Yeah, as in, it actually wants a "psychologically inspired object recognition system." What's that, you ask? It's giving robots and mechanical creatures the ability to see objects the way humans do and make reasonable judgments based on those sights. Essentially, the military would love to see bots have something similar to spatial memory, which would enable 'em to "mentally rotate objects in order to match the object to different representations." When looking at the main objective of this here endeavor, however, we can't help but have mixed feelings. We're kosher with increasing "robotic control," but creating "exponential expansion of robotic capabilities and intelligence" might not be the smartest thing to do in the long run.

[Via Wired, image courtesy of ACM]

We can definitely see where this is headed, but shortly after Skooba came clean with actual images of its TSA-approved laptop case, along comes Mobile Edge with a trio of alternatives. The new ScanFast lineup features that oh-so-coveted TSA stamp of approval, meaning that you won't have to remove your precious lappie from any of these cases when passing through airport security here in the US. The entire collection is set to land later this summer for undisclosed amounts, though we'd plan on paying a steep premium for the integrated convenience.

[Via Gadling]

Pairing up display-laden Wireless USB device with another machine is quite possibly one of the easiest processes known to man, but what if your W-USB device is screen-less? Enter WiQuest, the self-proclaimed leader in WiMedia-based ultra-wideband solutions, which has just revealed a new Wireless USB PIN Association method "specifically designed for Wireless USB-enabled devices that do not have a display." In its words, "once the Association process is initiated, a software screen on the host PC requests that the unique PIN printed on the Wireless USB device be entered and the secure pairing is completed -- wirelessly." We just love it when a good plan comes together.

Nothing's worse than when you log on to raid Onyxia only to find that some loser sold all your elite loot. Fear not, vulnerable World of Warcraft denizens, for Blizzard is here to sell you the $6.50 "Blizzard Authenticator" dongle. Reacting to an upswing in account theft incidents, Blizzard has released a security token that allows hardcore users to add another layer of protection to their high-level (and attractive) characters. The device is basically a SecurID token with a six-digit code that you'll need to keep with you any time you want to get your groove on in Azeroth. By the way, we dare you to put this on your keychain and wear it with pride.

It looks like those that enjoy a little remote control over their coffee could be unwittingly leaving both their PCs and their precious brew vulnerable, at least according to BDO risk advisory services manager Craig Wright, who found that his Jura F90 internet-connected coffee maker had several significant security holes, including a buffer overflow in its internet connection software. That, he says, could potentially allow an attacker to take control of the PC connected to the coffee maker, not to mention control the strength of the coffee and perform unwanted diagnostics. Of course, given the number of internet-connected coffee makers out there right now, Wright admits that the potential risk is relatively low (and moot if it's behind a firewall), but he has some dire warnings for the future, saying that eventually "you'll be able to turn on your oven with your mobile phone," which he says could lead to a malicious hacker "burning the house down."

Leave it to the TSA to come up with new ways to check out what you're packing. In this case, those body-scanning machines we've known about for some time are being installed in 10 airports. They are already being used in Los Angeles, Baltimore, Denver, Albuquerque, and New York's JFK. Later this month, the TSA will add the bum-looking devices to major airports in Dallas, Detroit, Las Vegas, and Miami. By bouncing millimeter waves off passengers, the scanners produce a black-and-white image that's detailed enough to see the sweat on someone's back (among other things). The program is aimed at detecting objects such as plastic and ceramic weapons that aren't normally picked up by traditional methods. The technology does have a couple drawbacks, however: it can't see through plastic or rubber materials that resemble skin. Keep that in mind the next time you wear vinyl pants on your next trip to Mars, kids.

[Via Crunchgear]

Although several Indian news outlets reported last week that RIM was preparing to let the Indian government monitor the domestic Blackberry network, it appears that the outcry has prompted the company to change course and announce that it's committed to "serving security-conscious businesses in the Indian market." That's a big reversal from the rumored plan, which would have allowed Indian security agencies access to the network in exchange for taking the blame for any leak of user data. Of course, not everything's quite settled yet: the Indian government is still demanding that RIM furnish "satisfactory answers" to its security questions, and RIM told the AFP that there are some other ways for "government to take care of security concerns" without elaborating further. Based on RIM's enterprise-heavy statements and refusal to comment on the consumer service, we'd guess that enterprise customers will probably get to keep their networks locked down, but that consumers shouldn't expect their messages to be secure. Not the best compromise, but we'll see how this all plays out.

