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AI

Submission + - DARPA system to blend AI, machine learning to grasp mountain of text (networkworld.com)

Submitted by
coondoggie
coondoggie writes: "The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) will next this month detail the union of advanced technologies from artificial intelligence, computational linguistics, machine learning, natural-language fields it hopes to bring together to build an automated system that will let analysts and others better grasp meanings from large volumes of text documents."
Android

Submission + - A First: Hacked Sites With Android Drive-By Download Malware

Submitted by Krystalo
Krystalo writes: Cyber criminals often put drive-by download malware on websites they have hacked in order to quickly infect visitors’ PCs. For the first time though, hacked websites with Android drive-by download malware have been discovered. A new Trojan, called NotCompatible, appears to serve as a simple TCP relay while posing as a system update called named “Update.apk.” It does not currently seem to cause any direct harm to a target Android device, but could potentially be used to gain access to private networks by turning an infected smartphone into a proxy.
Security

Submission + - Symantec: More Malware on Religious Sites Than Porn Sites (esecurityplanet.com) 1

Submitted by
kongshem
kongshem writes: "According to Symantec's annual Internet Security Threat Report, religious and ideological websites have far more security threats per infected site than adult/pornographic sites. Why is that? Symantec's theory: "We hypothesize that this is because pornographic Web site owners already make money from the Internet and, as a result, have a vested interested in keeping their sites malware-free — it's not good for repeat business,""

Submission + - Technologies that might defeat SOPA/PIPA efforts b (mozilla.org)

Submitted by Kogun
Kogun writes: Although SOPA's DNS de-listing would be easily defeated by using offshore DNS sites, I am pondering what other methods of defeating SOPA/PIPA-type legislation might emerge when similar legislation is enacted in the US or other countries. My goal is to invite discussion and gain insight to such possibilities. It seems that an effective embodiment of such technology would hoist the MPAA, et al., on their own petard. In other words, what if it could be shown that several Hollywood movies secretly piggybacked copyright content not owned by the releasing studio but say, a rival studio? And what if the average PC owner could decode and see the piggybacked content? Could this be done, for instance, by embedding copyrighted payloads into the studio's content using steganography, delivered, say by a low-profile worms? What if, instead of a rival studio's work being piggybacked, it was copyright-able content owned by a white knight organization or some individuals and thus precluding out-of-court settlements that would nullify the effect of the intended legal chaos? What are the strengths and weakness of these scenarios and what other notions are out there that might have the same effect?

Submission + - WSJ: Patent troll trend "starting to accelerate" (wsj.com)

Submitted by
AdamnSelene
AdamnSelene writes: "The Wall Street Journal has an article profiling why partners in top patent law firms are leaving to start their own 'Non-Practicing Entities' (aka Patent Trolls). Apparently corporations are now approaching lawyers to sell of their patent portfolio in order to squeeze cash from their IP without the embarrassment of suing their own customers. One lawyer says that 'As patents develop from a nascent to a mature asset class, you're just going to see a whole different set of players enter this game. The curve is just starting to accelerate.'"

Feed Ars Technica: iBooks Author EULA restrictions invite antitrust concerns (arstechnica.com)

From feed by feedfeeder

Apple's end user license agreement for the iBooks Author app has generated extensive controversy among authors and publishers. Namely, the agreement restricts paid distribution of "works" created with the software to the iBookstore only. Technical limitations may make the restriction a moot point for the time being, as only Apple's own iBooks apps can even read the files generated by iBooks Author. But forcing users to sell content through the iBookstore, governed by a separate contract with its own terms, might not survive an antitrust challenge in court if it were to come up.

First, it's important to understand two aspects of iBooks Authorone technical, and one related to its license. The iBooks Author EULA has a stipulation that limits paid distribution of iBooks created with the software to the iBookstore. If you create something with iBooks Author and give it away, there are no limitationsput it on the Web anywhere you like. If you want to charge people money, you have to use the iBookstore and Apple gets a 30 percent cut.

