zellfaze - Slashdot User

Submission + - Slashdot not fixed (slashdot.org) 3

Submitted by mustPushCart on Saturday May 14, 2011 @03:10AM

mustPushCart writes: Slashdot popular around the world with basement dwellers and secretively anti corporate white collars alike has not yet changed its design after its January 25, 2011 redesign broke hearts and browsers, bringing out its passive aggressive readership into active fist shaking before sending them back into its idle section. The design continues to remain broken on Chrome in addition to being slow, clunky and generally silently hated. Slashdot editors could not be reached for comment at the time of going to press

Submission + - Robots "Evolve" Altruism (sciencemag.org)

Submitted by sciencehabit on Tuesday May 03, 2011 @07:06PM

sciencehabit writes: Computer simulations of tiny robots with rudimentary nervous systems show that, over hundreds of generations, these virtual machines evolve altruistic behaviors. They begin to share small disks--a stand in for food--with each other so that their comrades' traits are passed on to the next generation. Experts say the study sheds light on why various animals--from bees to humans--help each other out, even when it hurts their own chances to reproduce.

Submission + - OS X Crimeware Kit Emerges (threatpost.com)

Submitted by Trailrunner7 on Monday May 02, 2011 @03:47PM

Trailrunner7 writes: Crimeware kits have become a ubiquitous part of the malware scene in the last few years, but they have mainly been confined to the Windows platform. Now, reports are surfacing that the first such kit targeting Apple's Mac OS X operating system has appeared.

The kit is being compared to the Zeus kit, which has been one of the more popular and pervasive crimeware kits for several years now. A report by CSIS, a Danish security firm, said that the OS X kit uses a template that's quite similar to the Zeus construction and has the ability to steal forms from Firefox.

Submission + - bitcoin: a force to be reckoned with? (washingtonpost.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 01, 2011 @06:08AM

An anonymous reader writes: Bitcoin, a peer-to-peer digital currency, is being regarded by establishment press with much suspicion, confusion and, most recently, fear. A good example is a recent opinion piece by the Washington Post. As is typical, bitcoin's unique characteristics (scarcity, resilience, unforgeability), which make it useful as a currency, are not discussed. Rather, it is dismissed as a "private electronic currency." Besides incorrectly classifying bitcoin as "private," the author overlooks one crucial point: the "first to market" advantage that bitcoin's existing blockchain possesses. Are these pieces by the media the same sort of flailing that we witnessed with RIAA and MPAA? Confusion, to be followed by demonization, to be followed by legislation?

Submission + - Sony sued for PlayStation Network data breach (cnet.com)

Submitted by suraj.sun on Wednesday April 27, 2011 @02:21PM

suraj.sun writes: Like clockwork, the first lawsuit resulting from the security breach of the personal data of more than 75 million Sony PlayStation Network customers has been filed.

The suit was filed today on behalf of Kristopher Johns, 36, of Birmingham, Ala., in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Johns accuses Sony of not taking "reasonable care to protect, encrypt, and secure the private and sensitive data of its users."

He also believes Sony took too long to notify him and other customers that their personal information had been exposed. Because of that, the complaint alleges, Sony did not allow its customers "to make an informed decision as to whether to change credit card numbers, close the exposed accounts, check their credit reports, or take other mitigating actions."

CNET News: http://news.cnet.com/8301-31021_3-20057921-260.html

Submission + - Apple Isn't Tracking You, But Facebook Is... (shugendo.org)

Submitted by

stonemirror

on Wednesday April 27, 2011 @11:26AM

stonemirror writes: "Apple has put out a statement explaining that the file containing locations in the areas where the iPhone has visited are, indeed, the locations of cell towers and such and are, indeed, used to speed up triangulation in iOS Location Services. Apple says that will store less data, encrypt the file on the phone, and not back it up to the desktop in a future release of the platform.

On a related note, it's been revealed that Facebook has been placing tracking cookies onto the computers of non-users of the site, simply for visiting sites which happen to use Facebook Connect for authentication. Facebook blames this on a bug."

Submission + - Security Software Scores Poorly In Security (techweb.com)

Submitted by

Batblue

on Monday April 25, 2011 @10:12AM

Batblue writes: "Most of the security and security services software tested by Veracode got an "unacceptable" rating in their first security scans, as did more than 65 percent of all commercial software, a new report released today says.

Veracode's new State of Software Security Report shows only customer support software in worse shape than security products and services, with 82 percent of apps receiving an "unacceptable" rating, versus 72 percent for security software and security services software.

While 66 percent of all commercial software scanned by Veracode received an "unacceptable" rating upon their first security scans by Veracode, the low scores of security products and services software was most telling. "That was a shocker for us," says Sam King, vice president of product marketing at Veracode, which scanned more than 4,800 applications for this report.

"That helps explain some of the headlines we've seen lately-- RSA, HBGary, Comodo ... Attackers are targeting security companies and other vertical industries should be taking better care of the apps. The lesson learned for people buying: you can't assume that even security vendors are any more secure.""

