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Facebook Acquires Feature Phone App Maker Snaptu 62

Posted by timothy from the hut-hut-hut dept.
Krystalo writes "Facebook has agreed to acquire Snaptu, an Israeli startup that makes Java-based feature phone apps, for an estimated $70 million. The acquisition, for which neither company would reveal financial details, is expected to close within a few weeks. Earlier this year, Facebook worked with the mobile development firm to build a feature phone app that is accessible free of data charges in various overseas markets. The company says the Facebook for Feature Phones app currently works on more than 2,500 devices."
Image

Hungary Uses iPad To Draft New Constitution Screenshot-sm 157

Posted by samzenpus from the there's-an-app-for-that dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Hungary is drafting its new constitution on, believe it or not, an iPad. Jozsef Szajer, a Hungarian politician and member of the European Parliament, wrote an enthusiastic blog post last week detailing how he's using Apple's tablet device to flesh out Hungary's new constitution, the country's first since 1949. Not only is Szajer using the iPad to churn out new constitutional drafts, but he's also using it to review new draft proposals. Apparently all aspects of the new Hungarian constitution are being vetted via the iPad in one form or another."
Programming

Comment Profanity by Language 263

Posted by CmdrTaco from the dumb-dumb-stupid-face dept.
beret found a nifty little pie chart breaking down profanity in code comments broken down by language. He used Carlin's Seven Words, and C++ came out on top while PHP users are either wholesome or perfect.
Earth

Sandia Helps Secure Kazakh Nuclear Material 88

Posted by timothy from the for-make-benefit-glorious-nation-of-kazakhstan dept.
RedEaredSlider writes "A large cache of enriched nuclear fuel – some 13 metric tons — was stored in a nuclear reactor in the port city of Aktau, on the Caspian seacoast. The reactor was a Soviet-era fast breeder reactor, designed to make nuclear fuel for both weapons and power plants. The reactor, which started operations in 1973, also provided 135 megawatts of electricity, 9 million gallons of water per day and steam for hot water and heating for Aktau. It was shut down by the Kazakh government in 1999. Getting the material out of a seaport was one way to make it harder to steal, [Dave Barber of Sandia Labs] said. So the US and Kazakh governments embarked on a project to move it to a guarded — and remote — facility in the interior."
Image

Israeli Company Trains Security Mice Screenshot-sm 96

Posted by samzenpus from the same-thing-we-do-every-night dept.
Israeli scientists have created an explosive detector using specially trained mice. Researchers claim the mice are more accurate than dogs or x-ray machines and best of all, they work for peanuts. From the article: "The device was tested last year on 1,000 shoppers in a Tel Aviv shopping mall when the mice successfully picked out 22 people carrying mock explosives."
United States

Drug Catapult Found At US-Mexico Border Screenshot-sm 225

Posted by samzenpus from the things-have-been-rough-for-Wile-E dept.
suraj.sun writes "According to a Fox News report: 'Drug smugglers trying to get marijuana across the Arizona-Mexico border apparently are trying a new approach — a medieval catapult, capable of launching 4.4 pounds of marijuana at a time. National Guard troops operating a remote video surveillance system at the Naco Border Patrol Station say they observed several people preparing a catapult and launching packages over the International Border fence last Friday evening. The 3-yard tall catapult was found about 20 yards from the US border on a flatbed towed by a sports utility vehicle, according to a Mexican army officer with the 45th military zone in the border state of Sonora.'"
Image

Scientists Find Tears Are the Anti-Viagra Screenshot-sm 207

Posted by samzenpus from the blood-hound-gang-is-wrong dept.
An anonymous reader writes "The male test subjects didn't know what they were smelling, they were just given little vials of clear liquid and told to sniff. But when those vials contained a woman's tears (collected while she watched a sad movie), the men rated pictures of women's faces as less sexually attractive, and their saliva contained less testosterone. Is this proof that humans make and respond to pheromones? The researcher behind the study doesn't use that controversial word, but he says his findings do prove that tears contain meaningful chemical messages."
IBM

IBM Files the Patent Troll Patent 109

Posted by samzenpus from the prior-troll dept.
An anonymous reader writes "It's all or nothing over at IBM as the company goes for the gold and files the patent troll patent. Forget the Hyperlink patent or the POS shutdown patent, IBM wants the patent patent. Its idea is centered around an approach to managing patents from inventor training to filing and protection strategies, including competitive monitoring. At least in theory, IBM could get approval to own the idea of how to manage patents and make a business out of IP. The next time you file a patent, you may want to contact them as you may need a license to file for filing."

Comment I told you - I was one of those (Score 1) 200

by HonestButCurious (#34616560) Attached to: Database of Private SSL Keys Published
True story - I wrote the SSL/SSH code for an Embedded router a few years ago. I *didn't* specify a hard-coded key -- instead the router would freeze for a few seconds to generate the key when you first activated SSL or SSH (only the management CPU froze - traffic still went through). The router's CPU was pretty crappy - it took quite a while to generate a 2048-bit key pair.

You can't imagine the amount of griping this slowdown caused from the product/marketing teams. They really really wanted it hard-coded. Fortunately "security guys" are taken seriously in Israel so as far as I know it's still generated on the fly.
Apple

Submission + - Papermaster leaves after antennagate (nytimes.com)

Submitted by line-bundle
line-bundle writes: "Mark Papermaster, the Apple executive in charge of hardware for the company’s flagship iPhone, has departed the company in the wake of widely reported problems with the antenna of the recently introduced iPhone 4.

It is not clear if Papermaster was kicked out or left on his own."

Previously, at the Apple press conference on the antenna issue, Mr Papermaster was not present. This was very unusual considering that he was in charge of the iPhone. Papermaster was featured before on slashdot here.

Comment Worth reposting this classic... (Score 1) 220

by HonestButCurious (#33120954) Attached to: The Sun Unleashes Coronal Mass Ejection At Earth

It's friday, so I get into work early, before lunch even. The phone rings. Shit!

I turn the page on the excuse sheet. "SOLAR FLARES" stares out at me. I'd better read up on that. Two minutes later I'm ready to answer the phone.

"Hello?" I say.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN, I'VE BEEN TRYING TO GET YOU ALL MORNING?!"

I hate it when they shout at me early in the morning. It always puts me in a bad mood. You know what I mean.

"Ah, yes. Well, there's been some solar activity this morning, it always disrupts electronics..." I say, sweet as a sugar pie.

"Huh? But I could get through to my friends?!"

"Yes, that's entirely possible, solar activity is very unpredictable in it's effects. Why last week, we had some files just dissappear from a guys account while he was working on it!"

More here...

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