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Communications

Submission + - How do you securely change your e-nationality?

Submitted by DigitAl56K
DigitAl56K writes: Being a foreigner in the US has its ups and downs. One of the downs I face stems from the music industry's obsession with territory restrictions. Not only am I unable to purchase certain UK releases online despite being able to import CDs, but I also can't listen to most of the webcasting radio stations near my home because they've had to implement IP->Geo lockouts. This leads to a cultural disconnect for me that the Internet really ought to solve. If you've ever graced the forums of an online music store you have likely seen dozens of users around the globe with similar complaints, and in general the only solution is to find an open proxy in another country to bypass the artificial barriers.

Unfortunately many open proxies are not intended for medium-high bandwidth applications, and may be unknowing victims of malware designed to sniff and steal information. Are there any reputable secure and/or trustworthy commercial proxy/tunneling services designed to provide end-points in specific countries?
Social Networks

Submission + - MO City Makes OnLine Harassment a Misdemeanor (techluver.com)

Submitted by
Tech.Luver
Tech.Luver writes: "DARDENNE PRAIRIE, Missouri — For nearly a year, the families living along Waterford Crystal Drive in this bedroom community northwest of St. Louis kept the secret about the boy Megan Meyer met in September 2006 on the social-networking site MySpace.He called himself Josh Evans, and he and Meier, 13, struck up an online friendship that lasted for weeks. The boy then abruptly turned on Meier and ended it. Meier, who previously battled depression, committed suicide that night. The secret was revealed six weeks later: Neighbor mother Lori Drew had pretended to be 16-year-old "Josh" to gain the trust of Meier, who had been fighting with Drew's daughter, according to police records and Meier's parents. On Wednesday, Nov 21, City officials unanimously passed a measure making online harassment a crime, days after learning that a 13-year-old girl killed herself last year after receiving cruel messages on the Internet. The six-member Board of Aldermen made Internet harassment a misdemeanor, punishable by up to a $500 fine and 90 days in jail. Mayor Pam Fogarty said the city had proposed the measure after learning about Megan Meier's death. ( http://techluver.com/2007/11/25/missouri-city-makes-internet-harassment-a-misdemeanor-in-wake-of-13-year-olds-suicide/ )"
Security

Submission + - How Can I Make A Secure Phone Call?

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: It is becoming increasingly difficult to convince myself that I should continue walking around while wearing a mobile tracking device and a mobile audio bug. That said, I'd like to be able to use the phone, and I'd occasionally like to be able to use it in places that aren't my home. Is this possible to do securely? The best thing that I can think of is to somehow run zfone on a mobile wifi handset. Or perhaps on a smartphone with the SIM card removed? Is this possible? Has anyone had any success with this, or have any recommendations on ways to make mobile secure calls and avoid being tracked?
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - Dollar hits new depths (reuters.com)

Submitted by Thanshin
Thanshin writes: The dollar's ongoing decline, however, was in full focus. It fell to an all time low against a basket of six major currencies (.DXY: Quote, Profile, Research), essentially its weakest position globally since the modern currency regime began in the early 1970s.
Social Networks

Submission + - Adults MySpace Hoax Leads to 13-year-old's Suicide (freedomsforums.com)

Submitted by
mastershake_phd
mastershake_phd writes: ""Megan Meier thought she had made a new friend in cyberspace when a cute teenage boy named Josh contacted her on MySpace and began exchanging messages with her.

Megan, a 13-year-old who suffered from depression and attention deficit disorder, corresponded with Josh for more than a month before he abruptly ended their friendship, telling her he had heard she was cruel.

The next day Megan committed suicide. Her family learned later that Josh never actually existed; he was created by members of a neighborhood family that included a former friend of Megan's.

Now Megan's parents hope the people who made the fraudulent profile on the social networking Web site will be prosecuted, and they are seeking legal changes to safeguard children on the Internet."

Of course now it's time to pass some new laws so this never happens again:

"Aldermen in Dardenne Prairie, a community of about 7,000 residents about 35 miles from St. Louis, have proposed a new ordinance related to child endangerment and Internet harassment. It could come before city leaders on Wednesday.

