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Technology (Apple)

Submission + - Apple warns iHacks may wreck phones (yahoo.com)

Submitted by
Christopher Blanc
Christopher Blanc writes: "IPhone owners who have unlocked their handsets so they could use carriers other than AT&T Inc. may end up with a phone that doesn't work after the company's next software update, Apple Inc. warned Monday. Apple executives say they have discovered that many of those unauthorized unlocking programs cause some software damage to iPhones.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070925/ap_on_hi_te/apple_iphone

Dear Slashdot, what is "software damage"? And a re-install cannot fix it?"
Editorial

Submission + - Blurring the line between blogger and Journalist (blogspot.com)

Submitted by __aahplg8815
__aahplg8815 writes: Brave New Journalism

By Dirk Hanson

Lately I have been thinking about the death of — or deconstruction of, depending on your point of view — the news business, so-called. Journalism, in a word. What I was trained for in college. Gone the way of the buffalo in the form in which I learned it, from the people who taught and practiced it in that fashion. A gone dead train, that one. For the better? For the worse? All I know is, I'm pretty much out of work.

I mean paying, short-range work. If you like writing researched articles for three dollars per 600 word article, I can show you where to go on the web for that kind of thing. Otherwise, online publications tend to pay in a form of specie known as "link density." They will trade you links, or more specifically, something on the order of link options — or perhaps the better term would be link propensities — in return for you writing articles for, basically, nothing.

Well. But you can't just automatically get steamed about the people offering up this kind of work, since their ability to pay rests on the online advertising dollars they attract, which, in the splintered blogosphere, amounts to generally very few. So, unless you think the editors of blog magazines ought to pay you out of their own pockets, and with all due haste, the matter of no-to-low pay will not be solved anytime soon, and probably not in my lifetime, if my usual luck holds.

I imagine that scholars of the history of journalism can point to parallels from the world of print, such as the profusion of New York newspapers in the early years of the 20th century. Or something. These examples never seem all that reassuring. If the first rule of the New Thing That is Digital News is that digital news has almost nothing in common with the production and delivery of news in printed form — then we have to ask ourselves just exactly why there are supposed to be any valid historical comparisons in the first place. Now that the line between amateur and professional writer has been muddied beyond recognition, further subdivisions, or should we say subdomains, containing job descriptions such as "content provider," not to mention "SEO optimizer," which, if I understand rightly, would translate as "Search Engine Optimization Optimizer," abound.

One thing I can say for certain is that I have no idea what any of this means, or how it will turn out down the road. All the routes to solace seem a little sour. But why not be optimistic? Maybe that fierce blizzard of self-reference known as the blogosphere will sort itself out with the passage of time. I guess you have to admit it's getting better. It can't get no worse.
Security

Submission + - Vista attacked by 13-year-old virus

Submitted by
Aviran
Aviran writes: "A batch of laptops pre-installed with Windows Vista Home Premium was found to have been infected with a 13-year-old boot sector virus. The boot sector virus 'Stoned.Angelina', first seen as long ago as 1994 and last included on the official WildList in 2001. The computers had been loaded with Microsoft's latest operating system Vista and Bullguard's anti-virus software, which failed to detect and remove the malware. Although the infection itself is harmless, Stoned.Angelina will undoubtedly have left Microsoft and Bullguard execs blushing with embarrassment about the apparent flaws in their software which allowed an ancient virus to slip through the back door."
Censorship

Submission + - Iran blocks access to Google

Submitted by
morpheus83
morpheus83 writes: "Iran has blocked access to the Google search engine and its Gmail email service as part of a clampdown on material deemed to be offensive. Hamid Shahriari, the secretary of Iran's National Council of Information did not explain why the sites were being blocked. Google, Gmail and several other foreign sites appeared to be inaccessible to Iranian users from Monday morning. Iran has tough censorship on cultural products and internet access, banning thousands of websites and blogs containing sexual and politically critical material as well as women's rights and social networking sites."
Censorship

Submission + - RIAA going bust in Sweden

Submitted by mengu
mengu writes: It seems that a recent decision by Swedish court will make it more difficult for the **AA to find the persons behind the ip-addresses. From TFA "The court is confirming that file sharing is punishable by fines. This means that the police are not permitted to demand details of the addresses behind IP addresses and cannot carry out house searches," said Piratbyrån's Tobias Andersson. What it translates to is that since the crime will only render in fines and not prison time, Search-warrants cannot be issued. http://www.thelocal.se/7581/20070612/
Media

Copying HD DVD, Blu-ray Discs May Become Legal 188

Posted by kdawson from the but-it-could-cost-ya dept.
Consumers could soon be able to make several legal copies of movies bought on HD DVD or Blu-ray Disc under a new licensing agreement now being negotiated. Rights holders might charge more for discs that can be copied for backup or for use on a media server, however.
Censorship

Holocaust Dropped From Some UK Schools 1286

Posted by kdawson from the careful-you-might-offend-somebody dept.
dteichman2 writes "It appears that some UK schools are ignoring the Holocaust. A government-backed study, funded by the Department for Education and Skills, found that some teachers are reluctant to teach history lessons on the Holocaust for fear of offending Muslim students whose beliefs include Holocaust denial. Additionally, similar problems are being encountered with lessons on the Crusades because these lessons contradict teachings from local mosques."
The Internet

Submission + - Illegal Downloading Drops Among Youth

Submitted by Overly Critical Guy
Overly Critical Guy writes: A BSA survey shows a 24% drop in illegal downloading in the last three years among 8 to 18 year olds. Fear of parental reprisal rose 40% in the last three years to reach #4 on the list of fears involved with illegal downloading, topped by receiving a virus, getting into legal trouble, and accidentally installing spyware.
Media

Submission + - Study: Illegal Downloading Among Youth Drops

Submitted by
Aviran
Aviran writes: "The results of a recent nationwide survey released by the Business Software Alliance (BSA) show that illegal downloading of digital copyrighted works by youth (ages 8 to 18) has dropped by 24 percent in the last three years. The survey, first conducted in 2004, indicated that 60 percent of survey participants reported downloading software, music, movies, or games without paying for it; in 2006 the percentage of those who downloaded without paying dropped to 43 percent; and in 2007 the percentage decreased to 36 percent."
Announcements

Submission + - Did a Comet Kill American Cavemen?

Submitted by Lensman003
Lensman003 writes: Scientists cite evidence from widespread diamond fragments to support a theory that a large comet fragmented and caused widespread firestorms in the northern hemisphere about 12,900 years ago. They theorize that cavemen and mammoths, among others, were wiped out in this fiery cataclysm. Full story at The Raw Story.
Displays

Submission + - LG.Philips Develops World's First Color E-Paper

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: LG.Philips LCD developed the world's first 14.1-inch flexible color E-paper display, equivalent in size to an A4 sheet of paper.
The 14.1-inch flexible color E-paper uses electronic ink from E-Ink Corp. to produce a maximum of 4,096 colors. It can be viewed from a full 180 degrees, so that images always appear crisp, even when the display is bent.

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