We’ve seen pictures and video of the Samsung Galaxy S IV already but we haven’t seen it like this. In what’s probably the clearest pictures of the S IV until it’s announced later today, we get to see what the powerful beast of a phone will look like in all its glory. More »
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Here Are the Clearest Pictures of What’s Probably the Samsung Galaxy S IV
If you (like many of us at Engadget) are in a state of shock facing the end of Google Reader this summer, there may be an easy replacement. RSS app/service Feedly posts on its blog that it has been anticipating the shutdown of Google’s service for some time, and invested in building its own backend. Dubbed “Normandy” it is intended to be a clone of the Google API running on Google’s own App Engine, set to swap in on July 1st when the service ends. Even better, in the comments Feedly states it will open the API for other 3rd party clients once everything is stable. the only bad news? If you’re considering jumping onboard you’re not the only one — Feedly’s servers are pretty crushed right now, so you know, just test the waters out some time in the next few months. Filed under: Software Comments Source: Feedly Blog
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Feedly promises ‘seamless’ transition after Google Reader to its own backend
Google has just announced that it’ll be killing off Google Reader in its latest ‘spring cleaning’, which is a euphemism for getting rid of products that not enough people use (even if they still love using it). So yes, that means many people’s favorite RSS reader will be turned off for good on July 1, 2013. You have a little over three months to figure out where to get your feed fix next. More »
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Google Is Killing Google Reader
mrquagmire sends this quote from a Reuters report: “Tax refunds for about 600,000 taxpayers claiming an education credit will be delayed, the Internal Revenue Service said on Wednesday, citing a software glitch at some tax-preparation companies, including industry leader H&R Block Inc. Refunds may be delayed four to six weeks from mid-February, likely not showing up until late March, the IRS said. … On Tuesday, a Wal-Mart Stores Inc executive said shoppers had cashed about $2.7 billion in tax refund checks at its U.S. stores so far this year. At this point last year, that amount was about $4 billion. The IRS delayed the start of the tax filing season by eight days, to January 30, due to the enactment of tax law changes made to resolve the “fiscal cliff.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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H&R Block Software Glitch To Delay 600,000 U.S. Tax Refunds
The ultrathin, single-fiber endoscope boasts four times the resolution of existing designs and could result in minimally invasive surgeries for studying the brain, detecting cancer early, and more. [Read more]
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Stanford unveils high-res ‘micro-endoscope’ thin as hair
Library of Congress When the lights go out, it affects everyone. It’s not only the inconvenience of having the TV shut off unexpectedly—a lot of heavy equipment really dislikes having the power disappear suddenly. For the most part, the power grid is very stable. But sometimes random events and seemingly small operator errors can cascade to create massive power outages. Underlying the stability of a power grid is the need to keep multiple generators operating in a synchronized manner. New research shows (in an annoyingly abstract way) that good network design can take advantage of the tendency for generators to self-synchronize. Counting the beat Depending on where you happen to be in the world, your power outlet supplies alternating current at either 50 or 60 Hz. The precise value doesn’t really matter as long as it stays within a narrow limit. Essentially, this means that the generator supplying the power needs to rotate at a rate producing this frequency. Read 14 remaining paragraphs | Comments
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Stabilizing the electric grid by keeping generators in sync
In Larry Page’s note moments ago about Andy Rubin stepping down as head of Android to be replaced by Sundar Pichai, he also provided an update on Android device activations: there are now 750 million of them, across smartphones and tablets from 60 hardware makers. This an update on the 500 million figure noted in September 2012 . From Page’s note: Fast forward to today. The pace of innovation has never been greater, and Android is the most used mobile operating system in the world: we have a global partnership of over 60 manufacturers; more than 750 million devices have been activated globally; and 25 billion apps have now been downloaded from Google Play. Pretty extraordinary progress for a decade’s work. And here’s a visualization of how Android has grown, courtesy of Benedict Evans. By many estimates from analysts, Google’s Android is currently the world’s biggest smartphone platform. The most recent figures from Gartner , for example, put it at 70% of the market in terms of recent devices sold. Activations are a slightly more nebulous stat, however, because, as Evans points out, they don’t include, for example, Android devices sold in countries where Google services might get used, such as China. And they don’t count secondary-owners of devices, as you may sometimes get in developing markets. 750 million Android activations implies an active base of somewhere around 675 million, Evans says . “Plus China, of course.” As a point of comparison, iOS is at about 400 million. Analyst Horace Dediu, based on today’s 750-million figure and historical growth, predicts that Android will reach 1 billion activations by mid-August 2013. Last week , Google provided an update on how ebooks and music have been progressing on the platform: there are now over 5 million ebooks and 18 million songs available on Google Play, one year on after it got rebranded from its previous name of Android Market.
