The U.S. Army is developing battlefield drones that can be 3D printed on-demand

3D printers may be headed to the front lines of the battlefield, as the U.S. Army Research Laboratory just released a new documentary outlining a program that would let Army and Marine units order and print “aviation assets,” i.e. unmanned drones, in as little as a few hours.

The program has been in development with the Army for nearly two years, and now the Marines are on board as well. Known as On-Demand Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems, or UAS, the researchers envision an online catalogue, which the soldiers on the ground could access via a computer or tablet device. After evaluating and defining the parameters of the mission, the soldier could then select and print a drone for that specific purpose.

“We have interacted with Marines who have never touched an unmanned system before to Marines who are experts in unmanned aerial flight,” engineer Larry “LJ” R. Holmes Jr. said. “Across the board they all seemed to be very interested in the topic of being able to manufacture a tool that they can use that was mission specific and has a turnaround.”

The drone could be assembled and ready to fly in just a few hours, with a combination of 3D-printed materials and off-the-shelf electronics parts. “The solution is envisioned to be available at the battalion level and below, supporting the company, platoon, squad and individual soldier,” Army researcher Eric Spero said.

Using robots to wage war is certainly nothing new and, as Popular Science pointed out, the military already has thousands of drones and other unmanned vehicles at its disposal. The Raven drone, for example, is easy to use but can cost upwards of $250,000. A similar drone, printed and outfitted with commercially available components, may only run a few hundred dollars.

“A small inventory of inexpensive, off-the-shelf electronics enables a wide range of UAS capability,” Spero said. “When we mention that the on-demand version is flexible, potentially more available, and at a much lower cost — that’s when people get excited.”

In the documentary, engineer John Gerdes admits that the design team’s approach, which embraces the rapid pace of today’s technology, may have seemed unconventional to lifelong military officers. “We’re up against a lot of opposition from the, sort of, status quo,” he said. “In our case, it’s necessary to totally rethink that entire [acquisition] process.”

For soldiers in the near future, acquiring a drone to evaluate or counter the specific threats they’re facing may become as easy as ordering something from Amazon.

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Older Windows 10 devices likely susceptible to Windows Hello face spoofing

Two researchers recently discovered that anyone can bypass Windows Hello-based facial recognition in older versions of Windows 10. At the root of the issue are infrared cameras that don’t support Enhanced Anti-Spoofing, which essentially helps prevent anyone from walking up to your PC and using a printed photo to gain unauthorized access.

According to the researchers, devices upgrading from Windows 10 versions 1511 and 1607 using hardware that doesn’t support Enhanced Anti-Spoofing are vulnerable to their photo-based approach. This method relies on a head-on shot of the device owner in a near-infrared state. They also manually changed the brightness and contrast levels to meet Windows Hello’s requirement, and printed the image using a laser printer.

Typically, Enhanced Anti-Spoofing isn’t toggled on by default. On Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise, you can load up the Local Group Policy Editor and navigate to Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Biometrics > Facial Features, and switch on Enhanced Anti-Spoofing. In Windows 10 Home, you must enable this feature by editing the registry. But regardless of the Windows version, the camera must still provide support on a hardware level.

Their proof-of-concept relies on the Dell Latitude E7470 with a LilBit USB-based camera. When testing with Windows 10 versions 1709, 1703, 1607, and 1511, they were able to break into the laptop with Enhanced Anti-Spoofing turned on.

Meanwhile, Microsoft’s Surface Pro 4 supports Enhanced Anti-Spoofing on a hardware level. With the feature enabled, the researchers couldn’t get into Windows 10 versions 1709 and 1703, but they did access the device on Windows 10 version 1607.

“In the spring of 2018 we will publish further results and details of our research project, for example on different variations of the attack,” Syss reports. “For example, our proof-of-concept video ‘Biometrics: Windows Hello Face Authentication Bypass PoC II’ shows two variants of the spoofing attack using different means.”

The takeaway from this discovery is that if your device doesn’t support Enhanced Anti-Spoofing on a hardware level, then it’s susceptible to photo-based access on all versions of Windows 10. If the device does support Enhanced Anti-Spoofing, then you should upgrade the platform to 1703 at the very least (1709 is the latest).

