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Space

Submission + - Kepler-36's 'Odd Couple' Defy Planet Formation Theories (discovery.com)

Submitted by
astroengine
astroengine writes: "The two planets circling Kepler-36, a sun-like star in its senior years, are as different as Earth and Neptune. But unlike the hundreds of millions of miles that separate our solar system's rocky worlds from its gas giants, Kepler-36's brood come as close as 1.2 million miles (1.9 million kilometers, or 0.01 AU) from one another — about five times the distance between Earth and the moon. This is yet another weird exoplanetary star system that defies conventional wisdom when it comes to planetary formation theories. "The weirder they are, the more scientifically interesting they are," Steve Howell, deputy project scientist with NASA's Kepler space telescope, told Discovery News."
Social Networks

Submission + - Reddit Was Built By A Horde of Fake Accounts (vice.com)

Submitted by derekmead
derekmead writes: How, exactly, did Reddit get so big? Well, according to Reddit cofounder Steve Huffman, in the early days the Reddit crew just faked it ‘til they made it. In a video for Udacity, an online source for education and lectures, Huffman describes how the first Redditors populated the site’s content with tons of fake accounts.

These days, with the site’s users wary of people using expendable accounts to try to seed their own content, it seems nuts that an army of fakers would be seeding content all over the site. But early on, Huffman said that using fake accounts driven by the founders was key to building the tone they wanted to the site. Basically, by populating the site with accounts whose strings they pulled, the Reddit crew could shape the discourse and sharing of the site in the direction they wanted, and as the real user base grew, those standards held, allowing the fake accounts to fade away.
Government

Submission + - Kaspersky Says Lack of Digital Voting Will Be Democracy's Downfall (internetevolution.com)

Submitted by hapworth
hapworth writes: Eugene Kaspersky, founder and CEO of cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab, has warned that one of the greatest cyber threats facing the world is the lack of effective online voting systems, claiming that unless young people can vote online they won't bother at all and the whole democratic system will collapse. Not everyone is buying that theory, however (and there's reason to suspect Kaspersky has a vested interest in online voting, which may need his firm's cybersecurity products). As producer James Lambie writes, "Ultimately, the digital native’s disenchantment with voting is based less on a lack of suitable technology and more on disillusionment with the craven and anemic political choices they are presented with."
Apple

Submission + - US Judge Has Outbreak of Common Sense in Apple/Motorola Patent War (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by sl4shd0rk
sl4shd0rk writes: Federal Judge Richard Posner seems to be a man who "gets" the screwed up patent system in the US. As Apple pressed for more injunctions against Motorola regarding alleged patent infringement, Judge Posner has stressed the two companies should just "get along" and pay each other royalties. A jury trial set to start last week was cancelled when Posner ruled that neither side could prove damages, and grilled Apple's legal team saying an injunction against Motorola would be "contrary to the public interest,". Furthermore, as Apple tried to plead its injunction case concerning four patents, Posner called the U.S. patent system "chaos" and said an order barring the sale of Motorola phones could have "catastrophic effects.".
Security

Submission + - Good low cost free software for protecting kids online. 3

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: I have two kids, one 7 and one 8, I would love to allow them internet access on a regular basis. The problem is whats out there, I really don't want them to deal with porn ads and such, but making either a blacklist, or a whitelist myself would take months. So I figured I would ask you, what free software would you use with preferably prebuilt lists to protect your kids online? What is out there with fairly easy configuration ability (to allow for game servers, they love minecraft), but secure enough they can't just bypass it using a google search?

Submission + - Bev Harris of Black Box Voting has released a dowload to Accenture's software (bbvforums.org)

Submitted by
Gottesser
Gottesser writes: "Permission to republish granted

I have found and posted the actual voter list software used widely throughout the USA (TN, WI, PA, CO, KS...) for Accenture voter registration and voter histories. I located the files on a magnetic backup tape of the hard drive of a county elections IT employee, part of a 120-gig set of discovery files.

The Accenture voter registration / voter history software is highly problematic, and has been reported switching voter parties in Colorado, and losing voter histories in Tennessee. Although it is now widely known that Accenture voter list software gets it wrong, just WHY the program misreports voter information so often has never been explained. I am hoping that by releasing this software to the public, it may shed light on what's really going on with our voter registration systems.

I also posted a Tennessee file with work orders and release notes which shows the Accenture software has a history of tripling votes in certain ("random") voter histories, going back to 2004. Except it is not random: Other files I discovered prove it is with primarily suburban Republican precincts that votes are somehow being recorded twice and sometimes three times for certain voters in the voter history report, and this didn't just happen in 2004; it also happened in the 2008 presidential primary and in May and August 2010, and according to election commission notes in Shelby County, also in the 2012 presidential primary.

