Hasta La Gadget!

If you were using the Internet last Saturday night, you may notice some of the major sites on the Internet had problems. This wasn’t due to your ISP or overwhelmed servers at your website of choice; it was likely due to the leap second invented to keep atomic time aligned with solar time. The last leap second added to clocks was on December 31, 2008.

The leap second was created by the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service in 1972, and 25 have been added to world clocks since its invention. Leap seconds aren’t traditionally a problem because computers can accommodate them by setting the clocks backwards by one second at the end of the day. However, technology and the Internet are much more prevalent around the world now than they were in 2008 leading to issues adding a leap second.

The problem is that any data being backed up when that leap second is added or an e-mail sent could potentially be lost. In fact, several major websites had problems Saturday night because of the leap second. Among the sites that had issues were Gawker, LinkedIn, Mozilla, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Yelp, and others. Google added milliseconds over the course of the day to keep its computers operating rather than adding an entire second at one time.

[via Forbes]

Leap second downs websites Saturday night is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Over the years, USB drives have become smaller, sleeker, and more compact than they’ve ever been – even while packing tons of gigabytes into a teeny, tiny device. SanDisk has always been known for good quality flash drives, and I especially like how they managed to make the Cruzer Fit so compact (it’s the size of a thumbnail and can hold up to 16GB) And then there’s the Cruzer Pop, which takes flash drives from just being functional to being ultra flashy and creatively decorated.

There’s the black and gray checkered one that’s a bit more low-key, red with the symmetrical design that’s simple yet loud, and the white one with printed-on paint that looks like it’s running down the drive. Not only that, but they’re extremely thin, too, at 0.15 inches thick.

The Pop got its name not form its look alone, but also how you’re supposed to use it: just pop the drive open to reveal the USB connector, and plug it into the USB hub. The drives are available in 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB and will be available in retail outlets soon.

[via Chip Chick]

Drones continue to see large rollouts in various industries across the world, and now there’s one more thing to worry about on top of privacy issues and potential death from above. A team at the University of Texas has managed to find a vulnerability in drones that allows an attacker to gain control of the unmanned vehicle and change its course. Professor Todd Humphreys and the team spoof GPS receivers in order to take control of the drones.

Spoofers are a new problem for GPS-guided drones, allowing hackers to trick navigation systems with false information. Humphreys and the team have designed a device costing less than $1,000 that sends out a GPS signal stronger than the ones coming down from orbiting satellites. At first, the rogue signal mimics the official one in order to trick the drone, and once it’s accepted new commands can be sent to the UAV.

Naturally, Humphreys highlights the associated risks of such a device, saying that in the wrong hands drones could be turned into missiles. Right now drones can’t be used in US airspace on a wide basis, but Congress has asked the FAA to come up with regulations that would allows drones to fly over the United States by 2015. That could lead to usage in law enforcement, as well as by power companies and delivery firms.

The US government says its aware of the potential dangers of spoofing, and officials from the FAA and Department of Homeland Security have seen Humphreys’ demonstration first hand. The Department of Homeland Security reportedly has a program in place to try and solve the problem of GPS interference, but it’s aimed at trying to deal with jammed signals, not spoofed ones.

[via Fox News]

Researchers find drones vulnerable to GPS spoofing is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Imagine how much easier life would be if we had sensors on all of our stuff. You could just raise your hand and the lights would go off, clap your hands to turn the TV on and off, and snap your fingers to run a bath.

But let’s start small, get real, and focus on smartphones instead, because a new technology is coming that will equip it with a sensor of its own: the Sensordrone.

It’s basically a teensy-sized sensor that fits on your keychain so you can use it to add a wealth of uses for your smartphone. There are a lot of apps out there that need a decent sensor to function, and if you’ve been looking for one–then you’ve just hit the motherload.

With Sensordrone, you can run apps that detect gas leaks, measure light intensity, carbon monoxide levels, humidity levels, temperatures, capacitance, and so much more.

It’s currently up for backing on Kickstarter, where a minimum pledge of $175(USD) will get you your very own Sensordrone.

Here’s an age-old problem: you take your butter out of the fridge, attempt to cut it and spread it over your toast, but it’s just too hard. The result is either mangled toast or an inconsistent spread. What’s a tired and hungry blogger to do? Warburtons has the answer. The company has come up with the idea of a heated butter knife: pressing a button on the handle will heat the blade to 41.8C, apparently the perfect temperature to melt butter.

Once you activate the heating mechanism, it’ll be ready to go in around 30 seconds. When you’ve managed to scoop up the necessary amount of butter, Warburtons recommends you evenly spread the substance by starting in the middle of your toast and heading towards the edges. You’ll be wanting to do that at an angle of 24.5 degrees, by the way.

The knife is powered by two AA batteries found in the handle, with the heating elements positioned at the tip of the blade “for optimum spreading technique.” Alas, there’s no word on if this will be a product that will actually make it to market, or how much it will cost, as it exists only as a prototype right now. We’re sure if enough people starting throwing money at their screens Warburtons will find a way to bring it to market.

[via The Guardian]

Toastie Knife will melt your butter and your heart is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.