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Security

Submission + - Apple asks security experts to examine OS X Lion (edibleapple.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: For as much as Mac OS X has a reputation for being safer than Windows, security researchers won’t hesitate to point out that the opposite is, in fact, true. But Apple's looking to change that.

This past Thursday, Apple doled out a beta of OS X Lion to developers. In conjunction with that, Apple is also reaching out to noted security experts and offering them free previews of OS X 10.7 so that they can take a look at Apple’s new security measures and reach back to Apple with any thoughts and concerns they might have. Indeed, Apple is becoming a lot more security conscious these days, not only in terms of reaching out to security researchers but also in its personnel hires.
Medicine

Submission + - Skin-cell Gun helps heal burns in days instead of (geek.com)

Submitted by 4phun
4phun writes: Feb. 5, 2011 — What looks like a contraption out of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the Skin-cell Gun is more like an airbrush gun that holds healthy stem cells that were donated from a burn victim’s own healthy skin. Using the device, these healthy stem cells are sprayed onto the burned area of a patient’s body and what happens next is truly amazing. Instead of a burn wound that normally takes weeks to heal, the same wound can be cured in as little as a few days.

Comment This is a great idea. (Score 1) 1

by kinabrew (#35049146) Attached to: NH may adopt approval voting

This would have a significant moderating effect, making it more likely that the candidate most people were okay with would win(as opposed to the current system where the person that the most people think is "electable" wins).

It would also have a majorly detrimental effect for the Republicans and the Democrats, and would drastically increase the possibility of third-party candidates winning. I am surprised it would be supported by anyone from the two main parties.

Submission + - NH may adopt approval voting (state.nh.us) 1

Submitted by Okian Warrior
Okian Warrior writes: The people at FreeKeene report:

Four Republican state representatives have sponsored a bill that would replace first-past-the-post voting with approval voting for all state offices and presidential primaries.

Under this system, voters would select every candidate they approve of (regardless of party), and the candidate with the highest overall vote total wins. This reduces strategic voting, and would often make elections easier for moderate and libertarian candidates.

The bill, HB240, will have a public hearing Tuesday, February 1st, with the House Election Law committee.

You can view specifics of the bill here.
The Internet

Comcast-NBC Merger Approved By FCC 268

Posted by timothy from the gov't-power-concentration-is-fine-though dept.
AndyAndyAndyAndy writes "It seems that the FCC has approved the proposed merger between Comcast and NBC, effectively kicking apart hopes for protection against 'pipes and their water' frameworks. Pres. Obama's 2008 goal also goes ignored: 'I strongly favor diversity of ownership of outlets and protection against the excessive concentration of power in the hands of any one corporation, interest or small group.' The Dept. of Justice is also onboard, leaving little hope that this will be stopped."
Microsoft

Submission + - Australia mandates Microsoft's Open Office XML (itnews.com.au)

Submitted by littlekorea
littlekorea writes: The Australian Government has released a common operating environment desktop policy that — among security controls aimed at reducing the potential for leaks of Government data — mandates the ECMA-376 version of Microsoft's Office Open XML (OOXML) standard and productivity suites that can "read and write" the .docx format, effectively locking the country's public servants into using Microsoft Office. The policy [pdf] also appears to limit desktop operating systems to large, off-the-shelf commercial offerings at the expense of smaller distributions.
Facebook

Goldman Sachs Says No Facebook Shares For US Investors 529

Posted by Soulskill from the good-thing-they-aren't-covered-in-gravy-or-there-would-be-war dept.
theodp writes "In 2009, Robert Cringely speculated that the day might be coming when Goldman Sachs decides the United States isn't worth dealing with anymore. Crazy, eh? Maybe not. Blaming 'intense media attention,' Goldman Sachs has decided to exclude US investors from a $1.5 billion Facebook offering. In a nicely-timed all-investors-are-not-created-equal MLK Day statement, the US taxpayer bailout beneficiary said, 'Goldman Sachs decided to proceed only with the offer to investors outside the US....We regret the consequences of this decision, but Goldman Sachs believes this is the most prudent path to take.'"
Education

New Study Links Video Games and Mental Problems 306

Posted by CmdrTaco from the think-of-the-children dept.
eldavojohn writes "A new study published today in Pediatrics Journal conducted in Singapore on three thousand children in grades third, fourth, seventh and eighth claims that one in ten are video game addicts and almost all of those suffer mental health problems. This comes conveniently after the suspect in the Tucson shooting has widely been reported as an online gamer. Among the accusations from the study are that playing video games leads to lower school performance and fewer social skills while exacerbating existing depression, anxiety and social phobias. Gamasutra reports that the Entertainment Software Alliance is already criticizing this study, saying, 'Its definition of "pathological gaming" is neither scientifically nor medically accepted and the type of measure used has been criticized by other scholars. Other outcomes are also measured using dubious instruments when well-validated tools are readily available. In addition, because the effect sizes of the outcomes are mainly trivial, it leaves open the possibility the author is simply interpreting things as negatively as possible.' It seems that the doctors are still disagreeing on whether or not gaming causes problems."
Government

Submission + - End of Free Internet: Senate Committee Approved (activistpost.com) 1

Submitted by Ninpo
Ninpo writes: Today the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act was unanimously approved by the US Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday with a 19-0 vote. The COICA has been overwhelmingly viewed by bloggers as a corporate hijacking of the Internet by mega-media cartels. Indeed, its eventual passage will be the end of the free Internet as we now it.

