Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×

Submission + - TSA still ignoring court order (whitehouse.gov) 1

Submitted by
Tom239
Tom239 writes: "In 2011, a federal court ordered the US TSA to publish and take comments on its "Advanced Imaging Technology" policy. A petition at whitehouse.gov asking the President to force the TSA to comply is already halfway to the threshold signature count that requires a response."
Security

Submission + - High Security Handcuffs Opened With 3D-Printed And Laser-Cut Keys (forbes.com)

Submitted by Sparrowvsrevolution
Sparrowvsrevolution writes: In a workshop Friday at the Hackers On Planet Earth conference in New York, a German hacker and security consultant who goes by the name “Ray” showed that he could open high-security handcuffs from manufacturers Chubb and Bonowi with plastic copies of keys that he cheaply produced with a laser-cutter and a 3D printer. Both companies attempt to control the distribution of their keys to keep them exclusively in the hands of authorized buyers such as law enforcement.

Lasercut plexiglass versions of the Chubb key, which opens handcuffs like the ones used in passenger airline restraints, were selling for $4 at the conference. Ray plans to post the CAD file for the key on the 3D printing site Thingiverse after LockCon later this week.
Hardware

Submission + - Record-setting 500 trillion-watt laser shot achieved (gizmag.com)

Submitted by cylonlover
cylonlover writes: Researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Ignition Facility (NIF) have achieved a laser shot which boggles the mind: 192 beams delivered an excess of 500 trillion-watts (TW) of peak power and 1.85 megajoules (MJ) of ultraviolet laser light to a target of just two millimeters in diameter. To put those numbers into perspective, 500 TW is more than one thousand times the power that the entire United States uses at any instant in time. Pew-Pew indeed ...

Submission + - Petition: Require the Transportation Security Administration to Follow the Law! (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by BaileDelPepino
BaileDelPepino writes: Today Ars Technica writer Jim Harper published an Op-Ed entitled "TSA should follow the law", in which he details the TSA's blatant disregard for the US Court of Appeals' order to take comments from the public and publish its policy on using its "body-scanners" in US airports.

Harper has begun a petition on Whitehouse.gov to force the Obama administration to address the matter.

The petition requires 25,000 signatures by August 8th in order to force administration to comment. Let's show the administration and the TSA the power of slashdot!
The Military

Submission + - Sixty Years On, B-52s Are Still Going Strong 1

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens writes
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "Those who grew up in the 1960s and 1970s knew the B-52 Stratofortress as a central figure in the anxiety that flowed from the protracted staring match between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Now CNET reports that it was 60 years ago, on April 15, 1952, that a B-52 prototype built by Boeing took off on its maiden flight and although the 1950s-vintage B-52s are no longer in the US Air Force inventory, the 90 or so H models delivered between May 1961 and October 1962 still remain on active duty. “The B-52 has been a wonderful flying box,” says retired Brig. Gen. Peyton Cole. “It’s persevered all these years because it’s been able to adapt and still continues to fly. It started out as a high-level flying platform during the Cold War. Then as air defenses got better it became a low-level penetrator, and more than that was the first aircraft to fly low-level at night through FLIR (forward looking infrared) and night-vision TV." The B-52's feat of longevity reflects both regular maintenance and timely upgrades — in the late 1980s, for instance, GPS capabilities were incorporated into the navigation system but it also speaks to the astronomical costs of the next-generation bombers that have followed the B-52 into service (a total of 744 were built, counting all models) with the Air Force. B-52s cost about $70 million apiece (in today's dollars), while the later, stealth-shaped B-2 Spirit bombers carried an "eye-watering $3-billion-a-pop unit price." The Air Force's 30-year forecast, published in March, envisions an enduring role for the B-52 and engineering studies, the Air Force says, suggest that the life span of the B-52 could extend beyond the year 2040. "At that point, why not aim for the centennial mark?""
Google

Submission + - Google asks court not to enjoin ReDigi (blogspot.com)

Submitted by
NewYorkCountryLawyer
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: "Google has sought leave to submit an amicus curiae brief against Capitol Records' preliminary injunction motion in Capitol Records v. ReDigi. In their letter seeking pre-motion conference or permission to file (PDF) Google argued that "[t]he continued vitality of the cloud computing industry—which constituted an estimated $41 billion dollar global market in 2010—depends in large part on a few key legal principles that the preliminary injunction motion implicates." Among them, Google argued, is the fact that mp3 files either are not "material objects" and therefore not subject to the distribution right articulated in 17 USC 106(3) for "copies and phonorecords", or they are "material objects" and therefore subject to the "first sale" exception to the distribution right articulated in 17 USC 109, but they can't be — as Capitol Records contends — material objects under one and not the other."

