smitty777 writes "Highlighting another unique way to use cutting edge DNA technology, the U.S. Department of Defense has a new weapon in its efforts to combat counterfeit parts: plant DNA. This article at Wired discusses how plant DNA can be used to make an almost unique code (1 in 1 trillion) for parts identification. A graphic shows some of the ways this could be done: bolts with DNA-marked coating, invisible bar codes, and fluorescing inks are some of the possible applications. In a similar but unrelated project, World Micro has a different solution to detect counterfeit items in the military that have been 'blacktopped,' where items have been re-surfaced to allow remarking."
asgard4 writes "In recent years GPUs have become powerful computing devices whose power is not only used to generate pretty graphics on screen but also to perform heavy computation jobs that were exclusively reserved for high performance super computers in the past. Considering the vast diversity and rapid development cycle of GPUs from different vendors, it is not surprising that the ecosystem of programming environments has flourished fairly quickly as well, with multiple vendors, such as NVIDIA, AMD, and Microsoft, all coming up with their own solutions on how to program GPUs for more general purpose computing (also abbreviated GPGPU) applications. With OpenCL (short for Open Computing Language) the Khronos Group provides an industry standard for programming heavily parallel, heterogeneous systems with a language to write so-called kernels in a C-like language. The OpenCL Programming Guide gives you all the necessary knowledge to get started developing high-performing, parallel applications for such systems with OpenCL 1.1." Keep reading for the rest of asgard4's review.
New submitter plsenjy writes "An article in the Atlantic outlines how Microsoft Corp. has submitted its support for a Washington State provision allowing gay couples to marry. Citing the company's inability to compete for top talent in the face of discrimination, Microsoft joins other firms such as Nike and Vulcan to effectively change moral policy from the top-down."
The weather in Detroit was frightful and Slashdot editor Timothy Lord was nine hours away. No problem! He loaded his camcorder and a bunch of other stuff in his car and drove to Detroit for the 2012 International Auto Show. In today's video he looks at the Tesla Model S. Next week we'll have more video highlights of the auto show for you, so stay tuned...
parallel_prankster writes "The Washington Post reports that a huge sunspot unleashed a blob of charged plasma Thursday that space weather watchers predict will blast past the Earth on Sunday. Satellite operators and power companies are keeping a close eye on the incoming cloud, which could distort the Earth's magnetic field and disrupt radio communications, especially at higher latitudes. The huge blob of charged gas spotted by NASA satellites is speeding toward Earth at more than 2 million mph. The most damaging solar discharges, which are very rare, can move at speeds more than twice that fast. Here's a more detailed article with some animation."
Velcroman1 writes "Worried about your online reputation? Let the Online Reputation Management buyer beware: The company that helps protect your reputation may have its own issues. Consider the case of Darren Meade, who in 2010 was working as interim CEO at a California company. In an effort to address a number of negative comments about both himself and his company online, his company hired Rexxfield, an ORM, also based in California. But Meade said he became concerned about the relationship with Rexxfield when he discovered the company wanted to sell illegal hacker code to scrub negative comments from the web — and planned a marketing campaign of fear based on the threat that it can wipe anyone offline. 'They called it Googlecide,' Meade said."
DMandPenfold writes "Two former Dell employees, including a former investor relations manager, were part of a $62 million record-breaking insider trading scam, involving the company's shares as well as Nvidia stock, according to the FBI. The news comes as the U.S. authorities step up their pursuit of inside traders. Two months ago, Galleon hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam was sentenced to 11 years in jail for his role in a scam involving AMD, IBM and 3Com stock. Yesterday, Sandeep Goyal, an employee at Dell's U.S. headquarters between 2006 and 2007 before becoming a financial analyst, was arrested. An unnamed co-conspirator in Dell's investor relations department from 2007 to 2009 is also alleged to have been part of the scam. ... Goyal allegedly made $175,000 by providing inside information about Dell to a hedge fund. He has pleaded guilty to charges of securities fraud."
angry tapir writes "Legacy VGA and DVI display ports are likely to be phased out in PCs over the next five years, according to a study by NPD In-Stat. Intel and Advanced Micro Devices are ending chipset support for VGA by 2015. The VGA interface was originally introduced in 1986 and DVI was introduced in 1999,"
PerlJedi writes "The future of innovation in America is the Maker movement. A new project being announced on the Makezine blog aims to bring low cost innovation and alternative manufacturing processes to schools in hopes of turbo-charging the next generation of inventors in the U.S. From the announcement: 'The new Makerspace program, developed by Dale Dougherty of MAKE and Dr. Saul Griffith of Otherlab, will integrate online tools for design and collaboration with low-cost options for physical workspaces where students may access educational support to gain practical hands-on experience with new technologies and innovative processes to design and build projects. The program has a goal of reaching 1000 high schools over four years, starting with a pilot program of 10 high schools in California during the 2012-2013 school year.'"
