management – Page 48 – Tech Today w/ Ken May

How a Bitcoin Transaction Actually Works

An anonymous reader writes “Michael Nielsen has written a detailed article describing the nuts and bolts of a Bitcoin transaction. He builds the concepts from the ground up, starting with a basic, no-frills digital currency. He then examines it for flaws and tweaks the currency to patch up areas where we run into technical or security problems. Eventually, he ends up with Bitcoin, and explains how a transaction works. It’s an interesting, technical read; much more in-depth than any explanation I’ve heard. Here’s a brief snippet from a walkthrough of the transaction data: ‘One thing to note about the input is that there’s nothing explicitly specifying how many bitcoins from the previous transaction should be spent in this transaction. In fact, all the bitcoins from the n=0th output of the previous transaction are spent. So, for example, if the n=0th output of the earlier transaction was 2 bitcoins, then 2 bitcoins will be spent in this transaction. This seems like an inconvenient restriction – like trying to buy bread with a 20 dollar note, and not being able to break the note down. The solution, of course, is to have a mechanism for providing change. This can be done using transactions with multiple inputs and outputs…'” Bitcoin is going through another period of heavy fluctuation: it fell from a high of around $1, 200 per bitcoin to roughly half that, and as of this writing trade around $760 per bitcoin. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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How a Bitcoin Transaction Actually Works

Babies: There's an App for That

Due out in January, the Mimo Baby Monitor shows the softer side of technology trickle-down. The key object is a baby onesie or “kimono” (kidmono! oh ho ho) employing Bluetooth Low Energy, wearable-washable sensors, and turtles. Once you’ve suited up your progeny in this thing, you’ll received real-time information on your babe’s position, breathing, temperature, sleep status, and future SAT scores on your phone. Although it has one proverbial foot on either side of the precious/practical divide, there definitely seems to be a trend towards wi-fying babies. Mimo is just one product in a small herd of baby-applied tech devices poised to crowd the digital shelves. Never mind tracking your runs and heart rate. You’re a new parent now; no time for running, and your heart rate is likely to be higher than healthy at all times. Get used to it, get the app, and get some rest. (more…)

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Babies: There's an App for That

U.S. Measles Cases Triple In 2013

An anonymous reader writes “The U.S. Centers for Disease Control have announced that measles cases in the U.S. spiked this year, rising to three times their recent average rate. It’s partly due to a greater number of people traveling to the U.S. when they’re infectious, but also because a frustrating number of people are either failing to have their children vaccinated, or are failing to do so in a timely manner. Dr. Thomas Friedman said, ‘Around 90 percent of the people who have had measles in this country were not vaccinated either because they refused, or were not vaccinated on time.’ Phil Plait adds, ‘In all three of these outbreaks, someone who had not been vaccinated traveled overseas and brought the disease back with them, which then spread due to low vaccination rates in their communities. It’s unclear how much religious beliefs themselves were behind the outbreaks in Brooklyn and North Carolina; it may have been due to widespread secular anti-vax beliefs in those tight-knit groups. But either way, a large proportion of the people in those areas were unvaccinated.'” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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U.S. Measles Cases Triple In 2013

Barcelona Will Be a Big Test For HotSpot 2.0 Wi-Fi Connections

alphadogg writes “There are currently several million smartphones certified to run on a ‘HotSpot 2.0’ Wi-Fi network, which promises automatic Wi-Fi authentication and connection, and seamless roaming between different Wi-Fi hotspot brands, and eventually between Wi-Fi and cellular connections. In November, about 400 smartphone users finally got a chance to do so — in Beijing, China. The next big public demonstration of what’s confusingly referred to as both Hotspot 2.0 and Next Generation Hotspot will be in February: an estimated 75, 000 attendees at the next Mobile World Congress in Barcelona will be able to take part.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Barcelona Will Be a Big Test For HotSpot 2.0 Wi-Fi Connections

Army 3D-Prints Futuristic Electronics In Its Own New Jersey Mini-City

Defense Systems reports on the Army’s 3D printing operation at the Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey, describing how they’ve been using additive manufacturing to print antennas into helmets, sensors into clothes, and even whole functioning batteries— among other things . Gizmodo was at the lab last week to see these machines in action, and to photograph the fascinating things going on in this “defense R&D mini-city.” [ Defense Systems ] Read more…

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Army 3D-Prints Futuristic Electronics In Its Own New Jersey Mini-City

