Chancey - Slashdot User

Submission + - Turkish Internet Censorship Board starts operation (cnnturk.com)

Submitted by

unity100

on Friday November 23, 2007 @04:33AM

unity100 writes: "As of today, the new law on "Preventing 'catalog' crimes on internet" have taken full effect with the Censorship Board starting official duty in Turkey. Law states that access to entire websites that are found with 'objectionable' content can be prevented without court order, only with approval of the board. The catalog crimes are as follows ; 'Crimes against personality of Ataturk on internet', 'Encouraging people to suicide', 'Sexual abuse of children', 'Drug encouragement and providing', 'Providing health-hazard materials', 'Obscenity', 'Prostitution', 'Gambling'. The board members themselves are going to decide whatever falls in any category, especially 'obscenity'. A lot of sites with filesharing content was blocked as soon as the board started operation. Law shuts down even entire sites due to a single 3 word text comment found objectionable. (The news didnt make cnn website yet, its in local cnn affiliate's site)"

Submission + - Montreal to provide free WiFi access (cyberpresse.ca)

Submitted by dermoth666 on Thursday November 22, 2007 @04:38PM

dermoth666 writes: Montreal is about to conclude a deal with Ile sans fil, Montreal's free WiFi non-lucrative organization. In a document obtained yesterday by La Presse, Montreal will be offering 200 000$ per year to Ile sans fil to install and maintain 400 access points in parks and public places. The proposal still has to go trough Montreal's executive committee, but if it pass it means Montreal will get totally free wireless access spread across the city. The article is in french only as it seems no english papers have covered this news yet.

Submission + - Hushmail giving 'The Man' your private PGP keys 1

Submitted by

teknopurge

on Friday November 16, 2007 @01:26PM

teknopurge writes: "Apparently Hushmail has been providing information to law enforcement behind the backs of their clients. Billed as secure email because of their use of PGP, Hushmail has been turning over private keys of users to the authorities on request. Yet another reason to use private hosting."

Submission + - Robots assimilate in cockroach society (nytimes.com)

Submitted by

sufijazz

on Friday November 16, 2007 @01:20PM

sufijazz writes: "Scientists have gotten tiny robots to not only integrate into cockroach society but also control it. This experiment in bug peer pressure combined entomology, robotics and the study of ways that complex and even intelligent patterns can arise from simple behavior. Animal behavior research shows that swarms working together can prosper where individuals might fail, and robotics researchers have been experimenting with simple robots that, together, act a little like a swarm.

The BBC also has a video story on this."

Submission + - The last DC power grid shutdown in NYC (nytimes.com)

Submitted by cell-block-9 on Friday November 16, 2007 @11:00AM

cell-block-9 writes: Today the section of the old Edison DC power grid will be shutdown in Manhattan. I guess Tesla finally won the argument.

Submission + - Dislike a Relative? Turn Them in as a Terrorist! 9

Submitted by Stanislav_J on Friday November 02, 2007 @04:23PM

Stanislav_J writes: A Swedish man who had less than fond feelings for his daughter's hubby, took advantage of the son-in-law's trip to America by reporting him to the FBI as a terrorist. The e-mail, which the father-in-law admits to sending, earned him a libel charge after his poor son-in-law was arrested on his arrival in Florida, handcuffed, interrogated, and placed in a cell for 11 hours before being released.

It's a brief article, but dovetails nicely with the recent Slashdot story about "The War on the Unexpected." That article touched on many examples of well-meaning, but misguided and paranoid citizens reporting innocent activities to the authorities. In the current climate, the potential also exists for maliciously false and far from well-meaning reports made to the Feds about people one simply doesn't care for, or those made merely as a sick prank.

While the man admitted to sending the e-mail to the FBI, he claims he thought no harm would come from it because "he did not think the US authorities would be stupid enough to believe him." To quote the great philosopher Bugs Bunny, 'Nyahh....he don't know us very well, do he?'

Submission + - Nigerian education selects Intel-powered Classmate (mandriva.com)

Submitted by

AdamWill

on Tuesday October 30, 2007 @02:43PM

AdamWill writes: "Mandriva today announced that the Nigerian government has selected Intel-powered classmate PCs running on Mandriva Linux for educational use in nationwide pilot in Nigeria. Mandriva is working with Intel Corporation and Technology Support Center Ltd. to provide 17,000 Intel-powered classmate PCs. The aim of this project is to improve the quality of technology delivered to students, and to help teachers and parents."

Submission + - The real Mother Of All Bombs - 46 years ago today (wikipedia.org)

Submitted by

vaporland

on Tuesday October 30, 2007 @01:58PM

vaporland writes: "Tsar Bomba is the Western name for the RDS-220, the largest, most powerful weapon ever detonated.

The bomb was tested on October 30, 1961, in an archipelago in the Arctic Sea. Developed by the Soviet Union, the bomb had a yield of about 50 megatons. Its detonation released energy equivalent to approximately 1% of the power output of the Sun. The device was scaled down from its original design of 100 megatons to reduce the resulting nuclear fallout.

The detonation of Tsar Bomba qualifies as being the single most powerful device ever utilized throughout the history of humanity."

