Archive for the ‘Technology’ Category

Linux against poverty

Sunday, July 19th, 2009

linux-penguin

My good friend Linear B of Geekaustin fame recently started a nifty program called Linux against poverty. The program accepts donated PCs and Linux is installed on them and distributed to kids in lower income areas where computer access is more limited.  Right now the program could still use some volunteers as well as more machines.

The first Austin Install Fest is taking place on August 1st. Details below:

Date: 1PM, Saturday, August 1st
Location: Union Park
612 W 6th St, Austin, 78701 (map)

LAP is getting a resounding response and is on the verge of going global. So please anyone reading this, if you’ve got some spare time or an old laptop sitting in the back of a closet, feel free to donate.

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Posted in Computers, Technology |

FCC is now allowed to search your home without a warrant

Thursday, May 21st, 2009

banned!

As reported by Wired.com, in a shocking declaration by the Federal Communications Commission, according to the Communications Act of 1934. If you own any wireless RF device, this includes a baby monitor, wireless router, cell phone or cordless phones, the FCC has a right to enter the property and inspect the item in question:

You may not know it, but if you have a wireless router, a cordless phone, remote car-door opener, baby monitor or cellphone in your house, the FCC claims the right to enter your home without a warrant at any time of the day or night in order to inspect it.

That’s the upshot of the rules the agency has followed for years to monitor licensed television and radio stations, and to crack down on pirate radio broadcasters. And the commission maintains the same policy applies to any licensed or unlicensed radio-frequency device.

I imagine that this will be challenged in court but according to the Wired.com article, the FCC is trying to shut down “Pirate” radio stations. I understand the need to monitor radio stations to make sure that there isn’t some complete wacko giving out advice on how to commit crimes or something but it seems like that information can be ascertained by actually listening to the station!

Repeat after me!  You will not listen to anything over the airwaves that the government and corporations do not control or cannot monitor. Failure to comply will result in financial ruin.

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Tired of your wheelchair holding you back? Introducing… the Tank Chair!

Thursday, April 23rd, 2009

From a Tankchair LLC, the Tank Chair is a raging paraplegics wet dream. If you are tired of rolling around on flat stable surfaces, you can get all medieval and mount up on a TC! All kidding aside, it seems to be a legitimate device. The story behind the invention is an interesting one, it seemingly shows great determination and love for the builder’s disabled wife.

tank-chair

I tell you now, if I am ever striken down and must roll in a chair, I’m going to don a shiny chrome gargoyle head helmet and  I’m getting one of these steeds and heading down the road waving a golden battle axe! I swear to you!

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Posted in Gadget, Health, Technology |

Pirate bay judge biased?

Thursday, April 23rd, 2009

judge

For those of us who have watched the Pirate bay trial followed by the stunning verdicts, some breaking news has come out of Swedish National Radio. According to the Wired article:

One of the four men convicted in The Pirate Bay trial is seeking to have his guilty verdict thrown out after learning that the judge in the trial is a member of two pro-copyright groups, including one whose membership includes entertainment industry representatives who argued in the case.

Stockholm district court judge, Tomas Norström told a Swedish newspaper that his previously-undisclosed entanglements with the copyright groups did not constitute a conflict of interest.

The groups include the Swedish Association of Copyright, a discussion forum. Henrik Pontén of the Swedish Anti-Piracy Bureau, Monique Wadsted, a motion picture industry lawyer, and Peter Danowsky from the recording industry’s IFPI are members of the organizations, and were largely responsible for pressing the case against The Pirate Bay before the judge.

Looks like justice is not blind in Sweden either. Lets hope the Pirate bay guys escape the noose and sail off into the sunset. Go pirates, go!

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The impending decline of IT wages in the U.S.?

Tuesday, March 31st, 2009

I ran into this interesting article on the Computerworld blogs and the upcoming trend is that the IT workers in the U.S. will eventually have to equalize with workers in other parts of the world in order to stay competitive.

IBM is increasingly outsourcing the IT work to India while keeping the high paid executives here in the U.S. (sound familiar?) to manage offshore teams. I guess its sort of like Walmart buying cheap chinese goods and selling back to the consumers here in the U.S but instead its technology being developed in places like India and China and being resold back to the U.S. corporations.