``Is this enough?'' Mayor Pam Fogarty said Friday. ``No, not by any stretch of the imagination, but it's something, and you have to start somewhere.''"

http://pantagraph.com/articles/2007/11/18/news/doc473fc248dd00f015626501.txt"
Space

Submission + - Astronomer challenges portion of Big Bang Theory

Submitted by bulled
bulled writes: Wired is running a story about Gerrit Verschuur, an astronomer in Tennessee, who is challenging that pictures of the universe taken in 1992 showed the seeds of the galaxy. Vershuur claims that these seeds are closer than previously thought and are just unmapped clouds of neutral hydrogen.
The Military

Journal SPAM: Chinese sub pops up in middle of U.S. Navy exercise 20

Journal by Jeremiah Cornelius

One Nato figure said the effect was "as big a shock as the Russians launching Sputnik." American military chiefs have been left dumbstruck by an undetected Chinese submarine popping up at the heart of a recent Pacific exercise and close to the vast U.S.S. Kitty Hawk. By the time it surfaced the 160ft Song Class diesel-electric attack submarine sailed within viable range fo
Games

Submission + - Political PC game gets retail release (democracygame.com)

Submitted by
cliffski
cliffski writes: "Discussions about games and politics are nothing new, but games actually about politics are. Thankfully the popular turn based politics sim 'Democracy' just got a retail release. Democracy has been sold on-line for a few years and a sequel is in the works, but this is the first time the game has hit US stores. Unlike most 'election games', Democracy has always been about the nuts and bolts of running the country (similar to the on-line game 'NationStates', rather than taking the more cynical approach of other games which concentrate entirely on the electoral process. A niche game built on a neural network, assuming a highly educated and literate audience, this is an example of the kind of game you will only see released on the PC platform."
Censorship

Submission + - School shooting takes place in Finland 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Finland has today been following a shooting incident in a school in Tuusula, near the capital city of Helsinki. This has been the first serious shooting incident in a school in Finland. What makes the incident different from other similar cases is that the suspected shooter wrote about his intentions on the Internet on several sites and forums. For example Youtube had a video posted by the user Sturmgeist89 yesterday titled "Joke High School Massacre — 11/7/2007". Reportedly eight have died, and the shooter is in intensive care after attempting to shoot himself.
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - Apple makes $831 on each iPhone 3

Submitted by
Ponca City, We Love You
Ponca City, We Love You writes: "The New York Times reports that Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray, has studied Apple's financial statement and come to the conclusion that AT&T appears to be paying Apple $18 a month, on average, for each iPhone activated on its network or up to $432 over a two year contract. This shows how much incentive Apple has to maintain its exclusive deal with AT&T rather than to sell unlocked phones or cut deals with multiple carriers. Last week Apple disclosed that 250,000 iPhones had been purchased but not registered with ATT that Apple thinks are being unlocked so Apple has now taken action to curb unauthorized resellers by limiting sales of the iPhone to two per customer and requiring that purchases must now be made with a credit or debit card — cash will not be accepted. The original story on what was happening to the unlocked phones was discussed on Slashdot."
Space

Submission + - Origin of cosmic rays explained ?

Submitted by cats-paw
cats-paw writes: Cosmic rays are, well, cosmic, and their origin is something of amystery. Using measurements of the variability in X-ray emissions from a supernova, astronomers think they are very close to understanding how they are created.

Summary on NASA website

Abstract of the article in Nature

The key to the discovery seems to be an accurate measurement of the magnetic field of an object a few thousand light years away. Easy ! Wonder what took so long ?
Censorship

Submission + - Poll Finds Support for Internet Regulation (techliberation.com) 1

Submitted by Brian Gordon
Brian Gordon writes: Digital rights activist Adam Thierer has a blog post giving his insights on a recent poll from 463 Communications finding that more than half of Americans believe that Internet content such as video should be controlled in some way by the government. From the poll, "Twenty-nine percent said it should be regulated just like television content while 24% said government should institute an online rating system similar to the one used by the movie industry. In contrast, only 36% said the blocking of Internet video would be unconstitutional."
United States

Submission + - Half of Americans Believe in ESP 1

Submitted by ekimd
ekimd writes: A new poll by AP-Ipsos finds that nearly half of Americans believe in ESP. Also interesting is that 19% believe in spells and witchcraft, and nearly one third believe in ghosts and UFOs. 14% claim to have actually seen a UFO. Do you think these figures would differ much in other nations?

The poll was conducted Oct 16-18, involved 1,1013 adults and has a sampling error of +/- 3.1%.
Censorship

Submission + - "Don't tase me bro" police cleared

Submitted by Fozzyuw
Fozzyuw writes: WFTV.com's website has news on the University of Florida police involved in the Andrew Meyer tasering have been cleared of using excessive force. It also includes a link to the full report, which shares details of the incident and events leading up to the incident.

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