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Submission + - Maryland bans employers from asking for Facebook passwords (thehill.com)

Submitted by Freddybear
Freddybear writes: Last Friday, Maryland became the first state to ban employers from asking for access to the social media accounts of employees or applicants. Lawmakers in the US House and Senate are working on legislation that would ban the practice nationally.
Security

Submission + - FBI: Child porn "computer expert" added to Top Ten Fugitive list (networkworld.com) 1

Submitted by
coondoggie
coondoggie writes: "The FBI today placed Eric Justin Toth, a former private-school teacher and computer expert who is believed to regularly use the Internet and social networking websites on its Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List. Toth is accused of possessing and producing child pornography, has been on the run since warrants for his arrest were issued in Maryland and the District of Columbia in 2008. There is a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading directly to Toth's arrest."

Submission + - Why humans have pretty much stopped evolving (npr.org) 2

Submitted by
Kidipede
Kidipede writes: "Never thought of this before, but Ian Tattersall explains that organisms can evolve quickly only in small isolated groups with a limited gene pool, so that a mutation can really take hold. In huge gene pools like modern cities, mutations are quickly muted by the dominance of the older DNA and evolutionary change becomes nearly impossible. It's not the main point of the story, but it's a good point."
Science

Submission + - The tiny, lethal weapon that viruses use to kill bacteria (phys.org)

Submitted by
rainbo
rainbo writes: "An excerpt reads: Grouped together under the unassuming name phi-92, a family of bacteriophage viruses has perfected its specialty: they attack salmonella and coliform bacteria. The centerpiece of their arsenal is a needle-like tip that pierces its victim’s membrane. EPFL scientists have measured this miniscule weapon; at a single nanometer, it’s roughly 20 times the diameter of a helium atom. This discovery, published in Structure, a Cell Press journal, will allow researchers to better understand the attack strategy used by bacteriophages, which are being intensively studied for their therapeutic potential."
Music

Submission + - 24/192 Music Downloads ...and why they make no sense (xiph.org)

Submitted by milbournosphere
milbournosphere writes: Here's an interesting article going into some reasoning as to why 24bit/192kHz mixes are unnecessary. The article goes into some of the science behind the idea. A very good, rather technical, read. From TFA:

Articles last month revealed that musician Neil Young and Apple's Steve Jobs discussed offering digital music downloads of 'uncompromised studio quality'. Much of the press and user commentary was particularly enthusiastic about the prospect of uncompressed 24 bit 192kHz downloads. 24/192 featured prominently in my own conversations with Mr. Young's group several months ago. Unfortunately, there is no point to distributing music in 24-bit/192kHz format. Its playback fidelity is slightly inferior to 16/44.1 or 16/48, and it takes up 6 times the space. There are a few real problems with the audio quality and 'experience' of digitally distributed music today. 24/192 solves none of them. While everyone fixates on 24/192 as a magic bullet, we're not going to see any actual improvement.
AT&T

Submission + - US carriers finally doing something about cellphone theft (macworld.com)

Submitted by zarmanto
zarmanto writes: In a move that is so long overdue that it boggles the mind, the FCC and the four largest cellular providers in the US state that they will be joining forces to combat cell phone theft. From TFA:

"Over the next six months, each of the four operators is expected to put in place a program to disable phones reported as stolen and within 18 months the FCC plans to help merge them into a central database in order to prevent a phone from being used on another carrier’s network."
The Military

Submission + - Military surplus a bonanza for law enforcement (sfgate.com)

Submitted by k6mfw
k6mfw writes: from the article: "San Francisco may be known for antiwar movements and peace rallies, but when local law enforcement agencies needed help with supplies, they've turned to the U.S. military."
"A total of 163,344 new and used items valued at $26.2 million — from bath mats acquired by the sheriff of Sonoma County to a full-tracked tank for rural San Joaquin County — were transferred last year to state and local agencies."
Facebook

Submission + - Security Hole Exposes Android, iOS To Facebook Identity Theft

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Gareth Wright, a U.K.-based developer of apps for Android and iOS, has discovered a security hole in Facebook’s native mobile apps that he says can be used to steal personal information about you. The problem is that Facebook’s apps for the two platforms do not encrypt your login credentials, meaning they can be easily swiped over a USB connection, or more likely, via malicious apps.
Android

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: No comprehensive app for Slashdot yet? (google.com) 4

Submitted by CCarrot
CCarrot writes: While looking for a comprehensive Slashdot app for Android, I was somewhat shocked to find that there isn't one out there (yet). There are plenty of apps that allow you to read stories and comments, including this one that lets you download and read stories and comments offline, however there are none (that I could find) that allow you to a) log in, or even b) post comments, not to mention check on friends' posts, monitor your comment history and replies, moderate posts, etc., etc.

To be fair, the mobile version of the site is very usable on cellphones and such, although html markup is rather a pain on a phone. It just surprises me that nobody has developed a dedicated app for it yet, especially considering that /. is 'news for nerds'. Any thoughts? Is one of the regular readers currently developing one in their oh-so-abundant 'spare' time? Or would anyone even use such an app if it were available? (besides me, of course...)
Security

Submission + - Sky News Hacked Email Of Canoe Fraudster John Darwin (techweekeurope.co.uk)

Submitted by
twoheadedboy
twoheadedboy writes: "Sky News has defended itself over hacking the email accounts of John Darwin, the man who faked his own death whilst canoeing, and his wife who benefited from the £500,000 insurance money whilst the man hid in their marital home. It emerged today that Sky News had allowed a journalist to obtain access to email accounts, in order to uncover communications between the Darwins. Head of Sky News, John Ryley, said the broadcaster stood by its actions as “editorially justified.”"
America Online

Submission + - Before the Internet: The golden age of online services (itworld.com)

Submitted by
Esther Schindler
Esther Schindler writes: "Think nostalgia isn't what it ought to be? Well, you're in luck. Steven Vaughan-Nichols has written a walloping overview of the pre-Internet online services he used to review for Computer Shopper (which, as it happens, is where he and I first met... perhaps you knew me at 72241,1417 in the early 90s?). Because, you young whippersnappers, before there was the World Wide Web, back when 2,400bps modems were "high-speed," millions of people used online services like AOL, CompuServe, and GEnie to work with each other, gossip, and share Star War jokes. (To my dismay, though, he leaves out Plato Homelink. sniff!) If you have a strange fondness for the sound of a modem connecting and (like me) are still proud of being able to whistle at 300bps, you'll nod along with his trip into the time machine."

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