Stuxnet, the first known cyber-weapon, found to have been introduced into Iran years earlier than originally thought

Symantec recently released a fascinating report on an early version of Stuxnet that it dubs version 0.5. It too appears to have been specifically developed to sabotage Iranian nuclear facilities by targeting the centrifuges hat perform uranium enrichment.

• Stuxnet 0.5 is the oldest known Stuxnet version to be analyzed, in the wild as early as November 2007 and in development as early as November 2005.
• Stuxnet 0.5 was less aggressive than Stuxnet versions 1.x and only spread through infected [Siemens Programmable Logic Controller (PLC)] Step 7 projects [which control centrifuges].
• Stuxnet 0.5 contains an alternative attack strategy, closing valves within the uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, Iran, which would have caused serious damage to the centrifuges and uranium enrichment system as a whole.


The success of Stuxnet 0.5 remains unknown. However, the chart in figure 4 references uranium enrichment production at Natanz to key milestones of Stuxnet development. Interesting events are dips in feed or production amounts and lower levels of production given the same or greater feed amounts (shown as gaps between the two lines).

...When Symantec first disclosed details about how Stuxnet affected the programmable logic controllers (PLCs) used for uranium enrichment in Natanz, Iran, we documented two attack strategies. We also noted that the one targeting 417 PLC devices was disabled. We have now obtained an earlier version of Stuxnet that contains the fully operational 417 PLC device attack code.

After painstaking analysis, we can now confirm that the 417 PLC device attack code modifies the state of the valves used to feed UF6 (uranium hexafluoride gas) into the uranium enrichment centrifuges. The attack essentially closes the valves causing disruption to the flow and possibly destruction of the centrifuges and related systems. In addition, the code will take snapshots of the normal running state of the system, and then replay normal operating values during an attack so that the operators are unaware that the system is not operating normally. It will also prevent modification to the valve states in case the operator tries to change any settings during the course of an attack cycle.


...This version of Stuxnet extensively fingerprints the target system to determine whether it is in the right location before it will activate the payload. To make this determination, Stuxnet checks if the infected system is running Step 7 software and parses the symbol table of the target system. The symbol table holds identification labels for each physical device in the target system. For example, each valve, pump, and sensor will have a unique identifier. The symbol labels loosely follow the ANSI/ISA-5.1 Instrumentation Symbols and Identification standard, which is used in piping and instrumentation diagrams (P&ID)...

...During fingerprinting, Stuxnet keeps a counter for each device that matches the expected configuration. Once the counter surpasses a particular threshold, Stuxnet considers the system that is being fingerprinted to match the target system configuration and will inject the attack PLC code...

...Similar to version 1.x of Stuxnet, the 417 PLC device attack code consists of a state machine with eight possible states. The states conduct an attack by closing valves within six of the possible 18 cascades...

• State 0 – Wait: Perform system identification and wait for the enrichment process to reach steady-state before attacking (approximately 30 days).
• State 1 – Record: Take peripheral snapshots and build fake input blocks for replaying later.
• State 2 – Attack centrifuge valves: Begin replaying fake input signals. Close valves on most centrifuges with the exception of the initial feed stage valves.
• State 3 – Secondary pressure reading: Open valves in the final stage of a single cascade to obtain a low pressure reading.
• State 4 – Wait for pressure change: Wait for desired pressure change or time limit. This can take up to two hours.
• State 5 – Attack auxiliary valves: Open all auxiliary valves except valves believed to be near the first feed stage (stage 10). Waits for three minutes in this state.
• State 6 – Wait for attack completion: Waits for six minutes whilst preventing any state changes.
• State 7 – Finish: Reset and return to state zero.

By closing almost all valves except the initial feed stage valves, UF6 will continue to flow into the system. This act alone may cause damage to the centrifuges themselves. However, the attack expects the pressure to reach five times the normal operating pressure. At this pressure, significant damage to the uranium enrichment system could occur and the UF6 gas could even revert to a solid.

Whether the attack succeeded in this manner or not remains unclear. Even if the attack did succeed, the attackers decided to switch to a different strategy, of attacking the speed of the centrifuges themselves instead, in Stuxnet 1.x versions.