Retail Radeon R9 290X Graphics Cards Slower Than AMD’s Press Samples

crookedvulture writes “AMD’s recently introduced Radeon R9 290X is one of the fastest graphics cards around. However, the cards sent to reviewers differ somewhat from the retail units available for purchase. The press samples run at higher clock speeds and deliver better performance as a result. There’s some variance in clock speeds between different press and retail cards, too. Part of the problem appears to be AMD’s PowerTune mechanism, which dynamically adjusts GPU frequencies in response to temperature and power limits. AMD doesn’t guarantee a base clock speed, saying only that the 290X runs at ‘up to 1GHz.’ Real-world clock speeds are a fair bit lower than that, and the retail cards suffer more than the press samples. Cooling seems to be a contributing factor. AMD issued a driver update that raises fan speeds, and that helps the performance of some retail cards. Retail units remain slower than the cards seeded to the press, though. Flashing retail cards with the press firmware raises clock speeds slightly, but it doesn’t entirely close the gap, either. AMD hasn’t explained why the retail cards are slower than expected, and it’s possible the company cherry-picked the samples sent to the press. At the very least, it’s clear that the 290X exhibits more card-to-card variance than we’re used to seeing in a PC graphics product.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Autodesk Announces CAM 360, World’s First Cloud-Based CAM Solution

So you’ve designed your product, run simulations on the model, figured out the PLM and rendered countless iterations. Now it’s time to actually machine the thing. Autodesk is now addressing this final step, taking advantage of Autodesk University’s packed attendance (10, 000-plus people this year!) to announce their new CAM 360 software , which they’re billing as the world’s first cloud-based CAM solution. CAM 360 is seen as the final puzzle piece in their cloud-based digital manufacturing software suite, following on the heels of PLM 360 (product lifecycle management), Sim 360 (simulation software) and Fusion 360 (design). By finally integrating the thing that actually generates the toolpaths for CNC, the company reckons manufacturers will enjoy a huge time savings. And the cloud-based approach confers three distinct benefits: 1) Customers no longer need worry which version of the software they and their collaborators are on; 2) Files can be accessed anywhere, anytime; and 3) they’ve got virtually limitless cloud-based computing power available to quickly crunch those monster files. The CAM 360 release date is pegged for next year. (more…)

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Autodesk Announces CAM 360, World’s First Cloud-Based CAM Solution

Epson Tries to One-up Google Glass with Moverio-Goggles (Video)

In the world of head-worn displays, Google Glass seems to lately get most of the praise as well as most of the dirty looks, though it’s far from alone. At this year’s DroidCon in London, I talked with Epson Europe product manager Marc-Antoine Godfroid about a very different kind of head-worn display: the Moverio BT-100. Epson’s display is running a Google operating system, but it isn’t competing with Glass, at least not directly. The hardware in this case is a relatively high-definition stereo display meant for immersion (whether that means information overlays or watching recorded video) hooked to an external control unit running Android, rather than the sparer, information-dashboard, all-in-one approach of Glass. One other big difference: Epson’s stereo, full-color headset is cheaper than Glass, and available now. Hit the link below to see what it looks like. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Epson Tries to One-up Google Glass with Moverio-Goggles (Video)

Swarm Mobile’s Offer: Free Wi-Fi In Exchange For Some Privacy

cagraham writes “Startup Swarm Mobile intends to help physical retailers counter online shopping habits by collecting data on their customer’s actions. Swarm’s platform integrates with store’s Wifi networks in order to monitor what exactly customers are doing while shopping. In exchange for collecting analytics, shoppers get access to free internet. Swarm then send reports to the store owners, detailing how many customers checked prices online, or compared rival products on their phones. Their platform also allows stores to directly send discount codes or coupons to shopper’s phones.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Three New Exoplanets Seen In Direct Photographs

The Bad Astronomer writes “Planets orbiting other stars are usually found indirectly (by blocking their stars’ light or inducing a Doppler shift in the light as they orbit, for example), but direct images of exoplanets are extremely rare. However, using the 10-meter Keck telescope in Hawaii, astronomers have taken photographs of three nearby exoplanets, all young, massive, and hot. One may be massive enough to count as a brown dwarf, but the other two are more likely in the planet-mass range. All three are very far from their stars, which means they may have formed differently than the planets in our solar system.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Three New Exoplanets Seen In Direct Photographs