SIRI HACK OPENS YOUR CAR DOOR AND STARTS THE ENGINE [VIDEO]

A simple Siri hack essentially allows users to control their vehicles with their voices. Using the Viper Control plugin and Siri Proxy, Brandon Fiquett uploaded a video on YouTube demonstrating the capabilities of Apple’s voice-activated technology when it’s been connected to a Cobra remote starter. The video shows Fiquett starting and stopping the ignition of his Acura TL car by simply speaking these commands into his iPhone using the Siri app.

Fiquett explains that the “command is sent from Siri to a Viper server, then relayed via cellular connection to the car. The car then broadcasts an update via RF to the key chain remote.” The hack can also lock and unlock the car and also pop open the trunk.

Watch the video below to see it in action:

via PSFK: http://www.psfk.com/2011/12/siri-hack-opens-your-car-door-starts-the-engine.html#ixzz1fMCXuHd9

10 Dying IT Skills

10. COBOL
Is it dead or alive? This 40-year-old programming language often appears in lists of dying IT skills but it also
appears in as many articles about organizations with legacy applications written in COBOL having a hard time
seeking workers with COBOL skills. IBM cites statistics that 70% of the world’s business data is still being
processed by COBOL applications. But how many of these applications will remain in COBOL for the long term?
Even IBM is pushing its customers to “build bridges” and use service-oriented architecture to “transform legacy
applications and make them part of a fast and flexible IT architecture.”


9. HTML
We’re not suggesting the Internet is dead but with the proliferation of easy to use WYSIWYG HTML editors
enabling non-techies to set up blogs and Web pages, Web site development is no longer a black art. Sure, there’s
still a need for professional Web developers (see the ColdFusion entry above for a discussion about Java and
PHP skills) but a good grasp of HTML isn’t the only skill required of a Web developer. Professional developers
often have expertise in Java, AJAX, C++ and .Net, among other programming languages. HTML as a skill lost
more than 40% of its value between 2001 and 2003, according to Foote Partners.


8. SNA
The introduction of IP and other Internet networking technologies into enterprises in the 1990s signaled the
demise of IBM’s proprietary Systems Network Architecture. According to Wikipedia, the protocol is still used
extensively in banks and other financial transaction networks and so SNA skills continue to appear in job ads.
But permanent positions seeking SNA skills are few and far between. ITJobsWatch.com noted that there were
three opening for permanent jobs between February and April, compared to 43 during the same period last
year. Meanwhile, companies such as HP offer consultants with experience in SNA and other legacy skills such as
OpenVMS and Tru64 Unix for short-term assignments.


Copyright ©2009 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved. 3


7. Siebel
Siebel is one skill that makes a recurring appearance in the Foote Partners’ list of skills that have lost their luster.
Siebel was synonymous with customer relationship management in the late ‘90s and early 2000s, and the company
dominated the market with a 45% share in 2002. Founded by Thomas Siebel, a former Oracle executive
with no love lost for his past employer, Siebel competed aggressively with Oracle until 2006 when it was ultimately
acquired by the database giant. Siebel’s complex and expensive CRM software required experts to install
and manage. That model lost out to the new breed of software-as-a-service (SaaS) packages from companies
such as Salesforce.com that deliver comparable software over the Web. According to the U.K.’s ITJobsWatch.com
site, Siebel experts command an average salary of GBP52,684 ($78,564), but that’s a slide from GBP55,122 a
year ago. Siebel is ranked 319 in the job research site’s list of jobs in demand, compared to 310 in 2008.


6. RAD/Extreme Programming
Back in the late 1990s and early 2000s the rapid application development and extreme programming development
philosophies resulted in quicker and more flexible programming that embraced the ever changing needs
of customers during the development process. In XP, developers adapted to changing requirements at any point
during the project life rather than attempting to define all requirements at the beginning. In RAD, developers
embraced interactive use of structured techniques and prototyping to define users’ requirements. The result was
accelerated software development. Although the skills were consistently the highest paying in Foote Partners
survey since 1999, they began to lose ground in 2003 due to the proliferation of offshore outsourcing of applications
development.


5. ColdFusion
ColdFusion users rave that this Web programming language is easy to use and quick to jump into, but as many
other independent software tools have experienced, it’s hard to compete with products backed by expensive
marketing campaigns from Microsoft and others. The language was originally released in 1995 by Allaire, which
was acquired by Macromedia (which itself was purchased by Adobe). Today, it is superseded by Microsoft .Net,
Java, PHP and the language of the moment: open source Ruby on Rails. A quick search of the Indeed.com job
aggregator site returned 11,045 jobs seeking PHP skills compared to 2,027 CF jobs. Even Ruby on Rails, which
is a much newer technology receiving a major boost when Apple packaged it with OS X v10.5 in 2007, returned
1,550 jobs openings on Indeed.com.

Most innovative Indian companies

BY JENNIFER VILAGA (ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY DAN MACSAI AND ZACHARY WILSON)

PHOTO BY SHASHWAT NAGPAL

1. Indian Premier League

The IPL has transformed cricket, establishing a new model that shows how the game can be revamped, restructured, and tailored to today's short attention spans and entertainment infrastructure -- and succeed wildly. This hot sports league is expected to generate revenue of more than $2 billion over its first decade, including proceeds from TV and promotional rights, franchise sales, and theatrical rights to screen IPL games in cinema houses across India. Top 50 No. 22

2. VNL

This startup founded in 2004 reverse-engineers telecom for the rural poor with solar-powered base stations that can be assembled onto a village home's rooftop by anybody and operational with mobile service within six hours. Two telecoms in Africa have already signed up to roll out the technology. Top 50 No. 39

3. Reliance Industries

You can buy everything from gas to groceries at one of Reliance Industries' myriad subsidiaries, including Reliance Fresh (food), Reliance Solar (solar power), and Reliance Institute of Life Sciences (education). But what sets the $29 billion company apart from other behemoths is extreme vertical integration: Reliance doesn't just make and sell suits (under the brand Vimal); it makes and sells the fabrics to make the suits, and the yarn to make the fabrics, and the thread to make the yarn. Says innovation expert Dev Patnaik, "Reliance is the GE of the next century."

4. Godrej Group

Godrej crowdsourced rural villages for design input on its small, affordable ChotuKool refrigerator, and it partnered with more than 40,000 barbers and salons to promote a new hair-care line this summer. Godrej's consumer products division also ranked No. 11 in Hewitt Associates' annual 25 Best Employers of India in 2009, citing a strong performance-linked bonus system and a 1% attrition rate. Godrej Consumer Products' net tripled to Rs 93 crore ($20 million) in Q2 2009, while revenue increased 65% to Rs 576 crore ($125 million).

5. Narayana Hrudayalaya

The No. 3 company on last year's list for India -- honored for its low-cost, high-quality heart surgeries -- is still doing amazing work. It's now working to extend its clinical expertise to cancer with the launch of Biocon, a 1,400-bed facility providing treatment for head-and-neck, breast, and cervical cancers. Also, last year's Integrated Telemedicine Project aims to extend the hospital's

The world's Most Innovative companies 2010

Even in these tough times, surprising and extraordinary efforts are under way in businesses across the globe. From politics to technology, energy, and transportation; from marketing to retail, health care, and design, each company on the following pages illustrates the power and potential of innovative ideas and creative execution.

1. Facebook

2. Amazon

3. Apple

4. Google

5. Huawei

6. First Solar

7. PG&E

8. Novartis

9. Walmart

10. HP

11. Hulu

12. Netflix

13. Nike

14. Intel

15. Spotify

16. BYD