One can only hope that Stuxnet badly wounded the Iranian nuclear effort.


Related:

• Stuxnet In Pictures: The Cyber-Weapon Said to Target Iran's Nuclear Infrastructure

• All the President's Leaks

• The 5 Most Amazing Details of the Stuxnet Cyberbomb

Possibly the Most Diabolically Cool Station Wagon Ever

Executive Summary: Daddy like.

Everyone knows that the Chevrolet Corvette is offered in both a coupe and convertible version - quite usual body versions for a sports car. In the past few months, however, another body version has become famous: the shooting brake. While we are pretty sure Chevy will never offer a shooting brake Corvette, the guys over Callaway have developed such a model.


Even crazier is that, if the company will have enough orders for it, the new AeroWagon - as it is being called - will be put into production. Callaway is currently taking orders for the model and announced the modifications will cost about $15,000.

The car’s rear hatch will be made of carbon-fiber structural components, which were developed using Callaway’s proprietary Resin Transfer Molding process. This way it will be both lightweight and strong. Callaway also announced that its new model will exceed 200 mph, making us believe it will use something different than the standard 450-horsepower, 6.2-liter V-8 engine seen in the new Stingray.

Because every American family needs a station wagon capable of 200 mph.


Hat tip: BadBlue Car News.

WHOA: Mobile Apps Business Expected to Be Double the Size of the Entire Movie Industry... This Year

I really had no idea that revenues from the mobile app business will hit about $25 billion this year -- roughly double the revenue of every movie theater in America.

...The global apps business is expected to make $25 billion in revenue this year, up 62% from a year ago, according to Gartner. To put that in perspective, movie theaters sold less than half that dollar amount at the box office in 2012.

And we have a ton of apps to choose from: Apple’s store now has about 800,000 apps, compared with 700,000 on Google GOOG -0.28% Play, 125,000 on Windows and 70,000 for Amazon.

Yes, business is booming. But it’s also unpredictable. About 63% of the apps used daily now differ from those used daily a year ago. Our attention span is so short these days – and the competition is so fierce – that we soon move on to the latest and greatest app.

On average, we only focus on about eight apps at a time. And we use these apps more than you might think: The average smartphone user spends two hours a day with apps, more than double the time spent two years earlier...

...Where did we find all this free time?

It’s hard to say exactly — if you look at the following graphic, the amount of time watching television and surfing the Web is flat in the past couple of years. Of course, we often have apps running in the background, like music-streaming apps, allowing us to multitask.

So consumption of apps is catching up to television viewing – some might say that’s a good thing, that apps are more productive than watching “Keeping Up With the Kardashians.”

...But, as the following graphic shows, productivity apps capture just 2% of our time. Rather, games are stealing the most of our attention...

...43% of our time is spent catapulting angry birds at pigs and fighting monsters...

Thinking about developing your own mobile app? Have at it, but recognize that the odds are long.


Only five of the top 250 app publishers in the Apple Store are "virgins", the rest are reported to be veteran development shops. Electronic Arts, for instance, has dozens of bestselling apps and a marketing budget to match.

But a single good idea -- likes Tetris or Angry Birds, for instance -- can change the game. In truth, it's never been easier to write a software bestseller.

Curiosity Takes a Panoramic Self-Portrait

Very cool.

This remarkable self-portrait of NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover includes a sweeping panoramic view of its current location in the Yellowknife Bay region of the Red Planet's Gale Crater. The rover's flat, rocky perch, known as "John Klein", served as the site for Curiosity's first rock drilling activity. At the foot of the proud looking rover, a shallow drill test hole and a sample collection hole are 1.6 centimeters in diameter. The impressive mosaic was constructed using frames from the rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) and Mastcam. Used to take in the panoramic landscape frames, the Mastcam is standing high above the rover's deck. But MAHLI, intended for close-up work, is mounted at the end of the rover's robotic arm. The MAHLI frames used to create Curiosity's self-portrait exclude sections that show the arm itself and so MAHLI and the robotic arm are not seen...

