy if you use the Command Prompt to do things faster on your computer or a bunch of PCs. Read more…
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Learn All the New (and Removed) Windows 8 Command Prompt Tools
Aurich Lawson / Warner Bros. Entertainment The Mac on your desk or on the cafe table next to you has a chip with secret functions that can be unlocked only by inputting a spell from the Harry Potter series. The SMC, or system management controller, is a chip used to regulate a Mac’s current and voltage, manage its light sensor, and temporarily store FileVault keys. Turns out that the SMC contains undocumented code that is invoked by entering the word “SpecialisRevelio,” the same magic words used to reveal hidden charms, hexes, or properties used by wizards in the Harry Potter series written by author J. K. Rowling. That fun fact was presented Wednesday at the NoSuchCon security conference by veteran reverse engineer Alex Ionescu. While most details are far too technical for this article, the gist of the research is that the SMC is a chip that very few people can read but just about anyone with rudimentary technical skills can “flash” update. Besides displaying the Apple engineers’ affinity for Harry Potter, Ionescu’s tinkerings also open the door to new types of hacks. But don’t worry because they’re mostly the fodder for a hacking scene in a James Bond or Mission Impossible screenplay. “The attacks discussed in my presentation are attacks that likely only a nation-state adversary would have the sufficient technical knowledge to implement, and they require precise knowledge of the machine that is being targeted,” Ionescu, who is chief architect at security firm CrowdStrike, wrote in an e-mail to Ars. “They are perfect, for example, at a border crossing where a rogue country may need to ‘take a quick look at your laptop’ to ‘help prevent terrorism.’ I don’t suspect most Mac users (and certainly not those that read Ars or other similar publications) would be at a high-profile enough level to warrant such level of interest from another state.” Read 7 remaining paragraphs | Comments
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“SpecialisRevelio!” Macs use Harry Potter spell to unlock secret “backdoor”
We’ve seen a number of headsets tap into the mind, to geotag your mood , grant you remote control over gadgets or simply let you wiggle a pair of cat ears . None of those are quite like the foc.us, however, which serves up transcranial direct-current simulation (tDCS) — a controversial form of neurosimulation that transmits current to a particular area of the brain. Originally used to help patients with brain injuries, tDCS has supposedly been found to increase cognitive performance in healthy adults. These claims haven’t been proven yet though, and shocking your own cranium isn’t exactly FDA approved. Still, the foc.us is one of a few tDCS headsets designed for the consumer market and can, the inventor Michael Oxley claims, improve your working or short-term memory when the electrodes are placed on your prefrontal cortex. A low-intensity current is passed through the different nodes, exciting that part of the brain. Interestingly, Oxley is positioning it as a way to boost your video gaming prowess for the “ultimate gaming experience,” a concept we found a little odd. That said, you don’t actually have to wear the headset while shooting up bad guys or other brain-draining tasks. The idea behind the foc.us headset is to put it on your noggin, fire it up, and wait for around five to ten minutes, then take it off and go about your day. We did just that and all the gory details are after the break. Gallery: foc.us Filed under: Science Comments Source: foc.us
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Foc.us headset claims to shock the brain for better gaming, we go forehead-on
Project PlayStation Input Output has been trying to load PlayStation 1 game images through the game system’s parallel I/O port since 2010, and now it’s ready to show off the first prototype. If piracy is your aim, then modchips that let users play burned discs and emulators that have been available through the console’s 19-year history should suffice, but this project aims to bypass those methods. The potential benefits include easier homebrew support and playing of ripped discs on the original hardware without worrying about wearing out an aging console’s laser. Eventually the team wants to load games and saves from an SD card, but in this demo video it’s playing Klonoa: Door to Phantomile from an attached PC. As seen in the nearly ten minute video it does work, albeit slowly. As the video notes, optimizations for the USB controller and CD sectors that should speed things up have not been implemented yet. According to its FAQ, the PSIO team aims to have a final version done this year, you can check out the fruits of their labor after the break. Filed under: Gaming , Sony Comments Source: PSIO , PSIO (YouTube)