Submission + - "investigate Chris Dodd" petition reaches over 25, (whitehouse.gov)

Submitted by wierd_w
wierd_w writes: The situation with the whitehouse.gov internet petition concerning the investigation of former senator, and current MPAA CEO Chris Dodd has gotten a little more interesting. In just under 3 days, the petition has exceeded 25,000 signatures, meeting the requirements for an official policy statement from the executive branch. Just how many signatures the petition will receive before the deadline of February 22 remains to be seen, but the official reply should be 'interesting' considering the impending elections.

Submission + - The US Embassy sanctioned a conspiracy to target a (torrentfreak.com)

Submitted by Elenor
Elenor writes: The Canberra Wikileaks cables have revealed that the US Embassy sanctioned a conspiracy by Hollywood studios to target Australian communications company iiNet through the local court-system, with the aim of establishing a binding common-law precedent which would make ISPs responsible for the unauthorised file-sharing of their customers. Both the location, Australia, and the target, iiNet, were carefully selected. A precedent set in Australia would be influential in countries with comparable legal systems such as Canada, India, New Zealand and Great Britain. Australian telecommunications giant Telstra was judged too large for the purposes of the attack. Owing to its smaller size and more limited resources, iiNet was gauged the perfect candidate.

Submission + - Kim Jong-il Is Dead (the-diplomat.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Kim Jong-il is dead. But what comes next is a mystery. After all, Western media has previously relied on a former sushi chef for information on the presumed successor, Kim Jong-un.
News

Submission + - Kim Jong Il has died (reuters.com)

Submitted by symbolset
symbolset writes: Reuters is reporting that Kim Jong Il, the eccentric leader of North Korea has died. The reclusive state had begun the process of transferring power to his son Kim Jong-un.

Is this an opportunity to establish rapport and begin North Korea's transition to the modern era? Only time will tell. Potentially the distressed military may take this opportunity to stage a coup.
Electronic Frontier Foundation

Submission + - Warrantless wiretapping cases at the 9th Circuit (eff.org)

Submitted by sunbird
sunbird writes: The Electronic Frontier Foundation argued several critical cases yesterday before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Both Hepting v. AT&T and Jewel v. National Security Agency raise important questions regarding whether the NSA's warrantless wiretapping program (pdf summary of evidence) disclosed by whistleblower Mark Klein and implemented by AT&T and other telecoms, violates the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The full text of the Klein declaration and redacted exhibits are publicly available (pdf). This issue has been previously discussed here (1 2 3 4). The Klein evidence establishes that AT&T cut into the fiber optic cables in San Francisco to route a complete copy of internet and phone traffic to the "SG3" secure room operated by the NSA. The trial court dismissed the Hepting lawsuit (pdf order) based on the 2008 Congressional grant of immunity to telecoms. Similarly, the trial court in Jewel dismissed (pdf order) the lawsuit against the government agencies and officials based on the state secrets privilege. Both cases were argued together before the same panel of judges. The audio of the oral argument will be available after 12noon PT today.
Earth

Submission + - American Revolutionary Symbol Close to Extinction

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens writes
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "Florida Today reports that the world's largest rattlesnake, an early symbol of American revolution, is going extinct as conservation groups petition the federal government to add the eastern diamondback rattlesnake to the nation's list of protected species. "Africa has its lion, Asia its tiger, and we can boast of this marvelous 'Don't Tread On Me' snake,' " says biologist Bruce Means referring to the eastern diamondback having graced the Gadsden flag and helped inspire resistance to the British during the American Revolution, and is now a favorite at Tea Party rallies. The eastern diamondback was once plentiful in longleaf pine savannas across the southeastern United States but only about 3 percent of its original habitat remains. Thousands of the rattlesnakes are killed annually for their skins and meat with no limits on annual harvest in Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, South Carolina, Georgia and Mississippi. In many states, the species is targeted by "rattlesnake roundups" — festivals that offer prizes to encourage hunters to collect and kill them. "Remaining habitat for the snake must be preserved, and negative public attitudes toward these nonaggressive animals must be reversed," says Means."

Slashdot Top Deals

Thus spake the master programmer: "After three days without programming, life becomes meaningless." -- Geoffrey James, "The Tao of Programming"

Close