Comment NSA Security Recommendations for iOS (Score 1) 138
Here's the NSAs recommendations for securing iOS devices: http://www.nsa.gov/ia/_files/os/applemac/Apple_iOS_5_Guide.pdf
Submission + - Google NativeClient CPU Whitelist Maintained By Ex-Intel Director (google.com)
HuvahCraftah writes: Apparently, anti-competitive habits die hard. After leaving his Director position at Intel, Brad Chen became the gatekeeper at Google for which processors you are allowed to run NativeClient apps on. When confronted, he initially cites "incorrect x86 implementations" as the main concern and then bizarrely turns that upside-down and says that only processors with documented incorrect x86 implementations are allowed to run NativeClient applications.
Submission + - Google Maps adds support for 8-bit devices.
An anonymous reader writes: Today Google announced that they will be adding support for one of the most popular computer systems ever — the NES. Google Maps' youtube page has more details: http://www.youtube.com/googlemaps
A preview version is available at maps.google.com by clicking on the "Quest" layer. The preview also hints that there may be several hidden easter eggs around the globe such as this one: http://maps.google.com/?ll=57.331016,-4.4032&spn=0.026825,0.077162&t=8&z=14
I'm sure all of this has nothing to do with the upcoming (or already happening, depending on where you are) April Fool's Day. Happy Questing and look out for those monsters out there!
A preview version is available at maps.google.com by clicking on the "Quest" layer. The preview also hints that there may be several hidden easter eggs around the globe such as this one: http://maps.google.com/?ll=57.331016,-4.4032&spn=0.026825,0.077162&t=8&z=14
I'm sure all of this has nothing to do with the upcoming (or already happening, depending on where you are) April Fool's Day. Happy Questing and look out for those monsters out there!
Comment Useful Links (Score 5, Informative) 105
This submission looks like typical content farm / blogspam junk so here's some useful links instead:
- The BrowserID main page: https://www.browserid.org/
- Mozilla Identity Team's blog: http://identity.mozilla.com/
- Source Code: https://github.com/mozilla/browserid
Comment Re:Long awaited? (Score 5, Interesting) 65
Do you really want to be using a library from someone who thinks 'odd' means divisible by 3? Or that you'd need a library function for this? but hey at least he's got tests...
https://github.com/ollym/toolkit/commit/ede890a31eb1cad52d8f3bcd30e5c0afa8cc60e3
Comment Re:Washington "State" (Score 1, Offtopic) 181
The ironic part is that the originally proposed name for the state was Columbia but Congress thought that would be too easily confused with the District of Columbia.
Verizon Refuses To Provide Complete IPv6 438
Glendale2x writes "I'm a progressive sort of guy and I want to go full dual-stack, IPv6 for the future, etc. However I recently tried to turn up a new Verizon circuit with IPv6 (after a 6-month fiber install process), and to my chagrin the order they accepted back in May they're now saying is against their policy to provide. They're missing around 29% of the IPv6 internet and refuse to carry it. Tell me again how we're supposed to encourage IPv6 adoption in the face of a huge black hole like this?"
"Side By Side Assemblies" Bring DLL Hell 2.0 433
neutrino38 writes "This is an alert for all developers using Microsoft Visual Studio 2005. At the beginning of January, Microsoft issued a security fix for Visual Studio 2005 forcing the use of new dynamic libraries (DLLs) by all applications compiled with this IDE. Basically, applications compiled with Visual Studio 2005 will not work anymore on an ordinary (non-dev) PC unless the newer DLLs are installed. And we found out that this is true on fully updated PCs. I just posted some details and some suggested fixes." Read below for some more background on Microsoft's so-called "side by side assemblies."
Church of Scientology Proposes Net Censorship In Australia 464
An anonymous reader writes "Submitted by the Australian branch of Scientology to the local Human Rights Commission is a proposal to eliminate anonymity on the net and the removal of critical websites (MS Word document).
The submission is listed as #1931 at this page at the Australian Human Rights Commission." (Read on below for some of the details of what the Scientologists propose.)
