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IT

Submission + - Cisco Exits The Consumer Market, Sells Linksys To Belkin

Submitted by Krystalo
Krystalo writes: Belkin on Thursday announced plans to acquire Cisco’s Home Networking Business Unit, including its products, technology, employees, and even the well-known Linksys brand. Belkin says it plans to maintain the Linksys brand and will offer support for Linksys products as part of the transaction, financial details for which were not disclosed. This should be a relatively smooth transition that won’t affect current customers: Belkin says it will honor all valid warranties for current and future Linksys products. After the transaction closes, Belkin will account for approximately 30 percent of the US retail home and small business networking market.
Mars

Submission + - Mars Rover is 10 years old (msn.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: NASA's Opportunity rover landed on Mars the night of Jan. 24, 2004 PST (just after midnight EST on Jan. 25), three weeks after its twin, Spirit, touched down. Spirit stopped operating in 2010, but Opportunity is still going strong, helping scientists better understand the Red Planet's wetter, warmer past.

Submission + - Barracuda Gear Rooted - By Barracuda (theregister.co.uk)

Submitted by bobdehnhardt
bobdehnhardt writes: The Reg reports: Multiple Barracuda Networks products feature an undocumented backdoor, leaving widely deployed network and data center gear vulnerable to hijacking. Privileged user accounts were found in various Barracuda appliances, including its flagship Spam and Virus Firewall, Web Application Firewall, Web Filter, SSL VPN, and other gear. The accounts, which Barracuda claims are necessary for remote customer support, cannot be disabled, are hard-wired into the equipment's operating system, and can be assessed remotely via SSH or the local terminal.
Microsoft

Submission + - Privacy advocates demand some transparency from Skype already (infoworld.com)

Submitted by
tsamsoniw
tsamsoniw writes: "Dozens of privacy advocates, Internet activists, and journalist have issued an open letter to Skype and Microsoft, calling on the companies to finally get around to being clear and transparent as to who has access to Skype user data and how that data is secured. "Since Skype was acquired by Microsoft, both entities have refused to answer questions about exactly what kinds of user data can be intercepted, what user data is retained, or whether eavesdropping on Skype conversations may take place," reads the letter, signed by such groups as the Digital Rights Foundation and the Electronic Frontier Foundation."

Submission + - Trojanized SSH daemon in the wild (eset.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: It is no secret the SSH binaries can be backdoored. It is nonetheless interesting to see analysis of real cases where trojanized version of the daemon are found in the wild. In this case, the binary not only lets the attacker log onto the server if he has a hardcoded password, the attacker is also granted access if he/she has the right SSH key. The backdoor also logs all username and passwords to exfiltrate them to a server hosted in Iceland.

Submission + - Computer-Designed Enzymes may provide help for Celiac Disease (acs.org) 2

Submitted by tbg58
tbg58 writes: An article in the Journal of the American Chemical Society describes how researchers used computers to modify the structure of a naturally-existing enzyme to target the immunogenic peptide implicated in celiac disease.

"The application of computational protein design tools has been demonstrated to introduce functional properties beyond those obtained by natural evolution, such as producing enzymes that perform functions not found in nature, altered specificity of proteins for their binding partners, and the de novo design of fold topologies"

Researchers report the use of computational protein design to engineer an endopeptidase with the desired traits for an oral enzyme therapy (OET) for celiac disease which not only targets the desired peptide, but is also resistant to digestive proteases and the acidic environment of the digestive system.

Submission + - California's Surreal Retroactive Tax on Tech Startup Investors (xconomy.com)

Submitted by
waderoush
waderoush writes: "Engineers and hackers don't think much about tax policy, but there's a bizarre development in California that they should know about, since it could reduce the pool of angel-investment money available for tech startups. Under a tax break available since the 1990s, startup founders and other investors in California were allowed to exclude or defer their gains when they sold stock in California-based small businesses. Last year, a California appeals court ruled that the tax break was unconstitutional, since it discriminated against investors in out-of-state companies. Now the Franchise Tax Board, California’s version of the IRS, has issued a notice saying how it intends to implement the ruling — and it’s a doozie. Not only is the tax break gone, but anyone who claimed an exclusion or deferral on the sale of small-business stock since 2008 is about to get a big retroactive tax bill. Investors, entrepreneurs, and even the plaintiffs in the original lawsuit are up in arms about the FTB’s notice, saying that it goes beyond the court’s intent and that it will drive investors out of the state. This Xconomy article takes an in-depth look at the history of the court case, the FTB’s ruling, and the reaction in the technology and investing communities."

