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Security

Submission + - Symantec Admits its Networks Were Hacked (net-security.org)

Orome1 writes: After having first claimed that the source code leaked by Indian hacking group Dharmaraja was not stolen through a breach of its networks, but possibly by compromising the networks of a third party entity, Symantec backpedalled and announced that the code seems to have exfiltrated during a 2006 breach of its systems. Symantec spokesman Cris Paden has confirmed that unknown hackers have managed to get their hands on the source code to the following Symantec solutions: Norton Antivirus Corporate Edition, Norton Internet Security, Norton Utilities, Norton GoBack and pcAnywhere.
Google

Submission + - Microsoft can remotely delete Windows 8 apps (itnews.com) 3

tripleevenfall writes: Microsoft will be able to throw a "kill switch" to disable or even remove an app from users' Windows 8 devices, the company revealed in documentation released earlier this week for its upcoming Windows Store.

"In cases where your security is at risk, or where we're required to do so for legal reasons, you may not be able to run apps or access content that you previously acquired or purchased a license for," said Microsoft in the Windows Store terms."If the Windows Store, an app, or any content is changed or discontinued, your data could be deleted or you may not be able to retrieve data you have stored," Microsoft said.

Both Apple and Google can flip such a switch for apps distributed by the iOS App Store and Android Market, respectively.

Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft losing big to Apple in the campus OS war (virginia.edu)

destinyland writes: Apple has nearly surpassed Microsoft's share of operating systems among the computers of incoming freshmen at the University of Virginia, confirming earlier reports of an ongoing change. A yearly survey shows that among 3,156 freshman who own computers, Microsoft's share is just 56%, with Apple's share rising up to 43%, continuing a big five-year trend. Microsoft's share dropped 6% from the previous year, while Apple's rose 6% — though just five years ago, Microsoft's share was on 86% vs 13% for Apple. "It seems likely that the Mac-using students will outnumber their Windows cousins this school year," notes one technology blog, citing an new study showing that 70 percent of college freshman are choosing the Mac. Other interesting data from the Virginia study: In 1997, 26% of incoming freshmen said they didn't own a computer, a number which has now dropped to 0. And 99% of their computers are now laptops.

Submission + - The School webcam spying gets weirder (tomshardware.com) 2

markass530 writes: "It seems that the Lower Merion schools aren't the only one with the spying capabilities that were apparently used in the current class action lawsuit. A reader of Boing Boing pointed out that PBS aired a documentary a few weeks ago called "Digital Nation." In it, vice-principle of Intermediate School 339, Bronx, NY, Dan Ackerman showed how he's able to remotely monitor students through webcam.

Ackerman demonstrates the webcam spying ability: "They don't even realize we are watching," "I always like to mess with them and take a picture," and "9 times out of 10, THEY DUCK OUT OF THE WAY."

Oddly there are no questions regarding student privacy, which is likely how the recent class action lawsuit came about.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation/learning/schools/how-google-saved-a-school.html?play

Skip to around 4:36 to see the remote webcam monitoring."

Comment Re:remember what created the password (Score 4, Informative) 414

Exactly, this is one style of mnemonics and even recommended by Sun Microsystems in their documentation back in the gory daze for creating complex passwords simply.

For example only:

Take something personal - Being a proto-punker musician from the 1970's and 1980's before returning to school, I have a thing for 1950's and 1960's music ( I'm listening to Chuck Berry as this is being previewed, even drunk! -- Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll! ).

Take something relevant - So I may use a line from MC5, as they did a cover of "Back In The USA" then throw in some modified h4xx0r with an opening/closing bracket set and use a pipe/slash/something to break the lines.

Take something environmental - And come up with <j96h|f0577USA> for my backup servers ( "jet propelled back home ...." ).

It is child's play to keep a large set of complex passwords in your head. Cisco has problems with the above, but hey, my life sux, too, so who am I to complain. I'm still upset about CBS and Jack Benny.

TeeHee. I was more of a Velvet Underground guy.

IronKey Unveils Self-Destructing USB Flash Drive 191

fysdt writes to share that IronKey has released a USB flash drive with self-destruct capability. Specializing in "secure flash drives," IronKey has launched the S200 aimed at government and enterprise customers, "featuring hardened physical security, the latest Cryptochip technology, active anti-malware and enhanced management capabilities. It's the 'first and only USB storage device to achieve FIPS 140-2, Level 3 validation' and delivers advanced Cryptochip featuring AES-256, tamper-resistance and self-destruction circuitry."
Science

