The camera that can see through frosted glass and skin, and around corners

Scientists in Israel have created a camera that can see around corners, or through solid objects such as frosted glass, and skin. The most exciting facet of this innovation is that the camera uses natural light to perform the imaging — such as a lamp, or the Sun — and not lasers or X-rays.

Ori Katz, Eran Small, and Yaron Silberberg of the Weizmann Institute have shown that they can accurately resolve an object that’s hiding behind nearly opaque obstacles, or around a corner (or in another room, as long as the door’s open. In both cases, the light is scattered by the obstacle (the frosted glass, the corner wall), creating what appears to be white noise — but their camera can take these speckles of noise and enhance them “1000-fold” (the scientists’ words) to recreate the image with surprising accuracy.

The approach is surprisingly simple, and relies on a device called a spatial light modulator(SLM). Basically, when light bounces off an object, each part of that object changes the phase of light differently. An SLM is an array of pixels that can alter the phase of light passing through it, depending on the electrical current passing through each pixel. In this case, the scientists used a genetic optimization algorithm to modulate each pixel of the SLM until a sharp image is extracted from the white noise.

In the image below, the first two images show the genetic algorithm’s ability to discern a single point of light in a mess of white noise; ‘c’ shows what the human eye would see, looking at the obstacle between the camera and object; and ‘d’ shows what this new camera can see through the obstacle.

Now, if you’re an avid follower of bleeding edge tech, you will probably remember a previous project by MIT — a femtosecond laser that could photograph objects at a trillion frames per second, or see around corners. The Israeli camera is significant because it uses incoherent light — a light bulb, daylight — and off-the-shelf hardware, while MIT’s laser approach is huge, unwieldy, and expensive.

Moving forward, the scientists hope that their SLM-based approach can play a significant role in medical imaging, where it is currently very hard to resolve details that are inside the brain or other organs. It’s also worth noting that MIT’s around-corners camera is laboratory-sized — but it sounds like the technology behind the Israeli design might fit into a conventional camera. If that doesn’t raise the eyebrows of wannabe superheroes and privacy advocates, I don’t know what will.

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Using WiFi to see through walls

British engineers from University College London have developed a passive radar system that can see through walls using the WiFi signals generated by wireless routers and access points.

The system, devised by Karl Woodbridge and Kevin Chetty, requires two antennae and a signal processing unit (i.e. computer), and is no larger than a suitcase. Unlike normal radar, which emits radio waves and then measures any reflected signals, this new system operates in complete stealth.

The passive radar process is actually quite simple. In any space that has WiFi, you are constantly being bombarded by 2.4GHz and 5GHz radio waves. When these waves hit a moving object, their frequency is altered (the Doppler effect). By carefully “sniffing” the WiFi signals, Woodbridge and Chetty are able to reconstruct an image any objects or humans that are moving on the other side of the wall.

Fundamentally, this is a radar system — you’re just using radio waves that have been emitted by an external WiFi router, rather than creating your own. Compare this with MIT’s through-the-wall (TTW) radar, which is 8 feet (2.4m) across and requires a large power source to generate lots and lots of microwaves.

In testing, this passive radar system is able to detect a person’s location, speed, and direction, through a foot-thick brick wall. One problem with Doppler-based systems is that they only work with moving objects — a would-be burglar or combatant can thwart these systems by standing still. With further work, though, the UCL engineers think they can increase the sensitivity of the system so that it can detect the movement of your ribcage as you breathe in and out.

The use cases, as you can imagine, are mainly militaristic. The UK Ministry of Defence is already looking into whether this passive radar could be used in urban warfare. PopScispeculates that passive radar could be useful for tracking the movements of children (or the elderly) throughout the house. Presumably, with sensitive equipment (and a lot of WiFi routers?) you might even get close to X-ray vision.

Woodbridge and Chetty seem to be passive radar specialists: They were apparently the first researchers to build a radar system using software-defined radio gear, and they’ve also done the same passive WiFi radar trick with WiMAX — which presumably allows for much longer range detection.

Read the research paper: 10.1109/TGRS.2011.2164411, “Through-the-Wall Sensing of Personnel Using Passive Bistatic WiFi Radar at Standoff Distances” [paywalled]

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How To Find Product Key Of Any Software

How to find the product key of any software that you want..??

Now it has become much easier to find product key of any software that you want by searching just one keyword on Google. All you need to have is just an internet connection and you have half done with that.

Step 1: Go to

http://www.google.com

Step 2: In the search field type

“Product name” 94FBR
eg. “dreamweaver” 94FBR

Step 3:Get the result

Find the product key in first search result and enjoy any software at free of cost.

The very first result appearing in Google search will contain the product key of software you were searched for.

