Submission + - Warrantless GPS Tracking Is Legal, Says Court (chicagotribune.com)
PL/SQL Guy writes: "A Wisconsin appeals court ruled Thursday that police can attach GPS trackers to cars to secretly track anybody's movements without obtaining search warrants. As the law currently stands, the court said police can mount GPS on cars to track people without violating their constitutional rights — even if the drivers aren't suspects. Officers do not need to get warrants beforehand because GPS tracking does not involve a search or a seizure, wrote Madison Judge Paul Lundsten."
Submission + - Masters or not? 2
mx12 writes: With the semester finishing up, I have been thinking about my education future. I am currently an undergrad in computer engineering and I am thinking about getting my masters. I have a year left in school, and most of my professors seem to think that getting a masters is a great idea, but I wanted to hear from people out in the working world. If I could get my masters paid for by the lab I work in, is a masters in computer engineering better than two years of experience at a company?
Thanks everyone!
Thanks everyone!
Comment In other news.. (Score 5, Funny) 369
..the market is being flooded with Chinese made ground to air missile defence systems, available for a quarter of the price, and half the accuracy.
Fine Print: THERE IS NO WARRANTY FOR THE SYSTEM, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW
Fine Print: THERE IS NO WARRANTY FOR THE SYSTEM, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW
Submission + - Hulu Now Blocks Anonymous Proxies Too (techcrunch.com)
JagsLive writes: There are few web services hotter than Hulu these days. It's about to surge into the number two web video position (behind only YouTube) and it just signed a deal with Disney to give it even more great content. It's all great — if you live in the U.S.
Outside of the US, if you've wanted to access Hulu, you've either been out of luck, or had to use a proxy server workaround. But Hulu got smarter and started doing geo-checks at the streaming level. But still, a few virtual private network (VPN) creators like Hotspot Shield would get the job done by making your IP anonymous. Not anymore.
Hulu has once again tweaked its detection methods and is now blocking anonymous proxies. If you try to access it with something like Hotspot Shield, you will get the message:
Based on your IP address, we noticed you are trying to access Hulu through an anonymous proxy tool. Hulu is not currently available outside the U.S. If you're in the U.S., you'll need to disable your anonymizer to access videos on Hulu.
Ouch. There is still a back and forth going on between it and the online media center startup Boxee.
TechCrunch : http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/05/06/control-freaks-hulu-now-blocks-anonymous-proxies-too/
Outside of the US, if you've wanted to access Hulu, you've either been out of luck, or had to use a proxy server workaround. But Hulu got smarter and started doing geo-checks at the streaming level. But still, a few virtual private network (VPN) creators like Hotspot Shield would get the job done by making your IP anonymous. Not anymore.
Hulu has once again tweaked its detection methods and is now blocking anonymous proxies. If you try to access it with something like Hotspot Shield, you will get the message:
Based on your IP address, we noticed you are trying to access Hulu through an anonymous proxy tool. Hulu is not currently available outside the U.S. If you're in the U.S., you'll need to disable your anonymizer to access videos on Hulu.
Ouch. There is still a back and forth going on between it and the online media center startup Boxee.
TechCrunch : http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/05/06/control-freaks-hulu-now-blocks-anonymous-proxies-too/
Submission + - Pirate Party is Now Third Largest in Sweden
gamerdonkey writes: Membership in the Swedish Pirate Party has exploded since the end of the Pirate Bay trial. In those three weeks, the party has tripled its membership, reaching 44,000, and has today surpassed the Center Party, making it the third largest political party in Sweden. Moreover, if growth continues at this rate, it will take the second spot in the country. The party leader, Rick Falkvinge, commented on the achievement and the trial that sparked it, stating, "The Pirate Bay verdict was not a single event, but the final straw in a long series of events... With just one month till the European elections, the timing of these horrible events arguably work as a catalyst for change." Falkvinge also commented on how this improves the party's odds in the upcoming elections, "It's not a question of 'a' seat any more. If everybody who is angry with the Pirate Bay verdict goes to vote, we will get at least one seat, and probably more."
Submission + - Debian switching from glibc to eglibc
ceswiedler writes: "Aurelien Jarno has just uploaded a fork of glibc called eglibc, which is targeted at embedded systems and is source- and binary-compatible with glibc. It has a few nice improvements over glibc, but the primary motivation seems to be that it's a "more friendly upstream project" than glibc. Glibc's maintainer, Ulrich Drepper, has had a contentious relationship with Debian's project leadership; in 2007 the Debian Project Leader sent an email criticizing Drepper for refusing to fix a bug on glibc on the ARM architecture because in Drepper's words it was "for the sole benefit of this embedded crap"."
Physicists Prove That Vampires Could Not Exist 11
You can put away your wooden stakes, and stop hanging garlic around the windows, thanks to Physicists Costas Efthimiou and Sohang Gandhi. The pair have published a paper where they demonstrate, by virtue of geometric progression, that vampires could not exist. It turns out that the vampire's method of feeding and reproduction would deplete their food supply very quickly. Their paper, "Cinema Fiction vs. Physics Reality," assumes that the first vampire appeared on January 1, 1600 and shows that everybody on the planet would have had their blood drained by June, 1602.
Comment Re:So? (Score 1, Flamebait) 151
They get fined for bundling their software with their own software, but it's ok for them to simply not allow other company's software on their stuff? Isn't this the same as Microsoft not allowing Firefox on Windows?
Comment Google to the rescue! (Score 2, Funny) 151
*chants* Android! Android! Android!
Their motto is "Do No Evil", and I'm very gullible!
Comment Not happening any time soon (Score 3, Insightful) 292
One of the reasons these countries are developing a good IT infrastructure is due to software piracy. Any student with the slightest interest can pick up any software whatsoever, be it Tally, Photoshop or MS Excel, and learn by themselves. And businesses obviously have cost benefits in using something for free. Why would a developing economy hamper it's businesses by forcing them to use original software? It might help the bigger companies, the ones who make the software, but will affect the small and medium sized businesses negatively. And in the end, the software companies that do get the benefit are American, and not local businesses.
Chuck Norris Protects Bakery 5
What started out as a joke has turned into an effective burglar deterrent for one Croatian bakery. The upscale bakery had been robbed almost every week until the owner put a life-sized photo of Chuck Norris in the window with a sign saying, "This shop is under the protection of Chuck Norris." The bakery has now been crime free for over a month. Sales assistant Mirna Kovac said, "To be honest we just started it as a joke but it really has worked. Thieves haven't been anywhere near us for ages. People seem to respect him. We have had a few customers come in and ask us whether they can get Chuck's autograph. They really believe he is sitting in our storeroom out the back ready to pounce on any burglars." Chuck Norris does not sleep. He waits.
Submission + - MPAA Cried Wolf Once Again
An anonymous reader writes: Overcoming one of the worst recessions in history, the Swine flu hysteria, Vice President Joe Biden's advice to stay away from crowded spaces and the doom and gloom predicted from the movie having been leaked online, X-Men Origins: Wolverine was a hit at theaters with a reported weekend haul of $87 million in ticket sales domestically, and $170 million worldwide. Does anyone think they will retract their hogwash or tone down their assault on file sharing?
Submission + - Australia invests in cyber warfare skills (arnnet.com.au)
An anonymous reader writes: An Australian defense whitepaper has outlined plans for the country to boost its cyber warfare capabilities. A new R&D organisation will have armed forces staff and funding from the federal government. Details of their operations are classified, but the whitepaper placed a significant emphasis on the need to boost these skills along with cooperation with the US.
Comment Rickrolling (Score 2, Funny) 475
If I get rickrolled, will I get my money back?