Super-Sensors To Sense Big Bang Output 50

New super-sensitive microwave detectors from the National Institute of Standards and Technology may soon tackle the question of what happened immediately following the big bang. "The new experiment will begin approximately a year from now on the Chilean desert and will consist of placing a large array of powerful NIST sensors on a telescope mounted in a converted shipping container. The detectors will look for subtle fingerprints in the CMB [cosmic microwave background] from primordial gravitational waves — ripples in the fabric of space-time from the violent birth of the universe more than 13 billion years ago. Such waves are believed to have left a faint but unique imprint on the direction of the CMB's electric field, called the 'B-mode polarization.' These waves — never before confirmed through measurements — are potentially detectable today, if sensitive enough equipment is used."
Space

Submission + - Overcoming of Gravitation (Real Theory)

hgreend writes: "Gyro-dynamical nature of gravitation" There were many attempts to explain the nature of gravitation. Scientists disputed at XVII century, whether gravitation is a consequence of external influences or it is an internal property of physical bodies? Whether objects in space directly are attracting each other or their movement are impacts of certain particles? The idea about an direct attraction was not acceptable for some scientists (R.Dekart, etc.) and they considered that movement of the big objects is caused only by action of the smallest invisible particles. This point of view has received the further development at XVIII century and it is known under the name of "the screen theory" (M.Lomonosov, at XIX-th century — V.Thompson). According to this theory all Universe is filled with the smallest particles which chaotically move with the big velocities in all directions. Separate objects are bombarded by particles from different directions equally. Two objects are screens for such particles, and between them the density of particles appears less than "outside". As a result — the difference of pressure is created: "from within" — is less, "outside" — it is much more, and bodies "are pushed" in the direction to each other, creating effect of the gravitation.The simple and evident (at the first sight) "screen-theory" comprised many contradictions that had led to refusal of such a "model". There were also other attempts to explain the gravitation as proceeding from "magnetic" reasons. I.Kepler adhered to the point of view, that the Sun lets out "magnetic lines" and thus forces planets to rotate around the Sun. The quantitatively-descriptive understanding of gravitation managed to be made to English scientist I.Newon. Using I.Kepler's laws, he understood that the unknown force, holding planets in the respective orbit, decreases in an inverse proportion to a square of the distance. As a result — he had received an analytical model of dependence between masses M and m of phisical objects and from the distance R between them which subsequently has been referred to the famous Universal Gravitation Law: Fg=G*Mm/R (2(degree)) where G=6.673*10(-11(degree))N*m(2(degree)/kg(2(degree)) The law discovered by I.Newton described well the natural phenomena. But it was only quantitative side of the gravitation. Neither during I.Newton's time, nor later the secret of the physical nature of gravitation was not discovered. At the beginning of XX-th century the Einshtein's theory of the relativity was appeared. In the framework of this theory the gravitation is examined as a property of the space-temporal geometry. Depending on the mass of a substance the space curvature is changing and movement of physical objects in such a space looks as appearing of the gravitation. To an essence, the theory of the relativity has disregarded the physical nature of gravitational forces in general. All gravitational phenomena are reduced to deformation of space geometry and the mechanism of influence of such a deformation on physical objects is not explained till now. Today, after 300 years developments of the physics from the moment of opening the Universal Gravitation Law still there is no answered to a question, what is gravitation. Despite of searching all new elementary particles which could be carriers the gravitation ("gravitons"), despite of creating newest theories of multi-dimensional spaces (the theory of "membranes", etc.) essential promotion in understanding of physical essence of the gravitation phenomenon is not visible. The author offers physical model of generating "gravitons" which allows to answer some questions, connected to gravitational phenomena. Main ideas by which the author was guided at the approach to his gravitational model are: the first: material objects inside the atom rotate around of a certain local axis. Such a rotation in physics has been referred to so called "spin" — (spinning — quickly to rotate as a spindle of a distaff). "Spin" is an integral property of an electron, as well as structural units of nucleus (protons and neutrons). Therefore, it is difficult to imagine, that such a complex movement of material objects at the nuclear level does not cause the same physical effects, as the complex movement of material objects at the macro-level. Therefore, for example, an electron, rotating around the nucleus, having respective "spin", should submit to the same laws of precessional-rotary movement, as the precessed macro-object upon which Coriolise's forces, as it is known, are acting. the second: such a fundamental substance of microcosm, as the proton, cannot be characterized by an irrational measure of its mass, because the proton is the construction unit of our world, beginning with it (a nucleus of the atom of hydrogen, as