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Submission + - Behavioral science software spots terrorrists (haaretz.com)

Submitted by
Christopher Blanc
Christopher Blanc writes: "Quietly, even stealthily, this unknown company has been working for five years now on one of the more interesting technological innovations to be created in these parts.

WeCU ("We see you," in case you are unaccustomed to SMS-speak) promises an automated system to detect people with mayhem on their minds. The system integrates methods and doctrines from the behavioral sciences with biometric sensors.

According to the company's founders, in under a minute it can screen an individual, without his or her knowledge or cooperation and without interfering with routine activities, and disclose intentions to carry out criminal or terror activity. It can identify subjects who are not carrying any suspicious objects, do not demonstrate any suspicious behavior, do not fit into a predefined social or other profile and do not arouse any suspicion.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/981986.html"
Security

Submission + - Stolen IDs sell with money-back guarantees (news.com)

Submitted by
Christopher Blanc
Christopher Blanc writes: "McAfee Avert Labs has discovered a price list that criminals use to buy and sell credit card numbers, bank account log-ins, and other consumer data that have been filched from unsuspecting Web surfers.

There's even a guarantee that if the buyer is unable to log into the account within 24 hours, maybe because the owner of the data canceled the account, the buyer can get a replacement stolen account to use.

http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9939862-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5"
Microsoft

Submission + - US warns China of 'technological isolation' (yahoo.com)

Submitted by
Christopher Blanc
Christopher Blanc writes: "The United States warned China Thursday that it risked "technological isolation" for developing unique technical standards of its own that also are shutting out foreign competition.

Despite widely accepted international standards, China developed standards mandated by government regulations amid a lack of transparency and due process, said Under Secretary of Commerce Christopher Padilla.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080509/tc_afp/uschinatechnology_080509012335

(Sounds like MSFT or Apple.)"
Privacy

Submission + - Pirates can be beaten at own game (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by
Christopher Blanc
Christopher Blanc writes: "pirates can be beaten — it happens all the time — but not primarily by means of legal threats and lawsuits. No, you subjugate these rebels with the tools of free enterprise. Piracy is just another business model, and the pirates will lose and go away when you come up with a better model (or they will become legitimate players themselves).

Stripped down to the bare essentials, consumers will choose the service with the most attractive balance of price, convenience, and quality. Piracy will always win on price, because you can't really beat free. The other two components are up for grabs, but the media companies are only now starting to seize the opportunity.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080508-how-viacom-can-sink-the-pirates.html"
Security

Submission + - FBI says military had counterfeit Cisco routers (nytimes.com)

Submitted by
Christopher Blanc
Christopher Blanc writes: "The new law enforcement and national security concerns were prompted by Operation Cisco Raider, which has led to 15 criminal cases involving counterfeit products bought in part by military agencies, military contractors and electric power companies in the United States. Over the two-year operation, 36 search warrants have been executed, resulting in the discovery of 3,500 counterfeit Cisco network components with an estimated retail value of more than $3.5 million, the F.B.I. said in a statement.

The F.B.I. is still not certain whether the ring's actions were for profit or part of a state-sponsored intelligence effort. The potential threat, according to the F.B.I. agents who gave a briefing at the Office of Management and Budget on Jan. 11, includes the remote jamming of supposedly secure computer networks and gaining access to supposedly highly secure systems.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/09/technology/09cisco.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin"
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft Talks up Using Printers to Make Drugs (yahoo.com)

Submitted by
Dionysius, God of Wine and Leaf,
Dionysius, God of Wine and Leaf, writes: "Printers are already liquid delivery systems, but instead of ink, people might someday put the ingredients of different medications into printer cartridges, said Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer at Microsoft, in a speech in Jakarta, Indonesia on Friday.

The drugstore-in-a-box, as he called it, would be part of several devices that could increasingly use information technology for health diagnosis and treatment.

In an example, he envisioned a mobile phone that also contained breath analysis technology like that used to detect alcohol in the breath of drunk drivers today. But instead of just alcohol, the technology would be tweaked to determine a lot about a person's health. The handset could analyze a person's breath for diseases, chemical imbalances and other troubles, and then a clinic could provide a diagnosis.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20080509/tc_pcworld/145679

(Officer, my printer is dispensing crystal meth because my OS crashed. HONEST!!!)"
The Matrix

Submission + - Video games don't cause violence (yahoo.com)

Submitted by
Dionysius, God of Wine and Leaf,
Dionysius, God of Wine and Leaf, writes: "Lawrence Kutner and Cheryl Olson, a husband-and-wife team at Harvard Medical School, detail their views in "Grand Theft Childhood: The Surprising Truth About Violent Video Games and What Parents Can Do," which came out last month and promises to reshape the debate on the effects of video games on kids.

"What I hope people realize is that there is no data to support the simple-minded concerns that video games cause violence," Kutner told Reuters.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080509/tc_nm/videogames_dc"
Netscape

Submission + - How can browsers make a buck? (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by
Christopher Blanc
Christopher Blanc writes: "That search box in the top right hand corner of the browser generates a big chunk of revenue — almost all of it from Google, which is the default search engine.

So Firefox is dangerously dependent on Google for its income. But now, in the "awesome bar", it's got its own search engine which could, in theory, provide a very valuable stream of data about the browsing habits of hundreds of millions of internet users. Tristan Nitot claims that Firefox is approaching a 30% market share.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2008/05/firefox_can_browsers_make_buck.html"
Google

Submission + - Google launches security group for open source (theregister.co.uk)

Submitted by
Dionysius, God of Wine and Leaf,
Dionysius, God of Wine and Leaf, writes: "Google is spearheading a volunteer workforce it hopes will become the centralized authority for responding to security issues in open source software.

oCERT, short for the open source computer emergency response team, will aim to remediate security vulnerabilities and exploits in a wide range of open source programs by coordinating communication among publishers. According to Google's security blog, the group "will strive to contact software authors with all security reports and aid in debugging and patching, especially in cases where the author, or the reporter, doesn't have a background in security."

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/05/06/google_launches_ocert/"
The Internet

Submission + - Tethered gadgets threaten Internet future (yahoo.com)

Submitted by
Dionysius, God of Wine and Leaf,
Dionysius, God of Wine and Leaf, writes: "The rise of gadgets such as the iPhone, Blackberry and Xbox threatens to unravel the decades of innovation which helped to build the Internet, a leading Oxford academic has warned in a new book.

Professor Jonathan Zittrain says the latest must-have devices are sealed, "sterile" boxes that stifle creativity and turn consumers into passive users of technology.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080508/tc_nm/britain_internet_life_dc"

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