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Privacy

Why Online Privacy Is Broken 220

Posted by Soulskill from the too-many-people-who-don't-care dept.
Trailrunner7 writes "One of the more trite and oft-repeated maxims in the software industry goes something like this: We're not focusing on security because our customers aren't asking for it. They want features and functionality. When they ask for security, then we'll worry about it. Not only is this philosophy doomed to failure, it's now being repeated in the realm of privacy, with potentially disastrous effects. A quick search of recent news on the privacy front reveals that just about all of it is bad. Facebook is exposing users' live chat sessions and other data to third parties. Google is caught recording not only MAC address and SSID information from public Wi-Fi hotspots, but storing data from the networks as well. But the prevailing attitude among corporate executives in these cases seems to be summed up by Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who famously said this not too long ago: 'If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place.' If you look beyond the patent absurdity of Schmidt's statement for a minute, you'll find another old maxim hiding underneath: Blame the user. You want privacy? Don't use our search engine/photo software/email application/maps. That's our data now, thank you very much. Oh, you don't want your private chats exposed to the world? Sorry, you never told us that."
Image

New Speed Cameras Catch You From Space 351

Posted by samzenpus from the no-place-to-run-or-speed dept.
A new kind of speed camera that uses satellites to measure average speed over long distances is being tested in Britain. The "Speedspike" system combines plate reading technology with a global positioning satellite receiver to calculate average speed between any two points in the area being monitored. From the article: "Details of the trials are contained in a House of Commons report. The company said in its evidence that the cameras enabled 'number plate capture in all weather conditions, 24 hours a day.' It also referred to the system's 'low cost' and ease of installation." I can't wait to see the episode of MythBusters where they try to avoid getting a speeding ticket from a satellite.

Comment Re:Go the whole hog... (Score 1) 405

by ci4 (#30257176) Attached to: OpenSolaris Or FreeBSD?

Made my day (night, actually...).

DEMO$ write sys$output f$getsyi("version")
V7.3-1
DEMO$ show default
    SYS$USERS:[USERS.DEMO]
    = DISK$USERS:[USERS.DEMO]
    = DISK$EXTRA:[USERS.DEMO]
    = DISK$GEIN_SYS:[USERS.DEMO]

I might even get myself an account.

Comment Re:FreeVMS (Score 2, Interesting) 405

by ci4 (#30257122) Attached to: OpenSolaris Or FreeBSD?

I love running DOS15 on PDP-15 SIMH emulator; the installation was almost an adventure, but eventually got there. As far as the OpenVMS goes, I run it from time to time on a OpenSolaris host (two dual Opterons) and it is faster emulated than on any real hardware I have ever run it on (well, the fastest VAX m/c i've ever used was an 8700, started on a 730...).

Gone are the days...

Comment Re:Go the whole hog... (Score 1) 405

by ci4 (#30257062) Attached to: OpenSolaris Or FreeBSD?

Have you ever tried it?

The last four laptops I installed OpenSolaris on all had Zero problems with the Device detection tool. I am not talking about the servers - they all run perfectly now. (my Nexenta test installation did not recognize the built-in NIC, so I had to use an add-on; oSol snv-117 recognized both, interestingly enough - they were using the same chipset - rge). And all that is on reasonably new hardware - Asus P6T m/b, Core i7 920 etc. OK, the built-in Intel RAID wouldn't work, but even if it did, it should *not* be used... ZFS works best with JBODs.

As long as you follow /dev you are allright.

Comment Re:Old unix'es rarely ever really dies. (Score 1) 205

by ci4 (#28688455) Attached to: Mass Speculation Suggests Oracle May Kill OpenSolaris

Tru64 is dead, HP has announced that it will no longer be supported past 2012 and that the last maintenance release will come out next year. They even shelved the plans to grab the best parts and graft them into HPUX. IRIX is dead as of 2013.

Another one with a time machine. Where do they sell them?

Could you hush me the Lotto numbers from next Saturday, please?

Openserver might as well be dead as no sane IT manager would touch it with a ten foot pole. Basically there is only Solaris, AIX, HPUX and OS X as true Unix and then the unix-alikes linux and BSD derivatives.
The Internet

Submission + - How to trouble shoot your broadband connection? 2

Submitted by
jcluthe
jcluthe writes: "I have been experiencing problems with my broadband service lately and it has gone beyond the usual phone call, modem reset, router reset, and computer reboot routine. Now my service provider is pointing fingers at me, and I am pointing fingers at them. I am aware that it could be my problem, but it is doubtful, here is why: I have the usual network at home, cable modem, Linksys router, several PC's, Windows, Linux, even a MAC. Lately, at random, internet speeds are super slow. It doesn't seem to matter what site, or service.....ftp, www, etc. are all slow. The problem seems to be there even if I take out the router and plug any of my machines into the modem directly. If I pull the power on the cable modem, and wait a few minutes, I get a fast connection again for a few minutes, then back down to 14.4 again. Comcast is saying "you must have a virus..." I am saying "your equipment is broken......" They have been out to the house once, and the tech was not able to fix the problem, he did admit that there was a problem, but he couldn't fix it, nor would he say what he thought needed done. Does anyone have any tools that Comcast might take as proof that the problem is not mine, but theirs, or heck, prove to me that the problem is mine before I go wiping a bunch of drives or buying a new router."
The Courts

Judge Rejects RIAA 'Making Available' Theory 353

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the need-a-new-revenue-strategy dept.
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "A federal judge in Connecticut has rejected the RIAA's 'making available' theory, which is the basis of all of the RIAA's peer to peer file sharing cases. In Atlantic v. Brennan, in a 9-page opinion [PDF], Judge Janet Bond Arterton held that the RIAA needs to prove 'actual distribution of copies', and cannot rely — as it was permitted to do in Capitol v. Thomas — upon the mere fact that there are song files on the defendant's computer and that they were 'available'. This is the same issue that has been the subject of extensive briefing in two contested cases in New York, Elektra v. Barker and Warner v. Cassin. Judge Arterton also held that the defendant had other possible defenses, such as the unconstitutionality of the RIAA's damages theory and possible copyright misuse flowing from the record companies' anticompetitive behavior."
The Internet

The Blurring Line Between PC and Web 84

Posted by kdawson from the battle-for-hearts-and-minds dept.
The NYTimes has a feature about software development systems that move the Web offline and desktop applications online, with a focus on Adobe Air, which will be released tomorrow. The article has quotes from the developer behind Microsoft's Silverlight (he was a colleague at Macromedia of Adobe's Air guy), and from the head of the Mozilla Foundation about their online/offline offering, Prism.
Space

The Impossibility of Colonizing the Galaxy 979

Posted by kdawson from the let's-settle-the-gobi-desert-first dept.
OriginalArlen writes "The science fiction writer Charlie Stross has written an excellent and comprehensive explanation of why, thousands of SF books, movies, and games notwithstanding, human colonization of other star systems is impossible. Although interstellar colonization seems common-sensical to many, Charlie makes a clear-headed and unarguable case, so far as I can see, that it ain't gonna happen without a 'magic wand' or two. Nevertheless it would be interesting to see reasoned responses from the community who believe that colonization is not merely possible, but inevitable — and even, as Hawking has said, vital for the survival of the species. So, who's right — Hawking or Stross?"

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