CNN reports on the arsenal discovered on the North Korean assassin arrested in Seoul last year: a poison-dart pen, a pen-pistol, a flashlight-gun, and more. Disguised to look like a Parker ballpoint pen, it contains a poison needle and is practically impossible to identify as a weapon. The second pen shoots a poison-filled bullet which penetrates the skin and releases the toxin and the third weapon is a flashlight, loaded with up to three bullets. They all look completely innocuous but all three will kill… … That target was anti-North Korea activist, Park Sang-hak, who has since been given round-the-clock police protection by South Korean authorities. We showed Park the footage of the weapons intended for him. He was shocked. ‘Poison’ pen mightier than sword for would-be North Korean assassin ( Thanks, polymorf! )
Category: reader
Gmail, meet Google Drive — and behold 10GB file transfers
Users can now send files from Google Drive that are 400 times larger than is possible in a traditional attachment. [Read more]
More:
Gmail, meet Google Drive — and behold 10GB file transfers
Netflix Gives Data Center Tools To Fail
Nerval’s Lobster writes “Netflix has released Hystrix, a library designed for managing interactions between distributed systems, complete with ‘fallback’ options for when those systems inevitably fail. The code for Hystrix—which Netflix tested on its own systems—can be downloaded at Github, with documentation available here, in addition to a getting-started guide and operations examples, among others. Hystrix evolved out of Netflix’s need to manage an increasing rate of calls to its APIs, and resulted in (according to the company) a ‘dramatic improvement in uptime and resilience has been achieved through its use.’ The Netflix API receives more than 1 billion incoming calls per day, which translates into several billion outgoing calls (averaging a ratio of 1:6) to dozens of underlying systems, with peaks of over 100,000 dependency requests per second. That’s according to Netflix engineer Ben Christensen, who described the incredible loads on the company’s infrastructure in a February blog posting. The vast majority of those calls serve the discovery user interfaces (UIs) of the more than 800 different devices supported by Netflix.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Read this article:
Netflix Gives Data Center Tools To Fail
DOE, NASA testing fission reactor for spaceflight
This uranium-based reactor would use nuclear fission energy to power small spacecraft and possibly installations on Mars. [Read more]
Original post:
DOE, NASA testing fission reactor for spaceflight
A Parent’s Guide to Internetting
Submitted by: Unknown (via Alexandra Dal ) Tagged: internet , parents and computers Share on Facebook
View article:
A Parent’s Guide to Internetting
SpaceX founder unveils plan to send 80,000 people to Mars
Elon Musk, the founder and CEO of the private spaceflight company SpaceX, has announced an ambitious plan to colonize Mars by shuttling 80,000 pioneers to the Red Planet at a cost of $500,000 a trip. The first phase of the program, which is contingent on the development of reusable rocket that can take off and land vertically, would start off modestly with only a handful of explorers leaving Earth at a time. But in short order, the self-sustaining population could grow into something far greater. More »
Visit site:
SpaceX founder unveils plan to send 80,000 people to Mars
How NASA might build its very first warp drive
A few months ago, physicist Harold White stunned the aeronautics world when he announced that he and his team at NASA had begun work on the development of a faster-than-light warp drive. His proposed design, an ingenious re-imagining of an Alcubierre Drive, may eventually result in an engine that can transport a spacecraft to the nearest star in a matter of weeks — and all without violating Einstein’s law of relativity. We contacted White at NASA and asked him to explain how this real life warp drive could actually work. More »
See more here:
How NASA might build its very first warp drive
Saudi Arabian Men Now Get Text Alerts When Their Women Leave the Country
In Saudi Arabia, if a woman leaves the country, her husband or male “guardian” will receive a text message to let him know that, even if she’s traveling with him, ho boy! His woman is on the loose. Saudi Arabia: where technology and misogyny unite! More »
Continue reading here:
Saudi Arabian Men Now Get Text Alerts When Their Women Leave the Country
New Money-Destroying Virus Attacks Iran
After the US and Israel cooked up Stuxnet—a potent cyber weapon aimed at Iran’s nuclear facilities—whenever a virus targets Iran, it could be something major. This time around, the web threat wants to erase Iranian banks . More »
See more here:
New Money-Destroying Virus Attacks Iran
Build Your Own System to Power On Your Computer Remotely
If you’re ever away from home and need to get access to your files, your computer needs to be on. If your home computer is on a wireless network, this can cause a bit of a problem. However, Instructables user hymelsr shows off how to build a system to power your computer on with off-the-shelf components. More »
Read More:
Build Your Own System to Power On Your Computer Remotely