Computer buffs, have at it. Much source code exists within the structure because it is built on MS Access. I do not read source code, though I can see some structural problems with the software (for example, it allows political party ID to be set differently from one precinct to another).

Here's the download link — http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/7659/82111.html

As a followup on our last story: The issue of 11,000 disappearing voter histories in Tennessee has now been assigned to a special master for investigation, and the state of Tennessee has officially announced that it has halted further voter purges.

To support the absolutely unique and highly effective investigative reporting by Black Box Voting, please consider making a generous donation, or (even better!) a monthly sponsorship:
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/donate.html
Or mail to:
Black Box Voting
330 SW 43rd St Suite K
PMB 543
Renton WA 98057

Black Box Voting, Inc. | 330 SW 43rd St Suite K — PMB 547 | Renton, WA 98057

Send To a Friend:
http://app.icontact.com/icp/core/message/forward?m=762641&s=53057943&c=LWP1&cid=325456"

Submission + - Opa 1.0 Released (opalang.org)

Submitted by phy_si_kal
phy_si_kal writes: The open source Opa project just released its 1.0 version. Opa appeared last year and was discussed a few times.

Throughout the year, Opa adopted a JavaScript-like syntax, gained support for MongoDB and now Node.js.
Opa positions itself as the enterprise JavaScript framework due to the safety and security provided by its strong static typing system.

Indeed, Opa checks the type safety of the application over the whole application, from client, to server, to database. Opa also provides many automation algorithms, such as the automated use of Node.js fibers at runtime, automated client/server and server/database dialog.

The site of the project also announces a developer challenge.

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: What to do before college? 3

Submitted by MtownNaylor
MtownNaylor writes: I graduated high school two days ago and am currently enrolled to attend college for studying Computer Science. I spent last summer working as a contractor, programming in Java doing work for a single company. I am looking to further either my career, my education, or both this summer. The problem is that I have found it difficult to find summer employment or internships programming for a multitude of reasons (lack of opportunities, lack of experience, lack of degree.) So what is a high school graduate who wants to work as a programmer to do?
Linux

Submission + - Fedora Introduces Offline Updates (itworld.com)

Submitted by
itwbennett
itwbennett writes: "Thanks to a new feature approved this week by the Fedora Engineering Steering Committee, you won't hear Fedora 18 users bragging about systems that have been running continuously for months on end. 'Fedora's new Offline System Update feature will change the current system to something that is more Windows- and OS X-like: while many updates can still be made on the fly, certain package updates will require the system to be restarted so the patches can be applied in a special mode, according to the Fedora wiki page on the feature,' writes blogger Brian Proffitt."
Microsoft

Submission + - Windows 8 Will Be Harder To Exploit (net-security.org)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A lot of things have already been revealed about the security features of the upcoming Windows 8: there will be a picture password sign in option; a built-in antivirus (Windows Defender) that will activate itself if it doesn't detect another active AV solution; the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) will replace BIOS ROM in order to verify software before it executes and ensure that no untrusted code runs before the operating system loads. Windows 8 will have more exploit mitigation technologies at its disposal, chief among which are the Windows Heap Manager and Windows Kernel Pool Allocator, which should block malware from exploiting a number of vulnerabilities.
Businesses

Submission + - Why Bad Jobs (or No Jobs) Happen to Good Workers (ieee.org)

Submitted by
sean_nestor
sean_nestor writes: "Back in October, an article appeared in The Wall Street Journal with the headline “Why Companies Aren’t Getting the Employees They Need.” It noted that even with millions of highly educated and highly trained workers sidelined by the worst economic downturn in three generations, companies were reporting shortages of skilled workers. Companies typically blame schools, for not providing the right training; the government, for not letting in enough skilled immigrants; and workers themselves, who all too often turn down good jobs at good wages.
The author of the article, an expert on employment and management issues, concluded that although employers are in almost complete agreement about the skills gap, there was no actual evidence of it. Instead, he said, “The real culprits are the employers themselves.”"
Science

Submission + - The World's First Supercavitating Boat? (xconomy.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: For decades, researchers have been trying to build boats, submarines, and torpedoes that make use of supercavitation---a bubble layer around the hull that drastically reduces friction and enables super-fast travel. Now a company in New Hampshire called Juliet Marine Systems has built and tested such a craft, and says it is the world’s fastest underwater vehicle. The ship, called the “Ghost,” looks like two supercavitating torpedoes with a command module on top, and can carry 18 people plus weapons and supplies. The company is in talks with the U.S. Navy to build a version of the ship that can guard the fleet against swarm attacks by small boats. The question is how well it really works, and whether it can be used reliably and effectively on the high seas.
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - Natwest and RBS suffer major technical fault, wages not showing in accounts (techworld.com)

Submitted by concertina226
concertina226 writes: The Royal Bank of Scotland group has been hit by a technical fault that is affecting RBS and Natwest customers' online accounts and preventing balances from being updated.

