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Censorship

Submission + - Canadian censorship takes down 4500 sites (theyesmen.org) 2

Submitted by
uncadonna
uncadonna writes: "According to activist group "The Yes Men", the government of Canada has shut down two parody websites criticizing Canada's poor environmental policy. The article goes on to claim that "In response to Environment Canada's request, Serverloft immediately turned off a whole block of IP addresses, knocking out more than 4500 websites that had nothing to do with the parody sites or the activists who created them. Serverloft was shown no warrant, and never called the web hosting company about the shutdown.""

Submission + - Prevent my hosting provider from rooting my server (gnu-designs.com) 3

Submitted by
hacker
hacker writes: "I have a heavily-hit public server (web, mail, cvs/svn/git, dns, etc.) that runs a few dozen OSS project websites, as well as my own personal sites (gallery, blog, etc.). From time to time, the server has "unexpected" outages, which I've determined to be the result of hardware, network and other issues on behalf of the provider. I run a lot of monitoring and logging on the server-side, so I see and graph every single bit and byte in and out of the server and applications, so I know it's not the OS itself.

When I file "WTF?" style support tickets to the provider through their web-based ticketing system, I often get the response of "Please provide us with the root password to your server so we can analyze your logs for the cause of the outage." Moments ago, there were 3 simultaneous outages, while I was logged into the server working on some projects. Server-side, everything was fine. They asked me for the root password, which I flatly denied (as I always do), and then they rooted the server anyway, bringing it down and poking around through my logs anyway. This is at least the third time they've done this without my approval or consent.

Is it possible to create a minimal Linux boot that will allow me to reboot the server remotely, come back up with basic networking and ssh, and then from there, allow me to log in and mount the other application and data partitions under dm-crypt/loop-aes and friends?

With sufficient memory and CPU, I could install VMware and run my entire system within a VM, and encrypt that. I could also use UML, and try to bury my data in there, but that's not encrypted. Ultimately, I'd like to have an encrypted system end-to-end, but if I do that, I can't reboot it remotely without entering the password at boot time. Since I'll be remote, that's a blocker for me.

What does the Slashdot community have for ideas in this regard? What other technologies and options are at my disposal to try here (beyond litigation and jumping providers, both of which are on the short horizon ahead)."
NASA

Submission + - Voyager Makes an Interstellar Discovery (nasa.gov)

Submitted by azoblue
azoblue writes: The solar system is passing through an interstellar cloud that physics says should not exist. In the Dec. 24th issue of Nature, a team of scientists reveal how NASA's Voyager spacecraft have solved the mystery.
The Courts

Submission + - woman ordered to provide facebook history to court (www.cbc.ca)

Submitted by innocent_white_lamb
innocent_white_lamb writes: A woman who is suing for her inability to return to work as an administrative clerk after a traffic accident has been ordered to provide her Facebook history to "possibly provid[e] a window into what physical capacity the plaintiff has to keyboard, access the internet and communicate with family friends and associates on Facebook and thus what capacity she may have to work."

Submission + - BBC's plan to kick free/open source out of UK TV (guardian.co.uk)

Submitted by bluec
bluec writes: Generally speaking, the BBC isn't allowed to encrypt or restrict its broadcasts: the licence fee payer pays for these broadcasts. But the BBC has tried to get around this, asking Ofcom for permission to encrypt the "metadata" on its broadcasts – including the assistive information used by deaf and blind people and the "tables" used by receivers to play back the video. As Ofcom gears up to a second consultation on the issue, there's one important question that the BBC must answer if the implications of this move are to be fully explored, namely: How can free/open source software co-exist with a plan to put DRM on broadcasts?

Submission + - Best filesystem to use for external drives? 1

Submitted by rufey
rufey writes: I've recently embarked on a project to rip my DVD and CD collection to a pair of external USB drives. One drive will be used on a daily basis to access the rips of music and DVDs, as well as store backups of all of my other data. The second drive will be a copy of the first drive, to be synced up on a montly basis and kept at a different location. The USB drives that I purchased for this are 1 TB in size and came pre-formatted with FAT32. While I can access this filesystem from all of my Windows and Linux machines, there are some limitations. Namely, the filesize on a FAT32 filesystem is limited to 4 Gb (4 Gb less 1 byte to be technical). I have some files that are well over that size that I want to store, mostly raw DVD video. I'll primarily be using these drives on a Linux based system, and initially, with a Western Digital Live TV media player. I can access a EXT3 filesystem from both of these, and I'm thinking about reformatting to EXT3. But on Windows, it requires a 3rd party driver to access the EXT3 filesystem. NTFS is an option, but the Linux kernel NTFS drivers (according to the kernel build documentation) only has limited NTFS write support, only being safe to overwrite existing files without changing the file size). The Linux-NTFS project (www.linux-ntfs.org) may be able to mitigate my NTFS concerns for Linux, but I haven't had enough experience with it to feel comfortable. At some point I'd like whatever filesystem I use to be accessible to Apple's OS-X.

With those constraints in mind, which filesystem would be the best to use? I realize that there will always be some compatability problems with whatever I end up with. But I'd like to minimize these issues by using a filesystem that has the best multi-OS support for both reading and writing, while at the same time supporting large files.