Submission + - Bizarre porn raid underscores Wi-Fi privacy risks (msn.com)

Submitted by alphadogg on Monday April 25, 2011 @10:11AM

alphadogg writes: Lying on his family room floor with assault weapons trained on him, shouts of "pedophile!" and "pornographer!" stinging like his fresh cuts and bruises, the Buffalo homeowner didn't need long to figure out the reason for the early morning wake-up call from a swarm of federal agents. That new wireless router. He'd gotten fed up trying to set a password. Someone must have used his Internet connection, he thought. Sure enough, that was the case. Law enforcement officials say the case is a cautionary tale. Their advice: Password-protect your wireless router.

Submission + - Hiding secrets in disk fragmentation (i-programmer.info)

Submitted by mikejuk on Monday April 25, 2011 @09:29AM

mikejuk writes: Disk fragmentation is usually regarded as something to be eliminated but now you can hide your most terrible secrets in plain sight using it as a code. It is all a matter of where you store the data not what you store. A perfectly normal file can be made to store a string of bits simply by moving the storage blocks so that if two blocks are next to each other we code a one and if they are physically separated we code a zero.

Submission + - Hands-on: 4 remote-desktop services (computerworld.com)

Submitted by bsk_cw on Monday April 25, 2011 @09:21AM

bsk_cw writes: There are a number of remote access services available now that are low-cost and Web-friendly, letting you connect to another computer over the Internet without much hassle in setting things up. Which option gives you the most (remote) control for your money? Computerworld's Howard Wen reviewed four of these applications — GoToMyPC, LogMeIn, TeamViewer and Windows Live Mesh --and found that while they all do the job, some are more complete than others.

Submission + - Computer opens unmanned store for holiday (stuff.co.nz)

Submitted by

tomhudson

on Monday April 25, 2011 @08:46AM

tomhudson writes: "The Walkato Times in New Zealand is reporting that someone forgot to tell the computer not to unlock the supermarket on the Friday holiday. "About half of the 24 people who came into the supermarket paid for their groceries using the self-scan service. The service stopped working after alcohol was scanned, requiring a staff member to check a customer's age before the system is unlocked."

The owner, Mr Miller, was quoted as saying "I can certainly see the funny side of it... but I'd rather not have the publicity to be honest. It makes me look a bit of a dickhead."

Rather than take legal action, Mr Miller is hoping that the people who didn't pay will do the right thing."

Submission + - Nintendo: Wii 2 To Come Out This Year (ibtimes.com)

Submitted by RedEaredSlider on Monday April 25, 2011 @08:44AM

RedEaredSlider writes: Nintendo confirmed that will release its next home console later this year, after weeks of rumors that it would deliver a successor to its highly-successful Wii console.

"Nintendo Co., Ltd. has decided to launch in 2012 a system to succeed Wii," the company announced in a note today. A playable model of the new console will be presented at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, the company said.

For Nintendo, the move could not come at a better time. Though the company has sold 86 million Wii units since 2006, sales of the aging console have dipped considerably in the past year. Nintendo's profit dropped over fifty percent last year to $2.09 billion. The Wii has also faced competition from other motion-control systems, such as the Sony Move and Microsoft's Kinect.

Submission + - Kaspersky's son kidnapped, freed (betanews.com) 2

Submitted by

Okian Warrior

on Monday April 25, 2011 @12:27AM

Okian Warrior writes: "Kaspersky Lab has issued a statement Sunday confirming earlier reports that Ivan Kaspersky, son of CEO and founder Eugene Kaspersky, had been kidnapped and subsequently freed. Ivan Kaspersky was freed in an "operation" by the authorities and no ransom was paid."

Submission + - World of Warcraft and Information Week deploy IPv6 (gmane.org)

Submitted by ptudor on Sunday April 24, 2011 @01:01PM

ptudor writes: A post to NANOG mentions the 4.1 software update to World of Warcraft, arriving Tuesday, will support IPv6. Information Week is now serving IPv6 AAAA DNS records for public websites, joining sites like Heise and nixCraft that have already deployed IPv6 well in advance of World IPv6 Day on June 8th. Still notably absent? Slashdot. Lame.

Submission + - Skype plugs Android app privacy hole (networkworld.com)

Submitted by alphadogg on Wednesday April 20, 2011 @12:59PM

alphadogg writes: Less than a week after confirming that a flaw in Skype for Android could leak sensitive user information, the Internet calling company Wednesday issued an urgent update to fix the problem. Skype informed customers that "After a period of developing and testing we have released a new version of the Skype for Android application onto the Android Market, containing a fix to the vulnerability reported to us. Please update to this version [1.0.0.983] as soon as possible in order to help protect your information." Skype says it has had no reported examples of third-party apps misusing information from the Skype directory on Android devices, though is keeping an eye on things.

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