Saturday, March 31, 2012

Automotive Lawsuit History Unearthed, Junkyard Style: The Ford ...

For decades, I?ve been seeing Ford-family vehicles with ugly, pointless warning labels stuck to their instrument panels: Unexpected and possibly sudden vehicle movement may occur if these precautions are not taken. I?d always assumed that these were ex-rental cars, but after I mentioned the warning stickers in this week?s ?75 Ford Maverick Junkyard Find post, several readers pointed out that the stickers were the result of Malaise Era litigation. Of course!
It turns out that many Ford automatic transmissions of the 1966-1980 period developed a tendency to slip from Park to Reverse, on their own, leading to lots of unpleasantness (if we are to believe Ralph Nader?s Center For Auto Safety, this problem caused 6,000 accidents, 1,710 injuries, and 98 fatalities). Since we?re talking about something like 23 million vehicles here, Ford resisted launching the biggest recall in automotive-industry history; the DOT agreed in 1980 to have Ford send out warning labels to the 23 million affected owners. Some of them used the stickers, most didn?t, and we still see them from time to time in junked Fords, Lincolns, and Mercurys. So, another bit of junkyard-learned Malaise Era automotive history, a nice chaser to the story of the FLOOR TEMP warning light.

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Planets found at dawn of universe, but their existence is a mystery

Scientists have found two planets orbiting a star that formed only a billion years after the big bang. But the universe had few planet-making elements then, so how did the planets form?

Two planets from a period near the dawn of the cosmos are hinting that there may be more than one way to sow the seeds of planet formation.

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A team of astronomers reports it has found two planets orbiting a star some 376 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cetus. The team estimates that the star is 12.8 billion years old, indicating that the star and its planets formed only a billion years after the universe itself emerged in what astrophysicists have dubbed the big bang.

By contrast, the solar system humans inhabit formed about 4.6 billion years ago.

The results, set for publication in an upcoming issue of the monthly journal Astronomy and Astrophysics, represent what the study's lead scientist, Johny Setiawan, dubs ?an archaeological find in our own backyard.?

Indeed, the discovery is ?remarkable since the planetary system most likely belongs to the first generation of planetary systems in the Milky Way,? the team writes.

The star, HIP 11952, has 83 percent of the sun's mass and 1.6 times the sun's radius. It appears to be on the doorstep of its death throes as a red giant, when its core's supply of hydrogen fuel hits ?empty.? The core collapses, heats, and provides the energy for hydrogen remaining in the star's outer shell to begin fusing into helium. The star brightens, and its atmosphere heats and expands far beyond its current reach.

Orbiting in the path of that expansion are two planets: one with 2.9 times Jupiter's mass orbiting HIP 11952 once every 290 days; the other with 78 percent of Jupiter's mass orbiting the star once every 6.95 days.

Therein lies an intrigue: How did such planets form?

For years, astronomers have held that the stars most likely to host planets are, like the sun, enriched with elements heavier than the hydrogen they burn for fuel ? elements such as carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, calcium, and silicon, for example. These are the raw materials for rocky cores around which planets form.

But these elements weren't around in the big bang's aftermath. They are forged in the fusion furnaces inside stars, which hurl them into interstellar space through explosions known as supernovae, as well as through less-violent processes.?In other words, it took many generations of stars to build the universe's current inventory of these heavier elements, which astronomers dump into one bin labeled ?metals.??

HIP 11952, having formed relatively soon after the big bang, is in scientific parlance, "metal poor." It has?a far smaller inventory of these elements than one would expect for a star with planets.

The number of planets that have been found orbiting metal-poor stars is small. So far, astronomers have discovered more than 760 planets orbiting other stars. The two planets orbiting HIP 11952 bring to seven the number of planets found at metal-poor stars.

While HIP 11952 isn't the most metal-deficient star astronomers have observed, it is the poorest yet to host planets ? opening a window on processes by which the universe's earliest planets formed, the team holds.

One explanation for that process suggests that planets in a metal-poor disk could begin to form in much that same way a star does: A passing star's gravity may perturb a second star's disk of dust and gas, generating regions of different densities. The densest portions could have enough gravity associated with them to begin a process of collapse and accretion of additional gas, forming a planet.

Another explanation holds that the embryos of giant planets may, under the right conditions, undergo a second, rapid collapse that brings them into a smaller size, comparable to the planets found around HIP 11952.

Dr. Setiawan's team says it hopes the discovery of more planets orbiting metal-poor stars will help researchers find the most likely mechanism for building the universe's earliest planets.

Setiawan is a researcher with the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, Germany.

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MasterCard, Visa confirm major card data theft

By Bob Sullivan

Law enforcement officials are investigating what appears to be a massive theft of U.S. consumers' credit card data, MasterCard and Visa confirmed Friday. The computer security expert who first reported the theft said it might involve as many as 10 million accounts, making it one of the largest known credit card heists.