How to find product key »How it works

Quite simple really. 94FBR is part of a Office 2000 Pro cd key that is widely
distributed as it bypasses the activation requirements of Office 2K Pro. By searching for
the product name and 94fbr, you guarantee two things. 1) The pages that are returned are
pages dealing specifically with the product you’re wanting a serial for. 2) Because 94FBR
is part of a serial number, and only part of a serial number, you guarantee that any page
being returned is a serial number list page. So this was all about “how to find product key“ of any software”

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New nanoparticle could save lives, limit brain damage by ‘rebooting’ brain blood flow

Researchers at Rice University are conducting tests on a molecule they believe could play an important role in limiting brain damage in a wide variety of injuries. The nanoparticle, polyethylene glycol-hydrophilic carbon clusters (hereafter referred to as PEG-HCC) is already being tested as a means of enhancing certain cancer treatments. The ability to reduce/prevent brain damage, however, could be even more important.

Explaining what PEG-HCC does requires a brief discussion of reactive oxygen species (ROS) molecules. ROS molecules, including free radicals, are chemically reactive molecules that contain oxygen. The human body produces a certain number of ROS through the normal metabolization of oxygen; cells contain a variety of antioxidant enzymes specifically to neutralize ROS molecules. ROS are important to a number of processes in the human body, including apoptosis (programmed cell death) and wound repair. Platelets release ROS into the bloodstream to “recruit” platelets and leukocytes to an injury.

So long as the body remains in equilibrium and the circulatory system is functioning properly these molecules aren’t a threat. When the circulatory system stops functioning properly, that changes — and it changes quickly. Any trauma that significantly reduces blood flow to the brain, either due to stroke or major damage elsewhere, kicks off what’s known as an ischemic cascade. One of the major effects of such a cascade is the release of huge numbers of ROS molecules. Any damage to the brain’s vascular system exacerbates the problem; inadequate circulation means that local antioxidant “stockpiles” are quickly depleted.

Early stroke treatment focuses on breaking down clots precisely because restoring circulation is the only way to stop the ischemic cascade and flush the free radicals into the wider circulatory system where they can be properly broken down. One of the critical limitations of this approach, however, is that proper blood flow doesn’t automatically or instantly stop a cascade. Reperfusion, the act of restoring blood flow to a damaged area, actually leads to further damage as the body reacts to sudden concentrations of toxic byproducts released by necrosis and cell death.

The graph above shows relative levels of superoxide in an individual who suffers a traumatic brain injury (TBI) with and without low blood pressure (hypotension). Note that superoxide levels spike when blood pressure drops, fall when blood is restored and oxidation begins, but then rise considerably at the so-called “Third Strike” point. That “third strike” is the body’s wider response to the damage done by the initial cascade.

PEG-HCC doesn’t short-circuit this entire process, but it functions by neutralizing the ROS that exacerbate much of the damage. It’s far more efficient than the body’s natural defenses. SOD, the superoxide-neutralizing enzyme we naturally produce, functions on a 1:1 ratio and neutralizes one molecule at a time. One molecule of PEG-HCC is designed to neutralize hundreds of thousands of superoxide molecules.

“This is the most remarkably effective thing I’ve ever seen,” said Thomas Kent, the paper’s co-author. “Literally within minutes of injecting it, the cerebral blood flow is back to normal, and we can keep it there with just a simple second injection.”

PEG-HCC has a half-life of 2-3 hours and to date shows no signs of toxicity. Further tests are ongoing, and the nanoparticle is still years away from deployment. What this demonstrates, however, is that cutting-edge molecular biology can create medical treatments that act with far greater precision than anything we’ve deployed to date. If it works, PEG-HCC could be an extremely important tool for saving lives after an earthquake, mudslide, or building collapse. The ischemic cascade that damages brain tissue in a stroke is responsible for what’s known as crush syndrome, an extremely destructive condition that often kills individuals pinned under building rubble unless the damaged limbs are amputated swiftly.

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Harvard creates cyborg flesh that’s half man, half machine

Bioengineers at Harvard University have created the first examples of cyborg tissue: Neurons, heart cells, muscle, and blood vessels that are interwoven by nanowires and transistors.

These cyborg tissues are half living cells, half electronics. As far as the cells are concerned, they’re just normal cells that behave normally — but the electronic side actually acts as a sensor network, allowing a computer to interface directly with the cells. In the case of cyborg heart tissue, the researchers have already used the embedded nanowires to measure the contractions (heart rate) of the cells.

To create cyborg flesh, you start with a three-dimensional scaffold that encourages cells to grow around them. These scaffolds are generally made of collagen, which makes up the connective tissue in almost every animal. The Harvard engineers basically took normal collagen, and wove nanowires and transistors into the matrix to create nanoelectric scaffolds (nanoES). The neurons, heart cells, muscle, and blood vessels were then grown as normal, creating cyborg tissue with a built-in sensor network.

