It was one thing when Google’s Chrome apps managed to break out of the browser and become real, offline apps, but clearly that is not Google’s real long-term play. A recent update to the developer version of Google Chrome basically runs Chrome OS inside of Windows 8 . Read more…
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Google Is Sneaking Chrome OS Into Windows 8’s "Metro" Mode
It’s one of those unintended consequences of medication that you rarely think about. What happens when parents are using a medical cream, and then they hug their kids? In two recent cases, it caused toddlers to go through early puberty. Read more…
An anonymous reader writes “Valve has revealed their first Steam Machines prototype details. The first 300 Steam Machine prototypes to ship will use various high-end Intel CPUs and NVIDIA GPUs while running their custom SteamOS Linux distribution. The Intel Haswell CPU + NVIDIA GPU combination should work well on Linux with the binary drivers. Using a range of CPUs/GPUs in the prototypes will allow them to better gauge the performance and effectiveness. Valve also said they will be releasing the CAD design files to their custom living room console enclosure for those who’d like to reproduce them.” Valve is careful to point out that these specs aren’t intended as a standard: “[T]o be clear, this design is not meant to serve the needs of all of the tens of millions of Steam users. It may, however, be the kind of machine that a significant percentage of Steam users would actually want to purchase — those who want plenty of performance in a high-end living room package. Many others would opt for machines that have been more carefully designed to cost less, or to be tiny, or super quiet, and there will be Steam Machines that fit those descriptions.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Everyone, say hello to WildCat, a robotic quadruped that can run 16 mph (26 kph) without tethers. It joins an already impressive cast of conceptual bots, including an updated version of ATLAS — who, as showcased in a must-see new video, may soon appear on an episode of American Ninja . Read more…
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The U.S. military’s robopocalyptic army is starting to take shape
First time accepted submitter wmr89502270 writes “Doctor Who is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The special The Day of The Doctor will be broadcast simultaneously in over 75 countries and hundreds of cinemas in the UK. Across the world the hotly anticipated special episode will be screened simultaneously in full 3D. According to Copyright law of the United Kingdom, the copyright in a broadcast program expires 50 years from the end of the year in which it is broadcast, which means the first episodes will fall to public domain next year.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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First Few Doctor Who Episodes May Fall To Public Domain Next Year
Depending on where you get your DVR, it may or may not have the ability to skip commercials. The best ones have a button that lets you jump forward, but if your DVR was issued by a cable or satellite company, they may have hidden or removed it. Here are some semi-secret ways to do it anyway. Read more…
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How to Enable a Hidden Commercial-Skipping Button on Any DVR
There have been no end of reports about the NSA’s mind-blowing decrytion techniques . But just how much of it is super-smart computer science, and how much is brute force? Read more…
It doesn’t matter how efficient we make their engines or how many solar panels we install on their decks, the world’s largest cargo ships—those water-bound leviathans on which international trade depends—will require massive amounts of fuel for the foreseeable future. However, this conceptual super-carrier could potentially save billions of barrels of petrol every year just by harnessing the wind. Read more…
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This Massive Cargo Ship Will Harness the Wind With Its Hull
cagraham writes “Microsoft’s cloud storage platform Azure received their first government certification yesterday, less than 24 hours before the official shutdown. The certification, which grants Azure ‘Provisional Authority to Operate, ‘ should make it easier for Microsoft to compete with rivals like IBM and Amazon Web Services for government contracts. The certification signifies that the Department of Defense, Homeland Security, and US General Services Administration have all deemed Azure safe from external hackers. Government cloud contracts are a lucrative market, as seen by Amazon’s recent tussle with IBM over a $600M contract for a private CIA cloud.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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Microsoft Azure Platform Certified "Secure" By Department of Defense
If you’re planning on stealing anything from the London Borough of Brent, you might want to think twice—or at least hope you look good in green. The Brent Police Department has a crazy new secret weapon that covers crooks head to toe in a semipermanent emerald, ultraviolet glow. And they have no idea until it’s too late. Read more…
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SmartWater Booby Trap Secretly Turns Thieves Green for Weeks