Comment Re:Hours (Score 0) 997

by kinabrew (#34873112) Attached to: Are 10-11 Hour Programming Days Feasible?

Really the question should be to yourself, and it should be exactly the same question that your boss is asking you: Are you the right person for this job?

It's not my concern to find the right employee for my employer. It is the responsibility of the employee to satisfactorily do what is asked of them(provided that what is asked is both possible and reasonable given the job's listed job requirements and pay), and it is the responsibility of the employer to make sure that employment is mutually beneficial. Employers make money by keeping some percentage of the productivity of their employees, and they do have a responsibility to create a positive work environment for said employees.

If an employer creates a hostile work environment, and especially if an employer does things like try to take away employees' personal time(off the clock), it is completely unreasonable to expect said employees to consider said employer's position ahead of their own.

tl;dr: I do my job well and treat employers well. I deserve the same treatment from them, and if they're not willing to treat me well, I'm not willing to be their employee.

Comment Re:Bye-bye! (Score 5, Insightful) 997

by kinabrew (#34872690) Attached to: Are 10-11 Hour Programming Days Feasible?

What *will* happen is that those who can get better jobs(the best workers) will, and the people who will be left will be the worst and least-qualified workers.

If the management are thinking up brilliant ideas like this, it would be a good idea to get your résumé to as many other potential employers as possible.
Government

Submission + - Jerry Brown Confiscates 48,000 Cell Phones

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens
Hugh Pickens writes: "The Sacramento Bee reports that California Governor Jerry Brown, in his first executive order since taking office, has ordered the collection and return of 48,000 state government-paid cell phones — half of those now in use - by June 1. "It is difficult for me to believe that 40 percent of all state employees must be equipped with taxpayer-funded cell phones," says Brown in a written statement. "Some state employees, including department and agency executives who are required to be in touch 24 hours a day and seven days a week, may need cell phones, but the current number of phones out there is astounding." Brown's cell phone order directs state agency and department heads to retrieve the cell phones and the governor says he plans to continue reducing cell phone usage in months ahead. "In the face of a multi-billion dollar budget deficit, a cell phone may not seem like a big expense," adds Brown. "But spending $20 million, and perhaps far more than that, on cell phones can't be justified.""
Privacy

Submission + - Obama Eyes Internet ID for All Americans

Submitted by avtchillsboro
avtchillsboro writes: Newsmax and CBS are both carrying a story that the Obama administration is proposing that the Commerce Department create Internet IDs for all Americans. From the CBS article, "The announcement came at an event today at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, where U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and Schmidt spoke...."We are not talking about a national ID card," Locke said at the Stanford event. "We are not talking about a government-controlled system. What we are talking about is enhancing online security and privacy, and reducing and perhaps even eliminating the need to memorize a dozen passwords, through creation and use of more trusted digital identities. The Commerce Department will be setting up a national program office to work on this project, Locke said. Details about the "trusted identity" project are remarkably scarce. " " ...umm...details--TBA
Google

Google Wins Injunction Against Agency Using Microsoft Cloud 187

Posted by samzenpus from the knocked-out-of-the-sky dept.
jfruhlinger writes "A judge has granted an injunction stopping the US Department of the Interior from moving forward with the adoption of Microsoft's cloud services. The injunction was sought by Google, which of course has its own suite of cloud offerings. Google claimed that the Interior Dept. failed to consider other options as required."
Science

Submission + - Hypersonic Radio Black-Out Problem Solved (technologyreview.com)

Submitted by KentuckyFC
KentuckyFC writes: Russian physicists have come up with a new way to communicate with hypersonic vehicles surrounded by a sheath of plasma. Ordinarily, this plasma absorbs and reflects radio waves at communications frequencies leading to a few tense minutes during the re-entry of manned vehicles such as the shuttle. However, the problem is even more acute for military vehicles such as ballistic missiles and hypersonic planes. Radio black out prevents these vehicles from accessing GPS signals for navigation and does not allow them to be re-targeted or disarmed at the last minute. But a group of Russian physicists say they can get around this problem by turning the entire plasma sheath into a radio antenna. They point out that any incoming signal is both reflected and absorbed by the plasma. The reflected signal is lost but the absorbed energy sets up a resonating electric field at a certain depth within the plasma. In effect, this layer within the plasma acts like a radio antenna, receiving the signal. However, the signal cannot travel further through the plasma to the spacecraft. Their new idea is to zap this layer with radio waves generated from within the spacecraft. These waves will be both absorbed by the plasma and reflected back inside the spacecraft. However, the key point is that the reflected waves ought to be modulated by any changes in the electric field within the plasma. In other words, the reflected waves should carry a kind of imprint of the original external radio signal. That would allow the craft to receive external signals from GPs satellites or ground control. And the same process in reverse allows the spacecraft to broadcast signals too.

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