Hands-on with Transporter, the peer-to-peer social storage solution

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/07/hands-on-transporter-peer-to-peer-social-storage/

You may have missed Transporter's unveiling on Kickstarter earlier today, so let us provide a quick refresher -- it's a device that, when used in tandem with one or more other Transporters, enables simple and secure peer-to-peer file sharing. Unlike many Kickstarter projects, however, Transporter's already in the beta testing stage of development and the hardware is ready for prime time. We had a chance to see the thing in person this evening, so we figured we'd open it up and give you a glimpse of what lies beneath its onyx exterior. Join us after the break for our impressions.

Gallery: Transporter hands-on

Continue reading Hands-on with Transporter, the peer-to-peer social storage solution

Filed under: Storage

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Source: Transporter (Kickstarter)

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Amazon's Silk Browser Can Be Hacked to Provide Free Grid Computing

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5966502/amazons-silk-browser-can-be-hacked-to-provide-free-grid-computing

Cloud computing is big business. Companies and individual users rent bandwidth from large cloud services to perform all manner of tasks, from hosting small websites to churning through large, computing-intensive tasks like modelling new drug compounds. But what if you could gain access to all that computing power for free?

It turns out that you can, using a loopholes in a new type of browser which taps the cloud to boost web page load speeds. Amazon's Silk browser as well as Opera Mini and another browser called Puffin all use this trick to help render web pages on mobile devices, which can lack the computational punch to handle complex web scripts or graphics-heavy pages, for instance.

William Enck at North Carolina State University in Raleigh and colleagues found a way to use those cloud browsers to perform free computations of their choosing. They used bit.ly links to exchange data between different cloud browsers, so as to stay below a data threshold built into the browsers to prevent buggy web pages using up too many resources. With multiple cloud-browser instances linked, they were able to process data for free, running processes for which Amazon charges $0.08 per hour.

They tested their method using just 100 megabytes of data so as not to overload browsers' cloud, getting the browsers to count and sort words in a document.

The hack performed as well as legitimate cloud computing techniques. Although Enck's team tested the loophole only with mundane tasks, it could be put to nefarious uses, such as launching denial-of-service attacks or cracking passwords, they write in a paper due to be presented this week at the Annual Computer Security Applications Conference in Orlando, Florida.

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New Scientist reports, explores and interprets the results of human endeavour set in the context of society and culture, providing comprehensive coverage of science and technology news.

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Google gives WWF $5 million to fund wildlife-observing drones

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/06/google-gives-wwf-5-million-to-fund-wildlife-observing-drones/

Most of the drone-related news these days may focus on military or police use, but those are far from the only applications for the unmanned aerial vehicles. Case in point: the World Wildlife Fund, which has now received a $5 million grant from Google's Global Impact Awards program to fund UAVs designed to monitor endangered species. Details on the drones themselves remain light, but the WWF says they'll be used to detect poachers and tagged animals on the ground, and then relay that information to a command center and mobile law enforcement units. What's more, while that initial funding will only provide something of a testbed, the WWF says it's focusing on "easily-replicable technologies," with its ultimate goal being to create an "efficient, effective network that can be adopted globally."

[Image credit: WWF]

Filed under: Misc, Google

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Via: BBC News

Source: WWF

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Insert Coin: Transporter, the collaborative, internet connected, peer-to-peer storage hub (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/06/insert-coin-transporter-the-collaborative-cloud-storage-hub/

In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you'd like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with "Insert Coin" as the subject line.

Although cloud storage is a mainstay of modern teamwork, there's any number of problems that come along with trusting it explicitly: the limited space for the money, the heavy dependence on a constant connection and the risk that a hack could expose sensitive projects. Veterans from Drobo, Sling Media and TiVo (among others) think they've got a much safer solution in the Transporter, a dedicated internet connected storage hub. Once online, the funnel-shaped device stores and automatically syncs files with the Transporters of invited friends and groups -- and only their Transporters. The focused sharing space keeps data both private and accessible offline, while free accounts limit the costs to the hub and a 2.5-inch hard drive, if it isn't already in the box.

Continue reading Insert Coin: Transporter, the collaborative, internet connected, peer-to-peer storage hub (video)

Filed under: Storage, Internet

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Source: Transporter (Kickstarter)

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Mushkin shipping 'world's first' 480GB mSATA SSD in January for $500

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/06/mushkin-480gb-msata-ssd-500-jan/

Today, component maker Mushkin announced plans to ship the "world's first" 480GB mSATA solid-state drive. Priced at a respectable $500, the made-in-the-USA Atlas SSD is expected to ship beginning in early January, and features a SandForce SF-2281 controller with an unthrottled IOPS, a SATA III (6Gb/s) interface and a three-year warranty. At a little over $1 per gigabyte, ultrabook power users looking to push their storage capacity beyond its current 256GB boundary may want to keep an eye out for this burly option in the coming weeks. For more details, check out the press release after the break.

Continue reading Mushkin shipping 'world's first' 480GB mSATA SSD in January for $500

Filed under: Laptops, Storage

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Via: AnandTech

Source: Mushkin

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