Aug 23

E-voting whistleblower Hari Prasad arrested, taken to Mumbai for questioning

Posted in: hack, hacked, hacking, research, security, Today's Chili

In America, when you demonstrate what a racket e-voting is, you get to play Pac-Man. In India? You just might get arrested. Security researcher Hari Prasad made waves earlier this month when he demonstrated how an e-voting machine might be compromised, live on national television. It is now being reported that police have taken Prasad into custody, ostensibly for the theft of the machine, although folks in the know are suggesting that a cover-up is in the works. For Prasad’s part, he refuses to give up the source of the machine — and has been taken by police to Mumbai (a fourteen hour drive) to undergo questioning. According to researcher Alex Halderman there are some 1.4 million e-voting machines in use in India, all of which the government keeps out of the hands of researchers on intellectual property grounds — and all of which might be vulnerable to fraud. There’s a brief discussion with Prasad after the break.

Continue reading E-voting whistleblower Hari Prasad arrested, taken to Mumbai for questioning

E-voting whistleblower Hari Prasad arrested, taken to Mumbai for questioning originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Aug 2010 12:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 23

Nokia N900 does real-time face tracking for verification (video)

Posted in: maemo, nokia, research, Today's Chili, video

In a world where smartphone unlock patterns and PINs can be easily gleaned from display muck, and computer passwords can be deciphered from the telltale audible clicks of the keyboard, it’s any wonder that research is funded for alternative identity verification schemes. One promising technology is face verification — technology we’ve already seen implemented in webcams, laptops, and more recently, Microsoft’s Kinect for Xbox 360. Where we haven’t seen it broadly deployed is in the easy-to-lose smartphone, at least not with the level of sophistication achieved by the University of Manchester (UK). Using an N900, the research team developed a prototype that quickly locks and tracks 22 facial features in real time (even when upside down) using the Nokia’s front-facing camera. The Active Appearance modeling technique was developed for the EU-funded Mobile Biometrics (MoBio) project as a means of using face verification to authenticate smartphone access to social media sites. Unfortunately, there’s no mention of how long Manchester’s face-verified login actually takes. Nevertheless, the video, apparently shot in a steam room full of hot man smudge, is worth a peep after the break.

Continue reading Nokia N900 does real-time face tracking for verification (video)

Nokia N900 does real-time face tracking for verification (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Aug 2010 08:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 20

U.S. Customers Are Tablet-Hungry, and Not Just for the iPad

Posted in: Apple, Google, ipad, iPhone, research, tablets, Today's Chili

Surveys reveal that a substantial chunk of U.S. customers plan to buy a tablet in the next year, and it’s not necessarily going to be an iPad.

Fourteen percent, or 27 million U.S. online consumers, intend to buy some kind of tablet in the next 12 months, says a Forrester research report published Thursday (chart below). Customers interested in purchasing a tablet aren’t primarily Apple customers, and they’re well aware of the crop of upcoming tablets from competitors such as Google and Hewlett-Packard.

Additionally, a similar study by the Magazine Publishers of America found that nearly 60 percent of U.S. consumers expect to purchase an e-reader or tablet within the next three years.

“Even though the iPad is the only widely available tablet PC on the market today, tablets have entered consumer consciousness in a very short time frame,” said Sarah Rotman Epps, a consumer product analyst at Forrester. “There’s interest in the category that goes beyond the iPad.”

Apple’s four-month-old iPad is turning in strong sales with 3.27 million units sold to date — just a hair short of Macs, which sold 3.47 million units in the same quarter. That’s a huge accomplishment for a device less than a year old, and it delivered a shot of adrenaline to the mostly moribund tablet market. For years, scores of tablets have come and gone from manufacturers such as HP, Acer and even Apple, whose first tablet offering was the Newton. The Newton, like most other tablet devices during its time, was criticized for poor handwriting recognition and priceyness ($700 to $1,000), and was retired by 1998. In the meantime, dozens of PC manufacturers have shipped Windows-based Tablet PCs, but the category never took off outside of niche markets and enthusiasts.

Even though most of the tablet hype today surrounds the iPad, many respondents to Forrester’s survey said they were aware of other offerings on the horizon, such as the unreleased HP Slate, as well as obscure tablets like the Archos and JooJoo. The general widespread interest in the tablet category gives hope to manufacturers preparing to compete with Apple, Forrester said.

Forrester’s study also found that today’s customers tend to live with many connected devices. Sixty-nine percent of iPad buyers and 57 percent of tablet buyers also own a latest-generation game console (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 or Nintendo Wii) compared with 37 percent of all U.S. online consumers.

