Please create an account to participate in the Slashdot moderation system

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×

Comment Maybe they could re-shoot it, varying the script - (Score 0) 230

by timothy (#48630287) Attached to: "Team America" Gets Post-Hack Yanking At Alamo Drafthouse, Too

- so that it's set in Cuba instead.

(I am not kidding. In fact, call it THE INTERVIEW II: HAVANA GILA MONSTER" and make frequent in-joke references to the previous one, even though -- especially because! -- nearly no one has seen it.)

But this time, assassinate Castro, instead.

 
AI

Ars Reviews Skype Translator 71

Posted by timothy from the in-the-future-everyone-will-have-been-in-the-past dept.
Esra Erimez writes Peter Bright doesn't speak a word of Spanish but with Skype Translator he was able to have a spoken conversation with a Spanish speaker as if he was in an episode of Star Trek. He spoke English. A moment later, an English language transcription would appear, along with a Spanish translation. Then a Spanish voice would read that translation.
Hardware Hacking

Extracting Data From the Microsoft Band 51

Posted by timothy from the buncha-freeloaders dept.
An anonymous reader writes The Microsoft Band, introduced last month, hosts a slew of amazing sensors, but like so many wearable computing devices, users are unable to access their own data. A Brown University professor decompiles the app, finds that the data is transmitted to the Microsoft "cloud", and explains how to intercept the traffic to retrieve the raw minute-by-minute data captured by the Band.
Censorship

"Team America" Gets Post-Hack Yanking At Alamo Drafthouse, Too 230

Posted by timothy from the meet-your-new-program-director dept.
Slate reports that even old movies are enough to trigger a pretty strong knee jerk: Team America, World Police, selected as a tongue-in-cheek replacement by Dallas's Alamo Drafthouse Theater for the Sony-yanked The Interview after that film drew too much heat following the recent Sony hack, has also been pulled. The theater's tweet, as reprinted by Slate: "due to circumstances beyond our control,” their Dec. 27 Team America screening has also been canceled." If only I had a copy, I'd like to host a viewing party here in Austin for The Interview, which I want to see now more than ever. (And it would be a fitting venue.)

Submission + - Extracting Data from the Microsoft Data (jeffhuang.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The Microsoft Band introduced last month hosts a slew of amazing sensors, but like so many wearable computing devices, users are unable to access their own data. A Brown University professor decompiles the app, finds that the data is transmitted to the Microsoft "cloud", and explains how to intercept the traffic to retrieve the raw minute-by-minute data captured by the Band.
Security

Grinch Vulnerability Could Put a Hole In Your Linux Stocking 118

Posted by timothy from the pretty-generic-description-there dept.
itwbennett writes In a blog post Tuesday, security service provider Alert Logic warned of a Linux vulnerability, named grinch after the well-known Dr. Seuss character, that could provide attackers with unfettered root access. The fundamental flaw resides in the Linux authorization system, which can inadvertently allow privilege escalation, granting a user full administrative access. Alert Logic warned that Grinch could be as severe as the Shellshock flaw that roiled the Internet in September. Update: 12/19 04:47 GMT by S : Reader deathcamaro points out that Red Hat and others say this is not a flaw at all, but expected behavior.

Submission + - Wikileaks.org users at risk due to a Web vulnerability (wikileaks-forum.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: We have been made aware of a potential security risk with open source software Wikileaks is utilizing which uses a flash library to display PDF files in .swf format. Two vulnerabilities XSS and content spoofing can be used by malicious users. Whether to affect the privacy of users of wikileaks. eg: Using Flash components specifically to decloack behind Tor network users OR link to external content to discredit Wikileaks, something Wikileaks should avoid given the nature of the content published on Wikileaks servers. Given the fact that most browsers use plugins to enable the reading of PDF's, we strongly urge Wikileaks to link directly to PDF files instead of using third party software that could put users at risk

