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Sci-Fi

Journal Journal: UFO crash in Russia 1

Journal by October_30th
Cool!

KRASNOYARSK. Dec 1 (Interfax) - An unidentified flying object has reportedly crashed between the towns of Yeniseisk and Lesosibirsk in the Yenisei district of the Krasnoyarsk territory. Local residents say they observed the crash at about
Microsoft

Submission + - Gates Foundation to spend all its assets

Submitted by El Lobo
El Lobo writes: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has said it will spend all its assets within 50 years of them both dying ( http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Gates_foundation _to_spend_all_assets_1201.html ).

The foundation focuses on improving health and economic development globally, and improving education and increasing access to technology. It also focuses on fighting diseases such as HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and malaria.

The Seattle-based foundation plans to increase spending to about $3.5 billion a year beginning in 2009 and continuing through the next decade, up from about $1.75 billion this year.
Privacy

Submission + - MPAA Kills Anti-Pretexting Bill

Submitted by Lawst
Lawst writes: Wired is reporting how a "tough California bill that would have prohibited companies and individuals from using deceptive "pretexting" ruses to steal private information about consumers was killed after determined lobbying by the motion picture industry."

The bill won, which approval in three committees and sailed through the state Senate with a 30-0 vote encountered unexpected, last-minute resistance from the Motion Picture Association of America.

From the article: "The MPAA has a tremendous amount of clout and they told legislators, 'We need to pose as someone other than who we are to stop illegal downloading'"
User Journal

Journal Journal: The college bowl system is a crime against humanity.

Journal by Luke727

Ohio State vs Michigan, a game some people might consider the national championship (especially if USC loses bad), was played November 18. Ohio State will not play again until the championship game on January 8. That's an incredible 51 days; nearly two full months. Michigan will play again on January 1, 2, or 3.

There are 32 bowls and 119 teams, so 64 out of 119 teams will get to finish in a bowl game.
Data Storage

Submission + - USB Drives - Recovery

Submitted by
pipingguy
pipingguy writes: "Now that "thumb drives" are so inexpensive (a 1GB SD card c/w USB housing/adapter costs about CAN$29), which programs are recommended for system recovery or need-to-have software? Additionally, I'd like to get some input on the durability of these newish adapter devices, as some of them seem to be pretty flimsy (but very useful/flexible as opposed to the old fixed-capacity NAND devices)."
Windows

Submission + - Year-old Intel laptops can't run Vista Aero

Submitted by
ImpactedColon
ImpactedColon writes: "I bet most of the (non-gamer) laptops sold in the last two years contain an integrated Intel 915/910 graphics card. (Check yours.) Mine does, and I bought it a scant 14 months ago. Intel has NO plans to support Aero glass on it. How is that OK? How can a 14-month old laptop not support a major feature of Windows? I know Aero is not the promised land, but come on Intel! Vista was Longhorn in those days, and the graphics requirements are no great surprise. I call planned obsolescence/shenanigans, or maybe it's just fury. Sure tastes like fury. I am so excited about my laptop being officially marked obsolete before I even got a chance to wonder about it. http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/sb/cs-023606 .htm#5"
Security

Submission + - Cell Phones Phone Home to FBI

Submitted by JollyGoodChase
JollyGoodChase writes: News.com is reporting the FBI appears to have begun using a novel form of electronic surveillance in criminal investigations: remotely activating a mobile phone's microphone and using it to eavesdrop on nearby conversations
From the article:
"If a phone has in fact been modified to act as a bug, the only way to counteract that is to either have a bugsweeper follow you around 24-7, which is not practical, or to peel the battery off the phone," James Atkinson, a counter-surveillance consultant said. Security-conscious corporate executives routinely remove the batteries from their cell phones, he added.
Businesses

What Embedded Linux Distros Would You Support? 83

Posted by Cliff from the top-of-the-embedded-pile dept.
dannys42 asks: "I work for a cool company that works with, among other things, embedded Linux systems. We'd like to provide an SDK for our customers and will likely support one or two Linux distros, plus Windows+Cygwin as build environments. Up until now, I'd assumed that most corporate developers were using Fedora, simply because of its similarity to Red Hat Enterprise and for its maturity. However, I'm curious to know, for those fortunate enough to develop for embedded Linux, what distribution do you expect to be supported for a build environment?"
Privacy

Submission + - RFID chips - top 10 places to stick em

Submitted by Bambino
Bambino writes: RFID is popping up all over the place these days and this article claims to show the best, worst... and craziest uses of the chips. The list kicks up some interesting examples — including Legoland and primary schools in Japan chipping kids, RFID-enabled pub tables that enable students to get drinks without the hassle of going to the bar, and tags for blood bags and hospital in-patients. There's even a plan to tag airline passengers to check on their movements around the airport before they board a flight.
Software

Submission + - FoxLingo 2

Submitted by
Yotam Elal
Yotam Elal writes: "FoxLingo 2 released: http://www.concisefreeware.com/foxlingo.php
The Ultimate Language Tool!

Main Features:
Web Page Translation — Translates full web pages (over 1,000 different language pairs)
Translated Search — Searches foreign pages using terms written in your language
Auto Translation — Automatically translates websites by recognizing their domain
Text Translation — Translates text entered in the search box or selected on any web page
Language Resources — Over 90 language services (encyclopedias, text-to-speech, etc.)
Ixquick — Metasearch engine with unique features, language search and complete privacy
Learning Languages — Over 100 links to language learning sites for a variety of languages
Freeware — FoxLingo is completely free and contains no adware or spyware
Complete Privacy — FoxLingo does not take any information from it's users"

Feed Nike+ IPod = Surveillance (wired.com)

From feed by wiredfeed
The new Nike+ iPod Sport Kit provides a wireless link between your running shoes and your music player. Researchers demonstrate how stalkers and unscrupulous marketers could tap into your sneakers from afar. By Annalee Newitz.


Feed The Indian Drug Lord (wired.com)

From feed by wiredfeed
To Big Pharma, Mumbai-based drugmaker Cipla is a pirate operation. To the developing world, it's a medicine chest. Now its cheap generics are coming to a pharmacy near you. By Erika Check from Wired magazine.


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