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Security

Submission + - Navy Wants Dolphins to Patrol Nuclear Sub Base

Submitted by
NewsCloud
NewsCloud writes: "Many Seattle residents don't realize they live across the water from a major nuclear submarine base, one which the Navy hopes to begin patrolling with sea lions and dolphins (like the ones that escaped after Hurricane Katrina). Aside from ethical concerns, Puget Sound is home to the endangered killer whale (technically a dolphin but apparently not interested in mercenary work) and its waters are often too cold (40F) for the softer warm water military dolphins. Ironically, we might end up with sea lions defending our country inside Puget Sound, while being shot with rubber bullets nearby to protect endangered salmon runs. Meanwhile, California has reinitiated lawsuits against the Navy for continued use of sonar suspected of harming wild mammals."
The Courts

Media Server Manufacturer Wins in Court 98

Posted by CowboyNeal from the gentlemen-start-your-rippers dept.
whoever57 writes "The DVD Copy Control Association (DVD CCA) has lost its bid to shut down Kaleidescope, which manufactures media servers that can copy DVDs (along with decryption keys) to built in hard drives. The DVD CCA claimed that this violated the terms of the contracts that control DVD-related equipment because the DVD need not be physically present for payback. However, the judge ruled against the DVD CCA on the narrow grounds that part of the specification of the Content Scrambling System was not part of the overall license agreement. This may open up the market for similar devices."
Security

Submission + - Facebook.com Users Vulnerable

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: You may remember the MySpace worm that automatically infected profiles by using cross-site scripting. Facebook users are vulnerable to a similar exploit, which could be used to compromise accounts or force users to post messages, join groups, etc. A demonstration of the exploit is included.
Portables

Submission + - OLPC to be sold for $200 in developed countries

Submitted by sien
sien writes: The manufacturer of the OLPC, Quanta, intends to sell $200 versions of the laptop in developed countries according to this arstechnica post. These laptops will be sold at cost, without making a contribution to the OLPC project.
Star Wars Prequels

USPS Announces Star Wars Stamp Set 153

Posted by CowboyNeal from the using-the-force dept.
morpheus83 writes "After R2D2 letter boxes, the USPS continues the saga, as it unveiled 15 new stamps featuring Star Wars characters at Grauman's Chinese theater in Hollywood where the original Star Wars movie opened 30 years ago. The 41 cent stamps will be released on May 25, and all the 15 stamps will be issued on a single sheet resembling a movie poster."
Education

Submission + - Mexico displays giant electronic teaching sceens

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: It what is believed to be the most ambitious project of its kind in the world. In a program called Enciclomedia, giant electronic screens have been attached to the walls of about 165,000 Mexican classrooms. Some five million 10 & 11 year-olds now receive all their education through these screens. From maths to music, from geography to geometry, black and white boards have given way to electronic screens. During a biology lesson we watch as pupil after pupil comes to the screen to piece together the human body... electronically. One boy taps his finger on the screen and brings up the human heart. He then slides his finger across the screen, taking the heart with him and places it where he thinks it belongs on the body located on the other side of the screen.
Linux Business

Submission + - Developing Open Source Software Ventures

Submitted by bobdole3k
bobdole3k writes: The University of Waterloo just posted a video of a new talk economist Larry Smith gave the UW students about creating startups using open source software and domain specific knowledge. Smith gives examples of successful companies as well as a few companies that didn't make it off the ground.
Space

Submission + - Astronaut to Run the Boston Marathon From Space

Submitted by
BostonBehindTheScenes
BostonBehindTheScenes writes: "American astronaut Sunita Williams will run 26.2 miles on a treadmill on Patriot's Day (April 16th for those of you outside of Massachusetts) while runners on the ground will compete in the 111th Boston Marathon, according this New Scientist article:

She says she is doing it to motivate children to be fit. "I encourage kids to start making physical fitness part of their daily lives," Williams said. "I think a big goal like a marathon will help get this message out there."
And yes, she is an actual registered participant who qualified by finishing among the top 100 women in the Houston Marathon in 2006. NASA's press release touts this as yet another space first:

She will run the famed race in April as an official entrant from 210 miles above Earth aboard the International Space Station. This will be the first time an astronaut in space will be an official participant in a marathon.
"
Businesses