Of course, the second takeaway is that to gain access, you need a compatible, hard-to-acquire photo of the device owner. The proof of concept, as shown in the video above, relies on someone enabling facial recognition on the Surface Pro 4, and then converting what appears to be the same image to a near-IR form on a second PC. Using that second PC, he printed out the image at a 340 x 340 resolution, and successfully unlocked the Surface Pro 4.

Windows 10 device owners may want to remain somewhat wary about facial recognition for now. Even Apple’s Face ID technology on the recent iPhone X isn’t exactly perfect, and can even succumb to children who closely resemble iPhone X owners. That said, fingerprint scanners still appear to be the best option for gaining access to Windows 10 without the need for a password or PIN.

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How to change your username on a Mac

It’s important to know how to change your username on a Mac, especially if multiple people use your computer. You can change your username on your account any time you want, as long as you have the right administrator password. Here’s how to change your username on a Mac without creating any problems!

Before you begin, please take the time to back up any important information that you may need from this user account. If something goes wrong, you could accidentally lock the account or create other problems that may leave you without access, so prepare accordingly.

Step 1: Log into a different administrator account

You cannot rename an account that you are currently using. So, your first step is logging out and then logging into your administrator account (the one that provides the authorization to change things like usernames, etc.). You can log out at any time by selecting the Apple logo in the upper left corner of your Mac, and choosing Log Out [name you want to change].

If the account that you are using has administrator privileges, then you’ll need to find a workaround. The easiest way is to log out and then create an alternative administrator account for these steps. You can delete this temporary account when you are finished with the other steps.

Step 2: Rename the home folder

For a complete name change, you will need to start with your home folder. Your home folders are located in the Users folder. You should be able to find the Users folder by going to the Finder menu, selecting Go, choosing Go to Folder, and then typing in Users.

Here, look for the folder that has the “short name” of the username you want to change. For example, if the full name is “John Mac” then the short name may just be “John” (or it may be identical to the full name). Jot this name down, because you’ll need it later, and then change the short name folder to the name that you want. Don’t bother shortening it. You’ll have to put in the administrator password again at this point.

Step 3: Log into Users & Groups to find your user profile

Head over to System Preferences, which you can find in the menu bar. Here, select Users & Groups and click the padlock button so that you can start making changes — you will probably have to enter the administrator password yet again at this stage.

Look for the username that you want to change, and right click on it (or control click, double-tap, whatever opens the shortcut menu on your computer). From the shortcut menu, choose Advanced Options. This should take you to a new window.

Step 4: Rename the proper fields and restart

In Advanced Options, look for two fields called Account name and Home directory. In the Account name field, you will want to change the name to the exact same name that you gave the home folder in step 3. Make sure the names match exactly and that there are no spaces, otherwise this won’t work.

In the Home directory field, do the exact same thing. Input the precise new username that you want for your Mac.

Now select the Ok button in Advanced options. Log out of this administrator account, and log into the account whose name you have changed (the new name should now be visible). Check to make sure that all your files and apps are visible, and that everything appears to be working properly. Perform a few basic actions and open some documents. If everything looks good, then your new username is ready to be used!

Note: This method works with the latest MacOS updates, including High Sierra, El Capitan, and Yosemite. Some of the icons or names may be a little different, but the basic steps are the same. If you don’t have one of the latest updates, then your operating system is already a few years out of date, and we suggest you update it before you try changing usernames.

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A new polymer could make phone screen repairs a thing of the past

If you’ve ever had to deal with a cracked smartphone screen, you know what a hassle it can be. Slapping a screen protector on it is only a stopgap until you have to have the screen replaced, which comes with a decent price tag. Now, researchers in Tokyo have discovered a new polymer that may actually heal itself, potentially leading the way to a future of self-healing phone screens.

The study was published in Science by a team of researchers led by Professor Takuzo Aida from the University of Tokyo. Titled “Mechanically robust, readily repairable polymers via tailored noncovalent cross-linking,” the research promises a unique hard glass-like polymer called “polyether-thioureas” that can heal itself with only hand pressure. This makes it different than other materials that need high heat to heal up from a break.

