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Video Streaming Service Vudu Victim of Burgalry; Hard Drives with Customer Info Stolen Digital theft has been all over the news in recent years, but earlier today video streaming service Vudu reported a more conventional theft. On March 24, someone broke into the Vudu offices and took a number of items, including hard drives full of customer information. Yes, you read that right, a physical burgarly occured at Vudu and not a website hack. The hard drives contained customer names, email addresses, street addresses, phone numbers, account activity, birth dates, and the last four digits "of some credit card numbers." Vudu doesn't store full credit card information on the hard drives so that is safe. Passwords aren't either, but only if you log in through another site. Stored passwords are encrypted, and while Vudu doesn't believe it can be compromised, it doesn't want to risk it so every customer's password has been reset. As a precautionary measure, Vudu is allowing every affected account to receive the protection benefits of AllClear ID. It runs for one entire year starting today, and includes pretty much every kind of protection possible just in case someone's identity is compromised. Accounts who never set a password with Vudu and used another means to login aren't eligible for AllClear since there's no risk of password hacking. More information can be found at the source below, including how to contact Vudu if you suspect any fraud. Source: Vudu Read More ...
New Batman Game Coming in October The prequel to the popular Arkham based Batman games, Batman: Arkham Origins, will be available on October 25 on PS3, Xbox 360, PC, and Wii U. This game is set "before the rise of Gotham City's most dangerous criminals, [and] showcases a young and unrefined Batman as he faces a defining moment in his early career as a crime fighter that sets his path to becoming the Dark Knight." The game is being developed by WB Games Montreal, whereas the previous two games were developed by Rocksteady Studios. Executive producer Reid Schneider said, "We are huge fans of the franchise and are committed to creating an experience that offers players more of what they love, as well as the chance to play as a younger Batman within a fresh storyline and expanded world." Source: PC Magazine Read More ...
Improved, Long-Range 3D Camera System Developed Many of us take for granted our 3D vision, which comes from having two eyes and a brain able to combine images from both. Those who are attempting to give 3D vision to machines however know how hard it can be to achieve. Now researchers have found a way to greatly improve one means of generating 3D images, as reported in the Optical Society's journal, Optics Express. Instead of using two cameras and combining a pair of images, many machines use a time-of-flight method to gather 3D information. This approach measures how long it takes a photon to reflect off of an object and return to a detector, but is plagued by issues including short range. These researchers overcame that issue though by using infrared photons and a detector for counting individual photons. Because infrared light is not disrupted by the atmosphere as much as visible light, this system can be used to collect 3D information on objects as far as a kilometer away, while still being high-resolution, thanks to the precision of the detector. Unfortunately the scanner does have some flaws at the moment, including being relatively slow at processing the information which is collected in just seconds. Currently it takes five to six minutes to process the data, but the researchers believe they can cut this down in the short term with a more powerful computer and in the long term with processors dedicated to this task. Source: Optical Society of America Read More ...
High-Speed Optical Switching of Magnetic Memory Achieved Magnetic memory devices have been used in computers for a long time, but have been receiving some stiff competition lately from solid state memories. Part of why SSDs are able to compete with magnetic HDDs is that they are typically faster and use less power. Researchers at Ames Laboratory, Iowa State University, and the University of Crete however have made a discovery which may help give the edge back to magnetic memories. Magnetic memory works by flipping the direction of a magnetic field, and researchers have been searching for ways to make this flipping faster and more efficient, such as heating the material. One promising group of materials for this is colossal magnetoresistive (CMR) family of materials, as they react well to external magnetic fields, such as those used for writing information, but do not require much heating. These materials are not well understood though, which is where these researchers come in as they used ultra-fast laser pulses to trigger the flipping of magnetic fields. For one of these materials, the researchers discovered they were able to flip the fields within a 100 femtosecond pulse, which means it may be possible to create terahertz speed hard drives and magnetic RAM. While that speed is certainly impressive, it means more than just fast memory. As this was an all-optical process and occurred so quickly, the physics involved must be quantum mechanical in nature. Potentially this knowledge could lead to CMR-based magnetic memories operating at their maximum possible speed. Source: Ames Laboratory Read More ...
