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EU

Submission + - EU acts to toughen the Do Not Track standard (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by another random user
another random user writes: European commissioner Neelie Kroes has accused members of the online industry of watering down a standard designed to protect consumers' privacy on the web.

Websites are under pressure to allow consumers much greater control over how they are tracked online. But work undertaken by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to create a Do Not Track (DNT) standard was "not going to plan", said Ms Kroes.

She praised browser manufacturers who had incorporated DNT technology but said that it was not enough.

It should be built on the principle of informed consent, giving people control over their information. And, indeed, it must be designed to let people choose not to be tracked. The clue is in the name — do not track

She is angry about delays and a proposal to exempt marketing. She is concerned by suggestions that DNT might not be set as a default.

Much of the anger is reserved for the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), which has asked the W3C that marketing be added to the list of those activities exempt from the standard.
Space

Submission + - Scientists discover nearby 'diamond planet' (extremetech.com) 1

Submitted by
MrSeb
MrSeb writes: "Scientists at Yale University have discovered a nearby super-Earth that is a “diamond planet” — a planet that has a mantle made of graphite and diamond. The planet, called 55 Cancri e, is just 40 light years from Earth and orbits the binary star 55 Cancri, which is located in the constellation of Cancer. When the planet was first observed last year, it was originally thought to be a water planet, similar to Earth, but new information has allowed the scientists to infer that the planet is much more likely to be a diamond planet. The Yale scientists estimate that as much as one third of 55 Cancri e’s mass is made up of diamond — the same as three Earth masses, or roughly 18×1024kg. This is a few trillion times more diamond than has ever been mined on Earth. The identification of just a single diamond-rich planet is massive news. In recent years we have identified hundreds of rocky, Earth-like planets — and until now, we had assumed they had similar make-ups. It is now fairly safe to assume that there are millions of diamond planets in the universe."
Books

Submission + - Court finds in favor of libraries in Google Books affair

Submitted by cpt kangarooski
cpt kangarooski writes: While it's not a final victory in the long-running Google Books matter, the related case by the Authors' Guild against the universities working with Google in the digitization project has produced a ruling that their book scanning is a fair use. You can read the opinion here. This bodes well for Google's case, although note that this wasn't directly about them.
Government

Submission + - 19,000 emails against and 0 in favour of Draft Communications Bill (computerworlduk.com)

Submitted by Qedward
Qedward writes: Open source writer Glyn Moody discusses the Draft Communications Bill (aka Snooper's Charter) in the UK and how the Joint Parliamentary Committee that had been considering the bill received almost 19,000 emails during its consultation period.

He notes: "Out of 19,000 emails received by the Committee on the subject of the proposed Draft Communications Bill, not a single one was in favour of it, or even agreed with its premise. Has there ever been a bill so universally rejected by the public in a consultation? Clearly, it must be thrown out completely."...

Unfortunately the link to the consultation document itself is also now broken.
Businesses

Submission + - New Zealand turning Hobbits into cash, literally (cbsnews.com)

Submitted by
Curseyoukhan
Curseyoukhan writes: "With its economy struggling, New Zealand hopes to cash in on "The Hobbit" by turning it into actual cash. The nation is releasing special commemorative coins depicting characters from J.R.R. Tolkien's beloved book. The coin release coincides with the premiere of the first installment in Peter Jackson's film adaptation of the book. It is also part of a publicity campaign aimed to rebrand the country "100 percent Middle Earth.""

Submission + - Prince of Sealand dies (guardian.co.uk)

Submitted by jdavidb
jdavidb writes: 46 years ago, occupying an abandoned WWII platform off the coast of Britain, Paddy Roy Bates declared independence, naming himself Prince of the Principality of Sealand. Today, Bates has passed away at 91.

Long time Slashdot readers will remember Sealand as the site of HavenCo, an unsuccessful data warehousing company that tried to operate from Sealand outside the reach of larger nations' legal structures. They may also remember plans that the Pirate Bay had at one time to buy Sealand.

Bates had moved to a care home a few years ago, naming his son Michael Regent of Sealand.
Linux

Submission + - Linux Developers Still Reject NVIDIA Using DMA-BUF (phoronix.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Many Linux laptop users are quick to bash NVIDIA over their lack of proper Optimus support. In August NVIDIA confirmed they were working on NVIDIA Optimus Linux support. As part of their Optimus Linux implementation they want to use DMA-BUF for the multi-GPU interactions just like the open-source drivers, so that they can all work together. Unfortunately, the developers of the linux kernel prevent NVIDIA to finish their implementation by not allowing non-GPL drivers to use this unified buffer sharing infrastructure.

Should NVIDIA use the F-word to respond to their intransigence ?
Security

Submission + - Conficker worm still being tracked, but evidence collection slows (networkworld.com)

Submitted by alphadogg
alphadogg writes: The notorious malware known as the Conficker worm still infects computers, a sort of wild horse with no rider, but investigators appear no closer to finding its creator. Also known as "Downandup," Conficker was discovered in November 2008, exploiting a vulnerability in Windows XP that allowed remote file execution when file-sharing was enabled. Microsoft patched it a month later. At its peak, Conficker infected upwards of 7 million computers, and Microsoft still ranks Conficker as the second-most prevalent malware family on domain-joined computers. Security researchers with the Conficker Working Group along with vendors including Microsoft successfully cut off the Conficker's operators from the botnet, but the group is still working to try to find Conficker's master. The problem is that botnet operators have stayed away from Conficker and not tried to reclaim it, a welcome development but one that leaves researchers with a lack of fresh electronic leads. "Well, we sort of won in that regard," , said Jose Nazario, a malware researcher. "On the other hand, if they're not interacting with it, there's no more evidence coming in."
Apple