ELF Knocks Down AM Towers To Save Earth, Intercoms 616
ScentCone writes "The ELF (Earth Liberation Front) has claimed responsibility for destroying the primary AM towers used by radio station KRKO in Washington state. From their statement: 'AM radio waves cause adverse health effects including a higher rate of cancer, harm to wildlife, and that the signals have been interfering with home phone and intercom lines.' The poor intercom performance must have been the last straw."
Schooling, Homeschooling, and Now, "Unschooling" 1345
ciaohound writes "The Baltimore Sun has a story about 'unschooling,' which is like homeschooling except, well, without the schooling. '...unschooling incorporates every facet of a child's life into the education process, allowing a child to follow his passions and learn at his own pace, year-round. And it assumes that an outing at the park — or even hours spent playing a video game — can be just as valuable a teaching resource as Hooked on Phonics.' If you have ever been forced to sit in a classroom where no learning was taking place, you may understand the appeal. A driving force behind the movement is parents' dissatisfaction with regular schools, and presumably with homeschooling as well. Yet few researchers are even aware of unschooling and little research exists on its effectiveness. Any Slashdotters who have experience with 'unschooling?'"
Reports of IE Hijacking NXDOMAINs, Routing To Bing 230
Jaeden Stormes writes "We just started getting word of a new browser hijack from our sales force. 'Some site called Bing?' they said. Sure enough, since the patches last night, their IE6 and IE7 installations are now routing all NXDOMAINs to Bing. Try it out — put in something like www.DoNotHijackMe.com." We've had mixed results here confirming this: one report that up-to-date IE8 behaves as described. Others tried installing all offered updates to systems running IE6 and IE7 and got no hijacking.
Update: 08/11 23:24 GMT by KD : Readers are reporting that it's not Bing that comes up for a nonexistent domain, it's the user's default search engine (noting that at least one Microsoft update in the past changed the default to Bing). There may be nothing new here.
Update: 08/11 23:24 GMT by KD : Readers are reporting that it's not Bing that comes up for a nonexistent domain, it's the user's default search engine (noting that at least one Microsoft update in the past changed the default to Bing). There may be nothing new here.
Windows 7 Licensing a "Disaster" For XP Shops 567
snydeq writes "Enterprise licensing for Windows 7 could cause major headaches and add more cost to the Windows 7 migration effort, InfoWorld reports. Under the proposed license, businesses that purchase PCs with Windows 7 pre-installed within six months of the Oct. 23 launch date will be able to downgrade those systems to XP, and later upgrade back to Windows 7 when ready to migrate users. PCs bought after April 22, 2010, however, can only be downgraded to Vista — no help for XP-based organizations, which would be wise to wait 12 to 18 months before adopting Windows 7, so that they can test hardware and software compatibility and ensure their vendors' Windows 7 support meets their needs. XP shops that chose not to install Vista will have to either rush their migration process or spend extra to enroll in Microsoft's Software Assurance program, which allows them to install any OS version — for about $90 per year per PC."
Microsoft Patents the Crippling of Operating Systems 394
theodp writes "On Tuesday, Microsoft was granted US Patent No. 7,536,726 (it was filed in 2005) for intentionally crippling the functionality of an operating system by 'making selected portions and functionality of the operating system unavailable to the user or by limiting the user's ability to add software applications or device drivers to the computer' until an 'agreed upon sum of money' is paid to 'unlock or otherwise make available the restricted functionality.' According to Microsoft, this solves a 'problem inherent in open architecture systems,' i.e., 'they are generally licensed with complete use rights and/or functionality that may be beyond the need or desire of the system purchaser.' An additional problem with open architecture systems, Microsoft explains, is that 'virtually anyone can write an application that can be executed on the system.' Nice to see the USPTO rewarding Microsoft's eight problem-solving inventors, including Linux killer (and antelope killer) Joachim Kempin, who's been credited with getting Microsoft hauled into federal court on antitrust charges." Sounds like the mechanism by which Microsoft sells one version of Vista to all users, and lets users upgrade to higher-tier flavors of the OS after cash changes hands.
Microsoft To Banish Memcpy() 486
kyriacos notes that Microsoft will be adding memcpy() to its list of function calls banned under its secure development lifecycle. This reader asks, "I was wondering how advanced C/C++ programmers view this move. Do you find this having a negative impact on the flexibility of the language, and do you think it will restrict the creativity of the programmer?"
