zonix - Slashdot User

Submission + - Facebook told to allow the use of fake names (betanews.com)

Submitted by Mark Wilson on Tuesday July 28, 2015 @05:31PM

Mark Wilson writes: Facebook comes in for a lot of criticism, but one things that managed to rub a lot of people up the wrong way is its real names policy. For some time the social network has required its users to reveal their real name rather than allowing for the adoption of pseudonyms. This has upset many, including musicians and the drag community.

Now a German watchdog has told Facebook that its ban on fake names is not permitted. The Hamburg Data Protection Authority said that the social network could not force users to replace pseudonyms with real names, nor could it ask to see official identification.

The watchdog's order follows a complaint from a German woman who had her Facebook account closed because she used a fake name. She had opted to use a pseudonym to avoided unwanted contact from business associates, but Facebook demanded to see ID and changed her username accordingly. Hamburg Data Protection Authority said this and similar cases were privacy violations.

Submission + - Wired and wireless LANs in Cuba

Submitted by lpress on Tuesday July 28, 2015 @05:10PM

lpress writes: Cuba has developed a hacker/maker culture out of necessity and neighborhood local area networks are one manifestation of that culture. The networks are used for file sharing, game playing, and discussion of sports, culture, technology, etc., but not politics. We all stand to benefit from Cuban innovation.

DHI Group Inc. Announces Plans to Sell Slashdot Media 552

Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday July 28, 2015 @02:55PM from the payment-in-star-wars-action-figures-is-acceptable dept.

An anonymous reader writes: DHI Group Inc. (formerly known as Dice Holdings Inc.) announced plans to sell Slashdot Media (slashdot.org & sourceforge.net) in their Q2 financial report. This is being reported by multiple sources. Editor's note: Yep, looks like we're being sold again. We'll keep you folks updated, but for now I don't have any more information than is contained in the press release. Business as usual until we find a buyer (and hopefully after). The company prepared a statement for our blog as well — feel free to discuss the news here, there, or in both places.

Comment Non-locality (Score 1) 112

by disposable60 on Tuesday July 28, 2015 @09:07AM (#50196281) Attached to: Currently Quantum Computers Might Be Where Rockets Were At the Time of Goddard

I know quantum stuff is hard to pin down, but not knowing where Qumputing is by a century-wide error band is pretty bad.

/ streeeeeeeeetch

Hacker Set To Demonstrate 60 Second Brinks Safe Hack At DEFCON 147

Posted by samzenpus on Tuesday July 28, 2015 @05:35AM from the thunderbolt-and-lightfoot dept.

darthcamaro writes: Ok so we know that Chrysler cars will be hacked at Black Hat, Android will be hacked at DEFCON with Stagefright, and now word has come out that a pair of security researchers plan on bringing a Brinks safe onstage at DEFCON to demonstrate how it can be digitally hacked. No this isn't some kind of lockpick, but rather a digital hack, abusing the safe's exposed USB port. And oh yeah, it doesn't hurt that the new safe is running Windows XP either.

Comment It's a radio transmitter. (Score 1) 518

by Bruce Perens on Monday July 27, 2015 @09:05PM (#50194351) Attached to: German Scientists Confirm NASA's Controversial EM Drive

It's a radio transmitter feeding a closed waveguide. One has to ask: why haven't we seen evidence of radio transmission providing thrust before, when it's been feeding an open waveguide?

Comment Re:ah, Tajmar eh? (Score 2) 518

by Bruce Perens on Monday July 27, 2015 @09:03PM (#50194343) Attached to: German Scientists Confirm NASA's Controversial EM Drive

Extreme claims require extreme evidence. People who have made extreme claims before without much evidence at all are rightly categorized with the boy who cried wolf.

Google Is Dropping Its Google+ Requirement Across All Products Including YouTube 172

Posted by samzenpus on Monday July 27, 2015 @02:35PM from the what's-in-a-name? dept.

An anonymous reader writes: After years of plugging Google+ into all of its services, today Google announced that your Google+ profile will no longer be your identity in all its products. The company says it will take a few months for all the changes to happen, but the first product to be uncoupled will be YouTube. Bradley Horowitz, Google's vice president of streams, photos, and sharing, says the changes are a response to user feedback: "We've also heard that it doesn't make sense for your Google+ profile to be your identity in all the other Google products you use."

