Comment Re:Can you blame them? (Score 3, Insightful) 220
As a matter of fact, I bet they would. They'd probably try to market it for the shock factor and make millions!
Comment Re:Or the reverse (Score 1) 899
There's a big difference between outing records of consumer complaints or public donation information and posting private information relating to a large group of people. There is no gain to be had aside from fear and a lot of problems for a lot of people.
It's not like when you 'Out' these businesses etc you're posting personal addresses of the people who complained along with the personal information of everyone who works there either.
Submission + - First Cases of 'Incurable Gonorrhea' Emerge in Public Health Nightmare
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "Jason Koebler reports that the fear of major health organizations is coming true with the detection of 'incurable gonorrhea,' immune to the last remaining effective oral antibiotic in at least nine North American patients. Scientists have found that 6.7 percent of patients with gonorrhea at a Toronto clinic still had the disease after a round of cephalosporins, the last effective oral antibiotic used to treat the disease. This is the first time cephalosporin-resistant gonorrhea has been found in humans in North America. "These are the clinical cases we've been waiting for," says Vanessa Allen of Public Health Ontario. "This is the translation of the lab information into what the clinical consequence is." Gonorrhea is estimated to infect close to 700,000 Americans each year with symptoms including painful urination, abdominal pain, genital discharge, itching, and infertility in women. Less than a year ago, Gail Bolan, director of the CDC's sexually transmitted disease prevention program, wrote that the "threat of untreatable gonorrhea is emerging rapidly." At the time, just 1.7 percent of gonorrhea isolated in the lab were considered resistant to cephalosporins. Allen says her study shows just how fast antibiotic resistance is evolving in the organisms. "Our results aren't generalizable to the overall population because they all came from one clinic," concludes Allen. "But basically, the problem appears worse than we originally thought.""
Submission + - nanostructured semiconductor alloy crystals heat to be manipulated like light (eurekalert.org)
An anonymous reader writes: A new technique allows allows thermocrystals to be created that can manipulate heat (a vibration of the atomic lattice of a material). Predicted manipulations include the ability to selectively transmit / reflect or concentrate heat much like light waves can be manipulated by lenses and mirrors. Applications range from better thermoelectric devices to switchable heat insulating/transmitting materials etc. Perhaps this will result in better cooling/heating mechanisms or more efficient engines.
Submission + - Fireflies Bring Us Brighter LEDs (gizmag.com)
Zothecula writes: Fireflies have helped an international team of scientists get over 50 percent more light out of existing LED bulbs. It was discovered that in the Photuris genus of firefly, scales in the insect's exoskeleton possess optical qualities that boost the amount of bioluminescence that can shine through. Those same qualities were found to dramatically increase the light output of an LED bulb.
Submission + - Japanese cops cuff cat carrying remote control virus (theregister.co.uk)
iComp writes: "An anonymous cyber villain has led Japanese police on a merry dance over the past few months, culminating in the capture on Monday of a cat said to be carrying a computer virus on a memory card attached to its collar.
Detectives with the country’s National Police Agency (NPA) nabbed the creature on an island near Tokyo after a bizarre treasure hunt was sparked on New Year’s Day when media outlets received an email offering them the “chance for a big scoop”, AFP reported.
The emails contained a set of riddles designed to lead the recipients to the memory card – although police initially went on a wild goose chase up a mountainside before a further message apparently clarified the location of the pesky feline.
The virus in question is said to be iesys.exe, dubbed the “Remote Control Virus”, which, as the name suggests, is capable of controlling a compromised computer from a remote location, according to Symantec."
Detectives with the country’s National Police Agency (NPA) nabbed the creature on an island near Tokyo after a bizarre treasure hunt was sparked on New Year’s Day when media outlets received an email offering them the “chance for a big scoop”, AFP reported.
The emails contained a set of riddles designed to lead the recipients to the memory card – although police initially went on a wild goose chase up a mountainside before a further message apparently clarified the location of the pesky feline.
