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Comment Study brought to you by.. (Score 2) 456

by jonabbey (#40028963) Attached to: Online Loneliness At Google+

I wonder who funded this particular study. ;-)

I switched from Facebook to Google+, and I use it almost exclusively now. The population is smaller, but the discussions are better. On Facebook, I'm linked to personal friends, on Google+, I'm linked to people all over based on common interests. I like G+ better.
Security

Opus Dei To Hunt Down Vatican Whistle-Blowers 286

Posted by timothy from the dan-brown-hangs-his-head-dejectedly dept.
First time accepted submitter Aguazul2 writes "In a familiar story relocated into the bizarre world of the Vatican, a whistle-blower who brought to light excessive overpayments on contracts to friendly suppliers was sent to the USA as punishment, and further sources of leaks are now being hunted down by a crack team headed by an 82-year old Opus Dei cardinal. It's just like Wikileaks, only with parchment and quills — probably."
Math

The Laws of Physics Trump Traffic Laws 378

Posted by Soulskill from the in-this-house-we-obey-the-laws-of-thermodynamics dept.
New submitter HeLLFiRe1151 sends this quote from Physics Central: "Here's a practical application for your physics education: using math to successfully beat a traffic ticket in court. Dmitri Krioukov, a physicist based at the University of California San Diego, did just that to avoid paying a fee for (purportedly) running a stop sign. Krioukov not only proved his innocence, but he also posted a paper detailing his argument online (PDF) on the arXiv server."
Microsoft

End of Windows XP Support Era Signals Beginning of Security Nightmare 646

Posted by samzenpus from the no-more-patches dept.
colinneagle writes "Microsoft's recent announcement that it will end support for the Windows XP operating system in two years signals the end of an era for the company, and potentially the beginning of a nightmare for everyone else. When Microsoft cuts the cord on XP in two years it will effectively leave millions of existing Windows-based computers vulnerable to continued and undeterred cyberattacks, many of which hold the potential to find their way into consumer, enterprise and even industrial systems running the latest software. Although most of the subsequent security issues appear to be at the consumer level, it may not be long until they find a way into corporate networks or industrial systems, says VMWare's Jason Miller. Even scarier, Qualsys's Amol Sarwate says many SCADA systems for industrial networks still run a modified version of XP, and are not in a position to upgrade. Because much of the software running on SCADA systems is not compatible with traditional Microsoft OS capabilities, an OS upgrade would entail much more work than it would for a home or corporate system."
The Almighty Buck

MIT Institute's Gloomy Prediction: 'Global Economic Collapse' By 2030 816

Posted by timothy from the that's-nothing-we-can-beat-it-by-collapsing-faster dept.
suraj.sun writes "A new study from researchers at Jay W. Forrester's institute at MIT says that the world could suffer from 'global economic collapse' and 'precipitous population decline' if people continue to consume the world's resources at the current pace. The study's researchers created a computing model to forecast different scenarios based on the current models of population growth and global resource consumption, different levels of agricultural productivity, birth control and environmental protection efforts. Most of the computer scenarios found population and economic growth continuing at a steady rate until about 2030. But without 'drastic measures for environmental protection,' the scenarios predict the likelihood of a population and economic crash."
Biotech

Flatworms Defy Aging Through Cell Division Tricks 106

Posted by Unknown Lamer from the ail-hail-the-immortal-flatworm dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Researchers from The University of Nottingham have demonstrated how a species of flatworm overcomes the aging process to be potentially immortal. The discovery, published (abstract; full text PDF) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is part of a project funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and Medical Research Council and may shed light on the possibilities of alleviating aging and age-related characteristics in human cells." After finding the gene for telomerase synthesis in the worms, the researchers were able to observe that the worms "...dramatically increase the activity of this gene when they regenerate, allowing stem cells to maintain their telomeres as they divide to replace missing tissues."
Google

Indian Court Orders Google To Remove Content 477

Posted by samzenpus from the never-happened dept.
itwbennett writes "A Court in Delhi, India has ordered Google to remove content that 'is said to mock gods worshipped in India,' according to an IDG News Service report. Mufti Ajiaz Arshad Qasmi, a private citizen, 'had filed a civil suit against Google and other Internet companies including Facebook, objecting to certain content on their websites.' While Google agreed to remove the content, citing a 'long-standing policy of responding to court orders,' other Internet companies named in the suit are likely to appeal."
Biotech