There's also an interactive version of this panoramic series.

Stunning new electronic eyewear -- Google Glass -- nears its debut #IfIHadGlass

Google's electronic eyewear -- dubbed "Google Glass" -- is nearing a milestone beta release for developers (or is it alpha, I always forget).

Google ... announced a promotion in which people who share interesting ideas about what to do with the device get the chance to become a "Glass Explorer," who can then pre-order a $1,500 prototype. The application deadline is February 27.

I offered up several ideas including one with a simulated picture:

#ifihadglass I would automatically recognize QR codes and project previews of web pages in their stead (now w/pic: 4.bp.blogspot.com/-4Tx-3lcdVOA/U… )

— Doug Ross (@directorblue) February 20, 2013

In other words, Glass would offer up semi-transparent views of the pages/content represented by QR codes in magazines, on posters, etc. -- helping to bridge the physical to the virtual world. If you like the idea or some of my other ones, please consider retweeting!

The Infiniti Q50 -- the forthcoming replacement for the G37...

Personally, I would take a rain-check on the reported hybrid and diesel nonsense:

Feast your eyes upon the all-new 2014 Infiniti Q50. Say what you will about Infiniti's new Q and QX naming system, but after looking at the new Q50 unveiled today at the Detroit Auto Show and checking out its feature list, we're having a hard time coming up with any additional criticisms. The highlights of the Q50, which goes on sale this summer in the US, include the eye-catching design, innovative cabin technology and a fuel-efficient hybrid model.

The Infiniti G has always had a focus on leading-edge styling, and its replacement is no different... Compared to the current G Sedan, the Q50 is longer, wider and lower than its predecessor, and it's also more aerodynamic with a drag coefficient of just 0.26, putting in between the Chevrolet Volt (0.28) and the Toyota Prius (0.25).

...There are also numerous apps that come preloaded into the system, and a new i-Key feature allows the car to recognize up to four different keys, allowing each driver to customize as many as 96 vehicle settings. As for the rest of the interior, it gets the same styling we've come to expect from Infiniti.

The base engine for the Q50 is carried over from the G37 with a 3.7-liter V6 producing 328 horsepower and 269 pound feet of torque, but the big news in the powertrain department is the addition of a hybrid model. Using a similar system to what is now known as the M35h (soon to go by the Q70 name), the Q50 Hybrid is powered by a 3.5-liter V6 paired to a 50 kW motor and compact lithium ion battery to give a total power output of 354 hp. Fuel economy estimates were not released for the hybrid, but in the M35h, this system is rated at 27 mpg city and 32 mpg highway; being newer and lighter, we wouldn't be surprised to see much better numbers for the Q50 version. Both versions of the car use a seven-speed automatic with rev matching, and the Q50 will come standard with rear-wheel drive and offer all-wheel drive as an option. Additional powertrains will eventually be added for global markets, but these have not been announced either.

A separate report last week confirms that the G37 Coupe will be replaced with a Q50 iteration, but photos of said configuration are scarce indeed.


Hat tip: BadBlue Car News.

SCHWING: Audi R8 Spyder

Maybe the president could redistribute an Audi R8 Spyder to some deserving young blogger.

...the V8 I drove is still the 424bhp 4.2-litre V8 - and that certainly didn't need to change. Personally I've always preferred it to the mellifluous 518bhp V10, which although more powerful, doesn't quite have the raw, raucous engine note and savage response of the V8. Audi claims a 0-62mph time of 4.5secs for the S Tronic V8, against 3.6secs for the V10, but I always thought Audi cheekily skewed those figures to make the V10 look good...

...No changes have been made to the all aluminium double wishbone suspension, the heavily rear biased 4wd system, nor the 43:57 weight distribution. The R8 is an effortlessly rewarding car to drive. It pootles about majestically, suspension so supple and accommodating, but has the ability to raise its hackles and change its personality in a split second. I'm still not sure that even a 911 does this better. What you discover on a good road is a car that's pin-point accurate, with lovely feelsome steering and body control that's rock solid, yet utterly placid. Accusations of blandness are ludicrous, they only come because of the ease with which the R8 goes about its business...

