Credit Card-Sized Chip Detects 100% of AIDS Cases

Posted on August 3, 2011 by StevenTorresRamos

If the global AIDS epidemic will ever be put down, letting people know they’re infected to begin will be a huge part of the solution. So how can it be better? Putting an AIDS clinic in a $1 card helps.

The incredible mChip can diagnose both HIV and syphilis in 15 minutes, FastCo Incredible quality number two: it only costs a dollar. Incredible quality number three: it has a one hundred percent detection rate (albeit with a 4-6% chance of a false positive).

The Columbia University researchers who developed the mChip hope to debut it in Rwanda—where it’ll also be able to beam test results to remote servers for easy patient organization. Hey, that’s incredible quality number four! [Columbia via FastCo]

via Credit Card-Sized Chip Detects 100% of AIDS Cases.

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Operation Shady Rat Is The Largest Cyber Attack Ever Uncovered

Posted on August 3, 2011 by StevenTorresRamos

 

If it wasnt true before, its definitely true now. Hacking isnt just for giggles, its a major threat to international security.On Wednesday, McAfee released a 14-page report that details the largest coordinated cyber attack recorded to date. This particular attack, possibly orchestrated by China, broke into 72 organizations over the course of five years.The targets include the US, Canada, Taiwan, India, South Korea, and Vietnam. The attack also hit the UN, the International Olympic Committee, the World Anti-doping agency, defense contractors, tech companies and more. Most attacks lasted less than a month, but some, like that on the UN Secretariat, lasted for almost two years.We may have wanted to stick our fingers in our ears and pretend a cyber attack like this wasnt happening, but after this report, even my grandmother will know what this “cyber thingamabobber” is [Reuters; Shutterstock/Alexander Lukin]

via Operation Shady Rat Is The Largest Cyber Attack Ever Uncovered.

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The First Image of the Worlds New Tallest Building

Posted on August 3, 2011 by StevenTorresRamos

 

This is the first image of whats going to become the tallest building in the world by the end of the decade: The 3,280-foot one kilometer! Kingdom Tower. It will dwarf the 2,717-foot 828-meter Burj Khalifa. Take a look.Until now, there was only one blurry generic sketch. This image is an actual rendering of the finished tower. According to Chicagos Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, the buildings designers, construction will begin imminently. The foundation plans are now complete and “the piling for the tower is currently being tendered” in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, near the Red Sea

via The First Image of the Worlds New Tallest Building.

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Murder by Facebook

Posted on August 3, 2011 by StevenTorresRamos

 

Six months after the murder of 19-year old student Jason Rodriguez, Orlando police have finally arrested a suspect. Six months. Thats how long it took to untangle the digital detritus of one of the most twisted internet-enabled crimes in memory.It started with a scorned lover. Rodriguez, an amateur bodybuilder enrolled at Valencia Community College, had recently begun dating the ex-girlfriend of Israel Nieves pictured above, when he started to receive messages from another woman on Facebook. Or so he thought.The woman, named Ty Ann, exchanged flirty texts and emails with Rodriguez for a couple of weeks. They even video chatted once, building enough of a relationship that when Ty Ann asked Rodriguez to meet her, in person, at her house, he readily agreed. At around 10:15, he pulled up to the address hed been given at the corner of Pavilion Drive and Holly Springs Circle. He texted a friend to let them know hed made it:”Heading to the chick house … by Valencia like right there Ill text for the Im good.”Except there was no Ty Ann. There was no house. There was just, detectives say, Israel Nieves, bandana pulled over his face, gun in hand, waiting to settle whatever score hed dreamed up when his ex had left him in December. One shot through the side window later, and Rodriguez was dead.

via Murder by Facebook.

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Maserati Gran Turismo S Superior Black Edition | Uncrate

Posted on August 2, 2011 by StevenTorresRamos

And the strange, nearly unexplainable string of ebony-themed luxury cars rolls on with the Maserati Gran Turismo S Superior Black Edition ($TBA). Created by the mad minds at Anderson Germany, the Superior features a silky matte black exterior treatment, glossy black 21-inch wheels, new carbon fiber replacements for the hoot, mirrors, tailgate, and roof ledges, an enhanced 4.7-liter V8 pumping out 492 hp, a slew of carbon fiber and black Alcantara elements in the interior, and even a PS3 — although whether it’s the shiny black or matte black model is anyone’s guess.

via Maserati Gran Turismo S Superior Black Edition | Uncrate.

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Hulu rumored to be considering a sale after receiving an offer from… Yahoo? — Engadget

Posted on August 2, 2011 by StevenTorresRamos

This afternoon rumors rapidly spread that an unnamed company had offered to purchase Hulu from its media giant owners, and now the LA Times Company Town blog has fingered that entity as Yahoo. According to the initial Wall Street Journal report, the offer received was not solicited, but it has caused the board to consider soliciting offers from other companies. The last time CEO Jason Kilar checked in he was looking forward to breaking one million Hulu Plus subscribers, now we’re wondering which giant may be first in line to snap the streaming site up and add its content licenses to their warchest. Whatever happens, the newly formed NBCUniversal conglomerate won’t have a say in it after forfeiting its board seats to get the merger approved. Drop in your wildly speculative commentary below — rumors including YouTube, iTunes, Xbox, or some insane Spotify rumor you just made up, we’re willing to listen to them all.

via Hulu rumored to be considering a sale after receiving an offer from… Yahoo? — Engadget.

