Tech Today w/ Ken May

Nothing kills a magical afternoon with your tablet like having to track down an outlet to charge up. Voltaic’s has new solar chargers designed specifically for tablets. More

With many sites being compromised and user data released publicly on the web, you may have fallen victim. Should I Change My Password? is a simple webapp can tell you if you may be at risk. More

Four of the largest ISPs in the USA are on the verge of approving a deal with the RIAA and MPAA that’ll require ISPs to limit people who repeatedly infringe copyright to visiting only 200 websites, throttled bandwidth, and/or sending them to copyright re-education school.

These are characterized as an alternative to outright disconnection, but as the entertainment execs behind it know that heavily throttled connections or limited access to a small collection of websites are tantamount to disconnection when it comes to the diverse benefits accrue to Internet users. And being sent to a copyright school designed by the entertainment industry isn’t likely to deliver a decent understanding of education.

After years of negotiations, a group of bandwidth providers that includes AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon are closer than ever to striking a deal with media and entertainment companies that would call for them to establish new and tougher punishments for customers who refuse to stop using their networks to pirate films, music and other intellectual property, multiple sources told CNET.

The sources cautioned that a final agreement has yet to be signed and that the partnership could still unravel but added that at this point a deal is within reach and is on track to be unveiled sometime next month…

Participating ISPs are given plenty of choices on how to respond to the toughest cases. They can select from a “menu” of responses outlined in the plan, such as throttling down an accused customer’s bandwidth speed or limit their access to the Web. For example, a suspected pirate may be allowed to visit only the top 200 Web sites until the illegal file sharing stops. The subscriber may also be required to participate in a program that educates them on copyright law and the rights of content creators. In the past, a graduated response was also supposed to lead to a complete termination of service for chronic file sharers. Kicking someone off a network is not required under the proposed agreement, the sources said. As for who pays for all this, the ISPs and copyright owners will share the costs of operating the program, sources said.

Exclusive: Top ISPs poised to adopt graduated response to piracy

(via Ars Technica)

Read the original post:
Major US ISPs set to limit repeat infringers with throttling, limiting access to 200 websites, and copyright reeducation school

Well, almost: Lytro, a Silicon Valley startup, has been getting quite a bit of buzz for its new “light field” camera, which allows photographers to manipulate the focal length for any given image after the photo has been taken. While the technology has existed since the mid-90's, Dr. Ren Ng has taken his lauded dissertation research from the hallowed grounds of Stanford to nearby Mountain Valley, where he's managed to adapt the imaging technique—”light field” once meant some 100 cameras in a room— for consumer use under the Lytro moniker.

And what, exactly, is a “light field,” anyway? The short description is that it captures every ray of light, deflecting off every object at every angle, in any given image. Where traditional camera lenses “simply add up all the light rays and record them as a single amount of light,” the “light field sensor captures the color, intensity and vector direction of the rays of light.”

The light field is a core concept in imaging science, representing fundamentally more powerful data than in regular photographs. The light field fully defines how a scene appears. It is the amount of light traveling in every direction through every point in space—it's all the light rays in a scene. Conventional cameras cannot record the light field.

via Ng’s dissertation (PDF)

(more…)

Read the article:
Lytro’s “Light Field” Camera Adds Fabled Third Dimension to Photography

Researchers at the University of Minnesota have created a metal alloy composed of nickel, cobalt, manganese and tin. This “multiferroic composite” can convert heat into electricity!

In this case, the new alloy — Ni45Co5Mn40Sn10 — undergoes a reversible phase transformation, in which one type of solid turns into another type of solid when the temperature changes, according to a news release from the University of Minnesota. Specifically, the alloy goes from being non-magnetic to highly magnetized. The temperature only needs to be raised a small amount for this to happen.

When the warmed alloy is placed near a permanent magnet, like a rare-earth magnet, the alloy’s magnetic force increases suddenly and dramatically. This produces a current in a surrounding coil, according to the researchers, led by aerospace engineering professor Richard James.

One possible application for this alloy is in automobile exhaust pipes, which vent a lot of heat that could be recycled into electric power for the battery. Read more at Popsci. Link -via reddit

Read the article:
New Alloy Can Convert Heat Directly Into Electricity

Back when we gave Ford’s SYNC AppLink a test drive in that little green Fiesta, we got word that the Mustang was next in line to receive the service. Well, earlier this year, the auto outfit Linked-up the Mustang and now it’s rolling out the application for 10 new 2012 models, including the F-150, Fusion (Hybrid and otherwise), Super Duty, and Expedition. It also says it’s got a slew of developers lining up to bring hands-free control of their apps to AppLink. For now, though, no matter which SYNC-enabled beast you boast, or which OS you’re rocking (BlackBerry OS, iOS, or Android), you’ll be riding dirty with just two linked apps at most. Full PR after the break.

Continue reading Ford SYNC AppLink gets rolling in ten new models, still just three apps deep

Ford SYNC AppLink gets rolling in ten new models, still just three apps deep originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Jun 2011 06:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

Between our TVs, PCs, game consoles, and even refrigerators, most every room of our homes have devices needing an on-ramp to the information superhighway. To keep these gadgets connected, D-Link has debuted its Amplifi home networking equipment to bathe every square foot of your abode in ample bandwidth. There’s the $150 HD Media Router 1000 that does 802.11n WiFi at 300 Mbps and has QoS technology to make sure your HD video streams and games are lag-free, plus four Gigabit Ethernet ports and an SD card reader. The Whole Home Router 1000 is $120 and sports similar specs sans the SD slot, but also packs D-Link’s SmartBeam technology that tracks devices and “focuses beams of bandwidth” to keep you connected in every room. D-Link’s $160 WiFi Booster also uses SmartBeam tech to extend your network’s range via the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands and put four more Gigabit Ethernet ports anywhere you choose. Lastly, the Powerline AV 500 Adapter ($100) and Gigabit switch ($200) give you screaming 500Mbps speeds from any electrical outlet. Interested? Well, they’re all available now, except for the laggard Whole Home Router 1000, which isn’t available until August. PR’s after the break.

Continue reading D-Link’s Amplifi networking suite keeps the whole mansion connected

D-Link’s Amplifi networking suite keeps the whole mansion connected originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Jun 2011 00:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

On June 22nd, 1996, id Software released Quake, the true successor to the Doom franchise and among the first games (certainly the most well-known) to be presented entirely in 3D. That is, with polygons. Those of us old enough to do so will remember the first set of levels (that is to say, the demo) with perfect clarity, and recall the classic grunts, moans, and clangs that accompanied that fantastic atmosphere and ambitious level design.

It’s still a hell of a lot of fun. You can download a version compatible with modern Windows and OS X here, and there are tons of mods and level packs at Planet Quake. Graaaa!

Read the article:
Happy 15th Birthday, Quake

If there’s anything Apple hates more than Netflix, Facebook, or Google it’s a chatty Cathy spilling inside scoops of their top secret product designs.

Security reporter Joe Menn has a piece up today at the Financial Times exploring the origins of LulzSec, and who is coordinating operations of the group described as “part-criminal gang and part-performance artists.” (site registration required).

Read more here:
Where @LulzSec came from, who’s running it, and why #antisec is a big deal