Daddy like.


Hat tip: BadBlue Car News.

HOLY CRAP: Inventor builds tiny, super-accurate mechanical crossbow you can wear on your... wrist

A mechanical crossbow with the "accuracy of a laser"? Daddy like.

Last October, after hurting his knee playing hockey, Patrick Priebe was holed up in his apartment near Cologne, Germany, with nothing to do. He was sitting at his computer, staring at his keyboard, when the “Y” key caught his eye. Priebe didn’t see a letter. To him, it looked like a crossbow. Immediately he knew what his next project would be.

For years, the German lab technician had built laser weapons, including a working Iron Man–style palm-fired blue-diode laser. After all those futuristic gadgets, he wanted to make a completely mechanical contraption. Priebe doesn’t draw up designs for his projects; he just starts tinkering. In his home shop, he cut some bars from an aluminum sheet and fastened together a Y-shaped frame that fit perfectly over the back of his hand.

Next he gathered more aluminum, copper, and brass sheeting. He ordered steel wire usually used in model planes, carbon-fiber tubing for the arrow shafts, and a few cylinders of low-friction Teflon plastic. He cut out two pieces of flexible spring-steel to act as the bow and stretched the steel wire between them for the string. Using a lathe, he shaped pieces of brass for the arrowheads, glued them to the carbon-fiber tubes, cut a groove down the center of one of the Teflon bars, and placed it in the center of the crossbow.

...To fire, he pulls back the wire, hooks it around a brass block, and places an arrow in the groove. When he flicks the thumb trigger, the brass block drops, the wire pops forward, and the arrow flies.

Priebe can use the crossbow to pierce soda cans, smash lightbulbs, and tag apples. And although his creation isn’t the smallest crossbow in the DIY world, none match its mix of power and accuracy, quick reload and ability to fire one-handed. Still, he has no plans to use it, not even for home security...

The video demonstrates that the bow is not, at present, a high-powered weapon, but you can see the possibilities.

Countdown to Democrats trying to outlaw such devices in 3... 2...

KINECT PLUS PROJECTOR: On-The-Go Touch Interface

For all of its well-publicized stumbles, one of Microsoft's major victories is the Kinect, which turns the human body into a user interface. While it's been used primarily for Xbox video games, the Kinect technology package can do considerably more.

The OmniTouch project—a joint project between Microsoft Research and the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie-Mellon University—mounts a rig containing small pico projector and a Kinect-like 3D scanner on the user’s shoulder...

...The projector displays graphical images onto virtually any surface, while the 3D scanner’s depth-sensing capabilities transform the projection into an interactive, multi-touch-enabled input—and, thanks to some technical trickery, there’s no special calibration or training required.

You can imagine such a system projecting a full-sized QWERTY keyboard on a random flat service to allow faster keying on, say, a tablet computer.


Hat tip: BadBlue Tech News.

The 5 Most Mind-Blowing 3-D Printed Objects Of 2012

The 3-D printing revolution is in its infancy, but you can sense the promise from some of the coolest builds of 2012.

5. ...Luc Fusaro’s 3-D-printed running shoe [is a] custom-fabricated concept that can theoretically shave 3.5 percent off a sprinter’s time--enough to change his or her position on the medal podium. Using a nylon polymer powder and an additive manufacturing process known as selective laser sintering, Fusaro can turn a 3-D scan of an athlete's foot into a custom-fitting, bare-bones athletic shoe with no extraneous material and a super-lightweight structure...

4. ...a Japanese exhibit provid[es] a glimpse of the photo booth of the future. Rather than providing the usual short reel of head shots, this imaging booth takes 3-D scans of visitors and then turns that data into a 3-D printed figurine. It’s you, in three dimensions...

3. ...At a New York hacker conference back in July, a German security consultant known only as “Ray” made something of a mockery of one of law enforcement's most important accoutrement: the handcuff. Using plastic handcuff keys that he printed from CAD files on a 3-D fabricator, he wowed the crowd be easily popping open sets of cuffs designed by multiple European security firms...

