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Editorial

Submission + - MySpace photo sagas continue

Submitted by gwoodrow
gwoodrow writes: We've all heard the "fired because of myspace" issues, where a simple blog or picture gets someone canned. But even as it's getting worse, the targets are fighting back:

"Teacher in training Stacy Snyder was denied her education degree on the eve of graduation when Millersville University apparently found pictures on her MySpace page 'promoting underage drinking.' As a result, the 27-year-old mother of two had her teaching certificate withheld and was granted an English degree instead. In response, Snyder has filed a Federal lawsuit against the Pennsylvania university asking for her education diploma and certificate along with $75,000 in damages."

The offending picture? A picture from halloween 2005 of Stacy in a pirate outfit drinking from a cup.
First Person Shooters (Games)

Submission + - Map your School

Submitted by
dzafez
dzafez writes: "In Response to the Slashdot article covering a Student getting kicked off of his
regular school (http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/05/02/1 839251:

Even though, I don't ever play games anymore, I think this map should be published.
I would even go further, hell kids pick some good anon nicks with a anon e-mail address
and start sending me maps of your schools. I will host them on my german website.
(http:/www.dzafez.de)
Don't forget to let me know where (google maps) exactly the Highschool is, which
you rebuild. I will put that google maps link next to it. Also let me know, for
which game (version) this map is. I would love to see some older games as well.
If you do 3D rebuilds of your School in Autocat, Blender, VRML ... whatever 3D.

Bring it on, map at dzafez .de"
Privacy

Submission + - National ID card "a disaster in the making"

Submitted by
jdp
jdp writes: "Security experts Richard Forno and Bruce Schneier's CNET column describes Real ID as a disaster in the making, highlighting issues including vulnerability to identity theft from unscrupulous employees, flawed technologies, external compromises or human error; the risks of mission creep ("other homeland security initiatives, such as the Patriot Act, have been used and applied — some say abused — for purposes far removed from anything related to homeland security. How can we ensure the same will not happen with Real ID?"), and the important point about how Real ID makes the people who aren't eligible for it — or live in states that have rejected it into second-class citizens. Several of these points were also brought up at Tuesday's Town Hall meeting and webcast, as well as other concerns from DMV directors and employees, transgender people, seniors, and representatives from Gun Owners of America, American Friends Service Comittee, California Commision on the Status of Women, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, CDT, and EFF. A coalition of privacy, civil liberties, and consumer groups have launched a campaign to encourage public comments to DHS before the May 8 deadline. One thing to say for Real ID: it's certanly a unifying issue — at least for the opposition."
Businesses

Criminalizing The Consumer - Where DRM Went Wrong 75

Posted by Zonk from the a-long-long-time-ago dept.
][nTrUdEr writes "The Economist has posted an editorial on how DRM has gone wrong. What ostensibly began as a tool to ensure artists received due compensation for their work has been turned, and now criminalizes the consumer for wanting to use what they have purchased. 'Despite the number of iTunes downloaded for a fee, Apple would be in trouble if people were prevented from transferring legitimately owned CDs to their iPods. The software Apple gives away to iPod customers is designed to let them do just that. Most people think it ludicrous that they can't do the same with the DVDs they own. Now it seems, despite squeals from the movie industry, the law is finally moving in the video fan's favour. The issue in the recent case was whether Kaleidescape, a maker of digital "jukeboxes" that store a person's video and music collections and distribute the entertainment around the home, had breached the terms of the DVD Content Control Association's CSS (content scrambling system) license.'"
The Courts

Submission + - RIAA Drops High School Student Deposition Case

Submitted by
NewYorkCountryLawyer
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: "The Houston, Texas, case, UMG v. Hightower, in which the RIAA tried to subpoena a high school student for his deposition at 9:00 a.m., on a school day, on only 24 hours notice, has been abruptly dropped, according to court papers (pdf), which state that the dismissal is "without prejudice", meaning there's no guarantee it might not get started up again."
Security

Submission + - Anti-Spam CAPTCHA Inspired by Andy Warhol

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: Tired of 'typing the garbled letters below' every time you create an online account or submit a comment? You might be done with scrambled letters quite soon, thanks to two students at Brigham Young University. Recent research has shown that computers are better than humans in filling out some forms of visual CAPTCHA. Inspired by this problem, the BYU students created a new form of visual CAPTCHA, bearing a striking resemblance to the postmodernistic works of Andy Warhol. To demonstrate the CAPTCHA, an interesting anti-spam app allows users to post their email address on their blog, webpage, social network, etc., without running the risk of having their email address spam-harvested. Visitors to the site/blog/etc must first successfully pass a CAPTCHA before being presented with the user's actual email address.

