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Security

Submission + - Screensaver lock useless in X.Org 1.11 (by default (aeroxteam.fr)

Submitted by MojoMax
MojoMax writes: Currently the default setup for X.Org Server 1.11 as used by Fedora 16 and Debian Wheezy renders the screensaver lock entirely ineffective. All that is required for a user with malicous (or pranktastic) intent is to enter the CTRL+ALT+Keypad-Multiply key combination and they would be immediately returned to the desktop. Obviously this takes all the fun out of hacking, which we all know involves guessing anywhere between 10 and 15 passwords before ultimately gaining access to the target system. However, do not fear it seems that the fix is very simple and it shouldn't take long for the major distros to close this little hole in security.
Android

Submission + - Apple Co-Founder Woz Praises Android

Submitted by chrb
chrb writes: The Daily Beast reports that Android has received praise from an unexpected source — co-founder of Apple Steve Wozniak. Woz praises Android for its versatility, thinks the voice recognition beats Siri, prefers Android's navigation software, and suggests that Apple’s bureaucratic approval process slows app developers down. He recently visited the Google HQ to meet the staff and pick up a complementary Galaxy Nexus. But he still recommends the iPhone for "the ones who are already in the Mac world, because it's so compatible, and people who are just scared of computers altogether and don't want to use them."

Comment Since it's Google it's alright then! (Score 0, Troll) 203

by mrpacmanjel (#37789162) Attached to: Android 4.0 Source Code Coming "Soon"

So let me get this straight.

Google say something like "honeycomb source wll be released 'at some point in the future'" while specific hardware manufacturers get access to the source code for their devices - interestingly "cheap"/smaller (e.g chinese) brands do not(?).

Google now say "we won't bother releasing the source code for honeycomb".

Google then say "we'll release the source code to ICS - but not yet" - specific hardware manufacturers get access to the source code. Everyone else has to wait.

Google's definition stretches the idea of "Open source" to it's limits. It's very "orwellian" - "some people are more equal than others"

I get the feeling that manufacturers are putting pressure on Google to protect their markets. You can't have "just anyone" producing android devices with the latest features.

It must be just me but generally with open source software everyone gets access to the source code in its current state. If you want a working, "predictable" version then you download the "stable" branch.

Google + android = open source fail.

At least with Apple you generally know where you stand.........(what did I just say!??)

Comment Mono on Android/iOS costs $399 (each)?? (Score 1) 95

by mrpacmanjel (#36994898) Attached to: Xamarin's First Mono Release - Proof of Life!

I've been folowing the mono project for years and think it is a great open source project.

However, if I want to write .net apps for Android I have to pay for the privilege?

The SDK for Android is free and fully supported yet I'm expected to $399 for mono on android?

I know the major benefit is supposed to be a "cross-platform" development environment but charging for the runtime seems a bit braindead to me!

By all means charge for the other stuff (e.g. IDE integration, support and updates) that's fair but "locking away" the runtime is a bit cheeky and limiting adoption.
Virtualization

Submission + - VMware vSphere5 changes licensing, customers upset (vmware.com)

Submitted by fluor2
fluor2 writes: vSphere 5.0 is announced to be released in Q3 2011. vSphere introduces a new licensing model that is no longer bound to just the number of CPUs your hosts have. You now have to pay up for the for the amount of RAM as well. This change is, of course, very unwelcome in a currently 17 page long forum thread at vmware communities, showing consultants and resellers that are shocked upon this change.
Japan

Submission + - Japan turning into a nuclear-free society (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by jojo_it
jojo_it writes: In a television interview, Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan declared today that his country should and will develop into a nuclear-free society after the crisis at the Fukushima plant, although he did not lay out a real timescale for his plan.
Games

Submission + - New PS3 model wont output HD over component cable (geek.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Whenever Sony announces a new games console hardware model it means the company has found a way to manufacture the machine for less, usually by combining or removing components. Sometimes, that also means a few features disappear like the removal of backwards compatibility with PS2 games when the 80GB console and then PS3 Slim arrived on the market.

Well, Sony is releasing another model of the PS3 and it is losing a feature that may be quite important to a number of gamers. The new 160GB PS3 console set to arrive in stores next week will no longer be capable of sending HD output down a component cable. If you want HD, you must use a HDMI cable.

Confirmation of this fact comes in the form of a memo sent to GameStop stores which you can see below:

A component cable is fully-capable of supplying your TV with a 720p or 1080i signal, but Sony has changed something in the machine that no longer makes that possible. We don’t have official confirmation of what that change is, but expect it to be to comply with the latest AACS content protection system which places new restrictions on analog video outputs. More specifically, image resolution is limited to 540p.

Comment Hate to Say This... (Score 5, Informative) 503

by mrpacmanjel (#36473224) Attached to: Microsoft Brands WebGL a 'Harmful' Technology

The security issue is a valid question.

In one of the links in the summary it shows that the video memory can be read and get a snapshot of the user's desktop (in the example a confidential document is viewable) - exceptionally bad. Use an exploit like this with something else means their is potential for a severe security breach.

Then again it's early stages and I'm sure the security issues will be resolved in time.

It's an exciting techology especially with regard to streaming games over the internet.

Who remembers VRML???
Google

Submission + - Google invests in 392 MW solar power tower (gizmag.com) 1

Submitted by cylonlover
cylonlover writes: Google has chipped in a US$168 million investment in what will be the world's largest solar power tower plant. To be located on 3,600 acres of land in the Mojave Desert in southeastern California, the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System (ISEGS) will boast 173,000 heliostats that will concentrate the sun's rays onto a solar tower standing approximately 450 feet (137 m) tall. The plant commenced construction in October 2010 and is expected to generate 392 MW of solar energy following its projected completion in 2013.
Cloud

Submission + - 12TB open connectome project: neurosci alg-sourced

Submitted by
jovo
jovo writes: "The Open Connectome Project (OCP) recently launched: an open-science, open-source, open-data effort to collectively reverse engineer the brain one synapse at a time. OCP is currently hosting a 12TB dataset of serial electron microscopy images of a mouse visual cortex as described by Bock et al (2011). The full resolution data can be viewed using a Google Maps-like web app. Because the data are so massive, fully exploring the brain by hand is infeasible; as such, OCP will provide an API for "alg-sourcing" (algorithm out-sourcing) the third-party machine vision tools necessary to annotate such a large data set.
app. Because the data is so massive, fully exploring the brain by hand is infeasible; as such, OCP will provide an API for "alg-sourcing" (like out-sourcing) the third-party machine vision tools necessary to annotate such a large data set."

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