Submission + - Woz on being Aussie, and escaping Steve Jobs 'dogma' (afr.com)

Submitted by Techy77
Techy77 writes: Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has become an Aussie permanent resident. Wide-ranging interview on how Apple is escaping Steve Jobs' "dogma", why Google Glass is an admirable failure and why he isn't universally liked within Apple.
Toys

Ask Slashdot: What Can I Really Do With a Smart Watch? 232

Posted by timothy from the you-can-measure-the-battery-drain dept.
kwelch007 writes I commonly work in a clean-room (CR.) As such, I commonly need access to my smart-phone for various reasons while inside the CR...but, I commonly keep it in my front pocket INSIDE my clean-suit. Therefore, to get my phone out of my pocket, I have to leave the room, get my phone out of my pocket, and because I have a one track mind, commonly leave it sitting on a table or something in the CR, so I then have to either have someone bring it to me, or suit back up and go get it myself...a real pain. I have been looking in to getting a 'Smart Watch' (I'm preferential to Android, but I know Apple has similar smart-watches.) I would use a smart-watch as a convenient, easy to transport and access method to access basic communications (email alerts, text, weather maps, etc.) The problem I'm finding while researching these devices is, I'm not finding many apps. Sure, they can look like a nice digital watch, but I can spend $10 for that...not the several hundred or whatever to buy a smart-watch. What are some apps I can get? (don't care about platform, don't care if they're free) I just want to know what's the best out there, and what it can do? I couldn't care less about it being a watch...we have these things called clocks all over the place. I need various sorts of data access. I don't care if it has to pair with my smart-phone using Bluetooth or whatever, and it won't have to be a 100% solution...it would be more of a convenience that is worth the several hundred dollars to me. My phone will never be more than 5 feet away, it's just inconvenient to physically access it. Further, I am also a developer...what is the best platform to develop for these wearable devices on, and why? Maybe I could make my own apps? Is it worth waiting for the next generation of smart-watches?
Australia

Australia Moves Toward New Restrictions On Technology Export and Publication 91

Posted by timothy from the locked-file-cabinet-in-the-basement dept.
An anonymous reader writes Australia is starting a public consultation process for new legislation that further restricts the publication and export of technology on national security grounds. The public consultation starts now (a few days before Christmas) and it is due by Jan 30th while a lot of Australians are on holidays. I don't have the legal expertise to dissect the proposed legislation, but I'd like some more public scrutiny on it. I find particularly disturbing the phrase "The Bill includes defences that reverse the onus of proof which limit the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty" contained in this document, also available on the consultation web site.

Submission + - Grinch Vulnerability Could Put a Hole In Your Linux Stocking (itworld.com)

Submitted by itwbennett
itwbennett writes: In a blog post Tuesday, security service provider Alert Logic warned of a Linux vulnerability, named grinch after the well-known Dr. Seuss character, that could provide attackers with unfettered root access. The fundamental flaw resides in the Linux authorization system, which can inadvertently allow privilege escalation, granting a user full administrative access. Alert Logic warned that Grinch could be as severe as the Shellshock flaw that roiled the Internet in September.

Comment Re:Poll purpose (the simple explanation) (Score 5, Interesting) 286

by timothy (#48628013) Attached to: At 40, a person is ...

Nah

Actually, it's my 40th birthday, and I've been amused (pleased, too) by the nice greetings I've gotten from friends both older and younger. If Dice Incorporated Amalgamated International Limited wants to make something of the results, they're free to, but since (this being a Slashdot poll) the answers are far less the point than the discussion, I don't think that's very likely. Our polls (we love poll submissions, by the way) are kernels for discussion, and often the product of whimsy. There are lots of ways that age (esp. in technical fields) tends to come up on Slashdot, and a pretty wide range both of what "old" *is* and what it means.

There may be many conspiracies in the world; this just isn't one :)

 

Slashdot Top Deals

Say "twenty-three-skiddoo" to logout.

Close