The issue came to light this morning, when a number of customers reported on the company's help pages that wages and tax credits had not been paid into their accounts. One small business owner told the BBC that the electronic system to pay staff was also not working.

RBS acknowledged the problem on its Twitter page at around 10am this morning, apologising to customers and claiming that it was working hard to resolve the technical issues.

Submission + - How Madefire is changing the visual grammar of comics (xconomy.com)

Submitted by
waderoush
waderoush writes: "When you read a comic book or graphic novel on your tablet device, you're usually looking at a static reproduction of a print page, not a 'born digital' creation with serious interactivity. Madefire, a new startup in Emeryville, CA, is working to change that with the release today of its new iPad reader and comic-book authoring tool. Featuring seven original titles at launch — including one from Watchmen creator Dave Gibbons — the Madefire platform largely abandons traditional panel layouts in favor of 'sequences' in which the action progresses through the addition of image layers, as well as sound effects and music. 'We want to make people look at the fabric of storytelling—left to right, top to bottom—and break that fabric,' says Madefire founder Ben Wolstenholme. The company is also avoiding well-known superhero titles in favor of new characters and storylines. 'This century needs its new creations and its new myths and legacies,' says chief creative officer Liam Sharp, a veteran of X-Men, Spider-Man, Spawn, and other well-known traditional series."
Television

Submission + - Apple's HDTV tipped for Q4 2012 launch (bgr.com)

Submitted by zacharye
zacharye writes: Apple’s highly anticipated high-definition television may launch ahead of the holidays this year, according to a new report. Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White on Thursday relayed a report from Chinese-language 21cbh.com claiming that Apple manufacturing partner Hon Hai is scheduled to begin receiving LCD panels for the Apple HDTV in the third quarter this year. Earlier reports suggested that the rumored Apple television will not launch until some time in 2013 or even 2014, but this new report may add weight to rumors that the new Apple TV will be released in the fourth quarter this year...
IT

Submission + - How IT Can Serve The Business Without Being A Slave (infoworld.com)

Submitted by
snydeq
snydeq writes: "Business users are increasingly going around IT's back to provision outside services, largely through the cloud. And while IT may want to beat down these self-proclaimed 'superusers,' IT organizations may be better off taking a different tack — one that could elevate IT's status beyond that of captive technicians responsible for maintaining systems. 'Here's the hard truth: The employees you support — whose data centers you keep humming and whose email accounts you provision — they don't need you any more. If you can't provide a service they want right now, they'll call up Salesforce or Amazon Web Services and order it from the cloud. And they'll do it without even telling you. ... IT departments that wish to stay relevant in a BYOD and cloud-based world will need to redefine themselves as service providers. They'll need to make the leap from being technicians responsible for maintaining systems to experts who offer a menu of services and offer intelligent recommendations about which ones will help drive the business forward.'"
Privacy

Submission + - Read fingerprints from 6 meters away 1

Submitted by Burdell
Burdell writes: A new startup has technology to read fingerprints from up to 6 meters away. IDair currently sells to the military, but they are beta testing it with a chain of 24-hour fitness centers that want to restrict sharing of access cards. IDair also wants to sell this to retail stores and credit card companies as a replacement for physical cards. Lee Tien from the EFF notes that the security of such fingerprint databases is a privacy concern.
Oracle

Submission + - Oracle's Larry Ellison to buy Hawaiian island (networkworld.com)

Submitted by alphadogg
alphadogg writes: Larry Ellison might have a new place to dock his yacht. The billionaire CEO of Oracle has reached an agreement to buy 98 percent of Lanai, one of Hawaii's eight main islands. The deal, which requires state approval, will see Ellison purchase 88,000 acres of island land from fellow billionaire David Murdock, according to a filing made Wednesday with Hawaii's Public Utilities Commission.
Cloud

Submission + - Rackspace exec warns of Amazon lock-in (networkworld.com)

Submitted by alphadogg
alphadogg writes: Customers of Amazon Web Services may be unknowingly locking their data and computational logic in with the popular cloud service, making it difficult to move or significantly modify those resources, the president of a competing cloud provider said this week. As cloud computing matures, "people will want to invent and build new features, ones that they then can run anywhere. I think if we just wait around for Amazon to build things, we will have a hard time as an industry," said Lew Moorman, president of hosted service provider Rackspace. "It's not even a criticism of Amazon. What I'm asking for is an open alternative." Moorman addressed the topic at the GigaOm Structure conference in San Francisco and spoke with IDG News Service after his talk.

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