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PSIO prototype loads PlayStation 1 ISOs on the console, no burned CD necessary (video)
Earlier this week, we learned of Sony’s plans for a 13.3-inch e-ink slate with stylus support pitched at students, and now Diginfo has caught up with the prototype device at the Educational IT Solutions Expo in Japan. The A4-sized tablet is said to be the first piece of hardware with an E Ink Mobius display that’s flexible and light due to its new plastic construction. Co-developed by Sony and E Ink, the display only contributes 60g to the overall weight, which is apparently 50 percent lighter than similar screens built with glass. Sony says the software isn’t quite as slick as it’d like it to be just yet, but nevertheless, you can check out people scrawling, annotating and highlighting on the prototype in the video below. Filed under: Sony Comments Source: DigInfo (YouTube)
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Sony’s 13.3-inch e-ink paper prototype shown off at education expo in Japan (video)
1.4.0 already? Yes, you read right. Attached to this news you will find the pre-release test version for MediaPortal 1.4.0. From the pre-release test version to the final version we are only doing bug-fixes. This means that in only about 2 months we will release 1.4.0 final! You will be able to upgrade from the MP 1.4.0 pre-release test version to the MP 1.4.0 final version easily! But how is this possible? No more annual (Christmas) final Releases? The team has successfully transitioned to a new release process. We’re calling the process a “train model”. The idea is to enable us to deliver the features you want faster by working to a more fixed schedule. That means no need to wait for our traditional Christmas releases. “Christmas” will come more often from now on! Have a look here if you want to know more. So what’s in store? You might think that because of the short development timeframe, the 1.4.0 release will be just a few small tweaks here and there. But thanks to the fantastic help from the community in Area 51 , we think you’ll be surprised! HDMI half/fullscreen fix: HDMI is THE connection these days. In 1.4.0 we have finally managed to fix the issue that plagued so many people in our community. MediaPortal no longer resizes into a small window when you use HDMI to connect your HTPC with a TV or AV receiver! MediaPortal starts faster: MediaPortal can take a fair amount of time to start. This release introduces a few changes which should reduce that startup time a bit. Standby (S3) hibernation (S4) handling reworked: MediaPortal’s compatibility with Windows power saving features has been improved. Hopefully this will allow you to save some money from your power bill. Compensate for Windows DPI settings different than 100% Windows has a feature that enables you to increase the size of text (to make it easier to read). This version of MediaPortal works better than previous versions when that feature is enabled. Video and TV-recordings thumbnails creation Our thumbnail creator for videofiles has been worked on to make it more reliable. We are also now able to create thumbnails for TV recordings on multiseat systems! Picture thumbnail creation MediaPortal 1.4.0 pre-release creates picture thumbnails more than 10x faster than MediaPortal 1.3.0. Music playback The music player implementation has also been given an overhaul. WASAPI support has been added and the existing ASIO support has been cleaned up. MediaPortal Audio Renderer Based on your feedback, the MPAR which was first introduced in MediaPortal 1.3.0 has been refined and improved even further. Blu-Ray Playback We know you love the native Blu-Ray support that was introduced in MediaPortal 1.3.0. We’ve made further improvements in this release. TV-Server enhancements The TV-Server has received numerous small fixes and enhancements such as the option to also import and export your tuner settings. New logging framework The new log4net logging has elements that can be configured, specifically the log file size and log rotation. Full list of changes You can review the complete change log for 1.4.0 by using the following links: Changelog: MediaPortal Changelog: TV-Server Changelog: Installer – DeployTool Compatibility When introducing new features and reworking areas of MediaPortal, we try very hard to make sure that compatibility to previous versions of plugins and skins is maintained. However, sometimes this is not possible. In 1.4.0 we have a few changes which will render sins and some extensions incompatible. Skins: Due to the changes introduced in 1.4.0, none of the old skins are compatible. However the changes are not that massive or numerous. Skin Designers can find out about what needs to be changed in the 1.3.0 to 1.4.0 section of the Wiki. Plugins: Due to the changes introduced in 1.4.0, you will find some plugins reported as incompatible after the upgrade. Many plugin developers have already released 1.4.0 compatible versions. But before you start testing the 1.4.0 pre-release, make sure that the plugins