Comment Re:I've spent a year traveling and working in chin (Score 3, Interesting) 402
One word: guanxi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guanxi
Egypt Banned Porn, But How Much of the Internet Is That? 316
pigrabbitbear writes "The recent web pornography ban in Egypt has raised questions about the evils of censorship (and porn) and the changing tide of popular attitude of Egyptians. It perhaps reflects the emerging influence of more conservative Muslim elements in government, a shift. Apparently the same ban was passed 3 years ago but was not enforced because their filtering system was not effective. But porn bans are nothing new. Other countries with strict censorship laws like China and Saudi Arabia have successfully implemented bans that restrict pornography along with anything else they deem inappropriate for public viewing. In 2010 the UK discussed a ban that would require users to specifically request access to pornographic material from their internet service providers. And porn-banning rhetoric has even stomped through the U.S. news media over the last few months, thanks to GOP also-ran Rick Santorum claiming President Obama is failing to enforce pornography laws. (There have also been some awesomely ridiculous pornography PSAs.)"
Microsoft: 'Unlikely' Credit Card Details Lifted From Xbox 360s 105
An anonymous reader writes with this excerpt from ZDNet: "Security researchers from two universities say they found how hackers can retrieve credit card data and other personal information from used Microsoft Xbox 360s, even if the console is restored back to factory settings and its hard drive is wiped. Microsoft is now looking into their story of buying a refurbished Xbox 360 from a Microsoft-authorized retailer, downloading a basic modding tool, gaining access to the console's files and folders, and eventually extracting the original owner's credit card information. Redmond is still investigating, but it's already calling the claims 'unlikely.'"
Righthaven Stops Showing Up In Court 122
Fluffeh writes "This story has gone from funny to sad. Following copyright-troll Righthaven's recent whipping by a judge, it now appears the company has just given up altogether. CEO Steve Gibson is working at another job (while being investigated by the Nevada Bar) and main lawyer Shawn Mangano apparently has completely stopped responding to all attempts to contact him, even by the court. All this has resulted in the key appeals in its cases to be dismissed 'for lack of prosecution.' Last Thursday it also had a key case closed, with prejudice, driving another nail in its already buried coffin."
Comment Re:What HP needs? (Score 2) 277
HP is already dead: they died when they turned their backs on what Bill and Dave said in "The HP Way".
To me, the _real_ HP (engineering and innovation focused, not the "brand machine" someone mentioned earlier in this thread) is Agilent.
Comment Re:Login banners? (Score 1) 114
GREAT question!
Comment Question: Pragmatic Legal Protection--but how? (Score 3, Interesting) 114
My question for Jennifer:
I've observed in work and professional life (my job is 50% nerd whisperer, 50% energy policy and political matters) that while laws that protect "the little guy" are practically worthless unless one is willing to shell out several hundred dollars for a lawyer--and perhaps even $10K+ for a litigator.
It's also scary and disheartening to hear an experienced and successful friend say that he selected a US Government-owned patent for technology his startup is implementing--if only because he hopes the Feds will come to his defense if he's sued for patent infringement.
Could you please suggest some political and/or legislative outcomes that we need to pursue to try to make access to law more egalitarian from technology and innovation standpoints?
Linus Torvalds Considering End To Linux 2.6 Series 293
An anonymous reader writes "With the Linux 2.6 kernel set to begin its 40th development cycle and the Linux kernel nearing its 20th anniversary, Linus Torvalds has expressed interest today in moving away from the Linux 2.6.x kernel version. Instead he's looking to change things up by releasing the next kernel as Linux version 2.8 or 3.0."
Ask Slashdot: How Should Sony Compensate PSN Users? 386
ogar572 writes "So Sony is going to give 20 million+ PlayStation Network users (numbers vary based on what article you read) two free games and free credit protection (US only) for what happened a few weeks ago. I for one do miss playing Black Ops online, but I have made it through this outage by doing other, more productive things. What I am most frustrated about is the lack of consistent details and information via email about what is going on. Now Sony says that they are going to compensate us with two free downloadable games (more than likely I have never heard of these games before). I would have been satisfied with the free credit protection. Now that they want to offer me 2 games, why can't I pick any 2 games that I want? I mean, my personal info is now probably being sold on the black market because of Sony. What do you think Sony should do, if anything, to compensate for what has happened?"
WP7 Predicted To Beat iPhone By 2015 377
WrongSizeGlass writes "InformationWeek is reporting that Windows Phone 7 will overtake Apple's iPhone by 2015 according to IDC. IDC predicts 2015 will bring: Android 45.4%, WP7 & WinMobile 20.9%, iOS 15.3%, RIM 13.7%, Symbian 0.2%, and 'Others' 4.6%. These numbers would move WP7 into 2nd place and leave iOS in 3rd place with a slightly smaller piece of the smart phone pie than they current hold (15.7%). The author of the InformationWeek story isn't buying IDC's forecast, because of WP7's anemic sales to date and Microsoft's recent stumbles with its first two updates. I have to wonder if WP7 will still be Microsoft's smartphone OS in 2015 or if they'll have moved to WP8."
Comment To: Whomever Tagged This Article "Treason" (Score 0, Flamebait) 321
We don't live in a nation with Napoleonic Law you dickwads! One is innocent until proven guilty.
Go back to Fox News and eat your pablum like a good village idiot.
Comment Re:No surprise.. this is india after all (Score 1) 227
The sheer smugness, ignorance, arrogance and incredible lack of knowledge is mind boggling.
...speaks the person who is not arrogant
Seriously, why get wrapped around the axle on this? The US has 300 million people; India, one billion. It should be apparent that we've got a diversity of people in both places. RELAX, smoke a bhang, take a walk, build a another rocket, etc.
Comment Re:I knew something was weird (Score 3, Funny) 247
All my emails started showing up with fortunes and free eggrolls.
And ended with "in bed."
Comment Re:From what I understand (Score 3, Informative) 227
The systems I work on feed data to our SCADA systems. The entire network is completely walled off from the Internet, and even connectivity to our internal (non-operations) network is mediated by extremely secure bastion hosts.
I can understand that there may be a need for some access (e.g., system pages an operator to send a warning or emergency message), especially as this is a small town. Keep these sorts of connections absolutely to a minimum, and wrap several layers of security around it.
Comment Re:Not very exciting (Score 1) 827
Correction: they're not doing it now. Wait a few years. Just like Microsoft with its Xbox - ultimately, it will have Windows for business, and XBox for consumers. Apple will work on a similar distribution.
I think to conjecture this is FUD. Maybe Apple will, but until then, I reject your FUD and replace it with my own reality.
There are many reasons why Apple would NOT want to do this, especially considering that there are a substantial number of Apple users that would _not_ want this to be the only method of getting new apps.
