Catch up on stories from the past week (and beyond) at the Slashdot story archive

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×

Submission + - McAfee to Acquire Stonesoft

Submitted by Orome1
Orome1 writes: McAfee and Stonesoft today announced a definitive agreement to initiate a conditional tender offer for the acquisition of Stonesoft for approximately $389 million in cash. Stonesoft delivers software-based cyber security solutions to secure information flow and security management. Stonesoft’s product portfolio of next-generation firewalls, evasion prevention systems, and SSL VPN solutions addresses businesses of all sizes.

Submission + - Microsoft's "New Coke" Moment

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: Remember New Coke? Twenty-eight years ago, Coca-Cola replaced the secret formula of its flagship brand, only to announce the return of the "classic" formula just 79 days later. Had it launched in 2013, Coke's Jay Moye suspects a social media backlash would have prompted it to reverse itself even sooner. In a timely follow-up, ZDNet's Steven Vaughan-Nichols points out that Microsoft is facing its own New Coke moment with Windows 8. 'Does Ballmer have the guts to admit he made a mistake and give users what they clearly want?' Vaughan-Nichols asks. 'While it's too late for Windows 8, Blue might give us back our Start button and an Aero-like interface. We don't know.'
Google

Is Google Glass Too Nerdy For the Mainstream? 533

Posted by Soulskill from the works-for-me dept.
New submitter some old guy writes "Marcus Wohlsen writing in Wired Business makes a good case for why no amount of marketing hype will cure Google Glass of its inherent dorkiness. 'Google Glass fails to acknowledge that walking around with a camera mounted on the side of your face at all times makes you look dorky. Think of the Bluetooth headset: it’s a really sensible way to use your phone without having to take it out of your pocket—so sensible that there’s really no reason not to keep that headset in your ear most of the time. But you don’t, do you?' He also makes an interesting comparison to the Segway debacle: 'If we were all riding around on Segways now, cities would probably be better places to live compared to the car-infested streets we still endure. But that transformation hasn't happened. And it won’t. Why? Because Segways are lame. They’re too rational. They fail to acknowledge all the irrational reasons people love their cars.'"

Submission + - Multi-Stage Exploit Attacks for More Effective Malware Delivery (net-security.org)

Submitted by Orome1
Orome1 writes: Most drive-by exploit kits use a minimal exploit shellcode that downloads and runs the final payload. This is akin to a two-stage ICBM (InterContinental Ballistic Missile) where the first stage, the exploit, puts the rocket in its trajectory and the second stage, the payload, inflicts the damage. In the cybercrime world, the de-coupling of the first stage from the payload is designed to make sure that an exploit kit is as generic as possible and can deliver all possible payloads, provided that the payloads only need native execution. Trusteer found that a Java exploit kit called ‘g01pack’ has added another ‘mid-course’ stage, turning the infection process into a multi-stage attack. The first stage of the attack, the exploit shellcode, executes a second stage, in which a Java class runs in a separate Java process. This second Java process then downloads and runs the final payload. We believe this discovery represents the first instance of an exploit kit delivering its payload via a multi-stage attack.
Graphics

Haswell Integrated Graphics Promise 2-3X Performance Boost 133

Posted by timothy from the more-better-cheaper-faster dept.
crookedvulture writes "Intel has revealed fresh details about the integrated graphics in upcoming Haswell processors. The fastest variants of the built-in GPU will be known as Iris and Iris Pro graphics, with the latter boasting embedded DRAM. Unlike Ivy Bridge, which reserves its fastest GPU implementations for mobile parts, the Haswell family will include R-series desktop chips with the full-fat GPU. These processors are likely bound for all-in-one systems, and they'll purportedly offer close to three times the graphics performance of their predecessors. Intel says notebook users can look forward to a smaller 2X boost, while 15-17W ultrabook CPUs benefit from an increase closer to 1.5X. Haswell's integrated graphics has other perks aside from better performance, including faster Quick Sync video transcoding, MJPEG acceleration, and support for 4K resolutions. The new IGP will support DirectX 11.1, OpenGL 4.0, and OpenCL 1.2, as well." Note: Same story, different words, at Extreme Tech and Hot Hardware.

