adtifyj - Slashdot User

Submission + - The Lady Magdalene De Lancey Ciphers, now open for (ciphermysteries.com)

Submitted by

nickpelling2

on Thursday November 10, 2011 @04:21PM

nickpelling2 writes: "Here are some just-revealed historical ciphers from 1819 that the NSA's cryptologists weren't able to crack. So now it's your turn! To get you started, I suspect it's some kind of verbose cipher or steganography, i.e. where the ciphertext is much longer than the plaintext. Sort of like a lovesick Regency version of Abbot Trithemius. Find Lady Magdalene's ciphering trick & you'll read her secret messages! Go for it, /.ers! ;-)"

Submission + - Goodbye BIOS, Hello UEFI (itworld.com) 1

Submitted by

jfruhlinger

on Thursday November 10, 2011 @04:07PM

jfruhlinger writes: "There's been much controversy over the migration of PCs from BIOS to UEFI, mostly over charges that it's a secret way to lock Linux out of PCs. But to really understand the issues, you need to know just what UEFI was — more than anything, you need to know that UEFI isn't just a BIOS replacement."

Submission + - What's keeping you on Windows? (slashdot.org) 11

Submitted by

tearmeapart

on Thursday November 10, 2011 @02:55PM

tearmeapart writes: "It may be time again for another discussion/flamewar on the reasons why a lot of us are (still) using Microsoft. The last big discussion on Slashdot was close to 10 years ago, and a lot has changed since then:

Windows XP and 7 have proven to be stable (and memories of Windows ME are mostly gone)

There are many more distributions for Linux, esepecially commercial options

Distributions like Ubuntu and CentOS have made GNU/Linux more friendly

Options for word processing, spreadsheets, etc. have grown

Apple and their products have changed considerably. However, their philosophy has not seemed to changed.

Microsoft Silverlight came and is on the way out.

Wine and solutions like Transgaming have matured.

However, many things have not changed, like the Microsoft FUD war, the BSDs' installation UI, and the sky is the limit for Linux (except when it comes to the year of the Linux desktop).

So... why are a lot of us still using Windows? What would it take for us to switch?"

Submission + - The Universe is Ending (lego.com)

Submitted by CmdrStone on Thursday November 10, 2011 @02:39PM

CmdrStone writes: The Universe is Ending in the eyes of Lego. Cheap pun I know.

"We are very sad to announce that LEGO Universe will be closing on Janurary 31, 2012. This was a very difficult decision to make, but unfortunately LEGO Universe has not been able to attract the number of members needed to keep the game open. "

Bummer. I enjoyed playing this game with my kids. Open sourcing the game would be nice.

Submission + - First National Test of Emergency Alert System Fail (businessinsider.com) 2

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 10, 2011 @02:28PM

An anonymous reader writes: The first full-scale test of the National Emergency Alert System failed on Tuesday at 2 PM. Some radio and television networks did not air any alert, while the performance of others was inconsistent.

"Some DirectTV customers reported hearing Lady Gaga's “Paparazzi” play during the test. Some Comcast subscribers saw their cable boxes turn to QVC before the alert, while Time Warner Cable customers in New York did not see any alert at all."

Surprised there hasn't been more about this.

Submission + - Android And The GPL: Lawyer Continues Crusade (itworld.com) 1

Submitted by

jfruhlinger

on Thursday November 10, 2011 @02:20PM

jfruhlinger writes: "Edward Naughton has been insisting for months that Android violates the GPL because Google created a new set of Linux kernel headers that it hasn't released the source code for, despite the fact that it incorporates open source code. While numerous commentators, including those who helped write the kernel headers, claimed this code isn't copyrightable, Naughton in persisting in his crusade, saying that the questions need to be resolved in court for the good of the open source movement."

Submission + - How Cell Phone Money Laundering Works (net-security.org)

Submitted by Orome1 on Thursday November 10, 2011 @02:08PM

Orome1 writes: In Russia, most cell phone SIM cards are prepaid. One of the major Russian operators offers a legal service that allows anyone to transfer the prepaid amount of money from a SIM card to a bank account, a credit card, another cell phone number (via a text message) or to express money transfer service Unistream. This particular service is heavily misused by cyber crooks who use it to launder money collected through ransomware campaigns, mobile malware and SMS scam campaigns. Kaspersky Lab's Denis Maslennikov takes us though the steps of each of these types of scams and shares insights into the shady economy that has sprung up due to cyber criminals' need to get their hand on the collected money without leaving a direct trail.

