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Submission + - In memory of Ferris E. McCormick, aka fmccor (gentoo.org)

Submitted by
cciechad
cciechad writes: "All, It is with sadness that we as Trustee's bring forward this news that we have recently received. Ferris Ellsworth McCormick, better known as fmccor, has passed away unexpectedly on the 5th of August. His family does not wish to be contacted. We have expressed our gratitude for his contributions on behalf of the Community. Ferris studied mathematics in college at Indiana University, graduating in 1968 with a Bachelor of Arts. Later he entered into the Law school at the University of Michigan, earning his Juris Doctor degree in 1991. He passed the bar in Michigan that same year and has continued to be an actively certified Lawyer with the State of Michigan since then. He was also a member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). Ferris joined Gentoo on April 16th 2004 as part of the sparc team and improved sparc support for the entire open source community. Within a year he also joined the Developer Relations team to help with mediation of any issues that might come up between people. As time went on Ferris continued to expand and assist Gentoo in many ways including assisting with the User Relations team and growing to become the Strategic Manager of the sparc project. Finally, he became a trustee and the Vice President of the Foundation assisting in getting the foundation back into good standing. While it is too late to say in person, the Foundation would like to thank Ferris once again for all that he did for both Gentoo and the Open source community. He will be missed. Please join the community in eulogizing Ferris in our forums here"
Censorship

Submission + - China ditches compulsory Green Dam plans (itnews.com.au)

Submitted by scrubl
scrubl writes: China has ditched plans to force foreign and domestic computer manufacturers to install internet filtering technology in computers sold inside its borders. The Chinese government paid $5.85m to develop the software called Green Dam and claimed it was being installed to stop access to porn on computers and protect children. China's industry and information technology minister, Li Yizhong said manufacturers, internet users and organisations opposed to the plans had received the wrong message from his department and that installation was never planned to be compulsory.
Wireless Networking

Submission + - Does powerline networking nuke radio hams? (pcpro.co.uk)

Submitted by
Barence
Barence writes: "Since writing about the success he's had with powerline networking, a number of readers emailed PC Pro's Paul Ockendon to castigate him for recommending these products, such as HomePlug. They were all amateur radio enthusiasts, claiming the products affect their hobby in much the same way that urban lighting affects amateur astronomers, but rather than causing light pollution they claim powerline networking causes radio pollution in the HF band (otherwise known as shortwave). Paul's follow-up feature, "Does powerline networking nuke radio hams?" documents his investigation into these claims, which found evidence to support both sides of an intriguing debate."
It's funny. Laugh.

Submission + - Woman changes name to "Princess-Rainbow.com &# (independent.co.uk)

Submitted by GordonCopestake
GordonCopestake writes: A woman from Manchester has become the first person to change her name by Deed Poll to a web domain, according to the Legal Deed Service.

Twenty-four-year-old Claire Forshaw changed her name to Princess-Rainbow.com earlier this week. She had previously been put off changing her name by her boyfriend, 23-year-old Robert Morris, who had tried to dissuade her by claiming it would cost hundreds of pounds.

"I knew that if ever I got the chance I would change [my name] to a web domain, to hopefully become the first. My boyfriend has always told me it cost hundreds of pounds to do, so I just forgot about it," she told press, adding:

"When I realised it actually cost as little as £10 my boyfriend said that Princess-Rainbow.com was ideal for me because I am mad on rainbows!"

The Legal Deed Service says it "firmly believes" the former Ms Forshaw is the first person to change her name to a web domain. Princess-Rainbow.com, who currently works as a care assistant, plans to use her namesake web domain (which her boyfriend bought for her this week) to set up an online business selling artwork.

She's not the first of the Legal Deed Service's satisfied customers to hit the headlines. Last November teenager George Garrat made the Guinness Book of Records when he changed his name to Captain Fantastic Faster Than Superman Spiderman Batman Wolverine Hulk And The Flash Combined, making him the holder of the world's longest name.
Biotech

Submission + - DNA tests predict children's abilities (cnn.com)

Submitted by
Death Metal
Death Metal writes: "Scientists claim a simple saliva swab collects as many as 10,000 cells that enable them to isolate eleven different genes. By taking a closer look at the genetic codes, they say they can extract information about a child's IQ, emotional control, focus, memory, athletic ability and more.

For about $880, Chinese parents can sign their kids up for the test and five days of summer camp in Chongqing, where the children will be evaluated in various settings from sports to art. The scientific results, combined with observations by experts throughout the week, will be used to make recommendations to parents about what their child should pursue. Photo"
Idle

Submission + - Man-Eating Pits > Flowers + !Trademark Infringi (igotyouamaneatingpit.com)

Submitted by Yet Another Star Wars Fanatic
Yet Another Star Wars Fanatic writes: Where do I start? First, the obvious — you can send some frightening LEGO Man-Eating Pits to people in lieu of flowers. Second, you wonder "hey what about the Sarlacc Pit?" and "What does LucasArts and/or LEGO think about this?". Third, you realize that there is not a single trademarked word on the entire site (Man-Eating Pit + Danish building blocks), which means two of the most sue-happy companies probably can't do anything about it. If that wasn't enough, the Lawyer section of the FAQ seems to accuse George Lucas himself of stealing the Sarlacc Pit from the prior art cover of the D&D module S3: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks!