“High mechanical robustness and healing ability tend to be mutually exclusive,” said researchers. “In most cases, heating to high temperatures, on the order of 120 degrees Celsius or more, to reorganize their cross-linked networks is necessary for the fractured portions to repair.”

According to The Guardian, the special glass polymer was discovered by mistake by a graduate student, Yu Yanagisawa, who thought the material would become a type of glue. He found that cut edges of the polymer would stick to each other, and formed a strong sheet after being compressed by hand at 21 degrees Celsius. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen self-repairing phone tech, of course, with screen protectors that heal themselves and a Motorola patent for a self-repairing screen. However, new breakthroughs like this may help make broken screens and costly repairs a thing of the past.

Via: The Guardian

Source: Science

iRobot and Black & Decker settle over alleged patent infringement

iRobot, maker of the Roomba vacuum, has taken to challenging its competitors over alleged patent violations in an effort to hold on to its market share. In April, it named a number of companies including Black & Decker, Bissell, iLife and Hoover in a complaint filed to the US International Trade Commission wherein it asked the commission to investigate their supposed patent violations and ban any products that it finds to incorporate any infringed upon intellectual property. Now, however, iRobot says it has reached an agreement with Black & Decker.

Most of the settlement’s contents are confidential, but iRobot says that Black & Decker has agreed to stop selling its robotic vacuums for a certain period of time once it works through its current inventory. In return, iRobot has removed its competitor from the pending US International Trade Commission investigation and US District Court of Massachusetts case. “This settlement represents another successful milestone in the enforcement effort iRobot initiated earlier this year,” Glen Weinstein, chief legal officer at iRobot, said in a statement. “iRobot believes in the strength of its patents, and the agreement by Black & Decker to discontinue sales of any home robotic vacuums for a certain period of time signifies, yet again, the value of iRobot’s intellectual property.”

Source: iRobot

BMW partnership will develop solid-state EV batteries

BMW is jumping into the solid-state battery game and it’s doing so by teaming up with battery-developer Solid Power. The company is a spin-out from the University of Colorado Boulder and has been developing solid-state rechargeable batteries since 2012. BMW is partnering with Solid Power to bring its battery technology to electric vehicles. “Since the company’s inception, the Solid Power team has worked to develop and scale a competitive solid-state battery paying special attention to safety, performance and cost,” Doug Campbell, founder and CEO of Solid Power, said in a statement. “Collaborating with BMW is further validation that solid-state battery innovations will continue to improve electric vehicles.”

Solid-state batteries offer a few advantages over the lithium-ion batteries largely in use today including greater energy density and, therefore, increased driving range when used in EVs, less chance of fire or explosion and rapid recharging. The benefits of solid-state batteries are why so many companies, including Fisker, Toyota and Google, are looking to develop the technology and ultimately incorporate them into their products.

Batteries that limit EVs’ driving ranges will certainly keep these types of vehicles from becoming mainstream. So technology that can stretch those driving distances and make EVs as convenient as traditional gas-powered cars will be a must when it comes to expanding their use and, therefore, the environmental benefits they afford.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Solid Power

China’s most popular game is about to launch in the US

You might not have even heard of Arena of Valor (outside of a Twitch tourney), but it’s all-consuming in its native China, with 200 million registered players and over 80 million daily active users. Tencent’s mobile-only MOBA game, known as Honor of Kings in its original form, is so popular in its homeland that tournaments are everywhere and the game has time limits to prevent kids from playing too long. And now, Tencent wants it to become a household name in the rest of the world. In a confirmation of some earlier rumors, the tech giant is formally launching Arena of Valor worldwide on December 19th, with users in North and South America getting their first crack at the Android and iOS hit.

Watch Arena of Valor MAJOR Announcement & Giveaways! from ArenaofValor on http://www.twitch.tv

Arena sticks to Honor’s core MOBA formula, where teams of five distinctive heroes clash in a bid to take over each other’s bases. The largest change is a cultural one: Arena drops Chinese legends in favor of Western fantasy tropes, and it switches to Facebook for connecting friends instead of WeChat.

