Comment Re:Midazolam (Score 1) 135
Suicides in the military are most commonly due to domestic personal matters: the soldier's spouse being unfaithful back home.
Comment Not hiring the unemployed (Score 2) 1201
a lot of employers won’t accept applications from people who are currently unemployed
That was the most startling part of the article, for me. Why are employers so strong in that? How should employers be persuaded to change?
Submission + - Move over, quantum cryptography: Classical physics can be unbreakable too (extremetech.com)
MrSeb writes: "Quantum cryptography? Pah! That’s for newbies, according to researchers from Texas A&M University who claim to have pioneered unbreakable cryptography based on the laws of thermodynamics; classical physics, rather than quantum. In theory, quantum crypto (based on the laws of quantum mechanics) can guarantee the complete secrecy of transmitted messages: To spy upon a quantum-encrypted message would irrevocably change the content of the message, thus making the messages unbreakable. In practice, though, while the communication of the quantum-encrypted messages is secure, the machines on either end of the link can never be guaranteed to be flawless. According to Laszlo Kish and his team from Texas A&M, however, there is a way to build a completely secure end-to-end system — but instead of using quantum mechanics, you have to use classical physics: the second law of thermodynamics, to be exact. Kish’s system is made up of a wire (the communication channel), and two resistors on each end (one representing binary 0, the other binary 1). Attached to the wire is a power source that has been treated with Johnson-Nyquist noise (thermal noise). Johnson noise is often the basis for creating random numbers with computer hardware. For details of how the system works, read the article."
Submission + - The Internet power grab (schneier.com) 1
An anonymous reader writes: We're starting to see a power grab in cyberspace by the world's militaries: large-scale monitoring of networks, military control of Internet standards, even military takeover of cyberspace. Last year's debate over an "Internet kill switch" is an example of this; it's the sort of measure that might be deployed in wartime but makes no sense in peacetime. At the same time, countries are engaging in offensive actions in cyberspace, with tools like Stuxnet and Flame.
Submission + - Nokia to Cut 10,000 Jobs and Close 3 Facilities
parallel_prankster writes: NY Times reports that Nokia said on Thursday that it would slash 10,000 jobs, or 19 percent of its work force, by the end of 2013 as part of an emergency overhaul that includes closing research centers and a factory in Germany, Canada and Finland, and the departures of three senior executives.
The company also warned investors that its loss was likely to be greater in the second quarter, which ends June 30, than it was in the first, and that the negative effects of its transition to a Windows-based smartphone business would continue into the third quarter.Nokia, based in Espoo, Finland, posted a loss of €929 million, or $1.2 billion, in the first quarter as sales plummeted 29 percent. Once the undisputed global leader in the mobile phone business, Nokia has been outcompeted by Apple, as well as by Samsung and other makers of handsets running Google’s Android operating system.
The company also warned investors that its loss was likely to be greater in the second quarter, which ends June 30, than it was in the first, and that the negative effects of its transition to a Windows-based smartphone business would continue into the third quarter.Nokia, based in Espoo, Finland, posted a loss of €929 million, or $1.2 billion, in the first quarter as sales plummeted 29 percent. Once the undisputed global leader in the mobile phone business, Nokia has been outcompeted by Apple, as well as by Samsung and other makers of handsets running Google’s Android operating system.
Comment El Reg link (Score 3, Informative) 114
The link in TFS to El Reg is missing. It should be http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/05/09/queen_speech_ccdp/
Comment Microsoft had a reason to destroy Nokia (Score 4, Interesting) 257
Microsoft had a great reason to fear, and to conquer, Nokia: the Nokia N900. The N900 was arguably the best device ever: a full computer in a mobile form factor. It just needed some polishing of the user interface. Had the polishing been done, Nokia could have been on top of the smartphone market.
With the planned successors to the N900, people would no longer need separate phones and computers. They would just have their Nokia N900-successor, carrying that with them all the time. At home, or in the office, they would attach a keyboard wirelessly and plug in a screen--and there is their computer. This would have led to a revolution in the way both computers and phones are considered.
The N900 ran Linux. So the N900 was a vector for getting rid of Windows. Microsoft saw the threat, presumably, and moved to destroy it.
With the planned successors to the N900, people would no longer need separate phones and computers. They would just have their Nokia N900-successor, carrying that with them all the time. At home, or in the office, they would attach a keyboard wirelessly and plug in a screen--and there is their computer. This would have led to a revolution in the way both computers and phones are considered.
