Slashback: Sony Blu-Ray, Phone Records, Korean Cloners 158
Mathew Bevan speaks out on McKinnon case. mrkuji writes "Ex military hacker Mathew Bevan AKA Kuji has released his comments and thoughts about the goings on of the McKinnon hacker extradition trial."
New Zealand revises their view of OSS. sam_vilain writes "As previously noted here on Slashdot, the New Zealand State Services Commission has some problems with open source software. The new version of their legal guidelines document for OSS in NZ government, however, is a breath of fresh air."
Korean cloners facing possible jail time. reporter writes "In a stunning conclusion to the saga of the Korean cloning scientist who fabricated his results, the Korean government wants to throw him in prison. The BBC reports, "The South Korean cloning scientist who faked his stem cell research has been charged with fraud and embezzlement. [...] Prosecutors claim he [, using grant funds,] bought a car and paid contributions to politicians and company officials who helped to arrange his grants. [...] The misuse of state funds carries a jail term of up to 10 years, while a violation of bio-ethics laws can mean up to three years in prison.'"
The fight for .xxx to continue? Robert writes "ICANN has played down the role that the conservative US government had in its decision to reject a plan to launch a porn-only internet domain, while the company backing the .xxx proposal said it was considering an appeal. From the article: 'Stuart Lawley, president of ICM, after spending at least two years and over $2m on campaigning for .xxx to be approved, told us he thought the deal was shot down for political reasons, and said he was weighing a response. [...] The reason people suspect that US concerns were key, and the reason that the media keeps harping on about it, is because ICANN's powers are granted under a contract with the US Department of Commerce. That contract ends in four months, and so far nobody seems to know what happens after it expires.'"
More details on the Diebold problem. An anonymous reader writes "SecurityFocus' Rob Lemos has published an article with many more details on the critical Diebold problems, implications for upcoming state elections next week, and quotes from key scientists who have detailed knowledge of how easily the flaws can be exploited." Relatedly eldavojohn writes "USA Today is reporting that Diebold CEO Walden O'Dell has resigned. From the article: "The board of directors and Wally mutually agreed that his decision to resign at this time for personal reasons was in the best interest of all parties," said John Lauer, Diebold's non-executive chairman of the board."
Supreme Court sides with eBay in patent suit. theodp writes "In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court sided with eBay in a fight over the use of its 'Buy It Now' feature, which will make it easier for companies to avoid court injunctions barring the continued use of technology after a patent infringement finding, such as the one used by Amazon against Barnes & Noble in the midst of the Christmas holiday season over its soon-to-be-reexamined 1-Click patent."
AT&T denied a closed hearing. guygee writes "According to the San Francisco Chronicle, AT&T has lost its '11th hour bid' to force closed hearings on unsealing critical documents in EFF's class-action lawsuit alleging AT&T's illegal transfer of its customer's telephone and Internet records and communications to the National Security Agency. According to the report, 'An AT&T lawyer sent a letter by fax to Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker on Tuesday asking that the courtroom be closed during any discussion of its trade secrets or confidential information.' EFF is also reporting the breaking news on the case." Relatedly DarkAudit writes "A commissioner for the FCC wants an investigation into whether or not phone companies broke the law by handing over their records to the NSA."
Sony's Blu-Ray demo on the level. eaglebtc writes "Gearlog.com has retracted a previous accusation against Sony regarding their alleged use of a DVD+R instead of a Blu-Ray disc in a demonstration. In the original announcement, Gearlog.com claimed that Sony was using a DVD+R to demonstrate Blu-Ray technology, in an attempt to show that Sony was not ready to market the product."
blurb about the fake cloner (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:blurb about the fake cloner (Score:2)
What sort of car? Was it a Hyundai?
If so, hasn't the poor man already suffered enough?
Nice job Lance (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Nice job Lance (Score:2)
Gentlemen, I give you the next William Faulkner! With his twin ghostwriters, Jim Beam and Jack Daniels.
Re:Nice job Lance (Score:1, Insightful)
"Never attribute to conspiracy that which is adequately explained by incompetence."
Retraction? (Score:5, Informative)
From Gearlogs "retraction" The fact is, Mr. Ulanoff, you thought you had a scoop and ran off to stick it in your blog. You did seem to think this was a "momentous discovery", at least that's what your actions suggest.
Be a man, admit you screwed up and move on.
Re:Retraction? (Score:5, Insightful)
While it's true that I did not check the drive of the second AR laptop, I thought both laptops were showing the same thing and saw no need to investigate the second seemingly duplicate setup.