The game has been available in Europe since August, and has had at least some success with more than 2 million downloads. The problem, as The Verge notes, is that Chinese companies have historically had problems translating the success of their domestic games to an international audience. The titles rarely have any name recognition outside of China, and there are differences in gaming habits that make success difficult. Where limited access to games has led to MOBAs becoming wildly popular on phones in China, there’s a stigma against mobile gaming in North America.

Tencent is creating an eSports league to boost competitive play and is partnering with livestreamers to drum up hype, but there’s no guarantee of success — certainly not when it has to take on established titles like Vainglory. However, it’s the attempt that matters. Chinese behemoths like Tencent know they’ll have to move beyond their home turf to keep growing, and that means doing more than acquiring foreign companies (Tencent owns League of Legends’ Riot Games and a piece of Activision Blizzard) to ride on their successes.

Source: The Verge, Twitch

DHS finds first responder apps are plagued by security issues

While it’s great that a consumer app like Waze started offering traffic data to help first responders avoid traffic, emergency professionals have been using their own suite of apps for awhile. But how safe are they? The Department of Homeland Security initiated a pilot program to vet the security of 33 different apps provided by 20 developers — and found that 32 of them had potential security and privacy concerns and more serious vulnerabilities.

Some of the privacy issues included required access to the device camera, contacts and SMS. But eighteen of the apps had ‘critical flaws’ including hard-coded credentials stored in binary, SSL certificate issues and susceptibility to data interception. The pilot project’s staff alerted each appmaker, and Ten developers remediated their products thus far, while security and privacy issues were addressed in 14 of the apps.

It took most of the developers less than an hour to make those fixes, according to the DHS press release. Closing the vulnerabilities was as simple as removing old or unused code, enabling operating system protections and checking whether the apps actually needed some of the permissions they were requesting. Technically, this vetting pilot program was a success for finding vulnerabilities, but it’s unclear how long they were in use before anyone caught wind of their security flaws.

All apps surveyed are listed in the public responder app marketplace AppComm, which is run by Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO), a participant in this pilot program.

Via: CNET

Source: Department of Homeland Security

Apple’s Annual Meeting of Shareholders to Take Place on February 13, Pre-Registration Required

Apple today updated its website for investors to note that its 2018 Annual Meeting of the shareholders will take place at the Steve Jobs Theater in Apple Park on February 13, 2018.

The record date for the meeting is December 15, 2017, and Apple plans to publish additional details about the upcoming meeting in the near future when the proxy statement is filed.

Apple says it expects more shareholders to want to attend than there are seats available, and so advance registration is required using a unique control number that will be issued following the filing of the proxy statement.

Once our proxy statement is filed, the bank, broker, or other organization that holds your Apple shares will be issuing proxy materials to you that will include a unique control number. You’ll need that number to register for the meeting at proxyvote.com beginning at 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time on January 22, 2018, and registrations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.

To ensure you receive your proxy materials in a timely way, please make sure that your contact information is current at the organization that holds your shares.

Shareholders can register to attend the meeting at Proxyvote.com starting at 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time on January 22, 2018. Apple plans to accept registrations on a first-come, first-served basis.

Apple earlier this month asked the SEC for permission to skip shareholder proposals involving issues like greenhouse gas emissions, climate change, and human rights. Apple says these topics do not need to be addressed as they are areas that it “routinely reviews” and are not representative of “significant policy issues” requiring a shareholder vote.

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Wicked Audio’s Outcry Bluetooth speakers review: Why affordable doesn’t have to mean bad

In the market for an affordable, quality Bluetooth speaker? You might want to check out what Wicked Audio has to offer.

A brand many of you are probably acquainted with (their products are sold via Best Buy, Amazon and more), Wicked Audio’s portfolio also includes two Bluetooth speakers.  I’ve been testing them both for the last few weeks, and I have to say I’m quite taken with them. With competitive price tags attached to them, these two speakers provide a great alternative for music lovers who don’t want to spend premium on an entertainment device they might not use on a daily basis.

The first thing that struck me when I received the two speakers was the super cool packaging. I am an illustration/graffiti lover, and the boxes of these speakers were adorned with lots of fun art to behold. A real visual treat indeed and definitely something I wasn’t expecting. Also kudos for the name; Wicked Audio sounds a lot better than Sonos or Sennheiser or anything of the sort.

