ATM Card Skimmers Are Getting Frighteningly Sophisticated [Scams]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/ZfaReaW-XqQ/atm-card-skimmers-are-getting-frighteningly-sophisticated

The above card skimmer, found on a Citibank ATM in Woodland Hills, CA, secretly scans your account information and PIN number, which it then wirelessly sends to a scammer. Would you have spotted it?

Card skimmers have been around for a while now, but they're only getting more sophisticated and hard to detect. This one features a tiny pinhole camera that records victims' PIN as they punch it into the keypad, and it was clearly molded to fit and work with this exact ATM.

What can you do to protect yourself? Just be aware. Look at all the ATMs in the bank you're in to make sure they all look the same. Look for hidden cameras or extra seams that seem out of place. Look for odd protrusions or elements that have colors that don't match the rest of the machine. If you're paying attention, you should be OK. But if you aren't, you're at risk for giving up your checking account to a scammer. [Krebs on Security via Cynical C]

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First YouTube, Now Vimeo: How HTML5 Could Finally Kill Flash Video [HTML5]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/pWU1vvMiin8/first-youtube-now-vimeo-how-html5-could-finally-kill-flash-video

Flash powers almost all the video on the web nowadays, so it's obviously good enough. But is there a better way? YouTube, and now Vimeo, who're both giddily jumping into bed with HTML, sure seem to think so.

Vimeo's new HTML5 system is just like YouTube's, in both execution and technical details, in that it'll only work with a few browsers—Safari and Chrome, for now—and that it's compatible with most, but not all, of the company's video libraries. It's something that most people won't bother to try at this point, and if they do, they're probably be underwhelmed, since HTML5 video playback is almost indistinguishable from Flash video playback. (Moving pictures!)

But it's primed to be something that everyone ends up using, and that would be a Very Good Thing. Flash video performs terribly on Mac OS X and Linux, and on the few mobile devices that do support it, playback is uniformly terrible. And generally speaking, it's a plug-in. We whine about having to install Silverlight to use Bing Maps or watch some kinds of video, but it's a plugin the same way that Flash is.

HTML5 allows certain types of video to be rendered in the browser natively, like JPEGs or GIFs are now. It's an objectively simpler, more efficient solution, and disregarding the massive infrastructure built up around Flash video, it would be the obvious choice.

Luckily, YouTube accounts for a hefty chunk of said architecture, their catalog is rendered in HTML5-friendly h.264 format already—that's how you watch in on the iPhone and Android, by the way—and with help from smaller sites like Vimeo, they could actually get the ball rolling on, you know, murdering Flash video. In a world where everybody's browser fully supports h.264 HTML5 video—a world that's a few years away, at least—we wouldn't have to wait years for Flash support in our new phones, wouldn't have to settle of chugging video playback on near-new machines, and we wouldn't have to put up overladen, poorly-designed proprietary Flash players getting in the way of our content. We'd just have...video. [CNET]

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Clay- and Water-Based Hydrogels: Possible Alternative to Plastic [Guts]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/dMzzIagawEk/clay+-and-water+based-hydrogels-possible-alternative-to-plastic

Plastic polymers are efficient, cheap and easy to make—but not very environmentally friendly. Hydrogels had previously not been really considered a viable alternative, because they're, well, gels. But by attaching them to clay, that's all changed.

Turns out the water-based (duh) hydrogels had a great affinity for attaching to glass, so researchers tested out its relationship with something fairly similar: Clay. And lo and behold, it sticks! That gives it a bunch of properties that make it a possible alternative to plastics:

This notably improved mechanical properties over other hydrogels, as it could be molded into shapes that are free-standing and relatively robust and would undergo self-healing when cut. Less than 0.4 percent of it is petroleum-derived, so improved versions may provide an appealing green alternative to polymers. The best aspect, however, may be its simplicity: all you need are three ingredients, a beaker of water, and something to stir with.

Of course, it remains to be seen whether these new hydrogels actually take off as a plastic replacement, but it looks like now they might have a fighting chance. [Ars Technica]

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One Man, One Mouse, Three Hours [Image Cache]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/JvZwYflgv_I/one-man-one-mouse-three-hours

It only took graphic designer Anatoly Zenkov a few hours of Photoshop work to log this exhausting, web-like trail with his cursor. Here's how he recorded it, and how you can too. [Flickr]

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This EMP Cannon Stops Cars Almost Instantly [Emp]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/dkwuL3NEzjk/this-emp-cannon-stops-cars-almost-instantly

We've heard of electromagnetic pulses cutting steel in milliseconds, but apparently they can also be used to stop moving cars just as fast. The cannon demonstrated in the video here is still a prototype, but it definitely seems to work.

The idea is that an electromagnetic pulse would be used to disable a car's microprocessors, chips, and whatever other electronics are keeping it running. The final "cannon" system, built by Eureka Aerospace, will apparently a bit smaller and lighter than what we see in the video—it'll be suitcase-sized and about 50 pounds—and it will "stop cars in their tracks up to 656 feet (200 m) away."

I wish they tested that cannon on a moving car, but it does just what it should by disabling the car's electrical system. Only trouble is that even once the system is perfected and in use it can still be foiled easily: By using a pre-1970s car which doesn't "rely on microprocessors." Whoops. [Flight Global via Pop Sci]

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