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Technology

Submission + - SPAM: HP Slate 2: What Was Meg Whitman Thinking? 1

Submitted by
redletterdave
redletterdave writes: "After being introduced in September, HP's new CEO Meg Whitman announced Oct. 27 that the company "needs to be in the tablet business." However, by creating a lackluster product in the Slate 2 that runs on a soon-to-be-outdated operating system, HP will surely find itself back where it started, when furious Best Buy executives demanded HP to take back their thousands of unsold tablets piling up in storage."
Link to Original Source
Android

Submission + - How does a self published android app writer get t (android.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: For a senior project I wrote a puzzle game for the Android. I published the app thinking that I would gradually get downloads, but I find that the only ones who have installed it are friends and family that I have shown the app to.

I've briefly looked into advertising, but nothing seems worthwhile, so I've just published two versions a paid and free version without any difference between the two. Even after doing this nobody seems to be trying out the free version. So my question is: how can a person who has just created an Android app get noticed?
Google

Submission + - Google Streetview Moves Indoors

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens writes
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "Google is taking its Street View mapping service indoors with plans moving ahead for 360-degree Business Photos, a program that would send Google photographers to various businesses to snap professional photos for their Places Page. "This experience, using Street View technology, includes 360-degree imagery of the business interior and storefront," says Google. "With this immersive imagery, potential customers can easily imagine themselves at the business and decide if they want to visit in person." Photographs are taken by "trusted" photographers though businesses can also upload their own images via Google Places and is starting with businesses "that we know are searched for most regularly," like restaurants, hotels, retail shops, gyms, salons, and repair shops. Taking internal photos and posting them online brings up some security questions but Google says its photographs will "capture nothing different to what a customer would see by visiting the business in real life.""
Government

Submission + - Schools in Portugal Moving to OSS (publico.pt)

Submitted by thyristor pt
thyristor pt writes: In light of massive national budget cuts, the Portuguese government will force public schools to move to free/open source software . Schools with some 50.000 outdated computers won't see their software licenses renewed, the main reason being the cost of hardware upgrade inherent to mostly Microsoft software updates.
Will the Euro debt crisis be a driving force to the spreading of open source software?
Security

Submission + - Are Sensible Password Policies Starving The Hail M (blogspot.com)

Submitted by
badger.foo
badger.foo writes: "Remember the Hail Mary Cloud of distributed ssh password guessing bots? They're back (or may have been active all along), but the latest news is that they seem to be numbering hundreds, not thousands like they did some years ago. Peter Hansteen speculates that maybe we are seeing the effect of sensible passwords polidies or a move to key only ssh logins. And they're still not even attempting to attack OpenBSD systems."
Red Hat Software

Submission + - How can I justify using Red Hat when CentOS exists (centos.org) 7

Submitted by Bocaj
Bocaj writes: I recently spec'd out a large project for our company that included software from Red Hat. It came back from the CIO with everything approved except I have to use CentOS. Why? Because "it's free Red Hat." Personally I really like the CentOS project because it puts enterprise class software in the hands of people who might not otherwise afford it. We are not those people. We have money. In fact I questioned the decision by asking why the CIO was willing to spend money on another very similar project and not this one. The answer was "because there is no free alternative." I know this has come up before and I don't want to beat a dead horse, but this is still a very persistent issue. Our CIO is convinced that technical support for any product is worthless. He's will to spend money on "one-time" software purchases, but nothing that is an annual subscription. There is data to support that the Red Hat subscription is cheaper that many other up-front paid software products but not CentOS. The only thing it lacks is support, which the CIO doesn't want. Help?

Submission + - Hybrid technology could bring 'quantum information (scienceblog.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Researchers at Purdue say the merging of plasmonics and nanophotonics is promising the emergence of new 'quantum information systems' far more powerful than today's computers. "Plasmons are quasiparticles that combine electrons and photons. And by using them in place of the simple electrons of today's computers, they could overcome limitations in the operational speed of conventional integrated circuits.The technology hinges on using single photons for switching and routing in computers that would harness the exotic principles of quantum mechanics.
Piracy

