silgaun - Slashdot User

Submission + - Image of Crashed iPhone in Single-User Mode? (gizmodo.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 24, 2007 @03:03PM

An anonymous reader writes: Someone says they have snapped a photo of the iPhone in single-user mode after an alleged crash. However, what I find interesting is the article itself, which talks about why Apple has to change their strategy and "open" part of the iPhone-flavored Mac OS X up to make it a truly revolutionary product. First, by releasing an official SDK for developers to create insanely great applications, just like with the desktop OS. And second, by making part of it public so security experts can help Apple to make it bullet-proof, like Mac OS X and Darwin.

Submission + - Clippy knows you hate him: "sentiment detectio (upenn.edu)

Submitted by

toby

on Monday July 23, 2007 @01:33PM

toby writes: "The always-eclectic Language Log talks about "user sentiment detection" which guesses when you'd rather Clippy wasn't around:

So I remembered an old trick someone had mentioned to me and asked my friend "Have you tried being rude to him?"

"What do you mean?" she asked me. "How can you be rude to a talking paper clip?"

"Well," I suggested, "try venting your anger at him. Tell him in a few concise words how you feel about him."

... After telling Clippy this, the first item on the list explains how to change the Office Assistant,and the second item explains how to hide or show it.

I wonder how sophisticated the "unhappy user" detection is here in language. And whether it has been appropriately localized.

"

Submission + - iPhone security hole demonstrated (go.com)

Submitted by

Anonymous Coward

on Monday July 23, 2007 @01:13PM

Anonymous Coward writes: "A security company demonstrated a major hole in iPhone's security when they showed how a web site being displayed in Safari can load code when then takes over the iPhone. Contacts, bookmarks and other data may then be sent. The hole is also available via the phone's wireless interface."

Submission + - Computer Hobbyist Switch Careers to Computer Pro? 4

Submitted by on Monday July 23, 2007 @09:56AM

An anonymous reader writes: How viable is it for a computer hobbyist to switch careers into programming or IT, especially when you are middle-aged? I have a physics bachelor degree, and I'm getting close to 40. It looks like you can make more money working with computers (I will cap at about $60K in my current career), and it seems like it would be a lot more interesting work than what I do now. I have a couple of college level programming classes and numerical analysis courses, but I'm mainly self-taught. In my current career I ocassionaly do lightweight IT support, and I have programmed database front-ends (in VB3.0) in the past.

What's the best way to gain entry? How big of an issue would my age be, and are there any sub-fields where it would be less of an issue? Would extra classes or even an associates degree help? What about programming certs (or any kind of cert)?

Submission + - China to use rockets to keep Olympics Dry (go.com)

Submitted by razorfizh on Tuesday July 17, 2007 @02:04PM

razorfizh writes: "The weathermen in Beijing are moving ahead with plans to fire rockets to disperse rain clouds, an experiment aimed at securing more sunshine during the 2008 Olympics. Zheng Guoguang, head of China's Meteorological Administration, said practice drills were ready to begin, the state-run China Daily newspaper reported Tuesday. Zheng said the drills will simulate what will take place when the Olympics begin on Aug. 8, 2008. He said summer provided the last chance for meteorologists to practice under similar weather conditions. Chinese officials have said historical records show there's a 50 percent chance of rain for the opening ceremony — and the same probability of rain during the closing ceremony." What the $%&^ are they thinking? What precidence does this set? No good can ever come from changing weather patterns ....

Submission + - Landmark WTO online gaming case (theregister.com)

Submitted by rocketgoldstar1962 on Tuesday July 17, 2007 @01:02PM

rocketgoldstar1962 writes: The outspoken lead attorney in the ongoing battle between Antigua and the US on cross-border gaming services — which now threatens to unleash an intellectual property battle between the US and its major trading partners — speaks his mind in a wide-ranging interview. Excellent analysis of the legal ramifications of a controversial case about a even more controversial area of the internet.

Submission + - Is IT losing the battle against DNS attacks? (networkworld.com)

Submitted by

coondoggie

on Tuesday July 17, 2007 @12:40PM

coondoggie writes: "Few things can strike fear into the heart of the IT department like an attack on a company's Domain Name System servers. Which may explain why companies are sending so much time and to deploy a complex myriad security measures to keep their DNS protected from malicious attackers. A study released today of 465 IT and business professionals says despite the Sisyphean efforts, many businesses remain vulnerable, as over half the respondents reported having fallen victim to some form of malware attack. Over one third had been hit by a denial-of-service attack while over 44% had experienced either a pharming or cache poisoning attack. Findings showed both external and internal DNS servers were equally vulnerable, as both types succumbed to attacks with roughly the same frequency, according to the study by Mazerov Research and Consulting. A DNS server compromised by a hacker could be used to funnel Web surfers to all sorts of phishing attacks and malicious Web sites and even cause havoc with directory services and e-mail in some cases, according to the father of the technology, Paul Mockapetris in a Network World article earlier this year. http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/17598"

Submission + - Is Your Printer Spying on You?

