Today, FedEx announced it will begin allowing customers to pay $5 to reschedule a delivery to a new date or location, or $10 to narrow delivery down to a 2-hour window. Read more…
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FedEx’s New Delivery Manager Schedules Deliveries For 2-Hour Windows
If you haven’t installed last week’s patch from Oracle that plugs dozens of critical holes in its Java software framework, now would be a good time. As in immediately. As in, really, right now . In the past few days, attack code targeting one of the many remote-code-execution vulnerabilities fixed in Java 7 Update 21 was folded into either the folded into the RedKit or CrimeBoss exploit kit. By Sunday, that attack code was being actively unleashed on unsuspecting end users, according to a short blog post published by a researcher from antivirus provider F-Secure. The post doesn’t say where the attacks were being hosted or precisely how attackers are using them. Still, Oracle describes the vulnerability as allowing remote code execution without authentication. And that means you should install the patch before you do anything else today. The track record of malware purveyors of abusing advertising networks, compromised Apache servers , and other legitimate enterprises means readers could encounter attacks even when they’re browsing a site they know and trust. Read 3 remaining paragraphs | Comments
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Java users beware: Exploit circulating for just-patched critical flaw
It’s not quite the T-1000 pulling itself together after being blown apart , but it’s pretty much the same idea. For the first time in history, scientists have observed the self-assembly of nanoparticles in real-time. Read more…
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Researchers watch nanoparticles self-assemble for the very first time
We were intrigued with the prospects of Western Digital’s 5mm Blue drive when we saw it last summer: finally, a 2.5-inch spinning disk thin enough to rival slimmer SSDs without the price premium of a hybrid like the WD Black SSHD . If you shared the same curiosity, you’ll be glad to hear that the finished product is shipping as the WD Blue UltraSlim. Device builders can now stuff 500GB into spaces that would exclude 7mm disks , yet pay just $89 for the privilege — a price low enough to let even frugal Ultrabooks shed some bulk. The 5mm disk reaches its miniscule dimensions through the use of a tiny edge connector that mates both power and a SATA interface, leaving more room for the drive machinery. We can’t guarantee that you’ll find a Blue UltraSlim in your next PC or set-top box when Western Digital hasn’t named any of its customers, but we wouldn’t be surprised if the wafer-like drive is commonplace in the near future. Filed under: Laptops , Storage Comments Source: Western Digital
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WD ships 5mm Blue UltraSlim drive, enables thinner budget Ultrabooks
IBM Research’s prototype HCPVT system in Zurich. By borrowing cooling systems used in its supercomputers, IBM Research claims it can dramatically increase the overall efficiency of concentrated photovoltaic solar power from 30 to 80 percent. Like other concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) collectors, IBM’s system at its Zurich laboratory uses a mirrored parabolic dish to concentrate incoming solar radiation onto PV cells. The dish uses a tracking system to move with the sun, concentrating the collected radiation by a factor of 2,000 onto a sensor containing triple-junction PV cells. During daylight hours, each 1-sq cm PV chip generates on average between 200 and 250 watts of electrical power, harnessing up to 30 percent of the incoming solar energy. Ordinarily, the remaining 70 percent of energy would be lost as heat. But by capturing most of that heat with water, IBM Research says it is able to reduce system heat losses to around 20 percent of the total incoming energy. This results in a bottom-line efficiency of 80 percent for its CPV collector, dubbed HCPVT for High Concentration Photovoltaic Thermal. Unlike a regular CPV system, HCPVT delivers its energy in two forms: electricity and hot water. Read 7 remaining paragraphs | Comments
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IBM’s solar tech is 80% efficient thanks to supercomputer know-how
kkleiner writes “Recently developed noodle-making robots have now been put into operation in over 3,000 restaurants in China. Invented by a noodle restaurant owner, each unibrow-sporting robot currently costs 10,000 yuan ($1,600), which is only three months wages for an equivalent human noodle cook. As the cost of the robot continues to drop, more noodle shops are bound to displace human workers for the tirelessly working cheaper robots.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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Noodle Robots Replacing Workers In Chinese Restaurants
Another day, another Johnny Cash-accompanied test of Elon Musk’s SpaceX Grasshopper rocket—which is not to say this isn’t exciting, because consistency is the name of the game for a commercial reusable rocket. Especially the Grasshopper, which can take off and land vertically. In this most recent test, the Grasshopper takes off, hovers at about 820 feet, and lands neatly back on its launch pad. For those who haven’t been keeping track, that’s about triple the height of the last test , and six times higher than the test before that ! [ Elon Musk ] More »
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Watch SpaceX’s Grasshopper Break Its Record For Taking Off and Landing Vertically
If you’ve been taking far too many virtual road trips after employing the (unofficial) Street View Hyperlapse chauffeur , you may be running out of places to go next. Well, today Google has added Hungary and Lesotho (a country within South Africa) to the list of lands you can vicariously visit, which brings the total number of Street View-catalogued countries to 50. This being the “largest single update” since, well, the last big one , Google has also added “new and updated imagery for nearly 350,000 miles of roads across 14 countries,” including more places of interest for its special collections, thanks to the Street View trike . So, why venture outdoors this lunchtime, when you can wander the streets of Budapest instead? Filed under: Internet , Google Comments Source: Google Lat-Long Blog
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Google Street View adds Hungary and Lesotho, hits 50-country milestone
If you’re living on a tight budget but still need to keep in touch with loved ones who live abroad , you’ll be glad to know of a new calling plan from Ultra Mobile. The upstart MVNO offers discounted access to T-Mobile’s network, and for $19 per month, you’ll fetch unlimited text messages to 194 countries, 250 voice minutes (with $1.25 toward international calling), and 50MB of data usage. For comparison, Simple Mobile offers a $25 plan that includes unlimited international texting and domestic calling, but if you let your thumbs do most of the talking, Ultra Mobile brings a lot of value to the table. You can snag its $19 plan starting tomorrow, which might be the perfect match for whatever Nokia has up its sleeve . Filed under: Wireless , Mobile Comments Source: FierceWireless
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Ultra Mobile debuts $19 calling plan with unlimited international SMS
Feel trapped by technology? In a print campaign for Go Outside magazine, Brazilian designer Felipe Luchi imagined our beloved gadgets as physical prisons: Link (Bonus: if you look closely, you’ll see that there are ways to escape from these prisons) – via Twisted Sifter
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Prisoner of Technology