Nissan previews self-driving car

Watch out Google, here comes Nissan: The Japanese car maker has unveiled a concept car based on the all-electric Leaf that is able to drive and park itself.
The car, on show at this week’s Ceatec exhibition in Japan, promises an end to one of the most frustrating things a driver has to do: cruise around a packed car park looking for a space.
The advanced functions on the car are controlled from a smartphone. When the driver gets to his destination, rather than look for a parking spot the driver can tap a “park in” button on his smartphone car app and leave the rest up to the car.
“When a smartphone sends an instruction to park, the instruction enters the cloud to the Nissan Global Data Center,” said Tooru Futami, engineering director at Nissan’s Electronics Engineering Development Division. “There, a car health check is performed. The system decides if the car is OK to enter automatic driving mode. If everything with the car is OK, the automatic driving mode is enabled.”
In automatic driving mode, the first thing the car needs is an accurate map of its surroundings. That’s fed over an LTE data link that the car relies upon for all its communications.
Then the car pulls in images from four high-definition cameras placed around its body and attempts to recognize its location. This is a more accurate method than using GPS, according to Nissan.
Once the car is sure of its location, it can move forward looking for a parking space. When it finds one, it parks itself. All the time, the driver can be away running errands.
In a demonstration at Ceatec, the car drove at about 5 kilometers an hour while in automatic driving mode.

Google at work on Android gaming console

Google reportedly is developing a gaming console powered by its Android mobile operating system in an effort to widen the software's reach beyond smartphones and tablets and stay ahead of its competitors.
The company's plans also include developing an Android-powered wristwatch and a new version of the company's Android-based Nexus Q media-playing device, according to a Wall Street Journal report on Thursday that quoted unnamed sources. The Nexus Q was unveiled last year but never released to the public.
The goal is for Google to design and market the devices itself and release at least one of them this fall, the report said.
Google sees a potential competitor for these products in Apple, which may be launching a similar gaming or watch device in the future, the report said. It might be reacting to reports that Apple is planning its own video game console as part of its next Apple TV product release, the Journal said.
Google could not immediately be reached for comment on the report.
Android, which launched in 2008, is currently the most popular mobile operating system in the world. The OS is already the number-one computing platform on new devices, according to the research firm Gartner, having shipped on just over half a billion devices in 2012 worldwide, versus 559 million for Apple and Windows combined.
Android is expected to ship on 867 million devices this year, Gartner predicts.
In its Play Store, Google offers a range of gaming titles developed by third parties, such as "Minecraft," "Monopoly" and "Madden NFL." Branching out into consoles, however, might give the company access to a market of more serious gamers.
Meanwhile, in recent months rumors have exploded around Apple's purported plans to build a smartwatch that might interact with functions performed on people's smartphones.
Rumors have also swirled recently around Google's plans to open up brick-and-mortar retail stores as it moves further into the hardware space with products such as its Chromebooks and Nexus tablets.

Ways to Protect Your Ecommerce Site From Hacking and Fraud

Hackers are stealing credit card and other sensitive information from ecommerce sites. To protect (and reassure) your customers, it's imperative to know how to protect your ebusiness and your sensitive customer data. Ecommerce and security experts share 15 tips on how you can prevent fraud and keep your site safe.

1. Choose a secure ecommerce platform. "Put your ecommerce site on a platform that uses a sophisticated object-orientated programming language," says Shawn Hess, software development manager, VoIP Supply.
"We've used plenty of different open source ecommerce platforms in the past and the one we're using now is by far the most secure," Hess says. "Our administration panel is inaccessible to attackers because it's only available on our internal network and completely removed from our public facing servers. Additionally, it has a secondary authentication that authenticates users with our internal Windows network."
2. Use a secure connection for online checkout--and make sure you are PCI compliant. "Use strong SSL [Secure Sockets Layer] authentication for Web and data protection," says Rick Andrews, technical director, Trust Services, Symantec.
"It can be a leap of faith for customers to trust that your ecommerce site is safe, particularly when Web-based attacks increased 30 percent last year. So it's important to use SSL certificates "to authenticate the identity of your business and encrypt the data in transit," Andrews says. "This protects your company and your customers from getting their financial or important information stolen." Even better: "Integrate the stronger EV SSL [Extended Validation Secure Sockets Layer], URL green bar and SSL security seal so customers know that your website is safe."
"SSL certificates are a must for transactions," Hess agrees. "To validate our credit cards we use a payment gateway that uses live address verification services right on our checkout," he says. "This prevents fraudulent purchases by comparing the address entered online to the address they have on file with their credit card company."
3. Don't store sensitive data. "There is no reason to store thousands of records on your customers, especially credit card numbers, expiration dates and CVV2 [card verification value] codes," says Chris Pogue, director of Digital Forensics and Incident Response at Trustwave.
"In fact, it is strictly forbidden by the PCI Standards," Pogue says. He recommends purging old records from your database and keeping a minimal amount of data, just enough for charge-backs and refunds. "The risk of a breach outweighs the convenience for your customers at checkout," he says. "If you have nothing to steal, you won't be robbed."