Cardiac cells, with a nanoelectroic electrode highlighted

So far the Havard team has mostly grown rat tissues, but they have also succeeded in growing a 1.5-centimeter (0.6in) cyborg human blood vessel. They’ve also only used the nanoelectric scaffolds to read data from the cells — but according to lead researcherCharles Lieber, the next step is to find a way of talking to the individual cells, to “wire up tissue and communicate with it in the same way a biological system does.”

A computer chip, containing a sample of nanoES tissue

Suffice it to say, if you can use a digital computer to read and write data to your body’s cells, there are some awesome applications. If you need a quick jolt of adrenaline, you would simply tap a button on your smartphone, which is directly connected to your sympathetic nervous system. You could augment your existing physiology with patches — a patch of nanoelectric heart cells, for example, that integrates with your heart and reports back if you experience any problems. When we eventually put nanobots into our bloodstream, small pulses of electricity emitted by the cells could be used as guidance to damaged areas. In the case of blood vessels and other organs, the nanoelectric sensor network could detect if there’s inflammation, blockage, or tumors.

Realistically, though, we’re a long way away from such applications. In the short term, though, these cyborg tissues could be used to create very accurate organs-on-a-chip — lab-grown human organs that are encased within computer chips and then used to test drugs or substance toxicity, without harming a single bunny or bonobo.

see future on google glass.click here

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Google the hole in your Android security?

Android’s pattern lock is often considered one of the least secure methods of keeping your phone’s data away from prying eyes. Well, it appears that it’s at least secure enough to stymie the FBI. An undercover agent witnessed one Dante Dears using an Android device to run a prostitution and human trafficking gang. Upon seizing the phone, the FBI was locked out, and is now subpoenaing Google to gain access. Could Google itself be the real security hole in your Android phone?

The just-approved FBI subpoena asks Google to provide an astonishing amount of information regarding that locked down cell phone. The government wants Dears’ user name, password, email, contact list, list of websites visited, text messages, photos, search terms, as well as any location data stored for the device. Google may not have access to all that data, but probably more than enough.

The email and contacts from the device might be from a third party service, but odds are Dears was using Gmail and Google Contacts. If this is the case, Google will be able to hand that data over easily once it associates the phone’s unique ID with a Google account. While access is tightly restricted, Google can access a user’s cloud content without a password. In fact, a few years ago Google had to fire an engineer that was accessing the accounts of several children.

Location data is a hot button issue for many, but Dears might be in the clear on this count. Android does collect GPS data to improve location services, but this feature is opt-out and anonymized. The only way for Google to provide the government any reliable location data on Dears would be if he turned on Latitude, which does keep a log of locations.

Some users might be floored that the government is asking Google to turn over a list of all websites visited. Don’t get too excited about that one; Google itself doesn’t have a full list of your web history. Just the Google searches and the links clicked from within those searches. If the investigators could unlock the phone, then there would likely be web history in the browser. Gaining access to the phone itself could be tricky, though.

Because the FBI investigators entered the pattern incorrectly too many times, the phone can only be unlocked with the user’s Google credentials. The issue of the password is the most intriguing, seeing as we’ve all had to go through the password reset shuffle once or twice. Google might not be able to provide the actual unencrypted password, but could reset it and tell the FBI what they’ve changed it to.

If law enforcement can gain access to a phone, the SMS and photos therein will be theirs for the taking. That is more than likely the only way investigators will get into Dears’ photos, unless in the unlikely event he was backing them up to Google+. The text messages are not going to be saved on Google’s servers anywhere, so if Dears was conducting his business via SMS, the FBI will have to go after the carrier instead of Google.

Shortly after the subpoena was served, Google made a statement on what has become a bizarrely big story. “Like all law-abiding companies, we comply with valid legal process,” a Google spokesperson said. It also added that if a subpoena is too broad, the internet giant could seek to narrow it. Still, the moral of the story is that even a device lock can’t keep all your data safe when it’s synced to the cloud.

android tips

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Is there anything Google can do to solve the problem of slow Android updates?

Google is getting ready to roll out its very first Jelly Bean (Android 4.1) device, the Nexus 7 tablet, and while that’s exciting news, it’s also sobering for scores of Android users still waiting to unwrap Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0.x). The numbers in Google’s own Dashboard for developers tell the story in disappointing detail, but they don’t pinpoint the problem.

What they reveal are cold, hard facts — such as, just 7.1% of active Android users are currently sinking their teeth into ICS, even though it was released more than eight months ago. Honeycomb (Android 3.x) is looking more and more like a stopgap solution with a less than 3% market share, while the vast majority — nearly two-thirds —  of Android users are still rocking Gingerbread (Android 2.3.x). After that, Froyo (Android 2.2) accounts for 19.1%, followed by Eclair (Android 2.1) at 5.2%, and Donut (Android 1.6) and Cupcake (Android 1.5) combining for less than 1%.

