Dreaming of a Tor Button for Firefox

It’s no secret that everybody’s thinking about privacy and cyber security more since the world was pummeled with the unsettling, spy-novel truths of the Snowden revelations . Now, companies are starting to seize onto the zeitgeist by building more secure tools for the internet. And it sounds like Tor will be at the front of that line. Read more…

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Dreaming of a Tor Button for Firefox

Euclideon Teases Photorealistic Voxel-Based Game Engine

MojoKid writes Not many would argue that current console and PC graphics technologies still haven’t reached a level of “photo-realism.” However, a company by the name of Euclideon is claiming to be preparing to deliver that holy grail based on laser scanning and voxel engine-based technologies. The company has put together a six-minute video clip of its new engine, and its genuinely impressive. There’s a supposed-to-be-impressive unveil around the two minute mark where the announcer declares he’s showing us computer-generated graphics rather than a digital photo — something you’ll probably have figured out long before that point. Euclideon’s proprietary design purportedly uses a laser scanner to create a point cloud model of a real-world area. That area can then be translated into a voxel renderer and drawn by a standard GPU. Supposedly this can be done so efficiently and with such speed that there’s no need for conventional load screens or enormous amounts of texture memory but rather by simply streaming data off conventional hard drives. Previously, critiques have pointed to animation as one area where the company’s technique might struggle. Given the ongoing lack of a demonstrated solution for animation, it’s fair to assume this would-be game-changer has some challenges still to solve. That said, some of the renderings are impressive. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Euclideon Teases Photorealistic Voxel-Based Game Engine

Tox, a Skype Replacement Built On ‘Privacy First’

An anonymous reader writes: Rumors of back door access to Skype have plagued the communication software for the better part of a decade. Even if it’s not true, Skype is owned by Microsoft, which is beholden to data requests from law enforcement. Because of these issues, a group of developers started work on Tox, which aims to rebuild the functionality of Skype with an emphasis on privacy. “The main thing the Tox team is trying to do, besides provide encryption, is create a tool that requires no central servers whatsoever—not even ones that you would host yourself. It relies on the same technology that BitTorrent uses to provide direct connections between users, so there’s no central hub to snoop on or take down.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Tox, a Skype Replacement Built On ‘Privacy First’

Why Earth’s Most Abundant Mineral Only Just Got Its Name

It sounds weird, but the most abundant mineral on Earth finally got a name last week, thanks to a century-old meteorite. What? How? Why did it take so long? There were a whole confluence of reasons it took bridgmanite so long to get its name. Read more…

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Why Earth’s Most Abundant Mineral Only Just Got Its Name

NASA’s Using Space Laser to Download Video From Orbit at Gigabit Speeds

NASA’s latest data download just covered way more distance, and contained way more awesome , than any earthbound file transfer: the agency beamed a high-def video down from the International Space Station this week using a high-powered laser . Go ahead and give your WiFi router a good stern look. Read more…

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NASA’s Using Space Laser to Download Video From Orbit at Gigabit Speeds

Animated Map Shows How Paved Roads Spread Across L.A. County

Is the L.A. of 2014 driving around on a road network built for the L.A. of the 1980s? That’s one conclusion two researchers at Arizona State University draw from their above data visualization , which uses building records from the Los Angeles County Assessor’s Office to infer the age of the metropolis’ roads. Green represents the oldest roads, red the newest. Read more…

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Animated Map Shows How Paved Roads Spread Across L.A. County

The Teeny, Tiny Microhouse Revolution That’s Giving the Homeless Homes

When most of us hear the term “microhouse, ” we think of the chic, wedge-shaped homes that have colonized the world’s wealthiest cities. But in a number of U.S. cities, microhouses are being used to house a different demographic—the very poor. Read more…        

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The Teeny, Tiny Microhouse Revolution That’s Giving the Homeless Homes

Learn how Hollywood screwed over the VFX industry in Life After Pi

In 2011-12, the VFX company Rhythm & Hues created the astounding effects for Ang Lee’s gorgeous movie The Life of Pi . Then they went bankrupt, fired their staff, and went out of business. Two weeks later they won an Oscar. The new documentary Life After Pi shows how this insanity was made possible. Read more…        

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Learn how Hollywood screwed over the VFX industry in Life After Pi

How LED Streetlights Will Change Cinema (And Make Cities Look Awesome)

The announcement last year that Los Angeles would be replacing its high-pressure sodium streetlights—known for their distinctive yellow hue— with new, blue-tinted LEDs might have a profound effect on at least one local industry. All of those LEDs, with their new urban color scheme, will dramatically change how the city appears on camera, thus giving Los Angeles a brand new look in the age of digital filmmaking. As Dave Kendricken writes for No Film School , “Hollywood will never look the same.” Read more…        

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How LED Streetlights Will Change Cinema (And Make Cities Look Awesome)