So news is making its way around the internets that at the Wedbush Morgan Securities Management Access Conference, Atari founder Nolan Bushnell proclaimed the end of PC gaming piracy as we know it, thanks to a "stealth encryption chip." The magic chip he's referring to that "will, in fact, absolutely stop piracy of gameplay"? The TPM chip -- what's been on motherboards for years, that apparently Bushnell just found out about. While the tinfoil hats in the house will likely attribute TPM (Trusted Platform Module) and other onboard crypto-chips to the eventual downfall of privacy and personal computing, to date we've yet to see piracy stunted or civil liberties breached because of the little bugger. FUD you later, Nolan.

[Thanks, Carl]

We briefly mentioned using junk data to overwrite the iPhone's flash as a last-ditch method of securely clearing off your user data yesterday, and although we were half-joking, that's more or less your only option until Apple provides a proper secure erase feature. Security researcher Rich Mogull has helpfully laid out the steps for you, and they're basically what you'd expect: restore your iPhone, don't sync any personal data to it, and then manually transfer three different playlists large enough to fill the flash. Essentially you're doing a manual three-pass overwrite, which is pretty much exactly the long and tedious process it sounds like -- but we wouldn't dream of selling or giving away our iPhones (or any other phone with personal data on it) without struggling through it.

[Via Hack A Day]

What else can we say? The concept here is pure genius, and it totally makes those pricey security systems seem way pointless (okay, slightly less critical). The FakeTV is a strobe that sets up in an occupied room at night and flashes up beams of light. From the inside, we can imagine it looks fairly curious, but from the outside, it gives prospective burglars the idea that someone is actually awake and watching a television program. It promises to produce the effects of "scene changes, fades, swells, flicks, on-screen motion and color changes," just like they were generated by a bona fide set. We can't speak for how well (or not) this thing actually works, but at just $49, we'd say it's a solid buy if you're the paranoid type.

[Via BoingBoing]

[Via Slashdot]

It looks like you might have to think twice before flipping that old iPhone on eBay when the 3G version finally hits -- it appears that restoring the phone doesn't actually erase the contents of the flash, meaning that your data is available to anyone with the proper tools until it's overwritten. Making matters worse, it appears that Apple doesn't do a low-level format when refurbishing iPhones either -- an Oregon State Police detective was able to use forensic software to pull files, emails, and screenshots off an out-of-the-box refurbished iPhone. This actually shouldn't be surprising to anyone -- we've seen several utilities that access "deleted" portions of storage -- but since Apple doesn't provide users direct access to the iPhone's filesystem, it's basically impossible to clear your personal data off the device short of restoring and filling the disk with junk data. Hopefully iPhone 2.0's Exchange-based "remote wipe" feature is a bit more secure, eh?

[Via TUAW]

The Z-Wave standard for home automation has already proven itself to be a pretty versatile bit of technology, and it looks like its now set to ensnare yet another part of your house, with lock-maker Schlage set to introduce some web-enabled Z-Wave door locks. Those will let you lock or unlock your door from your PC, cellphone or any other wireless, web-enabled device -- or, of course, from the lock itself. That's done with the aid of a Z-Wave gateway that connects to your router, which relays the RF signals to and from the lock (or one of up to 256 other Z-Wave devices), and gives you the added benefit of extending the life of the batteries in the lock, which Schlage says should last for up to three years. Otherwise, the details on the locks themselves are pretty light, with the folks at Schlage only going so far as to say that they'll look "pretty similar" to their non-Z-Wave locks (pictured at right), and that they'll be "affordable," though presumably not less than the $150 their current locks go for.

[Thanks, Steve]

Chicago residents are no strangers to the city's many CCTV cameras by this point -- if anyone knows exactly how long to stop at Roosevelt and State to avoid the red-light cam there, you let us know, okay? -- but it looks like this summer is going to bring a new twist to the city's surveillance racket: automated camera monitoring. Video from the several thousand cameras in Chicago's Operation Virtual Shield project currently comes into the city's Office of Emergency Management and Communication's ops center, but starting this summer, it'll also be watched by an IBM-developed autonomous system that can be programmed to watch for specific activities or objects, like certain cars or unattended backpacks. Since the video is stored on a 60TB storage array for 30 days, law enforcement can also do retroactive searches using the tech. That's a huge step up from San Francisco's useless CCTV system, sure, but we've never really believed any of this stuff is actually effective at deterring crime -- hopefully we'll be proven wrong. Check out the full news vid at the read link.

[Via Boing Boing]

Considering that mechanical beings will be fighting our real wars here in just a few years, it's no shock to see more focus placed on the areas where actual humans will still be the ones waging. DARPA is looking to create what it calls a National Cyber Range, which would essentially act as a training ground for cyber warriors. The setup would enable defense gurus to simulate battle against attacks our on nation's most highly prized data, and of course, give victors over virtual phishing scams immense bragging rights. Come to think of it, Estonia could have totally benefited from something like this last year.

[Via Information Week, image courtesy of Sandia]