Notably, iPad fans aren’t necessarily Apple worshippers (chart below): More iPad customers own HP computers than Macs. Thirty-nine percent of respondents who said they own or intend to buy an iPad said they own an HP computer, for example. IPad owners are also four times more likely to own a connected TV (9 percent versus 2 percent of non-iPad-owning U.S. online customers).

Apple has a head start on the new tablet market with its iPad, but competitors are just beginning to roll in. Dell recently introduced its 5-inch Streak tablet, which is getting some positive reception. And most recently, the tech sphere has been buzzing with rumors of a Google-powered tablet working on the Verizon network, possibly landing as soon as the holiday season (though we’re skeptical).

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Aug 18

Another augmented reality, pico-projecting lamp threatens desktops, brings tablet reinforcements (video)

Posted in: augmented reality, AugmentedReality, pico projector, projector, research, tablet, Today's Chili, video

Another augmented reality, pico-projecting lamp threatens our desktop, brings tablet reinforcementsHow long have dumblamps been ruling our desktops for? Their reign of evenly scattered light might finally be coming to a close. A few months back it was MIT student Natan Linder putting a pico projector in a lamp to create LuminAR. Now, researcher Li-Wei Chan from National Taiwan University has crafted something similar, again with a pico projector replacing a bulb, this time relying on an IR camera to detect position. The lamp projects an image into a surface that users can interact with, while tablets (also augmented with use IR cameras) can be used to display a 3D view of the 2D projected content, allowing a user to look around and zoom in dynamically. The voice-over in the video below talks of potential military applications, generals analyzing battlefields, but for once we’d like to think that this sort of thing would be used for peace. You know, planning nature walks, watching virtual horsies romp around in a pretend field, that sort of thing.

Continue reading Another augmented reality, pico-projecting lamp threatens desktops, brings tablet reinforcements (video)

Another augmented reality, pico-projecting lamp threatens desktops, brings tablet reinforcements (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Aug 2010 12:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 16

Shocker: Touchscreen smudge may give away your Android password pattern

Posted in: Android, cellphone, Google, mobile phone, MobilePhone, phone, research, security, smartphone, study, Today's Chili, touchscreen

Fast food connoisseurs should pay special attention here — according to a recent paper by the University of Pennsylvania, Android users are inadvertently leaving their nine-dot lock patterns in the open, courtesy of their fingers’ oily smear on the screen. Specifically, the study on potential “smudge attacks” found that partial or complete patterns could be easily retrieved — even with added noise on the display or after incidental clothing contact — by using various lighting and camera orientation settings for the smear analysis. Should we be surprised? No. But should our phones be getting Froyo sooner for the extra PIN and QWERTY password options? Hell yeah.

Shocker: Touchscreen smudge may give away your Android password pattern originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Aug 2010 03:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 14

Prototype of robot that develops emotions on interacting with humans officially complete

Posted in: research, robot, Robots, science, Today's Chili

The first prototype of a Nao robot that can develop emotions as it interacts with a human caregiver has been completed. A team across Europe was led by Dr. Lola Cañamero of the University of Herefordshire in the UK to develop the bot, which differs in several significant ways from those that came before it. These robots develop over time in much the way that a child does, learning to interact with and respond to the human beings around them. Modeled after human and chimpanzee childhood development paths, they are programmed to be highly adaptable to the people around them, and to become attached to whatever person is most suited to its needs and ‘personality’ profile. Over time, the more they interact, the more they learn and bond to the human being. These little ones, moreover, are capable of expressing a wide range of emotions, including anger, frustration, fear and happiness. The next steps are to research the bots’ emotional and non-linguistic behavior, and to move toward combining linguistic and non-linguistic communication to become further attached and adapted to them. Yes, we want one.

Prototype of robot that develops emotions on interacting with humans officially complete originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 14 Aug 2010 12:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 13

Pew study finds majority of Americans don’t want government to prioritize affordable broadband

Posted in: government, politics, research, statistics, study, Today's Chili

We hold great respect for the Pew Internet and American Life Project, whose statistical practices are transparent, robust and rarely filled with logical holes, but we have to wonder why the organization decided to ask if Americans would support affordable high-speed internet using their tax dollars. 53% of 2,252 telephoned adults said it shouldn’t be a major priority, which is significant, to be sure, but when Pew’s 2009 study showed that most individuals without broadband don’t want it, and their 2008 survey confirmed that 62 percent of dial-up users were still A-OK, we have to imagine researchers might have seen this coming. Those with broadband don’t need it, those without it don’t want it. Never mind about education, health, economic reform — you know, all those other priorities. Nevertheless, these are interesting results, and if you’re a proponent of the FCC’s National Broadband Plan you’d best have a look.