2. ...A University of Southern California professor has devised a layered fabrication method he calls Contour Crafting that he believes could be used to print entire buildings. Professor Behrokh Khoshnevis isn’t the first person to suggest 3-D printing structures like this, but his method is novel in that it would also add plumbing, electrical wiring, and other infrastructure as the structure is built, layer by layer, from the ground up...

1. ...then there’s Defense Distributed, a.k.a. the Wiki Weapon Project, the initiative cooked up by a University of Texas Law student and some of his buddies to 3-D print a working firearm...

One of the impacts of this new technology: some believe that "regulation or banning of firearms... will soon be impossible."


Hat tip: BadBlue Car News.

GOOD NEWS: Verizon plans to monitor your activities -- laughing, sleeping, singing, playing with pets -- inside the home for better ad targeting

What could possibly go wrong with Verizon monitoring your every move inside your own home?

Verizon has filed a patent application for targeting ads to viewers based on information collected from infrared cameras and microphones that would be able to detect conversations, people, objects and even animals that are near a TV.

If the detection system determines that a couple is arguing, a service provider would be able to send an ad for marriage counseling to a TV or mobile device in the room. If the couple utters words that indicate they are cuddling, they would receive ads for "a romantic getaway vacation, a commercial for a contraceptive, a commercial for flowers," or commercials for romantic movies, Verizon states in the patent application.

For years, technology executives have discussed the possibility of using devices such as Microsoft's Xbox 360 Kinect cameras to target advertising and programming to viewers, taking advantage of the ability to determine whether an adult or child is viewing a program. But Verizon is looking at taking targeted advertising to a new level with its patent application, which is titled "Methods and Systems for Presenting an Advertisement Associated with an Ambient Action of a User."

Similar to the way Google targets ads to Gmail users based on the content of their emails, Verizon proposes scanning conversations of viewers that are within a "detection zone" near their TV, including telephone conversations.

"If detection facility detects one or more words spoken by a user (e.g., while talking to another user within the same room or on the telephone), advertising facility may utilize the one or more words spoken by the user to search for and/or select an advertisement associated with the one or more words," Verizon states in the patent application.

Verizon says the sensors would also be able to determine if a viewer is exercising, eating, laughing, singing, or playing a musical instrument, and target ads to viewers based on their mood. It also could use sensors to determine what type of pets or inanimate objects are in the room.

"If detection facility detects that a user is playing with a dog, advertising facility may select an advertisement associated with dogs (e.g., a dog food commercial, a flea treatment commercial, etc.)," Verizon writes in the patent application.

Several types of sensors could be linked to the targeted advertising system, including 3D imaging devices, thermographic cameras and microphones, according to the patent application...

Creepy doesn't begin to describe this "innovation".

WAVOSAUR: A Tiny, Free Audio Editor

When it comes to software, no two words make the heart grow fonder than: (a) "tiny" and (b) "free".

A portable, full-featured audio editor that supports ASIO and VST FX in a mere 225KB download? Wavosaur is tight programming and then some. But despite its tiny footprint, this free audio editor has tons of features so you can change bit rates, convert, create and apply volume envelopes, cut, dice, slice, detect beats, normalize, and much more.

It's also very fast in applying those edits and non-destructive, which means you may undo your actions without reloading the original file.. What Wavosaur doesn't do is reverb, chorus, flange, and compress, etc. Instead, the program relies on VST effects plug-ins (Virtual Studio Technology, a standard from industry heavyweight Steinberg) for FX. That's no doubt part of the reason it's so efficiently-sized. You can find download links and listings of many free VST effects plug-ins on the Wavosaur website if you've none of your own.

Though somewhat Windows 95 in appearance, Wavosaur is extremely easy to use, fast, and efficient. Don't let shape-consciousness deter you... The Wavosaur interface is efficient, though a bit old-school in appearance. You can dock the numerous toolbars at the top or bottom of the editor window or detach them to float. It isn’t particularly pretty, but it gets the job done quite nicely.

Wavosaur is impressive, and for straight audio editing, it's amazingly powerful. Download it, even if it's just to see how small you can go when you write tight code.