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Rolltisserie | Uncrate

Posted on August 2, 2011 by StevenTorresRamos

RolltisserieWhether youre a professional tailgater, the designated family reunion chef, or simply have a reason to make unreasonably large quantities of smoked food, you would do well to check out the Rolltisserie $6,700-$7,300. Made entirely of 304 stainless steel and mounted on dedicated trailers, these mammoth smokers combine a fully automatic, gas-fired, wood-smoking oven with a digital temperature control system and over-sized self-basting rotisserie system to cook nearly 200 pounds of food at once, making for an awful lot of happy diners.

via Rolltisserie | Uncrate.

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Apple iPad 3 to launch at current price points as iPad 2 is discounted, discontinued

Posted on August 2, 2011 by StevenTorresRamos

Apple is expected by many to break from its typical cycle of releasing new mobile device models annually when it launches the iPad 3 ahead of the holiday season this year. The new iPad model will supposedly feature a high-resolution Retina Display, and earlier reports suggested that the new tablet would be an “iPad Pro” model that would compliment the iPad 2 rather than replacing it. A new report from Taiwan Economic News claims that Apple’s third-generation iPad could launch at the iPad 2′s current price points, however, and Apple will then discount the iPad 2 in order to clear inventory. Apple’s original iPad models were discounted by $100 each — and by as much as $300 by third-party retailers — following the launch of the iPad 2, and Taiwan Economic News cites anonymous industry executives in claiming that Apple may use a similar formula to clear iPad 2 inventory once the next-generation tablet launches. The report also notes that Apple’s iPad 3 will launch “by this Thanksgiving or next year.”

via Apple iPad 3 to launch at current price points as iPad 2 is discounted, discontinued.

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Thin film coating makes everlasting energy a piezoelectric possibility — Engadget

Posted on August 2, 2011 by StevenTorresRamos

Let’s be honest, it’s no big secret that we’re running out of dead dinosaurs to fuel our lives. And with recent natural catastrophes proving atomic energy isn’t what you’d call ‘safe,’ it’s a good thing the researchers down at the RMIT University in Melbourne have been hard at work figuring out how to turn you into a self-sustained energy source. Marrying piezoelectrics with a thin film microchip coating, those scientists Down Under have for the first time identified just how much energy your pressure can generate. This is certainly not the first time the tech has been put to use — Orange UK’s been doing something similar, albeit bulkier, for the Glastonbury fest each year. What are some practical uses, you ask? Imagine a gym powered by a sea of workout-hamsters, each producing significant energy from the soles of their feet. Curious for more? Try a pacemaker that runs solely on blood pressure, or a laptop charged by banging out Facebook updates. Who knows, maybe even RIM can put this to use in its next Storm. Just sayin’.

via Thin film coating makes everlasting energy a piezoelectric possibility — Engadget.

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Will AT&T create an iPhone 4G before Apple does? | TiPb

Posted on August 2, 2011 by StevenTorresRamos

Apple doesn’t currently make or market an iPhone 4G but given recent North American marketing shenanigans by the carriers, they might just get one sooner than anticipated. There was a time when 4G applied to really fast, really next generation mobile connectivity, like fully implemented voice/data LTE approaching 100 Mbps. Then Sprint launched Wi-Max as 4G. Then T-Mobile rebranded HSPA+ as 4G. Then Verizon deployed early stage LTE as 4G. Then AT&T rebranded their slower HSPA+ as 4G. 100 Mbps got shoved aside, and 21 Mbps, even 14.4 Mbps became “4G”. Canadian carriers, which had previously called their 14.4 Mbps and even 21 Mbps HSPA+ networks “3G” have recently rebranded them to “4G” as well so as not to seem old and outdated. (For more on what all these terms mean, check out our networking glossary.)

No doubt it’s easier to change a name than change a network, and easier to slap the letters 4G onto a phone than actually getting a real, power efficient, lightning fast 4G radio into one. But that’s no excuse.

Verizon is arguably the closest with their early stage LTE deployment and phone like the Thunderbolt that don’t get great battery life but do get amazing speeds.

My counterpart over at Android Central, Phil Nickinson has done a review of the Verizon LTE HTC Thunderbolt (and also told the carriers to kindly cut out the 4G smoke in our eyes), while PreCentral.net’s Derek Kessler has just reviewed the AT&T HSPA+ HP Veer 4G.

The iPhone isn’t expected to go LTE until 2012 but iPhone 5 might just go HSPA+ this fall. (14.4 or 21 Mbps, who knows?) And guess what, AT&T will probably call it “4G”…

…Especially since the CDMA version on Verizon will still be “3G” EVDO Rev A for another generation.

That’s a huge competitive advantage, but hugely confusing for users.

via Will AT&T create an iPhone 4G before Apple does? | TiPb.

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