Monthly Archives: April 2013

Security audit finds developer outsourced his 9-5 job to China to goof off at work

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“The analysis of his workstation found hundreds of PDF invoices from the Chinese contractors. The scheme worked very well for Bob. In his performance assessments by the firm’s human resources department, he was the firm’s top coder for many quarters and was considered expert in C, C++, Perl, Java, Ruby, PHP, and Python.  Further investigation found that the enterprising Bob had actually taken jobs with other firms and had outsourced that work too, netting him hundreds of thousands of dollars in profit as well as lots of time to hang around on internet messaging boards and checking for a new Detective Mittens video.”

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/16/developer_oursources_job_china/

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Princeton University gives away free houses to anyone willing to haul them away

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“Princeton University is giving away seven houses along Alexander Street that would be otherwise slated for demolition, for free.  The catch? You have to haul them away yourself.  The seven available structures are located from 106 to 194 Alexander Street. University spokesman Martin Mbugua said the idea to give the houses away came up during project plan discussions for the $330 million Arts and Transit project. The university-owned structures previously used as offices and are available in as-is condition, he said. The conditions aren’t exactly move-in though, with the houses having undergone remediation and some construction.”

http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2013/02/princeton_university_wants_to.html

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New demolition technique shrinks Tokyo hotel ‘in a clean manner’

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“Passers-by in Tokyo’s busy Akasaka district have started to notice something odd about a 40-floor hotel — it has shrunk to about half its original height.  Slowly but surely, and with none of the explosions or dust normally associated with the demolition of skyscrapers, the hotel is being torn down.  Engineers reinforced the top floor with steel beams and then effectively lopped it off, keeping it in place to be used as an adjustable lid that can be lowered down the building on an external support frame.  Workers at the Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka have brought in 15 hydraulic jacks on which this ‘lid’ now sits as they remove one floor at a time.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/02/27/new-demolition-technique-shrinks-tokyo-hotel-in-a-clean-manner/

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World’s first successful uterus transplant recipient is pregnant via in vitro fertilization

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“The first woman ever to receive a uterus from a deceased donor, is two-weeks pregnant following a successful embryo transplant, her doctors said on Friday.  The 22-year-old Derya Sert was revealed to be almost two-weeks pregnant in preliminary results after in vitro fertilisation at Akdeniz University Hospital in Turkey’s southern province of Antalya, her doctor Mustafa Unal said in a written statement.  Sert was described as a ‘medical miracle’ when she became the first woman in the world to have a successful womb transplant from a dead donor in August 2011 at the same Antalya hospital.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/04/12/worlds-first-successful-uterus-transplant-recipient-is-pregnant-via-in-vitro-fertilization/

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WikiHouse allows people to build their own homes with 3-D printers

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“WikiHouse is putting a new spin on old-time barn-raising with a free online resource that lets people put homes together the same way they might a giant jigsaw puzzle.  WikiHouse.cc was designed as an open-source construction kit that lets people create and share home designs and then ‘print’ pieces using machines available for as little as a few thousand dollars.  It is part of the effort by the WikiHouse collective of professionals who volunteer to give consumers information and tools about home design and construction.  ‘Two or three people working together can build a small house in about a day,’ said Alastair Parvin, a British architect.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/02/28/wikihouse-allows-people-to-build-their-own-homes-with-3-d-printers/

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3-D printer wows world’s top tech fair

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“The machine, developed by German company ‘fabbster’, melts plastic and then builds up incredibly fine ‘layer’ just 88 microns (0.088 millimetres) thick, eventually producing a solid physical object with impressive detail.  The system is currently being used mainly by small businesses, architects, designers and engineers, explained Fabian Grupp, project manager. ‘You can really make anything you can think of,’ he enthused. Coming soon is the ability to create multi-coloured objects and use different materials within the same ‘print-out’.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/03/05/3-d-printer-wows-worlds-top-tech-fair/

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New iPad app allows users to virtually try on glasses in 3-D

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“Jonathan Coon turned heads Wednesday with iPad software that lets people try on sunglasses by manipulating 3-D images of themselves from the neck up.  The founder of discount prescription lens company 1-800 Contacts introduced a service intended to let shoppers see themselves in eyewear using smartphones, tablets or computers with cameras built into screens. ‘One of the great ironies of glasses is that people who wear them usually can’t see themselves when they are shopping for glasses because they need to be wearing prescription lenses,’ Coon said.  ‘For the first time, you can see yourself trying on glasses.'”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/02/28/new-ipad-app-allows-users-to-virtually-try-on-glasses-in-3-d/

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New smartphone extension helps you find your lost cat or grandma

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“Inventors and manufacturers at the world’s biggest mobile fair in Barcelona showed off new inventions to make the ubiquitous mobile even dearer to owners’ hearts.  You don’t have to be human to benefit.  If you buy a GPS pet-tracking device from Tractive, you can attach it to your dog’s or cat’s collar and get an immediate alarm on your smartphone the moment he or she leaves from the garden, or any other area you have defined.  Your pet’s hopes of escape can be quickly squashed with the help of your iPhone or Android-powered mobile.  Forgetful grandparents can be traced easily, too.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/02/28/new-smartphone-extension-helps-you-find-your-lost-cat/

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How Mobile Devices Are Changing Africa

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“Mobile phones are kicking off a revolution in Africa, with everyone from farmers to villagers relying on apps to make electronic payments, check on expiration dates for medicine, and predict future storms or the best prices for produce. More kids in Africa have access to the Internet than consistent electricity. Nobody owns a PC or can access a fixed-line telephone, so mobile phones are a conduit for everything from email to news to making payments via SMS. Many people on the continent also own phones equipped with flashlights and radios and the percentage of the population equipped with mobile devices is primed to explode over the next few years.”

http://slashdot.org/topic/cloud/sxsw-how-mobile-devices-are-changing-africa/

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Government investigating whether free app games target children for commercial gains

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“A watchdog has launched an investigation into whether children face ‘unfair pressure’ to spend money on apparently free web and app-based games, it said Friday.  The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is asking parents to get in touch with any examples of possible ‘commercially aggressive’ practices which encourage children to buy virtual currency like coins, gems or fruit, or upgraded membership.  It is unlawful to make a ‘direct exhortation’ to children to make a purchase or persuade their parents to do so under consumer protection regulations.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/04/12/watchdog-investigating-whether-free-app-games-target-children-for-commercial-gains/

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