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Submission + - Viewpoint: V for Vendetta and the rise of Anonymous (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by tmcb
tmcb writes: On Saturday protests are planned across the world against Acta — the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. The treaty has become the focus of activists associated with the Anonymous hacking network because of concerns that it could undermine internet privacy and aid censorship. First published in 1982, the comic series V for Vendetta charted a masked vigilante's attempt to bring down a fascist British government and its complicit media. Many of the demonstrators are expected to wear masks based on the book's central character. Ahead of the protests, the BBC asked V for Vendetta's writer, Alan Moore, for his thoughts on how his creation had become an inspiration and identity to Anonymous.
Security

Submission + - 1903: Marconi hacked (newscientist.com)

Submitted by nbauman
nbauman writes: In June 1903, Gugliemo Marconi and his partner Ambrose Flemming were about to give the first demonstration of long-range wireless communication at the Royal Institution in London, which, Marconi said, could be sent in complete confidentiality with no fear of the messages being hijacked. Suddenly, the silence was broken by a huge mysterious wireless pulse strong enough to take over the carbon-arc projector and make it sputter messages in morse code. First, it repeated the word "Rats" over and over again (abusive at that time). Then it tapped out, "There was a young fellow of Italy, who diddled the public quite prettily." Further rude epithets followed. It was Nevil Maskelyne, a stage musician and inventor who was annoyed because Marconi's patents prevented him from using wireless. It was the first hacking, to demonstrate an insecure system.
Software

Submission + - Top Software Failures of 2011 (net-security.org)

Submitted by Orome1
Orome1 writes: SQS compiled a list of the worst software failures of 2011 that have damaged reputations, impacted negatively on financials and caused stress to users. The list shows that software failures are costing companies and consumers large amounts of money. What is worse is that people are losing jobs and in some cases their liberty because of avoidable software failures. This year’s software bugs survey is based on major software failures of the past twelve months, from glitches that generated massive fines in the banking and finance sector to mass recalls of faulty vehicles.
Android

Submission + - Android ranked most 'closed' open source OS (bgr.com)

Submitted by zacharye
zacharye writes: A new report has ranked Google’s Android operating system the most “closed” open source platform among eight major open source projects. VisionMobile on Monday published The Open Governance Index, a deep look at the relative openness of Android, Qt, Symbian, MeeGo, Mozilla, WebKit, Linux and Eclipse. Going beyond licensing models and using governance as a core metric, the firm determined that Qt is the most open open source platform with an Open Governance Index of 58% while Google’s Android was the most closed open source platform analyzed in its report...
Science

Submission + - In Search for Higgs Boson, Physicists Report a Def (sciencemag.org)

Submitted by sciencehabit
sciencehabit writes: Like all good rumors, whispers that the long-sought Higgs boson has been spotted turn out to be half true. Today, two teams of physicists working with the world's biggest atom-smasher—the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the European particle physics laboratory, CERN—reported the latest results in their search for the Higgs, the fundamental particle that is key to physicists' explanation of how all particles get their mass. Just as the rumors suggested, both teams report tantalizing signs that the Higgs is there and that it has a mass about 133 times that of the proton. But one team sees additional oddities, so the results haven't bowled everyone over.
Government

Submission + - House Panel To Move Forward On Piracy Bill (itworld.com) 1

Submitted by
itwbennett
itwbennett writes: "The House Judiciary Committee has scheduled a debate and vote on the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) for later this week. Representative Lamar Smith, the committee chairman and main sponsor of the bill, will offer an amendment that is meant to address some concerns with the bill. Smith's proposed amendment would clarify that the bill applies only to foreign websites, not U.S. sites, accused of aiding copyright infringement. The amendment takes away language requiring Internet service providers, search engines and other services to redirect Web users who try to access a foreign site accused of infringing copyright."
HP

Submission + - HP Delays WebOS Decision (itworld.com)

