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Government

FCC Cracks Down on Robocalls 210

Posted by samzenpus from the talk-to-the-machine dept.
Cara_Latham writes "If you want to receive annoying robocalls from telemarketers you will have to opt in. Federal Communications Commission rules now require that telemarketers get your consent before dialing your number. Telemarketers will also have to obtain consent even if they had previously 'done business with' the consumer on the receiving end of a call."
Security

JotForm.com Gets Shut Down SOPA-Style 188

Posted by samzenpus from the it-was-nice-knowing-you dept.
itwbennett writes "In a post on the company blog, JotForm.com cofounder Aytekin Tank alerts users that 'a US government agency has temporarily suspended' the jotform.com domain. He explains that it is part of an 'ongoing investigation' of content posted to its site by a user. Although which user and what content haven't yet been disclosed, there is speculation about forms used for a phishing attack on a South African bank. JotForm hosts over two million user-generated forms, and uses software to block fraudulent accounts (65,000 so far), so you can see there's plenty of opportunity for mischief."
Security

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: Are fake security updates a real threat?

Submitted by omems
omems writes: A recent report by the EFF discusses the use of commercial software by oppressive regimes. What caught my eye was a link to an older report in the WSJ that claims the spyware was installed by the use of fake updates to iTunes and Flash.

Is such a thing possible? If so, how would it be done, and how can we protect ourselves from it?

Submission + - Buddhafy - Control a Spotify playlist with your brain (youtube.com)

Submitted by
ocelma
ocelma writes: "Control a Spotify playlist with your brain.

It uses a NeuroSky MindWave controller to track Alpha Waves in your brain (roughly corresponding to being in a relaxed/meditative state), and according to these values, it control the next song that plays in Spotify!

If you manage to achieve a highly meditative state, you'll be rewarded with good music: usually a calm, relaxing tune by one of your favorite artists from last.fm. If you lose focus and your meditation level drops, you'll be hit with some of the top-100 worst songs ever recorded!
So keep it chill, dude!

This hack was implemented in 24h. at MusicHackDay, San Francisco, on 2012/02/11-12"
Robotics

Submission + - New Technique for Mass-Producing Microbots Inspired by Pop-up Books and Origami (gizmag.com)

Submitted by Zothecula
Zothecula writes: Inspired by origami and children's pop-up books, Harvard engineers have pioneered a means of mass-producing bee-sized flying microrobots. The breakthrough mechanizes the already state-of-the art process of making Harvard's Mobee robots by hand, by mass producing flat assemblies by the sheet which can be folded and assembled in a single movement. The technique, which cunningly exploits existing machinery for making printed circuit boards, can theoretically be applied to a multitude of electromechanical machines.
Botnet

Submission + - New Waledec Botnet Variant Sniffs Passwords (securityweek.com)

Submitted by wiredmikey
wiredmikey writes: The Waledec botnet, which was taken down in 2010 by Microsoft, was responsible for more spam delivery than any other botnet in its class with a reach of about 1.5 billion emails a day. Earlier this month, researchers at Palo Alto Networks discovered a third variant of the botnet, and it was serving up more than just spam.

According to the researchers, this new version includes the ability to sniff user credentials for FTP, POP3, SMTP, and steal .dat files for FTP and BitCoin, all of which can be uploaded to the botnet, and of course be very valuable for enabling further attacks.

While Palo Alto Networks discovered a third variant, following Microsoft’s takedown of Waledec, Shadowserver’s Steven Adair discovered a second variant in early 2011. A month later, researchers from malware intelligence firm Last Line were able to examine the botnet code and discovered 123,920 FTP account credentials. In addition to the FTP access, they discovered nearly 500,000 credentials used for POP3 services.

Just last week Symantec noticed Waledac spreading spam in what appears to have been an attempt at political activism.

So while the original botnet has been taken down and remains under the control of Microsoft, thse new variant pose new risks to users and organizations.
Japan

Fujitsu To Develop Vigilante Computer Virus For Japan 129

Posted by Soulskill from the which-will-lead-to-anti-anti-virus-viruses dept.
wiedzmin writes "Japanese Defense Ministry has awarded Fujitsu a contract to develop a vigilante computer virus, which will track down and eliminate other viruses, or rather — their sources of origin. Are 'good' viruses a bad idea? Sophos seems to think so, saying, 'When you're trying to gather digital forensic evidence as to what has broken into your network, and what data it may have stolen, it's probably not wise to let loose a program that starts to trample over your hard drives, making changes.'"
Security

Rare Earth Magnets Pose Threat To Children 284

Posted by timothy from the being-alive-considered-harmful dept.
Hugh Pickens writes writes "Many of today's toys contain rare-earth magnets which are much more powerful than the magnets of yesteryear and the magnets pose a serious threat to children when more than one is ingested because as the magnets attract one another they can cause a range of serious injuries, including holes through internal organs, blood poisoning and death (PDF). Braden Eberle, 4, swallowed two tiny magnets from his older brother's construction kit on two successive days last spring and his mother's first reaction was that the magnet would pass through her son's system without a problem. "People swallow pennies of the same size every day," said Jill Eberle. "They're smaller than an eraser." But next morning, with Braden still in pain, the family's doctor told them to go straight to the emergency room where an X-ray revealed two magnets were stuck together. "They were attracted to each other with the wall of each segment they were in stuck together," said Dr. Sanjeev Dutta, the pediatric surgeon at Good Samaritan Hospital who would operate on Braden later that day. "Because they were so powerful, the wall of the intestine was getting squeezed, squeezed, squeezed, and then it just necrosed, or kind of rotted away, and created a hole between the two." The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) says at least 33 children have been injured from ingesting magnets (PDF) with a 20 month-old dying, and at least 19 other children requiring surgery."
AT&T

AT&T Issues Scathing Response To FCC Report 215

Posted by samzenpus from the we-strongly-disagree dept.
An anonymous reader writes "AT&T has issued a scathing letter in response to the FCC's decision to release a staff report on its findings surrounding AT&T's planned $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA. 'We expected that the AT&T-T-Mobile transaction would receive careful, considered, and fair analysis,' Jim Cicconi, AT&T Senior Executive Vice President of External & Legislative Affairs, said. 'Unfortunately, the preliminary FCC Staff Analysis offers none of that.'"
News

Reuters Reports Death of Gaddafi In Libyan City of Sirte 302

Posted by timothy from the now-you-can-spell-his-name-however-you-want dept.
syngularyx writes with a snippet from Reuters' report that "Former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi died of wounds suffered on Thursday as fighters battling to complete an eight-month-old uprising against his rule overran his hometown Sirte, Libya's interim rulers said. His killing, which came swiftly after his capture near Sirte, is the most dramatic single development in the Arab Spring revolts that have unseated rulers in Egypt and Tunisia and threatened the grip on power of the leaders of Syria and Yemen." An anonymous reader links to the news as reported by Al Jazeera (citing confirmation from the military spokesman of the National Transition Council). Time reports that many Libyans were celebrating even preliminary reports of Gaddafi's death.
Music

Why Your Dad's 30-Year-Old Stereo Sounds Better Than Yours 674

Posted by samzenpus from the and-the-candy-tasted-better-too dept.
asto21 writes "Cnet's Steve Guttenberg sheds light on this interesting development that over the years, actual sound quality became a secondary selling point since most people started buying their equipment either online or from big box retailers. People started caring more about the number of connections and wireless interfaces and wattage of systems. As a result, there was less money in R&D budgets to spend on advancements in sound."

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