Submission + - Want to Dispose of Apple's iPod Packaging? Just Add Water (mashable.com)

Submitted by
concealment
concealment writes: "The EarPod case doesn’t completely disappear, but when placed in warm water, it pretty soon becomes pliable, and soon falls apart. After a few minutes, the result is a bunch of pulp (see inset photo). Do not, however, try to dip the iPhone 5‘s EarPod case into water. That thing is all hard plastic."
Businesses

Submission + - WikiLeaks Angers Supporters With Donation 'Paywall' For Leaked Material (forbes.com)

Submitted by
concealment
concealment writes: "As of Wednesday night, the secret-spilling site now shows a “paywall” to any visitor who clicks on one of its leaked documents, including the 13,374 emails from the private intelligence firm Stratfor that it published earlier in the day along with the teaser that the messages regarded presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

The pop-up message that blocks access to the site’s content shows a video parodying Barack Obama’s stump speeches and asking visitors to instead “vote for WikiLeaks” by making a donation to the site or buying its promotional gear like tote bags and hoodies."
China

Submission + - Aiming for 350kmh, China is Trying Out Its New Train (vice.com)

Submitted by
Daniel_Stuckey
Daniel_Stuckey writes: "On a trial run in northeastern China, the new Harbin-Dalian high-speed train flew through mountainous provinces at peak speeds of 300km/h, or 186mph. It made the 921 km trip from Harbin to Dalian in only four hours, a distance that’s roughly equivalent to cruising from Washington, D.C. to Montreal. That is one fast train, and it’s going to get faster.

Once engineers pass it through a couple more safety checks and test runs, China Northern Railways’ modified CRH380A trains will be able to cruise the same track at a nostril-scorching 350km/h average — or 217mph. This cuts the same trip down by nearly an hour. Conditioned for incredible disparities in regional climate along the line, the weather-proofed train cars will be able to comfortably withstand temperatures from 104 degrees Fahrenheit down to 40 below.

While Chines bullet train accidents, like that one the Wenzhou line last year, are cause for shady coverups and speculation that the trains are going too fast, accidents in the People’s Republic are far off the pace of the record setting countries like India, which experiences disturbances almost weekly. Even the United States — with the largest rail network on the planet — experiences more than those reported within a 1.3 billion person country. (Of course, as the attempted Wenzhou coverup highlighted, there is a question of how many malfunctions don’t get reported.)"
Idle

Submission + - Like-a-Hug Jacket Hugs You For Every Facebook Like (geekyportal.com)

Submitted by geekspy
geekspy writes: A smart effort has been made by the students of MIT for inventing Like-A-Hug Jacket intended for the Facebook users who can sense every time someone “Likes” anything that they have recently posted via this jacket. The jacket mainly gives a sensation of a hug to the person wearing the jacket, letting him know about the likeness of people on Facebook around him.
Android

Submission + - Motorola's Whacked Lapdock Can Make Raspberry Pi Base (slashdot.org)

Submitted by
Nerval's Lobster
Nerval's Lobster writes: "Poor sales have driven Motorola Mobility to whack the Webtop, its attempt to make Android into an all-in-one operating system for both smartphones and traditional PCs.

Motorola confirmed the death to CNET before issuing a widely circulated statement. Webtop allowed users to plug their Motorola device into a special laptop dock, which could then display Web pages and files on a full screen. Supported devices included the Motorola Atrix 2, which launched with Android 2.3 (“Gingerbread”) and a dual-core 1GHz processor.

For those few who bought a Webtop and now need something to do with it, Liliputing posted an article earlier this year about using the device to transform Raspberry Pi into a laptop (with the aid of some key accessories). Raspberry Pi’s homebrew computer features a 700MHz processor capable of overclocking to 1GHz and 256MB of RAM, as well as an SD card for longer storage—specs that lag those of the latest smartphones, but Raspberry Pi has the virtue of being quite a bit cheaper at $35."

Submission + - Economic Decline Has Less Impact on Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The contribution of economic decline in reducing greenhouse gas emissions is very low, reveals a new study. Researcher Richard York of the University of Oregon studied data collected between 1960 and 2008 from more than 150 nations in order to analyze the impact of economic decline on greenhouse gas emissions.
Google

Submission + - Google and Apple spent more on Patents than R&D last year (nytimes.com)

Submitted by parallel_prankster
parallel_prankster writes: NYTimes has an interesting article about how patents are really stiffling inovation in the tech industry. Today, almost every major technology company is involved in ongoing patent battles. Of course, the most significant player is Apple, industry executives say, because of its influence and the size of its claims: in August in California, the company won a $1 billion patent infringement judgment against Samsung. Former Apple employees say senior executives made a deliberate decision over the last decade, after Apple was a victim of patent attacks, to use patents as leverage against competitors to the iPhone, the company’s biggest source of profits. At a technology conference this year, Apple’s chief executive, Timothy D. Cook, said patent battles had not slowed innovation at the company, but acknowledged that some aspects of the battles had “kind of gotten crazy.” It is a complaint heard throughout the industry. The increasing push to assert ownership of broad technologies has led to a destructive arms race, engineers say. Some point to so-called patent trolls, companies that exist solely to sue over patent violations. Others say big technology companies have also exploited the system’s weaknesses. “There are hundreds of ways to write the same computer program,” said James Bessen, a legal expert at Harvard. And so patent applications often try to encompass every potential aspect of a new technology. When such applications are approved, Mr. Bessen said, “the borders are fuzzy, so it’s really easy to accuse others of trespassing on your ideas.” The number of patent applications, computer-related and otherwise, filed each year at the United States patent office has increased by more than 50 percent over the last decade to more than 540,000 in 2011. Google has received 2,700 patents since 2000, according to the patent analysis firm M-CAM. Microsoft has received 21,000.

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