Saturday, June 14, 2014

Aussie Defender Makes An Incredible Save As A Ball Nearly Passes The Goal-Line

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/goal-line-technology-chile-australia-2014-6

After years of allowing goals that never actually crossed the line, FIFA finally decided to add goal-line technology to the 2014 World Cup and in the fourth game, it was put to great use. 

In the second half of the Chile-Australia game, Aussie Alex Wilkenson cleared the ball of the goal just in time when a Chilean player was able to get it by the goalie:

australia goal line technology

The ball came so close though, that a quick look could have called this a goal. The refs were able to use the new goal-line technology however, to prove that Wilkenson made an incredible save. Pretty cool:

goal line technology

 

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Today, Bitcoin's Doomsday Scenario Arrived

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/today-bitcoins-doomsday-scenario-arrived-2014-6

There is only way to hack the entire Bitcoin network, which has continued to hum along in the face of numerous Bitcoin business failures.

It involves a series of group of Bitcoin miners taking control of 51% of the Bitcoin's processing power, thus giving them the power to confirm transactions that don't exist. Miners are simply computers that unscramble the encrypted series of numbers attached to every Bitcoin transaction. There is profit in numbers, and many miners have formed large pools to extract the maximum amount of profit for their work. 

As a completely unregulated global currency made out of computer code, the only thing that has prevented the 51% threshold from being reached has been a form of mutually assured destruction: As soon as the 51% figure is reached, the price of Bitcoin will tank, leaving the digital junta little time to make much of a profit.

Today, mining pool GHash's share of the Bitcoin network ticked 51%:

51% bitcoin

Prices briefly sank 2% as word spread that the 51% level had been achieved. The crisis was momentarily resolved after a member of GHash agreed to remove some of its resources from the pool.

But there is now debate raging in Bitcoin world about what to do next. One commentator who wished to remain anonymous told BI, "This is not Bitcoin anymore, it's centralized GHashcoin....They are killing what is a big part of Bitcoins value."

Two Cornell computer scientists posted a note to HackingDistributed confirming that, indeed, this is a doomsday scenario:

Is this really Armageddon? Yes, it is. GHash is in a position to exercise complete control over which transactions appear on the blockchain and which miners! reap mi ning rewards. They could keep 100% of the mining profits to themselves if they so chose. Bitcoin is currently an expensive distributed database under the control of a single entity, albeit one whose maintenance requires constantly burning energy -- worst of all worlds. 

Jeff Garzik, one of Bitcoin's core developers, was slightly more sanguine, Tweeting that the total share of processing power owned mattered less than the leadership at the top of that share.

The two Cornell researchers, Ittay Eyal, and Emin Gün Sirer, propose creating a "hard fork" on the Bitcoin network, a set-aside part of Bitcoin's transaction ledger that would sacrifice some  Bitcoin attributes in the name of preventing another similar attack. Others have proposed creating a peer-to-peer network of mining nodes which, instead of being able to access the entire blockchain, only target specified branches. 

There is a third way, the Eyal and Sirer say, which seems to describe the current situation:

...We can carry on as if nothing of importance happened. GHash will be on their best behavior for the next few weeks, and Bitcoin will limp along. What will bring the actual demise of Bitcoin is the subject of a future blog post, but this is by no means the end.

But it doesn't look good. 

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Friday, June 13, 2014

Firefox OS apps run like native apps on Android

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/13/firefox-os-apps-run-on-android/

The beauty of apps written for Firefox OS is that they're basically just web apps -- they're built primarily on Java Script and HTML5. That means if you can run the app on Mozilla's mobile operating system, you can run them in its browser too. In fact, if you install Firefox 29 on Android, you can run so-called Open Web Apps (OWA) on your Google-powered phone. Not only that, but they're not confined to the browser. Apps installed from the Firefox OS Marketplace are treated just like native apps. They get their own icon in the launcher and home screen, can be uninstalled from the menu and run without the usual browser UI clutter (such as an address bar or back button). Of course, the performance probably won't match truly native apps, and most won't abide by Android's interface conventions. Still, there are some developers who might enjoy the idea of building an app once and running it across all platforms.

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Via: Android Community

Source: Mozilla

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New littleBits modules make the Synth Kit more powerful and versatile

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/13/littlebits-midi-cv-usb/

Click 'em together, make some noise. Littlebits are like Lego for music nerds (like us). That's fun and all, but currently, once you've built your mini-modular synth creation, there isn't really much else you can do with it. That won't be the case for much longer though, as three new modules are coming along to spice things up.

We are raising the ceiling of complexity of what you can do with littleBits, adding wireless control, programmability, and now audio control to allow you to make sophisticated electronics in a fraction of the time and cost, allowing for whole new experiences. -- Ayah Bdeir (Founder, littleBits)

A new MIDI block lets you hook into music making software like Ableton or Logic, while the CV block means you can connect your littleBits to older/analog gear. If you just want to play with sound, a USB I/O module will let you pipe the littleBits' audio directly into your PC. No word on price, but expect to see them come to market in time for the (now noisier) holidays.

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Source: littleBits

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Architects Turned A Tiny 425-Square-Foot Loft Into A Dream Home

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/425-square-feet-manhattan-micro-loft-2014-6

Untitled 1

New York City is chock-full of laughably small, awkwardly shaped apartments. Which is why it takes a good imagination to not only make them livable, but actually desirable.

The designers at Specht Harpman Architects recently worked wonders on a 425-square-foot loft on the Upper West Side.

The space, at the top of a six-story brownstone, has 25 feet of vertical space and even access to a rooftop  giving them plenty to work with.

Check out the photos below to see the new micro-loft.

This was the space before. It was run down, with exposed brick walls and dated paint.Manhattan Micro Loft

For such a small space, it didn't have much room for storage.Manhattan Micro Loft The architects' solution was to create multi-level “living platforms" in order to squeeze everything in, but still make it feel open.Manhattan Micro Loft One of their goals was to create a flowing interior "that dissolves the notion of distinct 'rooms.'"Manhattan Micro Loft A cantilevered bed on steel beams floats over the main living space on the third floor.Manhattan Micro Loft And the tiny bathroom is tucked beneath the stairs.Manhattan Micro Loft Which now have a ton of storage space. They feature built-in drawers and shelves, similar to Japanese kaidan dansu.  Manhattan Micro LoftThe roof garden at the top allows light to radiate throughout the apartment. Manhattan Micro Loft Pretty impressive. It's hard to tell that this was still the same apartment.Manhattan Micro Loft Compare it again to the new space:Micro Loft Rendering

Job well done. 

SEE ALSO: The 10 Most Expensive Homes For Sale In New York City

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