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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.
martiniturbide writes: An article at ITProPortal shows how tiny robots with omnidirectional wheels are used as a way to interact with the computer. The robots are rolled onto a projected touchscreen and the human interaction with the little robot generates different actions. An interesting video about it is also available.
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."
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."
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."
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.”
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.
