Personally, I'd like to propose raising money for a giant colander. All hail the giant spaghetti monster!!

Actually, the Police did jam a camera up someone's ass in New Mexico recently - without proper cause. Details here: http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/11/05/man-seeks-millions-after-nm-police-force-colonoscopy-in-drug-search

William Alsup deserves a medal for finally pushing those trolls a little. Too long have they been getting away with venue shopping and the abusive use of threats to sue. Time to sit back and watch the fireworks...

So they got a court opinion that said it was unconstitutional, yet they just ignored it. Someone must be accountable for that! Aren't all US federal officers sworn to uphold the constitution of the United States of America - all the way up to the president? At the very least, someone should be tried for contempt of court. No matter the justification and possible reasons for the NSA program, they can't just ignore the highest law of the land. Or can they? It is a very slippery slope.

These attacks are actually a little too easy to effectuate. The drive to outsource to third world countries and lack of training for local staff means that they are all a prime target for a social engineering attacks. It does not take a lot of organised resources to then create the requisite diversion for the often overwhelmed security staff and you have a big win in the pipeline. Of course it requires some skill, but nothing more than a course or two at Blackhat USA will give you. If you also have the benefits of the funds of a large Russian crime syndicate and the personal "motivation" that flows from that, along with an almost zero risk of prosecution due to jurisdictions - hell - why wouldn't you go for it?

The bottom line is that we need to harden up our defences more and more. We may even have to disconnect essential financial infrastructure from the internet and bring it back onto a completely private network that it costs a substantial amount of money to join and be authenticated to. It should come with the proviso that any device connecting to it, could also not be connected to the internet or an unknown intranet device at the same time. This would not be bulletproof, but it would substantially reduce the risk.

Not lazy, just time poor. Some of us security professionals haven't got the time to play with distros, find the right drivers, mess around with package levels , find a proper sturdy case and all the rest. We just need a tool. Even the most expensive version of the Pineapple is less than half of what we charge per hour. I only spend time building my own hacking tools when I'm doing something out of the ordinary or if I have to make a hacking device look like it's not one. The things the Pineapple does is just pen-testing for dummies - but sadly, often that is enough to get through. I always start with the basics and move to more complicated attacks only if I have to. Same as any other genuine blackhat out there.

And this minor usability improvement on Youtube made the Slashdot front page why?????

Is this really "News that matters"?

Seriously?????

Even though the actions of these low-life, sewer-dwelling misfits angers me, I can't help but wonder why the punishment in the US is on a scale that you wouldn't even get for premeditated murder in most other countries. Aaron Swartz payed the ultimate price for such over the top threats of deprivation of liberty.

At what point does the punishment no longer fit the crime? Sure, confiscate all the profits, bankrupt them, take all their assets and lock them up for a couple of years. But 30-40 years? For real? Why not just send them to Mars or something? Locking them up for 5 years without access to computers would ensure that when they get out their hacking skills would be so redundant they could never do it again.

Isn't the justice system supposed to be about a balance between punishment and reformation - not about revenge?

Yeah - same here - and never mind that the latest version of Android on my Galaxy Nexus made Bluetooth inoperable in my car too. Google has hundreds of bug reports, but are yet to offer a fix or even acknowledge that there is a problem. Sadly Google are letting the very people down they should be giving most attention: The early adopters and Android enthusiasts.

Mind you, I have a stock Galaxy Nexus and it is yet to offer the patch. If Google can't even provide a fix to the core community, what hope does OEM users have?

I never understood how they could allow this to happen in the first place. Clearly finding out the purpose of a gene will always be a discovery and not an invention. Discoveries are not patentable.

Redirect the spending into the space program and reap the rewards. The US had a golden age on the back of the technological advances made possible through the Gemini and Apollo programs. It can be done again...

Clearly fools and their money are easily parted. Can't fault the guy for seeing the opportunity though. I guess the question is: Is it immoral to make a buck from irrational fears when you didn't create the fears in the first place?