GPS Satellite system is getting old
The Sky is Falling! The Sky is Falling! Ok, ok not really but in the near future we may see some of those expensive GPS satellites falling from the sky and hindering our ability to drive to the store without getting lost.
The problem is that no one has been spending enough to keep the aging GPS satellite system in working order. To get accurate global coverage you need at least 24 GPS nodes floating up there, currently there are 31.
No problem you say, but the rub is that most are already past their designed life and the US military (the people with the pink slip0 have not been replacing them fast enough. So in the next couple of years we may have GPS outages while they rush to replace the failing satellites.
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Flaw in OSX Java makes Macs Vulnerable
Hot on the heels of the Wal-Mart rumor we find that there is a problem with the way Mac OSX handles Java.
This flaw in the way the OS handles Java is present in all versions of OSX even the latest version 10.5.7. The vulnerability could be used to infect a system just by visiting a compromised page.
Once the user has browsed to that page the code can be executed at the same permissions level as the currently logged in user.
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Flaw in OpenSSH could compromise data
A critical flaw in the OpenSSH standard has been fully disclosed by a team of researchers at the Royal Holloway, University of London.
The flaw lays in the ability of an attacker for force certain parts of the encryption sequence into plain text. They can force up to 32 bit of text out into the clear. The chances of this are slim but are still there and represent vulnerability for any highly sensitive information or data.
The attack uses flaws in the RFC (request for comment) standard that makes up OpenSSH. This problem was first disclosed in November 2008 but not all the details were made public.
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OCZ Introduces Summit Series SSDs
OCZ has announce a new line of SSDs that they say provides the best of both the performance of cutting-edge technology and unmatched reliability.
The new OCZ Summit Series SSDs come in a durable 2.5" aluminum casing and are meant for all areas of computing for the enthusiast, small-scale enterprise, and professional-class storage devices. OCZ claims that the Summit Series of SSD's will achieve read speeds up to 220MB/s and wire speeds up to 200MB/s.
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Intel Details Next-Gen Atom Plans
Intel has shed a little light on where the future of the Atom platform is headed.
First up is that the new Atom platform will be codenamed Pine Trail which sounds more like an air freshener for your car than it does anything else. The shift to Pine Trail will move the chipset, including the graphics and memory controller, onboard the Atom processor into a single chip.
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Apple Says iPhone/iPod Is Totally Shocking
Apple is warning users of the iPhone and iPod that they might get a shocking experience when they go to use their earbuds.
The "small and quick" shock that people are getting is coming from a buildup of static electricity, similar to that of what you would experience dragging your feet across the carpet and touching someone.
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New iPhone Specs revealed...Maybe
It has been a little while since we have heard new iPhone rumors so I was not shocked when a couple popped up today.
The one that caught my attention was this little bit over at Wired. It seems that the rumor mill went into overtime churning out this one.
The rumor says that the next Gen iPhone will hit the streets on July 17th. But there is more than that, if the "source" is correct the new iPhone will have an OLED,a 3.2 MP camera (and can capture video), 1.5 times the battery life, and will have a 32GB version.
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3D Realms, not dead
It looks like the reports of the closing of 3D Realms might have been exaggerated. According to the company itself (which just laid off the majority of its development staff) it will continue as a much smaller company.
The issue here is that just about everyone that was working on Duke Nukem Forever is gone now (they were part of the group that got let go). So what is to become of Duke? If the rumors are right then 3D Realms will try to find a partner to help them complete it. If not then Take Two's lawsuit might grab hold and Duke might get a new owner.
In the end since this new title has been in the works for as long as anyone can remember I have to wonder if it will ever see the light of day, much less your system.
nVidia In Insurance Trouble
nVidia is having a little bit of trouble with their insurance. It seems that after they had that little spot of trouble with the defective GPUs and MCPs in Dell, HP and Toshiba Laptops they made a claim on their insurance.
The problem is that they did not give any details of the issue. They simply sent a bill over and expected the money in return. To National Union Fire Insurance Company (NUFI) this was simply not good enough.
They asked for some more information so they could determine if this payout was proper and all was well. nVidia did not give them the requested information, and in some cases flat out refused to give it.
nVidia Accuses Intel of Anti-Competitive Prices
nVidia is jumping on the AMD bandwagon, well sort of. As of right now nVidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang is saying that Intel is using anti-competitive pricing to prevent ION from entering the market.
Speaking at the Reuters Technology Summit Huang said that nVidia was not planning any legal action yet but that they "have to do whatever we have to do when the time comes". It seems pretty clear that this is a direct threat and not a simple statement.
Make no mistake the timing of this is not a coincidence either, this coming on the heels of the $1.45 Billion fine that Intel just receive shows that Huang feels this threat will motivate Intel to act differently towards ION.
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