Submitted by

gnujoshua

on Friday July 13, 2007 @02:57PM

gnujoshua writes: "In 2005, the EFF alerted the world to how laser printers are spying their users by providing tracking information in the form of a unique smattering of barely detectable yellow dots that appear on every printout. Revitalizing this issue, the Computing Counter Culture Group at the MIT Media Labs has launched Seeing Yellow. They provide instructions to see the tracking dots, as well as provide you with a list of clever questions, and appropriate contact information so that you can confront your laser printer manufacturer. Let's act before this issue slips through the cracks again and send the message that manufacturers' must respect our privacy and our right to anonymous free speech."

Submission + - Demanding a free iPhone (freetheiphone.org)

Submitted by Drywall on Friday July 13, 2007 @02:26PM

Drywall writes: Free Press, the organization behind the pro-Net Neutrality site SavetheInternet.com, has a new project: Free the iPhone. That's "free" as in speech, not beer... The aim of the campaign, directed at Congress and the FCC, is to make sure that any company looking for a new slice of the public airwaves adheres to robust "open access" requirements, which would put the kibosh on exclusive deals of the Apple-AT&T sort. It may sound petty, but the future of the Internet is in wireless, so allowing such device freedom could become critical.

Submission + - NASA misspelled shuttle name (starlog.ro)

Submitted by

wolf369T

on Friday July 13, 2007 @02:21PM

wolf369T writes: "NASA apparently misspelled the name of the next shuttle planned for launch from pad 39A of Kennedy Space Center, Local6.com reported. The banner placed in front of the pad said "Go Endeavor", missing the "u" from the correct "Go Endeavour" spelling. They put a man in the moon but they still have some problems with spelling their own shuttles and you wonder if a Mars probe fails now and then...
The issue was fixed after some calls were made. Go Endeavour!"

Submission + - PHP 4 end-of-life announced

Submitted by

GrouchoMarx

on Friday July 13, 2007 @02:19PM

GrouchoMarx writes: "Last week, the GoPHP5 project launched to encourage PHP projects and web hosts to fully embrace PHP 5 and drop legacy support for PHP 4. Now, the PHP development team has announced that they will be dropping all but critical-security support for PHP 4 at the end of the year and completely dropping all support on 08/08/08. Given the groundswell of support GoPHP5 has received, it looks like this will be the final one-two punch to knock out PHP 4 and complete the transition to PHP 5. After three years, it looks like PHP 5's day has finally come."

Submission + - Google Paid Search Screwup? (google.com)

Submitted by

Anonymous Coward

on Friday July 13, 2007 @02:09PM

Anonymous Coward writes: "Today I was initiating a search and hit enter too soon, with just "Linux" as the keyword. I was surprised to see as the top paid search result: Linux www.Sun.com Sun Solaris — The Most Advanced OS On The Planet. Learn Why! Now, I am not a lawyer, but doesn't this constitute trademark dilution? Does Sun really believe this is going to harbor any good will for them in the OSS community?"

Submission + - Net Radio Wins Partial Reprieve (wired.com)

Submitted by Joren on Friday July 13, 2007 @01:15PM

Joren writes: Wired News is reporting that Internet radio broadcasters have won a temporary reprieve from the new rates, although apparently the details are still being worked out. Updates will be posted here.

A coalition of webcasters have worked out a deal with the recording industry that could temporarily stave off a portion of crippling net radio royalties set to take effect Sunday, according to people familiar with the negotiations. [...] For now, the parties involved in what's described as ongoing negotiations have agreed to waive at least temporarily the minimum charge of $6,000 per channel required under a scheme created by the Copyright Royalty Board, or CRB. The deal, brokered late Thursday, is not final and could change. One person involved in the talks described the situation as a reprieve, and said that "internet radio won't be saved until a workable royalty rate is set."

Submission + - Reprieve for Internet Radio (wired.com)

Submitted by Bourbon Man on Friday July 13, 2007 @12:54PM

Bourbon Man writes: At today's Congressional hearing about the new rates for online radio that would essentially destroy it, SoundExchange, which was scheduled to receive the new royalty payments on Monday morning made a startling statement.

The SoundExchange executive [Jon Simson, executive director] promised — in front of Congress — that SoundExchange will not enforce the new royalty rates. Webcasters will stay online, as new rates are hammered out.

Submission + - SD/MMC source code FREE for PICmicro

Submitted by

emcelettronica

on Friday July 13, 2007 @12:47PM

emcelettronica writes: "The MMC/SD memory cards have several communication protocols (some of which are optional), particularly the SD (Secure Digital) memories always support the SPI protocol. To speak with a SD memory, the controller have to send a command, that is always followed by a response from the card... Download source code at http://www.ftpmicro.com/index_en.html#SD.c"

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