‘World’s fastest’ home internet service hits Japan with Sony’s help, 2Gbps down

Google Fiber might be making waves with its 1Gbps speeds , but it’s no match for what’s being hailed as the world’s fastest commercially-provided home internet service: Nuro. Launched in Japan yesterday by Sony-supported ISP So-net, the fiber connection pulls down data at 2Gbps, and sends it up at 1Gbps. An optical network unit (ONU) given to Nuro customers comes outfitted with three Gigabit ethernet ports and supports 450Mbps over 802.11 a/b/g/n. When hitched to a two-year contract, web surfers will be set back 4,980 yen ($51) per month and pony up a required 52,500 yen (roughly $ 540 ) installation fee, which is currently being waived for folks who apply online. Those lucky enough to call the Land of the Rising Sun home can register their house, apartment or small business to receive the blazing hookup, so long as they’re located within Chiba, Gunma, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Tokyo, Kanagawa or Saitama. Click the bordering source link for more details on signing up. Filed under: Internet , Sony Comments Via: Engadget Japanese Source: Nuro (translated)

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‘World’s fastest’ home internet service hits Japan with Sony’s help, 2Gbps down

‘World’s fastest’ home internet service hits Japan with Sony’s help, 2 Gbps down

Google Fiber might be making waves with its 1Gbps speeds , but it’s no match for what’s being hailed as the world’s fastest commercially-provided home internet service: Nuro. Launched in Japan yesterday by Sony-supported ISP So-net, the fiber connection pulls down data at 2 Gbps, and sends it up at 1 Gbps. An optical network unit (ONU) given to Nuro customers comes outfitted with three Gigabit ethernet ports and supports 450 Mbps over 802.11 a/b/g/n. When hitched to a two-year contract, web surfers will be set back 4,980 yen ($51) per month and pony up a required 52,500 yen (roughly $ 540 ) installation fee, which is currently being waived for folks who apply online. Those lucky enough to call the Land of the Rising Sun home can register their house, apartment or small business to receive the blazing hookup, so long as they’re located within Chiba, Gunma, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Tokyo, Kanagawa or Saitama. Click the bordering source link for more details on signing up. Filed under: Internet , Sony Comments Via: Engadget Japanese Source: Nuro (translated)

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‘World’s fastest’ home internet service hits Japan with Sony’s help, 2 Gbps down

Windows 8, take 2? Let’s see Start button, boot to desktop

Microsoft may be moving toward bringing back the Start button and allowing users to boot straight to the desktop with its coming Windows 8.1 release later this year. [Read more]        

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Windows 8, take 2? Let’s see Start button, boot to desktop

The Old DVD Player Sitting in Your Garage Can Test for HIV

Remember DVD players? Well, looks like they won’t be going the way of VHS tapes and cassettes (ask your parents) just yet. Because researchers have just figured out a way to turn them into affordable, blood-analyzing, cellular-imaging, laser-scanning microscopes capable of completing HIV tests in mere minutes. More »        

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The Old DVD Player Sitting in Your Garage Can Test for HIV

Scientists Succeed In Objectively Measuring Pain

In a much needed breakthrough, neuroscientists have developed a technique to predict how much physical pain people are feeling by looking at images of their brain scans. Read more…        

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Scientists Succeed In Objectively Measuring Pain

Scifi Remodel: People Who Have Converted Their Homes into Imaginary Worlds

As they sing in the Rocky Horror Picture Show , “Don’t dream it — be it.” That’s what these fans have done, by turing rooms and even whole apartments into the sets from their favorite science fiction shows and movies. Read more…        

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Scifi Remodel: People Who Have Converted Their Homes into Imaginary Worlds

IRS Can Read Your Email Without Warrant

kodiaktau writes “The ACLU has issued a FOIA request to determine whether the IRS gets warrants before reading taxpayers’ email. The request is based on the antiquated Electronic Communication Protection Act — federal agencies can and do request and read email that is over 180 days old. The IRS response can be found at the ACLU’s website. The IRS asserts that it can and will continue to make warrantless requests to ISPs to track down tax evasion. Quoting: ‘The documents the ACLU obtained make clear that, before Warshak, it was the policy of the IRS to read people’s email without getting a warrant. Not only that, but the IRS believed that the Fourth Amendment did not apply to email at all. A 2009 “Search Warrant Handbook” from the IRS Criminal Tax Division’s Office of Chief Counsel baldly asserts that “the Fourth Amendment does not protect communications held in electronic storage, such as email messages stored on a server, because internet users do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in such communications.” Again in 2010, a presentation by the IRS Office of Chief Counsel asserts that the “4th Amendment Does Not Protect Emails Stored on Server” and there is “No Privacy Expectation” in those emails.'” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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IRS Can Read Your Email Without Warrant

Teehan+Lax releases easy-to-use hyperlapse tool, blows everyone’s goddamn mind

Have you ever been clicking along a particularly stunning stretch of road in Google Street View and thought: damn, how awesome it would be if you could stitch all these individual images together and turn them into a video? Well… sit down. Clear your schedule. There’s something you need to see. Read more…        

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Teehan+Lax releases easy-to-use hyperlapse tool, blows everyone’s goddamn mind

The Search Engine More Dangerous Than Google

mallyn writes “This is an article about a search engine that is designed to look for devices on the net that are not really intended to be viewed and used by the general public. Devices include pool filters, skating rink cooling system, and other goodies. ‘Shodan runs 24/7 and collects information on about 500 million connected devices and services each month. It’s stunning what can be found with a simple search on Shodan. Countless traffic lights, security cameras, home automation devices and heating systems are connected to the Internet and easy to spot. Shodan searchers have found control systems for a water park, a gas station, a hotel wine cooler and a crematorium. Cybersecurity researchers have even located command and control systems for nuclear power plants and a particle-accelerating cyclotron by using Shodan. … A quick search for “default password” reveals countless printers, servers and system control devices that use “admin” as their user name and “1234” as their password. Many more connected systems require no credentials at all — all you need is a Web browser to connect to them.'” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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The Search Engine More Dangerous Than Google