The problem here isn’t that fragmentation exists in the Android camp, rather the real issue is that OS updates are slow to roll out to the masses (fragmentation is a partial byproduct). There’s plenty of blame to go around, some of it valid, and some of it misinformed. Falling into the latter category is a mini rant by AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, in which he claims that “Google determines what platform gets the newest releases and when,” and that it’s “a negotiated arrangement.” In reality, Google drops the source code for new Android builds at the Android Open Source Project the moment the first device based on it launches.

Device manufacturers often apply their own UI overlays to Android, adding another layer of complexity to certifying OS updates.

Popular opinion is that fancy user interface (UI) overlays like Blur (Motorola) and TouchWiz (Samsung) are to blame, but that isn’t necessarily the case. Prior to being scooped up by Google, Motorola Mobility vice president and general manager, Christy Wyatt, said the software is the easy part, and that testing Android builds on various chipsets and carriers is the real culprit. Her point is underscored by Sony’s rare and detailed inside look at exactly what’s involved in porting a source code release to a bona fide software upgrade.

Unfortunately, there aren’t any winners when playing the blame game, and if Google’s going to solve the problem, it has to figure out if a solution even exists, and whether or not it cares to implement it.

One way Google could solve the problem is by changing the culture of Android by encouraging manufacturers to charge for a fee for Android updates. We already looked at reasons why this could work, and as many readers noted, there are significant roadblocks, one of them being that it would drive consumers to other platforms.

An alternative would be for Google to take the reins and handle all updates for all devices. It has the manpower and resources to take on that kind of Herculean task, but does it have the desire? Probably not. Jean-Baptiste Queru, technical lead on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), considered the five months it took for Sony to ship ICS on its Tablet S device a “very reasonable time, since under the hood Ice Cream Sandwich is quite different from Honeycomb,” according to his post on Google+. If five months qualifies as “very reasonable,” then what does eight months, which is where we’re at today, qualify as? What about 10 months, or a year? At what point do these slow rollouts become “unreasonable?”

Figuring out a reasonable time frame for Android upgrades is just one of the many challenges Google would face if it took hold of the reins and issued updates for all software. Trying to prioritize specific devices, manufacturers, and wireless carriers is an awful lot for Google to try and juggle, and on top of it all, custom UIs would probably need to be tossed out the window. It’s difficult to imagine device makers being on board with that idea.

Apple doesn’t have this problem because it builds its own hardware, and neither does Microsoft, which requires Windows Phone makers follow a specific hardware blueprint.

This brings things full circle to the original question of what Google can do to solve the problem of slow Android rollouts, and the answer might be “nothing.” As long as Android’s stock keeps rising, you can expect Google to do exactly that, though not because it doesn’t care. It’s just that no one has yet come up with a feasible solution that will appease device makers, wireless carriers, and consumers in one fell swoop.

moderntrick.blogspot.com

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Google and Stanford create a digital brain that, like an infant, learns to identify a human face from scratch

In a tantalizingly terrifying hint of the future, Google has shown off a new neural network — a Google brain, if you will — that can learn to identify objects without human supervision. Operating from the mysterious Google X Lab, this system can, from scratch, analyze millions of random, unlabeled images, and sort them into categories such as “human face” or “cat.”

Jeff Dean and his team from Google, working with Andrew Ng and Quoc Le from Stanford University, have effectively created a rudimentary, low-resolution digital version of the brain’s visual cortex. The system, which comprises of a cluster of 1,000 computers (totaling 16,000 processor cores), analyzes 10 million 200×200 still frames from YouTube. Over 3 days, the system’s software builds up a network of hundreds of neurons and thousands (millions?) of synapses. During this period, the system tries to identify features — edges, lines, colors — and then creates object categories based on these features.

The rather intriguing result is that, when the system looks at an image of a cat, a specific (digital) neuron fires — just like in a human brain. Watching the system in action — watching the neurons light up — is almost like performing a virtual, digital MRI scan. In the picture below, you can see the contents of the “human face” neuron, alongside some of the stimuli that successfully trigger the neuron.

Historically, machine learning has generally been supervised by humans. There are plenty of examples of computers identifying human faces (or cats) with incredible accuracy and speed — but only if human operators first tell the computer what to look for. That the Google/Stanford system starts from scratch and develops its own ability to classify objects is amazing.

One way of looking at it is that Google and Stanford have created the visual cortex of an infant human — a blank slate that learns from its surroundings. Andrew Ng isn’t quite so sure, though. “It’d be fantastic if it turns out that all we need to do is take current algorithms and run them bigger, but my gut feeling is that we still don’t quite have the right algorithm yet.”

