Category: Techie

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From Ars Technica: Critics slam SSL authority for minting certificate for impersonating sites


Critics are calling for the ouster of Trustwave as a trusted issuer of secure sockets layer certificates after it admitted minting a credential it knew would be used by a customer to impersonate websites it didn’t own.

The so-called subordinate root certificate allowed the customer to issue SSL credentials that Internet Explorer and other major browsers would accept as valid for any server on the Internet. The unnamed buyer of this skeleton key used it to perform what amounted to man-in-the-middle attacks that monitored users of its internal network as they accessed SSL-encrypted websites and services. The data-loss-prevention system used a hardware security module to ensure the private key at the heart of the root certificate wasn’t accidentally leaked or retrieved by hackers.

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from Ars Technica

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From Ars Technica: Forget transparent aluminum: researchers make iron invisible to X-rays


Transparency is generally a property of a material’s density or
crystal structure, and varies depending on the wavelength of
light. However, transparency can also be achieved by exploiting quantum interference between energy level transitions in atoms. Up until now, such transparency has been confined to optical
wavelengths, due to the
typical energies of atomic transitions.

Transitioning between energy levels within atomic nuclei (instead of electron transitions) involves much
higher energies, corresponding to hard X-ray frequencies. Ralf
Röhlsberger, Hans-Christian Wille, Kai
Schlage, and Balaram Sahoo of the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY) in
Germany have induced transparency in iron-57 nuclei, using an X-ray
laser to drive the nuclei to resonance. The experiment not only made
the iron nuclei nearly vanish, but also slowed the X-ray photons to a
small fraction of their usual speed. This result holds out the
tantalizing possibility of quantum optics in the nuclear regime,
providing us new ways of manipulating light at far higher energies than
have previously been possible.

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from Ars Technica

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From Autoblog: Official: 2013 Hyundai Elantra Coupe has the Civic in its Fluidic sights

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Hyundai wants its Elantra to dominate the C segment, and that means in all body styles. The just-introduced five-door GT is set to battle the Ford Focus and Subaru Impreza hatchbacks, and this new Elantra Coupe clearly has the two-door Honda Civic in its sights.

The four-door Elantra already wears pretty rakish sheetmetal that carries over nicely to the Coupe, which is actually half an inch longer than the sedan (173.8 inches versus 173.3 inches). The other dimensions are identical to the sedan, and Hyundai cites greater interior room as one of the Coupe’s advantages over its competition. By contrast, the Honda Civic Coupe is 0.3 inches shorter than the Elantra Coupe, and the Honda rides on a three-inch shorter wheelbase.

The Elantra Coupe has more power than the Honda Civic Coupe and the manual should get 1 mpg more in the city and 4 more mpg on the highway

Hyundai’s new two-door gets the same 1.8-liter inline four-cylinder being liberally spread across the line, with the same 148 horsepower and 131 pound-feet as the Elantra GT and the same pair of six-speed manual and automatic transmissions. Mileage is estimated to be 29 city/40 highway for the manual and 28 city/39 highway for auto. This means the Elantra Coupe has more power than the Honda Civic Coupe and, if the fuel economy numbers hold true, the manual would get 1 mpg more in the city and 4 more mpg on the highway, but both slushbox cars would be dead even.

There will be two Elantra Coupe trims: base GS or top-spec SE. Both have been tuned for extra sportiness versus the sedan and, as we’ve come to expect, while Hyundai throws plenty at the GS, the SE gets the truly sporty goods. The SE swaps the 16-inch standard rims for 17-inchers, gets a rear “lip spoiler design element,” even more suspension tuning for its lower-profile tires, and only it offers the option of touchscreen navigation and a rear-view camera. Both models, however, will get seven exterior colors, three of them Coupe-only, but inside it’s nothing but black or grey.

Pricing should come soon, but for now, enjoy the press release after the jump and the high-res gallery of images. Stay tuned for more impressions live from the Chicago Auto Show floor.

Continue reading 2013 Hyundai Elantra Coupe has the Civic in its Fluidic sights

 

from Autoblog

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From Engadget: Google Voice update for Android brings design refresh and asynchronous SMS

Google Voice update for Android brings design refresh and asynchronous SMS

A new version of Google Voice has just crawled out of the woodwork, and while the changes are minor, we think most users will like what’s in store. First and foremost, we were greeted with a new, darker interface that better matches Honeycomb’s design philosophy, along with a refreshed icon that more closely resembles the messaging app in Ice Cream Sandwich. There’s also a curious new feature known as asynchronous SMS, which allows you to queue up messages for later delivery when you happen to be without signal. To test this out, we put our handset into airplane mode, fired off a few texts — which showed up as queued — and then took our phone back onto the network. Once back online, the messages were delivered as expected. And hey, it can’t get much better than that, really.

 

from Engadget

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From Engadget: Hasbro reinvents Lazer Tag for the smartphone generation, lets you live out your Doom-fueled fantasies

Hasbro NERF Lazer Tag

Xappr and appBlaster are fine weaponizers for your smartphone, provided you don’t care to share your violent tendencies with your friends. Thankfully, Hasbro is bridging the gap between new-school AR shooter and that teenage classic — laser tag. The NERFLazer Tag system is getting an update for 2012 that lets you pair your blaster with an iPhone or iPod touch. The top of the plastic guns now sport a slot for your iDevice which, when loaded with the Lazer Tag app, provides you with an augmented HUD view. While you can play against purely virtual opponents, the real fun is in using to track your battles with fleshy foes. The app will display your gear and power level, and update your progress on a global Lazer Tag leaderboard. As you play, new attacks and gear will be unlocked for you to enhance your gaming experience. The app will even actually show your blasts’ trajectory, letting you see exactly where you shot your former friend. The 2012 edition of Lazer Tag will hit shelves on August 1st with individual blasters costing $40 and sets of two $70. Check out the PR and a screen shot of the app after the break.

Continue reading Hasbro reinvents Lazer Tag for the smartphone generation, lets you live out your Doom-fueled fantasies

 

from Engadget

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From MAKE: New in the Maker Shed: Alpha Particle Detecting Geiger Counter Kit

Why spend $400+ on a Geiger Counter when you can build your own for a fraction of the price? This new Geiger Counter Kit, available in the Maker Shed, was featured in MAKE: Volume 29 and is able to detect α(alpha), β(beta) and γ(gamma) radiation using the included GMT-01 tube. The simple to build kit can be soldered together in a few hours and is designed to be reliable and long lasting. When complete, the Geiger counter will output a click and flash an LED each time a radioactive particle is detected. The unit has two digital TTL logic pulse outputs that allow connection to a number of accessory instruments such as a a data logger, Digital Meter, or RS-232 adapter for connection to a PC (none included.)

Features

  • GMT-01 tube detects α(alpha) β(beta) and γ(gamma) radiation
  • 2 digital outputs
  • Flashing LED and audio clicker alert you to detected radiation.
  • Robust circuit design
  • 9V battery not included

 

from MAKE