But what about the products? I’m getting there…

Wicked Audio Outcry, the mini Bluetooth speaker

The two Wicked Audio speakers are named Outcry (the smaller, portable one) and Outcry Extreme (the bigger one) and you can get them set up in an instant. Just turn them on, while also making sure Bluetooth on your mobile device is on. The Wicked Audio speakers should show up in the Available Devices section on your phone and from there you can easily pair them together. Note that you can only pair one mobile device to either of the speakers at a time.

The smaller Outcry speaker is a tiny cylinder, that can fit basically anywhere (in your pocket, palm or in your bag/purse). It feels quite sturdy in hand, as it’s made of durable materials, and it’s also water-resistant. The speaker grill lives at the top and that’s where the sound comes out.

The tiny Outcry does a pretty swell job of filling a room with music, even as it relies on a less than stellar 40mm driver. Portability is probably this speaker’s main selling point, as well as the fact that it features manual controls that let you adjust the volume on the speaker without actually doing so from the smartphone.

What’s more, as mentioned above the Outcry is pretty sturdy. I’m a pretty clumsy individual and I must confess I must have dropped the speaker at least three times. Two times it was playing music, but it continued to stream the sound unperturbed. I could not spot any scratches or anything like that either.

The mini speaker has a battery life of only 3 hours – which isn’t much – and takes up to 1.5 hours to fully recharge. Wicked Audio notes it has a Bluetooth range of 32ft/10m and in my experience of using it in my small apartment, I didn’t notice any connection drops.

What about the larger Wicked Audio Outcry Extreme?

Wicked Audio Outcry Extreme gets the party started

Despite the aesthetically pleasing package design, the Wicked Audio Outcry Extreme Bluetooth Speaker boasts a very familiar look. It’s rectangular in shape with rounded ends and features a grille made from metal that wraps around most of the speaker except for plastic-made top and bottom. Technically, the Outcry Extreme isn’t a true 360-degree speaker, but it does have sound coming out from the back, as well as the front.

The Outcry Extreme features an On/Off switch on the back of the device, alongside a 3.5mm headphone jack and microUSB port for charging. On top of the speakers, you’ll find the manual controls for adjusting volume, skip or play/pause tracks, as well as answering phone calls.

Like it’s smaller brother, it’s designed to entertain. Not only will the speaker provide a robust musical background, but it also put a smile on your face every time you connect (or disconnect) your phone to it. When the Bluetooth connection is lost or you disconnect it, the speaker lets out a frustrated “Grr” sound, but when it connects again, it will greet you with a goofy “Ding!”.

Moving on to sound quality, the Outcry Extreme features twin 45mm drivers that managed to do a pretty decent job when the sound volume wasn’t too high. When playing some tracks (mostly metal or rock) at full volume, the sound had a tendency to become quite distorted. Bass lines aren’t particularly striking either, although Wicked Audio promises “earth-shattering, rock you to the core, ghetto blaster bass”. Fortunately, if you have a music player such as nPlayer installed on your phone, you can use its embedded equalizer to enhance the bass experience.

Obviously, the Outcry Extreme is louder than the tiny Outcry, but even so don’t expect it rattle your windows.

Another observation that might prove relevant to some. The Outcry Extreme and smaller Outcry don’t shut themselves off when you disconnect Bluetooth or leave it inactive for a while. You’ll just have to do it manually.

The Wicked Audio Outcry Extreme offers up to 8 hours of audio playback but will take more than half that time (4.5 hours) to fully recharge, so it’s best to do it overnight.

The Outcry Extreme has the same Bluetooth range as the tiny Outcry (32ft/10m) and is also water-resistant, so it shouldn’t be harmed if you forget it in the backyard and a few drops of rain end up touching it.

Conclusion

While the Outcry speakers don’t deliver the kind of audio that makes you feel you’re standing in a concert hall with the band is playing on stage in front of you, they do offer decent quality sound and set of functions without breaking the bank. Not to mention great packaging. The mini Outcry is available for $29.99 a pop, while the Outcry Extreme can be yours for $54.99. They would surely make great Christmas gifts!