Month: December 2012

Categories
Security

QR Codes Compromised By Stickers

QR CodeCriminals have realized that QR codes are not human readable and are taking advantage. Shocking isn’t it? From The Register:

Cybercrooks are putting up stickers featuring URLs embedded in Quick Response codes (QR codes) as a trick designed to drive traffic to dodgy sites.

It’s extremely simple to print out a sticker pointing to a bogus URL and put it on an existing billboard in a public place. A casual user simply uses the QR code and instead of going to the intended location they go to a malicious website. Of course we could require SSL for QR codes so there’s some overhead in creating them (you need an SSL cert), but that still wouldn’t fix the problem correctly.

Humans need to be able to understand their own decision making process. A human pointing at a QR code is a human making a decision to do the unknown. That’s the problem. You can’t combine “decision” and “unknown” and reliably have a good outcome.

Categories
In The News

Using HIV To Kill Cancer

From NY Times:

To perform the treatment, doctors remove millions of the patient’s T-cells — a type of white blood cell — and insert new genes that enable the T-cells to kill cancer cells. The technique employs a disabled form of H.I.V. because it is very good at carrying genetic material into T-cells. The new genes program the T-cells to attack B-cells, a normal part of the immune system that turn malignant in leukemia.

The altered T-cells — called chimeric antigen receptor cells — are then dripped back into the patient’s veins, and if all goes well they multiply and start destroying the cancer.

The T-cells home in on a protein called CD-19 that is found on the surface of most B-cells, whether they are healthy or malignant.

I can’t help but think this is one of those major events in which we’ll look back and see it as a turning point in medicine. This stuff is at it’s infancy but when you think about it, we’re turning a deadly virus into a cure for a deadly disease. Science FTW!

Categories
Security

GPS Vulnerabilties Found

It’s not a big secret that GPS is yet another system built largely on trust. Researchers however found some interesting new flaws in GPS implementations including the expensive ones. Most interesting is the attacks could be conducted using equipment that cost only $2,500. That’s a bargain for creating chaos.

Categories
Around The Web Internet

NYC Trying to Reboot The Payphone

NYC Kiosk

NYC is trying to figure out what to do with the old payphone infrastructure. Personally I’d like to see the following:

Each of the 4-6 sides would contain a panel comprised of a touchscreen with simple accessible features such as:

  • Emergency button to facilitate contacting emergency services.
  • Transit information (shown).
  • Event information (for example how to get to Thanksgiving day parade on Thanksgiving).
  • Other information the city feels should be accessible.
  • Microphone, speaker and webcam to facilitate communication with emergency services, TTS for those with disabilities and future uses.
  • Extra space on panel could be advertising or boilerplate information.

Above the user accessible panel would be kiosk space. LED panels would be able to show advertising and information. In an emergency the city could utilize this space to provide directions and information. For example where nearby storm shelters can be found, or amber alerts.

Because all info space on the kiosks are essentially screens they can be programmed and updated remotely over IP network.

Each location could be a WiFi Hotspot providing short free internet access and for a small daily charge access at any other kiosk for up to __ MB for the day or other rate plans. Possibly partner with ISP’s who would offer hotspot access to their customers.

Ideally kiosks would have an overhang to keep sun glare off panels. Otherwise it would be open to deter crime that phone booths saw.

This plan would involve advertising revenue, internet connectivity revenue and possibly even partnership revenue via ISP’s taking advantage of the mesh network built upon this existing infrastructure in a populated area.

NYC Kiosk

Categories
Space

NASA Researching Warp Drive

From Boing Boing:

Harold White of NASA’s Johnson Space Center is currently leading an effort to design a warp drive space ship. But, as Amy Teitel explains in a story for Vice’s Motherboard, the fact that this is happening does not necessarily mean a real working warp drive is possible. It’s more about the fact that NASA is partly in the business of letting really smart people try things that are kind of crazy and unlikely, if they can back up the idea with a reasonably plausible hypothesis. Speculative research is a thing that happens.