Comment Re:stupid (Score 1) 518

by adtifyj on Thursday May 12, 2011 @03:52AM (#36103814) Attached to: AP Files FOIA Request For Bin Laden Photos

Except that if you're skeptical of the government on this one, then a picture of a corpse won't help your skepticism one little bit, or at least it shouldn't. ..

That is true, however they had better have taken pictures and put them in the archives. If they are going to lie, we should at least ensure that their lies are recorded and available to historians. A FOIA request to verify that there are photos, and they look legit, is appropriate.

Comment Re:If only they had broken it up! (Score 1) 289

by adtifyj on Thursday May 12, 2011 @03:44AM (#36103754) Attached to: Microsoft Antitrust Oversight Ends

Then only one company (at most) would have had Balmer as a CEO....

- a Microsoft shareholder

PS: and none of the mini-microsofts would have paid 8 BILLION for F'ing Skype!

It is comforting to know that even microsoft shareholders can see Microsoft is paying a lot of money to fuck Skype.

Submission + - IPCC: 80% Energy From Renewables by 2050 Possible (ipcc-wg3.de)

Submitted by SD-Arcadia on Wednesday May 11, 2011 @10:08PM

SD-Arcadia writes: Close to 80 percent of the world‘s energy supply could be met by renewables by mid-century if backed by the right enabling public policies a new report shows. Most of the reviewed scenarios estimate that renewables will contribute more to a low carbon energy supply by 2050 than nuclear power or fossil fuels using carbon capture and storage.

Submission + - Alabama Nuclear Reactor Gets "F" Grade (cbsnews.com)

Submitted by GatorSnake on Wednesday May 11, 2011 @09:35PM

GatorSnake writes: The US Federal government issued a rare red finding against an Alabama nuclear power plant after an emergency cooling system failure. Does this further erode the argument that Fukushima was just an isolated incident in the "modern" nuclear power age?

Submission + - Australia's Federal Budget:science $ 'uninspiring' (abc.net.au)

Submitted by

brindafella

on Wednesday May 11, 2011 @09:22PM

brindafella writes: "Australia's 2011-12 Federal Budget was released Tuesday night. The Australian Academy of Science's Professor Bob Williamson has said Australia's research spending at 1.6 per cent of GDP is average compared to other OECD countries. Among other funding, the Australian Research Council and the National Health and Medical Research Council get similar funding (~A$850 / ~US$795) to distribute to researchers, that may reflect earlier and very public lobbying by the medical research community that was fearful of de-funding. Several specialised science promotion activities are de-funded, including a national school science curriculum initiative that needed only $5 million to $10 million over several years."

Submission + - Govt wants to redact unclassified info in court (fas.org)

Submitted by

decora

on Wednesday May 11, 2011 @08:11PM

decora writes: "The government prosecutors in the case of NSA IT whistleblower Thomas Drake are attempting to use the Classified Information Procedures Act to redact evidence in court; evidence that is clearly "UNCLASSIFIED". The defense has responded, pointing out that Congress named it the Classified Information Procedures Act for a reason — it is only supposed to apply to classified information. The government's argument? It can redact anything it wants to, because the material relates to the NSA."

Submission + - Google Engineers Deny Hack Exploited Chrome (computerworld.com)

Submitted by

CWmike

on Wednesday May 11, 2011 @07:58PM

CWmike writes: "Several Google security engineers have countered claims that a French security company, Vupen, found a vulnerability in Chrome that could let attackers hijack Windows PCs running the company's browser. Instead, those engineers said the bug Vupen exploited to hack Chrome was in Adobe's Flash, which Google has bundled with the browser for over a year. Google's official position, however, has not changed since Vupen said it had sidestepped not only the browser's built-in 'sandbox' but also by evading Windows 7's integrated anti-exploit technologies. But others who work for Google were certain that at least one of the flaws Vupen exploited was in Flash's code, not Chrome's. 'As usual, security journalists don't bother to fact check,' said Tavis Ormandy, a Google security engineer, in a tweet earlier Wednesday. 'Vupen misunderstood how sandboxing worked in Chrome, and only had a Flash bug.' Chris Evans, a Google security engineer and Chrome team lead, tweeted, 'It's a legit pwn, but if it requires Flash, it's not a Chrome pwn.'"

Submission + - Visa to launch universal digital wallet (nytimes.com)

Submitted by

Julie188

on Wednesday May 11, 2011 @07:56PM

Julie188 writes: "Visa announced plans to introduce a one-click payment system that will allow Visa customers to pay for things with one click, even when using payment methods other than Visa, such as PayPal. The information will be stored in Visa’s secured servers so that users only have to sign in to pay for their purchase. People can buy things with one click at a particular site, say Amazon.com. Visa's plan is to create a one-click system across the Web."

Slashdot Top Deals