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Submission + - A real life example on how bad is the DRM software on a Tablet (iturbide.com)

Submitted by martiniturbide
martiniturbide writes: A good example on how bad can the DRM software be is the Lenovo's 2011 Thinkpad Tablet 1 (Android) example. This Thinkpad Tablet came with a locked bootloader to protect the DRM license agreements with the OEM software included on it. It ended up turning that a software problem can brick the tablet, since you can not access the lower level firmware to fix the tablet software corruption because of the locked bootloader, Lenovo will have to change the perfectly working mainboard if it was under warranty. I tried to escalate this issue for Lenovo to unlock this bootloader, but I my only little victory was for Lenovo to recognize the problem and provide a "Free Mainboard Replacement" warranty until August 31 of 2014. Lenovo did not comply to unlock the bootloader and does not want to provide a full stock ROM because it will need to unlock the bootloader for the user to install it. This was my real case scenario of why you need to stay away of DRM software on a tablet.

Comment US-CERT changed its web site. (Score 1) 153

I noticed that US-CERT changed it site. It said "the complete compromise", but now the web site says "could allow unauthorized remote code execution."

It said "US-CERT recommends that users and administrators enable Microsoft EMET where possible and consider employing an alternative web browser until an official update is available. ", now it says "US-CERT recommends that users and administrators review Microsoft Security Advisory 2963983 for mitigation actions and workarounds. Those who cannot follow Microsoft's recommendations, such as Windows XP users, may consider employing an alternate browser."

Check the Google cache against the versus actual site.

Submission + - U.S., UK advise avoiding Internet Explorer until bug fixed (reuters.com)

Submitted by martiniturbide
martiniturbide writes: Reuters is reporting that "The U.S. and UK governments on Monday advised computer users to consider using alternatives to Microsoft Corp's Internet Explorer browser until the company fixes a security flaw that hackers used to launch attacks." and states that "The Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team said in an advisory released on Monday that the vulnerability in versions 6 to 11 of Internet Explorer could lead to "the complete compromise" of an affected system."

S.H.I.E.L.D. did not release any statement yet.

Submission + - Minesweepers robotic competition aims for a landmine-free world (robohub.org)

Submitted by Hallie Siegel
Hallie Siegel writes: Dr. Alaa Khamis writes: "Detection and removal of antipersonnel landmines is, at present, a serious problem of political, economical, environmental and humanitarian dimensions in many countries across the world. It is estimated that there are 110 million landmines in the ground right now; one for every 52 inhabitants on the planet. These mines kill or maim more than 5,000 people annually. If demining efforts remain about the same as they are now, and no new mines are laid, it will still take 1100 years to get rid of all the world’s active land mines because current conventional methods of removal are very slow, inefficient, dangerous and costly. Robotic systems can provide efficient, reliable, adaptive and cost effective solutions for the problem of landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) contamination."

Submission + - More Than 4% of Death Row Inmates May Be Innocent (sciencemag.org)

Submitted by sciencehabit
sciencehabit writes: One in 25 criminal defendants who has been handed a death sentence in the United States has likely been erroneously convicted. That number—4.1% to be exact—comes from a new analysis of more than 3 decades of data on death sentences and death row exonerations across the United States. “The main message is that false convictions are not rare events,” says the study's author. “It’s something that’s going to keep happening on a steady basis, and it means we should work hard to try and avoid it.”

Submission + - Cops free to search your phone? (msnbc.com)

Submitted by mpicpp
mpicpp writes: We call them “phones” out of habit, but the modern cellphone is a powerful personal computer that maintains an extensive record of our private lives and interactions. The Supreme Court will soon decide whether the police need a warrant to search them – or whether being arrested with one could mean forfeiting all the information on your iPhone.

“A cell phone has the same contents that the home did in the founding era, it has digital equivalents of papers, letters, drawings, private financial documents, private medical documents,” said Jim Harper, an attorney with the libertarian Cato Institute. “It’s a digital incarnation of the contents of the home.”

Two separate cases dealing with cell phones come down to whether or not searching your cell phone after an arrest is more like searching your home or your wallet. The Obama administration wants the high court to rule that it’s the latter, arguing that encryption technology and remote wiping already make it hard enough for police to glean evidence from cell phones before it’s destroyed. Civil libertarian groups say that modern cell phones carry near-infinite amounts of the very “papers and effects” that the Fourth Amendment protects from “unreasonable searches and seizures,” and that allowing police to search a cell phone even after an arrest means they could map out a person’s entire life without having to even think about asking a judge.

Submission + - NASA Honors William Shatner With Distinguished Public Service Medal

Submitted by Hugh Pickens DOT Com
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes: Red Orbit reports that after nearly 50 years of warping across galaxies and saving the universe from a variety of alien threats and celestial disasters, Star Trek’s William Shatner was honored with NASA’s Distinguished Public Service medal, the highest award bestowed by the agency to non-government personnel. “William Shatner has been so generous with his time and energy in encouraging students to study science and math, and for inspiring generations of explorers, including many of the astronauts and engineers who are a part of NASA today, ” said David Weaver, NASA’s associate administrator for the Office of Communications at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “He’s most deserving of this prestigious award.” Past recipients of the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal include astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, former NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory director and Voyager project scientist Edward Stone, theoretical physicist and astronomer Lyman Spitzer, and science fiction writer Robert Heinlein. The award is presented to those who “ have personally made a contribution representing substantial progress to the NASA mission. The contribution must be so extraordinary that other forms of recognition would be inadequate.”

In related news Shatner’s one-man show “Shatner’s World” was presented in nearly 700 movie theaters nationwide on April 24 providing audiences a behind-the-scenes look at Shatner’s career and life. “Everything can be termed positively and that’s what I attempt to do in this one-man show,” he said. “This one-man show is very important to me. It’s the culmination of a long career.”

Comment Re:Professional responsibility (Score 1) 236

The engineers may have responsibility, but they are not the ones that made QA, build the cars and distribute them massively. I think it is bad to pin-point the engineers, blame them and destroy their careers this way.

I hope that this does not create a precedent that if product is a success the company will win money and get all recognition, if the product fails or if it dangerous the blame is on the engineers and they have to be publicly shamed.

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