Comment Re:I have no fear of AI, but fear AI weapons (Score 1) 313

by disposable60 on Monday July 27, 2015 @12:06PM (#50190615) Attached to: Musk, Woz, Hawking, and Robotics/AI Experts Urge Ban On Autonomous Weapons

Potato, potahto

'Stagefright' Flaw: Compromise Android With Just a Text 203

Posted by Soulskill on Monday July 27, 2015 @11:47AM from the much-more-convenient dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Up to 950 million Android phones may be vulnerable to a new exploit involving the Stagefright component of Android, which lets attackers compromise a device through a simple multimedia text — even before the recipient sees it. Researchers from Zimperium zLabs reported the related bugs to Google in April. Google quickly accepted a patch and distributed it to manufacturers, but the researchers say they don't think the manufacturers have yet passed it on to most consumers.

"The weaknesses reside in Stagefright, a media playback tool in Android. They are all "remote code execution" bugs, allowing malicious hackers to infiltrate devices and exfiltrate private data. All attackers would need to send out exploits would be mobile phone numbers, Drake noted. From there, they could send an exploit packaged in a Stagefright multimedia message (MMS), which would let them write code to the device and steal data from sections of the phone that can be reached with Stagefright's permissions. That would allow for recording of audio and video, and snooping on photos stored in SD cards. Bluetooth would also be hackable via Stagefright."

LinkedIn (Temporarily) Backs Down After Uproar At Contact Export Removal 42

Posted by samzenpus on Monday July 27, 2015 @07:27AM from the on-second-thought dept.

Mark Wilson writes: LinkedIn caused a storm a couple of days ago when it removed the option to instantly download contacts. Many users of the professional social network were more than a little irked to discover that while contact exporting was still available, a wait of up to three days had been put in place. Unsurprisingly, users revolted, having been particularly upset by the fact the change was implemented with no warning or announcement. But the company has managed to turn things around by quickly backtracking on its decision after listening to a stream of complaints on Twitter.

Comment Called it (Score 1) 70

by Wolfrider on Sunday July 26, 2015 @11:31PM (#50187507) Attached to: The Lone Gunmen Are Not Dead

--I KNEW IT!!!

--Totally felt like they weren't really dead all this time. Granted I haven't watched the entire original series run, but just felt like they were still around somewhere/somehow.

Gmail Messages Can Now Self-Destruct 204

Posted by samzenpus on Sunday July 26, 2015 @07:09PM from the in-10-seconds dept.

New submitter Amarjeet Singh writes: Dmail is a Chrome extension developed by the people behind Delicious, the social bookmarking app/extension. This extension allows you to set a self-destruct timer on your emails. You can use Dmail to send emails from Gmail as usual, but you will now have a button which can set an self destruct timer of an hour, a day or a week. Dmail claims it will also unlock a feature that won't allow forwarding, meaning only the person you sent your message to will be able to see it.

Comment Would completely change eye industry ... (Score 2) 70

by xmas2003 on Sunday July 26, 2015 @05:20PM (#50186315) Attached to: Eye Drops Could Dissolve Cataracts

Currently, cataract surgery is the most commonly performed operation - millions every year in the United States alone. This sounds a bit too good to be true ... but if it actually worked, it would have a HUGE impact on the eye industry.

The real holy grail would be if it also restored the flexibility of the lens so you would get your accommodation back.

Submission + - Metal Foam: radiation shielding that's lighter and twice as effective as Alumin (kurzweilai.net)

Submitted by schwit1 on Sunday July 26, 2015 @05:14PM

schwit1 writes: North Carolina State University researchers have found that lightweight composite metal foams they had developed are effective at blocking X-rays, gamma rays, and neutron radiation, and are capable of absorbing the energy of high-impact collisions. The finding holds promise for use in nuclear power plants, space exploration, and CT-scanner shielding.

This work means there's an opportunity to use composite metal foam to develop safer systems for transporting nuclear waste, more efficient designs for spacecraft and nuclear structures, and new shielding for use in CT scanners

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