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Encryption

Submission + - First Encrypting 1TB Desktop PC Drive (net-security.org)

Submitted by HelioV
HelioV writes: HNS has a story about THE hard drive for those concerned about privacy. The Barracuda FDE (full disc encryption) hard drive is the world's first 3.5-inch desktop PC drive with native encryption to prevent unauthorized access to data on lost or stolen hard drives or systems. Using AES encryption, a government-grade security protocol and the strongest that is commercially available, The Barracuda FDE hard drive delivers endpoint security for powered-down systems.
Power

Submission + - Magnetic Waves Boost Ethanol Production (sciencedaily.com)

Submitted by
eldavojohn
eldavojohn writes: "Research in Brazil has shown that 'extremely low frequency magnetic waves' applied to yeast-based fermentation of sugar cane resulted in a two hour shorter process and a boosted 17 percent more ethanol produced. They say it can easily be produced on an industrial scale but do not mention how much 'net' energy after accounting for energy used to create the field for whole duration of the fermentation process."
Businesses

Submission + - Insight Cable Hijacking 404 Pages

Submitted by
Vulva R. Thompson, P
Vulva R. Thompson, P writes: "Here we go again. After checking with a number of fellow Insight subscribers, any mistyped URLs are redirected to www.not-found-help.com. Screenshot here. There's no mention of the ISP on the page and querying whois shows the domain name is protected by a proxy.

At first glance, it looks like a DNS hijack because the page is laid out like a typical cheesy squatter site, not something from a reputable ISP. But after viewing the source, the server simply inserts some javascript and sends the page off to perform the lookup. Extending the cheesiness factor, opt-out is via a cookie that can be set in a page linked from the microscopic "About" link (opt-out screenshot here). Again, no mention of Insight anywhere.

It's been argued before that grabbing 404's for profit is wrong ethically and, more importantly, RFC-wise. But another issue, as demonstrated here, is that it's tough enough training our Joe Sixpack friends not to go happy clicking and recognize when their system has been compromised, DNS or otherwise. Stuff like this doesn't help. What would your first reaction have been upon seeing that page?"
First Person Shooters (Games)

Submission + - Bioshock: did the reviewers mess up? (custompc.co.uk)

Submitted by
mr_sifter
mr_sifter writes: "With a whopping average review score of 96% it's clear that the press can't heap enough praise on Bioshock — yet some are beginning to wonder just how it managed to get such high scores. In this column one gamer argues that far from being a masterpiece, Bioshock is derivative stuff, and its high review scores represent a serious lapse by the games press. "The underwater city of Rapture is a thing of beauty, but most of the locations you actually see in the game are repetitive and dull. It's all dripping corridors and small, dark rooms, with only the occasional port hole to provide a view of some kelp and corpses to lighten things up. The enemies, aside from the Big Daddies are uninspiring. Mostly you've got a horde of maudlin zombie types, called Splicers, and gun turrets; pretty much the same sort of stuff anybody who played through System Shock 2 has killed enough of to last a lifetime.... the boring enemy design is further weakened by poor AI: the splicers' basic tactic is just to run at you, weaving around and cackling. You may recognise this behaviour from, ooh, most PC games of the past fifteen years, and also schoolchildren at playtime. "Then there are the game's primitive controls; Bioshock completely lacks modern innovations such as the ability to lean around corners or aim down the gun sights, and your character moves at a fixed pace — a pace more suited to viewing paintings in a gallery rather than evading gun turrets or, heaven forbid, fighting.""
Red Hat Software

Submission + - Red Hat to Enter the Desktop Market

Submitted by
head_dunce
head_dunce writes: "It looks like Red Hat is going to release their Global Desktop Linux in September and give Ubuntu a challenge for the Linux desktop market. I'm a little confused by the article though, it claims Red Hat Global Desktop "would be sold with a one-year subscription to security updates." Shouldn't the security updates be open, and the customer support be subscription based?"
Security

Submission + - New tools foster more secure Vista, Windows XP (networkworld.com)