Submitted by
itwbennett
itwbennett writes: "Following Tuesday's report that HP is looking to sell WebOS, CEO Meg Whitman and HP employees gathered for a late-afternoon meeting. According to The Verge, Whitman told those gathered at the meeting 'It's really important to me to make the right decision, not the fast decision,' adding that a decision would come in the next three to four weeks."
Technology

Submission + - ARM Cortex-A7 and big.LITTLE unveiled (geek.com) 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: ARM has unveiled its replacement for the Cortex-A8 mobile chip which so many of us rely on to power our smartphones. The Cortex-A7 will offer up a five-fold gain in power efficiency while being 5x smaller than the A8. It will measure less than 0.5mm squared.

The bigger news, however, is the introduction of big.LITTLE processing, which will see the A7 combined with the high-performance Cortex-A15. In a setup similar to how Nvidia's Optimus works, ARM will switch between the two processing cores depending on what your phone or tablet is trying to do. The OS will be run on the A7, but playing games, watching video, or loading up a web browser will be handled by the faster A15. The end user won't notice the swicth as it happens in no more than 20 microseconds.

Expect to see the A7 and big.LITTLE processor packages appearing in 2015. Several chip manufacturers have already licensed the parts including Braodcom and TI.

Submission + - Ever smarter phones to topple laptops? (techreport.com) 1

Submitted by AnInkle
AnInkle writes: Although laptop sales exceeded desktops over a year ago, a VP of Gigabyte, the number three motherboard manufacturer, asserted that laptops will be toppled by "smart" handheld devices before long. As smartphones and slate devices become the mobile computing device of choice, Henry Kao believes desktop demand will increase again to serve peoples' storage needs. Wishful thinking from a major desktop motherboard manufactuer?

Submission + - "Highly Confidential" Google docs say - Do Evil

Submitted by pcause
pcause writes: The latest documents released by Viacom show that Google knew that Youtube was "completely sustained by pirated content" before Google bought it. Of course, the docs that say this were labeled "highly confidential". I am sure that Google will say this is all old stuff, taken out of context and that they didn't have sex with that woman, Ms, Lewinsky. Sure.
Privacy

Submission + - DOJ Demands warrantless email access. (cnet.com) 1

Submitted by chfriley
chfriley writes: CNET reports that Google, EFF, CDT, and other groups have joined Yahoo in defending against a U.S. Department of Justice demand for warrantless access to email messages. The DOJ contends in a 17 page brief that while 'federal law requires search warrants for messages in "electronic storage" that are less than 181 days old, the Yahoo Mail messages don't meet that definition. 'Previously opened e-mail is not in 'electronic storage.''' And it further states that "This court should therefore require Yahoo to comply with the order and produce the specified communications in the targeted accounts."

The EFF has a statement, here, http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2010/04/13.
Idle

Submission + - Man from the future arrested at LHC (cnet.co.uk) 1

Submitted by Critical Facilities
Critical Facilities writes: A man named Eloi Cole was discovered by CERN Security as he was rummaging through garbage bins at the LHC apparently looking for his "time machine power unit". According to the article, Cole claims to be from the future where "the discovery of the Higgs boson led to limitless power, the elimination of poverty and Kit-Kats for everyone.". I've always been more of a Twix man myself, but I could adjust to a world full of Kit-Kats.
Security

Submission + - Smartphone Security - 50% of devices unprotected, (sophos.com)

Submitted by xsee
xsee writes: In a recent Sophos survey more than 50% of respondents said their mobile devices are either unencrypted, or they are not sure. How safe is it to carry corporate content in our pockets with no guarantee of its security?

Submission + - Nvidia Component Boosts ATI CrossFire Performance? (tomshardware.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: When Does 16/2=32? Several motherboards use Nvidia's PCIe bridge to increase the number of graphics cards supported by Intel's P55 (LGA-1156) platform. Tom's Hardware tests this solution using ATI graphics cards, with surprising results! You'll want to show this to all your PC gaming friends.

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