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Comment Privacy? (Score 1) 713

by t00le (#26272207) Attached to: Oregon Governor Proposes Vehicle Mileage Tax

First off it's a ludicrous idea that the ACLU will challenge in federal courts the moment it (Big IF) is passed.

Having a gps monitored by the state (or third party)is just waiting for the law enforcement bureaus to subpoena to find out what Mr. Anderson was doing when his alibi says he was banging his mistress, instead of killing his wife.

It will never get off the ground.....
Sci-Fi

Submission + - Another painful exploit cripples Eve economy

Submitted by t00le
t00le writes: A recently banned player made a post about a known exploit that is simple as, "After 2 batches u deactivate the input links, then switch the input silos off and push apply. the reaction will go on". Apparently, in his exit post on ScrapHeap Challenge he mentioned that it has been working this way since 2004.
He goes on to explain that he reported it to CCP and was never contacted again. He also seemed somewhat soured by the ban, so on his way out he described the plan and the moronic level at which CCP operates at times.
After news spread like wild fire, posts started popping up on the Eve Online forums and was quickly quashed by the mods. They were stating that we were discussing exploits and it's a bannable offense. (Reference Locked thread Locked thread Locked thread)
They ended up posting on the the German Eve site they were working on it, they quickly copying that statement to the US site.
XBox (Games)

Submission + - Blitz Games Studios Reveals TRUE 3D CONSOLE Gaming (mtbs3d.com)

Submitted by Enterfrize
Enterfrize writes: Andrew Oliver, CTO of Blitz Games Studios, talks about their company, their first stereoscopic 3D game engine for XBOX and PS3, the industry's future, and more! Stereoscopic 3D is the same technology used in 3D movie theaters, and is now growing popular at home with 3D monitors, HDTVs, head mounted displays, and more.

Comment Car Wax (Score 1) 554

by t00le (#24480975) Attached to: Effective Optical Disc Repair?

I had the same problem with some really old cd's. I asked a friend who mentioned that he used any car wax that has Carnauba Wax in it. You may have to apply four or five coats to smooth things out a bit, but it will be "fixed' enough for a cd rip utility.
Networking

Comcast Promising Ultra-Fast Internet 314

Posted by kdawson from the whole-lotta-hd-video dept.
Espectr0 writes "Comcast's CEO Brian Roberts gave The Associated Press a preview of his speech for the Consumer Electronics show, and said that Comcast expects to demonstrate a technology that delivers up to 160 megabits of data per second over cable. At that speed you could download a high-definition copy of 'Batman Begins' in four minutes. The technology, DOCSIS 3.0, will start rolling out this year." Here's a note about Cisco's announcement of their DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem.
Music

EMI May Cut Funding To RIAA, IFPI 158

Posted by kdawson from the return-on-investment dept.
Teen Bainwolf notes a report that Big Four record label EMI, which is under new ownership, is considering a big cut in its funding for the IFPI and RIAA. Each of the labels reportedly contributed over $132 million per year to fund industry trade groups, and EMI apparently believes that money could be better spent elsewhere. "One of the chief activities of the RIAA is coordinating the Big Four labels' legal campaign, and those thousands of lawsuits have done nothing but generate ill will from record fans, while costing the labels millions of dollars and doing little (if anything) to actually reduce the amount of file-sharing going on."
Toys

James Randi Posts $1M Award On Speaker Cables 1239

Posted by kdawson from the money-where-your-ears-are dept.
elrond amandil writes "James Randi offered US$ 1 million to anyone who can prove that a pair of $7,250 Pear Anjou speaker cables is any better than ordinary (and also overpriced) Monster Cables. Pointing out the absurd review by audiophile Dave Clark, who called the cables 'danceable,' Randi called it 'hilarious and preposterous.' He added that if the cables could do what their makers claimed, 'they would be paranormal.'"
Data Storage

Submission + - USB 3 optical connection in 2008-10 times as fast

Submitted by psychicsword
psychicsword writes:
"Intel and others plan to release a new version of the ubiquitous Universal Serial Bus technology in the first half of 2008, a revamp the chipmaker said will make data transfer rates more than 10 times as fast by adding fiber-optic links alongside the traditional copper wires."
"The current USB 2.0 version has a top data-transfer rate of 480 megabits per second, so a tenfold increase would be 4.8 gigabits per second."
This should make USB hard drives easier and faster to use. The article can be seen here http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9780794-7.html
Communications

