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The Courts

Principal Cancels Classes, Sues Over MySpace Prank 520

Posted by Zonk from the we've-all-got-priorities dept.
Earnest writes "A prank MySpace page has led to a barrage of lawsuits and the misuse of school resources as the principal targeted by the pranksters attempted to find the perpetrators. In 2005, students at Hickory High School in Pennsylvania created a fake MySpace profile of principal Eric Trosch. As a result, the school's IT staff spent about 25 percent of his work time dealing with the issue and finding the culprits. That's not all. 'Trosch kept at it, even taking measures that led to the "cancellation of computer programming classes as well as usage of computers for research for class projects." Now the basic educational mission of the school was being compromised in order to keep students from visiting these profiles during school hours (students were still free to look at the profiles from home, of course).'"
The Gimp

Submission + - Is This The End Of The Koala?

Submitted by zentropa
zentropa writes: So, Is This The End Of The Koala? Australian magazine Cosmos reports
that extreme drought, ferocious bushfires and expanding urban development are exacting a heavy toll Australia's koalas and might push the species towards extinction in the wild within a decade. Could this be the end of the cuccly Australian icon, they ask.
Biotech

Submission + - Diabetics cured by stem-cell treatment

Submitted by gbridge
gbridge writes: The Times is reporting that diabetics have been able to stop taking insulin injections after being given drugs to suppress their immune systems, and having transfusions of stem cells drawn from their own blood. The trial on fifteen patients resulted in all but two volunteers not needing insulin injections some time after treatment; eleven immediately following the infusion of stem cells, two 12 and 20 months after the procedure. One patient went 12 months without shots, but relapsed a year after treatment after suffering a viral infection, and another volunteer was eliminated from the study because of complications. Encouraging results but more trials are clearly required, with London perhaps conducting research into the therapy within the next 12 months if funding can be found.
Security

FTC Threatens Spyware Distributors With Prison 126

Posted by Zonk from the truth-to-the-situation dept.
Federal regulator Mark Pryor, in a Senate Commerce Committee hearing, has stated that spyware distributors should face harsher penalties than fees. His solution: imprisonment. "Federal Trade Commissioner William Kovacic said most wrongdoers in the spyware arena 'can only be described as vicious organized criminals. Many of most serious wrongdoers we observed in this area, I believe, are only going to be deterred if their freedom is withdrawn,' so it's important for the FTC to collaborate on its cases with criminal law enforcement authorities, Kovacic said."
United States

Submission + - New Web Site in Support of California AB 1668

Submitted by
sysmanman
sysmanman writes: "In light of recent efforts by Microsoft to lobby against AB 1668, a web site has been launched in support of the bill at bytesfree.org. Note that there will be a hearing before the Committee on Jobs, Economic Development and the Economy on April 17, so time is of the essence for California residents."
Hardware Hacking

Submission + - Xbox 360 HD DVD Hacked even for Revoked licences

Submitted by Umuri
Umuri writes: As mentioned in an article at engadget, the XBox 360 player has been compromised and now can play HD DVDs without authenticating with AACS, allowing even revoked licenses to be played. Backup your movies, format shift them, whatever. Defective by design doesn't even quite cover the failure of the model, or the success of the groups who made this possible.
The Internet

Submission + - Verizon FiOS requires Windows?

Submitted by DarthWilber
DarthWilber writes: Verizon FiOS is recently available in my area and I have been inundated with letters and phone calls from Verizon attempting to get me to sign up. The last call I received ended the spiel with "... If you meet the system requirements." When I asked what the requirements were, they asked if I was running Windows or Macintosh. I said I was running Linux. They said it won't work with Linux. When I inquired for the reason. I was met with "It just does."
Patents

Submission + - Fighting Patent Trolls

Submitted by jonsharpie
jonsharpie writes: As time goes by I receive by divine intervention (*cough*) ideas that could change technology! What process would I need to follow to document these ideas and concepts and release these to the public? I personally don't have intentions of developing some of these ideas but rather want to make sure that patent trolls don't get to them first! Is there a public repository that currently exists?
Communications

Submission + - First Amendment Extends To MySpace Says Court

Submitted by
Billosaur
Billosaur writes: "CNN is reporting that an Indiana state appeals court has ruled that a MySpace entry by a student, criticizing the school's principal and the school's policy on body piercings is protected free speech. The court ordered the lower circuit court to set aside the student's probation, stating that the "overall message constitutes political speech," even if it was epither-laden. The judge who initially handed down the probation considered the speech "obscene"."
Privacy

Chinese Govt Limits Kids to 3hrs of Online Gaming 299

Posted by CmdrTaco from the thank-god-i'm-over-18 dept.
1MC writes "The Chinese govt is requiring game houses to modify MMOG's to restrict under 18 users to 3 hours "productive" gameplay per day. This "anti-addiction" software must be in place within 4 months, with games not compliant by July 15 liable to be shut down in China. Net9, Shanda and NetEase will be moving to comply with the government regulations. Users will have to register with their real names and Chinese identity card numbers to be allowed access to the games."
Television

1080p, Human Vision, and Reality 403

Posted by CmdrTaco from the even-one-eyed-pirates-like-hdtv dept.
An anonymous reader writes "'1080p provides the sharpest, most lifelike picture possible.' '1080p combines high resolution with a high frame rate, so you see more detail from second to second.' This marketing copy is largely accurate. 1080p can be significantly better that 1080i, 720p, 480p or 480i. But, (there's always a "but") there are qualifications. The most obvious qualification: Is this performance improvement manifest under real world viewing conditions? After all, one can purchase 200mph speed-rated tires for a Toyota Prius®. Expectations of a real performance improvement based on such an investment will likely go unfulfilled, however! In the consumer electronics world we have to ask a similar question. I can buy 1080p gear, but will I see the difference? The answer to this question is a bit more ambiguous."
Hardware Hacking

Submission + - Nano-generator to power gadgets

Submitted by galactic_grub
galactic_grub writes: According to New Scientist, the day when you can charge your cell phone or iPod just by going for a stroll around the block could be a step closer, thanks to a nano-generator developed at Georgia Tech. The device consists of thousands of 1-micron-high zinc oxide wires on top of a conductive substrate. When moved, these nanowires generate electricity. The researchers believe they could be used to power implants and, one day, gadgets too.
Windows

Vista Security — Too Little Too Late 483

Posted by kdawson from the five-years-work dept.

Thomas Greene of The Register has a fairly comprehensive review of Vista and IE7 user security measures. The verdict is: better but not adequate, and mostly an attempt to shift blame onto the user when things go wrong. From the review: "[Vista is] a slightly more secure version than XP SP2. There are good features, and there are good ideas, but they've been implemented badly. The old problems never go away: too many networking services enabled by default; too many owners running their boxes as admins and downloading every bit of malware they can get their hands on."

New Microsoft Dirty Tricks Revealed 207

Posted by CowboyNeal from the sleights-of-hand dept.
Conrad Mazian writes "Robert X. Cringely has an article on the Technology Evangelist web site where he claims that Microsoft destroyed evidence in the Burst vs Microsoft case. Specifically Burst's lawyers had asked for certain emails, Microsoft claimed that they couldn't find the backup tapes the emails would be on, and while this was happening the tapes were in a vault at Microsoft — until they mysteriously disappeared. It's a fascinating story, and even names one person at Microsoft."

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