Journal Journal: FBI Abuses Criminal Database for Political Purposes.
Peace protesters were unable to leave the country because their names were added to a database of criminals.
Submission + - "Don't tase me bro" police cleared
Fozzyuw writes: WFTV.com's website has news on the University of Florida police involved in the Andrew Meyer tasering have been cleared of using excessive force. It also includes a link to the full report, which shares details of the incident and events leading up to the incident.
Submission + - China Launches first Moon Orbiter
hey0you0guy writes: China has launched its first lunar orbiter, on a planned year-long exploration mission to the Moon. Analysts say it is a key step towards China's aim of putting a man on the Moon by 2020, in the latest stage of an Asian space race with Japan and India. Earlier this month, a Japanese lunar probe entered orbit around the Moon. India is planning a lunar mission for April next year.
Submission + - Unlimited gall to cost Verizon $1 million (networkworld.com)
netbuzz writes: Unlimited really means unlimited, even in advertising. So says the New York State Attorney General's Office in squeezing a $1 million settlement out of Verizon Wireless for disconnecting 13,000 of its customers who had the temerity to believe that the unlimited service they were promised came with unlimited service. Verizon's statement explaining the settlement is a gem, too.
http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/20981
http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/20981
Submission + - Sorry Ninjas, Pressure Points are Phony
An anonymous reader writes: Weeks after the news that it doesn't matter where you stick acupuncture needles, Wired Science has challenged the timeless ninja skill of pressure point fighting. When martial artists show off their fancy skills, they usually work with compliant subjects. During pressure point demonstrations, they build up to the finale of knocking people out with mind waves and gentle slaps after several hours of conditioning. The underlying principle at work during a pressure point lesson is the power of suggestion rather than causing an overload to the nervous system or using a jedi mind trick. Faith healers do the same thing. Even Borat played along.
Submission + - Comcast blocking www.google.com? 1
nate.sammons writes: Several times in the last few days, my comcast line has given me a "Connection reset" error when connecting to www.google.com. Now, every other site I've tried works, including mail.google.com, news.google.com, etc. However, any attempt to connect to www.google.com gets me a connection reset error.
When this happened the other day, it eventually just went away. So-far tonight it's been about two hours.
Submission + - MySQL to get injection of Google code (computerworld.com.au)
inkslinger77 writes: "MySQL has laid out its software road map through 2009, including some code contributed by Google and security improvements that are due in MySQL 7.0...
Google is secretive about the distributed architecture underlying its services, but it's known to be one of MySQL's biggest users, running hundreds or even thousands of its databases worldwide."
Submission + - Microsoft support for Functional Programming in F#
mugnyte writes: Microsoft Watch and a bag of other writers are abuzz over Microsoft Research's F# (A functional language specification based on CAML) getting full support in an upcoming release of Visual Studio. F# was developed by Don Syme at the MS Research UK office. F# is one of many languages (like Comega, formerly X#, Xen and others) that Microsoft Research is exploring for it's .NET platform.
Submission + - World's Smallest Trophy up for Grabs (physicscentral.com)
BuzzSkyline writes: "The American Physical Society is offering what they claim will be the smallest trophy ever made for the winning entry in the football-themed NanoBowl video contest. The NanoBowl trophy is being made by the Craighead research group of Cornell University, which also produced the nanoguitar (the holder of the Guinness Book record for the smallest guitar). The trophy will include features a billionth of a meter across, and will only be visible under powerful electron and scanning-tunneling microscopes. Apparently, the nanotrophy will be awarded in a ceremony to be held in a phone booth on Super Bowl Sunday 2008."
Submission + - iPhone/iPod Touch jailbreak exploit code released (toc2rta.com)
NixLuver writes: "Niacin released the source code for his now-famous iPhone/iPod tiff exploit that allows us to use the iPhone and the iPod Touch as the full-blown unix computing platform they want to be — five months before Apple is willing to (maybe) do the same thing. For a look inside the coding style and vision of the guys (Niacin and dre) that made it all possible, check out this post ."
Submission + - Google News Launches Facebook Application (newscloud.com) 1
NewsCloud writes: "Eight days after Google CEO Eric Schmidt told Zeitgeist conference attendees that social networks account for an 'enormous proportion [of Internet usage]...it's a very real phenomenon,' Google News launched its own Facebook application. Says Google News:
Check out Google News on Facebook (requires registration) — or view screenshot."This experimental application enables users to create custom sections or select from a set of pre-defined topics, then browse and share stories with their friends on Facebook. We are trying a couple things differently with this application, and it is still in beta, but we think that it adds value to the Facebook experience and to users' overall news experience.
Submission + - Stallman Attacked by Ninjas (yale.edu)
vivIsel writes: When RMS took the stage to address the Yale Political Union, Yale's venerable parliamentary debate society, it was already an unusual speech: instead of the jacket and tie customary there, he sported a T shirt, and no shoes. But then he was attacked by ninjas. Apparently some students took it into their head to duplicate an XKCD webcomic before a live audience — luckily, though, Stallman didn't resort to violence. Instead, he delivered an excellent speech about DRM.
Submission + - 15% of United States Workforce Routinely Drunk (sciencedaily.com) 3
bl8n8r writes: "According to an article based on research conducted by the University of Buffalo, Alcohol use and impairment at work is a problem for 15% of the U.S. workforce (19.2 million people). Not surprisingly, Among the broad group of occupations with the highest rate of use were the management and sales occupations with grounds maintenance pulling in an honorable mention. Perhaps the next interview will go better if you bring along some Crown Royal"
Submission + - CmdrTaco Interviewed on Wired
Submission + - PEBKAC Still Plagues PC Security (arstechnica.com)
Billosaur writes: "ARS Technica is reporting on a study release by McAfee and the National Cyber Security Alliance (as part of the beginning of National Cyber Security Awareness Month) that suggests when it comes to PC security, the problem between the keyboard and the chair is even worse. PEBKAC has always been a problem, but the study highlights just how prevalent it has become. 87 percent of the users contacted said they used anti-virus software, while 70 percent use anti-spyware software. Fewer (64 percent) reported having their firewalls turned on, and only 27 percent use software designed to stop phishing attempts. Researchers were allowed to scan the computers of a subset of the users, and while 70 percent claimed to be using anti-spyware software, only 55 percent of the machines of those users scanned showed evidence of the software."
