Researcher Can Hack Airplanes Through In-Flight Entertainment Systems

If you’re about to get on an airplane, you might want to wait until you land before you read this post. Because cyber security whiz Ruben Santamarta has devised a method that can give hackers access to a passenger jet’s satellite communications equipment through the passenger Wi-Fi and in-flight entertainment systems*. And that’s scary. Read more…

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Researcher Can Hack Airplanes Through In-Flight Entertainment Systems

NFL Will Let Teams Use Microsoft Surface Tablets On The Sidelines During Games

 In the first instance of tablets and mobile computing devices being used on the sidelines of NFL games, Microsoft Surface tablets will be used by coaches and players in the upcoming season as part of a reported $400 million multi-year deal between the NFL and Microsoft. The Sideline Viewing System is meant to help coaches and players study their opponents in realtime from the sideline, which… Read More

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NFL Will Let Teams Use Microsoft Surface Tablets On The Sidelines During Games

BitTorrent Bleep: The P2P Plan to Make the World’s Most Secure Chat

Last fall, BitTorrent (the company) announced and experimental plan to build a secure chat system using the protocol that’s most famous for enabling file sharing. Today, we’re getting our first look at the what will eventually become a finished product: BitTorrent Bleep. Read more…

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BitTorrent Bleep: The P2P Plan to Make the World’s Most Secure Chat

Fed Wiretappers Can’t Keep Up With All These New Chat Apps

Wiretapping used to be straightforward. Potential drug lord? Bug his phone! But the proliferation of online chat options is making it hard for law enforcement officials and intelligence agents to carry out court-ordered wiretaps. Read more…

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Fed Wiretappers Can’t Keep Up With All These New Chat Apps

QBlinks Is A Multi-Use Remote Control And Notification Center For Your iPhone

 Qblinks wants to be the Swiss Army knife of iPhone remote controllers. The Bluetooth LE device, which is currently seeking $35, 000 on Kickstarter, can be used to alert you to notifications from different apps on your smartphone; as a camera remote shutter; to activate Siri; play music; and help you find missing phones by prompting it to ring even when it is in silent mode. Qblinks even has… Read More

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QBlinks Is A Multi-Use Remote Control And Notification Center For Your iPhone

More Forgotten Vials of Deadly Diseases Discovered

schwit1 (797399) writes FDA officials now admit that when they discovered six undocumented vials of smallpox in a facility in Maryland they also found 327 additional vials that contained dengue, influenza, and rickettsia. “FDA scientists said they have not yet confirmed whether the newly disclosed vials actually contained the pathogens listed on their labels. The agency is conducting a nationwide search of all cold storage units for any other missing samples. Investigators destroyed 32 vials containing tissue samples and a non-contagious virus related to smallpox. Several unlabeled vials were sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for testing and the remaining 279 samples were shipped to the Department of Homeland Security for safekeeping.” The FDA’s deputy director is quoted with what might be the understatement of the year. “The reasons why these samples went unnoticed for this long is something we’re actively trying to understand.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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More Forgotten Vials of Deadly Diseases Discovered

MIT Students Create An Ice Cream Printer

 You scream, I scream, we all transform an off-the-shelf Cuisinart soft-serve maker to extrude super-cooled and 3D-printed shells of ice cream! Three students at MIT, Kyle Hounsell, Kristine Bunker, and David Donghyun Kim, have created a homemade ice cream printer that extrudes soft serve and immediately freezes it so that it can be layered on a cooled plate. The system is a proof-of-concept… Read More

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MIT Students Create An Ice Cream Printer

Why You’ve Never Heard of This Typeface That Defined the 1980s

Apple, Trapper Keeper, and Reebok: Three of the most well-known brands of the 1980s, and three companies that used the same futuristic-looking typeface to do it. So why isn’t the typeface a classic like other period pieces *cough*Helvetica*cough*? Fate is a funny thing. Read more…

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Why You’ve Never Heard of This Typeface That Defined the 1980s

Google Maps Update Lets You Measure Distances (or Aimlessly Doodle)

Ever try measuring the straight-line distance between two points on Google Maps? You had to hold some object or appendage up to the little scale, then eyeball-measure the distance on your screen. What a mess. No more—a new update puts the task a right-click away . Also, you can doodle with it. Read more…

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Google Maps Update Lets You Measure Distances (or Aimlessly Doodle)