Comment Re:Data, not Information (Score 1) 245
No, just being "irked" and "miffed" by not having any use for some university courses.
Comment Data, not Information (Score 1) 245
Having taken "Informatics" (which I still consider a useless course as this is the first time I have had a chance to use it in everyday life) at the university I studied at, I feel obligated to point out the fact that "information" only exists when you take "data" and put it together with a "frame of reference". Hence, the "recievers" are getting so and so many gigabytes of "data" as opposed to information.
Comment The decompiler (Score 1) 82
Actually I am more curious about the decomipiling process than the actual vulnerability scanner.
I am thinking about learning just a little flash to see "what it's all about" and I (partially due to being lazy) would really like to see if the output of this program is useful in any way.
I am thinking about learning just a little flash to see "what it's all about" and I (partially due to being lazy) would really like to see if the output of this program is useful in any way.
Comment Incompetence (Score 1) 327
So wait... you want me to trust the TSA employee (who gets suspicious about the fact that I have two cellphones with me) to accurately read a machine that picks up biometrics? Give me a fucking break.
"We don't want you to feel like you are being interrogated." Yea and the nazi's didn't want the jews to feel prosecuted either.
"We don't want you to feel like you are being interrogated." Yea and the nazi's didn't want the jews to feel prosecuted either.
Australian Ban On Fallout 3 – Why? 166
LSU_ADT_Geek writes "What could possibly be so controversial in upcoming E3 2008 headliner Fallout 3 that the Australian government would impose a dreaded 'RC' rating on Bethesda's upcoming tertiary post-apocalyptic RPG? No one knows for sure, but speculation is that the optional use of drugs in the game — specifically the option to employ morphine as a stimulant — may underlie the Aussie classification board blacklisting."
Submission + - Swedish Wiretapping law goes through
Exanon writes: "The Swedish parliament just voted through the wiretapping law commonly known as "The FRA-law". The local has more information.
The law passed as expected with 143 vs. 138 despite massive protests in both media and from international organizations.
The law has previously been discussed on Slashdot here."
The law passed as expected with 143 vs. 138 despite massive protests in both media and from international organizations.
The law has previously been discussed on Slashdot here."
Submission + - Bell Canada's new voice authentication hacked (phonelosers.org)
Brad writes: "Last year Bell Canada began using voice authentication to verify their customers identities as an alternative to asking them for personal information, such as their account number or address. The customer simply says, "At Bell, my voice is my password" and the system lets them in. This has gone well for them since it was implemented and they've claimed that it's impossible to fool the system. But the Phone Losers of America have recently discovered that voice authentication is vulnerable by placing a simple call to the customer and tricking them into saying the required words to construct the voice verification sentence. You now no longer need any personal information about a customer of Bell to access their accounts. And once you're into the account, you can ask for any information from the account, you can make changes to the services and you can go over the toll records.
This link will take you to a podcast that explains the hack in detail, where you can hear the system being tricked from beginning to end."
Submission + - Microsoft joins OLPC (blorge.com)
thefickler writes: The long delayed, but always expected, announcement that Windows XP will be available on the XO laptops, has finally been made. From next month Windows XP will be available on the XO as part of a pilot program in emerging markets. Apparently it happened after Bill Gates put the hard word on Microsoft's chief research and strategy officer to do deal with Negroponte.
Submission + - Video games may actually reduce violent behaviour (sciencedaily.com)
GTAMadeMeStealCars writes: A piece over at Science Daily reports on a shocking concept... violent video games may not actually make people behave violently. Quoted from the article:
"Writing May 14 in the International Journal of Liability and Scientific Enquiry, Patrick Kierkegaard of the University of Essex, England, suggests that there is scant scientific evidence that video games are anything but harmless and that they do not lead to real world aggression. Moreover, his research shows that previous work is biased towards the opposite conclusion."
Kierkegaard goes on to state that, given the recent downward trend in violence in America, despite the dramatic growth of the video game industry, there's reason to suspect that video games may actually be reducing violence. He emphasises that the research done to date on the topic is inconclusive at best and biased at worst, and that people already predisposed to violent behaviour could be easily influenced by any medium, such as books.
Submission + - Using A Data Center to Heat A Greenhouse (datacenterknowledge.com)
1sockchuck writes: "We've seen in a number of interesting uses of data center waste heat in recent months. IBM used excess heat from a data center in Switzerland to heat a nearby community swimming pool, while researchers from Notre Dame are using a high-performance computing rack to heat a greenhouse. What other ways can data center waste heat be recycled for other uses?"
Submission + - The Pirate Bay sued for 100 million dollars (thepiratebay.org)
Exanon writes: "The firm Web Sheriff has threatened The Pirate Bay with a lawsuit exceeding 100 million dollars. The lawsuit is on behalf of — among others — Michael Jackson and the rights holders for Bob Marley.
The Pirate Bay is of course as calm as ever when it comes to this.
"They're going to sue us for Prince, The Village People, Bob Marley, UB40 and Michael Jackson. The common thing for all of these artists are of course that noone listens to them anymore. And hey Michael — do you want us to pay you in small kids maybe?""
The Pirate Bay is of course as calm as ever when it comes to this.
"They're going to sue us for Prince, The Village People, Bob Marley, UB40 and Michael Jackson. The common thing for all of these artists are of course that noone listens to them anymore. And hey Michael — do you want us to pay you in small kids maybe?""
How the RIAA Targets Campus Copyright Violators 280
jyosim writes "The Chronicle of Higher Ed got a briefing at RIAA headquarters on how the group catches pirates. They just use LimeWire and other software that pirates use, except that they've set up scripts to search for songs, grab IP numbers, and send out notices to college officials. They claim they don't target specific colleges, though many feel that they do."
BioShock Movie To Be Made By Universal 157
azuredrake writes "Gamasutra reports that Universal Pictures has just announced a completion of licensing negotiations to bring the game BioShock to the silver screen. For those unfamiliar with the property, it was the much-lauded Game of the Year contender, praised for its storyline which emerged through gameplay, not just cutscenes. The director for the project is to be Gore Verbinski, who proved himself on the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, and the current writer for the screenplay is John Logan, who is recently known for the also-creepy Sweeny Todd."