Submitted by
coondoggie
coondoggie writes: "The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) said today it was making available virtual machine images of secure configurations of the Microsoft Windows XP and Vista operating systems. The images are expected to help federal agencies in complying with computer security requirements mandated by the government's Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The operating system images let federal agencies and others simulate what will happen, and how critical applications will perform, when they move from their current operating environment to either of the two Microsoft systems.Meanwhile, Microsoft Wednesday for the first time laid out the underpinnings of the security capabilities it has built into its forthcoming Windows Server Virtualization technology, in hopes that researchers will help vet the software, which is expected to ship next year. http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/18086"
Security

Submission + - Poorly Managed Web Encryption Confusing Consumers (net-security.org)

Submitted by James
James writes: Nearly half of consumers experiencing website security alerts ignore the alert and proceed to do business on the site, putting at risk their personal and financial data, according to an online survey of U.S. Internet users released today. Nearly an equal number abandon the site immediately after seeing an alert, potentially costing businesses millions in lost transactions and brand erosion.
Businesses

Submission + - Eight Financial Reasons Why You Should Use Mac OS (cio.com) 1

Submitted by
truthsearch
truthsearch writes: "For many years companies have been analyzing and debating the total cost of ownership for various operating systems. Once an investment is made it can be very expensive to switch. With Vista potentially raising the cost of Windows TCO, CIO magazine lists eight financial reasons why businesses should consider Mac OS. Among the reasons: overall value proposition, cheaper licensing fees, less help desk calls, less manual patching, and increased worker productivity."
PC Games (Games)

Submission + - Full Steam Ahead for Id?

Submitted by Dr. Eggman
Dr. Eggman writes: Wispers abound at next-gen of a deal between Id and Valve to publish material over Steam. More high quality titles are on the way from THQ, such as Supreme Commander. This combined with existing titles such as Civ IV, Lost Planet, Company of Heroes, and even FPS Prey, do you think we might see Id games appearing soon too? Long time Id distributer, Activiion has also joined Steam. With Quakecon already underway, perhaps we won't have to wait long to know.
Power

Submission + - Electrostatic Magnet Motor Made from Kitchen Stuff (peswiki.com)

Submitted by
Sterling Allan
Sterling Allan writes: "Scott F. Hall, an associate professor of art at the University of Central Florida, was tinkering around with stuff in his kitchen and came up with a continuously rotating mechanism that appears to harness electrostatic energy from the atmosphere — or something. The gizmo spins at around 80 revolutions per minute, and is constructed from a can of dog food, tooth picks, refrigerator magnets, a pencil, spring clips, and a small corner cut out of a box. Three toothpics are formed into an inverted tripod and spin atop the fourth toothpick held vertical by a spring clip that has magnets situated around the base. A graphite pencil is held over the the point of the inverted tripod via another spring clip sitting atop the can of dog food. Hall (suitable last name) posted a video at YouTube showing the gizmo running. The next day, he posted another video showing a round paperweight spinning (though not continuously) via magnets placed on its perimeter, with magnets on two adjoining dog food cans."
Music

Submission + - Multiformat Listening Test at 64kbps

Submitted by Anonymous
Anonymous writes: The Hydrogenaudio community is conducting a "Public, Multiformat Listening Test" (http://www.listening-tests.info/mf-64-1/) to see which codecs (AAC, WMA Pro and Vorbis) provide the best sound quality when compressing samples at 64kbps.

This test is open until the 5th of August and seems to be much, much harder than what one would expect, even for experienced developers of sound codecs, at bitrates that the public would find "too little", as the comments on the thread at the discussion forums (see: http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?show topic=56397).

Do you think that you have good ears? That 64kbps is "too little"? Then try it for yourself and participate. Your participation will help us improve the codecs so that they are even closer to being "transparent" at such "low" bitrates.
Security

Submission + - T.J. Maxx Suffers Huge Security Breach

Submitted by
neverpsyked
neverpsyked writes: "From CNNMoney.com: The retailer that owns the T.J. Maxx and Marshall's clothing chains said nearly 46 million customer card numbers were stolen from its computers over an 18-month period and said the total number of stolen cards may never be known.

TJX (Charts), which also operates other store chains in North America and the U.K., also said 455,000 customers who returned merchandise without receipts had their personal data stolen, including driver's license numbers. The retailer made the disclosures in an SEC filing late Wednesday."

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