Okay, so now we know what those google folks have been spending all
that IPO cash on. Google Earth is the next istallment of Googles GIS
suite. If you haven’t already seen it, imagine Google Maps with the
satellite images rendered in lovely panable, zoomable tiltable 3D along
with all the metadata you can shake a big fat stick at. Add elevation
data and a mini app which lets you set your own points of interest and
you and you have a truly awesome map tool. more
Paper Enigma Machine
Download this one-page PDF file & print. You can then cut out the strips, and build your own fully functional Enigma
machine. This machine is compatible with the original 3-rotor German
Enigma used during World War II. For simplicity it omits the "ring
settings" and plug board, but the primary workings of the machine are
captured in this model. Great as an educational tool more
HTTP Request Smuggling Vulnerability
Multiple vendors are vulnerable to a new class of attack named ‘HTTP
Request Smuggling’ that revolves around piggybacking a HTTP request
inside of another HTTP request, which could let a remote malicious user
conduct cache poisoning, cross-site scripting, session hijacking, as
well as bypassing web application firewall protection and other
attacks. CERT has ranked this attack and the associated vulnerabilties
found in multiple products as High Risk. more
Analyzing social networks from Enron email logs
Jeffrey Heer has taken the first steps in developing a very powerful
exploratory data environment for e-mail corpora, using the Enron e-mail
corpus as a motivating data set. The interface unifies information
visualization techniques with various algorithms for processing the
e-mail corpus, including social network inference, message
categorization, and community analysis. Though still in a developmental
phase, enronic shows promise as a platform for more tightly coupling
manual and automated data analysis. more.
Full Brain Simulation Courtesey of IBM
An effort to create the first computer simulation of the entire human
brain, right down to the molecular level has just been launched. The
“Blue Brain” project, a collaboration between IBM and a Swiss
university team, will involve building a custom-made supercomputer
based on IBM’s Blue Gene design. The hope is that the virtual brain
will help shed light on some aspects of human cognition, such as
perception, memory and perhaps even consciousness. more
Swim with the fishes without tanks
An Israeli Inventor has developed a breathing apparatus that will allow
breathing underwater without the assistance of oxygen tanks. This new
invention will use the relatively small amounts of air that already
exist in water to supply oxygen to both scuba divers and submarines.
The invention has already captured the interest of most major diving
manufacturers as well as the Israeli Navy. more
DARPA Grand Challenge Semis Announced
DARPA announced the 40 Grand Challenge teams selected to advance to the
National Qualification Event. The teams come from a variety of
backgrounds including universities, individuals, corporations, and a
high school. U.S. Department of Defense Joint Robotics Program (JRP)
offers free use of Autonomous Vehicle Practice Facility to all DARPA
Grand Challenge semifinalists. more
15 minutes to crack a WEP key
As if you needed any further warnings that WEP is rubbish, here is a
short demo of a wireless WEP attack. This is a very interesting
technique, where packets are injected to the access point, making it
release weak IVs. You’ll think twice about WEP after this! This is
really important: even though there is not much traffic on the AP, we
generate our own by replaying a single packet over and over again! more
Google Earth Software Rocks!
Google has released a beta of it’s Google Earth software to subscribers
of the existing Keyhole service. New features include 3D models of
buildings in selected cities, input from your gps receiver and a better
search system. This product is in competition with Microsoft’s Virtual
Earth. Fly from space to your home town. Visit exotic
locales such as Maui, Tokyo, Rome and Paris.
Satellite imagery makes it real. Explore restaurants,
hotels, parks and schools. Think magic carpet ride! more