Scared of snoops finding out what you’re searching for on Google? Have no fear: the comany has introduced encrypted search which gives the user the option to use SSL (Secure Socket Layer) to prevent packet sniffing which in turn could reveal user’s searches on the site
Iceland’s supply of renewable power has won its first high-profile international data centre customer. Web browser developer Opera Software was announced today as the first customer of the Thor Data Centre. The facility in Hafnarfjorour is one of several new data centre projects underway in Iceland, which has been actively marketing itself as a destination for data centres
Quantum teleportation has achieved a new milestone or, should we say, a new ten-milestone: scientists have recently had success teleporting information between photons over a free space distance of nearly ten miles, an unprecedented length. The researchers who have accomplished this feat note that this brings us closer to communicating information without needing a traditional signal, and that the ten miles they have reached could span the distance between the surface of the earth and space
For those of you who are new to my straps, some background– I started building watch straps back in the summer of 2005. I have large wrists and had a difficult time finding straps that would fit properly or were of the quality that I expected from a high-end watch strap so I decided to build my own. Since then, with the help of my partner Paolo, an Italian-born/trained leather master with nearly 40 years experience, I have built my brand around quality, craftsmanship, and customer service. I choose high-quality leathers that not only look great, but feel great as well. In addition to building the best watch straps, I also produce a few other items from belts to key fobs to wallets. Personally, I love simple, functional design and my products all reflect that — via Greg Steven Design
Google’s doodles start to become more interactive. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Pac-Man, Google created a doodle that lets you play the game. Go to Google’s home page and the game starts automatically after 10 seconds
An internet firm linked to many of the internet’s criminal gangs has been shut down. The US Federal Trade Commission said Belize-based 3FN aided gangs that ran botnets, carried out phishing attacks and traded in images of child abuse. The servers and net hardware of 3FN have been seized and are due to be sold off as the firm is dismantled. The operators of 3FN must also pay back $1.08m they are reputed to have made by hosting criminal sites
The US District Court of California has issued a permanent injunction against the BitTorrent search engine isoHunt, forcing it to shut down in the United States. IsoHunt is expected to block all access to US visitors in response to the decision, but no action has been taken thus far
Scientists in the US have succeeded in developing the first living cell to be controlled entirely by synthetic DNA. The researchers constructed a bacterium’s genetic software
and transplanted it into a host cell. The resulting microbe then looked and behaved like the species dictated
by the synthetic DNA
ASIC is finally going to get the power to intercept phone calls in its pursuit of insider traders, years after the US authorities were given the right to use phone taps to pursue convictions. Minister for Corporate Law Chris Bowen yesterday released draft legislation that will also increase criminal penalties for insider trading and sharemarket manipulation. Following a period of exposure for discussion, the federal government should be able to pass the increased powers into law later this year
Hewlett-Packard says it’s developing a next-generation wristwatch for the US military. The printing and computer company says the watch will have a flexible display that shows maps and other strategic information to soldiers in remote combat fields. The watch’s screen will be made of plastic and it will run on solar energy, making it less likely to malfunction or run out of power in a tense scenario. We call it a Dick Tracy watch,
said Carl Taussig, director of information surfaces at HP Labs in Palo Alto, California, in a reference to the comic-strip detective whose high-tech wristwatch doubled as a two-way radio
An expedition into the mountains of Papua New Guinea has revealed what may be the world’s smallest species of kangaroo. A research team that ventured into the Foja Mountains in 2008 have this week released their findings of a number of species new to science, including a new dwarf wallaby, Dorcopsulus. The wallaby inhabits the floor of the montane forests, and has been called beautiful
and gentle
by expeditioner Dr Kristofer Helgen, a zoologist at the Smithsonian Institution of Washington DC
Since the release of Time Machine, backing your Mac up has never been easier. If you want to back up different sets of files to more than one drive, though, this script will help you do so — via lifehacker
Office 2010 ramps up its attempts to protect viewers from dodgy documents, popping a warning and restricting editing on anything that gets emailed to you. If that seems like overkill, here’s how to fix it — via Lifehacker Australia
Get these beautiful printable CD cases by Tomoko Suzuki for Canon. You can choose from 2 designs: music and travel — via CRAFT
Struggling to make next month’s rent, you might be tempted to dig out some necklaces and rings you don’t wear and try to sell it to your friendly neighbourhood jeweller. But you might actually be buying a ticket to a sick magic show. The jeweller performs a blistering series of slight of hand tricks, whipping out calculators, spouting off fees, keeping your eye on the supposedly worthless diamonds under a tenth of a carat while double-deducting for the base metal. By the end, you slink out in a dizzied blur, accepting 1/5th of what the piece is actually worth. In this exclusive excerpt from the latest issue of Harper’s, ex-jeweller Clancy Martin takes you on a journey to the dark underbelly of the jewellery game — via The Consumerist
America’s dairy farmers could soon find themselves in the computer business, with the manure from their cows possibly powering the vast data centres of companies like Google and Microsoft. While not immediately intuitive, the idea plays on two trends: the building of computing centres in more rural locales, and dairy farmers’ efforts to deal with cattle waste by turning it into fuel. With the right skills, a dairy farmer could rent out land and power to technology companies and recoup an investment in the waste-to-fuel systems within two years, Hewlett-Packard engineers say in a research paper to be made public on Wednesday
This week marks the end of an era for one of the earliest pieces of Internet history, which got its start at Duke more than 30 years ago. On 20 May, Duke will shut down its Usenet server, which provides access to a worldwide electronic discussion network of newsgroups started in 1979 by two Duke graduate students, Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has pledged to tear through the statute book
to restore civil liberties after taking up his seat next to David Cameron in the House of Commons for the first time. In his first major speech since becoming the coalition Government’s champion of political reform, Mr Clegg will wage war on Labour’s “obsessive law-making” accusing the previous government of turning ordinary people into criminals by creating thousands of “pointless” criminal offences. He also offered the public a say in which should be repealed
Scientists have implanted the first functional glucose biofuel cell in a living animal. Unlike batteries that supply power to implants, a power-generating device may not have to be surgically removed and replaced, because glucose is a potentially limitless source of energy
A fifteen page story about the MMR vaccination controversy. As ever, I’m sure a few spelling errors have slipped past me. Feel free to point any out so I can correct them.
I did a ton of research on this piece. When I’ve got an extra minute, I’m going to add on a list of references, with links. Now! Let’s have a heated debate — via tallguywrites
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