you are using are available in a compatible version. Developers can find out what needs to be changed to become 1.4.0 compatible in the related wiki section . WindowsXP support is about to end A little over 4 years ago, Microsoft ended the mainstream support for Windows XP, and the extended support for developers and businesses is to end in less than a year. Windows XP has served many of us well during the last 12 years. Most have already moved on to Windows 7 or even Windows 8 which both bring a lot of features and optimizations that especially HTPCs benefit from. Since quite some time we are in a state where nearly no active team member has access to a Windows XP system for development or testing, which makes maintaining Windows XP support quite a challenge. But the much bigger concern starts to be that ensuring Windows XP compatibility results in turning down reworks and new features our community would highly benefit from. The reason for this is that these features and reworks require functions that are only available in later Windows versions, and the required extra work to maintain Windows XP compatibility would result in a lot of additional and duplicate code, making the changes very complex and error prone. So we decided that in the interest of delivering our community the best Media Center on the Windows platform, the time has come to say “thank you, and goodbye” to Windows XP. MediaPortal 1.4.0 will be the last version which supports Windows XP . Starting with 1.5.0 we will do some large scale cleanups in our code and start to include new features which will require that you run MediaPortal on Windows Vista or later. Installation, Upgrade, Download and Feedback Installation When doing a clean installation of 1.4.0 pre-release there is nothing special to worry about. Upgrade Upgrading from 1.2.x, or 1.3.0 Alpha/Beta/RC/Final to 1.4.0 pre-release All MediaPortal 1.2.x and 1.3.0 Alpha/Beta/RC/Final installations can be upgraded to 1.4.0 pre-release, without losing your settings. Plugins: If you are running MediaPortal 1.3.x , then it is possible that some of your previously installed plugins will be shown as incompatible after the upgrade to 1.4.0 pre-release ! Whether or not a plugin is incompatible depends on the MediaPortal subsystems the plugin uses. If you are running earlier versions of MediaPortal, it is likely that none of your plugins are compatible with 1.4.0 pre-release . If a plugin provides skin files for MediaPortal’s Default skin, then the author should also check the Skin related changes. Skins: Warning ! Due to the new features and changes introduced, none of the 1.3.x skins are compatible with 1.4.0 pre-release ! Please contact the author of the skin you use for further information and updates. Upgrading Extensions: The easiest way to upgrade your extensions is by launching the MediaPortal Extension Installer , and let it check for updated versions. However this only works for extensions that use our MPEI system. If the author of the extension releases it as a stand alone installer, you must contact them for an updated version. Upgrading from 1.2.0 Alpha or earlier to 1.4.0 pre-release All MediaPortal installations starting with 1.1.0 RC1 can be upgraded to 1.4.0 pre-release, without losing your settings. If you are running MediaPortal 1.2.0 Alpha or earlier, then none of your extensions (plugins and skins) will work after the upgrade to 1.4.0 pre-release! You must update your extensions after the upgrade! So, please make sure that 1.4.0 pre-release compatible versions of your extensions are available before you start the upgrade! General note about Upgrades Manually stop TV-Service! On some systems our installer is not able to update the TV-Server installation because its files are locked or the service can not be stopped. For upgrades to 1.4.0 we recommend that you manually stop the TV-Service and make sure, via Windows Task Manager (enable the “all users” option), that the TvService.exe process is really gone before starting to upgrade. Custom TV-Service properties If you manually changed the properties of the TV-Service (like restart on error options) , then you must redo these changes after the upgrade. The installer is not able to save and restore your custom service properties when it installs the new version of the TV-Service. Feedback Bugs If you think you found a bug then please post a detailed report in our Bug Reports Forum . Make sure your report includes all the required information . Incomplete reports will be removed to keep the forum clean. Download Finally – the download. We hope that you took the time to read this release news entirely because it includes vital information about the major changes. If you would like to support MediaPortal, we would be happy to receive a small donation ! The Team wishes you a lot of fun with this new release! .::. Download – MediaPortal 1.4.0 pre-release .::. :: Post a Comment ::
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MediaPortal 1.4.0 pre-release ready for testing!