CSHARP123 writes "The Department of Justice launched an investigation into the 'No Poaching' agreement between Apple and Google in 2010, but details of the case were only made public for the first time yesterday. TechCrunch was the first to sift through the documents, and has uncovered some ostensibly incriminating evidence against not only Google and Apple, but Pixar, Lucasfilm, Adobe, Intel, and Intuit, as well. According to the filings from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Jose, these companies did indeed enter 'no poach' agreements with each other, and agreed to refrain from soliciting employees. The documents also indicate they collectively sought to limit their employees' power to negotiate for higher salaries."
gManZboy writes "Talk of individually tailored medical treatment isn't pie in the sky. This approach eventually will help us address risk factors even before a disease can invade our cells, and detect preclinical disease before it gets out of hand. What role will medical informatics play in this brave new world? Hint: Little data projects may be as important as big data projects such as gene sequencing. At a recent symposium on personalized medicine, Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD, chairman of the Department of Medical Ethics and Health at the University of Pennsylvania, questioned whether it would make more sense to target all the lifestyle mistakes that patients make rather than analyze genetic defects. His view: 'Personalized medicine misses the most important fact about modern society--little ill health and premature death is genetic, much more is lifestyle and social.' Is Emanuel a dinosaur or a pragmatist?"
An anonymous reader writes "Police in Teaneck, New Jersey, with apparently too much time on their hands, are investigating an offensive wireless network name. Although the police didn't reveal the name, the New York Daily News reports that it was anti-Semitic and racist in nature. The incident is being investigated as a possible 'bias crime.' It's definitely not what proper people do, but a 'bias crime?'"
Nach der Zerschlagung des Filesharing-Portals tauchen Gerüchte um eine Nachfolge-Seite auf - die von Ganoven gefälscht sein könnte. Die Spur von Megaupload führt auch in die Schweiz.
Fernsehen wird schon bald völlig anders aussehen, als wir es kennen. Davon ist Sunrise-CEO Oliver Steil überzeugt. Zeiten werden keine Rolle mehr spielen - jeder glotzt, wann er will.
Interaktive Grafiken und Videos statt trockener Bücher: Apple will mit multimedialen Lerninhalten für das iPad die Schulzimmer erobern. Ein Schweizer Bildungsexperte nimmt Stellung.
Kontrollen wie beim Geheimdienst und Ingenieure, die auf «Dummy Positions» angestellt werden: Ein Journalist zeigt, wie der mächtigste Tech-Konzern der Welt seine Geheimnisse wahrt.
Sie sind jung, verliebt und teilen alles - wirklich alles. Als Zeichen des gegenseitigen Vertrauens tauschen junge Leute sogar ihre Passwörter aus. Ein riskanter Liebesbeweis.
US-Staatsanwälte haben den File-Hoster Megaupload.com gesperrt. Sie werfen den Betreibern Urheberrechtsverstösse vor. Als Reaktion darauf legte Anonymous mehrere Webseiten von US-Behörden lahm.
Ein deutscher iPad-Zauberer versetzt die französisch sprechenden Leser von «20 Minutes Online» ins Staunen. Seit einem Monat lachen sich täglich Tausende Romands krumm und schief ob der Tricks des Geek-Magiers.
Sunrise hat ab nächster Woche auch ein TV-Angebot im Sortiment. Der besondere Trumpf: Nachhol-TV, das es dem Nutzer erlaubt verpasste Sendungen anzuschauen.
Erfüllt dieselben Funktionen wie jede andere Toilette, sieht aber viiiel besser aus: Mit seinem «iPoo» veräppelt der Künstler Milo Paripović die Design-verliebte Apple-Community.
Jahrelang blieb es ruhig in den virtuellen Höhen. 2012 melden sich jedoch gleich zwei Flugsimulatoren zurück. Können sie es mit dem König der Lüfte, dem «Flight Simulator X», aufnehmen?
Für wen «Call of Duty» zu unrealistisch und echter Krieg zu gefährlich ist, gibt es «Battlefield Live». Bei der Kriegssimulation wird das Gamepad gegen ein Lasergewehr getauscht.
Das Online-Lexikon Wikipedia hat seinen eintägigen Protest gegen die geplanten Online-Gesetze beendet. Die Wirkung kann sich sehen lassen.
Der japanische Autobauer Nissan hat eine Smartphone-Schutzhülle entwickelt, die kleine Kratzer wie von Zauberhand verschwinden lässt.
Beim Internet-Urgestein Yahoo haben sich am Dienstag die Ereignisse überschlagen. Nachdem erst vor zwei Wochen ein neuer Firmenchef gefunden worden war, verabschiedete sich überraschend der mächtige Mitgründer Jerry Yang aus dem Unternehmen.
Nicht in der Bundeshauptstadt oder im Tessin, sondern in der Nordwestschweiz plant Apple den vierten Retail-Store. Das berichtet macprime.ch. Allerdings gibt es Hindernisse.
Der Gratis-Messenger WhatsApp wurde aus dem Apps Store verbannt. Da sich Apple und die App-Entwickler zu den Gründen ausschweigen, schiessen die Spekulationen ins Kraut.
Der südkoreanische Mischkonzern Samsung plant in diesem Jahr Investitionen in Rekordhöhe von umgerechnet fast 40 Milliarden Schweizer Franken.
Wer seinen Internet-Anschluss bei Swisscom hat, schaute heute Morgen in die Röhre. Von der Internet-Störung betroffen waren schweizweit Privatkunden von Romanshorn bis Genf.
Als erstes Technologie-Unternehmen der Welt ist Apple der Fair Labor Association beigetreten. Der neue Apple-Chef sagt der Geheimniskrämerei Goodbye.
Computer und Notebooks werden von teuren Handys und Tablets verdrängt. Experten sprechen bereits von einer Post-PC-Ära.