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Larry Page Says There Have Now Been 750M Android Activations
It makes such little cents You probably know that the U.S. penny used to be made out of copper, which was once inexpensive. As the cost of copper began to rise, it would have cost more per penny than the penny’s own value, so the U.S. Mint switched over to a zinc alloy. But the price of zinc has been steadily rising since 2005. Which is why U.S. currency is in the absurd situation it is now: A one-cent piece costs about 2.4 cents to make. A penny is 97.5% zinc and 2.5% copper, and that zinc ain’t cheap. The nickel’s got it even worse. This five-cent coin costs 11.2 cents to manufacture. That’s because 75% of it is zinc and 25% is, well, nickel, another expensive metal. Which means that a nickel costs more to produce than every U.S. bill from a one-dollar bill (5.2 cents) all the way up to a C-note (7.7 cents). The money math starts to make a little more sense when we get to the smaller dime (92% copper, 8% nickel), which rings in at a production cost of 5.7 cents. The quarter, which has the same ingredients as the dime, is only a slighly better bargain at 11.1 cents. Clearly the U.S. Mint needs to start researching cheaper alloys or phasing out the penny and the nickel. It’s true that the math is a little more complicated than it would be for pure product manufacturing; for example, while you’d quickly go broke selling a product for $100 that cost $240 to make, currency is a little trickier. The government has an obligation to produce and circulate currency because it enables commerce, so it’s okay if they lose a little in manufacturing costs, as its citizens will theoretically make it back up by creating wealth. But if we don’t do that fuzzy math and look at it in terms of straight production, in 2012 alone the U.S. government lost $58 million dollars just by making pennies. (more…)
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The U.S. Mint’s Production Materials Problem: Nickels Cost 11 Cents to Make. Here’s Our Design Solution
Wired’s Pete Brook talks with Dutch photographer David Galjaard , author of the 2012 Aperture Foundation/Paris Photo First Photobook Award-winning book Concreso , a photo-essay on the insane “bunkerization” practiced by the paranoid Soviet Albanian dictator Enver Hoxha. Hoxha built a one bunker for every four Albanians, 24 per square kilometer, and now the country has no idea what to do with all these decaying, apocalyptic concrete blobs. “I’m telling a story about a country and I’m using bunkers as metaphors,” says Galjaard. “Albania is an Eastern country but it wants to be part of the West. It has one foot in each, and the split is sort of unnatural. Albanians still have not found their identity so they struggle with the past, but also struggle with the future. And future for them is being part of Western Europe.” The Communist leader Hoxha rose to power in 1944 as leader of the Party of Labour of Albania and ruled until his death in 1985. Hoxha was on constant alert for political threats and maintained his position with routine immobilization, imprisonment and eviction of his people and political opponents. Hoxha’s suspicions also extended beyond Albanian borders and the bunkers, which number 24 to every square kilometer, and were built in preparation for a multi-front war Hoxha expected from invading countries, East and West. Every citizen in Hoxha’s plan was a reservist. Twelve-year-olds were trained to fire rifles. The bunkers never saw action. Today, Albanian authorities are at a loss for what to do. The reinforced concrete domes are as difficult to repurpose as they are to destroy. Tourists are fascinated by the bunkers strewn like confetti across scenery, but for locals they’re a largely uninteresting, if obstructive, part of the landscape.” Paranoid Dictator’s Communist-Era Bunkers Now a National Nuisance [Pete Brook/Wired]
For the first time, the United States has officially disclosed plans to develop counterattack measures against foreign nations’ cyberattacks. General Keith Alexander, chief of the military’s Cyber Command and the NSA, told Congress yesterday the military is training 13 teams of programmers and computer experts to carry out offensive attacks. More »
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The NSA Is Training 13 Teams of Covert Hackers to Attack Other Countries