"MasterCard is currently investigating a potential account data compromise event of a U.S.-based entity and, as a result, we have alerted payment card issuers regarding certain MasterCard accounts that are potentially at risk," that association said in a statement. "Law enforcement has been notified of this matter and the incident is currently the subject of an ongoing forensic review by an independent data security organization."?

Payment processor Global Payments said late Friday it was the target of the hack.

In a statement, the firm said it "identified and self-reported unauthorized access into a portion of its processing system." Earlier Friday, trading in Global Payments stock had been halted.

"In early March 2012, the company determined card data may have been accessed," the firm said.?"It immediately engaged external experts in information technology forensics and contacted federal law enforcement. The company promptly notified appropriate industry parties to allow them to minimize potential cardholder impact.? The company is continuing its investigation into this matter."

Paymemt processors? -- "middle men" that?handles transactions between retailers and banks -- have long been a target of identity thieves because of the enormous amounts of data they control. In 2008, Princeton, N.J.,-based Heartland Systems was hacked, exposing tens of millions of credit card account numbers to theft.

The theft confirmed Friday was first reported by well-known computer security journalist Brian Krebs on his blog, KrebsonSecurity.com.? He reported that hackers had access to the then-unknown processor's data from Jan. 21 through Feb. 25, and were able to siphon off enough data to easily?create counterfeit cards. His sources called the leak "massive."

Visa, in?a statement, also acknowledged the data theft but said its own systems were not hacked.

?Visa Inc. is aware of a potential data compromise incident at a third party entity affecting card account information from all major card brands," the firm said.??Visa has provided payment card issuers with the affected account numbers so they can take steps to protect consumers through independent fraud monitoring and, if needed, reissuing cards."

Gartner security expert Avivah Litan said she's been told that the stolen data is already being used on the street by identity thieves.

"I?ve spoken with folks in the card business who are seeing signs of this breach mushroom. Looks like the hackers have started using the stolen card data more recently," she said.

She's been told that investigators believe the data theft originated in New York City.

"From what I hear, the breach involves a taxi and parking garage company in the New York City area, so if you?ve paid a NYC cab in the last few months with your credit or debit card ? be sure to check your card statements for possible fraud," Litan said in her blog post on the topic.

MasterCard said none of its computers were hacked as part of the incident.

"MasterCard is concerned whenever there is any possibility that cardholders could be inconvenienced and we continue to both monitor this event and take steps to safeguard account information," the association added in its statement. "If cardholders have any concerns about their individual accounts, they should contact their issuing financial institution.... It is important to note that MasterCard's own systems have not been compromised in any manner. "

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Copperas Cove radio upgrade | Texas-Fire.com

By Mason W. Canales in The Copereas Cove Herald
The Copperas Cove Fire Department acquired its third grant in late March to upgrade its radio communication system to allow firefighters in the field to talk to anyone.
?This will be a phase-in approach over the next five to six years,? said Deputy Fire Chief Gary Young about overhauling the city?s entire emergency communication infrastructure to comply with the Federal Communications Commission?s recommended Project 25 system. ?We are grant funding as much as we can.?

With the recently received Assistance to Firefighters grant of about $91,000, the city has collected about $360,000 from three grants since 2010, said Young.

The latest grant should purchase an estimated 25 radios for Copperas Cove firefighters, stated city documents. Radios, however, are needed for every firefighter ? about 50 people when counting deputy chiefs ? and there are other radio system upgrade costs that the city hasn?t estimated yet, said Young.

?Fortunately, the radios we are buying are backwards-compatible,? he said, noting the new equipment will communicate with the older devices.

Backwards-compatible means the new radios can send signals and pick up transmissions from the old devices. When radios are set properly, users can talk and hear the transmission from the new devices. However, if set to the Project 25 mode, the older radios only can pick up the communications but not transmit new information.

Project 25 radios send their transmissions a short distance over a digital signal. The digital signal provides a clearer transmission, and the technology also doesn?t require towers to transfer information back and forth. The radios still transmit through a tower to achieve longer distances.

?What needs to happen in emergencies is we have to be able to communicate with each other,? said Young, adding that any Project 25 radio can communicate with any other Project 25 radio. If the tower should fail for some reason, this would allow firefighters and anyone using this type of radio to communicate. That goes for any other emergency crews coming into Copperas Cove, from the county, Central Texas or from out of state.

Copperas Cove has a similar radio system to Bell County?s, which means the different entities can communicate when responding to each other?s fires and emergencies. Project 25 radios will improve communication with Copperas Cove?s neighbors and with anyone else responding to a city emergency, said Young.

Receiving the grant money should allow the city to start purchasing the radios within the next 60 days, Young said. ?We are a very grant-driven community. We show the need that we are trying to protect the community and be proactive.

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Friday, March 30, 2012

Does Pay-Per-Click have a Future? | http://www.fullerbiz.com

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