Yahoo has a problem: it has no idea what it’s doing, or how it’s going to do it ( outside of teenage dream hires ). Some people who claim intimate knowledge say the company is going to do it by throwing a serious Hail Mary: buying Tumblr for $1,000,000,000. That’s one billion. Read more…
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Rumor Alert: Yahoo Is Buying Tumblr for a Billion?
ViaSat-1 recently earned a Guinness World Record as the highest-capacity satellite in (or out of) the world, but it may need to hand off that title come 2016. ViaSat-2, the company’s next-gen bird, will double the capacity of its predecessor while also extending coverage to a larger portion of North America, Central America and the Caribbean, along with the aviation and shipping routes between the East Coast and Europe. Boeing will manufacture the new equipment, which will be based on the 702HP satellite platform. Once in orbit, ViaSat-2 will serve residential customers , air travelers and government agencies alike, with a massive seven-fold increase in coverage. There aren’t many details beyond that, but you’re welcome to dig through the press release, posted right after the break. Filed under: Wireless , Science , Internet Comments
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Boeing tapped to build ViaSat-2 satellite, launch set for mid-2016
Donor egg held by pipette prior to nuclear extraction. Image: OHSU Photos/Flickr A significant, and undoubtedly controversial, milestone in stem cell therapy was reached yesterday. Scientists at the Oregon Health and Science University managed to achieve the Holy Grail of stem cell research : they’ve cloned a human embryo. OHSU cell biologist Shoukhrat Mitalipov led a team of 23 scientists who methodically culled the lessons learned from stem cell research on amphibians, mice and rhesus monkeys — as well as from the abundant failures of others in the field. They devised a welter of new techniques to use the DNA of a fully formed skin cell in its most primitive embryonic form. In past efforts to coax such an assemblage of components to life, researchers have burned through dozens of donor eggs without getting any embryos even to the 16-cell stage at which stem cells become a remote possibility. This time, the researchers said their methods were so efficient that they could create at least one embryonic stem cell line from each batch of eggs donated by 10 female volunteers. In one case, a single donor produced eight eggs of such exceptional quality that researchers were able to derive four embryonic stem cell lines. Some hailed the development as an important advance in the paving the way to treat a range of diseases, but others feared that it’s one step closer to cloning humans. Melissa Healy of the Los Angeles Times has the post: Link
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Scientists Managed to Clone Human Embryos
Corning’s Lotus Glass promised a world full of thinner, more advanced mobile displays when it was unveiled in 2011, but it hasn’t always been easy to build with the volumes or features that customers want. Enter the company’s new Lotus XT Glass as the solution: clients can produce it more reliably at high temperatures, leading to more usable panels for our LCDs and OLEDs. The improved yields should not only result in larger device volumes than the original Lotus Glass could muster, but push the technological limits — Corning notes that hotter manufacturing allows for brighter, sharper and more efficient screens. The glass is commercially available today, although we’ll still need to wait for gadget makers to choose, implement and ship it before we notice the XT difference. Filed under: Cellphones , Tablets , Mobile Comments Source: Corning
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Corning intros Lotus XT Glass for next-gen mobile displays, touts more efficient production (video)