Inhabitat’s Week in Green: pod homes and electric highways

Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week’s most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us — it’s the Week in Green.

When we first saw the tiny off-grid Ecocapsule pod home, we thought it looked too good to be true — but last week Nice Architects announced plans to produce the self-sustaining dwelling next year. The Ecocapsule harvests the sun, wind and rain, and it can be easily moved practically anywhere in the world (sort of like a super-futuristic Airstream). Speaking of portable housing, this past week M2C unveiled a series of modular POD tents that can be connected together to create camping communities, and we showcased eight buses that have been converted into amazing mobile homes. Meanwhile, a smartphone-controlled spaceship home landed in Spain, and a team of architects and engineers launched a crowdfunding campaign to build a real-life Lord of the Rings city in England.

Electric vehicles are limited by their range — but what if they were charged by the roads beneath them? That’s exactly what the UK hopes to find out as it begins testing the world’s first electric highways that wirelessly charge EVs. Cities are terrible places to drive — you have to contend with traffic, parking and constant red lights. That’s why we love the WalkCar — a tiny electric vehicle that fits in a tote bag. In Tesla news, we pondered whether the automaker is planning to launch a fleet of self-driving cars to compete with Uber, and we explained why the company is not actually losing $4,000 every time it sells a Model S. And in Italy, a spate of unbearably hot weather is allegedly playing a role in causing cars to literally melt in the streets.

Do you wish you had more natural light in your room? Then check out Lucy, a tiny robot that bounces sunlight into every corner of your house. We also showcased a new high-tech showerhead that cuts water use 70 percent by atomizing it into millions of tiny droplets. In other design news, we’re smitten by Arckit — a collection of architectural building blocks that let you create scale models of practically any structure. In wearable tech, Atelier Teratoma created a funky, wearable space backpack that turns into a portable picnic set. Thoth Technology patented a 12-mile-high inflatable space elevator that could reduce the cost of reaching orbit by 30 percent. And you can add brains and violins to the growing list of objects that can be 3D printed.

Filed under:
Misc, Household, Transportation, Wearables, Science

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Tags: camping, eco-friendly, EV, green, inhabitat, InhabitatsWeekInGreen, Lord of the Rings, modular, tesla

Senator wants promises that net neutrality doesn’t help terrorists

Telecoms and other net neutrality opponents usually try to paint the regulation as anti-free market, but they’ve lately raised the specter of terrorism. Supposedly, it might prevent internet providers from blocking extremist sites. It’s a big enough concern, in fact, that Senator Dianne Feinstein wants reassurances that this isn’t actually a problem. The California politician has written to the FCC asking it to “clarify” that net neutrality rules still let providers silence content that encourages illegal terrorist activity, such as the bomb-making instructions in al Qaeda’s Inspire magazine. Feinstein doesn’t necessarily believe the telcos’ rhetoric, according to the letter — she just wants to eliminate the ISPs’ “confusion.”

The move isn’t surprising for Feinstein, who has a history of calling for bans on the Anarchist Cookbook and other material intended to teach mass murder. However, there’s a question over whether or not a promise is strictly necessary. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler previously told Feinstein that the net neutrality rules already have a clause allowing companies to help out in matters of “law enforcement, public safety, or national security.” This may be more of an attempt to keep sue-happy corporations off the government’s back than an urgent call for regulatory reform.

[Image credit: AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais]

Filed under:
Internet

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Via:
The Daily Dot

Source:
FCC (PDF)

Tags: censorship, diannefeinstein, fcc, internet, netneutrality, politics, regulation, terrorism

Two-factor system uses ambient sounds to verify your login

Two-factor can keep your Gmail, iCloud and other accounts from getting hacked, but it’s unfortunately rather tedious to use. That’s why a team of researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland has developed a tool called “Sound-Proof” to make the process less painful. Any app or program with Sound-Proof integrated can authenticate your logins by listening to ambient sounds. That’s it — you don’t need to pick up your phone, generate a passcode or wait for a text with one, so long as you’ve already installed the tool’s mobile app.

