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Submission + - The space jump -- in Lego! (hlntv.com)

Submitted by
mykepredko
mykepredko writes: "All this chatter about Felix Baumgartner and his remarkable space jump, but where's the love for this brave little Lego man. Just because he's physically incapable of suffering from ebullism, going into a flat spin, or bleeding out through his eyes doesn't make this guy's faithful recreation of the space jump any less remarkable. Two fearless pioneers — one, a person; the other, plastic — plummeting from amazing heights. In the case of the Lego Man, that means about 365 feet, according to the video's "Scale 1:350" note."

Submission + - "Getting Things Done" Gets A Boost from Charles Simonyi (xconomy.com)

Submitted by
waderoush
waderoush writes: "He's famous now for dating Martha Stewart and going into space (twice), but Charles Simonyi is known to software engineers mainly as the father of Microsoft Word and the creator of 'intentional programming,' a method that generates code automatically based on high-level commands from domain experts. Now Simonyi and his Bellevue, WA, company Intentional Software are teaming up with 'Getting Things Done' author David Allen to translate the personal-productivity guru's time-management technique into mobile apps. Surprisingly, there's never been an official GTD app — and Allen dismisses most to-do-list software as 'dispersive rather than integrative.' But in an extended Q&A with Xconomy, Allen says 'These guys [at Intentional Software] came to me tabula rasa and said ‘we don’t know what’s needed, but we think we have a technology that could be utilized to help knit together a lot of this stuff.’' No product development timeline has been announced.
 "
Android

Submission + - Google reportedly working on 10-inch tablet Nexus tablet with Samsung (networkworld.com)

Submitted by colinneagle
colinneagle writes: While Apple is busying itself with an iPad Mini, it seems that Google is looking to come out with an even larger version of its popular Google Nexus 7 tablet.

CNET is reporting that Google is working on a 10-inch Nexus tablet that may even sport a pixel density greater than what Apple touts in its third-generation iPad.

The 10.1-inch tablet will boast a pixel density that is higher than Apple's third-generation iPad, said Richard Shim, an analyst at NPD DisplaySearch.

The 2,560x1,600 display will have a PPI (pixels per inch) of about 299, said Shim. That tops the 264 PPI on the 9.7-inch 2,048x1,536 Retina iPad.

"It's going to be a high-end device," Shim said — in contrast with Google's $199 Nexus 7 and upcoming $99 tablet.

But probably the biggest news is the partnership with Samsung. "They'll partner with Samsung and cobrand it with Samsung," Shim said.

Note that the Galaxy Nexus 7 was done in partnership with Asus.
Space

Submission + - First planet found in a four-star system... by amateur planet hunters

Submitted by
The Bad Astronomer
The Bad Astronomer writes: "For the first time, a planet has been found in a stellar system composed of four stars. The planet, called PH-1, orbits a binary star made of two sun-like stars in a tight orbit. That binary is itself orbited by another binary pair much farther out. Even more amazing, this planet was found by two "citizen scientists", amateurs who participated in Planet Hunters, a project which puts Kepler Observatory data online for lay people to analyze. At least two confirmed planets have been found by this project, but this is the first — ever — in a quaternary system."
The Military

Submission + - Coming To a Warzone Near You: Kamikaze Drones (thediplomat.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: While drone technology is used by some of the world's most advanced nations, it seems a new style of drone could even open up such lethal weapons to Hezbollah and other non-state actors.

Suicide Drones that do not need to come back to base and that could be used as an assassination style weapon. They are also cheap to produce as the technology is not new. The United States, South Korea and North Korea are all working to produce viable weapons. The author notes:

"Unlike cruise or ballistic missiles, “suicide” drones make it possible for the controller to call off an attack even after the device has been “armed,” when, for example, a target has moved to a new position, or if the risks of collateral are deemed too high due to changes on the ground. The applications for dense combat environments, and perhaps even urban theaters of operations involving beyond-line-of-sight targets, are evident."
Programming

Submission + - Typemock CEO: I was wrong - design for testability (typemock.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: When starting Typemock, my stand was that testing and design are separate. That you don’t have to change your design in order to be testable, and that your design should be based on the business of your software and not testability. I believed that design and testing tools are two separate issues, and I trusted that developers are good enough to create the best design or refactor to a better design, suitable for the system.
I was wrong.
Linux

Submission + - Reiser4 File-System Still In Development (phoronix.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Reiser4 still hasn't been merged into the mainline Linux kernel, but it's still being worked on by a small group of developers following Hans Reiser being convicted for murdering his wife. Reiser4 was updated in September on SourceForge to work with the Linux 3.5 kernel and has been benchmarked against EXT4, Btrfs, XFS, and ReiserFS. Reiser4 loses out in most of the Linux file-system performance tests, has much stigma due to Hans Reiser, and Btrfs is surpassing it feature-wise, so does it have any future in Linux ahead?
Bitcoin

Submission + - Issue-wise crodfunding for Free Software (freedomsponsors.org)

Submitted by casals
casals writes: On the crowdfunding stream: there's a site that recently came up with the idea of microcrowdfunding free/libre software projects issues, called FreedomSponsors (www.freedomsponsors.com). Individuals (developers) register and are paid to solve tasks — issues related to free/libre software projects. There's already a plugin to provide integration with Jira (and more plugins are planned) so using it with existing issue trakcers should be easy. It's a different approach from Gittip (www.gittip.com) since it has a freelance-oriented approach; seems a nice way to get paid for short-term projects and at the same time to speed up issue solving on open source projects (since there are already a lot of companies that already use free/libre libraries/frameworks).