The virus in question is said to be iesys.exe, dubbed the “Remote Control Virus”, which, as the name suggests, is capable of controlling a compromised computer from a remote location, according to Symantec."
Comment Re:Huh?? (Score 1) 227
Heck not even just the office scanners, most all-in-one printers that you can get for your house now do this as well.
At this point it's such a generalized feature, that they're basically just targeting the general consumer at this point.
Submission + - Amazon Data Center Outage Takes Out Netflix & Others (gigaom.com)
bill_mcgonigle writes: "Many families sat down this evening to watch a Christmas Eve tale on their favorite streaming service to find a Grinch in their cloud computing service as both Netflix and Amazon Video services were unavailable (with error messages saying that their Internet connection was bad). It turns out that Amazon's East Coast data center is having yet another outage, causing a loss of service on several platforms. Other AWS-based sites are affected as well."
Submission + - Dueling Santa Trackers 1
R3d M3rcury writes: As Santa delivers toys to good little boys and girls, the North American Air Defense Network tracks him with a combination of "radar, satellites, Santa Cams and fighter jets."
Meanwhile, Google is working Santa's Developer Elves to get a preview of Santa Tracker.
Of course, neither of them agree as to where he is.
So, who do you believe?
Meanwhile, Google is working Santa's Developer Elves to get a preview of Santa Tracker.
Of course, neither of them agree as to where he is.
So, who do you believe?
Submission + - Samsung Retaliates Against Ericsson With Patent Complaint (fosspatents.com) 1
An anonymous reader writes: The wireless patent wars don't pause at Christmas time, keeping numerous IP lawyers (and a certain litigation watcher) busy even at this time of year. No one seriously expected Samsung to turn the other cheek when Ericsson sued it and requested a U.S. import ban against a host of Galaxy devices. The Korean electronics giant, which is increasingly competing with Ericsson in the telecoms infrastructure market, just filed an ITC complaint of its own. The title of the complaint is Certain Wireless Communication Equipment and Articles Therein. That description would apply to dozens, no: hundreds, of patent lawsuits in the world. The complaint has not been published yet, but it would be out of character for Samsung not to assert some of its patents on wireless industry standards (and maybe some others, too).
Submission + - Choose your geolocation wisely, shopper. (wsj.com)
alphatel writes: Plan on buying Milton that Swingline Stapler he always wanted? Better be sure you're not right next to Initech's office where Staples.com will mark up your price 10% or higher over someone working at Initrode.
A Wall Street Journal investigation found that the Staples Inc. website displays different prices to people after estimating their locations. More than that, Staples appeared to consider the person's distance from a rival brick-and-mortar store, either OfficeMax or Office Depot. If rival stores were within 20 miles or so, Staples.com usually showed a discounted price.
The Journal identified several companies, including Staples, Discover, Rosetta Stone, and Home Depot that were consistently adjusting prices and displaying different product offers based on a range of characteristics that could be discovered about the user.
A Wall Street Journal investigation found that the Staples Inc. website displays different prices to people after estimating their locations. More than that, Staples appeared to consider the person's distance from a rival brick-and-mortar store, either OfficeMax or Office Depot. If rival stores were within 20 miles or so, Staples.com usually showed a discounted price.
The Journal identified several companies, including Staples, Discover, Rosetta Stone, and Home Depot that were consistently adjusting prices and displaying different product offers based on a range of characteristics that could be discovered about the user.
Submission + - Windows 8 sales match it's reviews (cnbc.com)
Mattygfunk1 writes: "CNBC reports PC sales are down after the release of Windows 8. Emmanuel Fromont, president of the Americas division of Acer, the world’s No. 4 PC maker, said sales of the company’s Windows 8 PCs had been lower than expected. He said one factor was the system’s unfamiliar design, which appeared to be making consumers cautious.
“There was not a huge spark in the market,” Mr. Fromont said. “It’s a slow start, there’s no question.”"
