Comment Re:Why It Takes an Extra Minute (Score 1) 271
Wait, did you just call your mom a fictitious character?
Submission + - Some command line tools unique to OS X (googlepages.com)
ORBAT writes: "OS X (Darwin) contains several tools that aren't included in any other UN*X operating system, and some of them are actually a lot more useful than their GUI counterparts. This list is not intended to be a complete list of unique command line tools, but just a collection I've found useful or interesting."
Submission + - CNN Slams Apple For Trialware
gbulmash writes: "When you think of computers that have been overloaded with unwanted trialware and demo programs to try to improve the manufacturer's margins, who do you think of? CNN apparently thinks of Apple. In a video story on how to avoid excessive amounts of trialware on your new PC, they displayed 25 seconds (from 2:07 to 2:32) of footage of an Apple store while their expert described how stores will charge you up to $130 to remove trialware and optimize the machine you just bought. Is this fair, or does CNN owe Apple an apology?"
Evidence of Steganography in Real Criminal Cases 231
ancientribe writes "Researchers at Purdue University have found proof that criminals are making use of steganography in the field. Steganography is the stealth technique of hiding text or images within image files. Experts say that the wide availability of free point-and-click steganography tools is making the method of hiding illicit images and text easier to use. Not everyone is convinced; some security experts such as Bruce Schneier have dismissed steganography as too complex and conspicuous for the bad guys to bother using, especially for inside corporate espionage: 'It doesn't make sense that someone selling out the company can't just leave with a USB.'"
Submission + - truthout blocked by AOL/Hotmail (truthout.org) 1
dolo724 writes: Subscribers to Truthout.org are finding their newsletters sent to the trash by some pretty popular ISPs. Who's in charge now?
From the article: "Currently, AOL- and Microsoft-related email providers, including Hotmail, are preventing delivery of a range of Truthout communications to thousands of our subscribers. Such communications include Truthout's regular newsletters and notifications to our subscribers from individual workstations of Truthout administrators informing those subscribers that they are affected."
Submission + - Bottle makes dirty water drinkable in seconds
Gary writes: "After seeing the pathetic conditions of the Tsunami 2004 refugees and the Hurricane Katrina victims crave for fresh water, Michael Pritchard, an Ipswich-based businessman has invented a £190 ($ 385) bottle that makes 'foul-smelling water drinkable in seconds.' The bottle dubbed Life Saver was shown at the DESI defense show in London and the military has already shown their interest in it. The bottles can distill either 4000 liters or 6000 liters of water without changing the filter. The bottle has also been voted "Best Technological Development" at the Soldier Technology conference."
Submission + - Windows Updates without users' permission/knowledg (microsoft-watch.com) 1
javipas writes: "A recent discovery on Windows Secrets and Microsoft Watch has revealed a new tactic used by Microsoft. The Windows Update component acts even when automatic updates are turned off, and without users' knowledge or permission. The study's conclusion: though the programs updated do not pose a risk for users, Microsoft behaviour shows a potential danger for IT professionals. But this is not the important fact. What about users rights? Windows' EULA doesn't reflect this, but Windows Update Privacy Statement gives explicit permission to such tasks."
Submission + - Science vs. Homeopathy (arstechnica.com)
Mr. E writes: "Ars Technica has an interesting look at pseudoscience as it applies to homeopathy. While most discussions about what science is get derailed by the larger controversies surrounding them, Ars chose a relatively uncontroversial pseudo-science to examine so that they could examine the factors which make homeopathy a psuedo-science: ignoring settled issues in science, misapplication of real science, rejection of scientific standards, claims of suppression, large gaps between the conclusion and evidence, and focusing only on the fringes of what we currently understand."
Submission + - QNX Publishes Neutrino Source Code
entrigant writes: QNX has announced that they are opening the code and development process for Neutrino. From the press release:
"In a move that revolutionizes software development practices by combining the best of the open source and commercial software domains, QNX Software Systems today announced that it is opening access to the source code of its QNX® Neutrino® realtime operating system (RTOS) under a new hybrid software licensing arrangement."
"In a move that revolutionizes software development practices by combining the best of the open source and commercial software domains, QNX Software Systems today announced that it is opening access to the source code of its QNX® Neutrino® realtime operating system (RTOS) under a new hybrid software licensing arrangement."
Submission + - PCWorld refuse hardware repair due to Linux. 10
Tikka writes: "Today I visit PC World (London, UK) because my 5 months old laptop has developed a manufacturing fault, the hinge to the display has started to crack the plastic casing.
Anyone in the know, will know that this is due to the joint inside and this means that ultimately the screen will separate from the keyboard in time.
Repair was refused, because I have Gentoo Linux on my laptop — Replacing the Windows Vista that was pre-installed.
PC World have said that this has void my warranty and there is nothing they will do for me, I spoke to a manager who said that he has been told to refuse any repairs if the operating system has been changed.
I feel this has really gone against my statutory rights and will do everything I can to fight it, I will review comments for your advice."
