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Submission + - Surprise! TSA lied!

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Does this make you feel safer? The TSA has now admitted that it had allowed illegal immigrants to fly without valid identification, something it had strongly denied when news sources revealed it last month.

[A newly discovered TSA] letter confirms that illegal aliens are being allowed to board planes using a Notice to Appear form (also known as I-862), as [union border patrol official] Darby revealed in July. Hector Garza, a spokesman for the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) told Darby that Notice to Appear forms can “easily be reproduced or manipulated on any home computer. The Notice to Appear form has no photo, anyone can make one and manipulate one. They do not have any security features, no watermark, nothing. They are simply printed on standard copy paper based on the information the illegal alien says is the truth.”

So, while the TSA routinely sexually abuses American citizens while demanding they provide photo id, the agency has had policies that would allow an illegal immigrant, with unknown background and who has come from outside the country, to board planes using a simple form that anyone can photocopy.

Does anyone but me see something significantly wrong with this picture? Didn’t Congress originally create the TSA to prevent foreign nationals from boarding planes to hijack them?

The TSA is a joke imposed on us by our elected officials and approved of by too many Americans because it allows them to make believe we are doing something about terrorism. Other elected officials and TSA managers and employees than use the agency as a weapon to obtain power and crush the freedom of Americans. In that context, these actions by the TSA, including lying about their policies, make complete sense.

Submission + - New Understanding of Lizard Tails Could Allow Humans to Regrow Body Parts (gizmag.com)

Submitted by Zothecula
Zothecula writes: If you ever had a pet lizard as a child, it was quite likely a green anole. As is the case with other lizards, they have the ability to break off their own tail when attacked by a predator, and then regrow it. Scientists from Arizona State University recently announced that they have cracked the code regarding that tail regrowth process, and are now hoping that it could be applied to the field of regenerative medicine.

Submission + - Impenetrable' encryption arrives to lock down Internet of Things (thirdcertainty.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: LAS VEGAS – Robert Coleridge, CTO of startup Secure Channels, has rented time in a shark cage to get up close and personal with a great white shark. For kicks.

That’s a mild thrill compared to wrestling with math concepts to invent what Coleridge contends is a revolutionary, impenetrable new method to encrypt data.

Coleridge recently secured a U.S. patent for his invention. Now, Secure Channels is busy pursuing commercial uses for this new level of encryption, addressing gaping security holes to fulfill the promise of the Internet of Things.

Submission + - Microsoft Lets You Reminisce the 90s (gizmobeast.com)

Submitted by J.R.C.L.
J.R.C.L. writes: For those of you who grew up in the 90s could still remember playing with Tamagotchi and Einstein trolls. And of course we had discman, SNES cartridges and floppy disks. Wow! so much had changed since then.

In 20th anniversary celebration of Microsoft‘s website, it put up its first homepage. Talk about reliving the time where Windows 95 operating systems was still at the forefront of innovation.

In 1994, Microsoft.com was one of the first thousand websites to ever exist compared to almost a billion now. Using the slow dial-up connection, the site would usually take about 3 minutes to fully load. Yeah, we totally experienced that.

Feed Google News Sci Tech: America's hot and cold spots for broadband revealed in new map - Register (google.com)

From feed by feedfeeder

CIO Today
America's hot and cold spots for broadband revealed in new map
Register
Pic A new map of broadband speeds shows which Americans enjoy the fastest and slowest internet connections. The map, assembled by IT service firm OfficeSuite from data in Akamai's State of the Internet report, shows the top speeds are in Virginia, though...
This is where you should live if you want the fastest Internet speed in the countryScience Recorder
State with the fastest average Internet speed revealedDaily Digest
US States with Fastest Internet Speed; And the Winner isRealty Today
News Tonight Africa-Digital Trends-Angle Chronicle
all 63 news articles

Submission + - Amazon coerces KDP authors, in irony bypass (readersunited.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: As author of several (averagely successful) books, I decided to self-publish through Amazon's KDP initiative. Today I get an email (more like a novel) urging me to spam Hachette CEO, Michael Pietsch, to complain about the price of their eBooks. They've given me his email, what I should say (quotes like "We have noted your illegal collusion. Please stop working so hard to overcharge for ebooks.", and "They can and should be less expensive.
Lowering e-book prices will help — not hurt — the reading culture, just like paperbacks did." and "Stop using your authors as leverage and accept one of Amazon's offers to take them out of the middle.") ... this is despite the fact none of the KDP books I've published are (by definition) published through Hachette. i.e. they've used an email exclusive for KDP, for propaganda against an unrelated company.

They also complain that Hachette are 'part of a $10 billion media conglomerate' when Amazon market cap is $146 billion.

They complain that ebooks should be cheaper because there's no printing etc... ignoring the fact that authors, editors, and _people_ need to get paid. (While Amazon invest in drones, and pay peanuts for their staff.)

And they continually reference George Orwell as being 'the other guy' ignoring their own practises of tracking ('who also bought...') and patent abuse.

When I found they've setup a web site claiming about 'readers united'.. when realizing it was their corporate shill site, I screamed and posted this.

Am I being too angry about this? Are they abusing their position?

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: IT Personnel as Ostriches? (ostrichheadinsand.com) 2

Submitted by MonOptIt
MonOptIt writes: I'm a new IT professional, having recently switched from a different sci/tech field. My first FT gig is with a midsize (50ish) nonprofit which includes a wide variety of departments and functions. I'm the sole on-site IT support, which means that I'm working with every employee/department regularly both at HQ and off-site locations.
My questions for the seasoned (peppered? paprikaed? plum-sauced?) pros are:
Do you find yourself deliberately ignoring office politics, overheard conversations, open documents or emails, etc as you go about your work?
If not, how do you preserve the impartiality/neutrality which seems (to my novice mind) necessary to be effective in this position?
In either case: how do you deal with the possibility of accidentally learning something you're not supposed to know? E.g. troubleshooting a user's email program when they've left sensitive/eyes-only emails open on their workstation. Are there protections or policies that are standard, or is this a legal and professional gray-area?