Even so, that won’t stop Google from trying it on a larger scale: Speaking to The New York Times, the scientists said that their system has now been transferred from Google X to the search team. There the Google brain will probably be scaled up and put to task improving Google’s image search — until, at some point, after being forced to analyze billions of lolcats against its will, the system will rise up and Judgment Day will be upon us.

a great  site to hack :- moderntrick

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I’ve seen the future: Hands-on with Google Glass

Like most of you, I’ve heard plenty about Google Glass and seen some interesting demos — including the amazingly cool one at the Google I/O keynote this morning that featured skydivers and stunt bike riders. It wasn’t until Sergey Brin put a prototype pair on my face this afternoon, though, that I realized just how cool they are and how important they may become.

To start with the glasses really are featherlight. I know we’ve heard that before, but I didn’t really believe it until now. They may not be lighter than my plastic reading glasses, but they are definitely feel lighter than my sunglasses — perhaps because the weight is nicely balanced in front of and behind one ear, instead of being bulked up in front and weighing down on the bridge of the nose.

The screen is surprisingly small and out of the way — a key design goal for the team. Brin and the rest of the team were very clear that a big piece of the project’s mission is to provide technology that does not get in the way of everyday life. At the same time, the image on the screen — mostly demo videos provided for us by Google — was razor sharp. Glass is designed to project the image at far-focus, so if you have good eyesight or corrective lenses (like me) that allow you to see in the distance, there is no need to re-focus to see the image. This is a big improvement over trying to look down at a dashboard or a phone, which requires some serious effort or reading glasses for anyone who is eyesight-challenged.

Brin and his product managers were very clear that they don’t see Glass as a phone replacement, or as a device that’ll be used for heavy web-surfing. Instead they envision it as a great way to share the moment with others, and to find information that might be relevant right then and there. Glass makes it simple to capture video, stills, and even time-lapse photos — one product manager gave the example of capturing images every ten seconds on a bike ride with no effort on his part, and without distracting from the ride or his chatting with his fellow riders.

Clearly the team has thought through many of the usability issues inherent in sticking a screen in front of your face. By placing the image outside your normal field of view, they made sure it doesn’t get in the way. When you receive a priority message for example — the default is to only alert the user of priority messages — Glass gently beeps. It only shows you the message if you tilt your head up like I am in this photo — which it figures out using its built-in sensors.

To help make the most of this amazing new hardware platform, Google is signing up thousands of developers to get an “Explorer” version of Glass early in 2013, for $1500. It expects to have a product for consumers — at a lower price point, but still premium-priced — perhaps by the end of 2013. For one, I’m incredibly excited about the possibilities. Sure, for awhile you’ll look like a dork walking around with a pair, but that was true of Bluetooth earpieces until they became a fashion item and are as commonplace as briefcases now.

get this glass

sticky washable keyboard

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Unleash your Chromebox: How to dual-boot Ubuntu Linux on your Chrome OS device

Google’s new Chromebox has some compelling features for large-scale IT shops. Capable of providing solid, secure performance at a reasonable price with almost no administrative overhead, they will no doubt find their way onto trading floors and into hospitals and universities, among other places. For many of the rest of us, the Chromebox, and the Chromebook before it, are a waste of perfectly good hardware. The Chromebox given out at Google I/O, for example, comes with a Core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 16GB SSD. It also has plenty of USB and video ports as well as a built-in speaker. That’s more than enough muscle to run a full-on OS like Linux instead of trying to live within the tight, web-only, confines of Chrome OS.

Hacker-friendly out of the box

Fortunately, Google and Samsung, who makes the ‘box, seem to have anticipated exactly this response, and left both the Chromebooks and Chromeboxes wide open to hacking. Not only can the devices be converted to dual-boot Chrome OS and Linux — nullifying the locked-down Chrome OS security model in the process of course — but it’s also easy to return them back to their locked-up factory defaults. What a dream setup! If only phones were this hacker friendly the word “brick” could pretty much disappear from the vocabulary on XDA.

Beginning the journey to a hacked Chromebox is as simple as flipping the developer switch in the back — slightly hidden inside the Kensington lock slot. Most Chromebooks have their developer switch in a similar location like the one shown in this diagram. Flipping the switch and rebooting opens up a wealth of new possibilities for your device. Keep in mind that the process will erase any local data you have on the device, and takes about 10 minutes to complete.

Running the developer-mode BIOS

Once you’ve gotten your Chrome OS device rebooted with the developer switch turned on (which lets you access a developer shell), you’ll be able to run the developer mode BIOS to further customize the unit. Start by pressing Ctrl-Alt-F2 when the device gets to the Select Language screen, to get a shell login prompt. Then log in with the username chronos(there is no password on the account) and become root using the command sudo bash(sudo simply tells the device you want to run its command line as root, and bash starts up a new shell). Finally, issue the command chromeos-firmwareupdate --mode=todevwhich switches your device to load the development BIOS by default. Note that if you’re using a Chrome-customized keyboard it might have “->” where the F2 normally is on a PC. Just press that instead of F2.

