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The Internet

America's View of the Internet 285

Alien54 writes "It won't make you dinner or rub your feet, but nearly one in four Americans say that the Internet can serve as a substitute for a significant other for some period of time, according to a new poll released today by 463 Communications and Zogby International. The poll examined views of what role the Internet plays in people's lives and whether government should play a greater role in regulating it. The online survey was conducted Oct. 4-8, 2007, included 9,743 adult respondents nationwide, and carries a margin of error of +/- 1.0 percentage point. From the results blog post: 'More than half of Americans believe that Internet content such as video should be controlled in some way by the government. Only 33% of 18 to 24 year-olds supported government stepping in on content, while 72% of those over 70 years of age support government regulation and ratings. More than one in four Americans has a social networking profile such as MySpace or Facebook. Among 18-24 year-olds, it's almost mandatory - 78% of them report having a social networking profile. Americans may love the Internet, but most are not prepared to implant it into their brain, even if it was safe. Only 11% of respondents said they be willing to safely implant a device that enabled them to use their mind to access the Internet.'"

OS X Leopard Ships On October 26th 762

David in AZ writes "According to the Apple website, Mac OS X Leopard will start shipping on October 26! From their blurb: 'Packed with more than 300 new features, Mac OS X Leopard goes on sale Friday, October 26, at 6:00 p.m. at Apple's retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers, Apple announced today. And, beginning today, customers can place pre-orders on Apple's online store. "Leopard, the sixth major release of Mac OS X, is the best upgrade we've ever released," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "And everyone gets the 'Ultimate' version, packed with all the new innovative features, for just $129.""
Handhelds

Man Claims iPod Set His Pants Aflame 270

alphadogg writes to mention that an Atlanta man is claiming an iPod Nano actually caught fire in his pants creating flames that lasted 15 seconds and reached up as far as his chest. Apple hasn't responded to the claims yet other than sending him a packet to return the iPod.

Feed Science Daily: Wrestler Chris Benoit Brain's Forensic Exam Consistent With Numerous Brain Injur (sciencedaily.com)

Leading medical experts associated with the Sports Legacy Institute appeared Sept. 5 with Michael Benoit, father of professional wrestler Chris Benoit, to release the results of neuropathological tests that demonstrate his son suffered from a type of brain damage called Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), which was found in all regions of his brain.

Apple Releases New Touch Screen iPod 866

JSM writes to tell us that Apple released a new version of their popular iPod music player today that boasts, among other things, an iPhone-like touch screen and Wi-Fi capabilities. "The iPod Touch will feature the Safari Internet browser and, like the iPhone, play YouTube videos. Apple also announced a new version of its iTunes music store that will allow users to buy songs wirelessly. iTunes will also sell customizable 99-cent ringtones for the iPhone."
Portables (Apple)

Submission + - Apple now sells more than one in six laptops (computerworld.com)

Lucas123 writes: "Apple's share of the laptop market has grown greatly over the past few years and the company is now beating Gateway in sales, according research firm NPD Group Inc. in Port Washington, N.Y. "Their sales are continuing to grow faster than the rest of the marketplace," the firm stated. Apple is now in third place behind HP and Toshiba, and their sales are continuing to grow faster than the rest of the marketplace. Next on Apple's plate: a totally refreshed iPod, NPD says."

Feed Science Daily: Humans Spread Bird Flu To Humans in Indonesia (sciencedaily.com)

In the first systematic, statistical analysis of its kind, infectious disease modeling experts confirm that the avian influenza A (H5N1) virus in 2006 spread between a small number of people within a family in Indonesia. The researchers estimated the secondary-attack rate of the virus in Indonesia — the risk of one infected person passing it to another — to be 29 percent, a level of infectiousness similar to statistical estimates for seasonal influenza A in the United States.
Java

Submission + - CNET 1997: Java is Dead! (java.net)

porkrind writes: "David Herron has a great post on his blog at java.net. David uncovered an old CNET article listing 10 technologies that "don't stand a chance" with Java, of course, being one. It would seem that the death of Java has been foretold multiple times for at least 10 years now. One wonders how long it needs to survive before someone admits, "well, perhaps this Java thing will make it after all.""
Portables (Apple)

