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IT

Disempowering the Singular Sysadmin? 433

Posted by kdawson from the trust-but-verify dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Practically every computer system appears to be at the mercy of at least one individual who holds root (or whatever other superuser identity can destroy or subvert that system). However, making a system require multiple individuals for any root operation (think of the classic two-key process to launch a nuke) has shortcomings: simple operations sometimes require root, and would be enormously cumbersome if they needed a consensus of administrators to execute. There is the idea of a Distributed Administration Network, which is like a cluster of independently administered servers, but this is a limited case for deployment of certain applications. And besides, DAN appears still to be vaporware. Are there more sweeping yet practical solutions out there for avoiding the weakness of a singular empowered superuser?"
Image

Scientists Find Tears Are the Anti-Viagra 207

Posted by samzenpus from the blood-hound-gang-is-wrong dept.
An anonymous reader writes "The male test subjects didn't know what they were smelling, they were just given little vials of clear liquid and told to sniff. But when those vials contained a woman's tears (collected while she watched a sad movie), the men rated pictures of women's faces as less sexually attractive, and their saliva contained less testosterone. Is this proof that humans make and respond to pheromones? The researcher behind the study doesn't use that controversial word, but he says his findings do prove that tears contain meaningful chemical messages."
Oracle

Submission + - Oracle to add SQLite API to Berkeley DB (oracle.com)

Submitted by RafaelGCPP
RafaelGCPP writes: In a bold movement, Oracle announced today that Berkeley DB's next release will provide a SQLite-compatible API. "SQLite Tools integration means that all tools that work with SQLite will also work with Oracle Berkeley DB, making it easier to develop, deploy and manage Oracle Berkeley DB applications and databases;" says their press release. Lets hope for the best!

Submission + - UNIX turns 40

Submitted by IndioMan
IndioMan writes: The systems world will shortly be celebrating a major anniversary milestone. UNIX is turning 40 years old! Most of us know the story of how UNIX was born, but what about why? Was it born strictly because its founders wanted to play a computer game on a different platform? And why does UNIX continue to thrive 15 years after an (in)famous Byte Magazine article that asked: Is UNIX dead?

Comment Re:Don't suppose it ever occurred to you... (Score 1) 823

by RafaelGCPP (#29922037) Attached to: How To Enter Equations Quickly In Class?
This is much better, since you also overcome the 48h forgetting window.
If you don't force yourself to look for a piece of information for a time, it goes to oblivion. Your mind takes care of throwing unused info to the mental garbage bin, and our internal garbage collector runs on an average of 48h.
Writing it down creates some positive feedback that makes that information valuable, and copying it to the computer reinforces it (taking the internal reference counter to 2).
Earth

Brazil Demands Repatriation of UK Hazardous Waste 110

Posted by kdawson from the got-enough-of-our-own-thanks dept.
Peace Corps Online writes "BBC reports that Brazilian authorities are demanding the return of more than 1,400 tons of hazardous British waste found in about 90 shipping containers on three Brazilian docks. The waste, which includes syringes, condoms, and bags of blood, has been identified as being of UK origin from the names of British supermarkets and newspapers among the rubbish. Reports in the UK media say the waste was sent from Felixstowe in eastern England to the port of Santos, near Sao Paulo, and two other ports in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul. The British government has launched an investigation into how and why the waste was sent to Brazil and the British Embassy in Brazil has said in a statement that it was investigating and would 'not hesitate to act' if it was found that a UK company had violated the Basel Convention on the movement of hazardous waste. Meanwhile Brazil is demanding the immediate return of the rubbish to the UK. 'We will ask for the repatriation of this garbage,' says Roberto Messias, head of the Brazilian environment agency. 'Clearly, Brazil is not a big rubbish dump of the world.'" Two UK companies named by Brazil as suspected exporters of the waste are owned by a Brazilian, based in the UK, who says that anything that was in the containers other than the expected recyclable plastic is a problem to take up with his suppliers.
Software