Next Generation Intel Thunderbolt to Offer 20Gbps Transfer Speeds Intel has announced some of the features of its next generation Thunderbolt interface code named 'Falcon Ridge'. The interface will boast two channels, each with a 20Gbps bandwidth in both directions, an improvement on the 10Gbps offered with the current revision. The 20Gbps bandwidth should allow more uses of the Thunderbolt specification, such as 4k video file transfer. The new standard will also maintain compatibility with older Thunderbolt cables. Intel currently has 200 licensees for the technology, which is set to be released next year, but new, thinner cables will become available in the coming months. Intel also mentioned a new Thunderbolt host controller code named 'Redwood Ridge', which will be featured in some of the next generation Haswell series of chips. Source: KitGuru Read More ...
OCC Loses a Staff Member: RIP Nemo Just over three years ago, OCC said goodbye to Senior Staff member Ryan, known as Verran in the OCC forums. Today we say goodbye to another Senior Staff member; Dale Shuck known as Nemo. Dale arrived at OCC in May 2004 and joined the OCC staff as a News Editor in December 2006. It didn't take long for Dale to take over as the Senior News Editor where he remained until his passing. Besides his news duties, he did reviews on NAS boxes and always handled our newsletter. He even took over all of the hiring and training of all the news staff because he felt I had too much on my plate. Dale was a guy that was full of knowledge and would always want to help. His dedication to make sure the Hardware Roundups were done before he left for work every morning was so amazing to me. He would share his knowledge anytime you needed it, and boy did he love to joke and poke fun with all of the OCC wives and girls. Dale was famous for being a smartass but he was also known for being a great person, full of life and always wanting to help. He was also known to us as a loving father who adored his four children. One funny story I will always remember was two years ago talking on the phone with him for three hours going over info about RAID. I was in the process of building a NAS unit and wanted his advice. All through the thunder, lightning, and tornado sirens he told me all of the info I needed to know. I think I was more scared about the tornado than he was, ha-ha. I remember asking him, "don't you have to get off the phone and hide or something?" His reply, "don't worry if I see it I will let you know and say goodbye." That was Dale for ya, lol. Dale gave me a lot of personal support when Ryan passed away. Dale was very fond of Ryan and I would hope now that both of them will be reunited once again and watch over the rest of OCC until we are all brought back together once again. Dale had a massive stroke Sunday morning and was declared legally dead this afternoon. Dale signed up as an organ donor and wanted to help people after he was gone. My hat goes out to you for that Dale, and it shows what kind of a person you truly were. Dale: thank you for everything you did. It was a pleasure knowing you, and there won't be a day that goes by that I will not miss you, my friend. You were very unique and one of the smartest people I ever met and it's a damn shame you were taken from us so soon. RIP my friend. Until we meet again, I will always remember you and think of you often. Say Hi to Ryan for me when you get there. Your Friend, Dave OCC Editor In Chief Feel free to share your thoughts in the forums. Read More ...
Sony Prices 55 and 65-Inch Ultra HDTVs; Arrive on April 21 Ultra HDTVs, formerly known as 4K TVs, have been shown off and even available for some time now, but the extravagant price tag means many can't afford them. Sony has something a little more affordable, however, so long as you don't mind dropping down to 55 or 65" instead of 84". The tech giant announced the XBR-55X900A and XBR-65X900A are priced at $4,999 and $6,999, respectively, when they launch on April 21. It's still a high dollar amount, but it's similar to the price of plasma TVs when those first arrived in stores. To go with the UHDTVs, Sony is also offering the FMP-X1, a 4K Media Player, and a video distribution service so you'll have some content to show off on that new 3840x2160 resolution screen. The FMP-X1, due to arrive this summer, is priced at $699 and comes with ten feature films, plus some short videos, in 4K resolution. The feature films include: Bad Teacher, Battle: Los Angeles, The Amazing Spider-Man, Salt, Taxi Driver, The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Karate Kid (2010), That's My Boy, The Other Guys, and Total Recall (2012). The video distribution service is expected to arrive in the fall. Source: Engadget Read More ...
New Meaning Given to 'Vaporware' What happens when you give a group of researchers some lasers and rubidium atoms stored in a thin vapor? They make it into a memory storage device, of course. Researchers at NIST, the Joint Quantum Institute and the University of Maryland have built on previous work from another group to store an image within a vapor of rubidium atoms, by encoding information onto them via a laser pulse. When light strikes an atom it can encode some information onto it by changing its level. By controlling what frequency of light hits specific areas of the vapor, which had been magnetized, the researchers were able to encode an image. By flipping the orientation of the vapor with a magnetic field, a second laser pulse through it will cause the new photons to be encoded with the old photons' information, thereby reading the information left behind. Sadly, we will not be seeing a new memory storage system evolve directly from this research, but that was not its purpose. The researchers were instead trying to learn how they can manipulate rubidium atoms, which is information that may go on to enable memory storage for quantum computers. Source: NIST Read More ...
