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New laws that took effect in Nevada on Oct. 1 and will kick in on Jan. 1 in Massachusetts may effectively mandate encryption for companies’ hard drives, portable devices, and data transmissions. The laws will be binding on any organization that maintains personal information about residents of the two states. (Washington and Michigan are considering similar legislation.) Nevada’s law deals mostly with transmitted information and Massachusetts’s emphasizes stored information. Between them the two laws should put more of a dent into lax security practices than widespread laws requiring customer notification of data breaches have done. (Such laws are on the books in 40 states and by one estimate have reduced identity theft by 2%.) Here are a couple of legal takes on the impact of the new laws.

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Original post by kdawson

KindMind writes “Bruce Schneier writes in Wired that quantum cryptography, while an awesome technology, is actually pointless (that is, of no commercial value). His point is that the science of cryptography is not the weak point, but the other links in the chain (like people, etc.) are where it breaks down.”

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Original post by timothy

John Lam was one of many readers to send in news that on Thursday, “at a conference in Vienna, Austria, as reported by the BBC, a European Community science working group built a quantum backbone using 200-km of standard commercial optical fiber running among seven sites and successfully demonstrated the first secure quantum cryptographic key distribution network. In addition, each of the seven links used a different kind of quantum encryption, demonstrating interoperability between the technologies. To paraphrase, the project focused on the trusted repeater paradigm and developed an architecture allowing seamless integration of heterogeneous quantum-key distribution-link devices in a unified framework. Network node-modules managing all classical communication tasks provide the underlying quantum devices with authentic classical channels. The node-module architecture uses a layered model to provision network-wide, end-to-end, provably secure key distribution.”

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Original post by timothy

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Call us devilish, but we just can′t help but love these types of stories. Here we have yet another overly confident group of researchers grossly underestimating the collective power of the hacking underground, as gurus from all across Europe have joined together to announce “the first commercial communication network using unbreakable encryption based on quantum cryptography.” Interestingly enough, quantum cryptography has already been cracked in a kinda-sorta way, but that’s not stopping these folks from pushing this claim hard to government agencies, financial institutions and companies with distributed subsidiaries. We’ve no doubt this stuff is pretty secure, but the last time we heard someone utter a claim similar to this, we saw him uncomfortably chowing down on those very words merely months later.

[Via Physorg]

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Original post by Darren Murph

jvillain writes “Contentagenda notes that the Copyright Office is taking submissions for exemptions to the DMCA. They do this every three years. There’s a description of the six exemptions made last time to give you some ideas. So fire up the keyboard and let the Copyright Office know what needs to be changed. If you don’t get in now, it’ll be another three years before you can try again.”

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Original post by kdawson

Stephanie was going through some watch parts she’d bought on eBay and some reminded her of Jake von Slatt’s iconic keyboard, so she was inspired to make a dollhouse-size replica. Awesome.

The full-size inspiration:

Steampunk Keyboard, The Mini Me Version [via Steampunk Workshop]

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Original post by Gareth Branwyn

It’s hard to pick a favorite, but I really like this modded My Little Pony storm trooper. The my little alien is rad too, thanks Brad!

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Original post by Phillip Torrone

From the MAKE Flickr photo pool

Flickr pool member Gergistheword built this fine piece of pinewood derby racing track and had group car-build event. Great idea for a gathering - the creative car names are not to be missed - Pinewood Derby on Flickr

Pinewood Derby Kit
Back-to-School Sale - 10% off every order, free Maker’s Notebook with every order of $25 or more. Use coupon code CRZYDAN when you order - Ends 9/30/08 midnight PST

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Original post by Collin Cunningham

Wrapping up at the CTIA Wireless trade show today, I stopped by the keynote panel, where they had seven San Francisco-area teens opining on what they like to do with their cell phones.

One thing that really struck me is that not a single one of them owned an iPhone. It wasn’t that they only had low-end phones - there was a Samsung Instinct and a Motorola Q on the panel.