Submission + - Google Chrome 64-bit available now (net4tech.net)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: With the release of Chrome beta 64-bit, Google goes one step further by enabling web applications to use more than 4GB of RAM. Performance should also be improved.

Last line for the 64-bit version of Google Chrome browser before its official release. Indeed, on Wednesday morning, Google has delivered a beta version of Chrome 64-bit. It is downloaded on a page dedicated to the new Google browser. The Mountain View company even promises that all stored information (passwords, bookmarks, etc.) will be automatically transferred to Chrome 64-bit. The announcement of 64-bit versions of Google's browser was made last June via the Dev and Canary channels.

Submission + - French provider Free could buy US branch of T-Mobile

Submitted by Guybrush_T
Guybrush_T writes: Iliad, the parent company of Free, confirmed today having made an offer to buy 56% of the US branch of T-Mobile. This could be very good news for the US, since the provider reduced significantly the average price of mobile plans in France since they entered the mobile market two years ago. Their disruptive strategy, featuring an all-inclusive €20/month plan and a €2/month plan gathered 11% of the French market in only two years and lowered the price of plans by a 5 to 10 factor.

Submission + - Brain-Inspired Computing Software Mimics Human Brain Patterns

Submitted by rjmarvin
rjmarvin writes: Microsoft's Project Adam, IBM's Watson, Google Now and an array of other technologies and brain-inspired computing methods are developing breakthrough algorithms and software that function like human brains http://sdtimes.com/computers-b.... Companies like Intel and Qualcomm are building neuron-inspired cores and chips, while others experiment with deep learning neural networks or the novel architecture approach of machine learning. According to developers, software engineers, tech analysts and academics, as scientific and technological knowledge of how the brain works continues to expand, the early stages of brain-inspired computing features like speech recognition, question-and-answer capabilities and predictive recommendations may evolve into unparalleled levels of computing and problem-solving power.

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: Future-Proof Jobs?

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: My niece, who is graduating from high school, has asked me for some career advice. Since I work in data processing, my first thought was to recommend a degree course in computer science or computer engineering. However, after reading books by Jeremy Rifkin (The Third Industrial Revolution) and Ray Kurzweil (How to Create a Mind), I now wonder whether a career in information technology is actually better than, say, becoming a lawyer or a construction worker. While the two authors differ in their political persuasions (Rifkin is a Green leftist and Kurzweil is a Libertarian transhumanist), both foresee an increasingly automated future where most of humanity would become either jobless or underemployed by the middle of the century. While robots take over the production of consumer hardware, Big Data algorithms like the ones used by Google and IBM appear to be displacing even white collar tech workers. How long before the only ones left on the payroll are the few "rockstar" programmers and administrators needed to maintain the system? Besides politics and drug dealing, what jobs are really future-proof? Wouldn't it be better if my niece took a course in the Arts, since creativity is looking to be one of humanity's final frontiers against the inevitable Rise of the Machines?

Submission + - Home Depot Begins Retail Store Pilot Program To Sell MakerBot 3-D Printers

Submitted by ClockEndGooner
ClockEndGooner writes: Looking for a 3-D printer to help you out with a home project or two? If you're in one of the 12 pilot program areas here in the U.S., stop into Home Depot to take a look at and purchase a MakerBot 3-D Replicator printer. "MakerBot printers have been available on Home Depot's website for about a month, and sales have exceeded expectations, said Mr. Pettis. The stores will put up specially-designed kiosks where shoppers can see the machines in 3-D action. Trained MakerBot retail staff will also be on-site for the indefinite future in order to put the machines through their paces."

Submission + - Chinese Hackers Infiltrate Firms Using Malware-Laden Handheld Scanners (securityweek.com) 1

Submitted by wiredmikey
wiredmikey writes: China-based threat actors are using sophisticated malware installed on handheld scanners to target shipping and logistics organizations from all over the world. According to security firm TrapX, the attack begins at a Chinese company that provides hardware and software for handheld scanners used by shipping and logistics firms worldwide to inventory the items they're handling. The Chinese manufacturer installs the malware on the Windows XP operating systems embedded in the devices.

Experts determined that the threat group targets servers storing corporate financial data, customer data and other sensitive information. A second payload downloaded by the malware then establishes a sophisticated C&C on the company's finance servers, enabling the attackers to exfiltrate the information they're after. The malware used by the Zombie Zero attackers is highly sophisticated and polymorphic, the researchers said. In one attack they observed, 16 of the 48 scanners used by the victim were infected, and the malware managed to penetrate the targeted organization's defenses and gain access to servers on the corporate network.

Interestingly, the C&C is located at the Lanxiang Vocational School, an educational institution said to be involved in the Operation Aurora attacks against Google, and which is physically located only one block away from the scanner manufacturer, TrapX said.

Submission + - An Anonymous Cell Pledges to Hack 'New CISPA'-Supporting Lawmakers

Submitted by Jason Koebler
Jason Koebler writes: A group of hackers affiliated with Anonymous vowed to target lawmakers who are championing the new cybersecurity bill currently making its way through the Senate, threatening to dox and hack them and any corporations who support the bill.
An operative with the group says that bill sponsors Dianne Feinstein and Saxby Chambliss are at the top of its list, as are "the NSA, AT&T, IBM, and other corporations who are lobbying for this bill."

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