Comment Re:Prescriptions are.... (Score 1) 215

by maxfresh (#30517180) Attached to: Virtual Visits To Doctors Spreading
That's not correct. Not all prescription medications are controlled substances. Controlled substances are a subset of prescription medications that have a high potential for abuse, such as narcotics, for example. They are specified in the Controlled Substances Act, and are regulated by the DEA. Controlled substances have much tighter controls placed on their prescriptions than other prescription drugs, such as limits on the number of pills that can be prescribed at one time, the number of refills permitted, requiring the use of special prescription forms, etc. In addition, prescriptions written for controlled substances are monitored, and prescribers can face investigation if they appear to be over prescribing them.
Math

Submission + - Grigory Perelman and the Poincare Conjecture (failuremag.com) 1

Submitted by EagleHasLanded
EagleHasLanded writes: Russian mathematician Grigory Perelman doesn't talk to journalists. Actually, he doesn't talk to anyone anymore. So we'll have to settle for insights via his biographer, Masha Gessen, who, strangely enough, has never talked to him either. But she has spoken with just about everyone who has ever had any significant interaction with Perelman, and the result is the book 'Perfect Rigor,' which more than adequately explains why Perelman has gone into self-imposed exile, and why he hasn't collected the million dollars owed him for solving the Poincare Conjecture.
Businesses

Submission + - A scam for the Holidays (complaintsboard.com)

Submitted by SubstormGuy
SubstormGuy writes: This is kind of an old story, but one worth repeating during the holidays when so many online-purchases are made. The link above is just one of many that talk about a very common scam. Many companies, such as Pizza Hut and Drugstore.com, sell credit card info to CompleteSavings.com, which then places a $12/month bill on your credit card forever! I discovered it recently as a result of a Pizza Hut purchase and I'll never buy from them again. Charges appear on your card with the number 1-800-826-1885. What I don't understand is why CompleteSavings.com is not shut down and why those corporations who sell credit card info to CompleteSavings.com are not sanctioned. Just google "complete savings scam" or "1-800-826-1885" and you will see how widespread the problem really is.

Submission + - Where are the Cheap Thin Clients? 1

Submitted by Darren Ginter
Darren Ginter writes: I am compelled by many aspects of desktop virtualization with one exception: the cost of the thin clients, which typically exceed that of a traditional box. I understand all of the benefits of desktop virtualization (and the downsides, thanks) but I'm very hung up on spending more for less. While there are some sub-$200 products out there, they all seem to cut corners (give me non-vaporware that will drive a 22" LCD at full resolution). I can PXE boot a home brew Atom-based thin client for $130 but I'd prefer to be able to buy something assembled. Am I missing something here?

Submission + - Climategate spreads to Wikipedia (nationalpost.com) 14

Submitted by sparkydevil
sparkydevil writes: Some catnip to those who have long argued about administrator bias and groupthink in Wikipedia.

Canada's National Post reports here and here that one of the objectives of those promoting Climate alarm was to control Wikipedia. Starting in February 2003 U.K. scientist and Green Party activist William Connolley, one of nine Realclimate.org team members, rewrote Wikipedia'½Â½Â(TM)s articles on global warming, on the greenhouse effect, on the instrumental temperature record, on the urban heat island, on climate models, on global cooling as well as working to erase the Little Ice Age, the Medieval Warm Period and infamous hockey stick graph. He rewrote articles on the politics of global warming and on the scientists who were skeptical of the team.

According to the article Connolly created or rewrote 5,428 unique Wikipedia articles, removed more than 500 articles as an administrator and barred over 2000 Wikipedia contributors while rewarding those who supported his views. "In these ways, Connolley turned Wikipedia into the missionary wing of the global warming movement."

Submission + - Russians Claim More Climate Data Was Manipulated (telegraph.co.uk) 6

Submitted by DustyShadow
DustyShadow writes: On Tuesday, the Moscow-based Institute of Economic Analysis (IEA) claimed that the Hadley Center for Climate Change had probably tampered with Russian-climate data. The IEA believes that Russian meteorological-station data did not substantiate the anthropogenic global-warming theory. Analysts say Russian meteorological stations cover most of the country’s territory, and that the Hadley Center had used data submitted by only 25% of such stations in its reports. Over 40% of Russian territory was not included in global-temperature calculations for some other reasons, rather than the lack of meteorological stations and observations. The data of stations located in areas not listed in the Hadley CRU survey often does not show any substantial warming in the late 20th century and the early 21st century.

Submission + - Scientists crack 'entire genetic code' of cancer (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by Entropy98
Entropy98 writes: From the article: "Scientists have unlocked the entire genetic code of two of the most common cancers — skin and lung — a move they say could revolutionise cancer care.

Not only will the cancer maps pave the way for blood tests to spot tumours far earlier, they will also yield new drug targets, say the Wellcome Trust team. The scientists found the DNA code for a skin cancer called melanoma contained more than 30,000 errors almost entirely caused by too much sun exposure.

The lung cancer DNA code had more than 23,000 errors largely triggered by cigarette smoke exposure.

From this, the experts estimate a typical smoker acquires one new mutation for every 15 cigarettes they smoke.

Although many of these mutations will be harmless, some will trigger cancer."

Yet another step towards curing cancer. Though it will probably take many years to study so many mutations. My moneys still on viruses as the cure for cancer.
News

Submission + - Obama Sides With Blind in Copyright Treaty Debate (wired.com)

Submitted by langelgjm
langelgjm writes: In an unexpected turn of events, Wired is reporting that the Obama administration has expressed support for a treaty that would permit cross-border sharing of copyrighted works accessible to blind and visually-impaired people. A few days ago, we discussed the nearly unanimous opposition from U.S. industries to any treaty expands copyright limitations and exceptions. A Department of Commerce advisor spoke before the World Intellectual Property Organization today, saying that "We recognize that some in the international copyright community believe that any international consensus on substantive limitations and exceptions to copyright law would weaken international copyright law. The United States does not share that point of view."According to the EFF's Eddan Katz, the move represents a "an historic paradigm shift in international technology policy." At the same time, however, the U.S. representative cautioned that the administration was willing to strengthen international copyright laws in other regards.

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