It does make me wonder how often our culture gets to reclaim itself from private companies.
Education

Submission + - U.S. Colleges Say Hiring U.S. Students a Bad Deal 1

Submitted by
theodp
theodp writes: "Many U.S. colleges and universities have notices posted on their websites informing U.S. companies that they're tax chumps if they hire students who are U.S. citizens. "In fact, a company may save money by hiring international students because the majority of them are exempt from Social Security (FICA) and Medicare tax requirements," advises the taxpayer-supported University of Pittsburgh (pdf) as it makes the case against hiring its own U.S. students. You'll find identical pitches made by the University of Delaware, the University of Cincinnati, Kansas State University, the University of Southern California, the University of Wisconsin, Iowa State University, and other public colleges and universities. The same messsage is also echoed by private schools, such as John Hopkins University, Brown University, Rollins College and Loyola University Chicago."
The Courts

Submission + - Gucci Sues Credit Card Processors over Fake Gucci

Submitted by
kenichi tanaka
kenichi tanaka writes: "Gucci America has decided to sue a bunch of credit card processors for trademark infringement. Why? Because they processed the credit cards of some online sites that happened to sell fake Gucci bags.

None of the credit card companies were actually violating Gucci's trademarks at all, and I can't see how they can show those firms actually "used" its trademarks in commerce. This seems like a pure money grab. Gucci already received an award of $5.2 million from the site that used these credit card processors, so this just seems like going after more cash for the same issue, but suing companies further up the chain. I can't see Gucci having much success here, but it reminds us that there really ought to be a Section 230-style safe harbor for trademarks as well."
Idle

Submission + - Digital signatures recognized in Costa Rica

Submitted by
pr0cess
pr0cess writes: "After a lengthy implementation process, the costarrican digital certificates system (SNCD) went online yesterday. The SCND is government-run project under which everyone would have a registered RSA signature, which would be used for signing electronic documents. The documents would then be considered legally valid by courts, banks, and all entities participating in the process. The system uses RSA, PKCS #1. The downside is that like most government projects, they forgot to add one small step. The system is online, but theres no accredited certificate authorities. Which means that the system works, but currently theres no way to register your digital certificate for use. Sigh. News story (in spanish)"
PHP

Submission + - Wordpress Admin Password Reset Exploit! (programmerfish.com)

Submitted by
Salman
Salman writes: "This is just way too exciting! Wordpress which is THE CMS of choice for bloggeimagers did has such a big security hole! Someone has found a way to reset the admin password without any confirmation and this can have serious consequences. The hack is still open and can even be applied to the latest Wordpress release 2.8.3 This is how it works..."
Security

Submission + - Hitachi Ships 2TB HDDs With Bulk Data Encryption (net-security.org)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Hitachi is now shipping their enterprise-class, 7200 RPM 2TB offering, the Ultrastar A7K2000. The hard drive comes with a bulk data encryption (BDE) option. When enabled, the Hitachi BDE implementation encrypts all data on the drive using a private security key as it is written to the disk, and then decrypts it with the key as it is retrieved, giving users an extreme level of data protection. Unlike software-based encryption solutions, Hitachi's BDE implementation is hardware-based, so it won't slow the system down.
Idle

Submission + - Well it's not as if you need rm, or cp, ls, touch. (techideas.co.uk)

Submitted by
Ajehals
Ajehals writes: "So, sometimes people act before they think, sometimes that leads to problems that appear to the uninitiated to be catastrophic. But then the great thing about GNU/Linux, BSD and Solaris is that generally nothing is totally catastrophic, well almost nothing. In this case the problem occurred during an upgrade, the identities of the guilty will be obscured, but the lesson may be useful regardless."
Transportation

Submission + - Chevy Volt rated at 230 mpg in the city 2

Submitted by necro81
necro81 writes: General Motors, emerging from bankruptcy, today announced that its upcoming plug-in hybrid vehicle, the Volt, will have an EPA-rated 230 mpg for city driving (approx 1L / 100km). The unprecedented rating is the result of a new (draft) methodology for calculating the "gas" mileage for vehicles that operate primarily or extensively on electricity. The Volt, due out late this year, can drive approximately 40 miles on its Li-Ion battery pack, after which a gasoline engine kicks in to provide additional electricity to turn the wheels. Running off the gasoline engine yields approximately 50 mpg. Of course, the devil's in the details, because the conversion of grid-based electricity to gasoline-mileage is imprecise.

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