You’re now running the developer mode BIOS, which allows you to boot non-Google kernels or even to boot off an external USB device. If you have any trouble getting to this point, Google itself provides a helpful set of directions. You can always revert to the factory-default BIOS with the command chromeos-firmwareupdate --mode normal.

no mouse in a pc ..... see how.?

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Control Any Device OnThe Planet From Anywhere With Elphi

Elphi is the first smart plug built for the 21st century.  With it you can monitor, control and even share devices with your friends from anywhere in the world.  Simply plug your devices into the Elphi plug and connect them to the Elphi cloud with our free app.  Our streamlined setup process usually takes less than sixty seconds.  We’ve designed our system to work with your existing WiFi network so you don’t have to buy any additional hardware.

 ELPHI GOES EVERYWHERE

The Elphi smart plug can be used to monitor and control all of the things you plug into the wall.  Elphi hasbeen using it to turn on the espresso machine on the way back from work, for turning on heaters and lights, and to check whether my grandmother is ok by looking at her power usage over time.  How will you use it?  Elphi is limited only by your imagination.

How does it work?

The Elphi plug and app communicate via a cloud service in real time.  The plug uses a dual core Wi-Fi chip to connect to local Wi-Fi networks and is designed to minimize vampire power usage by backing off the relay switch’s coil current via pulse width modulation.  The plug’s firmware is also being designed to allow for updates as our system improves and evolves.

The app talks to our API and receives push notifications for events such as turning on the plug with the physical button or your friend turning on your lights from his or her phone. The Elphi team plans to open up the API to users and developers in the near future.

The Elphi cloud is a secure, reliable service that ties together phone apps with the physical devices you use in your everyday life.  The team have built it to handle the constantly fluctuating loads associated with even the most demanding smartphone-driven lifestyle.

Compatibility

The Elphi smart plug is compatible with iPhones running iOS 5.1 and will be compatible with Android shortly.

iPhone 3GS, 4, 4S running iOS 5.1

Android devices running 2.3 and higher

WiFi type 802.11b (also works with b/g/n networks) 

Standard 3 pronged U.S. plug (safely powers anything you plug into your wall socket- up to 15amps, or ~1875 watts)

Elphi Features

Elphi transforms the devices you use into a seamless, virtual extension of yourself, and Elphis is building the tools to make this a reality.  Currently with the Elphi system, you can:

Monitor loved ones (elderly or latchkey kids) by looking at the power use patterns on their devices.

Instantly turn on and off any device from anywhere via smartphone – from your couch or from across the world

Use the button as a manual override if a smart phone is not present

Set timers just like you set your alarm clock on your phone – set your coffee machine to turn on every morning

Location awareness – your phone can notify you or control devices based on your location (i.e. curling iron turns off when you leave the house)

Measure the power usage of any device, and monitor it over time

Plug two Elphi plugs into a single outlet with our space efficient design!

Update Elphi plug firmware from your phone

Synchronize state changes across multiple users’ phones

Automatically turns off if device plugged into Elphi plug is drawing too much power

easy way to control a computer .click

remote access by mobile. click

hacking tricks

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Microsoft commits to user privacy in IE10; risks advertiser wrath over Do Not Track support

Microsoft has affirmed its commitment to shipping IE10 and Windows 8 with “Do Not Track” (DNT) enabled by default. In doing so, it’s set the stage for a major war over user privacy, and appointed itself an unofficial white knight of user privacy.

Feel free to pause a moment and let the cognitive dissonance fade.

For those of you just tuning in, Do Not Track is a proposed privacy flag whose implementation is currently being drafted by the W3C. As currently implemented, a browser with DNT activated notifies the target website that the user does not wish to be tracked. A website that supports DNT would (theoretically) honor the flag and agree not to track the visitor’s activities. DNT is a voluntary standard — there’s no federal or state law mandating its use and very few websites currently support it. If a website doesn’t support DNT, turning it on in the browser does nothing.

A number of advertisers have signed on to help draft the DNT standard in a bid to avoid a government-mandated solution that might be far more limiting, but that doesn’t mean they like it. Microsoft’s initial statement that DNT would be enabled by default came as a total surprise to many of the participants in the W3C’s draft process and was sharply criticized from certain quarters. In June, the W3C changed the DNT draft to propose that browsersmust ship DNT off by default and enable it only if the user gives “explicit consent.” This implied that if Microsoft went ahead and shipped IE10 with DNT activated, it wouldn’t be able to claim its browser supported DNT.