Submission + - Kindle Paperwhite (blogspot.com) 1

Submitted by gloriankleo
gloriankleo writes: The Kindle Paperwhite was released on October 1, 2012. It has a 6", 212 ppi display (an almost-XGA resolution of 758×1024) with built-in light.
Security

Submission + - Passwords Easier to Steal Than Ever: 8 Mistakes to Avoid (cettatech.com)

Submitted by
CettaTech
CettaTech writes: "Companies rely on passwords to protect sensitive info from hackers. But unfortunately, passwords often aren’t given the attention they deserve, leaving data barely more secure than it would be with no password at all.

Here are some of the worst password mistakes users make, to give you a better understanding of small security passwords:

Keeping it simple – A recent analysis of stolen passwords revealed that too many users come up with passwords with fewer than six characters, only use lower-case letters, or choose a name, dictionary word or consecutive numbers (like ’12345?).
Using the same password over and over again – For many users, if one of their passwords is stolen, not only is all of their personal data at risk, but so is any company protected by the same password.
Not using the full keyboard – Using numbers as well as letters can make a password a lot stronger. But few users take the next step and incorporate special characters such as !@#$%.
Writing the password down – As we wrote about recently, an alleged Russian spy recently learned that a strong password does no good when it’s written down and attached to the user’s computer.
Staying logged in – Users may have strong passwords committed to memory and not written down anywhere — but then give prying eyes easy access to sensitive data by staying logged in to databases and applications when they get up from their desks. As companies that have been hit by inside hackers know, you can’t always trust everyone you work with.

Companies often try to use password policies to keep those mistakes from hampering security. But policies must be done right in order to have an effect. Here are some common password policy mistakes IT departments make:

Going overboard – Requiring users to have a new and extremely complex password every 30 days may only encourage folks to ignore the rules or keep passwords written down.
Getting lax – Some companies require strong passwords for users for their initial log-ins, but then get lax on other levels of security. That gives potential hackers only one tough password to crack, rather than several.
Not staying updated – Password policies don’t always get looked at and revised very often. So even companies with good password policies might not be including all necessary systems.

Best bet: Instead of forcing users to follow strict password rules, some experts recommend training folks and offering tips on creating strong passwords that are easy to remember. Also, the use of a secure password manager can help users who need to keep a lot of different passwords.

How does your company keep passwords manageable while also making sure all sensitive data is sufficiently protected?"
Education

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: Best Book Or Game To Introduce Kids To Programming? 1

Submitted by connorblack
connorblack writes: My very gifted nephew is about to turn 9 this month and I would love to get him some sort of fun, engaging book or game to introduce him to the basic concepts of programming. I have a feeling if approached correctly he would absolutely devour the subject (he is already working through mathematics at an 8th grade level). What I first was looking at were the Lego Mindstorm programmable robots- which would have been perfect, if only they weren't around 300 dollars... So if there's anything similar (or completely new!) you've either heard praise about or used yourself with your kids, it would be great to get a recommendation. Also if possible I would want to stick to an under 100 dollar budget.

Submission + - Amazon considering buying Texas Instrument's Chip Business (slashgear.com)

Submitted by puddingebola
puddingebola writes: From the article, "Amazon is reportedly in “advanced negotiations” to acquire Texas Instruments’ OMAP chip division, bringing chip design for its Kindle tablets in-house, and helping TI refocus on embedded systems. The deal in discussion, Calcalist reports, follows TI’s public distancing from its own phone and tablet chip business in the face of rising competition from Qualcomm, Samsung, and others, though Amazon taking charge of OMAP could leave rivals Barnes & Noble in a tricky situation."
Open Source

Submission + - 5 Key Forces Driving Open Source Today (infoworld.com)

Submitted by
snydeq
snydeq writes: "Simon Phipps discusses the 15-year evolution of the open source movement, outlining the five key forces driving open source forward today. 'Today's open source movement is more mature, and the trends underlining it are more nuanced and widely engaged. The revolution has had a meaningful impact, and to treat open source as if it is still about saving a few bucks on a software license or socking it to Microsoft is to misunderstand how far the open source movement has come. The following five trends are key drivers of today's open source communities and projects. From governance to emerging revenue models, they paint a picture of an industry evolving to see the value of the freedoms at the heart of the open source movement.'"
Censorship

Submission + - Shut up and play nice: How the Western world is limiting free speech (washingtonpost.com) 4

Submitted by
concealment
concealment writes: "In the face of the violence that frequently results from anti-religious expression, some world leaders seem to be losing their patience with free speech. After a video called “Innocence of Muslims” appeared on YouTube and sparked violent protests in several Muslim nations last month, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned that “when some people use this freedom of expression to provoke or humiliate some others’ values and beliefs, then this cannot be protected.”

It appears that the one thing modern society can no longer tolerate is intolerance. As Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard put it in her recent speech before the United Nations, “Our tolerance must never extend to tolerating religious hatred.”"
Open Source

Submission + - Issue-wise crowdfunding for Open Source (freedomsponsors.com) 1

Submitted by casals
casals writes: Another crowdfunding site came up, this time using a bounty-based approach: it's called Freedom Sponsors (www.freedomsponsors.com). Individuals (developers) register and are paid to solve tasks — issues related to open-source projects. Seems a nice way to get paid for short-term projects and at the same time to speed up issue solving on open source projects (since there are already a lot of companies that already use open source libraries/frameworks).

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