The Warhol Proof is available for use free of charge for any purpose at http://warproof.com.
User Journal

Journal Journal: What Life Comming To? 1

Journal by Rat_Hacker
Have you noticed the world has become a more violent and scary place then what it was when my mom was a child. I often find my self pondering as to why this may be... I mean I am not quite sure about the video game blame, I think that was made to be an easy way out of trouble and I personally call it "Blame Shifting" Why? Becuase they can't take the responsibility of their action. I mean induviduals should know that games are NOT real and that what is fun and able to be done in games usuall
The Internet

Submission + - Uk considering Cyber Crime Site

Submitted by Hennell
Hennell writes: Attempting to keep up with technology and technology related crimes is obviously a hard task, and whilst big companies can use the legal system if caught out, the average person doesn't always seem to have much methods for help. The UK's House of Lord's Science and Technology select committee, are considering a website where people can report incidents of cyber-crime.

From the article:
"One of the problems is that people who, for example, have been the victim of an eBay scam tend to think how stupid they were and that there is no point in going to police. If you were mugged you would be sure to go straight to the police," he said.
"In the UK, people are being told to go to their bank first. We are not sure that is right. These are crimes and the police should be equipped to deal with them," Lord Broers said.
United States

Submission + - Is America going fascist?

Submitted by
Random BedHead Ed
Random BedHead Ed writes: "The Guardian this week has a call to arms, examining the ten steps to fascism and proposing that America is quietly taking virtually all of them. It's not as much of a partisan concern as you might think: many conservative groups have joined forces under a new organization called the American Freedom Agenda, which along with the ACLU and Center for Constitutional Rights has been fighting to put pressure on the federal government to pull the country away from what they see as a slippery slope. From the article: "As Americans turn away quite leisurely, keeping tuned to internet shopping and American Idol, the foundations of democracy are being fatally corroded. Something has changed profoundly that weakens us unprecedentedly: our democratic traditions, independent judiciary and free press do their work today in a context in which we are "at war" in a "long war" — a war without end, on a battlefield described as the globe, in a context that gives the president — without US citizens realising it yet — the power over US citizens of freedom or long solitary incarceration, on his say-so alone.""
Power

Submission + - The Truth about Plug-in Hybrids

Submitted by
FloatsomNJetsom
FloatsomNJetsom writes: "Forget hydrogen — bring an extension cord instead. Popular Mechanics has an exhaustive survey on electric cars, including a special report on plug-in hybrids, such as the (not yet built) GM Volt. From the article: "Garage tinkerers have been turning hybrids into plug-ins for years, but somehow no one paid attention. Other clean-car alternatives (like those below) got all the love. But, really — hydrogen? Maybe, someday. Now, the carmakers say plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) are coming, if the engineers can get the batteries right. They will. Because it's hard to argue with 100 mpg." Plus, lots of video test drives..."
First Person Shooters (Games)

Submission + - VA Tech Shooter Not a Gamer; No Corrections Coming

Submitted by realinvalidname
realinvalidname writes: The San Francisco Chronicle takes Jack Thompson and Dr. Phil to task for blaming video games for the Virginia Tech shootings before perpetrator Seung-Hui Cho was even identified. "Last week's unfounded attack on gamer culture would be far less frustrating if it weren't something that happens at least once a year. Imagine how ridiculous it would seem if cable news interviewed alarmists who blamed professional wrestling or game shows (two things that Cho reportedly did enjoy in college) for a massacre before a suspect was identified."
United States

Submission + - Facist America in 10 Easy Steps

Submitted by zyl0x
zyl0x writes: What would you do if your country was secretly being turned into a fascist regime? An article at The Guardian outlines the 10 steps taken by all fascist countries to rob their citizen's of freedom. Apparently, we're already at step 8. How far will they have to go before we start standing up for ourselves? Or is it too late?
From the article:

It is very difficult and arduous to create and sustain a democracy — but history shows that closing one down is much simpler. You simply have to be willing to take the 10 steps. As difficult as this is to contemplate, it is clear, if you are willing to look, that each of these 10 steps has already been initiated today in the United States by the Bush administration.

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