Microsoft’s unofficial response? “Bring it.” In a recent blog post, Brendon Lynch, MS’s Chief Privacy Officer, spelled out how DNT is implemented in IE10. Users who choose “Express Settings” for browser configuration at first-run will have their DNT flag enabled. Users who choose to customize their options will be prompted to set the flag manually. In both cases, users are told what the DNT flag is and how to change it if they choose to do so.

“Our approach,” Lynch writes, “is part of our commitment to privacy by design and putting people first. We believe consumers should have more control over how data about their online behavior is tracked, shared, and used.”

Ulterior motive?

A number of pundits have questioned whether or not Microsoft is using privacy issues to strike at Google’s advertising empire. The truth is, we don’t know. Some draft standards are widely adopted before the final version is complete — 802.11n was a good example of this — but with DNT, the implementation is still being worked on. Browsers that support DNT tend to do it in different ways, and websites are waiting for a better understanding of what they need to do before they go ahead with implementing it.

Microsoft’s decision to ship DNT as active by default isn’t actually going to mean much right away. It’s already led the W3C to consider modifying the DNT proposal; the business interests working on the standard are petrified that an opt-in network will destroy their companies and bombard users with constant requests for data sharing. Some of these concerns are shared by privacy advocates; a standard that destroys companies and creates an impenetrable tangle of pop-ups is in no one’s best interests.

Visit Wired with IE10 and DNT enabled, and this is what you'll see

For the moment, I’m willing to take Microsoft at its word. What’ll be critical to watch is how the company implements DNT on its own websites, what it advocates as the standard evolves, and whether its positions take principled stands on defending users’ rights, or are drawn in a way that benefits itself while choking out the competition. This is a move that really could go either way. If Windows 8 catches fire, it’ll fundamentally change the way Microsoft interacts with its customers and users. It’s fair to give the company a chance to demonstrate the principles it intends to uphold as part of that change — but it’s also fair to keep a weather eye on what’s going on behind the scenes.

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Apple vs. Samsung, Samsung gets cozy with Microsoft

Less than one week after a jury handed down a decisive win for Applein its case against Samsung, the Korean company now appears to be moving away from its embrace of Android to the relatively safer waters of Windows Phone.

On Wednesday, I argued that Microsoft was set to gain from the verdict due to its position as an alternative to Android. The Redmond, Washington company was smart enough to sign agreements with Apple for some of the same patents that Samsung was found guilty of infringing upon. Now according to a report in the Korea Times, it sounds like Samsung is finding Microsoft to be a much more attractive partner for that exact reason.

Some further evidence of the company’s shift may be found in its announcements this week at the IFA tech conference in Berlin.

The debut of its Windows Phone 8 powered device on Wednesday came as a shock to some. Given Microsoft’s tight partnership with Nokia, it was pretty much assumed that the first WP8 devices would have appeared there. But that wasn’t the case.

As its patent fight dragged on with Apple, Samsung may have seen the writing on the wall and begun to switch gears as Microsoft settled its own claims in the form of licensing agreements. While it’s certainly not raising the white flag here, it seems to at least acknowledge that getting the verdict completely overturned may be impossible.

Indeed, the Korea Times says that Samsung officials say that they are actively working on partnerships to get around Apple’s design claims, as well as a closer working relationship with Microsoft. This means the Android OS will likely appear on far less new devices while Windows Phone will become a bigger factor, again due to the patent protections it provides.

This is probably the smartest business move overall for Samsung. If it does get the ruling overturned, it will be business as usual and the company will be free to do as it pleases. But if it does not, and it needs some type of protection from further legal action, Microsoft’s Windows Phone is certainly a good alternative.

Such news has to have people in Redmond happy

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Broadband ‘tax’ may be in the works to expand high-speed internet access

The subject of taxation on the Internetis once again on the radar of politicos in Washington.

Federal Communications Commission officials are considering a proposed tax to be levied to all broadband internet connections nationwide. The tax would work the same as theUniversal Service Fund, a government-imposed fee that appears on all phone bills to ensure ubiquitous access to telephone service.

President Barack Obama made the concept of broadband access for all a cornerstone of his technology platform. While a noble idea, it will cost a good deal of money, and in some areas may not be a profitable venture. Thus, a fund like the USF, this time called the “Connect America Fund,” has been set up by the FCC.

Agency officials claim many as 18 million more Americans could gain broadband access over the next decade as a result of the new tax. With 19 million currently without broadband service, that means nearly the entire nation would be covered by high speed access by 2020.

The fee has some high profile supporters. Major technology companies — including AT&T, Sprint, and Google — have already expressed support for the idea. These companies obviously stand to gain from a government subsidy, since they are the ones providing the service. Others disagree, saying the FCC is moving ahead without any oversight from Congress.

