Military Arming Shadow Drones, Could Give Novice Teen Pilots the Power to Kill [UAVs]

Today, only seasoned, rated pilots are allowed to step behind the controls of an armed Predator or Reaper drone. However, the Defense Department is planning to change all that by fitting their low-flying Shadow counterparts with precision weapons. Currently Shadow drones function primarily as an intelligence asset—hunting down and collecting information on potential targets. They are also much lighter, smaller and cheaper than Predators or Reapers—which is why the Air Force felt comfortable allowing the most junior officers to pilot missions.

Combine that with the fact that high-end Predator pilots are severely fatigued from round-the-clock duty, and you can see why the DoD is making this move. It would expand the fleet of armed UAVs and make them cheaper to operate overall. Sure, the thought of 18 or 19 year old pilots fresh out of basic behind the controls of these machines is a bit unsettling—but it’s not like this would be the first time the US threw a teenager into battle. Plus, we are taking about unmanned vehicles looking for specific, high-value targets. There is probably less chance of major incidents involving friendly fire or civilian casualties. [Inside Defense via Danger Room]

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Hackers Use Nvidia Graphics Card to Smash Wi-Fi Encryption 10,000 Percent Faster [Hack]

Here’s one way to tap the parallel processing power in Nvidia’s graphics cards: Wi-Fi security hacking. Russian hackers reportedly bored through WPA and WPA2 encryptions using a brute-force technique juiced with one of Nvidia’s latest graphics cards (they don’t say which ones). The card supposedly made the “password recovery” process up to 10,000 percent faster. The report’s notably skimpy on the details, but if true, that’s a whole lot of busted for Wi-Fi security. [SC via DSL Reports]

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12.1-inch Dell E Slim laptop spotted in the wild?

Filed under: Laptops

It’s hard to say what we’ve come across here, but if our retinas aren’t deceiving us too badly, this looks to be an in the wild shot (sans blur, amazingly) of Dell’s forthcoming E Slim. If you’ll recall, we caught a glimpse of said device way back in June, and the two look at least marginally similar using the oh-so-scientific eyeball test. But look, even if this thing isn’t the E Slim (though we’re guessing it is until proven otherwise), we’ve been told on numerous occasions that Dell is mulling the idea of pumping out a netbook with a 10- to 12-inch display. An accompanying screenshot of the unit’s internals was also provided, and while the model may say Optiplex1210, we’re guessing that’s just there for prototyping purposes; besides, the listed CPU matches up quite nicely with the aforementioned E Slim specs that slipped out this summer. So Round Rock — when are you going to come out and get official with your 12.1-incher? Before or after this coming Tuesday?

[Thanks, Anonymous]

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Hackers Use Nvidia Graphics Card to Smash Wi-Fi Encryption 10,000 Percent Faster [Hack]

Here’s one way to tap the parallel processing power in Nvidia’s graphics cards: Wi-Fi security hacking. Russian hackers reportedly bored through WPA and WPA2 encryptions using a brute-force technique juiced with one of Nvidia’s latest graphics cards (they don’t say which ones). The card supposedly made the “password recovery” process up to 10,000 percent faster. The report’s notably skimpy on the details, but if true, that’s a whole lot of busted for Wi-Fi security. [SC via DSL Reports]

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Techno-Fantastical Original Artwork, On Sale for Cheap [Art]

You might not know the name Matthias Adolfsson, but chances are that his artwork will look familiar. Not so much traditional steampunk as fantastical and techno-fantastical (I just made that last term up btw, so don’t memorize it or anything), many of Adolfsson’s original watercolors are on sale at his Etsy store. While it’s small at just 8″x5″, this original called Racer goes for a reasonable $100 while most pieces are priced below $200. Adolfsson retains reprint rights. You get some quirky, original art. Sounds like a deal. [Etsy via superpunch]

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New OLED Tech Has Built-In Touch Control, Works Like Magic [Oled]

One of drawbacks with traditional touchscreens is that the touch action requires layers of junk between the light source and the surface you’re smudging, which makes it dimmer. Fraunhofer IPMS is showing off a breakthrough in OLED tech that doesn’t need any of the crap, since the OLED itself reads touch signals. Obviously, that opens up all kinds of sweet possibilities, since OLEDs are incredibly efficient (and this touch tech doesn’t make them any less so) and brilliant. A phone with a gorgeous, insanely bright OLED touchscreen? Sign me up. [Science Daily via OLED Display via Engadget]

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Raon Digital prepping SSD-based Everun Note UMPCs

Filed under: Laptops, Storage

We’re glad to see that Raon Digital isn’t just ditching its Everun Note entirely after having to recall the thing, and better still, we’re stoked to hear that it’ll soon be doling out speedier iterations with built-in SSDs. UMPC Portal has it that two new Everun Notes will be landing shortly, both of which will boast SSDs within. The first newcomer (S16S) will come loaded with Ubuntu Mobile, a 1.2GHz Sempron CPU and a 12GB MLC SSD; the higher-end sibling (D24S) will offer up Windows XP, a dual-core Turion processor and 24GB worth of delicious solid state storage. Look for both to land by mid-November for $659 / $950, respectively.

[Via Pocketables]

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Vibrating Pet Glove Invites Jokes Involving a Certain Synonym for ‘Cat’ [Pets]

Apparently, your cat enjoys it when a soft, vibrating material is rubbed against it. That’s why this vibrating pet glove exists. When your cat feels lonely and just needs a tender touch, slip on the vibrating pet glove and give it the massage it so desires. It even wipes clean with a damp cloth if your cat is wet or dirty. It uses 3 AAA batteries, and it totally doesn’t look like a vibrator, so you can just leave it sitting out and not worry about your mom popping over to visit and making your feel uncomfortable. I mean it, uh, doesn’t look like a regular pet brush. [Product Page via Book of Joe]

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