I don’t think there are too many things I want more in this world than to live in a world where warp drive is a reality. The other half of that want is the ability to say “warp speed ahead” and not be talking Sci Fi.

Categories
Apple

Apple Brings Some Manufacturing Back To USA

The big news today is Apple is making some Macs in the USA. This isn’t terribly shocking if you think about it.

iMacs really aren’t as complicated as they were just a few years ago, the parts have consolidated quite a bit. In addition most of the complexity of assembly is being given to increasingly advanced robotics. What years ago was a circuit board put together by humans is now a single chip stamped out by machine. I mentioned this back in June when Google started manufacturing in the US.

I wouldn’t expect something as labor intensive as the iPhone or iPad to be built in the US anytime soon. The limited media access to the factories that we’ve seen, it’s a very manual process.

Manufacturing large goods like an iMac in the US has advantages. First reduced freight costs, less time in Apple’s inventory (something Tim Cook is known to care extensively about), and quite likely tax breaks and subsidies.

I suspect the idea going forward is if it’s labor intensive, do it overseas. If you can do it with minimal human labor, bring it to the US. We’ll see more of these things come “back” to the US as manufacturing techniques are refined and improve extensively. But I don’t think we’ll see the huge number of factory jobs we once had.

Categories
Space

United States At Night

United States at night

United States at night

Awesome image released by NASA of the United States at night. There’s a set of images worth checking out including one of the northeast before and after Hurricane Sandy where you can see the impacts the power outages had from space.

Categories
Around The Web

Virgil The Monkey From Project X

Project X Movie Poster

Project X Movie PosterSlightly obscure in monkey movie circles is the movie Project X staring Matthew Broderick and Helen Hunt. Interestingly enough Virgil the sign language speaking Chimp is actually still alive as of 2011 at a primary sanctuary. He’s aged, and balding, but so are his costars. Twenty-five years later the chimp is apparently still causing trouble with his friends:

Today, Willie, Harry and Okko, all from Twentieth Century Fox, live together in a troop of five energetic male chimpanzees, which includes Chobe and KoKo Michaels. Within this tightly balanced group, Willie’s significant ally is Okko, the leader of the group, although Harry remains a close friend. For years, Okko’s authority was backed by Willie, but in recent months Willie has settled into neutrality.

Two quarreling chimpanzees can stimulate 25 other chimpanzees to scream as they watch every detail of a dispute. The anger-management counselor in Willie’s group is Harry, who will run back and forth trying to settle arguments.

Pretty cool to see they are still taken care of all these years later.

Categories
Around The Web

Air Umbrella

Air Umbrella

Air Umbrella

How brilliant is this idea? Using air to create a force field to keep water off of you. Designed by Je Sung Park & Woo Jung Kwon, it’s essentially an invisible umbrella. Nothing to poke people with when walking down a crowded street, nothing to break when it’s windy out. Presumably it will be nearly or completely dry when you get indoors so no need to store away a wet umbrella.

Categories
Politics

Counter-electronics High-powered Microwave Advanced Missile Project

From Sky News:

Aircraft-maker Boeing has successfully tested the missile which has reportedly cost £24m to develop and it is claimed could cripple an entire country, without causing loss of life.

In a desert in the US state of Utah, scientists working on the Counter-electronics High-powered Microwave Advanced Missile Project (CHAMP) fired the rocket along a pre-programmed flight path. The microwaves it emitted permanently disabled computers inside a nearby military compound.
…
Experts are reported to believe the weapon is equipped with an electronic pulse cannon – effectively a super-powered microwave oven – which causes voltage surges in electronic equipment. This destroys computers even if they are plugged into surge protectors.

Here’s an arms race to look forward to, it would potentially destroy power grids and communications systems of a wide area taking months if not years to repair. Regardless, it’s quite interesting to read about.