Comment Re:Who cares? (Score 1) 441

by bobdehnhardt (#42683227) Attached to: My cumulative GPA, thus far:

I'll second this. GPA has significance while you're in school, and perhaps when you are going for your first job after graduating. After that, your job performance and work experience are all anyone really looks at.
Apple

Submission + - Tablets To Outsell Laptops In 2013 - That Was Fast! (singularityhub.com)

Submitted by
kkleiner
kkleiner writes: "After a few early-2000s misadventures in Microsoft tablet PCs — the tablet was effectively re-introduced by Apple’s iPad in early 2010. And just two years on, global tablet sales are projected to overtake laptop sales. That was fast! And while that mark may be impressive, it’s worth noting it was already breached in North America and China in 2012!"
Censorship

Submission + - Pakistan Boycotting Call of Duty Medal of Honor Games (telegraph.co.uk)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: As first-person shooters have evolved, they've transitioned from using Nazis as the bad guys to more modern organizations, such as the Taliban. Two recent games, Call of Duty: Black Ops II and Medal of Honor: Warfighter have both shown the country of Pakistan in a very negative light, and now shopkeepers in the country are beginning to boycott the games. 'Saleem Memon, president of the All Pakistan CD, DVD, Audio Casette Traders and Manufacturers Association, said he had written to members ordering them not to stock the controversial games after receiving dozens of complaints. ... The latest installment of the Medal of Honor series opens with American Navy Seals coming ashore in Karachi docks on a mission to destroy a black market arms shipment. But when their detonation sets off a second, bigger explosion they realise they have stumbled on a much bigger terrorist plot, sparking a global manhunt. A chaotic car chase through the city follows amid warnings that the ISI — Pakistan's intelligence agency — is on the way. Mr Memon added there was a danger children would be brainwashed into thinking foreign agents were at war inside Karachi, possibly leading them into the arms of militants. "These games show a misleading idea of what is happening in the city. You don't get the CIA all the way through Grand Theft Auto," he said.
Ubuntu

Submission + - Canonical could switch to rolling releases for Ubuntu 14.04 and beyond (extremetech.com)

Submitted by massivepanic
massivepanic writes: For the longest time Canonical has slapped an LTS (“long term support”) moniker on some of their Ubuntu releases. Currently, a new major release of the operating system happens every six months, and is supported for 18 months after release. Whereas in the past when LTS versions received two years support or more, the current model — starting with 12.04 — supports new LTS releases for five years. However, a recent public Google Hangouts session revealed that Canonical has been thinking about switching from the venerable LTS model to a rolling release, starting with version 14.04.
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft may invest $1B-$3B in Dell buyout (cnet.com)

Submitted by alexander_686
alexander_686 writes: We have talked about Michele Dell In Buyout Talks With Private-Equity Firms

Now the Talk is that Microsoft may invest 1 to 3 billion. I personally doubt Microsoft is going for majority ownership but it would be a significant stake. Dell is worth around 22b to 25b. Speculation is that investors would put up 5 to 7b in equity, borrowing the rest. You can do the math to determine the ownership percentage. As a point of reference, Michele Dell’s stock is worth 3.6b

We know about Microsoft’s relationship with Nokia – both in terms of ownership, swap of key personal, and the Window’s phone. Is this a repeat?
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft in talks to help finance Dell buyout (nbcnews.com)

Submitted by
walterbyrd
walterbyrd writes: "Microsoft is in talks with Silver Lake Partners and Dell's CEO Michael Dell to invest $1 billion to $3 billion in a leveraged buyout of the PC maker, sources close to the matter told CNBC Tuesday.

For those who may not remember Silver Lake Partners:

Small World Dept.-- SCO and MS
Friday, August 29 2003 @ 04:00 PM EDT
http://www.groklaw.net/articlebasic.php?story=274"

Submission + - IT salaries are on the rise - especially in Pittsburgh, San Diego, and St. Louis (infoworld.com)

Submitted by
tsamsoniw
tsamsoniw writes: "Silicon Valley remains home to the highest-paid IT professionals in the nation with average salaries over $100,000 — but employers in cities such as Pittsburgh, San Diego, and St. Louis are paying techies as much as 18% more than they were a year ago, according to recent salary data from Dice. What's more, IT pros with Big Data skills are out-earning those focused on mobile and cloud computing."
Role Playing (Games)

Submission + - WotC releases old Dungeons and Dragons catalog as PDFs (wired.com)

Submitted by
jjohn
jjohn writes: "Wizards of the Coasts, holders of the TSR catalog, has released rulebooks and modules for most editions of Dungeons and Dragons through a partnership with DriveThruRPG.com. The web site, dndclassics.com, may be a little overloaded right now. Most module PDFs are $4.99 USD."

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