Submission + - Anti-smartphones? For technophobes (mashable.com)
Submission + - Faces are the (mashable.com)
Anti-Smartphone Phone Launched For Technophobes 437
geek4 writes "A Dutch company has launched what it calls 'the world's simplest phone,' targeting users who are sick of new-generation models. Only capable of making and receiving calls, John's Phone is dubbed the world's simplest mobile phone, specifically designed for anti-smartphones users. It does not provide any hi-tech features. No apps. No Internet. No camera. No text messaging. All you have to do — in fact, all you can do — is call, talk and hang up."
Submission + - EU wants to bring sanity into copyrights (edri.org)
lordholm writes: The European Digital Rights Initiative reports that Commissioner Kroes wants to bring sanity into the copyright debate. On the 5th of November, Kroes attended the "Avignon Forum for the international meetings of culture, economy and media", and in the speech held; Kroes stated that copyright regulations needed to change and that content gatekeepers (i.e. record companies) needed to adapt to the new world. Among the items that the Commission is working on are the harmonisation of blank media levies (which varies a lot around the EU) and the introduction of pan-European licensing.
Emergency Broadcast System Coming To Cell Phones 256
gambit3 writes "The Emergency Broadcast System that interrupts TV programming in times of crisis is jumping to a new format where it might be able to reach you better — on your cell phone. The communications company Alcatel-Lucent announced Tuesday that it's creating a Broadcast Message Center that will allow government agencies to send cell phone users specific information in the event of a local, state or national emergency. It will be similar to the TV alerts in that the text messages will be geographically targeted for areas where a tornado alert or major road closure, for example, is in effect."
Submission + - Pastor: Married Church Leaders Must Drop Facebook (nj.com) 2
WrongSizeGlass writes: Rev. Cedric Miller is ordering about 50 married church officials to delete their Facebook accounts or resign from their leadership positions. Miller said 20 couples from his Living Word Christian Fellowship Church have recently run into marital trouble after a spouse connected with an ex-flame via the social networking site. On Sunday, he plans to "strongly suggest" that all married people to stop using Facebook, lest they endanger their marriage.
Is Facebook now one of the Deadly Sins? Is it the latest excuse for infidelity or just the latest scapegoat?
Is Facebook now one of the Deadly Sins? Is it the latest excuse for infidelity or just the latest scapegoat?
Submission + - Is the modern Facebook messaging system secure? (mashable.com)
Submission + - Email Apps to Make Life Easier (techcrunch.com)
Submission + - iPad as Remote Control and TV Guide (mashable.com)
samesurf writes: Your iPad as your remote control and TV Guide for Comcast
Submission + - Facebook and Google... the new monopolists? (wsj.com)
samesurf writes: Facebook and Google: the new monopolists?
Submission + - Microsoft vs McAfee:How free antivirus outperforme (zdnet.com)
suraj.sun writes: Microsoft vs. McAfee: How free antivirus outperformed paid
How effective is free antivirus software? I had a chance to see a real, in-the-wild example just this month, and the results were, to put it mildly, unexpected. The bottom line? Microsoft’s free antivirus solution found and removed a threat that two well-known paid products missed.
Microsoft Security Essentials had detected several files files that it considered malicious. One was a rigged PDF file (not shown here). The other was a single file in the Java cache folder on this system that contained three separate exploits. Using the information in the MSE history pane, I found the file and uploaded it to Virustotal.com, which is a free service that allows you to scan a suspicious file using 43 separate antivirus engines.
Only 17 of 43 antivirus products detected this as a threat. The full results page showed the identification, if any, for each product on the list. Microsoft, Symantec, Avast, and F-Secure were among the engines that flagged the file. But the majority didn’t.
ZDNet: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/microsoft-vs-mcafee-how-free-antivirus-outperformed-paid/2614
How effective is free antivirus software? I had a chance to see a real, in-the-wild example just this month, and the results were, to put it mildly, unexpected. The bottom line? Microsoft’s free antivirus solution found and removed a threat that two well-known paid products missed.
Microsoft Security Essentials had detected several files files that it considered malicious. One was a rigged PDF file (not shown here). The other was a single file in the Java cache folder on this system that contained three separate exploits. Using the information in the MSE history pane, I found the file and uploaded it to Virustotal.com, which is a free service that allows you to scan a suspicious file using 43 separate antivirus engines.
Only 17 of 43 antivirus products detected this as a threat. The full results page showed the identification, if any, for each product on the list. Microsoft, Symantec, Avast, and F-Secure were among the engines that flagged the file. But the majority didn’t.
ZDNet: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/microsoft-vs-mcafee-how-free-antivirus-outperformed-paid/2614
Tablet Prototype Needs No External Power Supply 110
timothy writes "I'd like to see computing devices with no need for an external power supply — an e-book reader, a general knock-about PDA, a phone — all kinds of things. But there's a certain heart-strings appeal to such a computer intended as an educational tool for precisely those kind of places where basic infrastructure (like the provision of electricity) is a stumbling block. Perhaps built-in solar makes more sense, in more places, than the hand-cranked power the OLPC project ended up dropping from their laptops-for-kids program."
Submission + - Video Games Found to Enhance Visual Attention (industrygamers.com)
donniebaseball23 writes: Reporting on new research from WIREs Cognitive Science, IndustryGamers writes: "Action games like Call of Duty and Halo can enhance visual attention, the ability that helps us focus on relevant visual information. The mental mechanism allows people to select pertinent visual information and ignore irrelevant information. It suggests that action titles can be used to augment military training, educational tools, and correct visual deficits." Shawn Green, co-author of the study, commented, "At the core of these action video game-induced improvements appears to be a remarkable enhancement in the ability to flexibly and precisely control attention, a finding that could have a variety of real-world applications. For example, those in professions that demand 'super-normal' visual attention, such as fighter pilots, would benefit enormously from enhanced visual attention, as their performance and lives depend on their ability to react quickly and accurately to primarily visual information."
Exciting Kinect Stuff Already Coming Out 200
Just last week we learned that the Kinect had been hacked wide open and already we're seeing a flood of innovative stuff coming out. Jamie found a page with a lot of pictures and screenshots, and Engadget has more.