Read the comments on this post



Transportation

Submission + - Zero-emissions Dearman Engine Runs on Liquid Air (gizmag.com) 1

Submitted by Zothecula
Zothecula writes: A new zero-emissions engine capable of competing commercially with hydrogen fuel cells and battery electric systems appeared on the radar yesterday when respected British engineering consultancy Ricardo validated Dearman engine technology and its commercial potential. The Dearman engine operates by injecting cryogenic (liquid) air into ambient heat inside the engine to produce high pressure gas that drives the engine — the exhaust emits cold air. It's cheaper to build than battery electric or fuel cell technology, with excellent energy density, fast refueling and no range anxiety.
Security

Submission + - Wasting Hackers' Time to Keep Websites Safe (technologyreview.com)

Submitted by wjousts
wjousts writes: A new security start-up, Mykonos Software, is pushing a new approach to handling hackers. Instead of blocking them, it proposes instead to waste their time by feeding them false information until they give up.

As reported in Technology Review:

As a promotional tool to impress potential clients, Mykonos engineers have built versions of the company's software that taunt attackers. One directs a hacker to a Google Maps search for nearby criminal attorneys. Another parodies Microsoft's now-defunct anthropomorphic paper clip, Clippy, with the message: "It looks like you're an unsophisticated script kiddie. Do you need help writing code?"

Their tactics include placing supercookies on suspected attackers computers.

There are few things hackers hate more than being taunted. So is this a valid strategy? Or is it waiving a red cloak at a bull?
Security

Submission + - Unique Web Malware Hosts Increase (net-security.org)

Submitted by Orome1
Orome1 writes: The Cisco 4Q11 Global Threat Report released today features data from across Cisco Security Intelligence Operations. The bad news is that an average of 20,141 unique Web malware hosts were encountered per month in 2011, compared to a monthly average of 14,217 in 2010, which is a 205 percent increase compared to 4Q10. The good news is that global spam volumes continued to decline throughout 2011.
Your Rights Online

Submission + - Why MegaUpload Was Really Shut Down (google.com)

Submitted by
David Gerard
David Gerard writes: "In December of 2011, just weeks before the takedown, Digital Music News reported on something new that the creators of Megaupload were about to unroll. Something that would rock the music industry to its core: MegaBox. MegaBox was going to be an alternative music store that was entirely cloud-based and offered artists a better money-making opportunity than they would get with any record label — "allowing artists to keep 90 percent of earnings.""

Comment Re:Indeed, and for a LONG TIME. (Score 1) 692

by Kogun (#37714286) Attached to: Apple's Siri As Revolutionary As the Mac?

"- Siri itself has been around for nearly two years. "

Indeed, I grabbed Siri for my iPhone 3G when it was announced that Apple was going to acquire Siri. I had used other voice recognition software in the past on my PC and Siri was initially pleasingly better than anything else I had used up to that point.

But, after about a month of futzing around with it, the limitations overcame the novelty. As someone else has mentioned, it is maddening when it doesn't work.

I also found it to be slow (but that is standard for everything on my iPhone, now). And speed really matters when it comes to querying a device, but only more so when using speech recognition; speed AND timing are important with voice recognition. You'd be surprised how many times you need to wait for background noise to diminish before issuing a command. If you have to wait an extra 2 seconds for Siri to get ready before you talk, then you have to wait for someone nearby to complete their sentence, or for a car to pass by, you find that you are just waiting when you could be using your fingers instead to query or command.

Over time, fingers become the default preferred interface and you forget about using Siri except in very specific situations (like driving). But even here, the Siri app doesn't provide "eye-free" use since it isn't converting the results to speech. You still have to eyeball the results, and once you eyes are on the screen, the temptation to touch rather than speak will be there.

Perhaps under 4S, Siri can overcome some of these problems, and I hope it does, but I am skeptical.

BTW, when I launch Siri now, it says, "I've been replaced! The new Siri is even smarter and better-looking than me, and waiting for you on the iPhone 4S. I'll be leaving for home Oct 15th. Until then...how can I help you?" I guess it is getting pulled from my phone tomorrow? I won't miss the version I have, but would have liked to have been upgraded to some flavor of the new version, rather than having it yanked.

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