Pew study finds majority of Americans don’t want government to prioritize affordable broadband originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Aug 2010 08:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 10

Stats Show iPhone Owners Get More Sex

Posted in: Android, BlackBerry, dslr, iPhone, Miscellaneous, research, stats, Today's Chili


Gadget lovers have long held to the secret belief that the right camera, smartphone or large-aperture lens will make them sexier.

Now dating site OK Cupid has proof.

According to OK Cupid’s survey of 552,000 user pictures, digital SLRs make you look more attractive, Panasonic cameras make you sexier than Nikons, while using a flash will make you look 7 years older, and large-aperture lenses make you hotter.

And iPhone users have more sexual partners than BlackBerry or Android owners. By age 30, the average male iPhone user has had about 10 partners while female iPhone users have had 12. By contrast, BlackBerry users hover around 8 partners and Android users have a mere 6.

As the blog’s author’s wryly observe: “Finally, statistical proof that iPhone users aren’t just getting fucked by Apple.”

That should give iPhone and iPad users some comfort for being considered ‘selfish elites,’ as another recent survey found.

OK Cupid has been analyzing the behavior of the site’s millions of users for some time, and has discovered many interesting tidbits: People tend to lie on their profiles, people’s political preferences change as they age, and men can increase their chances of getting a date by being open to older women. The site’s massive dataset, huge volume of activity, and interesting slicing and dicing combine to produce some keen observations on human nature.

But for gadget heads, there’s no more pertinent observation than (hard) data. The Panasonic Micro 4/3 camera will make you look far more attractive than a Canon DSLR, which in turn is better than a Nikon or Sony DSLR. And forget about cameraphones: Android, Nokia, BlackBerry and Windows phones all make you look less attractive, with Motorola phones at the absolute bottom of the list.

Similarly, the type of camera you wield makes a big difference. There’s a dramatic illustration showing how the same woman looks photographed with a cameraphone, a point-and-shoot camera, and an SLR. That makes sense: As we’ve explained before, larger image sensors give you better-quality images.

Along the same lines, a larger-aperture photo lets you put the background out of focus, increasing the apparent attractiveness of the person you’re taking a picture of.

So if you wanted an excuse to buy a fancier camera with a bigger lens, OK Cupid’s got all the rationale you need.

As for switching from Android or BlackBerry to an iPhone? Well, that’s up to you. Unlike with the photos, it’s hard to tell whether iPhone use is the cause, or the effect, of having more notches in one’s bedpost.

OkTrends, via EthanZ

Image: via OKCupid

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Aug 10

Metamaterials used to focus Terahertz lasers, make them useful

Posted in: laser, nanotechnology, research, Today's Chili, university

Forget old and busted X-rays, T-rays are the future, man! It was only recently that we were discussing Terahertz lasers and their potential to see through paper, clothes, plastic, flesh, and other materials, but that discourse had to end on the sad note that nobody had managed to make them usable in a practical and economically feasible way. The major hurdle to overcome was the diffusion of Terahertz radiation — which results in weak, unfocused lasers — but now researchers from the universities of Harvard and Leeds seem to believe they’ve managed to do it. Using metamaterials to collimate T-rays into a “tightly bound, high powered beam” will, they claim, permit semiconductor lasers (i.e. the affordable kind) to perform the duties currently set aside for sophisticated machinery costing upwards of $160,000. Harvard has already filed a patent application for this innovation, and if things pan out, we might be seeing body scanners (both for medical and security purposes), manufacturing quality checks, and a bunch of other things using the extra special THz stuff to do their work.

Metamaterials used to focus Terahertz lasers, make them useful originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Aug 2010 11:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink PhysOrg  |  sourceUniversity of Leeds  | Email this | Comments

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Aug 07

Virginia Tech’s HokieSpeed supercomputer to rely on CPU and GPU synergies

Posted in: research, Today's Chili, university

Virginia Tech’s no stranger to housing supercomputers — those folks strung together 324 Mac Pros back in 2008 just for kicks, giggles and “research” — but their latest computing monolith is quite the shift from the ordinary. A cool $2 million is floating over to Blacksburg in order to create HokieSpeed, a “versatile new supercomputing instrument” that’ll soon be primed and ready to handle not just one or two tasks, but a variety of disciplines. Wu Feng, associate professor of computer science at the university, calls this magnificent monster a “new heterogeneous supercomputing instrument based on a combination of central processing units (CPUs) and graphical processing units (GPUs),” with expected performance to be orders of magnitude higher than their previous claim to fame, System X. One of its first assignments? To give end users the ability “to perform in-situ visualization for rapid visual information synthesis and analysis,” and during the late hours, hosts a campus-wide Quake deathmatch. Just kidding on that last bit… maybe.

Virginia Tech’s HokieSpeed supercomputer to rely on CPU and GPU synergies originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Aug 2010 08:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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