Submission + - Linux and the history of Viruses (neowin.net)
dontgetshocked writes: To be forewarned is to be forearmed.Some day it will come and I for one hope to be protected more from the developers than the scanner itself.
Submission + - Microsoft's potential meltdown in Office licensing (infoworld.com)
GMGruman writes: As InfoWorld's Woody Leonhard reports, a key source of Microsoft's income — volume licenses for Office — is starting to come up for renewal, and there are signs that CIOs won't re-up, depriving Microsoft of its usual cash flow. Instead, they're looking to simplify and save money by using alternatives such as Google Docs for most employees.
Submission + - Comcast DNS servers crashed (cnet.com)
BingmanO writes: Comcast subscribers from Boston to Washington, D.C., found themselves without Internet access Sunday night after a major outage affected parts of the East Coast. Comcast spokesman Charlie Douglas told CNET through e-mail that last night Comcast engineers identified a server issue that affected Internet service for customers primarily in the Boston and D.C./Beltway areas. Though the outage focused on Boston and Washington, D.C., a Comcast customer service technician reportedly told NBC News that there were "significant Internet outages" in Connecticut, Maryland, Virginia, Massachusetts, New York, and New Hampshire.
Submission + - Who will win control of the web? (pcpro.co.uk)
Barence writes: Control of the web is up for grabs. Each of the big three computing companies – Microsoft, Apple and Google – has its own radically different vision to promote, as does the world’s biggest creative software company, Adobe. And HTML itself is changing, too. PC Pro examines the case for each of the contenders in the war of the web and, with the help of industry experts, assess which – if any – is most likely to emerge as victor.
Submission + - Google, Microsoft Cheat on Slow-Start. Should You? (benstrong.com) 1
kdawson writes: Software developer and blogger Ben Strong did a little exploring to find out how Google achieves its admirably fast load times. What he discovered is that Google, and to a much greater extent Microsoft, are cheating on the 'slow-start' requirement of RFC-3390. His research indicates that discussion of this practice on the Net is at an early, and somewhat theoretical, stage.Strong concludes with this question: 'What should I do in my app (and what should you do in yours)? Join the arms race or sit on the sidelines and let Google have all the page-load glory?'
Submission + - BP ignored safety modeling software to save time (computerworlduk.com)
DMandPenfold writes: BP ignored the advice of safety critical software in an attempt to save time before the disastrous Gulf of Mexico oil spill, according to a presentation slide prepared by US investigators.
The slide in question briefly appeared on the Oil Spill Commission’s website in error, but was quickly retracted.
Advanced cement modelling software, provided by BP’s cement contractor Halliburton, had highlighted serious stability concerns with the well...
The slide in question briefly appeared on the Oil Spill Commission’s website in error, but was quickly retracted.
Advanced cement modelling software, provided by BP’s cement contractor Halliburton, had highlighted serious stability concerns with the well...
Submission + - 60 years of Hamming codes (cio.com.au)
swandives writes: In 1950 Bell Labs researcher Richard W. Hamming made a discovery that would lay an important foundation for the modern computing and communications industries — coming up with a method for performing computing operations on a large scale without errors. Hamming wrote about how self-checking circuits help eliminate errors in telephone central offices. He speculated the “special codes” he proposed — which became known as Hamming codes — would only need to be applied to systems requiring unattended operation for long periods or “extremely large and tightly integrated” systems where a single failure would incapacitate the entire installation.
Hamming code was the first discovery in an immense field called coding theory. This article looks back on the history of Hamming codes, their applications, and includes interviews with Todd Moon, Professor of electrical and computer engineering at Utah State University and David MacKay, Professor of natural philosophy in the department of Physics at the University of Cambridge and chief scientific adviser to the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change. An interesting read, about a little-known but fundamental element of information theory.
Hamming code was the first discovery in an immense field called coding theory. This article looks back on the history of Hamming codes, their applications, and includes interviews with Todd Moon, Professor of electrical and computer engineering at Utah State University and David MacKay, Professor of natural philosophy in the department of Physics at the University of Cambridge and chief scientific adviser to the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change. An interesting read, about a little-known but fundamental element of information theory.
Comment human barcodes prior art (Score 1) 69
"Max is a genetically engineered human, created by Manticore .. All the kids in Manticore had a number inserted into there genetic patterns that shows up as a barcode on the back of the neck" link
Submission + - Attack of the Backup (linux.com)
jennifercloer writes: Disaster recovery and backups are the "eat your vegetables" of the IT world. Most folks just don't get excited about backups, or do it often enough. Buck the trend with Clonezilla, a Linux distribution that makes it dead easy to clone and restore systems.