Yeah, we can't have journalists wasting any of their time doing things like investigating facts. Why would they have two identical setups side-by-side anyway? Wouldn't that warrant some kind of further study? As the original poster implied, Ulanoff saw no need to investigate further because he was too excited at having "caught" Sony doing something bad. Can we get Ulanoff a job at one of the major newspapers, or possibly in the Bush administration? Seems like he'd fit right in with those groups since they're pretty good at doing half-assed work and pushing their agendas.
If this was Sony's big coming-out party for Blu-Ray I could understand this having been a big deal in the first place, but it wasn't -- it was just a party for the 10th anniversary of the Vaio line. All this was was another excuse for the anti-Sony Fanboys to have yet another opportunity to bash Sony. I'm less than thrilled over the price of the PS3 and some of Sony's other moves, but this is ridiculous.
Re:Retraction? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Retraction? (Score:1)
Re:Retraction? (Score:1)
Most movies, sans menus and additional audio tracks, unless they are SuperBit, will fit on a single layer dvd+r. Let alone we don't have any confirmation if the movie was being played in it's entirity. If i wanted to do a comparison using the same movie and keep them synced up, i would burn a single chapter from each, in its original format, burned onto the respective medium (dvd+r in one case, bluray-r or whatever in the other) and set the player to loop that cha
Re:Retraction? (Score:2)
Re:Retraction? (Score:1)
Re:Retraction? (Score:2)
The copying isn't a problem.
However if they left it on the original DVD and used software on the laptop to bypass the CSS restrictions to fast forward directly to where they wanted playback to begin (bypassing the intros), they'd be breaking their licensing agreement with the CSS patent holders.
Re:Retraction? (Score:2)
Re:Retraction? (Score:2)
Out of my home movie collection's backups, I've only had to compress a few titles to fit. This is usually only slight compression (5-15%) to get them to fit. Considering many of the originals were compiled with software less modern than what I'm recompressing them with, I don't see what all the fuss is about.
I watch movies 5' away from a Sony 40" LCD panel, so I think I would notice degraded quality more t
Re:Retraction? (Score:2)
I get so tired of hearing this hogwash. This isn't video cassette. The movie's total run time is 119 minutes, so it will fit on a standard DVD+/-R without any further compression.
I know it is popular to pick on Sony on here the past couple of weeks, but at least have your facts in order before trolling.
Re:Retraction? (Score:3, Insightful)
Hate to break this to you, but upon closer scrutiny, you'll find that a disturbingly large portion of the world does things half-assed. You usually only notice how bad it is when you happen to be well-versed in a particular subject or if, as mentioned above, you scrutinize someone's work or findings.
I wish it was half assed (Score:2)
Re:Retraction? (Score:2)
Lance Ulanoff writes for PC Magazine, and thus, logically, is not a journalist.
Re:Retraction? (Score:2)
Re:Retraction? (Score:2)
I'm certain that that is a job requirement at PC Magazine, right after "Lack of Journalism Skills and Aptitude".
Re:Retraction? (Score:2)
Re:Retraction? (Score:1)
Well, they could have HD content on a DVD+R for the demo to say "this is what HD looks like" but I doubt it. Not in DVD video format, in MP2 or whatever BluRay uses. I have a concert[0] DVD with 2 HD videos on it for use off a computer.
[0] Motorhead's Stage Fright. It will rock your world.
Re:Retraction? (Score:2)
Re:Retraction? (Score:2)
I like New Zealand! (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:I like New Zealand! (Score:5, Informative)
OK, I'm a member and I helped draft the response. This isn't about grabbing credit for ego, but about the way the response was done. It was calm, didn't call for Open Sourcing everything, and didn't demonize Microsoft. The response was a coordinated, reviewed group effort containing constrictive and well-researched cristicism presented in a non-confrontational way. Coupled with a very receptive attitude by the SSC, the combination resulted in what you can see is a very reasonable and useful document.
Vik
Re:I like New Zealand! (Score:1)
How much do you want to bet... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:How much do you want to bet... (Score:2)
So, they actually didn't make the Toy Story claim either?
Re:How much do you want to bet... (Score:2)
Re:How much do you want to bet... (Score:3, Insightful)
Editorial integrity on Slashdot is a JOKE.
Re:How much do you want to bet... (Score:2)
Re:How much do you want to bet... (Score:2)
Re:How much do you want to bet... (Score:2)
You know, that's standard operating procedure for any kind of media. No, I don't like it.