Submission + - Aging telecommunications network

Submitted by Jake Platt
Jake Platt writes: I am a network consultant working on Long Island, NY and help support about a dozen small to mid-size companies mainly located in a huge industrial park originally built in the 1950's. In the past 60 days, the Verizon data and voice networks have experienced huge spikes in failures, as many as, 2 — 3 local loop/central office equipment and line failures per week for each of my clients!!! Verizon has been taking 2-3 days to respond, effectively leaving these companies in the dark (no internet, no email, no voice). I've never seen anything like this. Privately, the Verizon tech support guys have told me that the copper lines in the ground are so old that they are letting the system go into decline and do not want to spend any $$$ to improve it until they have no choice. Are parts of the US telecommunications network reaching its age limit? Jake Platt Long Island, NY
Security

Ophcrack Says Your Password Is Insecure 249

Posted by CmdrTaco from the something-to-play-with dept.
javipas writes "An insightful article at Jeff Atwood's Coding Horror reveals the power inside Ophcrack, an Open Source program that is capable of discovering virtually any password in Windows operating systems. The article explains how passwords get stored on Windows using hash functions, and how Ophcrack can generate immense tables of words and letter combinations that are compared to the password we want to obtain. The program is available in Windows, Mac OS and Linux, but be careful: the generated tables that Ophcrack uses are really big, and you should allow up to 15 Gbytes to store these tables."
Security

Storm Worm More Powerful Than Top Supercomputers 390

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the spamalot dept.
Stony Stevenson writes to mention that some security researchers are claiming that the Storm Worm has grown so massive that it could rival the world's top supercomputers in terms of raw power. "Sergeant said researchers at MessageLabs see about 2 million different computers in the botnet sending out spam on any given day, and he adds that he estimates the botnet generally is operating at about 10 percent of capacity. 'We've seen spikes where the owner is experimenting with something and those spikes are usually five to 10 times what we normally see,' he said, noting he suspects the botnet could be as large as 50 million computers. 'That means they can turn on the taps whenever they want to.'"
Software

AACS Vows to Fight Bloggers 601

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the guerilla-bloggers dept.
Jonas Wisser writes "The BBC is carrying the story that AACS has promised to take action against those who have posted the AACS crack online. Michael Ayers, chairperson of AACS, noted that the cracked key has now been revoked, and went on to say, 'Some people clearly think it's a First Amendment issue. There is no intent from us to interfere with people's right to discuss copy protection. We respect free speech.' The AACS website tells consumers how they can 'continue to enjoy content protected by AACS' by 'refreshing the encryption keys associated with their HD DVD and Blu-ray software players.'"
Politics

Resolution To Impeach VP Cheney Submitted 1202

Posted by kdawson from the domino-number-one dept.
Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) has submitted a resolution, HR 333, to impeach VP Dick Cheney on charges of "high crimes and misdemeanors." The charges were submitted on 24 April 2007. Congressman Kucinich has posted his supporting documents online, including a brief summary of the impeachment procedure (PDF), a synopsis (PDF), and the full text (PDF) of the impeachment resolution.
United States

Submission + - Shotting at Virginia Tech

Submitted by Zgonjko
Zgonjko writes: BBC reports, among other news channels, about a shotting this morning at Virginia Tech University, in Blacksburg. It appears that a lone gunman oppened fire first at a dormitory, then at an Engineering building a couple of hours later. He is presumed to be one of the dead, which authorities say number at least 20, with at least another 20 injured. A horrible tragedy like this one is sure to stir up the debate on gun rights, one year before the US election.
Microsoft

Microsoft Applies To Patent DRM'ed OS Modules 134

Posted by kdawson from the imagine-the-possibilities dept.
wellingj writes "Microsoft has applied for a patent that sounds on the face of it like it ought to improve OS stability and reliability: the patent proposes to modularize device drivers much like Linux does. But, going further, Microsoft would apply DRM to these modules — as Groklaw puts it, 'using modularity plus DRM to restrict and contain and enforce.' The net result is that you might have to pay extra for OS hardware support. Things like USB keys, DVD-ROMS, Raid drives, and video cards might not be supported out of the box. LXer indulges in some dystopian speculation."

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