Submission + - Brain training software keeps ageing players sharp for months (nature.com)

Submitted by davide-nature
davide-nature writes: If you play the brain training game Double Decision, your cognitive fitness will improve, and it will be noticeably better even a year later. Scientists made people over the age of 50 play the game, which is designed to boost the speed at which players process visual stimuli. A year later, people who had played for just 10 hours had better skills than those who didn't — at least when it came to the Useful Field of View test, a cognitive test which requires a subject to identify items in a scene with just a quick glance. Anyone can test themselves (but it's not free): Double Decision is distributed by a software company in San Francisco called Posit Science.
Beer

Condensation On Your Beer != Good 275

Posted by timothy from the except-in-england dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Turns out that condensation on your favorite chilled beverage is a bad thing for keeping it cold. Two researchers conducted an experiment in their bathroom proving that condensation can raise the temperature of your beer by nine degrees!"

Submission + - Intel Announces Brian Krzanich as Next CEO (securityweek.com)

Submitted by wiredmikey
wiredmikey writes: Intel on Thursday announced that Brian Krzanich will take the reigns as chief executive officer (CEO) of the chip giant, succeeding Paul Otellini who previously announced that he would step down.

Krzanich has served as Intel’s chief operating officer since January 2012, and has held a series of technical and leadership roles since joining Intel in 1982, and will become the sixth CEO in Intel’s history.
Printer

BotObjects Announces First Full-Color Desktop 3D Printer 29

Posted by timothy from the print-me-some-soft-food dept.
Zothecula writes "In the ProDesk3D, 3D printing outfit botObjects has come up with not only the first full color desktop 3D printer, but thanks to its anodized aluminum body, unquestionably one of the prettiest. The company's goal was to think about how 3D printers might look in 5 years, aiming to put clear water between the ProDesk3D and its "kit-like contemporaries." To print in color, it uses a cartridge system capable of mixing five base colors of PLA."

Submission + - Serious website vulnerabilities continue to decrease (net-security.org)

Submitted by Orome1
Orome1 writes: In 2012, the average number of serious vulnerabilities per website continued to decline. Despite this, 86 percent of all websites tested were found to have at least one serious vulnerability exposed to attack every single day of 2012. With the exception of sites in the IT and energy sectors, all industries found fewer vulnerabilities in 2012 than in past years. Government websites had the fewest serious vulnerabilities with eight detected on average per website, followed by banking websites with 11 on average per website.

Submission + - Even The Ad Industry Doesn't Know Who's Tracking You (itworld.com)

Submitted by jfruh
jfruh writes: The Internet advertising industry is keen to stave off government privacy rules and opt-in-only browsers by loudly proclaiming its adherence to a self-imposed code of conduct. Yet a little digging shows that even "self-regulated" advertisers link to services that link to other services that nobody's really sure what they do. That's why, for instance, when you visit a page on the Sears website, your web browsing behavior is being collected by a company that sells ringtones and won't return emails asking about their privacy policy.
Education

Florida Teen Expelled and Arrested For Science Experiment 1078

Posted by timothy from the government-schooling dept.
First time accepted submitter ruhri writes "A 16 year-old girl in Florida not only has been expelled from her high school but also is being charged as an adult with a felony after replicating the classic toilet-bowl cleaner and aluminum foil experiment. This has quite a number of scientists and science educators up in arms. The fact that she's African American and that the same assistant state attorney has decided not to charge a white teenager who accidentally killed his brother with a BB gun has some thinking whether this is a case of doing science while black."
Science

New Camera Inspired By Insect Eyes 35

Posted by samzenpus from the looking-at-the-world-through-fly's-eyes dept.
sciencehabit writes "An insect's compound eye is an engineering marvel: high resolution, wide field of view, and incredible sensitivity to motion, all in a compact package. Now, a new digital camera provides the best-ever imitation of a bug's vision, using new optical materials and techniques. This technology could someday give patrolling surveillance drones the same exquisite vision as a dragonfly on the hunt."

Submission + - Teenager Expelled and Arrested for Science Experiment

Submitted by ruhri
ruhri writes: A 16 year-old girl in Florida not only has been expelled from her high school but also is being charged as an adult with a felony after replicating the classic toilet-bowl cleaner and aluminum foil experiment.

This has quite a number of scientists and science educators up in arms. The fact that she's African American and that the same assistant state attorney has decided not to charge a white teenager who accidentally killed his brother with a BB gun has some thinking whether this is a case of doing science while black.

Submission + - New Camera Inspired by Insect Eyes (sciencemag.org)

Submitted by sciencehabit
sciencehabit writes: An insect's compound eye is an engineering marvel: high resolution, wide field of view, and incredible sensitivity to motion, all in a compact package. Now, a new digital camera provides the best-ever imitation of a bug's vision, using new optical materials and techniques. This technology could someday give patrolling surveillance drones the same exquisite vision as a dragonfly on the hunt.

Slashdot Top Deals

Kleeneness is next to Godelness.

Close