Submission + - Apple now sells more than one in six laptops (fluffles.net)

Lucas123 writes: "Apple's share of the laptop market has grown greatly over the past few years and the company is now beating Gateway in sales, according research firm NPD Group Inc. in Port Washington, N.Y. "Their sales are continuing to grow faster than the rest of the marketplace," the firm stated. Apple is now in third place behind HP and Toshiba, and their sales are continuing to grow faster than the rest of the marketplace. Next on Apple's plate: a totally refreshed iPod, NPD says."
United States

U.S. Attorney General Resigns 845

willie3204 is one of many to mention that U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has resigned. One of Gonzales' main opponents praised his decision stating that: "'For the previous six months, the Justice Department has been virtually nonfunctional and desperately needs new leadership,' said the Schumer statement. 'Democrats will not obstruct or impede a nominee who we are confident will put the rule of law above political considerations. We beseech the Administration to work with us to nominate someone whom Democrats can support and America can be proud of.'"
Privacy

Skype Linux Reads Password and Firefox Profile 335

mrcgran writes "Users of Skype for Linux have just found out that it reads the files /etc/passwd, firefox profile, plugins, addons, etc, and many other unnecessary files in /etc. This fact was originally discovered by using AppArmor, but others have confirmed this fact using strace on versions 1.4.0.94 and 1.4.0.99. What is going on? This probably shows how important it is to use AppArmor in any closed-source application in Linux to restrict any undue access to your files."
Censorship

The White House Crowd Control Manual 162

quizzicus writes "The Washington Post writes today about a sensitive White House document detailing how to screen for, silence, and remove protesters who show up at the President's public appearances. Obtained by an ACLU subpoena in the Rank v. Jenkins case, the Presidential Advance Manual (PDF) is dated October 2002. It lays out strategies such as searching audience members at the door for hidden protest material, strategically placing 'rally squads' throughout the crowd to intercept and shout down hecklers, and forcefully removing dissenters who cannot be squelched. The manual advises, however, that staff should 'decide if the solution would cause more negative publicity than if the demonstrators were simply left alone.'"
Privacy

US Shuts Down Controversial Anti-Terror Database 238

coondoggie writes "The massive anti-terror database established by the US government has been criticized for keeping track of regular everyday citizens. Computerworld reports that as of September 17th, the database will be shut down. 'The Threat and Local Observation Notices or TALON, was established in 2002 by then-Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz as a way to collect and evaluate information about possible threats to U.S. service members and defense civilians all over the world. Congress and others protested its apparent use as an unauthorized citizen tracking database. The TALON system came under fire in 2005 for improperly storing information about some civilian individuals and non-government-affiliated groups on its database. The Air Force developed TALON... in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks as a way to gather data on possible terrorist threats. Anti-war groups and other organizations, protested after it was revealed last year that the military had monitored anti-war activities, organizations and individuals who attended peace rallies.'"
Security

Submission + - Data breach generates class action lawsuit (networkworld.com)

coondoggie writes: "The fallout from Certegy Check Services (CCS) data breach has reached the courts. A class-action lawsuit has been filed by a California law firm against Fidelity National Information Services, accusing it and its CCS subsidiary of negligence, invasion of privacy and breach of implied contract, on behalf of the 8.5 million customers whose sensitive information was sold to direct marketers by a former employee of the check verification service. The complaint alleges that Certegy, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jacksonville, Fla.-based Fidelity National Information Services (FIS), did not institute adequate security controls to prevent the breach. The suit does not specify damages. William Sullivan, the former Certegy senior-level database administrator alleged to be responsible for the theft. Sullivan is named in the legal complaint as one of the defendants, as is a Largo, Fla.-based company he reportedly owns, S&S Computer Services.Data breaches have maddeningly become commonplace. Some 85% of 700 C-level executives, managers and IT security officers revealed in a recent survey they had experienced a data breach event, and about half of those admitted they had no incident response plan in place. http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/18598"

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