Submission + - US Copyright Office Out Of Touch; Supports E-PARAS (techdirt.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The US Copyright Office, for years, has remained totally out of touch with the mess that copyright has become, often acting as the entertainment industry's voice within the government. There was some hope that when longtime boss Marybeth Peters finally left, that the Copyright Office would bring in some new blood who might actually recognize how hindering and damaging copyright law is today, and seek to actually help bring copyright law into the modern era. So much for that plan. New boss Maria Pallante has released a new report detailing the "priorities" of the Copyright Office... and its the entertainment industry's two favorite bills: PROTECT IP/E-PARASITE and the felony streaming bill. The full report (pdf) also supports the RIAA bailout bill/performance rights act, also known as the extra tax on radio stations, forcing them to pay to advertise music. While there are a few nods towards things like orphan works, it seems like the Copyright Office is about more of the same failed policies... just ratcheted up further.
Media

Submission + - ask slashdot: do some new movie DVDs not work on y 4

Submitted by
fade-in
fade-in writes: "Using RedBox has been really hit-or-miss for me lately, as about half of the movies I rent flat-out don't work on my PC. At first I thought it was a Linux problem, but when I tried the discs on a Windows 7 PC I met the same results.
After doing some research I've found that all of the titles that have failed for me are distributed by Paramount Pictures.
Am I alone in the world, or has anyone else experienced this? Is it a secret plot to drive folks to BitTorrent? Which movie distributors' discs cause the most trouble, and where do I complain to get it fixed?"
Security

Submission + - TSA's VIPR Bites Rail, Bus, and Ferry Passengers (washingtontimes.com)

Submitted by OverTheGeicoE
OverTheGeicoE writes: TSA's VIPR program may be expanding. According to the Washington Times, 'TSA has always intended to expand beyond the confines of airport terminals. Its agents have been conducting more and more surprise groping sessions for women, children and the elderly in locations that have nothing to do with aviation.' In Tennessee earlier this month bus passengers in Nashville and Knoxville were searched in addition to the truck searches discussed here previously. Earlier this year in Savannah, Georgia TSA forced a group of train travelers, including young children, to be patted down (video). (They were getting off the train, not on.) Ferry passengers have also been targeted. According to TSA Administrator John Pistole's testimony before the Senate last June, 'TSA conducted more than 8,000 VIPR operations in the [previous] 12 months, including more than 3,700 operations in mass-transit and passenger-railroad venues.' He wants a 50% budget increase for VIPR for 2012. Imagine what TSA would do with the extra funding.
User Journal

Journal Journal: "Please download your personal attached login page" 1

Journal by Qzukk

Just got some lame phishing email with an .html attachment telling me I needed to urgently update my bank information or my account would be terminated.

Please tell me that this phisher is just a complete idiot who was too lazy to copy the bank's website onto his bpasfpapfefeepfkfme23.com domain, and there are no banks (or other institutions) that actually email users their login page...
China

Submission + - Chinese hackers took control of U.S. satellites (operationreality.org)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: According to a report from the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, Chinese hackers suspected of operating on behalf of the P.L.A. managed to interfere and take over control of at least two U.S. satellites on multiple occasions throughout 2007 and 2008. The compromised satellites Landsat-7 and Terra AM-1, are operated by N.A.S.A. and the U.S. Geological Survey respectfully, and are primarily used for earth climate and terrain observation.

The USCC draft report which is due out next month explained, “Such interference poses numerous potential threats, particularly if achieved against satellites with more sensitive functions. Access to a satellite‘s controls could allow an attacker to damage or destroy the satellite. An attacker could also deny or degrade as well as forge or otherwise manipulate the satellite’s transmission.”

The hackers are suspected to have gained control by proxying through compromised ground control systems at the Svalbard Satellite Station in Spitsbergen, Norway operated by the Norwegian company Kongsberg Gruppen.
Robotics

Submission + - Agile Quadruped Robot Unveiled By Italian Research (ieee.org)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Italian roboticists have built a quadruped robot called HyQ that can walk, trot, jump, and rear. Unlike with another quadruped project, the famous BigDog from Boston Dynamics, the Italian team wants to make their design "as open as possible," so other research groups can use it to collaborate. HyQ is a hydraulic system with torque-controlled, compliant legs. It's currently tethered, but the researchers plan to make the robot self-contained with an on-board pump, add a head with cameras and laser-range finder, and take it for tests outdoors.

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