Submission + - Apple to face lawsuits over iPhone gift card issue (cnet.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 30, 2007 @11:28AM

An anonymous reader writes: In an effort to reduce the number of iPhones that are purchased for the purpose of unlocking (250,000 since July), Apple has a recently introduced a ban on the use of cash and gift cards for iPhone sales, as well as limiting purchases to two-per customer visit. While the company is well within its rights to refuse to accept cash, Apple may have gotten itself into hot water with its refusal to accept gift cards. The company's own website states that customers using gift cards can buy "exactly what they want from any retail Apple Store." The company would appear to have pulled a bait-and-switch on consumers, and as CNET reports, could mean that yet another class-action is on the horizon for Apple.

Submission + - IBM turns waste silicon into cash, energy savings (networkworld.com)

Submitted by

coondoggie

on Tuesday October 30, 2007 @10:14AM

coondoggie writes: "Big Blue is looking a little green around the chips today. That's because IBM announced a semiconductor wafer reclamation process that removes chip circuitry with an abrasive pad and water, saving money and leaving the silicon in better shape for reuse in solar panels or other duties. Enabling reuse is crucial because IBM estimates that approximately three million silicon wafers worldwide are scrapped each year by the semiconductor industry — representing a significant solar recycling opportunity. 3 million wafers for example: stretch for 375 miles if placed end-to-end; cover 22.5 acres of area; weigh 187.5 tons. , IBM Burlington, saved over half-a-million dollars in 2006 with the process. The projected ongoing annual savings for 2007 is nearly $1.5 million and the one-time savings for reclaiming stockpiled wafers is estimated to be more than $1.5 million. http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/21291"

Submission + - Leopard Already Hacked to Run on PC Hardware (pcworld.com)

Submitted by

PoliTech

on Monday October 29, 2007 @07:45PM

PoliTech writes: "The cat and mouse game between hackers and Apple takes another move, with news that Apple's new Leopard operating system has already been successfully installed on Windows PCs. The OSx86 Scene forum has released details of how Windows users can migrate to Apple's new OS, without investing in new hardware — even though installing Leopard on an PC may be counter to Apple's terms and conditions. The forum is offering full instructions on how to install the system, including screenshots of the installation process. Not all the features of Leopard function with the patch — Wi-Fi, support, for example, is reportedly inoperable. Historically, Apple's likely next move will be to track down and act against those behind the hack."

Submission + - Wolfram awards $25,000 for flawed proof

Submitted by on Monday October 29, 2007 @04:29PM

An anonymous reader writes: Slashdot readers will have seen an announcement by Stephen Wolfram offering a $25,000 prize for a proof or a disproof that a certain 2-state, 3-color Turing machine is universal. The prize was awarded on October 24th, 2007 to Alex Smith of Birmingham, UK.

However, according to discussion in the Foundation of Mathematics e-mail list, archives of which are available here, the members of the prize committee were "informed but not polled" as to the validity of the proof. The prize committee members were Lenore Blum, Greg Chaitin, Martin Davis, Ron Graham, Yuri Matiyasevich, Marvin Minsky, Dana Scott and Stephen Wolfram. On October 26, Martin Davis wrote to the FOM list that "The determination that Smith's proof is correct seems to have been made entirely by the Wolfram organization. My understanding is that the I/O involves complex encodings."

On October 29th, Stanford computer scientist Vaughan Pratt wrote to the Foundations of Mathematics list that the universality proof of the (2,3) Turing machine was flawed, asking "How did an argument containing such an elementary fallacy get through the filter?" Pratt points out that the fallacy of the proof could be used to "prove" the erroneous statement that a linear bounded automaton is universal. The text of Pratt's email is available here.

Submission + - Uruguay Buys First $100 OLPC Laptops (techluver.com)

Submitted by

Tech.Luver

on Monday October 29, 2007 @04:06PM

Tech.Luver writes: "The first official order, of 100,000 machines, for the so-called "$100 laptop" has been placed by the government of Uruguay. The order will be a boost for the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) organisation behind the project which has admitted difficulties getting concrete orders. "I have to some degree underestimated the difference between shaking the hand of a head of state and having a cheque written," Nicholas Negroponte, the founder of the organisation, recently told the New York Times. However, he said he was "delighted" with the first deal. It is durable, waterproof and can be powered by solar, foot-pump or pull-string powered chargers. It includes a sunlight readable display so that it can be used outside and has no moving parts. ( http://techluver.com/2007/10/29/uruguay-buys-first-100-olpc-laptops/ )"

Submission + - Samsung unveils 64Gbit flash memory chip (computerworld.com) 2

Submitted by

Lucas123

on Wednesday October 24, 2007 @04:23PM

Lucas123 writes: "The chips can be combined to create a 128GB flash storage device capable of holding up to 80 DVD movies or 32,000 MP3 music files. The chip was created using 30-nanometer processing technology that was developed with Samsung's self-aligned double patterning technology."

Submission + - Taxis are a black hole for mobile phones, laptops (networkworld.com)

Submitted by

coondoggie

on Wednesday October 24, 2007 @03:13PM

coondoggie writes: "The biggest security threat to companies with a mobile workforce isn't wardriving hackers stealing 1s and 0s from the air or burrowing through the corporate firewall; it's absent-minded employees. During a six-month period in 2006, the publication reported, London taxicab drivers turned in the following electronic items to their lost-and-found departments: 63,315 mobile phones; 5,838 personal digital assistants; 4,972 notebook computers. http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/21014"

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