Submission + - Web searches in idle slivers of time
OldAndInTheWay writes: Perhaps engineers and other techie types should not be allowed idle slivers of time to indulge in gratuitous Google searches. What's the most unusual web search you've run in an idle moment?
Submission + - Ubuntu to Become a Rolling Release (ostatic.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Mark Shuttleworth recently told reporters that Ubuntu will likely be moving from its current six-month release schedule to daily updates. A step of this nature would help Ubuntu keep up with the rapidly changing and increasing complex software and hardware landscape. This is especially true as Ubuntu finds itself on more mobile and smartphone devices.
Shuttleworth said more services and software available through and in connection with the Ubuntu Software Center will see rapid advancement in the next few years. He explained, "In an internet-oriented world, we need to be able to release something every day."
Shuttleworth said more services and software available through and in connection with the Ubuntu Software Center will see rapid advancement in the next few years. He explained, "In an internet-oriented world, we need to be able to release something every day."
Submission + - My GPL code has been... patented! 4
ttsiod writes: Back in 2001, I coded HeapCheck, a GPL library for Windows (inspired by ElectricFence) that detected invalid read/write accesses on any heap allocations at runtime — thus greatly helping my debugging sessions. I published it on my site, and got a few users who were kind enough to thank me — a Serbian programmer even sent me 250$ as a thank you (I still have his mails). After a few years, Microsoft included very similar technology in the operating system itself, calling it PageHeap. I had more or less forgotten these stuff, since for the last 7 years I've been coding for UNIX/Linux, where valgrind superseeded Efence/dmalloc/etc. Imagine my surprise, when yesterday, Googling for references to my site, I found out that the technology I implemented, of runtime detection of invalid heap accesses, has been patented in the States, and to add insult to injury, even mentions my site (via a non-working link to an old version of my page) in the patent references! After the necessary "WTFs" and "bloody hells" I thought this merrits (a) a Slashdotting, and (b) a set of honest questions: what should I do about this? I am not an American citizen, but the "inventors" of this technology (see their names in the top of the patent) have apparently succeeded in passing this ludicrous patent in the States. If my code doesn't count as prior art, Bruce Perens's Efence (which I clearly state my code was inspired from) is at least 12 years prior! Suggestions/cursing patent trolls most welcome.
Submission + - Security consultant detained by TSA for photos (blogspot.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Yesterday, computer security expert Robert Graham was detained by TSA for photographing the airport checkpoint, even though it's perfectly legal to do so. Good description of how to behave calmly and politely if you are participating in the National Opt Out Day today.
Submission + - Code-stealing drone vendor settles with devs (narconews.com)
An anonymous reader writes: An explosive lawsuit alleging that Boston-area tech company Netezza Corp. sold computer hardware loaded with âÅ"hacked,â faulty software to the CIA for use in the agencyââs Predator Drone program has now disappear from public view.
The parties to the lawsuit, which include Netezza and software developer Intelligent Integration Systems Inc. (IISI), announced last week that they had reached a settlement in the case. A day after that announcement, corporate giant IBM closed on a $1.7 billion deal to purchase Netezza.
The parties to the lawsuit, which include Netezza and software developer Intelligent Integration Systems Inc. (IISI), announced last week that they had reached a settlement in the case. A day after that announcement, corporate giant IBM closed on a $1.7 billion deal to purchase Netezza.
Submission + - Zeus Malware Gets a Major Upgrade (securityweek.com)
wiredmikey writes: The latest evolution of the popular financial malware, Zeus Trojan – Zeus 2.1 – now boasts features that help it avoid analysis and hostile takeover from law enforcement, researchers, or competing cybercriminal organizations.
Perhaps the most innovative enhancement in Zeus 2.1 is the new “Digital Signature” mechanism which verifies the digital signature on all files and data it downloads, while keeping most of the Trojan’s strings in encoded form and only decoding when needed. For example, when the Trojan needs a resource, it decodes it, uses it, and then destroys the decoded copy shortly thereafter, rendering the strings used by the Trojan “invisible” to an outsider and ensuring any researchers who may attempt to analyze the malware will be unable to access the data it has captured.
Perhaps the most innovative enhancement in Zeus 2.1 is the new “Digital Signature” mechanism which verifies the digital signature on all files and data it downloads, while keeping most of the Trojan’s strings in encoded form and only decoding when needed. For example, when the Trojan needs a resource, it decodes it, uses it, and then destroys the decoded copy shortly thereafter, rendering the strings used by the Trojan “invisible” to an outsider and ensuring any researchers who may attempt to analyze the malware will be unable to access the data it has captured.
