

New tool for secret agents and the rest of us - ChuckMcM
http://www.caltech.edu/content/new-tool-secret-agents-and-rest-us

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tuxidomasx
This is really cool technology. I often wish I could be a part of researching
and building new cutting-edge technology, but it's usually cost-prohibitive as
a solo hobby (unless you're wealthy, Tony Stark, Bruce Wayne, etc).

And even as a career, it can be tricky to get to that level-- you might need
to go back to school just to get access to the research facilities. I feel
like its way too easy for someone with a computer engineering degree to end up
building websites and software/apps for a living instead of working on some
cool futuristic tech.

I'm sure its possible to make the right moves to position yourself to get a
shot... I just wish it was easier to do so.

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SenorWilson
Any one else annoyed by the menu bars that follow you around? I've noticed
this trend and they just distract me from the article at hand...

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dkokelley
I have JavaScript disabled by default, so when I see something like that, I
assume some style element relies on JavaScript to run correctly. I usually put
up with it for the feeling of security I get, but if it is designed to do that
I can't say I like it.

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rpm4321
Hey, quick question for you. I've got a version of Chrome with JS and plugins
disabled that I use for not entirely trusted links. Do you know if there are
still some exploits we're vulnerable to, especially on Win? I think I remember
hearing a while back that it isn't foolproof.

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dkokelley
Can't say for sure that anything is completely secure. JS is just one of those
things that's easy to defend against, and it plugs a major attack vector. It
also kills many tracking techniques. I also have a hosts file that blacklists
known virus/shock/advertising sites, as well as ad blockers and "antisocial"
plugins that remove Facebook "like" and other social media sharing buttons
(which can aggregate your browsing history and connect it with your social
profile).

If you're very paranoid, you can set up a sandbox VM for risky sites. Just
make a good stable image and reload it every day in case you picked up
anything bad.

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ChuckMcM
If you want to see the world change, look no further than this development.
This is a pretty amazing feat, getting a terahertz transmitter and receiver on
one chip. If you want to build a Star Trek style medical tri-corder this is
one of the essential parts.

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dchichkov
I guess near-infrared-opaque clothing manufacturers are really going to like
that development.

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wcoenen
Some more technical details:
<https://www.its.caltech.edu/~kaushiks/KS_AH_ISSCC2012.pdf>

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daniel-cussen
Wow, 280 GHz frequencies! I know this is not clock cycles, but still!

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skennedy
Does this mean X-Ray glasses for real?

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ChuckMcM
Actually, yes. If you put one of these into a hand held device and had some
sort of eye wear with a display on it you could use it to look through stuff.
Its kind of like ultrasound though rather than light as you're looking at
reflections of the RF energy of different boundary layers. No doubt you could
attempt to reconstruct what that would look like but it would be imperfect,
say you painted the blade of a knife white, the scanner wouldn't know that.