 

Talking robot to blast into space for experiment in human/robot conversation

A small, humanoid robot will be flown to the International Space Station this summer to take part in the first experiment on conversation in space between a human and a robot.
The effort could speed the development of small robots that people could carry in their pockets like smartphones.
Kirobo, a 13.4-inch tall, 2.2-pound humanoid, black-and-white robot with red boots, is scheduled to take off for the space station on Aug. 4 aboard a Kounotori 4 cargo spacecraft that will lift off from Japan's Tanegashima Space Center. The robot will be unloaded and stowed until Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata arrives in November to take part in the experiment.
"Kirobo will remember Mr. Wakata's face so it can recognize him when they reunite up in space," said Kirobo's creator Tomotaka Takahashi, roboticist and founder of Kyoto University's Robo-Garage, one of the organization's behind the project. Takahashi was quoted in a report by the Agence-France Press, a French-based news agency.Kirobo, which can move its head and arms, stand up and even stand on one leg, is expected to help keep Wakata company, having conversations with him and possibly relaying information to him from the control room or ground engineers.

Voyager 1 reaches edge of solar system

Computerworld - Nearly 36 years after its launch, NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft is nearing the edge of the solar system and interstellar space.

NASA reported today that its getting data from the spacecraft that indicates it's now more than 11 billion miles from the sun.
At this pace, Voyager 1, launched on Sep. 5, 1977 to study the outer Solar System and interstellar space, should soon be the first human-made object to leave the solar system.
Voyager 1 is believed to be near the edge of the heliosphere, which is akin to a bubble around the sun. NASA reported that the spacecraft is so close to the edge of the solar system that it now is sending back more information about charged particles from outside the solar system and less from those inside it.
"This strange, last region before interstellar space is coming into focus, thanks to Voyager 1, humankind's most distant scout," said Ed Stone, Voyager's project scientist at the California Institute of Technology, in a statement.
"If you looked at the cosmic ray and energetic particle data in isolation, you might think Voyager had reached interstellar space, but the team feels Voyager 1 has not yet gotten there because we are still within the domain of the sun's magnetic field." he added.
NASA noted that its scientists don't know exactly how far Voyager 1 needs to travel to enter interstellar space. It could take a few months or even years. The bubble around the solar system extends at least 8 billion miles past the furthest planet from the sun.
Scientists are eager to see what Voyager 1 will find in interstellar space, which is believed to be filled with matter from stars.
Part of Voyager 1's mission is to measure the size of the heliosphere.
Voyager 1 launched with its twin spacecraft, Voyager 2. Both have flown past Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. In 1990, they embarked on a mission to enter the interstellar region.
Voyager 2 is currently just 9 billion miles away from the sun, NASA said.



 http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9240424/NASA_s_distant_scout_Voyager_1_reaches_edge_of_solar_system

Xbox One Reverses DRM Policy

Microsoft's next game console, the Xbox One, is perhaps best known for its complex used game system and once-per-24-hour online check-in requirement. Today, Microsoft is rolling back those policies, and the company took to its Xbox blog to explain. "I am announcing the following changes to Xbox One and how you can play, share, lend, and resell your games exactly as you do today on Xbox 360," Xbox head Don Mattrick writes.

"An internet connection will not be required to play offline Xbox One games – After a one-time system set-up with a new Xbox One, you can play any disc based game without ever connecting online again. There is no 24 hour connection requirement and you can take your Xbox One anywhere you want and play your games, just like on Xbox 360.
Trade-in, lend, resell, gift, and rent disc based games just like you do today – There will be no limitations to using and sharing games, it will work just as it does today on Xbox 360."

 Mattrick further explains that this is a direct response to gamer outcry. "Since unveiling our plans for Xbox One, my team and I have heard directly from many of you, read your comments and listened to your feedback. I would like to take the opportunity today to thank you for your assistance in helping us to reshape the future of Xbox One," he says. Further, he confirms that Xbox One games will be region-free, and that disc-based games will have to be kept in the disc tray rather than ripped to the console and played digitally (a previously touted Xbox One feature).

I for one am neither for or against this. From my understanding, microsoft's use of  the DRM (Digital Rights Management) policy was a shot at trying to bring more money into the pockets of developers and at the same time heading in a direction to put themselves in a position to reduce the cost of games to the consumer. If you have ever used STEAM to get your games for your PC you are already aware that they offer games at a lower price most of the time. They were also trying to use this policy to lessen the blow the developers and the company itself takes from game pirates. Most evertone nowadays has access to an internet connection once a day so Microsoft probably believed it would be a non issue. Upon my reading of the reversal of this policy it appears to me that they caught a hugh backlash of thier fans for implementing this into the xbox one.