Researchers at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency want to build extremely small light detection and ranging (LIDAR) systems -- which use light to image objects and their motions like RADAR systems use radio waves – to enable a host of new applications that would let high-tech systems “see” as they never have before.+More on Network World: The world’s most popular Instagram shots+According to DARPA, a LIDAR system beams light out and then precisely monitors the timing of reflections back to map and track objects within its detection range. Unlike a camera that captures a two-dimensional rendition of three-dimensional scenes, a LIDAR system essentially captures full-fledged three-dimensional reality. The basic technology already is out there—LIDAR allowed many robots at the DARPA Robotics Challenge to “see” and it enables autonomous vehicles to sense obstacles in their surroundings, for example—but those systems are too big, heavy and expensive for widespread use, the agency stated.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Electronic monitoring technologies are not the panacea for tracking criminals many believe they are.The main issue – and it’s a big one – is that such the packages also known as offender tracking systems (OTS) operate and perform with no underlying industry standards for communications or software causing a myriad of problems for law enforcement agencies.+More on Network World: Gartner: Get onboard the algorithm train!An OTS typically consists of hardware, such as an ankle bracelet, used for collecting Global Positioning System (GPS) signals to determine an individual's location, and software for analyzing data collected from the hardware device.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
OK so it’s not Amazon, Target or Wal-Mart Cyber Monday sales but the US Marshals are offering up what it calls “Cyber Monday” auctions for ill-gotten-booty.“Cyber Monday is generally thought to be the start of the online holiday shopping season. We would like to encourage shoppers who are already online in search of bargains to consider stopping by our auction website to bid on forfeited assets,” said Jason Wojdylo, Chief Inspector of the U.S. Marshals Service Asset Forfeiture Division in a statement. These online auctions are designed to generate proceeds from ill-gotten gains to give back to victims, he stated.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Developing systems to protect the nation’s electric grid has been a key goal for many public, private and government developers for years – yet exerts say the grid is still largely vulnerable of serious cyberattackers.The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is looking to bolster the nation’s grid defenses with a system called Rapid Attack Detection, Isolation and Characterization (RADICS) that will detect and automatically respond to cyber-attacks on US critical infrastructure.+More on Network World: 21 more crazy and scary things the TSA has found on travelers+To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Developing systems to protect the nation’s electric grid has been a key goal for many public, private and government developers for years – yet exerts say the grid is still largely vulnerable of serious cyberattackers.The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is looking to bolster the nation’s grid defenses with a system called Rapid Attack Detection, Isolation and Characterization (RADICS) that will detect and automatically respond to cyber-attacks on US critical infrastructure.+More on Network World: 21 more crazy and scary things the TSA has found on travelers+To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
While an actual rule could be months away, drones weighing about 9 ounces or more will apparently need to be registered with the Federal Aviation Administration going forward.The registration requirement and other details came form the government’s UAS Task Force which was created by the FAA in last month and featured all manner of associates from Google, the Academy of Model Aeronautics and Air Line Pilots Association to Walmart, GoPro and Amazon.+More on Network World: Hot stuff: The coolest drones+Other proposed requirements were to offer a simple, free online registration system and a requirement that unmanned aircraft would need to fly with an visible registration number tying the aircraft to the owner.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
One of the most destructive and dangerous materials a commercial or military jet engine can ingest is volcanic ash and one of the least would be crayons and cereal.But those two substances were a key part of testing NASA has been conducting on smart engine sensors that could detect and help pilots avoid a volcanic plume. The new sensors are expected to detect the degradation caused by the volcanic ash, quantify the significance of the event, and aid in identifying which components might require maintenance, NASA stated. NASA
The ash plume (the brown streak) from the big 2010 volcanic eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland contributed to airline disruptions in Europe for almost a week.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
There could be supersonic private passenger flights buy 2023 if Airbus and Aerion have their way.The two companies this week expanded their existing partnership and detailed the results of their research – the AS2, a 170-ft. long needle-shaped, three-engine jet capable of hitting speeds over 1,200MPH – about Mach 1.5. The idea is to test fly the jet by 2021 -- which can handle about 12 passengers -- and have it in service by 2023.