If you do any audio work, PC World has the details and a download link.


Hat tip: BadBlue Tech News.

GOOGLE THROWS DOWN THE GAUNTLET: Says Mobile War is Over and Android Has Defeated Apple

Interesting analogies drawn by Google Chairman Eric Schmidt:

Google (GOOG) Chairman Eric Schmidt believes the war between Android and Apple’s (AAPL) iOS is just about over and his side has won. In an interview with Bloomberg, the former CEO said that the current mobile battle is similar to the computing war that took place more than 20 years ago between Microsoft (MSFT) and Apple. The executive notes that Google is “winning that war pretty clearly now.”

...Schmidt’s words aren’t without merit; Android has seen explosive growth since its debut and controlled nearly 70% of the market this year. In fact, the operating system has been projected to dominate the smartphone market over the next four years while continuing to eat away at Apple’s tablet market share.

The Chairman’s comparison to Microsoft of the 1990s is fairly accurate. Windows was able to conquer the operating system space because of the strong support it had from a variety of manufacturers, while Apple refused to license OS X. Google has taken an approach similar to Microsoft’s, but rather than licensing the software it gives it out freely. This has helped the Android operating system see unprecedented growth.

“The core strategy is to make a bigger pie,” Schmidt said. “We will end up with a not perfectly controlled and not perfectly managed bigger pie by virtue of open systems.”

If taking shots at Apple wasn’t enough, the executive also jabbed the world’s largest social network, calling Google+ a “viable competitor to Facebook.” While Google’s social networking site has had its fair share of success, topping 500 million total users in a little over 14 months, it is no match for Facebook’s one billion monthly active users.

My prediction is that Google will continue to nibble away at Facebook, cable companies and wireless providers. This will prove extremely healthy for consumers because the latter two industries desperately need the benefit of robust competition.


Hat tips: Image via The Android Invasion, Story via BadBlue Tech News.

SCIENTISTS CREATE ARTIFICIAL BRAIN WITH 2.3 MILLION SIMULATED NEURONS: The Progressive Left Hardest Hit

By my estimation, 2.3 million neurons bests the average progressive by a factor of, oh, about 2.3 million.

...Instead of the tour de force processing of Deep Blue or Watson’s four terabytes of facts of questionable utility, Spaun attempts to play by the same rules as the human brain to figure things out. Instead of the logical elegance of a CPU, Spaun’s computations are performed by 2.3 million simulated neurons configured in networks that resemble some of the brain’s own networks. It was given a series of tasks and performed pretty well, taking a significant step toward the creation of a simulated brain.

Spaun stands for Semantic Pointer Architecture: Unified Network. It was given six different tasks that tested its ability to recognize digits, recall from memory, add numbers and complete patterns. Its cognitive network simulated the prefrontal cortex to handle working memory and the basal ganglia and thalamus to control movements. Like a human, Spaun can view an image and then give a motor response; that is, it is presented images that it sees through a camera and then gives a response by drawing with a robotic arm.

...And its performance was similar to that of a human brain. For example, the simplest task, image recognition, Spaun was shown various numbers and asked to draw what it sees. It got 94 percent of the numbers correct. In a working memory task, however, it didn’t do as well. It was shown a series of random numbers and then asked to draw them in order. Like us with human brains, Spaun found the pattern recognition task easy, the working memory task not quite as easy.

The important thing here is not how well Spaun performed on the tasks – your average computer could find ways to perform much better than Spaun. But what’s important is that, in Spaun’s case, the task computations were carried out solely by the 2.3 million artificial neurons spiking in the way real neurons spike to carry information from one neuron to another. The visual image, for example, was processed hierarchically, with multiple levels of neurons successively extracting more complex information, just as the brain’s visual system does. Similarly, the motor response mimicked the brain’s strategy of combining many simple movements to produce an optimal, single movement while drawing.

Why do I say that this development has the progressive left running scared? Two reasons.

First off, Spaun doesn't think President Obama will pay its mortgage.

And second, unlike progressives, Spaun learns from the past. And all of human history refutes the Left's Statist Utopian delusions, yet they refuse to heed the counsel of the world's greatest philosophers, economists and legal thinkers.