During the Mohammed cartoon crisis the boss of the Norwegian press organization was in some kind of misunderstanding. (I think he was alleged to be one of the cartoonists). With a sly grin he commented that he had discussed the problem with the Arab media, "but if they're as bad at corrections
Re:How much do you want to bet... (Score:1)
I long for fact-based reporting, but it is rare these days.
Re:How much do you want to bet... (Score:2)
As opposed to traditional newspapers, which post retractions in bold headlines on the front page... </SARCASM>
The world sucks. Get used-to it.
Re:How much do you want to bet... (Score:2)
Re:How much do you want to bet... (Score:2)
You might as well send Greenpeace to investigate Joe Blow, who drips a little oil on the ground when working on his car.
If you want to make a point, try to make it about something with some significance.
O'Dell resignation news almost 6 months old (Score:5, Informative)
No, indeed, it is not news. The 2005 date of the article is even embedded in the link. Halooooo Slashdot!!!
Re:O'Dell resignation news almost 6 months old (Score:2)
Doesn't anybody screen these articles!?!?
Re:O'Dell resignation news almost 6 months old (Score:2)
Anyway, thanks for the link... looks like a nice site.
Even though there was a Blu-ray disc.... (Score:1, Insightful)
Not true (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Even though there was a Blu-ray disc.... (Score:1)
Remember, there are different codecs and different amounts of information here.
Also, this is round one... and right now the HD-DVD players are slow as heck. I hope the first Sony product outperforms the horrible Toshiba machine.
Re:Even though there was a Blu-ray disc.... (Score:2)
HD-DVD the real Beta (Score:5, Interesting)
I haven't seen any HD-DVD recorders yet. Do the HD-DVD notebooks have recorders or just players? Sony VIAO will come out with a read/write Blu-Ray in June I believe. If Blu-Ray is first with recorders that is the real race and death knell for HD-DVD.
Given the FUD form the HD-DVD camp I think they know that come June it is essentially all over for them. They will unload a few more players at or below cost. Brag about being first to market. then give up shortly after Christmas.
Re:HD-DVD the real Beta (Score:3, Insightful)
If HD-DVD can get a $200 player into stores by Chistmas and Sony is far behind and the PS3 is a no-show they have a chance.
But as a consumer of these discs, mainly through NetFlix, I'm all for BluRay, both for its non-scratch coating and so I can get an entire Season of '24' in HD on one disc. There, NetFlix just got 6 times more convenient. That's important.
Re:HD-DVD the real Beta (Score:1)
Sorry but saying HD-DVD is the "Beta" equivalent is like saying a Cucumber is the equivalent of a Banana just because they are shaped similarly. Now its true Beta was released first, but that seems to be the only real similarity it has to HD-DVD. The two formats have nearly identical capacities and likely have the exact same price as far as media and players go. The real question to ask, is whether anybody is going to be able to noti
Re:HD-DVD the real Beta (Score:2)
Not only that, but some games are still on smaller media and look damn nice. Take Resident Evil 4 or Metroid Prime 2, for example. Those ship on the GameCube's mini-DVDs, and RE4 in 480p looks goddamn cinematic Cube's texture detail tends to be a little low, granted,
Re:HD-DVD the real Beta (Score:2)
As I've posted on here before, I don't think this is the killer app for Blue-ray or HD-DVD.
The killer app is getting the entire season of Lost, or Sex and the City, or Seinfeld, etc., on a single disc, instead of the current need for 8-10 DVDs per season.
This will save the publishers money. Few
Re:HD-DVD the real Beta (Score:2)
(and no, studios aren't going to lower the prices of TV season boxed sets)
Re:HD-DVD the real Beta (Score:2)
You can buy each season of Sex and the City, for example, on DVD for like $25. Or, you can buy the complete series on DVD at Target for $120.
They could sell the entire series on one or two Blue-Ray for $100, make the same profit, and increase sales due to the lower cost. Or, they could sell it for $120 (obsoleting the old DVD set), and make $20 more per unit. I don't think the folks
Diebold (Score:1)
Re:Diebold (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Diebold (Score:1)
Re:Diebold (Score:5, Interesting)
So were these the same machines used to re-elect George Bush in 2004? Which states used Diebold devices then? I seem to remember some counties in Ohio did.
Much of Ohio used Diebold machines in that election. And initial reports from one precinct in my hometown in suburban Columbus had more votes for Bush than total votes cast. The 2004 election in Ohio was shockingly corrupt. If people around the country knew about everything that went on, it would be regarded as a comparable disaster to 2000 Florida. Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, whose job it is to run a fair election, is a Diebold shareholder, headlined an enormous partisan ad campaign, and advised the Republican-controlled legislature on what ballot issues would generate the heaviest Republican turnout. Blackwell is now the Republican candidate for governor. Yay.
