| Amazon Buys Sunlight Readable Color Display Company Liquavista May 13th 2013, 23:40 Nate the greatest writes "It looks like those 4 month old rumors are true. Amazon has confirmed today that they have bought Liquavista, a Netherlands based screen tech company. There's no info yet on how much Amazon paid to Samsung, but previous rumors suggested that the asking price was under $100 million. Amazon also isn't talking about how they plan to use the electrowetting screen tech, but many are assuming that a Color Kindle is in the works." Read more of this story at Slashdot.     |  | US Government Monitoring Associated Press Phone Records May 13th 2013, 23:01 Picass0 writes with distressing news from the AP wire, about the AP: "The Justice Department secretly obtained two months of telephone records of reporters and editors for The Associated Press in what the news cooperative's top executive called a 'massive and unprecedented intrusion' into how news organizations gather the news." They obtained call records from a number of desk phones, and the personal phones of many news editors. The DOJ has not commented, but it may be related to the possibility that the CIA director leaked information on a foiled terror plot in Yemen last year. Read more of this story at Slashdot.     | | Massive Amount of Malware Targets Older Java Flaws May 13th 2013, 22:19 Trailrunner7 writes "It's no secret that Java has moved to the top of the target list for many attackers. It has all the ingredients they love: ubiquity, cross-platform support and, best of all, lots of vulnerabilities. Malware targeting Java flaws has become a major problem, and new statistics show that this epidemic is following much the same pattern as malware exploiting Microsoft vulnerabilities has for years. Research from Microsoft shows that there has been a huge spike in malware targeting Java vulnerabilities since the third quarter of 2011, and much of the activity has centered on patched vulnerabilities in Java. Part of the reason for this phenomenon may be that attackers like vulnerabilities that are in multiple versions of Java, rather than just one specific version." Read more of this story at Slashdot.     | | PayPal Unveils New Android SDK, Available To US Developers May 15 May 13th 2013, 21:38 An anonymous reader writes "PayPal on Monday announced a new Android SDK that tries to make it easier for developers to accept in-app payments on Google's mobile platform. The company says the software development kit will be available for US developers on May 15. The Android debut comes just over two months after the mobile SDK for iOS, which supports iOS 5+ on all varieties of iPhone and iPad screen sizes and resolutions. At the time, PayPal said an Android flavor was coming, and now it has delivered: its SDK will support version 2.2, meaning Froyo (released in May 2010), and above." Read more of this story at Slashdot.     | | Did Internet Sales Tax Backers Bribe Congress? (Video) May 13th 2013, 20:51 This may be a coincidence, but according to MapLight, Senators who voted last week for the bill allowing states to directly collect taxes on sales via the Internet, AKA The Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013, received 40 times as much campaign donation money (yes, that's four-oh, not just four) from businesses in favor of the bill as those who voted against it received from businesses that were against Internet sales taxes. Was this bribery? Of course not! We're not some piddly fifth-world country. But it's a prime example of how money influences politics here in the good old USA, and it's far from the only one we've seen lately. In this video, MapLight Program Director Jay Costa shares a bunch more with us, along with tips on how to spot this sort of thing and some steps we voters can take to fight against both direct and indirect influence-buying. Note that all this is totally non-partisan; the politicians with the most influence -- whether local, state or federal -- get most of the available special interest money no matter what other agenda(s) they may have. And for those who want to learn more about who is spending their dollars to influence your representatives, Jay also suggests a look at these two money-in-politics resources: FollowTheMoney.org and OpenSecrets.org. Read more of this story at Slashdot.     | | Facebook Home: un flop annunciato May 13th 2013, 20:17 Le premesse sembravano grandiose. Le voci circolavano da mesi. Mark Zuckerberg avrebbe dovuto presentare uno smartphone nuovo di zecca targato Facebook. Pochi giorni prima dell’evento dello scorso 4 aprile, i rumors si erano però ridimensionati di brutto. Così tanto che quando abbiamo visto Zuckerberg che giocherellava con Facebook Home, in tanti ci siamo chiesti se non fosse una specie di scherzo di cattivo gusto. L’idea poteva anche suscitare un pizzico d’interesse. L’entusiasmo si è però spento subito. Giusto il tempo d’istallarlo, provarlo per un paio di minuti e non vedere l’ora di liberarsene. La realizzazione di Home è pessima. Secondo le statistiche del Play Store di Google è stato scaricato più di un milione di volte. Se vi sembrano tante, Mark Zuckerberg qualche tempo fa aveva dichiarato:
«Mettiamo anche che realizziamo un telefono e otteniamo come risultato che 10 milioni di persone lo usino, per noi non sposterebbe l'ago della bilancia. Facebook ha un miliardo di utenti». Figuriamoci con un software che fatica a raggiungere appena il milione di download. Che figuraccia.  L’HTC First presentato il 4 aprile 2013, ha venduto appena 15.000 unità . Su una scala da 1 a 5 il punteggio medio con cui il launcher di Facebook è stato valutato dagli utenti è 2,2. Imbarazzante. Ma il peggio è che l’HTC First, lo smartphone con Facebook Home preinstallato, che HTC ha presentato il 4 aprile, sarà ritirato dal mercato in tempi record. Le vendite sono vergognosamente basse. Appena 15,000 unità vendute nonostante gli sforzi dell’operatore AT&T che, pur di liberarsene, lo ha piazzato ad appena 0,99$. Si avete letto bene. Meno di un dollaro. Niente da fare. E vi ripropongo quello che avevo scritto all’epoca sull’ HTC First: «Verso la fine ha fatto la sua comparsa lampo sul palco Peter Chou, CEO di HTC. Teneva in mano l'HTC first, il primo smartphone Android che monterà nativa l'interfaccia "Home" di Facebook. Ha parlato sì e no per trenta secondi. Non pareva granché contento. Magari si stava chiedendo cosa ci facesse lì e se di quel terminale ci fosse poi un così gran bisogno».  | | Facebook Home Flagship Phone, HTC First, May Be Discontinued May 13th 2013, 20:10 zacharye writes "The HTC First, or 'Facebook phone' as many prefer to call it, is officially a flop. It certainly wasn't a good sign when AT&T dropped the price of HTC's First to $0.99 just one month after its debut, and now BGR has confirmed that HTC and Facebook's little experiment is nearing its end. BGR has learned from a trusted source that sales of the HTC First have been shockingly bad. So bad, in fact, that AT&T has already decided to discontinue the phone. Our source at AT&T has confirmed that the HTC First, which is the first smartphone to ship with Facebook Home pre-installed, will soon be discontinued and unsold inventory will be returned to HTC. How much unsold inventory is there? We don’t have an exact figure, but things aren’t looking good. According to our source, AT&T sold fewer than 15,000 units nationwide through last week when the phone’s price was slashed to $0.99." Read more of this story at Slashdot.     | | Researchers Fake Mini Volcanic Eruptions May 13th 2013, 19:28 ananyo writes "Volcanologists detonated explosive charges buried in a meadow in Ashford, New York, blowing 12 small craters in the ground and throwing debris 80 meters in the air. The aim was to recreate, in true-to-life detail, what happens when a volcanic eruption punches through Earth's crust. The work could guide the way that active volcanoes are monitored, and could help safety officials to decide where to restrict public access at volcanoes such as Italy's Stromboli, where dozens of tourists arrive every night to watch spectacular fire fountain displays." Read more of this story at Slashdot.     | | Book Review: The Plateau Effect: Getting From Stuck To Success May 13th 2013, 18:47 benrothke writes "One of the challenges in reading The Plateau Effect: Getting from Stuck to Success is figuring how to classify it. Amazon has it ranked mainly in applied psychology, but also time management and inexplicable personal finance. In some ways it is all of the above and more. In fewer than 300 pages, the authors reference myriad different areas of science, mathematics, psychology and more; in the effort to show the reader how they can elevate themselves from the stuff in life that glues them to the status quo." Read below for the rest of Ben's review. Read more of this story at Slashdot.     | | Carnivorous Plant Ejects Junk DNA May 13th 2013, 18:01 sciencehabit writes "The carnivorous humped bladderwort, found on all continents except Antarctica, is a model of ruthless genetic efficiency. Only 3% of this aquatic plant's DNA is not part of a known gene, new research shows. In contrast, only 2% of human DNA is part of a gene. The bladderwort, named for its water-filled bladders that suck in unsuspecting prey, is a relative of the tomato. The finding overturns the notion that this repetitive, non-coding DNA, popularly called 'junk' DNA, is necessary for life." Read more of this story at Slashdot.     | | Bill Gates Opens Up About Steve Jobs May 13th 2013, 17:15 Nerval's Lobster writes "Former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates displayed a bit of emotion when talking to CBS's 60 Minutes about Steve Jobs. The interview didn't focus entirely on the relationship between the two men, with most of its running time devoted instead to Gates's charitable efforts. But when the conversation shifted to their last meeting before Jobs's death from cancer in 2011, Gates—normally so cerebral—seemed a bit sad. 'When he was sick I got to go down and spend time with him,' Gates said, describing their meeting as 'forward looking.' Jobs spent a portion of their time together showing off designs for his yacht, which he would never see completed—something that Gates defended when the interviewer seemed a little bit incredulous. 'Thinking about your potential mortality isn't very constructive,' he said. Gates also praised Steve Jobs's marketing and design skills: 'He understood, he had an intuitive sense for marketing that was amazing.' In contrast to his subtle—and not so subtle—digs at the iPad over the years, Gates conceded that Apple had 'put the pieces together in a way that succeeded' with regard to tablets. Gates's magnanimity toward his former rival and Apple is a reflection, perhaps, of his current position in life: it's been nearly five years since his last full-time day at Microsoft, and all of his efforts seem focused on his philanthropic endeavors. He simply has no reason to rip a rival limb from limb in the same way he did as Microsoft CEO." Read more of this story at Slashdot.     | | Supreme Court Rules For Monsanto In Patent Case May 13th 2013, 16:30 Pigskin-Referee writes in with news of the Supreme Court's decision in a dispute between Monsanto and an Indiana farmer over patented seeds. "The Supreme Court has sustained Monsanto Co.'s claim that an Indiana farmer violated the company's patents on soybean seeds that are resistant to its weed-killer. The justices, in a unanimous vote Monday, rejected the farmer's argument that cheap soybeans he bought from a grain elevator are not covered by the Monsanto patents, even though most of them also were genetically modified to resist the company's Roundup herbicide. Justice Elena Kagan says a farmer who buys patented seeds must have the patent holder's permission. More than 90 percent of American soybean farms use Monsanto's 'Roundup Ready' seeds, which first came on the market in 1996." Read more of this story at Slashdot.     | | Linux 3.10 Merge Windows Closes May 13th 2013, 16:09 hypnosec writes "Linus Torvalds has released the Linux 3.10-rc1 kernel marking the closure of the 3.10 merge window. The Linux 3.10-rc1 is the second biggest rc release in years and the closure of the merge windows means that the features expected out of the Linux 3.9 successor are chalked out. "So this is the biggest -rc1 in the last several years (perhaps ever) at least as far as counting commits go," Linus notes in the release announcement." Read more of this story at Slashdot.     | | Interviews: Freeman Dyson Answers Your Questions May 13th 2013, 15:45 A while ago you had the chance to ask mathematician and theoretical physicist, Freeman Dyson, about his work in quantum electrodynamics, nuclear propulsion, and his thoughts on the past, present, and future of science. Below you'll find his answers to your questions. Read more of this story at Slashdot.     | | Rival Dell Buyout Plans Duke It Out May 13th 2013, 15:00 jfruh writes "Michael Dell's plan to take the company he founded private, with help from Microsoft, isn't going smoothly. Corporate raider and major Dell stockholder Carl Icahn has presented a rival plan that would shut Michael Dell out. Perhaps predictably, the Dell board isn't sold on Icahn's idea, saying it will leave the company short of cash, even though they haven't been able to fully evaluate it yet." Read more of this story at Slashdot.     | | Rival Dell Buyout Plans Duke It Out May 13th 2013, 15:00 jfruh writes "Michael Dell's plan to take the company he founded private, with help from Microsoft, isn't going smoothly. Corporate raider and major Dell stockholder Carl Icahn has presented a rival plan that would shut Michael Dell out. Perhaps predictably, the Dell board isn't sold on Icahn's idea, saying it will leave the company short of cash, even though they haven't been able to fully evaluate it yet." Read more of this story at Slashdot.     | | Make Your Own Invisibility Cloak With a 3D Printer May 13th 2013, 14:14 cylonlover writes "Invisibility cloaks have been around in various forms since 2006, when the first cloak based on optical metamaterials was demonstrated. The design of cloaking devices has come a long way in the past seven years, as illustrated by a simple, yet highly effective, radar cloak developed by Duke University Professor Yaroslav Urzhumov, that can be made using a hobby-level 3D printer." Read more of this story at Slashdot.     | | Kaspersky Inks a Deal With Qualcomm To Improve Android Security May 13th 2013, 13:49 First time accepted submitter llebeel writes "Kaspersky Lab has signed an agreement with chip designer Qualcomm to improve security at 'the lower level' of a smartphone's mobile operating system. The Russian security firm told The Inquirer that it has agreed to offer 'special terms' for preloading Kaspersky Mobile Security and Kaspersky Tablet Security products on Android devices powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon processors." Read more of this story at Slashdot.     | | UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects? May 13th 2013, 13:29 PolygamousRanchKid writes in with news about a U.N. plan to get more bugs in your belly. "The U.N. has new weapons to fight hunger, boost nutrition and reduce pollution, and they might be crawling or flying near you right now: edible insects. The Food and Agriculture Organization on Monday hailed the likes of grasshoppers, ants and other members of the insect world as an underutilized food for people, livestock and pets. Insects are 'extremely efficient' in converting feed into edible meat, the agency said. Most insects are likely to produce fewer environmentally harmful greenhouse gases, and also feed on human and food waste, compost and animal slurry, with the products being used for agricultural feed, the agency said. 'Insects are everywhere and they reproduce quickly,' the agency said, adding they leave a 'low environmental footprint.' The agency noted that its Edible Insect Program is also examining the potential of arachnids, such as spiders and scorpions." Read more of this story at Slashdot.     | | UK's 4G Network Selling Subscriber Tracking Data To Police, Private Parties May 13th 2013, 12:42 Sockatume writes "The Sunday Times has revealed that analytics firm Ipsos MORI and 4G network EE attempted to sell detailed information on 27m subscribers' activities to various parties including the UK's police forces. The data encompasses the gender, postcode and age of subscribers, the sites they visit and times they are visited, and the places and times of calls and text messages. Ipsos MORI were reportedly 'bragging that the data can be used to track people and their location in real time to within 100 meters' in negotiations. Ipsos MORI has rushed to contradict this in an effort to save face, stating that the users are anonymized and data is aggregated into groups of 50 or more, while location is only precise to 700m. Despite their prior enthusiasm, the police have indicated that they will no longer go ahead with the deal. It is not clear whether the other sales will go ahead." Read more of this story at Slashdot.     | | Ubuntu Touch: The Other Linux OS For Your Phone May 13th 2013, 12:02 An anonymous reader writes "Ars takes a look at what Ubuntu Touch has to offer so far. From the article: 'It can't be stressed enough that even in this updated form, Ubuntu Touch is nowhere near usable as a mainstream mobile operating system. Canonical makes no claim that it is. For now, the software is about half development environment and half proof-of-concept tech demo. As such, we aren't going to be evaluating Ubuntu Touch using quite the same criteria we'd use for a shipping product—we're going to be focusing more on how the OS looks and works and less on how it performs. As we get closer to Ubuntu 14.04 and presumably Ubuntu Touch's retail availability, we'll certainly be revisiting it with a more critical eye.'" Read more of this story at Slashdot.     | | Last Forking Warning For Bitcoin May 13th 2013, 09:10 ASDFnz writes "It has been just over two months since the bitcoin block chain was rocked by a near disastrous fork causing the bitcoin price to crash. The culprit of the crash was found to be a bug that prevented pre version 7.1 bitcoin clients accepting large blocks that could be generated by version 8 clients. A temporary fix was put into place by Bitcoin Project lead developer Gavin Andresen that forced version 8 clients to generate blocks that version 7.1 could understand. It is important to note though, the fix was a temporary one! In just under two days on the 15th of May the fix will expire and version 8 clients will once again be able to make large blocks that older clients will not be able to understand." Read more of this story at Slashdot.     | | Ghost: A Revolutionary Open Source Blogging Platform May 13th 2013, 07:10 
Advertise here via BSA Ghost is an Open Source application which allows you to write and publish your own blog, giving you the tools to make it easy and even fun to do. It’s simple, elegant, and designed so that you can spend less time messing with making your blog work – and more time blogging. Ghost has an incredibly simple concept for writing. You write in Markdown on the left, and you see an immediate preview of exactly what your post will look like in rendered HTML on the right. Ghost has a Revolutionary Dashboard, which grabs all the important data about your blog and pulls it into one place. No more clicking through tens of browser tabs to view your traffic, social media subscriptions, content performance or news feeds. If you want to try Ghost, please support them and help us bring this application to everyone by backing Ghost on KickStarter. 
Requirements: -
Demo: http://tryghost.org
License: License Free
SponsorsProfessional Web Icons for Your Websites and Applications  | | A Responsive Audio Player jQuery Plugin for Mobiles May 13th 2013, 07:01 
Advertise here via BSA Would you like a Responsive and Touch-Friendly Audio Player? Osvaldas Valutis has built a jQuery plugin that replaces <audio> element with a little of custom HTML code. By adding some CSS you get a whole new player which looks the way you want and has the same functionality as the default player. There is no direct way to style the element. But the HTML5 DOM has methods, properties, and events for the element and thus makes it quite easily manipulable. It has been tested on the latest Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Opera both Mac and Windows versions. The player works well on Internet Explorer 9, 10 and gracefully degrades to mini mode on earlier versions. It also works on iOS 6, Windows Phone 7 and Android 4.2 default browsers. However, the earlier Android versions does not support “audio” nor “embed” elements, so the player won’t work there at all. 
Requirements: jQuery Framework
Demo: http://osvaldas.info/examples/audio-player-responsive…
License: License Free
SponsorsProfessional Web Icons for Your Websites and Applications  | | Samsung Testing 5G Phones With 1gbps Download Speed May 13th 2013, 06:03 Gumbercules!! writes "While many smartphone users are still on 3G and are waiting for 4G to be available, Samsung is now testing 5G networks, capable of getting speeds up to 1gbps. Obviously, we're years away from seeing these in the wild (the company is shooting for 2020) but it's still an amazing improvement over what many people are experiencing now." Read more of this story at Slashdot.     | | "Dramatic Decline" Warning For Plants and Animals May 13th 2013, 00:59 An anonymous reader writes "Worldwide levels of the chief greenhouse gas that causes global warming have hit a milestone, reaching an amount never before encountered by humans, federal scientists said. Carbon dioxide was measured at 400 parts per million at the oldest monitoring station in Hawaii, which sets the global benchmark. More than half of plants and a third of animal species are likely to see their living space halved by 2080 if current trends continue." Read more of this story at Slashdot.     | |
