Vengie - Slashdot User

Submission + - U of A compromised

Submitted by

Anonymous Coward

on Wednesday January 10, 2007 @12:24AM

Anonymous Coward writes: "Recently the University of Arizona was hacked and large amounts of student data along with financial information was compromised in the attack. FBI has seized systems and is conducting a full investigation. http://www.fox11az.com/news/topstories/stories/KMS B-20070108-dsbp-uacomputer.1f466f22.html"

Submission + - Analysis of the Apple iPhone

Submitted by Provataki on Tuesday January 09, 2007 @10:23PM

Provataki writes: Now that the initial dust of the iPhone's launch has settled down, here is a no-frills, objective analysis of the iPhone's feature-set and how it compares to other smartphones today. The author seems to like the device a lot and believes that will drive the industry in the coming years, but he also mentions the lack of a native (non-widget) SDK (which is what defines a "smartphone") and the old-style input method used (why didn't Apple go for something as innovative as this?). Stereo Bluetooth A2DP, MMS support and user-replaceable battery (a norm in the cellphone industry) are still a questionmark.

Submission + - Top 10 things to hate about the Apple iPhone

Submitted by

SlinkySausage

on Tuesday January 09, 2007 @10:12PM

SlinkySausage writes: "APC Magazine has looked at Apple's iPhone with a critical eye and spotted 10 areas that are significantly lacking. In summary: slow mobile data, battery life that sucks, non-user replaceable battery, potential for touch screen problems, heavy data usage, last-generation camera, proprietary tie-ins, no video chat, carrier lock-in, and not much storage space for video.

"Don't get me wrong," writes the article's author Dan Warne. "I want an iPhone as badly as the next guy, but in the midst of the gushing hype-stream out there, I'd like to provide a little balance and point out that the iPhone's far from perfect. Is it one of the most technologically advanced phones on the market? Absolutely. Do we live in a perfect world? Of course not. Do I wish Apple had reconsidered a few aspects of the iPhone to make it even better? Yep."

Submission + - International fraud and eBay indifference

Submitted by

RussInSanDiego

on Tuesday January 09, 2007 @08:55PM

RussInSanDiego writes: "How does one go about exposing an ongoing fraud?

To summarize (the gory details are in my web page on the subject), in early December I somehow believed an eBay listing indicating that a guy in Hong Kong (Shenzhen, actually, but that's the least of the lies told) could actually deliver a 4GB MP3/MP4 Nano-clone for $60.

What arrived a few weeks later was a 1GB device whose Master Boot Record had been manipulated so that it reports a capacity of 4GB. There are other deficiencies, but that's the biggest one.

How can this happen? The guy has a 98.6% positive feedback rating!

Well, it's simple. This fellow has stumbled on the perfect scam. He (and his several eBay pseudonyms) sells dozens of these devices per hour, targeting customers around the world, and has done so since at least late November. Customers receive their merchandise, plug it in, and sure enough: Their computer reports that it has the listed capacity of 4GB. They give positive feedback!

Sometime later, when they populate the device, they find that most of the files generate an error when they try to play or retrieve them. Most people blame themselves. Those who do figure out what happened can't revise their positive feedback — it's too late.

What about Paypal Buyer Protection? I put in a claim, but they're throwing up roadblocks. They demand an independent analysis by a qualified party in order to consider a claim. On a cheap device such as this, a qualified engineer's analysis costs far more than the amount to be recovered! I found a qualified friend who corroborated my analysis, and the claim was decided in my favor. Next roadblock? They require me to ship this hacked piece of junk to Hong Kong. And since it's foolish to trust a known thief, I have to ship it trackably (and presumably photograph it going into the box!). That would cost almost as much as I paid the slimeball in the first place. And to put a cherry on top of all this, Paypal claims resolution only says that
...we may be unable to make a full recovery of your payment from the seller.

One would think that eBay/Paypal would be all over this, shutting down what is now an obvious scam. They've been told about it over and over, for weeks. And yet, the fraudsters STILL are selling these hacked devices right now. They rate of sales has increased, if anything! My back of the envelope calculation suggests that they've generated something in the ballpark of US$2M revenues in the last couple of months (36 units per hour x 24 hours x 60 days x $40 per bogus device — and that's just "e-britain". It doesn't include his predecessor, "ugoole", nor the other pseudonyms the guy is doubtlessly using.

A cynic would say that it's not in eBay's interests to shut this operation down. After all, they're collecting listing fees and value fees; and Paypal is collecting its fees. Why shut down the gravy train?

So I'd be interested in any suggestions on how to get the story out there, and how to get eBay/Paypal to prevent more of their customers from being ripped off. Any ideas? (So far, the only idea I've had is to use my daily eBay member contact allotment to let new buyers know what they've just let themselves in for, and who to blame (eBay!)."

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