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Kindle DX called "poor excuse of an academic tool" in Princeton pilot program

by Nilay Patel posted Sep 28th 2009 at 1:44PM

We've never thought the Kindle DX was ideal for serious studying, and it sounds like the students and teachers in Princeton's pilot program agree with us -- after two weeks of use in three classes, the Daily Princetonian reports many are "dissatisfied and uncomfortable" with their e-readers, with one student calling it "a poor excuse of an academic tool." Most of the criticisms center around the Kindle's weak annotation features, which make things like highlighting and margin notes almost impossible to use, but even a simple thing like the lack of true page numbers has caused problems, since allowing students to cite the Kindle's location numbers in their papers is "meaningless for anyone working from analog books." That's all led to word that Princeton won't be bringing the Kindle back to school next year, but we'll see if Amazon -- or anyone else -- can address all these complaints before that decision is made final.

[Thanks, Tom]

Hang your head, Sequoia e-voting machine; you've been hacked again

by Tim Stevens posted Aug 13th 2009 at 9:19AM

Oh, Princeton University, won't you leave the poor electronic voting machines alone? Haven't they suffered enough without you forming teams with researchers from the University of California, San Diego and the University of Michigan to spread their private moments even further asunder? That group of brainiacs came together to devise a new, even easier hack that allows someone with no special access to take complete control of a Sequoia AVC Advantage voting machine -- an example of which the team purchased legally at a government auction. The machine does not allow modifications to its ROM (because it has an O in the middle), but the team was able to use a technique called return-oriented programming to modify how the machine executes existing code, taking the bits they want and, ultimately, devising a way to re-program its behavior by simply inserting a cartridge into a slot -- presumably after blowing on it for good luck. The hack only works until the machine is powered off, but the attack even foils that, intercepting the switch signal and making the system only appear to power down. Today's top tip for electronic voting polling stations: unplug your boxes overnight.

[Via Digg]

Paper desktop speakers rock you like a handcrafted hurricane

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Jun 29th 2009 at 6:21PM

Like my grandmother always says, sometimes the best gadgets are the ones you build yourself -- with kits imported from Japan, purchased at places like Fred Flare. Princeton's Paper Speaker kit comes with a pair of 1W stereo speakers, a USB connection, paste, and a paper template for building a retro desktop sound system. Three designs are available -- take your pick from a cabinet record player, a component stereo system, or an old school boom box. Check 'em out below, and then get yours when it becomes available in early July for ¥1,980 (approximately $21).

Gallery: Paper desktop speakers rock you like a handcrafted hurricane

[Via Akihabara]

Kindle DX college plans revealed: only 300 students total

by Nilay Patel posted May 6th 2009 at 4:44PM

We knew the Kindle DX pilot programs at Arizona State, Case Western Reserve, Princeton, Pace, Reed, and Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia would be limited in number, but it sounds like students at those schools will have be extremely lucky or well-connected to get their hands on Amazon's latest -- according to Pace reps at today's launch event, each school will only receive around 50 Kindle DXs for the trial. That's just about 300 total Kindles, and it makes Amazon's crowing about revolutionizing education seem a little hasty. Not only that, but it's not like the program is particularly ready to go, either: the schools still haven't figured out which classes they'll try and switch over to the Kindle, instructors have yet to be brought on board, and it's still not clear whether Amazon or the schools themselves will pay for the Kindles, although students will definitely have to shell out for the books. That's a lot of dealmaking to get done -- looks like Amazon just gave itself some summer homework.

Researchers develop technique to unscramble light for a much sharper picture

by Ross Miller posted May 3rd 2009 at 7:42AM

Trying to circumvent the need to choose between getting a wide-angle shot and zooming in for details, a team of researchers at Princeton led by electric engineer Jason Fleischer have developed a new method to get the best of both worlds, by passing the light through a "nonlinear crystal" that would normally distorts the picture. A computer algorithm then pieces together the data and, as they claim, produces a wide-view image that also manages to capture the finer points otherwise missing when using conventional techniques. The goal is to build "super-resolution" microscopes for better medical diagnostics, but the group also sees uses in the fields of data encryption and lithography / microchip production. Is it too much to ask that our next Canon or Nikon have this a standard feature?