The N900 ran Linux. So the N900 was a vector for getting rid of Windows. Microsoft saw the threat, presumably, and moved to destroy it.
Submission + - The Internet Hall of Fame (infoq.com)
An anonymous reader writes: The Internet Society has awarded a number of 33 pioneers and luminaries for outstanding contribution to the creation and the development of the Internet.
Submission + - Serious blow to dark matter theory
Sara Chan writes: The most accurate study so far of the motions of stars in the Milky Way has found no evidence for dark matter in a large volume around the Sun. According to widely accepted theories, the solar neighborhood was expected to be filled with dark matter, a mysterious invisible substance that can only be detected indirectly by the gravitational force it exerts. But a new study by a team of astronomers in Chile has found that these theories just do not fit the observational facts. The research, led by Christian Moni Bidin, is currently in press with The Astrophysical Journal. Story at Phys.org and Scienceagogo and Science Daily.
Comment Little need now (Score 1) 167
Some way to generate random numbers is really important, for certain applications. Intel's next generation of CPUs, based on Ivy Bridge and due out within a month, addresses that. The CPUs support a new instruction: RdRand. RdRand generates random numbers based on noise in the hardware. For almost all purposes, it should be adequate.
Submission + - Microsoft: RDP Vulnerability Should be Patched Immediately (securityweek.com)
wiredmikey writes: Microsoft is urging organizations to apply the sole critical update in this month’s Patch Tuesday release as soon as possible. The critical bulletin – one of six security bulletins issued as part of today’s release – addresses two vulnerabilities in the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP).
Those IT admins who use RDP to manage their machines over the internet, which is essentially the default in cloud-based installations such as Amazon’s AWS, need to patch as quickly as possible, said Qualys CTO Wolfgang Kandek.
Besides the RDP bugs, this month’s Patch Tuesday addressed five other vulnerabilities: two denial-of-service bugs and an escalation of privileges issue in Microsoft Windows; a remote code execution vulnerability in Microsoft Expression Design; and an escalation of privileges issue in Microsoft Visual Studio. All those issues are rated ‘important’ with the exception of one of the Windows’ denial-of-service bugs, which is rated ‘moderate.’
Those IT admins who use RDP to manage their machines over the internet, which is essentially the default in cloud-based installations such as Amazon’s AWS, need to patch as quickly as possible, said Qualys CTO Wolfgang Kandek.
Besides the RDP bugs, this month’s Patch Tuesday addressed five other vulnerabilities: two denial-of-service bugs and an escalation of privileges issue in Microsoft Windows; a remote code execution vulnerability in Microsoft Expression Design; and an escalation of privileges issue in Microsoft Visual Studio. All those issues are rated ‘important’ with the exception of one of the Windows’ denial-of-service bugs, which is rated ‘moderate.’
Submission + - US, EU, Japan Complain to WTO Over China's Rare Earth Ban (bbc.co.uk)
eldavojohn writes: China's rare earth monopoly has resulted in a shortage as China blocks their export and the rest of the world resumes their operations. Now in a first ever joint filing from three members of the WTO Japan, the EU and the US are not sitting idly by as China repeatedly ignores the WTO's orders to export rare earths and raw materials at a fair price to other countries. China claims that the embargoes are in place to protect its environment while Obama denounces China as being unfair and not playing by the rules of the WTO. In 2009, the WTO released a report that explained how actions like China's hurts trade partners.
Submission + - US wins extradition of college kid from England (arstechnica.com)
TheNextCorner writes: "A 23-year old student from Sheffield Hallam University in the north of England is bound for America.
The UK Home Secretary has today agreed to extradite O'Dwyer over US copyright infringement charges for running a "linking site" called TVShack."
The UK Home Secretary has today agreed to extradite O'Dwyer over US copyright infringement charges for running a "linking site" called TVShack."
Submission + - German Law to Make Google Pay For Snippets (techweekeurope.co.uk)
judgecorp writes: "The German government has announced plans for a copyright law which would require Google, other search engines and aggregators to pay for small snippets of text displayed on their pages. Journalistic citations and private users will be exempt."
Comment Re:Yes... (Score 3, Informative) 45
We don't know it's a bullshit contract until we have the name of the contractor to research some background (please include those details in the summary in future). I'm admitting that I haven't RTFA, but as soon as I read headlines like these I want to research the contractor.
I am the story submitter. The contractors are Finmeccanica and Northrop Grumman. Some research background is given in the last link in the summary.