In a battle of wits between Spaun and the average progressive, my bet is on the machine.


Hat tip: BadBlue Tech News.

EXQUISITE PHOTO: President Obama Commemorates the 40th Anniversary of Apollo 17

40 years ago yesterday, Apollo 17, the last of the Apollo series of missions to land men on the on, launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Lifting off just after midnight on Dec. 7, 1972, the Apollo 17 mission was the final of NASA's moon-bound manned flights — and the first night launch. The massive, 363-foot tall Saturn 5 rocket turned night into day as the long flames from its five powerful F-1 engines bathed the dark sky with a brilliant, bright-as-the-sun light that appeared to spectators to slowly climb skyward from the Kennedy Space Center...

Onboard the mighty moon booster were three astronauts. Eugene Cernan, a veteran of two prior missions including the "dress rehearsal" for the first lunar landing three years earlier, commanded Apollo 17 and flew the lunar module "Challenger" to a landing in the Taurus-Littrow valley.

Ronald Evans served as the pilot of the command module "America" that remained in lunar orbit until it was time for the three voyagers to return to Earth... And lunar module pilot Harrison "Jack" Schmitt, who like Evans marked another first with the launch of Apollo 17 — his first time in space...

Also that year Barack Obama, who would later serve as the 44th president of the United States, lived with his mother and sister in Hawaii while his mother was a graduate student in anthropology at the University of Hawaii.

KEWWWL: How the Mars Rover Snapped a Self-Portrait

NatGeo offers an animation that depicts the first-ever robotic self-portrait on another planet:

The now iconic self-portrait of the Mars rover Curiosity looks like someone, or something, other than the rover took its picture. The photograph, seemingly taken from afar, features an image of the entire vehicle at a site called Rocknest—with tire tracks below, Mount Sharp in the background, and clear scuff marks where Curiosity's arm had scooped up soil for analysis.

...A video released last week by NASA illustrates the daylong rover gymnastics used to take the self-portrait. As the video shows, the camera lens was kept in one place as much as possible to minimize parallax—the seeming change in location of objects within the images caused by a change in camera position—while the arm went through its contortions...

...The actual photo shoot took place in October over two Martian days, known as sols, using the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera, which sits in a turret at the end of the rover's nearly seven-foot-long (two-meter) arm. The camera is a stand-in of sorts for a geologist's magnifying tool, and it can focus on objects very far away, as well as up close (as near as 0.8 inches, or 2 centimeters)...

The three inventors plan on creating a 3-D version of the animation. Upon hearing this news, Keanu Reeves issued the following statement:

"Whoooooaaaaaa."


Hat tip: BadBlue Tech.

MEETING THIRD WORLD CHALLENGES WITH FIRST WORLD SOLUTIONS: GravityLight illuminates without batteries or fuel

Very cool:

The lack of reliable electricity in developing countries puts a damper on more than just technology use -- having to run kerosene lamps, or even those based on solar power, often involves recurring costs that whittle away at very modest incomes.

GravityLight has built an LED lamp that just might lift the burden. As the name implies, a weight (usually the very bag that the lamp ships in) generates electricity through natural force: the few seconds it takes to lift the weight can generate 30 minutes of light without ever replacing a battery or fuel supply.

The simple construction also has helpful side benefits, such as powering up other devices and a clip that can replace the bag with most anything that weighs around 20 pounds. The crowdfunded project's donation tiers ask $25 to donate a light to the developing world or $50 to also get one for yourself, but it's a small price to pay in the long run -- and when mass production should see prices fall below $5, the GravityLight might just change the lighting landscape for those who need it most.

What a great idea. I would encourage you to check out the crowdfunding site and consider helping out if you can.


Hat tip: BadBlue.com/Tech.

STRATEGIC THINKING: The 5 Best Traits

Innovation Excellence proffers the most important characteristics of strategic thinkers.

