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Comment Re:Hmm (Score 1) 61

You have one little problem, the program has to know, which instructions cancel out. So you probably have a list of pairs in there somewhere. As soon as that is known, the program can be normalized back to the "core code". The other problem is, that you would have to be very careful to remove the canceling instructions in the virus before you rescramble it or the size would quickly get prohibitively large.

The randomly chosen registry keys won't help you, you have to get the thing to be executed, so you have to write something in a fixed number of keys. That should be enough to detect it.

The "scrambled" server key is a tactic Conficker is using. It generates and queries a large number of domains, but obviously the sequence has to be in the code somewhere so a server can be setup which has the right name at the time the thing tries to connect to it. Just scrambling the address in the "client" is useless, if there is no server.

Comment Re:Why exactly is an issue? (Score 1) 447

The web server says "hey, here's a cookie you can store for me, if you like, and send it back later to assist me. Do with it as you please." The user's browser either ignores it, or later sends a copy. If this isn't consent, I don't know what the hell is. So the HTTP protocol itself already ensures that all websites are compliant.

I would so like to see you argue like that before a judge. Do you honestly believe that a computer can agree to something for its user without the user knowing about it in a way the law would accept? Sorry, but I don't believe that it is possible and I have a hard time to believe that something along the way of "but the user could have changed his browser settings so he gets a chance to agree" would work either.

Comment Re:Don't use them (Score 1) 303

For international users there is also often the problem that some of the questions make no sense. I never was to anything I could compare to a high school as the system is different here. So the number of questions is even smaller. I also saw a system you had to select two questions. From two lists of 4 non overlapping questions. So even there reducing the number of possibilities.

But what really annoys me is, when one of those things only accepts characters and perhaps numbers and even limits the length (I think Yahoo Mail did that, but I am not sure, I just filled the field with random stuff and forgot it).

Comment Re:This shows a failure of imagination. (Score 1) 87

The idea that there is no further use for it than to deorbit garbage is crazy.

Why? That is exactly what it was designed for. It carries supplies to the ISS, then is a bit of storage/extension to the space station and uses its fuel to lift the ISS so it doesn't fall out of orbit. When the surplus fuel is burnt, it is loaded with garbage, does two deorbit burns and enters the atmosphere. And then provides a spectacular light show.

Of what use would a space craft without fuel and loaded with garbage be to anybody? As all the things it does have to be done, I don't see where the problem is. Leaving it in orbit would just be creating dangerous space debris, so that is no option. The changes needed to make it reusable would seriously drive the price up, would have the issues the space shuttle shows (wear on material, high cost of maintenance) and would limit the loading capabilities. So to repeat, it does exactly what it was designed to do.

Microsoft

Submission + - MS loses European anti-trust case (europa.eu)

Tom writes: "The court has spoken in Microsoft's case against the EU anti-trust commission, and the result is even more damaging to the monopoly company than analysts expected.
The court upholds all major decisions of the commission, including the record half a billion Euro fines. Most importantly, it smacks down MS entire defense line of "we can't make interoperability possible because we need to protect our copyrights and patents"."

Republicans

Submission + - Elaine Chao: US workers are smelly complainers 1

Tablizer writes: According to Parade Magazine, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao says American employees are rude and have B.O., and this is allegedly why foreign workers are preferred. "U.S. employers say that many workers abroad simply have a better attitude toward work. 'American employees must be punctual, dress appropriately and have good personal hygiene,' says Chao. 'They need anger-management and conflict-resolution skills, and they have to be able to accept direction. Too many young people bristle when a supervisor asks them to do something.'" Do we need to reshape ourselves into compliant borg?
The Media

Submission + - "almost unbelievable incompetence" (theregister.co.uk)

An anonymous reader writes: The Register published an article by a former bomb squad man, who offers some harsh words for the perpetrators of the recent UK "car bomb" attacks:

The mindset of a man who's willing to set himself on fire to make a point — as one of the Glasgow terror-clowns seems to have done — but not to spend any effort at all on researching methods is a difficult one to understand. Even if these jokers were illiterate or had no internet access (seems unlikely, one of the suspects is apparently a doctor) they could have at least done a test. In my part of town, fun-loving teenagers burn out a car or two down by the canal every week or so: nobody would notice another one with some nails in it. Such a test would have told these idiots what every bomb-disposal operator and Hollywood effects guy already knows: that petrol, gas etc make for an excellent, photogenic fireball which you can normally be quite close to without ill effects.

Spam

Submission + - spamhouse.org block Austrian Registry nic.at

cccc828 writes: The german news site heise.de reports, that spam block list spamhouse blocks the mailservers of the Austrian Registry nic.at. In January Spamhouse asked nic.at to delete 15 .at-phishing domians. Nic.at refused to delete the domain, because it was against the law and the registry contract. To raise the preassure on nic.at spamhouse put their e-mail servers on their list as "spam supporters".
Graphics

Submission + - ATI committed to fixing its problems with OSS

Sits writes: "While talking about the Red Hat summit Chris Blizzard mentions how an ATI marketing spokesman was on stage. The spokesman said ATI knows it has a problem with open source and is committed to fixing it. Does this mean ATI will finally resolve alleged agpgart misappropriation, fast track the release of open source 2D drivers on its latest cards while releasing specifications for its mid-range cards or is ATI only concerned with fixes to its binary driver to maintain feature parity with competitors?"
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - No ad skipping for you!

smooth wombat writes: ABC and ESPN have struck a deal with cable operator Cox Communications Inc. to offer hit shows and football games on demand, but with the unusual condition that Cox disables the fast-forward feature that allows viewers to skip ads. This agreement only applies to Cox's video-on-demand service and will not affect viewers using digital video recorders to fast forward through ads.

In addition, the companies will also test technology that will place ads in shows based on ZIP Codes and geographic area.

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