The Anti-ODF Whisper Campaign 213

Posted by Soulskill from the are-you-saying-odf-won't-make-my-docs-smell-bad dept.
eldavojohn writes "Groklaw is examining the possibility of an anti-ODF whisper campaign and the effects it has had on the ODF and OOXML Wikipedia articles. In the ODF article, Alex Brown bends the truth to make it seem like no one is supporting ODF, and that it is a flawed and incomplete standard. From the conclusion, 'So what is one to do? You obviously can't trust Wikipedia whatsoever in this area. This is unfortunate, since I am a big fan of Wikipedia. But since the day when Microsoft decided they needed to pay people to "improve" the ODF and OOXML articles, they have been a cesspool of FUD, spin and outright lies, seemingly manufactured for Microsoft's re-use in their whisper campaign. My advice would be to seek out official information on the standards, from the relevant organizations, like OASIS, the chairs of the relevant committees, etc. Ask the questions in public places and seek a public response. That is the ultimate weakness of FUD and lies. They cannot stand the light of public exposure. Sunlight is the best antiseptic.'"
The Internet

Submission + - The Homeless Stay Wired

Submitted by
theodp
theodp writes: "San Franciscan Charles Pitts has accounts on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. He runs a Yahoo forum, reads news online and keeps in touch with friends via email. Nothing unusual, right? Except Pitts has been homeless for two years and manages this digital lifestyle from his residence under a highway bridge. Thanks to cheap computers, free Internet access and sheer determination, the WSJ reports that being homeless isn't stopping some from staying wired. 'You don't need a TV. You don't need a radio. You don't even need a newspaper,' says Pitts. 'But you need the Internet.'"
Google

Submission + - Harsh Words From Google On Linux Development (arstechnica.com) 1

Submitted by
jeevesbond
jeevesbond writes: "The alpha version of Google Chrome is now available for GNU/Linux. Google Chrome developer and former Firefox lead Ben Goodger has some problems with the platform though. His complaints range from the lack of a standardised UI toolkit, inconsistencies across applications, the lack of a unified and comprehensive HIG, to GTK not being a very compelling toolkit. With Adobe getting twitchy about the glibc fork and previously describing the various audio systems as welcome to the jungle, is it time to concentrate on consolidation and standardisation in GNU/Linux in general, and the desktop in particular?"
Media

Submission + - Electronic Gaming Monthly Coming Back

Submitted by skulluminati
skulluminati writes: It looks like the late great gaming mag, which was canceled earlier this year by publisher Ziff-Davis, is making a comeback. Steve Harris the founder of EGM has acquired the trademark and publishing rights to the magazine. As a reader of EGM for 19 years (almost since the begining) it is great to see the brutally honest, independent voice of the gaming community rise from the ashes.

Comment Not being lethal doesn't mean it is entirely safe! (Score 2, Interesting) 570

by RafaelGCPP (#21490147) Attached to: Radiation Not As Hazardous As Once Believed
From TFA:

About 4,000 children were afflicted with cancer. Less well-known, however, is the fact that only nine of those 4,000 died -- thyroid cancers are often easy to operate on.

Great!! Having cancer and not dying of it is really something everyone should try!!
No, thanks! I'd rather keep my thyroid where it is!
Censorship

Submission + - New software will reconstruct Stasi files

Submitted by vorlich
vorlich writes: Just prior to the re-unification of Germany the DDR's secret police, the Stasi began shredding their files. However in the surreal environment of the communist party losing all control, the people's shredders were not up to the demands of 45 million documents and the Stasi operatives were reduced to tearing up the files by hand — producing approximately 60 million pieces. The shredded files in 16,250 sack-loads ended up being confiscated by the unified German authorities and have been held in storage. Now the Frauenhofer Institute has developed software to re-construct the files. The files contain highly sensitive information on Stasi informants and victims and is believed to hold material on a large number of well-known individuals, especially West Germans. From the BBC- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6643855.stm and you can always check to see if the Stasi had a file on you at www.bstu.de where you can download the application form (and dude, it's in German) but perhaps you might want to wait a few years for when the Fraunhofer institute have finished the giant jigsaw puzzle.

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