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Microsoft

Submission + - Xbox will get Skype app (pcadvisor.co.uk)

Submitted by blusquid
blusquid writes: The firm which bought Skype for more than $8m has accidentally made the announcement by way of a job listing.

The software development engineer position is within a new Xbox Skype team suggesting development will be underway soon.

The job listing said: "We’re building the next generations of our products and technology right here in London and Skype is looking to hire a Software Development Engineer to contribute to the development of our experiences on Xbox."
"You will be designing and developing next generation scalable services for millions of end users." it added.
Security

Submission + - Student hacks school computer and changes grades (whdh.com)

Submitted by
concealment
concealment writes: "Bueller changed the number of absences he had, but investigators say a Pelham High School student allegedly changed his grades.

School officials aren’t saying how the student got access or if any other students are involved. The superintendent is only saying the student was disciplined, but declined to elaborate."
Privacy

Submission + - Berners-Lee: You've Got Our Data, Show Restraint (itworld.com)

Submitted by
itwbennett
itwbennett writes: "Your browsing behavior may reveal more personal information than you'd tell your own mother. Which is why Tim Berners-Lee is urging technology companies to 'show more restraint' in how they use the information they hoover up. 'We're moving towards a world in which people agree not to use information for particular purposes. It's not whether you can get my information, it's when you've got it, what you promise not to do with it,' said Berners-Lee, speaking out against the U.K.'s proposal to allow government intelligence to monitor digital communications."

Submission + - Can Beetroots Make Burgers Healthier? (medindia.net)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Researchers from University of Aberdeen are currently conducting a new study to test whether adding beetroot could make burgers healthier.
Security

Submission + - Tech experts rubbish UK gov't web snooping tactics (techworld.com)

Submitted by sweetpea86
sweetpea86 writes: The UK government's proposal to separate communications data from content, as part of new plans to allow intelligence services to monitor all internet activity, is infeasible according to a panel of technology experts.

Speaking at the 'Scrambling for Safety' conference in London, Ross Anderson, professor of security engineering at the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory, said that the distinction between traffic data as being harmless and content as being sensitive is becoming less and less relevant.

“Now that people are living more and more of their lives online, the pattern of who you communicate with and in what order gives away pretty well everything,” he said. “This means that, in data protection terms, traffic data is now very often going to be specially sensitive data.”
Privacy

Submission + - Europe agrees to send airline passenger data to US (computerworlduk.com) 1

Submitted by Qedward
Qedward writes: The European Parliament has approved the controversial data transfer agreement, the bilateral PNR (passenger name register), with the US which requires European airlines to pass on passenger information, including name, contact details, payment data, itinerary, email and phone numbers to the Department of Homeland Security.

Under the new agreement, PNR data will be "depersonalised" after six months and would be moved into a "dormant database" after five years. However the information would still be held for a further 15 years before being fully "anonymised".

The PNR data will be stored in the US's Automated Targeting System (ATS). ATS is used to improve the collection, use, analysis, and dissemination of information that is gathered for the primary purpose of targeting, identifying, and preventing potential terrorists and terrorist weapons from entering the US...

Comment Disgusting (Score 1) 1

by blusquid (#39662033) Attached to: Women in Uzbekistan Forcibly or Unknowingly Sterilized By the Gov't
This is horrible, and a major human rights' violation. "The government stressed that Uzbekistan's exceptional record in protecting mothers and babies should be considered a model of the world." A model? Protecting? To take out a woman's uterus and sterilize them without their consent or knowledge? More like cruel and inhumane. This needs to be investigated and stopped immediately. Population control to address certain societal problems is absolutely possible without cutting women open and taking out their organs and forcibly taking away their right to be mothers.
Google

Submission + - Google+ Gets a Simple and Beautiful Design Overhaul (gizmaestro.com)

Submitted by
gizmaestro
gizmaestro writes: "Google has announced that Google+ is getting a major design with a new user interface to make things easier to share. With a new focus on customisation, improved photo and video experiences, and a new hangouts interface — among many other changes. The new design has not rolled out to everyone yet, it should be rolling out over the next few days.

Read more: http://gizmaestro.com/11/04/2012/social-media/google-gets-a-simple-and-beautiful-design-overhaul/#ixzz1rqqFInET"

Submission + - Researchers Discover Fungi That Eat Plastics (yahoo.com) 1

Submitted by AstroPhilosopher
AstroPhilosopher writes: Recycling has long been used to attempt to limit plastic waste disposal. However, it does nothing to limit the amount of new plastic we produce along with the plastic that makes it to landfills.

Now researchers have discovered a fungus that can eat polyurethane even in anaeorbic environments; along with another that when combined with cornhusks, can be used to create biodegradable styrofoam.
News

Submission + - Women in Uzbekistan Forcibly or Unknowingly Sterilized By the Gov't (medicaldaily.com) 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Authorities in Uzbekistan have reportedly been running a secret program in the last two years to sterilize women, often without their knowledge or consent, according to the BBC. Adolat, a victim of the secret sterilization program, told BBC that she had went to see a doctor and discovered that she had been sterilized after birth to her daughter by Caesarean section.
Space

Submission + - 'UFO Galaxy' Snapped By Hubble Telescope (gizmocrazed.com)

Submitted by Diggester
Diggester writes: Hubble has recently spotted a 'UFO' but that's no alien ship rather a whole galaxy filled with stars. The space telescope has yet again presented us with a mind blowing photo of a galaxy far off in the universe and this particular 'UFO' galaxy is 35 million light years away from Earth that has been officially named as NGC 2683.
Government

Submission + - Expect a flood of competitions as US tries to spur public inventions (networkworld.com)

Submitted by
coondoggie
coondoggie writes: "When it comes to stirring the brains of genius, a good competition can bring forward some really great ideas. That’s the driving notion behind myriad public competitions, or challenges as they are often labeled, that will take place in the near future sponsored by your US government. The competitions are increasing by design as part of the $45 billion America Competes Act renewed by Congress last year that gave every federal department and agency the authority to conduct prize competitions, according to the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy."

Submission + - Matt Groening Reveals Springfield is in his home state of Oregon (npr.org)

Submitted by TheSeventh
TheSeventh writes: Simpsons creator Matt Groening has revealed the location of the real Springfield: It's in Oregon. In an interview with Smithsonian magazine http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Matt-Groening-Reveals-the-Location-of-the-Real-Springfield.html, posted online Tuesday, Groening credits the name to the hit TV show Father Knows Best. The show "took place in the town of Springfield, and I was thrilled because I imagined that it was the town next to Portland, my hometown," he says. "When I grew up, I realized it was just a fictitious name. I also figured out that Springfield was one of the most common names for a city in the U.S. In anticipation of the success of the show, I thought, 'This will be cool; everyone will think it's their Springfield.' And they do."

Submission + - DoJ sues Apple and five other publishers over eBook price-fixing/anticompetition (wsj.com)

Submitted by MrKevvy
MrKevvy writes: "The U.S. filed an antitrust lawsuit Wednesday against Apple Inc. AAPL +0.73% and five of the nation's largest publishers, alleging they conspired to limit competition for the pricing of e-books.

The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court by the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division, alleges Apple and the publishers reached an agreement where retail price competition would cease, retail e-books prices would increase significantly and Apple would be guarantee a 30% "commission" on each e-book sold."

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