Airbus/Aerion AS2To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
In the first criminal copyright infringement sentence imposed for a cyberlocker operator in the United States, the owner of the RockDizMusic.com got 36 months in prison and ordered to forfeit $50,851.05 and pay $48,288.62 in restitution.The US Department of Justice said Rocky Ouprasith, 23, of Charlotte, North Carolina operated RockDizMusic.com, a website originally hosted on servers in France and later in Canada, from which Internet users could find and download infringing digital copies of popular, copyrighted songs and albums.+More on Network World: 17 Real Big Sci/Tech projects+To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
During its testimony on security weaknesses among federal agencies this week, the Government Accountability Office detailed a number of critical elements that make up effective protection systems.Among the systems the watchdog agency detailed was the key components in access control which is typically the technology an enterprise uses to regulate who has access to what resources.+ More on Network World: Watchdogs detail Federal security tribulations +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
During its testimony on security weaknesses among federal agencies this week, the Government Accountability Office detailed a number of critical elements that make up effective protection systems.Among the systems the watchdog agency detailed was the key components in access control which is typically the technology an enterprise uses to regulate who has access to what resources.+ More on Network World: Watchdogs detail Federal security tribulations +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Security issues continue to confound many Federal agencies keeping tons of sensitive information at risk of unauthorized disclosure, modification, or destruction.That was one of the main conclusions of yet another Government Accountability security assessment, which focused on the Department of Education but included information about other agencies, to congress this week. Since fiscal year 2006, the number of reported information security incidents affecting federal systems has steadily increased, rising from about 5,500 in fiscal year 2006 to almost 67,200 in fiscal year 2014, the GAO noted.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Security issues continue to confound many Federal agencies keeping tons of sensitive information at risk of unauthorized disclosure, modification, or destruction.That was one of the main conclusions of yet another Government Accountability security assessment, which focused on the Department of Education but included information about other agencies, to congress this week. Since fiscal year 2006, the number of reported information security incidents affecting federal systems has steadily increased, rising from about 5,500 in fiscal year 2006 to almost 67,200 in fiscal year 2014, the GAO noted.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Maybe it was a full moon or maybe all the dolts just came out at once, but the Federal Aviation Administration reported that lasers hit nearly two dozen aircraft across the US last night. Sadly the average number of laser strikes on aircraft is about 16 per day. FBI
The FAA said three laser strikes were reported in the New York City/Newark, N.J early in the evening, followed by three incidents in Texas, where jets were struck while preparing to land at Dallas Love Field. By late evening, pilots reported laser incidents in cities from Dallas to Los Angeles and San Juan.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The Big TVImage by REUTERS/Kim Hong-JiThrough the years television has been celebrated and denounced for its influence. In 1996 the United Nations designated November 21 as World Television Day “not so much a celebration of the tool, but rather the philosophy which it represents. Television represents a symbol for communication and globalization in the contemporary world,” the UN stated. While in the US and other countries TV is decidedly high-tech, other places it is not. Reuters took a look at people watching television all over the world to celebrate World Television Day.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The Big TVImage by REUTERS/Kim Hong-JiThrough the years television has been celebrated and denounced for its influence. In 1996 the United Nations designated November 21 as World Television Day “not so much a celebration of the tool, but rather the philosophy which it represents. Television represents a symbol for communication and globalization in the contemporary world,” the UN stated. While in the US and other countries TV is decidedly high-tech, other places it is not. Reuters took a look at people watching television all over the world to celebrate World Television Day.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
As if Pluto and its moons weren’t unique enough – scientists at the SETI Institute say if tiny Hydra were spinning much faster its surface would fly off.
The fact that most of Plutos moons -- Styx, Nix, Kerberos and Hydra – are spinning wildly anyway is an anomaly, so when NASA’s New Horizon’s space probe got close enough to make some observations about the spin rates of Pluto’s known satellites what was found surprised a few folks. Typically most inner moons in the solar system keep one face pointed toward their central planet, NASA stated.
+More on Network World: NASA telescopes watch cosmic violence, mysteries unravel+To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Sophos this week rolled out a firewall/end point security package with an eye toward more quickly helping IT detect threats and autonomously isolate infected devices.The key to the company’s security protection package is Sophos Security Heartbeat endpoint software and the firm’s new XG Firewall family.+More on Network World: Review: Stop insider attacks with these 6 powerful tools+According to Dan Schiappa, senior vice president of the end user security group at Sophos, Security Heartbeat sends continuous, real-time health information about the end point. If suspicious traffic is identified by the firewall, or malware is detected on the endpoint, security and threat information -- such as the MAC address, computer name, username and process information associated with the threat -- is instantly shared securely via between endpoints and the XG firewall.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Looking to counter the threat unmanned aircraft might bring to Federal prison guards and prisoners, the Federal Bureau of Prisons is looking at what types of technology could be used to defeat the drones.The group, which is an agency of the Department of Justice issued a Request for Information specifically targeting what it called a fully integrated systems that will allow for the detection, tracking, interdiction, engagement and neutralization of small -- less the 55lb -- unmanned aerial system.+More on Network World: The International Space Station: Reveling at 15+To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Hailing 15Image by NASANASA and the world cosmos community this month celebrate the International Space Station’s 15th consecutive year of humans living in its celestial lab. In those 15 years, 45 crewed expeditions -- more than 220 people from 17 countries -- have visited the station, constructed over more than 115 space flights conducted on five different types of launch vehicles. The station now measures 357 feet end-to-end and provides more livable room than a conventional six-bedroom house, NASA says. Here we take a look at life onboard and what the ISS has meant to space exploration.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Michael Cooney