[Via PhysOrg]

Princeton publishes how-to guide for hacking Sequoia e-voting machines

by Tim Stevens posted Oct 24th 2008 at 10:19AM

If you're American, it's nearly time to do your civic duty and pick the lesser of two evils for the greater good... and then to wonder if that vote actually got counted. With Diebold admitting its own machines are utterly insecure, competitor Sequoia is now under the microscope and, after a little quality time with the company's machines, Princeton researchers have filed a 158 page report on the ease of replacing their ROMs and winning yourself an election. Okay, we know what you're thinking: "Hacking hardware isn't exactly easy when the computer is in a locked box." Amazingly, it is. A researcher was able to bypass the physical security mechanisms in 13 seconds, despite never having picked a lock before. Now you're thinking: "But you'd need to do that on hundreds of them!" Not so; once infected that malicious code can spread itself to others, and, with no paper trail and an easily bypassed internal audit system, you're well on your way to whatever dark corner of Washington, D.C. you care to occupy!

[Via Ars Technica]

Researchers boast of progress towards more efficient OLED lighting

by Donald Melanson posted Jul 23rd 2008 at 2:58PM

We haven't seen all that many OLED lighting options, but a group of researchers from the University of Michigan and Princeton University say they could be on the verge of changing that situation, with them now boasting of a new breakthrough that could greatly increase the efficiency of OLEDs. The key to that, it seems, is a combination of an organic grid and some tiny dome-shaped micro lenses that guide the trapped light out of the devices. As the researchers point out, with current OLEDs, only 20% of the light generated is actually released, but they say this new method could boost the efficiency by a full 60%, or about 70 lumens per watt of power. Of course, they're also quick to point out that all of this is still quite a ways away from becoming practical for commercial purposes, although they seem to be optimistic that the eventual production cost for these new and improved OLEDs will be competitive with existing ones.

Princeton to start publishing Kindle-edition textbooks

by Nilay Patel posted Jun 28th 2008 at 1:18AM

Amazon's Kindle ebook reader has been doing pretty well as a consumer device, but we've always thought it had amazing potential as a textbook reader -- especially coupled iTunes-style with Amazon's online distribution system. Apparently Princeton University (Jeff Bezos's alma mater) agrees with us, because it's just announced plans to publish Kindle version of its textbooks this fall, joining Yale, Oxford, and Berkeley in supporting the device. It's not clear how many books are due to be published on the device or how content like photographs and full-color diagrams will be handled (what's a bio book without red mitochondria? They're the "powerhouse" of the cell!), but we're certain students will gladly make the tradeoff to reduce their backpack loads just a little bit.

Princeton follows Shuttle's minimalist lead with 19-inch touchscreen

by Donald Melanson posted Jun 10th 2008 at 8:55PM

Shuttle may have been the first out of the gate with this minimalist design (presumably OEM, and likely only a sign of things to come), but that's not keeping Princeton from doing its own thing with its new PTB-TMW19B tablet display, which just got official for Japan today. While the exterior's identical to the Shuttle, the Princeton model takes a slight dip in resolution to 1440 x 900, although the company makes up for that somewhat by including a stylus and some handwriting recognition software. Otherwise, you can expect a 5 ms response time, an 850: 1 contrast ratio, and even a pair of built-in speakers. Look for this one to set you back ¥128,000 (or just under $1,200) when it hits Japan later this month.

