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Comment Re:Why only partial encryption? (Score 1) 193

by NapalmV (#47056587) Attached to: eBay Compromised

Why do these companies repeatedly store only *some* of my personal information encrypted?

Because cowboy attitude. We just had here the story on the EU law about deleting older links to personal data from search engines. Where most US contributors insisted that this data is "facts" and it would be "free speech" to disseminate it as businesses see fit. Combine this with EULA practices where businesses (many in monopoly position) will not service you unless you agree that they collect your personal data and share it freely with various "partners". When such practice is questioned they always justify it through "it's good for the economy". Case closed. Unless we take the time to question what exactly "economy" is. But we never do.

Comment Re:DRM (Score 1) 76

by NapalmV (#47054881) Attached to: Kaleidescape Settles With DVD CCA But No Victory For DRM
Cinavia. Except its effect is rather bizarre. While it doesn't prevent you from "making copies", it prevents you from playing audio of said copies on a PS3 and selected Blu-Ray players. Guess it didn't help increase Blu-Ray disk sales, but it surely helped decrease PS3 and Blu-Ray player sales.

Submission + - New "Dual Carbon" Battery Charges 20 Times Faster Than Li-ion (gizmag.com)

Submitted by Zothecula
Zothecula writes: Japanese company Power Japan Plus has announced the development and planned mass-production of "Ryden," a disruptive carbon battery that can be charged 20 times faster than an ordinary lithium-ion cell. The battery, which is cheap to manufacture, safe, and environmentally friendly, could be ideal to improve the range and charging times of electric cars.

Submission + - China bans Windows 8 on government computers (muktware.com)

Submitted by sfcrazy
sfcrazy writes: China has banned use of Windows 8 in government offices. Windows 8 is the latest version of Windows which is already facing hard time due to its revamped user interface. Chinese decision is a major blow for Microsoft which is struggling to find its place in the post PC era as Windows market shares are declining and it’s hard core partners are adopting Linux based Chrome OS. The move comes at an interesting time as the US government has filed criminal charges against China accusing them of economic espionage.

Submission + - China excludes Windows 8 from new government computers,plans to migrate to Linux

Submitted by Mojo66
Mojo66 writes: News.cn reports that China has announced that it will forbid the use of the Windows 8 operating system (OS) in new government computers, a move to ensure computer security after the shutdown of Windows XP. The Chinese government obviously cannot ignore the risks of running OS without guaranteed technical support. It has moved to avoid the awkwardness of being confronted with a similar situation again in future if it continues to purchase computers with foreign OS. Apart from purchase restrictions for central government offices, China will focus on the development of its own OS based on Linux, a move which An Yang, a security expert with Qihoo 360 Technology, said was a necessity although progress has been disappointing. There are several Linux-based OS developed by Chinese companies, such as KylinOS and StartOS, but they have not proved popular. An said the first step is to promote the use of Chinese-designed OS among official users, while their popularity among civilian users will be subject to market forces.
HP recently announced shipping PCs with Kylin pre-installed, while there have been about 4 million downloads of the OS from the website so far.

Comment Re:The Problem Isn't "Free Speech vs Privacy" (Score 1) 278

by NapalmV (#47044099) Attached to: The US Vs. Europe: Freedom of Expression Vs. Privacy
The question here is the lifespan of he "news", not how you classify their support (paper vs. internet, search vs. non-search etc). Traditionally this lifespan was limited to a few days while the said newspaper was on the stands. After that, access to those news was becoming cumbersome, i.e. like in having to go to the library and manually scroll through miles of archived microfiche. This 2 tiers system (news stands vs. microfiche) was ensuring that, while the information was still retained, you were practically "forgotten" and "out of the news" for the purpose of daily life. Obviously a newspaper could have elected to later regurgitate the same news and publish them again on the front page; however, they couldn't do this forever (you being on the front page for months for exactly the same news may have ended in a harassment lawsuit).

With the advent of internet, there's only one tier of "archiving", i.e. those news are always one search/click away from the public, making them "front page" for ever.

Submission + - "Secret" 3G Intel Chip Gives Snoops Backdoor PC Access (infowars.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: vPro processors allow remote access even when computer is turned off

Paul Joseph Watson | Infowars.com | September 26, 2013

http://www.infowars.com/91497/

Intel Core vPro processors contain a "secret" 3G chip that allows remote disabling and backdoor access to any computer even when it is turned off.

Although the technology has actually been around for a while, the attendant privacy concerns are only just being aired. The "secret" 3G chip that Intel added to its processors in 2011 caused little consternation until the NSA spying issue exploded earlier this year as a result of Edward Snowden's revelations.

In a promotional video for the technology, Intel brags that the chips actually offer enhanced security because they don't require computers to be "powered on" and allow problems to be fixed remotely. The promo also highlights the ability for an administrator to shut down PCs remotely "even if the PC is not connected to the network," as well as the ability to bypass hard drive encryption.

"Intel actually embedded the 3G radio chip in order to enable its Anti Theft 3.0 technology. And since that technology is found on every Core i3/i5/i7 CPU after Sandy Bridge, that means a lot of CPUs, not just new vPro, might have a secret 3G connection nobody knew about until now,"reports Softpedia.

