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The Internet

Submission + - New Tool Finds Illicit Files in BitTorrent Traffic (technologyreview.com)

Submitted by eldavojohn
eldavojohn writes: MIT's Technology Review is covering a a tool that sniffs out illegal traffic on BitTorrent. One of the creators claims it is completely passive, inexpensive, specialized and will not slow down network traffic at all. From the article, "It works, he says, by first spotting files that bare the hallmark of the BitTorrent protocol by examining the first 32 bits of the files' header data. Then the system looks at the files' hash, a unique identifying code used to coordinate the simultaneous download of hundreds of file fragments by different users. If a hash matches any stored in a database of prohibited hashes, then the system will make a record of the transfer and store the network addresses involved." They are marketing a device that consists of a FPGA with flash memory storing the traffic logs to avoid incurring any delay on network traffic. It can only handle 100 megabit per second data flow so it's not ready yet for law enforcement or ISPs and more tests must be run to figure out how many false positives it registers. It also does not work on encrypted files.
Government

Submission + - Warnings Issued Over UK's Surveillance Techniques

Submitted by nandemoari
nandemoari writes: According to a recent report from the British House of Lords, Closed Circuit TV (CCTV) cameras and the UK's DNA database — purported to be the "largest in the world" — are two examples of "pervasive" threats to privacy in British society, and may even threaten to undermine democracy. report warns that pervasive and routine electronic surveillance and the collection and processing of personal information is almost taken for granted.
Music

Submission + - EU Music Copyright Increased from 50 to 95 Years (europa.eu)

Submitted by eldavojohn
eldavojohn writes: Despite Britain's rejection of the proposal in 2007, The European Parliament has issued a statement saying length of music copyright will be extended to 95 years in the EU. MusicWeek has some more details of what's been leading up to this. They are also looking into making a similar adjustment to the audiovisual copyright laws.
Medicine

Submission + - Gene Therapy Cures Fatal Bubble Boy Disease (singularityhub.com)

Submitted by pdragon04
pdragon04 writes: "Gene therapy marked another successful milestone last week when it was used to completely cure eight of 10 children who had potentially fatal "bubble boy disease," according to a study that followed their progress for an average of four years after treatment. Formally known as severe combined immunodeficiency, or SCID, the genetic disease causes its carriers to develop non-functional immune systems, typically resulting in death from infection within the first year of life without advanced treatment."

Comment Re:The school owns it. (Score 1) 931

by reddburn (#26632267) Attached to: A Teacher Asking Students To Destroy Notes?
No. At most schools, they own the patents you produce using their facilities (hence the reason it's called a patent agreement), much like workplaces. If you can't patent it, they can't take it. My articles, my papers, they are mine.

Besides, I'm somewhat skeptical of the OP's premise - who keeps their notes handwritten? My handwriting's so godawful bad I've been transcribing notes since my sophomore year (I'm at the end of a Ph.D. program now).

Comment Re:I don't get the "50% reduction in failures" (Score 1, Insightful) 317

by reddburn (#26436657) Attached to: MIT Moves Away From Massive Lecture Halls

PROTIP: Education is not a consumer-oriented service industry. You have as much a responsibility as faculty to facilitate your own learning. Part of college is learning how to learn. Most schools offer free tutoring services, and their centers have well trained staff.

Large research universities are not there to educate, but rather to produce knowledge. Even at state schools, tenured faculty have a greater responsibility to research than to teaching. Want proof? Look at budgets. Less than 10% of salaries in Engineering, Math, and Natural Sciences colleges come from tuition or state funding. The rest comes from grants - private corporations who expect research and care nothing for your pass/fail ratio.

To take your first clause: If I'm receiving $2.5 million for my current project from Bayer, and $50 from you, I expect you to shut up and try your best to learn in the three hours a week we're in class, or failing that, to show up at office hours, because I'm spending the rest of my time earning my paycheck.

Comment Re:The best educations often don't come fro the bi (Score 5, Insightful) 317

by reddburn (#26436213) Attached to: MIT Moves Away From Massive Lecture Halls
If one happens to be a self-directed learner, then the research U's ARE the place to be, with far better resources available to students. I went to a SLAC as an undergraduate, then to Giant Research University for grad school, and I can promise you that I'd have given anything to have the resources of GRU as an undergrad.

Comment Re:Hold the phones! (Score 2, Informative) 141

by reddburn (#26184793) Attached to: RIAA Claim of Stopping Suits "Months" Ago Is False

It looks like the current members are EMI, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group. That is not a long list. I wonder why news sources can't list them. It would seriously help put responsibility where it should be.

They can't list them because that's not the whole story. Sony BMG is the parent company of dozens of labels, including Columbia Records, Loud, Epic, Ruthless, RCA Music Group, Arista Records, J Records, and many more, not to mention that they act as distributor for 18 "independent" labels.

Comment Re:What a fucking stupid idea! (Score 2, Informative) 540

by reddburn (#26155835) Attached to: New Font Uses Holes To Cut Ink Use

That's fair, but only as long as professors are required to take every assignment in a digital form. The moment there's a class that requires a printed copy of a report, that printing better be included with the price for taking the class.

Under "Required Materials" on my syllabus, I always put "a few dollars for printing/copying."
Security

Submission + - IP Based Security Camera Systems for Schools

Submitted by zof888
zof888 writes: I work at an Elementary / Middle School district IT department, where we recently had a case of an individual walking on to a school campus and molesting children. So this brings up the immediate issue of security, even before this we were looking into buying cameras to help combat vandalism during the night, but it had always been a low priority until now. So my questions are what IP camera systems are out there that you have had good or bad experiences, what cameras will capture faces in low light environments, capture license plate numbers 30-40 yards away in day light, will give us a way to centrally manage 20+ sites (yes we have high speed fiber) and still be cost effective on the budget and even give us a way to roll it out in phases as we get the money.
Quickies

Submission + - Scientists Discover New Link in Ocean Currents (cnn.com)

Submitted by an.echte.trilingue
an.echte.trilingue writes: CNN is running a story about the discovery of one of the last ocean currents near Tasmania. From the article:

New research shows that a current sweeping past Australia's southern island of Tasmania toward the South Atlantic is a previously undetected part of the world climate system's engine-room, said scientist Ken Ridgway.

The Southern Ocean, which swirls around Antarctica, has been identified in recent years as the main lung of global climate, absorbing a third of all carbon dioxide taken in by the world's oceans.

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