Silicon wafer directs and filters out cancer cells

by Joshua Fruhlinger posted Jun 8th 2008 at 10:16AM

Normally we get excited when a slab of silicon makes our games run at 60 frames per-second, but in this case we're impressed with a new chip that filters out cancer cells. The device, created by some impressive souls at Princeton and Boston University, directs and focuses streams of cells in a liquid. Like a change sorter, it then separates regular cells form unusual ones. The silicon wafer is tacked with tiny pillars that catch abnormal cells that are, in the end, potentially cancerous. The device hasn't been used to any major extent, but we'll keep an eye on this promising discovery.

Sequoia takes aim at Princeton profs over e-voting analysis plans

by Donald Melanson posted Mar 19th 2008 at 1:14PM

Princeton professors Ed Felten and Andrew Appel are certainly no strangers to drawing controversy, and it now looks like they've stirred the pot yet again, this time drawing the ire of Sequoia Voting Systems as a result of their plans to conduct some further e-voting analysis. At the heart of this latest brouhaha is plans that New Jersey election officials reportedly had to send some Sequoia Advantage e-voting machines to the profs for analysis, which Sequoia is unsurprisingly not so keen about. In fact, they've gone so far as to send Felten an email saying that such a plan violates Sequoia's licensing agreement for use of the systems, and that they've "retained counsel to stop any infringement of our intellectual properties, including any non-compliant analysis." No word on the professors' future plans just yet but, given their past history, we suspect they won't be backing down quite that easily.

Princeton's tiny Bluetooth adapter with big 300-foot range

by Thomas Ricker posted Feb 15th 2008 at 3:43AM

Yes sir, you're looking at a tiny 4.5 x 23 x 14-mm USB Bluetooth adapter with a hearty 100-meter range. It's also Bluetooth 2.0+EDR so you can expect to push a data rate of up to 3Mbps. Princeton's 10-meter adapter released in August now looks like school on Sundays -- no Class 1. Look for the PTM-UBT4 to hit Japan and beyond for ¥2,980 (about $28) later this month.

[Via Impress]

Princeton's itty bitty USB Bluetooth 2.0+EDR module

by Thomas Ricker posted Aug 24th 2007 at 4:14AM

Remember that crazy small, RF receiver used with Logitech's VX Nano? Meet the Bluetooth 2.0+EDR equiv, the Princeton's PTM-UBT3S which measures just 19-mm (0.75-inches) long. So yeah, it's small, in fact, it's claimed to be the smallest available in Japan when it ships in September. Whether or not it's the world's smallest is irrelevant as it's surely suitable for full-time laptop or handheld bunging without concern for sheering it off. Yours for ¥2,480 or $21 beans.

[Via Impress]

Princeton intros 500GB iTunes/DLNA NAS

by Donald Melanson posted Aug 9th 2007 at 2:36PM

Princeton Technology seems to be intent on keeping all its NAS bases covered, with the company now introducing a 500GB unit to complement its bring-your-own-drive offerings. As with those others units, the company's new PEC-NAV500 NAS boasts iTunes server and DLNA capabilities, includes DigiOn's DiXiM media server client software, and packs a spare USB port to accommodate a printer or an extra drive. It also promises improved heat dissipation from its aluminum enclosure, and packs a fan just in case that's enough enough to keep things cool. Look for this one to hit Japan later this month for around ¥32,800, or roughly $276.

[Via Impress]

Harvard, Princeton researchers developing implantable "biocomputers"

by Donald Melanson posted May 21st 2007 at 5:11PM

Researchers at Harvard and Princeton have announced that they've made a "crucial step" in the development of so-called "biocomputers," which could one day be implanted in patients to directly attack diseased cells or tissues Fantastic Voyage-style. According to Physorg, the computers are actually constructed entirely out of DNA, RNA, and proteins, and are able to translate complex cellular signatures like the activities of multiple genes into a form that can be more readily observed. Currently, the researchers have demonstrated that the biocomputers can work in human kidney cells in culture, although they seem confident that they'll eventually find a wind range of uses, including working in conjunction with biosensors or medicine delivery systems to target, for instance, only cancerous or diseased cells, without causing any harm to the patient's healthy cells.