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Submission + - "Highly Confidential" Google docs say - Do Evil

pcause writes: The latest documents released by Viacom show that Google knew that Youtube was "completely sustained by pirated content" before Google bought it. Of course, the docs that say this were labeled "highly confidential". I am sure that Google will say this is all old stuff, taken out of context and that they didn't have sex with that woman, Ms, Lewinsky. Sure.
Privacy

Submission + - You call this cloud privacy?

pcause writes: Google and a coalition of tech companies want to create legal protections against the government accessing you content in the cloud. Of course, they aren't proposing any restrictions on how *THEY* can use you content, location information and the like to make more $$ and further violate your privacy. Unregulated, nontransparent and unaccountable corporate entities saying they are to be trusted. Ken Lay of Enron would love these guys.
Government

Submission + - NASA to help probe Toyota acceleration problem (yahoo.com)

suraj.sun writes: NASA and the National Academy of Sciences are joining the government's effort to figure out what caused the sudden acceleration problems that led to Toyota's massive recalls.

NASA scientists with expertise in electronics will help the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study potential electronic ties to unintended acceleration in Toyotas. NASA's knowledge of electronics, computer hardware and software and hazard analysis will ensure a comprehensive review, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Monday.

In a separate study, the National Academy of Sciences will examine unwanted acceleration and electronic vehicle controls in cars from around the auto industry, LaHood said. The National Academy is an independent organization chartered by Congress.

Yahoo News: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100330/ap_on_bi_ge/us_toyota_recall

Science

Submission + - Glitches delay collisions at Big Bang experiment

oxide7 writes: Physicists at the CERN research center delayed attempts on Tuesday to create mini-versions of the Big Bang after what they called minor technical problems blocked the launch of the marathon experiment. After a trouble-free overnight test run, first a small power supply glitch and then an over-sensitive magnet safety system led the physicists to suspend at least for a few hours the mega-power particle collisions, the focus of the world's largest scientific experiment.
Open Source

Submission + - Five great open source security applications (computerworlduk.com)

superapecommando writes: Contributions from free and open software makers can be found throughout the tech world. From your data centre to the desktop and everywhere in between; there's an open solution to your computing needs.
This is no less true in information security. My focus in this article is the several outstanding information security desktop tools that personify the innovation and ingenuity of the FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) world. Please keep in mind that all of these applications (except one) are cross platform so you can find appropriate versions on whatever you run (BSD, Mac OSX, Linux or Windows). The examples herein, however, will be catered to the largest install base (statistically): Microsoft Windows.

Submission + - Youtube *was*evil, and Google knew

pcause writes: Silicon Alley Insider has the most damning evidence released in the Viacom/YouTube suit. It seems clear from these snippets that YouTube knew it was pirating content and did it to grow fast and sell for a lot of $$. It also seems clear that Google knew the site was pirated content and bought it and continued the pirating.

Submission + - Comcast launches first public U.S. trial of DNSSEC (networkworld.com)

cryan7755 writes: Comcast unveiled on Tuesday an aggressive plan to deploy new DNS security mechanisms that are designed to protect Web site operators and consumers from a specific type of hacking attack that involves hijacking Web traffic and redirecting it to bogus sites.
Google

Submission + - YouTube to kill IE6 support on March 13

Joel writes: Over six months ago, Google announced it would start phasing out support for Internet Explorer 6 on Orkut and YouTube, and started pushing its users to modern browsers. The search giant has now given a specific kill date for old browser support on the video website: "Support stops on March 13th. Stopped support essentially means that some future features on YouTube will be rolled out that won't work in older browsers."

YouTube will have an interstitial appear when users on older browser try to watch a video on YouTube. Google says the interstitial will show up indefinitely every two weeks until the user upgrades to the most recent version of their browser. Google deems anything below IE7, Firefox 3.0, Chrome 4.0, and Safari 3.0 as an "older browser."Users on these browsers will still be able to watch YouTube videos, but additional features that Google plans to roll out may not be supported in these older browsers.

Submission + - Foxconn iWonder Android tablet to sell for $100 (liliputing.com) 1

Xacid writes: "Looking to spend some quality time with Google Android, but don’t feel like plunking down the cash for a smartphone and then shelling out more money each month for a data plan? I already told you about one relatively affordable option this week: The Archos 5 Internet tablet which starts at just $250. But Taiwanese PC maker Foxconn has an Android-powered tablet that cuts that price in half twice."

Interesting competitor to the iPad. Definitely not a prize fighter, but certainly a viable option for those looking for a similar device on a budget.

More details on the gadget here:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/18/iwonder-why-the-logo-is-upside-down/
http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archives/2010/02/iwonder-tablet.html

Submission + - British MPs: "Stop Funding Homeopathy" (newscientist.com)

Sabre Runner writes: In an amazing feat of scientific sense, a committee of British members of parliament decides to stop the funding of Homeopathic treatments.
"Homeopathic remedies work no better than placebos, and so should no longer be paid for by the UK National Health Service, a committee of British members of parliament has concluded. [...] In preparing its report, the committee, which scrutinises the evidence behind government policies, took evidence from scientists and homeopaths, and reviewed numerous reports and scientific investigations into homeopathy. It found no evidence that such treatments work beyond providing a placebo effect."
I personally like the scolding of the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency: "The committee rejected the MHRA's justification for licensing homeopathic remedies – that there is an "important homeopathic tradition" to uphold. "Witchcraft is traditional, so does that mean the MHRA should endorse that too?" [committee chairman and Liberal Democrat MP Phil] Willis asks."

Comment Re:ltsp problems (Score 3, Interesting) 79

And that's why we implemented localapps. Running firefox as a localapp will let you do fullscreen flash just fine. As I mentioned, LTSP is either using X11 over SSH or SSH only for authentication. In the second mode, your credentials are sent securely but the actual X11 events are send unencrypted, so that's actually faster than any OpenVPN/IPSEC you may use.

Comment Re:You can reload an M1 Garand mid-clip (Score 2, Insightful) 137

The article doesn't features game with actual weapons like Call of Duty, it instead features weapons that don't actually exist yet as they are portrayed in games. I hope someone else does a comparison with how weapons work in Modern Warfare 2 with their real-life counterparts, kind of like how Top Gear did comparisons with Gran Turismo and real life cars.

Comment Re:Security (Score 2, Insightful) 364

Once upon a time I could have said, have the school buy Apple laptops. Seems that's no longer a deterrent. Oh, I know, how about dumb laptops? They need to be connected to the school's terminal server to provide any applications. Not sure there is such a thing and they are likely more expensive but it would likely make it less interesting for people to steal and also never be obsolete.

Comment Flash means security problems (Score 1) 521

Just about every week we see another major security issue caused by a problem with Flash. Adobe isn't serious about security and doesn't know what to do to fix their products. For example, Javascript should be off by default in Reader, but it isn't. Last quarter something like 80% of serious attacks were through holes in Adobe products and the latest issue is with Downloader. Why allow a company and set of products that have shown themselves to be insecure onto the next generation of device where hackers can steal more personal data, run up changers and the like. Apple is trying to make our mobile devices more reliable and more secure than our PCs. It is time to dump Flash.

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