From the article:

Ron Hira, an assistant professor of public policy at the Rochester Institute of Technology and author of Outsourcing America, says this chart represents a departure point for IBM.

“I think this moment was so important because it was when Big Blue made the fateful decision to compete by substituting low cost workers in India and elsewhere for high-cost American workers,” said Hira. “Instead of choosing to compete by investing in better tools, technologies, and training for their American workforce, they chose to compete their American workers head to head with workers in other countries who can afford to be paid less. And they gave those workers in low-cost countries the same, or better, tools, technologies and training, as their American workforce,” he said.

Is IT the next domino to fall?

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China develops a super weapon that can sink U.S. carriers?

Tuesday, March 31st, 2009

The United States Naval Institute is reporting that the Chinese military has an operational anti ship ballistic missile (ABSM) system that can sink a U.S. aircraft carrier with one strike. It supposedly has a 2000 kilometer range and flies at speeds of Mach 10!

From the article:

The size of the missile enables it to carry a warhead big enough to inflict significant damage on a large vessel, providing the Chinese the capability of destroying a U.S. supercarrier in one strike.

Because the missile employs a complex guidance system, low radar signature and a maneuverability that makes its flight path unpredictable, the odds that it can evade tracking systems to reach its target are increased. It is estimated that the missile can travel at mach 10 and reach its maximum range of 2000km in less than 12 minutes.

Supporting the missile is a network of satellites, radar and unmanned aerial vehicles that can locate U.S. ships and then guide the weapon, enabling it to hit moving targets.

What is even more troubling is that according to the article there is no reliable defense systems on ships that deter ballistic missiles.

I can’t help but to wonder that while China stresses engineering and mathematics in their school systems while the U.S. wallows in beer bong fraternities and M TV spring break. Was this disconcerting news ever in doubt?

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Posted in Technology, War, World |

Agile development explained

Monday, March 2nd, 2009

Oh how true it is…

From the Geek Hero comic.

2009-02-21-agile-development-explained1

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XBOX live DDOS attacks allow players to kick fellow opponents off the network

Friday, February 27th, 2009

xbox_live_ddos

From Arstechnica:

In the latest series of unfortunate events for the Microsoft corporation, the Xbox live network is suffering from malicious attacks from hackers that allow them to flood fellow opponents connections with a Denial of service attack that kicks the victim off of the Live network.

To exacerbate the situation, the hackers that discovered this exploit are selling their services to fellow X-bots for $20 dollars an attack. From the article:

Since Xbox Live games connect to the Internet like everything else, using an IP address, it’s possible for hackers to discover your address using underground packet-sniffing software, then flood the Xbox port with incoming data to boot you off. Other offenders are reportedly asking for an IP address by sneaky means before opening the denial-of-service floodgates.

Wow, am I glad I don’t have to pay $8 bucks a month for my PS3 online playing time…

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Interactive map of the universe

Monday, November 24th, 2008

One of the coolest uses of interactive technology around. Its called the 4D2U (four dimensional digital universe) project. Its an online project hosted by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. Its essentially a 3D interactive map of the the known universe. I played with this for over a half hour touring the images and the mind blowing movies. One of the top 5 amazing and interesting sites I’ve ever used on the web. Check it out here!

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“Yellow dots of mystery” explained?

Wednesday, November 19th, 2008

According to the EFF, most color printers and copiers have been printing “yellow dots” on documents since 2004. These “dots” are encoding marks that can be used to identify the origin of a document. From their website:

Printer dot surveillance is a disturbing end run around individuals’ right to anonymous speech. Anonymity is a vital freedom — it can help political or religious speakers, labor organizers, or whistleblowers avoid retribution for their beliefs and opinions. Around the world, anonymity is an important practical protection for dissidents and religious groups against persecution by repressive governments.

Furthermore, it’s deeply troubling that printer manufacturers implemented this surveillance mechanism under the table after secret meetings between government representatives and technology manufacturers. Printer companies don’t disclose the tracking to their customers and so the existence of these yellow tracking dots remains secret.

Pretty interesting findings. Read the whole article here. What makes it even more interesting is the docucolor decoder guide posted here.

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