“There was not a huge spark in the market,” Mr. Fromont said. “It’s a slow start, there’s no question.”"
Submission + - Peel-and-stick solar cells created at Stanford University (gizmag.com) 1
cylonlover writes: Traditionally, thin-film solar cells are made with rigid glass substrates, limiting their potential applications. Flexible versions do exist, although they require special production techniques and/or materials. Now, however, scientists from Stanford University have created thin, flexible solar cells that are made from standard materials – and they can applied to just about any surface, like a sticker. The cells have been successfully applied to a variety of both flat and curved surfaces – including glass, plastic and paper – without any loss of efficiency.
Not only does the new process allow for solar cells to applied to things like mobile devices, helmets, dashboards or windows, but the stickers are reportedly both lighter and less costly to make than equivalent-sized traditional photovoltaic panels. There’s also no waste involved, as the silicon/silicon dioxide wafers can be reused.
Not only does the new process allow for solar cells to applied to things like mobile devices, helmets, dashboards or windows, but the stickers are reportedly both lighter and less costly to make than equivalent-sized traditional photovoltaic panels. There’s also no waste involved, as the silicon/silicon dioxide wafers can be reused.
Submission + - How do YOU establish a secure computing environment? 3
sneakyimp writes: We've seen increasingly creative ways for bad guys to compromise your system like infected pen drives, computers preloaded with malware, mobile phone apps with malware, and a $300 app that can sniff out your encryption keys.
On top of these obvious risks, there are lingering questions about the integrity of common operating systems and cloud computing services. Do Windows, OSX, and linux have security holes? Does Windows supply a backdoor for the U.S. or other governments? Should you really trust your linux multiverse repository? Do Google and Apple data mine your private mobile phone data for private information? Does Ubuntu's sharing of my data with Amazon compromise my privacy? Can the U.S. Government seize your cloud data without a warrant? Can McAfee or Kaspersky really be trusted?
Naturally, the question arises of how to establish and maintain an ironclad workstation or laptop for the purpose of handling sensitive information or doing security research. DARPA has approached the problem by awarding a $21.4M contract to Invincea to create a secure version of Android. What should we do if we don't have $21.4M USD? Is it safe to buy a PC from any manufacturer? Is it even safe to buy individual computer components and assemble one's own machine? Or might the MOBO firmware be compromised?
What steps can one take to insure a truly secure computing environment? Is this even possible? Can anyone recommend a through checklist or suggest best practices?
On top of these obvious risks, there are lingering questions about the integrity of common operating systems and cloud computing services. Do Windows, OSX, and linux have security holes? Does Windows supply a backdoor for the U.S. or other governments? Should you really trust your linux multiverse repository? Do Google and Apple data mine your private mobile phone data for private information? Does Ubuntu's sharing of my data with Amazon compromise my privacy? Can the U.S. Government seize your cloud data without a warrant? Can McAfee or Kaspersky really be trusted?
Naturally, the question arises of how to establish and maintain an ironclad workstation or laptop for the purpose of handling sensitive information or doing security research. DARPA has approached the problem by awarding a $21.4M contract to Invincea to create a secure version of Android. What should we do if we don't have $21.4M USD? Is it safe to buy a PC from any manufacturer? Is it even safe to buy individual computer components and assemble one's own machine? Or might the MOBO firmware be compromised?
What steps can one take to insure a truly secure computing environment? Is this even possible? Can anyone recommend a through checklist or suggest best practices?
Submission + - Vulnerabilities in Java and Adobe to Become Main Targets (net-security.org)
An anonymous reader writes: Software vulnerabilities will be the main target of cyber-criminals next year. In 2012, Java, which is installed on hundreds of millions of devices, was repeatedly compromised and used to actively infect millions of users. Adobe, given the popularity of its applications (Acrobat Reader, Flash, etc.) and its multiple security flaws, was also one of the favorite tools for massively infecting users as well as for targeted attacks.
