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United States

Submission + - Hayward fault ready to produce killer quake

Submitted by scienceguy111
scienceguy111 writes: The central California Hayward fault is a "ticking time bomb" with the ability to cause massive devastation when it produces another monstrous earthquake. Working off a 140-year average cycle of creating killer earthquakes, next October is when scientists predict the next one will occur. The number of people moving to the East Bay is increasing at record rates, making possible injuries and deaths an even higher number.
Microsoft

Submission + - Windows Vista SP1 Includes More Than 300 Hot Fixes (informationweek.com)

Submitted by
mytrip
mytrip writes: "Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) has released a detailed roster of the contents of its forthcoming service pack for Windows Vista, and the list includes more than 300 hot fixes covering everything from data protection to video performance.

Microsoft marketing VP Michael Sievert told InformationWeek in Marchthat Vista was "high quality right out of the gate" and that the company would likely dribble out small updates as required via its Windows Update service.

Since then, however, users have apparently reported enough problems with Vista to force a change in Microsoft's thinking."
Security

Submission + - Icelandic teen prank calls White House (msn.com)

Submitted by
mytrip
mytrip writes: "Teen says he pretended to be Iceland's president, scheduled call with Bush.

REYKJAVIK, Iceland — A teenager says he convinced the White House he was Iceland's president and managed to schedule a call with George W. Bush but was found out before he got to talk to the president.

"My call was transferred around a few times until I got hold of Bush's secretary and managed to book a call meeting with Bush the following Monday evening," Vifill Atlason, 16, told Reuters.

Local police confirmed the National Security Unit at the national police headquarters had asked them to bring Atlason in.

Jon Bjartmarz, chief superintendent at Iceland's national police headquarters, said Icelandic police had not spoken to their U.S. counterparts about the matter. He declined to say how police were tipped off about Atlason's call.

"As far as we're concerned, there will not be any further investigation, and I don't know if the American government is taking any action because of this," he said."
Media

Journal Journal: Eee gets buried by foxnews.com

Journal by tandre75
In a strangely short article titled "What not to buy", Fox News lists the Asus Eee PC as something to avoid: <URL:http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,316355,00.html>
Software

Submission + - A short history of Microsoft's OOXML ISO campaign (fanaticattack.com)

Submitted by
christian.einfeldt
christian.einfeldt writes: "Russell Ossendryver is the open format advocate whose open letter to the GNOME Foundation touched off a widespread debate about whether and to what extent GNOME is supporting Microsoft's drive for ISO status for its OOXML office productivity data format. Now, Ossendryver has published the first in a concise three-part series aimed at examining Microsoft's strategy in opposing ODF's rapid growth as an open international data standard. It is not news that Microsoft has vigorously lobbied to have its OOXML standard supplant ODF, the current international office productivity data format standard, such as its recent efforts to halt the adoption of ODF by the Dutch Parliament. But Ossendryver's summary gives a bird's eye overview of that history, based on his extensive involvement in those debates as a long-time member of the OpenDocument Fellowship."
KDE

Submission + - KDE takes stand on OOXML; GNOME dithers (itwire.com) 2

Submitted by sproketboy
sproketboy writes: Three cheers for the developers and management of the K Desktop Environment. They have taken a principled stand on the divisive issue of OOXML, the Microsoft Office Open XML document format. And for this the KDE folk deserve a round of applause.
The Courts

Submission + - Verizon Being Sued for GPL Infringement (internetnews.com)

Submitted by darthcamaro
darthcamaro writes: Guess who is infringing on open source code now? According to the SFLC it's none other than Verizon. They filed a law suit in New York yesterday. Today the SFLC spoke to the media to lay out its case.
From the article:
"We sent initial communications to Verizon three weeks ago," SFLC Legal Director Dan Ravicher told InternetNews.com. "They never responded. Thus, there are no negotiations underway with them. That is what forced us to file the lawsuit, because it was our only last option to get Verizon to address our clients' concerns." The SFLC is seeking an injunction against Verizon as well as damages. At this early stage, the SFLC had not yet put a figure on the amount it's seeking.
Media