Submission + - Dell squeals on itself: Finds financial misconduct

Submitted by
BobB
BobB writes: "An internal investigation at Dell Inc. has found evidence of misconduct and accounting errors, forcing the company to delay filing its annual earnings report with stock market regulators, it said Thursday after the U.S. stock market closed. Once the world's largest sellers of notebook and desktop PCs, Dell has stumbled in recent quarters, watching profits fall as the company struggled with an accounting investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In January, founder Michael Dell ousted his successor Kevin Rollins and returned as CEO in an attempt to reverse the company's fortunes. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2007/032907-dell- to-delay-filings-investigation.html"
Music

Why the RIAA Doesn't Want Defendants Exonerated 199

Posted by Zonk from the so-many-reasons-just-pick-one dept.
RageAgainsttheBears writes "The RIAA is beginning to find itself in an awkward position. A few of its many, many lawsuits don't manage to end in success for the organization. Typically, when they decide a case isn't worth pursuing (due to targeting the wrong person or not having sufficient evidence), they simply move to drop the case. Counterclaims are usually dropped in turn, and everyone goes separate ways. But recently, judges have been deciding to allow the RIAA to drop the case, but still allowing the defendant's counterclaim through. According to the Ars Technica article: 'If Judge Miles-LaGrange issues a ruling exonerating Tallie Stubbs of infringement, it would be a worrisome trend for the RIAA. The music industry has become accustomed to having its way with those it accuses of file-sharing, quietly dropping cases it believes it can't win. It looks as though the courts may be ready to stop the record labels from just walking away from litigation when it doesn't like the direction it is taking and give defendants justice by fully exonerating them of any wrongdoing.'"
United States

Submission + - Get in line: The rush for H-1B visas is on

Submitted by
coondoggie
coondoggie writes: "With the deadline of April 1 — actually since that's a Sunday, the deadline is April 2 — filing for an H-1B visa. Experts say this year's allotment of 65,000 slots will likely be exhausted in record time — time measured in days or weeks not months as in years past. And the agency that oversees the visas, the US Citizen and Immigration Service (USCISC) has told the public that it will not accept any applications received earlier than April 2 and reject those filed before the start date. This means people who planned on filing their petitions on Friday, March 30 with the USCIS to accept on March 31 will have their cases rejected, USCISC says. http://www.networkworld.com/community/?q=node/1316 3"
Media

Submission + - Popular HD DVD Disc Hits a Snag

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Following weeks of headlines touting strong sales for Blu-ray discs, rival next-gen format HD DVD looked like it had its own success story in the making with this week's HD DVD release of the cult hit 'Children of Men.' The disc recieved a stellar review at High-Def Digest, and went on to out-sell the most popular Blu-ray discs on Amazon. But now comes word of apparent incompatibility issues with the Xbox 360 HD DVD player, with some (but not all) consumers reporting that even multiple returns of the disc are unplayable on the format's leading playback device.
Spam

Submission + - Massive Yahoo Groups Glitch Bombards Inboxes

Submitted by
Talaria
Talaria writes: "What appears to be a massive internal glitch in the Yahoo Groups system has caused users' inboxes to be overloaded, and left Yahoo Groups owners and moderators dealing with complaints and dozens of copies of every administrative request. According to reports, Yahoo users' inboxes have been filled beyond storage capacity, with no relief in sight. No word yet from Yahoo on the cause of the problem or when it will be fixed. Ironically, Yahoo just announced that starting in May, all users will have unlimited storage capacity for email."
Wireless Networking

Drive-By Internet In Hard-To-Reach Places 76

Posted by Zonk from the i'd-get-on-that-bus dept.
oldwindways writes "The BBC reports that in developing nations where it is prohibitively expensive to install the infrastructure for wired internet connections, drive by wireless updates are becoming a popular solution to the demand for internet access. This sounds great for checking news updates, sports scores, and visiting your regular websites, but somewhat limited if you are trying to do basic research and don't know exactly where your search will take you. It is certainly an innovative solution to some of the problems encountered in tackling the digital divide, but what longterm effects might this model have on the development of a communications infrastructure?"

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