Here's a machine that turns water into synthetic gasoline

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/11/22/water-to-fuel/

Even with the amount of electric vehicles we've seen lately, it's likely going to be a long time until they completely replace traditional combustion engines on the road. So how are we going to get away from pricey fossil fuels until then? Well, water could be a possibility. German company Sunfire GmbH thinks it has the solution for turning H20 and carbon dioxide into liquid hyrdrocarbons like synthetic diesel, kerosene and petrol, according to CNET. It does this in part by using a combination of the Fischer-Tropsch process (a chemical reaction that performs the aforementioned transformation) and solid electrolyzer cells (fuel cells that produce gas forms of hydrogen and oxygen).

Sunfire says current systems run nearly 50 percent efficient, but there's potential to increase that to around 70 percent in the future. For comparison's sake, that current value is akin to a modern diesel engine, while gasoline motors only hit a paltry 14-to-30 percent efficiency rating. What's holding it back? The usual bureaucratic red tape. Sunfire says it needs regulatory factors to fall in a way which will give investors a "sufficient level of planning reliability" before it can move forward. So maybe don't get your hopes up too high just yet.

Filed under: Transportation, Science, Alt

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Via: CNET

Source: Sunfire GmbH (PDF)

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​AMD's answer to NVIDIA G-Sync arrives on Samsung monitors in 2015

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/11/21/amds-answer-to-nvidia-g-sync-will-arrive-on-two-samsung-monito/

Looking for a new computer monitor? If you're rocking an AMD-sourced graphics card, you may want to wait a few months. Samsung just announced the UD590 and UE850, the first two monitors with support for FreeSync -- AMD's open-source answer to NVIDIA G-Sync. Both technologies sync GPU output to the monitor's refresh rate, a trick that eliminates visual stutters and tearing. So, what's the difference? As an open standard, AMD's kit is free to implement, meaning Samsung can integrate it into its new monitors without paying out licensing fees. Samsung hasn't announced pricing yet, but says the monitors will be available in 23.6, 27 and 31.5-inch variants.

Filed under: Misc, HD, AMD

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Source: AMD

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The Real Reason Facebook Bought Oculus: 'Virtual Reality Will Be The On-Ramp To Optical Computing'

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/why-facebook-bought-oculus-2014-11

In March, Facebook freaked everybody out by buying Oculus, the makers of the Rift VR device, for $2 billion. 

As we've reported before, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said they bought the company because it was a "a new communication platform." 

At the Paley International Council Summit on Thursday, we learned a little bit more about those plans. 

It came up during a conversation between Dan Rose, Facebook's VP of content and media partnerships, and Jason Rubin, Oculus' head of worldwide studios. 

Rose gave this reason for Oculus being the future of both computing and entertainment: 

If you think about the trends in computing technology over the last 50 years, we went from mainframe computers, which were very impersonal and distant, to desktop computers that became directly interactive — you can touch and feel and interact with and interface yourself and set on your desk — to laptops, which you can now suddenly take with you, [to] now today, everybody has a computer in their pocket.

The natural progression of that suggests that the next computing platform will move closer to our bodies. And our belief is that means that it will be something that sits directly on our face that we interact with through our eyes. 

Futuristic, right? 

"There are a lot of different approaches to how this might take place," Rose said. "Our bet is that virtual reality will be the on-ramp to optical computing." 

To translate: Facebook thinks that virtual reality is going to be the gateway to working with a computer that you control with your eyes, which takes the promise of something like Google Glass and pushes it even further.

In a recent interview with Business Insider, Oculus CEO Br! endan Ir ibe said that virtual reality headsets will eventually shrink to the size of a pair of glasses. And if you could control those with your eyes, you're looking at a computer interface unlike anything we've ever experienced.

And Oculus, by Facebook's estimate, is way ahead of everybody else in making that happen. 

Thus the acquisition.  

SEE ALSO: Here's Why Mark Zuckerberg Studies Chinese Every Day

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FTC shutters bogus tech support firms that scammed $120 million from victims

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/11/20/ftc-tech-support-scam/

You've heard it happen one time or another: a senior who's not very tech-savvy clicked a dubious link online and paid a shady internet company a hefty sum to remove a virus that was never there. It's one of the oldest tricks in the book, and apparently, still one of the most effective: the Federal Trade Commission has just shut down two massive Florida-based telemarketing operations that reportedly scammed victims (mostly seniors) out of $120 million in total, duping them into buying fake anti-virus software and fake tech support. Both have been active since at least 2012, so they might sound familiar. The first one sold software called PC Cleaner, while the other did business under several names, including Boost Software Inc., OMG Tech Help and, hilariously enough, OMG Total Protection.

According to the FTC, their modus operandi starts when a hapless user downloads a free trial of the fake sofware, possibly through an ad on the internet. That fake program will of course diagnose the computer with dozens of equally fake malware and viruses, forcing the victims to buy the full version for $29 to $49. They will then be instructed to call a toll-free number to "activate" the software, giving the companies' telemarketers a way to scam them out of even bigger money. What these telemarketers do is ask users for remote access to their computers, where they launch programs most people don't use, like Windows Event Viewer. They tell the victims that these programs' presence means their computers have been deeply infiltrated, and the only way to save their machines is to purchase more software and lifetime tech support for as much as $500.

Feds got enough evidence to bring them down after undercover operatives asked the companies to look at perfectly clean computers, and the "tech reps" declared them infected, the Palm Beach Post reports. The enemy of all things scammy and scummy then raided the Delray Beach, Florida offices of OMG Tech Help and Vast Tech Support late last week, froze all the suspects' assets and filed cases against them. So, if you know anyone prone to clicking those shady "how to make your PC faster" links on the internet, send them over to FTC's report so they can read about this in detail

[Image credit: Alamy]

Filed under: Misc

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Via: The Washington Post

Source: FTC

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Flickr lets you turn other people's photos into wall art for your home

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/11/20/flickr-wall-art-licensed-artists-creative-commons/

Remember that Wall Art service Flickr launched in October that gave you a way to buy big prints of your own snapshots (or, you know, selfies)? Well, now you can also buy wall-size versions of other people's photographs, though, that doesn't mean you can choose random images posted on the website. The only photos you can purchase from the expanded Wall Art service are those that come from Flickr's licensed artists (who also sell their work through the Marketplace) or from the company's hand-selected list of Creative Commons images.

You can have any of those photos printed as a modest 8 x 10-inch portrait or as a much larger 20 x 30-inch wall art. And, like we've mentioned before, you can opt for a wrap-around canvas print if you think frames would ruin the beauty of exceptional works, such as one of NASA Goddard's images of the sky and celestial bodies. Of course, having Flickr blow up a picture that means something to you personally will always be the best choice. But if you find yourself lacking in artistic talent or decent camera equipment, this beats buying mass-produced prints from the mall.

[Image credit: Lars Kristian Flem/Flickr (frame), NASA Goddard/Flickr (Blue Marble)]

Filed under: Misc

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Source: Flickr Wall Art

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