1. Open to valuable perspectives from multiple sources

...great strategic thinking is about the right combination of three diverse perspectives: front-line organizational experience, broad functional knowledge, and creative energy... People with front-line experience help frame and ground business issues. Those with functional knowledge of key business processes understand important capabilities. Creative people see and address opportunities in unconventional ways.

Any of these groups, working by themselves, will create a strategic direction lacking in some essential way. Working together, there’s the potential for game-changing moves...

2. Adept at incorporating both logic and emotion into their thinking

...Rarely do important organizational and market changes succeed or fail solely through an analytical and logic-based business case. Hard numbers may win the day for selling new ideas in the executive suite, but when it comes to successful implementation, emotions such as fear, hope, passion, and frustration are vital in moving people to embrace major change...

3. Comfortable thinking in ways extending beyond today’s reality

You can’t afford to have people masquerading as strategic thinkers who cannot think outside today’s reality. Solid strategic thinkers have to be able to free themselves from today to consider multiple possibilities for how your organization’s course may play out in the future...

4. Constantly questioning both the familiar and the new

Many people are fine questioning what they don’t support... People who are completely comfortable with just the way things are right now suddenly discover their questioning mojos when the possibility of dramatic change rears its head.

The best strategic thinkers question yesterday, today, tomorrow, and everything in the future. Additionally, the more they explore strategic options, the more new questions they generate. Strategic thinking is about exploration...

5. Open to not answering or resolving every strategic issue

This characteristic goes hand in hand with the previous one about constantly questioning. While successful executives are largely rewarded for moving things to successful resolution – and that’s vital for business performance – effective strategic thinkers do have to be able to moderate any tendencies to prematurely resolve strategic issues...

In an era of disruptive change -- in which technology moves at lightning speed, when the economy is fragile, and when entrepreneurs feel they have nothing to lose -- strategic thinkers are at a premium.


Hat tip: BadBlue.com/Tech.

LATEST SMARTPHONE MARKET SHARE DATA: Apple Regains Top Spot, Edging Out Android

Here's a great table spotted in PC World that breaks down the latest smartphone sales by OS and carrier:

Android sales have declined in the U.S., helping iOS regain the top spot among smartphone platforms sold in the three-month period ending in October, according to the latest research from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.

...The figures from Kantar are different from a recent comScore MobiLens survey that found that Android is dominating with 53.6 percent of the market after a 1.4 percentage point increase. Apple was in second with 34.3 percent of the market after a 0.9 percentage point increase. Both surveys rely on user interviews, but the comScore survey does not include the month of October, while Kantar’s does...

...The month of October is relevant to this study because this is when iPhone 5 sales took off after a late September launch. Kantar attributes Apple’s double-digit rise in share specifically to the iPhone 5.

...Also thanks to the iPhone 5, AT&T has regained its spot as the top-selling smartphone carrier for the latest period, with 34.7 percent of smartphones sold, overtaking Verizon at 27.5 percent. Sprint and T-Mobile follow with 19.9 percent and 8.4 percent, respectively...

It's shocking to think back just three short years ago, when Apple and RIM were battling neck-and-neck for leadership of the smartphone market. It's been a fast downhill ride for the BlackBerry platform ever since.


Hat tip: BadBlue.com/Tech.

SWEET: Apple Files Patent for Wireless Device Charger

Wouldn't this be nice?

Truly wireless charging, it's a tech utopia we all long for. Sure, we're getting there, but it still requires contact, which is only slightly better. If places like Starbucks starts putting pads in their tables, hooray, but it's a far cry from a real charging zone. A recent Apple patent outlines just that, the wireless charging dream we've all been dreaming.

In a patent application published a few days ago, "Wireless Power Utilization in a Local Computing Environment," Apple is filing for some tech that looks like wireless charging heaven. Using near-field magnetic resonance, Apple aspires (in theory) to create a wireless charging dome that reaches out up to a yard from the source, powering anything nearby with NFMR resonator circuits in them. Mice, keyboards, phones, remotes, whathaveyou. It's a dream come true.

That said, the eccentric genius Nikola Tesla is reported to have demonstrated wireless power transmission in 1891, but it has somehow eluded all attempts at practical implementation since.


Hat tip: BadBlue.com/Tech.