Researchers Create First Genetically Modified Monkeys 134

Posted by Soulskill from the didn't-we-just-see-this-movie dept.
Several readers tipped news that U.S. scientists have created 'chimeric' monkeys, made with genetic material from as many as six different genomes (abstract). This is significant because it's the first time researchers have used the technique on a primate. From the article: "Researchers took very early stem cells, called totipotent stem cells, from separate developing embryos and basically glued them together, implanting the mixed embryos into surrogate mother monkeys. The cells — from totally different sources — didn’t fuse, but worked together in harmony, forming fully fledged, normal, healthy animals. ... The key here was the scientists’ use of totipotent cells, so named for their ability to differentiate into the totality of possible cells in an animal. A totipotent cell can give rise to a whole animal. Pluripotent stem cells, the type most frequently used in stem cell research, can differentiate into any cell in the body, but can’t become a whole animal, and can’t make other embryonic tissues like a placenta. Totipotent stem cells are only derived from the very earliest stages of a zygote, mere days after fertilization. In humans, totipotent cells differentiate into pluripotent cells after four days."
Censorship

Iran Developing 'Halal' Domestic Intranet 248

Posted by Soulskill from the taking-their-toys-and-going-home dept.
An anonymous reader writes "The WSJ reports that Iran is beginning a crackdown on Internet use by its citizens, creating new blocks against foreign content and stepping up surveillance of browsing habits. Internet cafes in Iran have 15 days to set up security cameras and start collecting information on customers, and people are finding it increasingly difficult to use social networking sites. The new restrictions are likely being implemented now to head off dissent and protests about the upcoming parliamentary elections. According to the article, 'The network slowdown likely heralds the arrival of an initiative Iran has been readying—a "halal" domestic intranet that it has said will insulate its citizens from Western ideology and un-Islamic culture, and eventually replace the Internet. This week's slowdown came amid tests of the Iranian intranet, according to domestic media reports that cited a spokesman for a union of computer-systems firms. He said the intranet is set to go live within a few weeks.'"

Comment BCrypt is great, but so is Drepper's SHA2 Crypt (Score 1) 333

by jonabbey (#38569184) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: Writing Hardened Web Applications?

These days, you do have a quite reasonable alternative to BCrypt available as well, which is Ulrich Drepper's SHA2 based Crypt scheme. It's functionally the same as BCrypt but with the use of a different basic cryptographic operation. Like BCrypt, Drepper's sha-crypt is designed to be as slow as molasses, with the ability to make the operation even slower if you like by explicitly specifying the number of SHA256 or SHA512 passes to perform.

Drepper's SHA256 and SHA512 based Crypt routines are now standard in glibc on Linux, as well as on Solaris and HP-UX, and are likely to natively be supported by PHP and the like on those platforms. If you're looking for an implementation in Java, we have one at ftp://ftp.arlut.utexas.edu/java_hashes/.

Comment Check out their price list PDF (Score 1) 369

by jonabbey (#38494462) Attached to: Customers Gleefully Mock Best Buy's $1,095.99 HDMI

The first page of AudioQuest's North America November 2011 pricelist has a beautiful painting of a bunch of wolves staring right at you. A bit on the nose metaphor for AudioQuest's intent to wear you down and consume every last dollar on your carcass.

This company has to be a put-on, right? "Air-Tube Dielectric"?
The Military

The Future of Battle Tech 122

Posted by Soulskill from the i-wouldn't-bet-the-farm-on-lightsabers dept.
PolygamousRanchKid tips a story about research into futuristic military technology currently being funded by DARPA. The Disc-Rotor Compound Helicopter 'is propelled by rotor blades that extend from a central disc, letting it take off and land like a helicopter. But those blades can also retract into the disc, minimizing drag and letting the Disc-Rotor fly like a plane, powered by engines beneath each wing.' The Vulture program aims to keep a plane in the sky for five years or more, and 'LANdroids' are pocket-sized robots which soldiers can scatter around urban areas to seed a communications network. FastRunner is a 'two-legged robot that can cover a moderately rough terrain as fast as the best human sprinters.' The article mentions the flying humvees we've discussed in the past, as well as projects for 'smart' binoculars and a method for recycling space junk.

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