Jeff Marek, director of business client engineering for Intel, acknowledged that the company's Sandy Bridge" microprocessor, which was released in 2011, had "the ability to remotely kill and restore a lost or stolen PC via 3G."

"Core vPro processors contain a second physical processor embedded within the main processor which has it's own operating system embedded on the chip itself," writes Jim Stone. "As long as the power supply is available and and in working condition, it can be woken up by the Core vPro processor, which runs on the system's phantom power and is able to quietly turn individual hardware components on and access anything on them."

Although the technology is being promoted as a convenient way for IT experts to troubleshoot PC issues remotely, it also allows hackers or NSA snoops to view the entire contents of somebody's hard drive, even when the power is off and the computer is not connected to a wi-fi network.

It also allows third parties to remotely disable any computer via the "secret" 3G chip that is built into Intel's Sandy Bridge processors. Webcams could also be remotely accessed.

"This combination of hardware from Intel enables vPro access ports which operate independently of normal user operations," reports TG Daily. "These include out-of-band communications (communications that exist outside of the scope of anything the machine might be doing through an OS or hypervisor), monitoring and altering of incoming and outgoing network traffic. In short, it operates covertly and snoops and potentially manipulates data."

Not only does this represent a privacy nightmare, it also dramatically increases the risk of industrial espionage.

The ability for third parties to have remote 3G access to PCs would also allow unwanted content to be placed on somebody's hard drive, making it easier for intelligence agencies and corrupt law enforcement bodies to frame people.

"The bottom line? The Core vPro processor is the end of any pretend privacy," writes Stone. "If you think encryption, Norton, or anything else is going to ensure your privacy, including never hooking up to the web at all, think again. There is now more than just a ghost in the machine."

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Submission + - How to conserve digital data for 100 years (vremenskitrezor.hr) 1

Submitted by ssasa
ssasa writes: A bank has a marketing effort to conserve small items in their time capsule that will be closed for 100 years. I'm considering to store some digital data (photos, videos, files or so). But which format to use and to be somehow sure it will survive and be close to a technology that would be readable in 100 years? DVDs, USB keys, USB drives all seams to last only few years. Any thoughts on this?

Submission + - 4 Best Free Pascal Books (linuxlinks.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Pascal is an imperative and procedural programming language designed in the late 1960s by Niklaus Wirth to teach structured programming using subprograms called procedures and functions. The language is a direct descendent from ALGOL 60, and takes programming components from ALGOL 68 and ALGOL-W.

The focus of this article is to select the finest Pascal books which are available to read without charge. Each text has a lot to offer for a budding Pascal programmer. So get reading and learning.

Submission + - Why Octopuses Don't Tie Themselves in Knots (sciencemag.org) 1

Submitted by sciencehabit
sciencehabit writes: Why don’t an octopus’s arms become hopelessly entangled? Their appendages can move with seemingly infinite freedom, forming far more postures and positions than their brains could possibly keep tabs on. The key, according to a study published online today in Current Biology, is chemicals in their skin. By examining amputated octopus arms of the common octopus, researchers have found that the creature’s suckers don’t latch on to its own arms the way they snare everything else. Petri dishes coated with intact octopus skin became “immune” to the zombie arms. The same occurred if the skin was ground up into a mush and spread over the petri dish, implying that a special substance in the skin is responsible for repelling the suckers. That’s important because octopuses have been known to dine on their comrades. So somehow a chemical in their skin not only keeps them from tangling themselves up, but it also prevents them from eating themselves alive.

Submission + - Open Source Software universities Ranking (OSuR 2014) (portalprogramas.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: My name is Raphel Cervera and I'm writing you from PortalProgramas Technological Observatory (http://en.portalprogramas.com/observatory/).

I want to report you that we've just published the 1st Open Source Software universities Ranking (OSuR 2014): an study that aims to measure engagement, use and promotion of Open Source software in United States universities.

This project analyze the work of more than 297 American universities in creation and divulgation of Open Source software. In fact, 18 criteria and indicators divided into 4 different aspects have been used for statistical analysis. You can discover the results (and the followed methodology — Creative Commons 3.0 attribution) on the website of OSuR 2014:
http://en.portalprogramas.com/...

  Press kit for OSuR: http://en.portalprogramas.com/...

  Meet the team behind OSuR: http://en.portalprogramas.com/...

Thanks for your attention, feel free to share this information by any desired means.

Regards.

Submission + - Unlock Your Android Phone with Open Source Wearable NFC (adafruit.com)

Submitted by coop0030
coop0030 writes: Beck Stern at Adafruit has created a guide on how to create an open source NFC ring or other wearable to mod and unlock your Android phone. From the tutorial:

Unlock your phone by just picking it up! No more pesky password or gesture PIN, just scan an NFC tag! This guide covers creating an NFC ring, putting an NFC tag in your nail polish, modding your Android installation to read tags from the lockscreen, and creating an automation toolchain to unlock the phone when the desired tag is scanned.

There is also a video that demonstrates how it works.

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