MLB Fans Who Bought DRM Videos Get Hosed 299

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the digital-restrictions-management dept.
Billosaur writes "Major League Baseball has just strengthened the case against DRM. If you downloaded videos of baseball games from MLB.com before 2006, apparently they no longer work and you are out of luck. MLB.com, sometime during 2006, changed their DRM system. Result: game videos purchased before that time will now no longer work, as the previous DRM system is no longer supported. When the video is played, apparently the MLB.com servers are contacted and a license obtained to verify the authenticity of the video; this is done by a web link. That link no longer exists, and so now the videos will no longer play, even though the MLB FAQ says that a license is only obtained once and will not need to be re-obtained. The blogger who is reporting this contacted MLB technical support, only to be told there are no refunds due to this problem."
Software

Computer Software to Predict the Unpredictable 287

Posted by samzenpus from the zombo-com dept.
Amigan writes "Professor Jerzy Rozenblit at the University of Arizona was awarded $2.2Million to develop software to predict the unpredictable — specifically relating to volatile political and military situations." From the article: "The software will predict the actions of paramilitary groups, ethnic factions, terrorists and criminal groups, while aiding commanders in devising strategies for stabilizing areas before, during and after conflicts. It also will have many civilian applications in finance, law enforcement, epidemiology and the aftermath of natural disasters, such as hurricane Katrina."
The Courts

Class Action Initiated Against RIAA 315

Posted by kdawson from the bandwagon-starting-to-roll dept.
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "Ever since the RIAA's litigation campaign began in 2003, many people have been suggesting a class action against the RIAA. Tanya Andersen, in Oregon, has taken them up on it. The RIAA's case against this disabled single mother, Atlantic v. Andersen, has received attention in the past, for her counterclaims against the RIAA including claims under Oregon's RICO statute, the RIAA's hounding of her young daughter for a face-to-face deposition, the RIAA's eventual dropping of the case 'with prejudice,' and her lawsuit against the RIAA for malicious prosecution, captioned Andersen v. Atlantic. Now she's turned that lawsuit into a class action. The amended complaint seeking class action status (PDF) sues for negligence, fraud, negligent misrepresentation, federal and state RICO, abuse of process, malicious prosecution, intentional infliction of emotional distress, violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, trespass, invasion of privacy, libel and slander, deceptive business practices, misuse of copyright law, and civil conspiracy."
Security

Submission + - Find Out What Car Anyone Owns With Progressive.com

Submitted by I Ride A Segway
I Ride A Segway writes: Thanks to Progressive.com, all you need is a name and an address, and you can find out what car(s) that person owns. Sounds amusing at first, until you realize that what amounts to convenience for Progressive's potential customers could also be considered a rather big privacy concern for others. Innocently looking up your friends and neighbors and that guy you hated in High School is one thing; Using it to stalk politicians, celebrities, and other people in the public eye is quite another. Either for criminal intent or just plain embarassment, information as simple as that (public record not withstanding) can be easilly misused....Incidentally, Al Gore apparently still drives a hybrid. :)
Communications

Submission + - 9th Circuit Very Skeptical of NSA Surveillance (mercurynews.com)

Submitted by iluvcapra
iluvcapra writes: Yesterday before a three-judge panel of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, the US government argued that two class action lawsuits against the government and AT&T should be dismissed, because to litigate them in open court would cause the revelation of state secrets. The lawsuits allege that the government has installed a vast system of electronic surveillance gear at internet gateways along the US west coast to monitor all internet traffic, and that this information is monitored without a warrant, even when both endpoints are domestic. The panel was extremely skeptical of the governments argument:

"Is it the government's position that when the country is engaged in a war, that the power of the executive when it comes to wiretapping is unchecked?" asked 83-year-old Judge Harry Pregerson, one of the court's staunchest liberals, of a Bush administration lawyer. "The king can do no wrong, is that what it comes down to?"


The government was unwilling to even provide a sworn affadavit that the eavesdropping was only of foreign correspondence. If the 9th Circuit allows the lawsuits to proceed, the government will appeal to the US Supreme Court.

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