Noctua Announces Pair of CPU Coolers Noctua has added two CPU coolers to its award-winning NH-U series of quiet coolers, both of which are single tower coolers. The NH-U12S uses the NF-F12 120mm fan and the NH-U14S uses the NF-A15 140mm fan. These new coolers were designed with large memory modules in mind and have adequate room to accommodate large RAM coolers. Noctua CEO Mag. Roland Mossig said, "The original NH-U12 and NH-U9 were the first Noctua products we brought to the market and the NH-U series has been a cornerstone of our success ever since. Representing the next generation of this venerable legacy, the new NH-U12S and NH-U14S are the result of almost 10 years of continuous development and optimisation. Both models mark a significant improvement in performance, convenience and compatibility." Source: Noctua Read More ...
Enermax Details COENUS Case Enermax has announced the release of its latest case, the COENUS. Hoping to build off a previous case, the Fulmo ST, Enermax has created a feature packed mid tower case. The black case has an acrylic side panel and the front of the case is covered in mesh to provide for better airflow and an interesting look. The case can hold up to eight hard drives in a variety of configurations. Enermax SlideIn ODD design provides for easy installation of hard drives and optical drives. A maximum of six fans can be used to help keep airflow up throughout the case. Read More ...
Next Generation Xbox May be Unveiled May 21 According to a report on 'The Verge', Microsoft may be planning to unveil its upcoming Xbox console, dubbed the Xbox 720, at a special event next month. The event is said to be held at a 'small venue', and will note the key features of the upcoming console. Previous reports have indicated an event planned on the 24th of April, however this date appears to have been pushed back for an undisclosed reason. It has also been reported that the next generation Xbox will be fully revealed during E3 in June, which would be followed by a launch during early 2014. The Xbox will also make an appearance at the Microsoft Build conference in late June, when Microsoft is likely to announce more technical aspects of the upcoming console. Source: The Verge Read More ...
Fusion Powered Rocket Designed for Mars Missions I am not sure where it is now, but I once found in my house a book on the rocketry of its time, which was the space race. Among its chapters was one discussing a proposed nuclear powered rocket, which used fissile material like uranium to provide thrust. Such a rocket was never built but the idea of a nuclear rocket has not disappeared as researchers at the University of Washington have designed and performed preliminary tests on what would be a nuclear fusion powered rocket engine. If my memory serves me correctly, that fission powered rocket used the radiation of the fissile material to ionize a piece of metal, and that ionized metal would be projected out of the rocket, creating thrust. While the mechanism is completely different, the fusion rocket also uses the ejection of metal to provide thrust, but the similarity ends there. What the researchers have proposed is to create pellets of fuel-plasma that are shot into the rocket nozzle. There an intense magnetic field is used to crush a ring of metal down onto the plasma with enough force to trigger fusion. The fusion then ionizes the metal so quickly that it launches from the nozzle, and accelerates the rocket. There is still a great deal of work to do before fusion rockets push people to Mars, but this is a very promising design. Nuclear fusion releases a great deal of energy, which will allow a fusion rocket to use less fuel, and that will greatly decrease its weight and cost.
Fast-Ignition Fusion Variation has Critical Flaw Nuclear fusion is very likely to become the power source of the future as it is able to generate massive amounts of energy from relatively cheap fuel and with little waste. The catch is that achieving nuclear fusion is not easy and researchers are still trying to find a way to ignite it without putting in more energy than the process will produce. One method to stimulate fusion though has been called into question by researchers at the Ohio Supercomputing Center. The fast-ignition method is a two-step process that uses lasers to compress a fuel pellet to a fraction of its original size, and then an ultra-fast and powerful laser pulse to actually initiate nuclear fusion. One of the ways to deliver the laser power to the fuel is to have it hit a hollow, metal cone, causing electrons to be blasted onto the pellet but this apparently will not always work. The researchers have found that if the cone is too thick, the ejected electrons will collide with a dense plasma, causing them to lose too much energy to trigger fusion. Actually, other researchers have found that the hollow-cone, fast-ignition method is flawed, but had failed to develop an explanation for why. While this is certainly not great news for nuclear fusion research, it is not horrible as there are still many other methods and multiple variants of fast-ignition, which still have a chance powering the future. Source: Ohio Supercomputing Center Read More ...
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