Re:Diebold (Score:2)
Danaher was a contributor to Kerry and the Democrat party, and members have direct ties to the Democrate voting organization.
During the 2004 election, the problems that made all the news were found coming from Danaher and ES&S. ES&S also has members and former Democrat congress members on its board and in positions of power.
Danaher doesn't make voting machines (Score:2)
Danaher used to be known as Shooptronics, and I found searching on Shooptronics to be more relevant, as there are evidently several companies called Danaher that have nothing to do with voting. I suspect Faux News (or wherever you go
Re:Diebold (Score:2)
It already is! Which is to say, no one gives a fuck. I mean, a few people (like most of us around here) care. Also a shitload of people will continually deny it even presented with the evidence, although most of them are republicans.
It doesn't shock me or anything but I am always amazed at human stupidity. People have been stealing elections as long as there've been electio
Read Rep. Conyer's report on Ohio (Score:3, Informative)
It's about 100 pages long, covers a range of issues, including the machines, and is very objective.
Re:Read Rep. Conyer's report on Ohio (Score:2)
Right now that is in doubt. It's scary (and maybe telling) that so few politicians are taking this matter seriously.
Crazy, but... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Crazy, but... (Score:2)
Re:Crazy, but... (Score:2)
Re:Crazy, but... (Score:2)
Re:Crazy, but... (Score:5, Funny)
Plus, a decent selection of games would make voting more popular.
Really, those Diebold games consoles are awful. You only get to press one button, and even when you win you lose (because a politician gets elected).
Re:Crazy, but... (Score:2)
Yeah, but the end guy is hard.
Re:Crazy, but... (Score:2)
W.O.P.R. analysis (.WAV) [moviesounds.com]
-
Re:Crazy, but... (Score:2)
Blu-Ray: The usual FUD (Score:2, Redundant)
Re:Blu-Ray: The usual FUD (Score:2)
Re:Blu-Ray: The usual FUD (Score:2)
I can say I love Sony now (Score:4, Funny)
Fast forward to last year, my girlfriend at the time was a self-employed contract graphic artist, bought music all the time, and criticised me on my stance. Her friends told her to use P2P software but she said that her computer was too important to put anything on there that might upset her work. Overall her and I sort of had this ongoing argument about it. Anyway one day I get a SMS from her, a big "Help Me". I got round to her house and her computer wouldn't boot into Windows. She's in a big panic, big job due the next day, it takes days to install all the software she needs to do her work, she's lost a bunch of work and her PC is stuffed.
In the end it was a big disaster, the job was screwed up and she lost a customer. A few weeks later I realised what the problem was, she was running Windows XP x64 and had put in a new Sony CD that had rootkitted her machine and overwrote some 64 bit drivers with some 32 bit drivers. PWN3D!!!! Explaining to her what happened was like the best argument win ever!! of course then we split, but it was worth it.
Re:I can say I love Sony now (Score:2)
Re:I can say I love Sony now (Score:2)
Commentary on EBay case on SCOTUSblog (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Commentary on EBay case on SCOTUSblog (Score:2)
Re:Commentary on EBay case on SCOTUSblog (Score:2)
No, they have the "ability" to rule on any federal case in which one of the parties appeals to them after having a Circuit Court rule against them.
If you think the only function (or even the primary function) of the Supreme Court is to rule on constitutionality, you have no grasp whatsoever of how the American legal system works, and if you're a US citizen I recommend you re-enroll in a middle school civics class.
How does *that* work? (Score:3, Interesting)
First, why the hell didn't the EFF go public with their evidence first? Depending on the outcome of the case, we might never know whether they stumbled onto something "real", or just something trivial that the NSA could hypothetically abuse under a combination of unlikely circumstances.
But aside from that...
How exactly does the evidence remain under seal in an open court? Do all parties involved use vague allusions and a lot of wink-wink-nudge-nudge to refer to the evidence without revealing anything about it to the public? Do spectators swear not to reveal anything they see or hear (yeah, that would work - until about 30 seconds after the end of the first session)? Do the MiB use their magic flashing memory eraser any time someone mentions a detail under seal?
So goddamned sick of all the secrets and lies. Who wants to join me in pushing for a constitutional amendment banning the use of secrecy or any form of "classified" designation (perhaps with a nonrenewable two-week-maximum exception for situations where revealing such information would directly threaten American lives)? Time to let these arrogant twats know who they work for!
