‘American Idol’ for Hackers: The U.S. Government’s Latest Recruitment Strategy
Attention, amateur hackers: Uncle Sam wants you to help fight cyber-crime -- and he's getting pretty desperate, too. As cyber-attacks become more complex and virulent, the U.S. government has poured billions of dollars into securing our nation's digital borders. Problem is, it's facing a severe shortage of manpower. Out of the roughly 20,000 "elite" cyber-experts that the U.S. needs, there are only about 1,000 currently fighting the good fight. Faced with this dearth of expertise, and with a national training program that's proven to be flawed, governmental agencies and private companies alike have broadened their recruitment wingspan in an effort to dig out whiz-kid diamonds in the rough.
One of the people spearheading this revamped recruitment initiative is Alan Paller, co-founder and research director of the Sans Institute cyber-security school, and who, according to Newsweek, is "kind of a real-life version of Professor Charles Xavier." Paller's already devoted 20 years to training cyber-crime fighters at Sans, and has recently come up with a particularly unique way of finding talent. In 2009, he co-hosted the first Cyber Challenge, an 'American Idol'-style contest in which 240 contestants had to hack into 12 servers, each one worth a specific amount of points. The winner (who subverted the system by ingeniously hacking the scoreboard) was eventually offered a scholarship at Sans, and the National Security Agency later hired eight other contestants for internships. Since then, the competition has started to gain steam as an effective recruiting tool, as both the FBI and Air Force have decided to offer internships and scholarships to future winners. Needless to say, the payoff can be handsome. The average cyber-security expert, according to Indeed.com, pulls in about $102,000 per year.
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'American Idol' for Hackers: The U.S. Government's Latest Recruitment Strategy originally appeared on Switched on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Compose E-mails With Your Mind… For $12K
We're sure plenty of you have drooled longingly as labs trot out brain-controlled computer interfaces, and thought to yourself, "When will I get me a piece of that?" Well, wonder no more, our poorly spoken friend, because that day is quickly approaching.
A company called G-Tec has announced the commercial availability of its brain-computer interface, dubbed Intendix. The Intendix comes with an EEG cap for measuring brain activity and special hardware to translate brain waves into usable commands. Right now, the technology is limited to text-based entry, which means it's great for e-mail, texting, and perhaps other programs (if you're a command line ninja), but not very useful for Web browsing.
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Filed under: Computers
Compose E-mails With Your Mind... For $12K originally appeared on Switched on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 07:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Sony Motion Controller is Called PlayStation Move, Launches Fall 2010 (Hands On!) [Playstation Move]
Sony's finally put a name to their motion controller, and it's called PlayStation Move. Live Updating More
Target Fights Papercuts With Cell Phone Coupons
As far back as 2008, retailers were flirting with the idea of offering customers coupons via cell phones. It never really caught on, but, now, Target hopes to change that. According to a press release, the retailer began a program today that allows customers to receive digital coupons on their cell phones. Using a barcode on the screen, customers can scan and save money at any Target store in the U.S. The coupons will have an expiration date and can only be used once. To take part in the program, customers can visit a Web site to register, or download a free iPhone app.
While Target claims it's the first to offer this service at every store, other retailers have experimented with the concept. According to USA Today, J.C. Penney is testing a similar scanning technology at 16 locations across Houston, Texas, while grocery stores like Kroger and Safeway have implemented similar projects, although on a smaller scale.
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Filed under: Cell Phones
Target Fights Papercuts With Cell Phone Coupons originally appeared on Switched on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
‘Wired ReRead’ Is a Time Machine of Geek Culture for Nerds
As postmodern society accelerates, we look back with greater and greater fervor. Nostalgia, not for decades past but for mere months back, informs us of who we are and whence we come. Reminiscence helps us to situate ourselves in history.
But also, it helps us to make fun of ourselves! Danish tech fan Theis S
Google Launches Reader Play, a Fullscreen News Browser
Yesterday, we spotted a strange tweet from the Google Reader team that simply read, "Getting ready to play..." Well, after about 24 hours of mystery, all has been revealed. (We could only hope that iamamiwhoami would be so prompt.)
Google Reader Play is a new slideshow-esque tool that focuses on short-and-sweet posts that works with your Google Reader account. By default, it pulls from a selection of popular posts (e.g., we're seeing pictures of otters, Yahoo! Answers disasters, and other funny and sensational stories). Play provides simple controls for moving between news items and lets you star, share, and like posts, without having to deal with the complex folder structure of Google Reader's usual view. Images and videos are automatically blown up to fill the screen. You can view content straight from your Google Reader folders (e.g. your folder of finely curated YouTube accounts showing pet videos), but it's a bit of a backwards process. Go to your regular Reader view, select feed options (the triangle next to the folder/feed), and click "View in Reader Play."
Gallery: Google Reader Play
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Google Launches Reader Play, a Fullscreen News Browser originally appeared on Switched on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Obama to Use Private ‘Bounty Hunters’ to Hunt Health Care Scammers
In an effort to save money and gain support for health care reform, President Barack Obama is calling in the nerds. According to an Associated Press report, Obama said Tuesday that he's hiring a group of private "bounty hunters" to crack down on health care fraud, particularly those cases pertaining to Medicare and Medicaid. They won't be armed with mullets and pepper spray like TV badass Dog, but they will operate a computer program that scans bills for fraudulent claims or erroneous data! Fun! The AP reports that, in 2009 alone, Medicare and Medicaid paid about $59 billion to the wrong people.
Wednesday, Obama will sign a memorandum instructing cabinet secretaries and government agency members to ramp up the use of these geeky guns-for-hire. The private auditors will get to keep a portion of whatever funds they recover for the government, and that could amount to a hefty sum. The White House told the AP that a similar Medicare program in California, New York and Texas recovered about $900 million from 2005 to 2008. The White House expects this nationwide program to recover about $2 billion over the next three years. The health care system is clearly broken. The cleanup has to start somewhere, and being the nerds we are, some number crunching and data analysis seems like a solid place to begin. [From: AP/The New York Times]
Obama to Use Private 'Bounty Hunters' to Hunt Health Care Scammers originally appeared on Switched on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
You Will Have the Power of a PS3 In Your Pocket In 3 Years [Powervr]
I spoke to Imagination Technologies—maker of the PowerVR chip that powers smartphones like the iPhone, Droid and many others—and they said, definitively, that you'll have graphics comparable to the PlayStation 3 in 3 years. More
Google Adds Biking Directions to Maps
Google Maps was already one of our favorite tools on the Web, thanks to its (borderline creepy) satellite images, (usually) reliable directions, and powerful search tools. The latest edition, though, has really endeared Google to many of us here at the Switched offices: biking directions.
The specific navigation tool for cyclists joins existing options for driving, walking, and public transportation. The biking guide avoids major roads and highways (as well as hills), and, wherever possible, sticks to existing bike lanes and paths.
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Google Adds Biking Directions to Maps originally appeared on Switched on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Giz Explains: How You’re Gonna Get Screwed By Ebook Formats [Giz Explains]
"We use the epub format: It is the most popular open book format in the world." That's how Steve Jobs announced the iPad. And wow, that sounds like all the ebooks you own will just work on anything. Um, no. More