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Submission + - Hackers Steal Data On 4.5 Million US Hospital Patients (itworld.com)

itwbennett writes: Community Health Systems said the attack occurred in April and June of this year, but it wasn't until July that it determined the theft had taken place. Working with a computer security company, it determined the attack was carried out by a group based in China that used 'highly sophisticated malware' to attack its systems. The hackers got away with patient names, addresses, birthdates, telephone numbers and Social Security numbers of the 4.5 million people who were referred to or received services from doctors affiliated with the company in the last five years. The stolen data did not include patient credit card, medical or clinical information.
Media

Lack of Manpower May Kill VLC For Mac 398

plasmacutter writes "The Video Lan dev team has recently come forward with a notice that the number of active developers for the project's MacOS X releases has dropped to zero, prompting a halt in the release schedule. There is now a disturbing possibility that support for Mac will be dropped as of 1.1.0. As the most versatile and user-friendly solution for bridging the video compatibility gap between OS X and windows, this will be a terrible loss for the Mac community. There is still hope, however, if the right volunteers come forward."
Media

Submission + - Largest prehistoric snake on record discovered in (physorg.com)

minimen writes: Scientists have recovered fossils of a 60-million-year-old South American snake. Named Titanoboa cerrejonensis by its discoverers, the size of the snake's vertebrae suggest it weighed 1140 kg (2,500 pounds) and measured 13 meters (42.7 feet) nose to tail tip. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the longest snake ever measured was 10 meters (33 feet) in length. The heaviest snake, a python, weighed 183 kilograms (403 pounds).
Announcements

Submission + - Fossil Remains Show Snake Was 42 Feet Long

An anonymous reader writes: Titanoboa, an ancient snake that lived in the rain forest of Columbia nearly 60 million years ago was once 42 feet long — the length of a bus. The snake weighing more than a ton, greatly outweighs any snake on our Earth toady with Anaconda's reaching only 550lbs. The fossilized remains were flown to the University of Florida for analysis by Jonathon Bloch, an expert in prehistoric vertebrates. "I just about screamed. It was about as wide as a man's hand. The vertebra of a 17ft-long anaconda is only slightly more than an inch wide'.
Social Networks

Researcher Says Social Networks Link Terrorists 212

An anonymous reader writes "At the International Conference on Cyber Security 2009 in New York, Evan Kohlmann, a senior investigator and private consultant for Global Terror Alert, claimed that a new breed of terrorists are using online forums to recruit people who align themselves with the mission of Al Qaeda, creating global networks of would-be terrorists."
Earth

Submission + - Scientists Build Neonatal Incubator from Car Parts

Peace Corps Online writes: "Madeline Drexler reported an interesting story earlier this month in the NY Times about a group of scientists who have built a neonatal incubator out of automobile parts including a pair of headlights as a heat source, a car door alarm to signal emergencies, and an auto air filter and fan to provide climate control. The creators of the car parts incubator — a project being promoted by the Global Health Initiative at the Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology say an incubator found in neonatal intensive care units in the United States costs about $40,000 or more, but the incubator that they have developed can be built for less than $1,000. One expert says as many as 1.8 million infants might be spared every year if they could spend just a week in the units, which help babies who are born early or at low birth weights regulate their body temperature until their organs fully develop. "It's so frustrating to see these preventable deaths," says Dr. Kristian Olson. "They won't name babies in Aceh, Indonesia, until they're two months old. It's a cultural adaptation to expect a death." Experts say in developing countries where infant mortality is most common, high-tech machines donated by richer nations often conk out when the electricity fizzles or is restricted to conserve power. "The future medical technologists in the developing world," says Robert Malkin, director of Engineering World Health, "are the current car mechanics, HVAC repairmen, bicycle shop repairmen. There is no other good source of technology-savvy individuals to take up the future of medical device repair and maintenance.""
Image

Nobel Winner Says Internet Might Have Stopped Hitler 290

There can be little doubt that the internet has changed everyday life for the better, but Nobel literature prize winner Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio has upped the ante by saying an earlier introduction of information technology could even have prevented World War II. "Who knows, if the Internet had existed at the time, perhaps Hitler's criminal plot would not have succeeded — ridicule might have prevented it from ever seeing the light of day," he said. I have to agree with him. If England had been able to send a "Stop Hitler Now!" petition to 10 friendly countries, those countries could have each sent it to 10 more friendly countries before the invasion of Poland, and one of history's greatest tragedies might have been averted.
Communications

Submission + - Verizon Wireless to buy Alltel for $28B (computerworld.com)

CWmike writes: "Matt Hamblen reports that Verizon Wireless has officially announced an agreement to purchase Alltel for $28.1 billion, which would make the new company the largest wireless carrier in the U.S. with 80 million subscribers. The deal will undoubtedly provoke scrutiny by the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice, they acknowledge. Who loses? 'This [deal] is another nail in the coffin for Sprint," said Michael Voellinger, an analyst at Telwares in Parsippany, N.J. 'Alltel is a highly valuable and strategic roaming partner to the top four providers, and this acquisition would put long-term pressure on pricing and terms of those arrangements.'"
First Person Shooters (Games)

Submission + - Jack Thompson sues for Omaha shooter videogames (ketv.com)

KlomDark writes: "Omaha's KETV reports that our "good buddy" Jack Thompson is suing Omaha's police chief in connection with the Von Maur shootings. Attorney Jack Thompson said he wants to find out whether Robert Hawkins, 19, played any violent video games. Hawkins shot eight people to death, then killed himself at Von Maur on Dec. 5.

Well, he definitely played the ultimate first person shooter."

Movies

Submission + - Matt Groening On Futurama and Simpsons Movie

keenada writes: "Though The Simpsons has declined in popularity in recent years, it still has a cult and popular following worldwide. Matt Groening (rhymes with raining) sits down with Crave to discuss his new movie, and the future of Futurama."
Music

Submission + - RIAA Announces New Campus Lawsuit Strategy

An anonymous reader writes: The RIAA is once again revising their lawsuit strategy, and will now be sending college students and others "pre-lawsuit letters." People will now be able to settle for a discount. How nice.
PC Games (Games)

Submission + - Windows Vista Gaming Performance Revealed

GamingGary writes: "So should gamers run right out and get a copy of Vista today? Apparently not, according this article from PC Perspective. With quotes like "very obviously let down by the Windows Vista gaming experience" and "NVIDIA's Forceware 100.54 driver on the other hand was more or less a mess" you can get the idea on how it went. Of the two GPU companies, AMD had the most stable and "XP-like-performance" driver while NVIDIA's driver was only able to keep up with Windows XP performance in a single game. For an OS that was in development for so long, these results have got to be disappointing."
Space

Submission + - Hubble Camera Lost 'For Good'

Moby Cock writes: The Hubble Space Telescope is flying partly blind across the heavens, the result of a short circuit on Saturday in its most popular instrument, the Advanced Camera for Surveys. NASA engineers reported Monday that most of the camera's capabilities, including the ability to take the sort of deep cosmic postcards that have inspired the public and to track the mysterious dark energy splitting the universe to the ends of time, had probably been lost for good.
IBM

Submission + - IBM's Transistor Data Revealed

Atryn writes: After last week's story about Intel and IBM both announcing breakthroughs in chip design enabling continued adherence to Moore's Law, many folks wondered how and why both companies announcements came out simultaneously. Well, The Register has something to say about that. And to top it off, they also are releasing a leaked copy of IBM's future research documentation.

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