The kids all liked and wanted the iPhone, but cited two reasons for lacking iPhones. One was cost, but I can′t take that too seriously as I was hearing about some feature-phones which aren′t much less expensive than the iPhone. Anyway, all of us pundits have been predicting less expensive ‘iPhone Nanos’ for ages. They’ll happen.

The second, which I really want to emphasize, was carrier. As they went down the panel, there were at least two Sprint subscribers, two T-Mobile subscribers, one guy who I think was either with Virgin or MetroPCS (he was embarrassed to say) and nobody who obviously called out AT&ampT.

This is something I can’t emphasize enough. As long as Apple continues their exclusivity with AT&T, they can’t rule the media phone world. And their contract just seems to go on and on. Apple has locked itself away from the majority of wireless subscribers, and that’s a huge opportunity for companies like RIM and HTC, who play with all the carriers equally.

In the back of my mind, I imagine that Steve Jobs has had whoever came up with the AT&T exclusivity idea moved to an office right next to his own. Each morning, he puts on steel-toed boots, stops by next door, and kicks the guy a few times, therapeutically.

Original post by Sascha Segan

Qualcomm’s Mirasol displays are the first truly new display technology in a little while. They have extremely fast response times, use very little power, are visible even in the most glaring sunlight and unfortunately are only available in very small sizes right now.

At CTIA Fall today, I saw the latest iteration of Skullcandy’s MFM Pro headphones, which are designed for snowboarders. These headphones have a detachable flash-based Ṃ player built in, with up to 2 GB of storage.

The new model, which will be available early next year, uses a Mirasol color display that’s completely visible even under extreme glare conditions. The little 0.9″, 128×64, 4k-color-equivalent panel isn’t much to look at, but when Qualcomm manages to make the displays larger, the technology might be a big boon to people who work and play outdoors.

Original post by Sascha Segan

Since Virgin Mobile bought Helio in June, one of the big questions has been the fate of the Ocean, Helio’s messaging phone and the best device that struggling little carrier ever had. At CTIA today, Virgin Mobile spokeswoman Jayne Wallace committed to releasing its follow-up, the Ocean 2 - but alas, in 2009.

“The Ocean 2 is not going to be 2008,” Wallace said. “It has been manufactured, and there is a commitment to putting it on the market, but it’s going to be in early 09 … just because the shell has been manufactured doesn’t mean it should be released right now. We want to put it out when it’s the best it can be.”

What to do with Helio’s handsets and services isn’t the only future planning that Virgin’s working on. Since Virgin’s host network, Sprint, is adding WiMax over the next few years, Virgin may hop onto that bandwagon too, Wallace said.

“As Sprint adds things to their network - as they add WiMax, for instance - we′ll have access to these things. WiMax isn’t on the drawing board for any time soon, but when we have the handsets that can fulfill that [system], it’s an opportunity.”

Virgin’s looking at a lot of changes now that they’ve absorbed Helio. They’re talking to LG, Samsung and Kyocera about new phones, and they’re looking at filling in their lineup from low to high end, Wallace said. They’re not intending to carry smart phones, but beyond that, we should look for a lot of new offerings from Virgin in ‘09, she said.

Original post by Sascha Segan

I want to know what’s capable of rolling a phonebook so tightly it can be used as a rolled card holder held in place with a chromed steel tube. Via Core77.

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Original post by Becky Stern

I think this works better as a DIY project than an actual marketable product: glue an enter key on your doorbell for dork-tastic hospitality. Via Geekologie.

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Original post by Becky Stern

Check out this LEGO-looking table that looks like it may fall down, aptly named UnsTable. The blocky rotating cube legs conceal a metal rod, so it really won’t, and it could make for a nice remake. Via Core77.

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Original post by Becky Stern

This is just dying for a remake: German company Reinda is selling this bag designed specifically for toting your iMac around. It fits around the base, leaving it exposed, and has spaces for keyboard and mouse. Hey, the thing doesn’t weigh too much more than a 17″ laptop, anyway. Via Cool Hunting.

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Original post by Becky Stern