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Submission + - $415M Silicon Valley Salary-Fixing Conspiracy Settlement Heads For Approval (itworld.com)

Submitted by jfruh
jfruh writes: A lawsuit last year argued that the biggest players in Silicon Valley, including Google, Apple, Intel, Adobe, Intuit, Lucasfilm, and Pixar had engaged in a conspiracy to fix and suppress employee salaries; an initial settlement in the suit at over $300 million was deemed by a judge to be too low. Now a $415 million settlement is headed for approval.
Wireless Networking

Flaw In GoPro Update Mechanism Reveals Users' Wi-Fi Passwords 35

Posted by timothy from the oopsie dept.
An anonymous reader writes A vulnerability in the update mechanism for the wireless networks operated by GoPro cameras has allowed a security researcher to easily harvest over a 1,000 login credentials (including his own). The popular rugged, wearable cameras can be controlled via an app, but in order to do so the user has to connect to the camera's Wi-Fi network. Israel-based infosec expert Ilya Chernyakov discovered the flaw when he had to access the network of a friend's camera, but the friend forgot the login credentials.

Submission + - Mississipppi Attorney General Conspires With MPAA To Revive SOPA (itworld.com)

Submitted by jfruh
jfruh writes: Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood filed a subpoena last October seeking information about Google’s search and advertising practices in areas related to banned substances, human trafficking and copyrighted material. But a Federal judge has now quashed that investigation — and information from last fall's Sony leak made seemed to indicate that Hood had agreed to work with the MPAA to launch it in the first place, as part of a move to revive the reviled SOPA legislation through other means.

Submission + - Has the Supreme Court made patent reform legislation unnecessary? (opensource.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: As Congress gears up again to seriously consider patent litigation abuse—starting with the introduction of H.R. 9 (the "Innovation Act") last month—opponents of reform are arguing that recent Supreme Court cases have addressed concerns. Give the decisions time to work their way through the system, they assert.

A recent hearing on the subject before a US House Judiciary Committee (HJC) Subcommittee shined some light on the matter. And, as HJC Chairman Bob Goodlatte, a long-time leader in Internet and intellectual property issues, put it succinctly in his opening remarks:

"We've heard this before, and though I believe that the Court has taken several positive steps in the right direction, their decisions can't take the place of a clear, updated and modernized statute. In fact, many of the provisions in the Innovation Act do not necessarily lend themselves to being solved by case law, but by actual law—Congressional legislation."

Submission + - Flaw In GoPro Update Mechanism Reveals Users' Wi-Fi Passwords

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A vulnerability in the update mechanism for the wireless networks operated by GoPro cameras has allowed a security researcher to easily harvest over a 1,000 login credentials (including his own). The popular rugged, wearable cameras can be controlled via an app, but in order to do so the user has to connect to the camera's Wi-Fi network. Israel-based infosec expert Ilya Chernyakov discovered the flaw when he had to access the network of a friend's camera, but the friend forgot the login credentials.
Privacy

Supreme Court Gives Tacit Approval To Warrantless DNA Collection 135

Posted by timothy from the welcome-to-gattica dept.
An anonymous reader writes On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review a case involving the conviction of a man based solely on the analysis of his "inadvertently shed" DNA. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) argues that this tacit approval of the government's practice of collecting anyone's DNA anywhere without a warrant will lead to a future in which people's DNA are "entered into and checked against DNA databases and used to conduct pervasive surveillance."
Microsoft

What Would Minecraft 2 Look Like Under Microsoft? 208

Posted by timothy from the hypthetical-or-not dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Microsoft spent billions purchasing Mojang, the studio behind the game Minecraft, and while it's unlikely to start work on a sequel anytime soon, rather than continue development of the game, it's worth considering what a Minecraft 2 will look like. After all, as a public company with revenues to justify, it doesn't seem beyond unreasonable a few years down the line, especially since a Minecraft-like game was one of the stand-out tech demos shown for the software giant's HoloLens augmented reality headset. As the author points out, Microsoft will have to tread carefully, tackling issues like whether greater graphical fidelity is actually what players will want ever — and whether to continue to support Minecraft on PlayStation."

Submission + - Why Computers Still Struggle To Tell the Time (itworld.com) 1

Submitted by itwbennett
itwbennett writes: It’s pretty much impossible for a computer to keep exact time, although accuracy can be improved to the extent that users are willing to spend more money on the problem, said George Neville-Neil, a software engineer who helps financial institutions and other time-sensitive organizations maintain ultra-precise measurements of time. To keep internal time, computers use a crystal oscillator that creates an electromagnetic signal, or a vibration that the computer uses to coordinate processor, memory, bus and motherboard operations. But computer makers often use inexpensive crystals costing only a few cents each, which can compromise accuracy. 'If you buy server-class hardware, you will get cheap crystal, and time will wander if you don’t do something about it,' Neville-Neil said.

Submission + - Buzz Aldrin's 1966 selfie sells for almost £6,000 (techienews.co.uk)

Submitted by hypnosec
hypnosec writes: First ever 'selfie' taken in space by NASA astronaut Buzz Aldrin back in November 1966 has fetched almost £6,000 blowing away its estimated minimum selling price by ten times at an auction held in London. The space selfie was part of a collection of 700 vintage NASA photographs that sold for a total of £489,440 at London's Bloomsbury Auction. The selfie was snapped by Aldrin during the Gemini 12 mission in November 1966.

Submission + - What would Minecraft 2 look like under Microsoft? (redbull.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Microsoft spent billions purchasing Mojang, the studio behind the game Minecraft, and while it's unlikely to start work on a sequel anytime soon, rather than continue development of the game, it's worth considering what a Minecraft 2 will look like. After all, as a public company with revenues to justify, it doesn't seem beyond unreasonable a few years down the line, especially since a Minecraft-like game was one of the stand-out tech demos shown for the software giant's HoloLens augmented reality headset. As the author points out, Microsoft will have to tread carefully, tackling issues like whether greater graphical fidelity is actually what players will want ever — and whether to continue to support Minecraft on PlayStation.
GUI

Why We Should Stop Hiding File-Name Extensions 564

Posted by timothy from the text-rules dept.
An anonymous reader writes 14 years after the Anna Kournikova virus took advantage of users' ignorance about file-name extensions in order to wreak worldwide havoc, virus writers and hackers are still taking advantage of the tendency of popular consumer operating systems to hide file-name extensions: Windows users still need to activate extension visibility manually – even though email-transmitted viruses depend most on less savvy users who will never do this. Additionally applications on even the latest versions of Apple's OSX operating system still require the user to 'opt in' to including a file-name extension during an initial save. In looking at some of the eccentricities of the modern user experience, this article argues that it might be time to admit that users need to understand, embrace and responsibly use the only plain-text, obvious indicator of what a file actually is.

Submission + - First Satellites With All-Electric Propulsion Call Home (gizmag.com)

Submitted by Zothecula
Zothecula writes: The launch of two new communications satellites may not seem like news these days, but it is when they're the first satellites with all-electric propulsion. Boeing announced that the two 702SP small platform satellites, called ABS-3A and EUTELSAT 115 West B, that launched on Sunday evening are sending back signals to mission control as they power towards geosynchronous orbit under ion drive.

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