“The FCC had no business taking money from a fund dedicated to expand phone service and creating a broadband internet subsidy,” writes Rick Moran of the conservative political blog American Thinker. “Creating another tax to subsidize internet expansion for large companies is unnecessary and will only lead to greater control of the Internet by government. Congress should wake up and nix this effort before it gets started.”

Regardless of whether you want to call it a fee or tax, or what have you, is some type of subsidy necessary considering our modern economy? You could argue yes. An increasingly larger portion of our economy depends on high-speed internet to get things done. Without any push to get the underserved connected, are we developing a class of the internet have-nots, where the benefits of our modern digital economy become harder to obtain?

It’s something to think about.

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Windows 8 phones home, tells Microsoft every time you install a program

Security researcher and blogger Nadim Kobeissi has uncovered evidence that Windows 8 doesn’t just keep a local log of installed programs — it phones home to tell Microsoft every time you install an application. This is a significant expansion of a technology Microsoft introduced in Internet Explorer 9, called SmartScreen. In IE9, Smartscreen was an optional feature that would warn users if they ran a program that wasn’t whitelisted/ lagged with a positive reputation according to Microsoft’s servers. It was part of a wider initiative to encourage developers to sign their code, and MS claimed that SmartScreen significantly reduced the chances of downloading and installing malicious malware.

Redmond decided to up the ante in Windows 8. SmartScreen is now a system-wide defense technology, enabled by default, and it tracks every program/application install on every PC. Since that data is sent to MS using a hashed value that contains the app installer and the code signature. Your IP information is also included, which makes it trivial for MS to trace back which IP addresses installed which software.

If the application has a high reputation, the install proceeds normally. If not, users are greeted with an explanation like this:

Or this:

If the system is offline, Smart Screen apparently tosses you a warning that gasp your machine is no longer protected, and Windows can’t – clutches pearls — help you decide if a program is safe to run!

Security advocates, thinking people, and everyone who isn’t Microsoft naturally find this troubling. For one thing, MS now has a database of what every IP is installing. Even if the company takes steps to make that information anonymous, there’s no way the government will ignore a centrally maintained database of activity once it believes it can link an IP address to particular users. Second, there’s the temptation to use this information for targeted advertising. If Microsoft sees an IP address installing video games or Xbox Live content, it know that’s probably a gamer. If you’re downloading cooking apps, you might like to see some ads for recipe websites.

This strikes at one of the problems with so-called anonymous data — it’s not actually anonymous. If I know your IP, the apps you install, and the websites you visit, I know an awful lot about you. I may not retain that data, but you can bet that governments and corporations will both want to get their hands on it. The earnings from monetizing the information, and the associated temptation, are potentially huge.

Then there’s the fact that the server Windows 8 communicates with supports an insecure version of SSL (SSLv2), the OS never warns users that SmartScreen is spying on them, and the certificate security model has some known problems and has been prominently compromised in recent memory. Even if you don’t care that Microsoft has the data, the lack of transparency is deeply troubling.

How to blow your street cred in three easy steps

Step 1: Take a principled stand for user privacy, even when that stance will anger advertisers and companies like Google.

Step 2: Stick to your guns. Declare that enabling Do Not Track by default is the best way to respect users’ right to privacy. Create perception that you are doing this on behalf of users, not because you want to screw your biggest advertising competitor and market leader.

Step 3: Blatantly ignore user privacy. Send a report of all system activity back to headquarters via IP address, possibly with a flawed cryptographic protocol. Don’t tell users what you’re doing. Imply that if they disable this service, they’ll be making a terrible mistake.

That whoosh you hear is Microsoft’s burgeoning credibility on privacy and user rights flushing down the drain. SmartScreen can be disabled in user settings, but the default implementation raises serious concerns.

Microsoft has since reached out to us with the following statement: Although Windows SmartScreen is part of the Windows 8 Express Settings during the first-run experience and we recommend it be enabled, if users are concerned about sending this data to Microsoft, they can choose to not enable the feature.

We can confirm that we are not building a historical database of program and user IP data. Like all online services, IP addresses are necessary to connect to our service, but we periodically delete them from our logs. As our privacy statements indicate, we take steps to protect our users’ privacy on the backend. We don’t use this data to identify, contact or target advertising to our users and we don’t share it with third parties.

With respect to the claims of SSL security and data interception risk posed by the SSL2.0 protocol, by default Windows 8 will not use this protocol with our service. Windows SmartScreen does not use the SSL2.0 protocol.

The one part of this statement we take issue with is the “Users can choose not to enable this feature.” At present, the W8 setup screen does not tell the user that the feature sends data to MS on every application install. The downside and privacy concerns are not presented at all. This is odd considering that MS made such a point of pushing for consumers to be notified regarding Do Not Track.

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