Anyone in the know, will know that this is due to the joint inside and this means that ultimately the screen will separate from the keyboard in time.
Repair was refused, because I have Gentoo Linux on my laptop — Replacing the Windows Vista that was pre-installed.
PC World have said that this has void my warranty and there is nothing they will do for me, I spoke to a manager who said that he has been told to refuse any repairs if the operating system has been changed.
I feel this has really gone against my statutory rights and will do everything I can to fight it, I will review comments for your advice."
Submission + - Microsoft gets company's code-signing cert revoked
Beryllium Sphere(tm) writes: Australian firm Linchpin Labs released a free tool called Atsiv on July 20 to allow 64-bit Vista users to install unsigned drivers.
It was a simple hack: a signed driver that could install other drivers without checking their signatures.
By August 2, Microsoft had persuaded Verisign to revoke Linchpin's code signing certificate. The revocation takes effect the next time a computer is rebooted.
Scott Field of Microsoft said "Microsoft is committed to protecting its customers from potential as well as actual security threads[sic]".
History buffs may remember a similar incident from 1997 in which the author of an ActiveX control to shut down a computer found his certificate revoked.
Lockergnome coverage of the Linchpin Labs story.
Microsoft announcement of revoking Linchpin's certificate and adding them to the blacklist in Windows Defender as "potentially unwanted software".
It was a simple hack: a signed driver that could install other drivers without checking their signatures.
By August 2, Microsoft had persuaded Verisign to revoke Linchpin's code signing certificate. The revocation takes effect the next time a computer is rebooted.
Scott Field of Microsoft said "Microsoft is committed to protecting its customers from potential as well as actual security threads[sic]".
History buffs may remember a similar incident from 1997 in which the author of an ActiveX control to shut down a computer found his certificate revoked.
Lockergnome coverage of the Linchpin Labs story.
Microsoft announcement of revoking Linchpin's certificate and adding them to the blacklist in Windows Defender as "potentially unwanted software".
Submission + - Pentagon Confirms It Sought To Build A 'Gay Bomb' (cbs5.com)
mikesd81 writes: "CBS has an article that states a Berkeley watchdog organization that tracks military spending said it uncovered a strange U.S. military proposal to create a hormone bomb that could purportedly turn enemy soldiers into homosexuals and make them more interested in sex than fighting.
Apparently, Pentagon officials on Friday confirmed to CBS 5 that military leaders had considered, and then subsquently rejected, building the so-called "Gay Bomb." Edward Hammond, of Berkeley's Sunshine Project, had used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain a copy of the proposal from the Air Force's Wright Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio.
As part of a military effort to develop non-lethal weapons, the proposal suggested, "One distasteful but completely non-lethal example would be strong aphrodisiacs, especially if the chemical also caused homosexual behavior."
The Air Force wanted 7.5 million dollars to develop this weapon, nicknamed The Gay Bomb. The Ohio Air Force lab proposed that a bomb be developed that contained a chemical that would cause enemy soldiers to become gay, and to have their units break down because all their soldiers became irresistably attractive to one another," Hammond said after reviewing the documents. "The notion was that a chemical that would probably be pleasant in the human body in low quantities could be identified, and by virtue of either breathing or having their skin exposed to this chemical, the notion was that soldiers would become gay," explained Hammond. The DOD says the idea was quickly dismissed, however Hammond said the government records he obtained suggest the military gave the plan much stronger consideration than it has acknowledged. "In fact," he says, "the Pentagon has used it repeatedly and subsequently in an effort to promote non-lethal weapons, and in fact they submitted it to the highest scientific review body in the country for them to consider.""
Apparently, Pentagon officials on Friday confirmed to CBS 5 that military leaders had considered, and then subsquently rejected, building the so-called "Gay Bomb." Edward Hammond, of Berkeley's Sunshine Project, had used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain a copy of the proposal from the Air Force's Wright Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio.
As part of a military effort to develop non-lethal weapons, the proposal suggested, "One distasteful but completely non-lethal example would be strong aphrodisiacs, especially if the chemical also caused homosexual behavior."
The Air Force wanted 7.5 million dollars to develop this weapon, nicknamed The Gay Bomb. The Ohio Air Force lab proposed that a bomb be developed that contained a chemical that would cause enemy soldiers to become gay, and to have their units break down because all their soldiers became irresistably attractive to one another," Hammond said after reviewing the documents. "The notion was that a chemical that would probably be pleasant in the human body in low quantities could be identified, and by virtue of either breathing or having their skin exposed to this chemical, the notion was that soldiers would become gay," explained Hammond. The DOD says the idea was quickly dismissed, however Hammond said the government records he obtained suggest the military gave the plan much stronger consideration than it has acknowledged. "In fact," he says, "the Pentagon has used it repeatedly and subsequently in an effort to promote non-lethal weapons, and in fact they submitted it to the highest scientific review body in the country for them to consider.""
