Bringing your Analogue past into our Digital future

Orome1 writes "A simple-to-use Firefox plugin presented yesterday at Toorcon in San Diego has hit the security world with the realization that squabbles about Facebook's changing privacy settings and various privacy breaches simply miss the point. 'When it comes to user privacy, SSL is the elephant in the room,' said Eric Butler, the developer of the extension in question, dubbed Firesheep. By installing and running it, anyone can 'sniff out' the unencrypted HTTP sessions currently allowing users on that network segment to access social networks, online services and other website requiring a login, and simply hijack them and impersonate the user."

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#wifi Keeping all of your gadgets friendly together—syncing, sharing, and the like—always seems like something that could be better done with a WiFi connection than a cable. The new Wi-Fi Direct certification aims to make this a simpler reality. More »

This handsome iPhone handset from artist Scott Freeland would look right at home on any side table or credenza.
The iRetrofone Base is a fully-functional, stationary iPhone dock with working handset and complete compatibility with USB cable. Each individual iRetrofone is hand-sculpted and hand-cast in urethane resin. The iRetrofone base is made of heavy-duty, half-inch thick urethane resin creating a stable, functional work station that routes voice communications through the included handset.

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#ebay It's not going to warrant you any rags-to-riches accolades overnight, but it's a quick way to get rid of unwanted gadgetry and make a few bucks in the process. More »

#halloween Yesterday we showed you some great ways to carve the ultimate pumpkin, but what good is the ultimate pumpkin without some awesome illumination? Today we take a look at different ways you can illuminate your Halloween masterpiece. More »

#ipad From helping actors learn lines, to appearing 2,438 times on TV in September alone, to showing Star Trek 2's lead actress as a vulcan, the NYTimes' profiled the iPad's influence on Hollywood behind and infront of the camera. [NYTimes] More »

#iphoneapps The idea behind this app is that instead of tagging actual buildings, you're tagging virtual buildings. Whether this will reduce crime (or actually encourage it) is undecided, but the app has a neat augmented reality Foursquare tie-in. More »

If you're used to shooting video with a video camera and are having a hard time adjusting to shooting with a DSLR lens, then you're probably looking for a cheap follow focus for your kit. If you'd like to save a couple grand and forgo any personal aesthetics, you can try this snazzy DIY follow focus pieced together from K'nex by prippman from Bootleg Productions. [via, DIYPhotography]

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#cellphones French company Lekki is doing something fun in the cellphone world, where every month a vintage phone will be reissued in a bright new hue. This month it's 1996's Motorola StarTAC, which is available now for $150. [Lekki via RetroToGo] More »

Luminary Crush writes "A gas giant of approximately 1.5 Mj (Jupiter Mass) was discovered on October 22nd around the binary star system HD 176051B. It's not known with certainty which component of the binary system the planet is in orbit around at this point as both stars in HD 176051B are relatively Sol-sized (1.07 and .71 solar masses). Named 176051B b, this new exoplanet orbits within the star system's habitable zone, and if mapped onto our solar system with relative distance from our Sun it would place the large planet between Earth and Mars. While it's unlikely that such a gas giant could host life as we know it (though it's hypothesized), the location of the big planet opens up the intriguing idea of the realization of some of science fiction's famously habitable moons, Pandora and Endor. Look no further than our own solar system to see moons with the potential ingredients for life — just add heat."

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#architecture When a "V" this large is beamed into the sky, questions must be asked. I don't think the Vietnamese bank VietinBank is on a vendetta, however—unless the "situation" between the north and south is worse than I thought. More »

Rare earths are minerals which are used across a vast range of modern technologies. China currently accounts for nearly all global production, but there are now fears that it may restrict supplies even further than it already does.

#magnets If your microwave suddenly whizzes out your house and down the road, you'll know India's successfully built the world's largest magnet. The 50,000 tons of magnetised iron will be housed underground, making CERN's 37,500-ton magnet shrink in shame. More »

Wikileaks' Kristin Hraffnson discusses allegations about the behaviour of US and UK troops in Iraq.

#weddings The source of the fight is not clear, but when cameramen get fed up about something at this wedding it's their expensive equipment that suffers the most when it's hurled around. Watch the violence and trashed electronics inside. More »

#streetview Pity the big Goog, who is now legally obligated to publish its Italian Street View car routes in advance in newspapers, radio and on a website. This is a godsend for fame-hungry costume-dressing Street View pranksters. [Reuters] More »

#hivefive Smartphone-based alarm clocks have become increasingly sophisticated and featured-packed, and more and more people are ditching their old-school alarms for alarms of the app variety. Here are five of the most popular mobile alarm apps. More »

LingNoi writes with this excerpt from ComputerWorld UK: "The London Stock Exchange has said its new Linux-based system is delivering world record networking speed, with 126 microsecond trading times. The news comes ahead a major Linux-based switchover in twelve days, during which the open source system will replace Microsoft .Net technology on the group's main stock exchange. The LSE had long been criticised on speed and reliability, grappling with trading speeds of several hundred microseconds. The 126 microsecond speed is 'twice as fast' as its main international competitors, the London Stock Exchange said. BATS Europe and Chi-X, two dedicated electronic rivals to the LSE, are reported to have an average latency of 250 and 175 microseconds respectively. Neither company immediately provided details. But many of the LSE's older and more traditional rivals offer speeds of around 300 to 400 microseconds. Nevertheless, Linux is now standard in many exchanges, including the New York Stock Exchange."

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Adobe is going to bring their updated Adobe Air 2.5 software platform to televisions, smartphones, tablets and desktops. That means theoretically an app designed for Adobe Air can now be spread across nearly every screen you use. More »

cylonlover writes "Sharp has reportedly decided to pull the plug on their PC operations — not entirely shocking given that the company has not released any PCs at all in the past year. The company will apparently 'focus on marketing its Galapagos tablet devices coming out in December, along with providing content such as e-books, music and video for these products.'"

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