it is known, has only one proton). From the point of view of the author it is "not presentably" to determine the mass m of the proton as 1.67E(-27)kg. It is improbable as well, that the proton mass is equal to a rational fraction 112/67*E(-27) from something initial, with what the creation of the material world had began (as it is known the rational fraction 112/67*E(-27)= 1.671642*E(-27)). So, for example, the fraction 112/67 can reflect the fact, that the mass of the proton is multiple to sixty seven units of an initial smallest substance (quark). The Nature aspires to the simplicity and therefore 67 kinds of quarks would be too much. the third: the mass of the proton m=1.67*E(-27) kg is the value received on the basis of the plurality of experiments and this number is initially insufficiently exact. Therefore with same accuracy (it can be also the greater) it is possible to write the value of the proton mass as 1.66666666(6)*E(-27)kg and this number is the known natural fraction, i.e. Mp=5/3*10(-27(degree))kg The same is possible to tell about the above mentioned fundamental constant of gravitation G which can be written with not smaller accuracy as G=6.66666666(6)*E(-11)Nm^2/kg^2. But this infinite decimal fraction is the fission product on same "mystic" number 3. As a result — we receive the gravitational constant as a proper rational fraction, namely: G=2/3*10(-10(degree))N*m(2(degree))/kg(2(degree)) the fourth: the smallest unit (quantum) of gravitation (v-graviton) is caused by the precessional-rotary movement of the proton inside the nucleus and by the velocity of the light. Not describing the possible internal structure of the proton, we are able to determine the quantum Coriolis's force fg which is caused by complex movement of the proton, precessing with the greatest possible velocity c and having the respective spin. According to Coriolis's theory it is determined as: Fg=2mpcv where m=5/3*10^-27 kg — the mass of the proton; c — 3*10^8 m/sec — the velocity of the light in vacuum that is the precession velosity of the proton; n- an integrated frequency, describing the angular rotational velocity of the proton around of its local axis, and n=cN/L; N and L — are integers, and L is a value, multiple to three. Terefore, the last formula can be written as follows: fg=2(N/L)mpc(2(degree))=2(N/9)*5/3*10 (-27(degree))*9*10 (16(degree)) It is easy to notice that at N=2 we receive the value fg=20/3*10^-11 which is the above mentioned gravitational constant G, that is gravity quantum fg=(2/3)(2(degree))mpc (2(degree))=G This result is the confirmation of the fourth above postulate, and the Newton's law assumes the following view: Fg=(2/3)(2(degree)) mpc (2(degree))Mm/R (2(degree)) Hence, each spinning object (i.e. micro-object, having respective spin) in the nucleon of the atom produces one quantum of the above mentioned Coriolis's force fg which can be considered as a "vector-graviton" or " v-graviton ". An unique material solid, being separate in an ideal environment in the Universe (if such a separate solid somewhere would exist) is characterized by perfect balance of its "v-gravitones" on the nuclear level and therefore elementary particles — "v-gravitones" — would act upon such a separate solid in all directions from inside and such a solid would stay motionless in the space. At rapproachement of two material solids their masses bend the temporal-space geometry and therefore the perfect balance of "v-gravitones" inside both solids is broken; and as a result — appears a nonzero stream of "v-gravitons" which we perceive at the macro-level as a gravitational force. From the point of view of the offered gravitational model the elementary quanta of the gravitation ("v-gravitones") is practically impossible to register as they never leave limits of the material object and gravitational forces can be shielded only due to compulsory reduction of temporal-space curvature. Such a r-deformation of the space curvature is possible under condition of understanding of physical nature of vacuum which at present is actively investigated by scientists in Russia and Ukraine. The material and copyrights belong: www.gyro-turbine.com Lykhovyd Yuriy. M. Kyiv, Ukraine. (priority date: 20.jan.2007) ©
Businesses

Submission + - February Sees Sales of 335k Wiis Vs 127k PS3s

eldavojohn writes: "Both the PS3 & Wii debuted in November of this year and the console counts are in for the number of each sold in the United States in the entire month of February. While you may be able to claim the Wii is clearly more popular and that Nintendo won the month of February, please do note (as the article does not) that a Wii grosses $250 while a PS3 (on average) grosses $550 meaning that Nintendo grossed about $84 million while Sony grossed around $70 million on consoles — two numbers a bit closer revealing it may be too early yet to declare a victor. I hope I never see a victor declared & the price wars continue with added game innovation to utilize the power of the PS3 & the unique controls of the Wii."
Windows

Vista Can Run Without Activation for a Year 357

An anonymous reader gave us a heads up on this article for people who like putting things off. It begins: "Windows Vista can be run for at least a year without being activated, a serious end-run around one of Microsoft's key anti-piracy measures, Windows expert Brian Livingston said today. Livingston, who publishes the Windows Secrets newsletter, said that a single change to Vista's registry lets users put off the operating system's product activation requirement an additional eight times beyond the three disclosed last month. With more research, said Livingston, it may even be possible to find a way to postpone activation indefinitely."

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