For instance: if you sign into the app on your laptop browser, the app fires up on its own, and both your computer and phone will start listening for sounds. Once the system determines that both devices are hearing the same background music, AC hum or the rhythmic snoring of your dog, then you get logged in. According to the researchers, the tool only uploads the “digital signature” of the sounds around you and not the sounds themselves in order to protect your privacy. Plus, it doesn’t need extensions or any other additional downloads for computers, so it works even if, say, you’re using a roommate’s laptop.

While it’s definitely a lot easier to deal with than traditional two-factor, it’s also clearly imperfect. Determined hackers who already have your password can follow you around until you’re in the same place to access your account. Since the app starts listening in on its own, you might not even know that someone’s trying to hack you until it’s too late. Some elements might prevent sounds from matching up, as well, and don’t forget that you need a data connection in the absence of WiFi. We hope the team finds a way to make Sound-Proof more secure before releasing the tool as an actual product. As it is, it’s just a research project, which the team will present at the Usenix security conference this August.

Filed under:
Misc, Mobile

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Via:
Wired

Source:
Arxiv

Tags: mobilepostcross, security, sound-proof, two-factor

Samsung Galaxy Note 5 International Giveaway!

Welcome to the Sunday Giveaway, the place where we giveaway a new Android phone or tablet each and every Sunday.

A big congratulations to last week’s winner of the OnePlus 2 giveaway: Sajoyan H. from Bangladesh.

This week we are giving away the new Samsung Galaxy Note 5!

The Note 5 has a sleek unibody design which consists of a couple materials. There’s a metal edge all around the handset, while glass covers the front and back. One large difference is that this phone has a couple edged sides like on the Galaxy S6 Edge, but these are on the back. This will give the user a much better grip on the rounder rear, not to mention the fact that it happens to look great. Read more about our first hands on impressions.

Latest Note 5 Articles:

• AT&T might already be shipping Galaxy Note 5 to select customers
• Galaxy Note 5 & S6 Edge Plus Availability and release dates
• Galaxy Note 5 Color comparison
• Galaxy Note 5 what it packs and what it lacks
• Galaxy Note 5 vs the competition
• Galaxy Note 5 vs iPhone 6 Plus
• Galaxy Note 5 vs Note 4

Have a question about the Galaxy Note 5? Visit our Note 5 Forums.

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Samsung Galaxy Note 5 International Giveaway

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Giveaway winner Luana showing off her S6 Edge!

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• The giveaway is an international giveaway (Except when we can not ship to your Country.)
• If we can not ship to your country, you will be compensated with an online gift card of equal MSRP value to the prize.
• We are not responsible for lost shipments.
• You must be age of majority in your Country of residence.
• We are not responsible for any duties, import taxes that you may incur.
• Only 1 entry per person, do not enter multiple email addresses. We will verify all winners and if we detect multiple email addresses by the same person you will not be eligible to win.
• We reserve all rights to make any changes to this giveaway.
• This giveaway is operated by Android Authority.
• The prize will ship when it is available to purchase.

Full terms & conditions and FAQ | Past giveaway winners [Gallery]

Intel pledges money to train potential Navajo code writers

Earlier this year, Intel promised to make an effort to hire more women and minorities, and by the looks of things, the company’s making good on its word. Its latest move? Pledging $250,000 per year for three years to three Navajo Nation high schools in Arizona, in hopes of inspiring kids to become coders. Intel engineer Jolene Bengay (above) announced the company’s project during an event honoring the Navajo code talkers of World War II. “We know that if we’re really going to fill in the (talent) pipeline,” said Intel’s Diversity initiative deputy director Barbara McAllister, “we need to aggressively address the gaps in that talent.”​

The money will help support the Science Foundation Arizona’s “Code Talkers to Code Writers Initiative” and will be used to train teachers how to code, so they can teach their students in turn. Intel’s Native American employees will also be dropping by to help out, though probably not that often, as there are only 266 in the company.

Filed under:
Misc, Intel

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Source:
USA Today

Tags: coding, diversity, intel, navajo