In tomorrows news (Score:2)
In tomorrows news, FCC commissioner resigns after phone records of calls to his mistress were leaked by the NSA.
.xxx delined for political reasons? (Score:1)
Re:Phone-y Story (Score:2)
Re:Phone-y Story (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Phone-y Story (Score:2)
You are not playing the PR game! AT&T put out a press release that only IMPLIED that they did not cooperate with the NSA. They said that AT&T did not give the NSA any company records. They sai
Re:Phone-y Story (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Phone-y Story (Score:2)
I call a reporter that later does a story on government corruption and that call is logged in a government database controlled by the very people who have the most motivation to abuse it without our knowledge.
This is what we were so afraid of when we were fighting communism, that an invasive government idea would infest our basic rights to freedoms and liberties assured us in the constitution.
A quote by our founding fathers:
"Those who trade security for liberty
Re:Phone-y Story (Score:5, Insightful)
With carefully worded statements that avoid coming out and saying what the AT&T case already shows, that the NSA has built snooping into the phone system. Verizon came out and said that "the NSA program" is highly classified and so it can't comment on it. BUT we are not giving them phone records. OK, what ARE you giving them?
I'd give about as much creedence to these denials as Enron saying they aren't manipulating the energy market in California.
Details of the Naurus filter used at AT&T (Score:2)
The evidence from the Electronic Frontier Foundation's suit against AT&T indicates that the pen-register (phone call records) and call-graph analysis is really just the tip of the iceberg. The equipment that the NSA installed in AT&T's main switching and routing centers is known, it is made by Naurus Inc.
Re:Phone-y Story (Score:2)
They're giving the NSA little origami swans that, coincidentally, have copies of phone records printed on them.
Or perhaps they have the phone records in an FTP repository. They aren't giving them, the NSA is taking them.
Or, more likely, they aren't giving them at all, they are selling them.
It all depends on what your definition of "is" i
Re:Phone-y Story (Score:3, Insightful)
No, since calling the story a "big flop" is your opinion. Come back when you know the difference between a fact and an opinion, and we'll reconsider your brilliant and insightful analysis.
Re:Phone-y Story (Score:2)
Interesting which side most folks here come down on. One "fact" contradicts the other, but without any reasonable expectation of agenda.
Re:Phone-y Story (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Phone-y Story (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Phone-y Story (Score:1)
-- James H. Fetzer, PhD Philosophy and Cognitive Science
Authorized lies? Could be. (Score:2)
Thanks for that link! Want to do something about it? The referenced article states:
Re:Godwin's law (Score:2)
Here's the damn Presidential Executive Order in question. [whitehouse.gov] Published on the WhiteHouse.Gov website itself.
The directive itself is rather opaque, reffering to 13(b)(3)(A) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 [uc.edu] as amended (15 U.S.C. 78m(b)(3)(A)) [cornell.edu], but reading those sections reveals that they do in fact say what it is claimed the directive says - that the President was granting the Director of National Intelligence the Presidential Authority to immunize companies from Secur
Re:Phone-y Story (Score:2)
False premise = false conclusion (Score:4, Informative)
The first line of the article begins with a false premise, and incorrectly reflects the amended law as of any time since 1978, claiming that what was written in 1968 was the correct interpretation of a document written 150 years, before communication could possibly involve anything more than direct than person-to-person or written correspondence.
The Omnibus... act was amended in 1978 to specifically remove the language which places the President's authority over all other concerns. Check out the current version of 18 USC 2511 [syr.edu], and specifically the MISC2 section at the end, which outlines the changes to the statute through all amendments. The 1978 amendmeent, in fact, was the same one that overrode the portions of Omnibus... to reflect the details of the FISA legislation passed in the same year, which granted specific powers, to be exercised via specific procedures, with regards to electronic surveillance.
In particular, the "constitutional power" verbage was removed as overreaching, and 2 (e) and (f) were added to reflect the ability of the Federal government to conduct electronic and other surveillance of foreign communications on foreign communications networks granted by FISA. In no way, shape, or form does the collection of data regarding my phone usage fall under those terms, no matter how many degrees of separation from Al-Qaeda I am via Kevin Bacon.
If you want to be a strict Federalist interpretist of the Constitution, you better send your women back to the kitchen and keep your negroes in line...can't have them out, you know, voting and owning property.
Re:False premise = false conclusion (Score:2)
Oh please. Even the looniest right wing member of the Federalist Society isn't going to claim that Article V and by extension the 15th and 19th Amendments are invalid.