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Submission + - Illegal downloading: Australia internet firms must supply data (bbc.com)

Submitted by wabrandsma
wabrandsma writes: An Australian court has ordered internet service providers (ISPs) to hand over details of customers accused of illegally downloading a US movie.

In a landmark move, the Federal Court told six firms to divulge names and addresses of those who downloaded The Dallas Buyers Club.

Submission + - Smartphone-Enabled Replicators Are 3-5 Years Away, Caltech Professor Says

Submitted by merbs
merbs writes: In just a few years, we could see the mass proliferation of DIY, smartphone-enabled replicators. At least, Caltech electrical engineering professor Ali Hajimiri and his team of researchers thinks so. They’ve developed a very tiny, very powerful 3D imager that can easily fit in a mobile device, successfully tested its prowess, and published the high-res results in the journal Optics.

Submission + - Samsung says pre-installed apps on Galaxy S6, Edge can't be uninstalled (computerworld.com)

Submitted by mpicpp
mpicpp writes: Samsung's Galaxy S6 and Edge smartphones, which arrive in stores Friday, have received mostly positive reviews from critics, largely for superior styling and their metal and glass construction.

Still, there has been criticism about the bloatware pre-installed on the devices. At one point, before review units were widely distributed, reports based on XDA Developers Forum posts indicated many pre-installed apps could be removed.

The question then arose as to whether "removed" meant Samsung would allow the apps to be completely uninstalled so that they weren't taking up storage space or other phone resources.

On Monday, a Samsung spokeswoman clarified in an email to Computerworld that Samsung's pre-installed apps can be disabled on both the S6 and the Edge but cannot be uninstalled. She clarified that "disabled" did not mean the apps can be uninstalled or otherwise totally removed, but can only be "hidden from view."

Submission + - Windows 10 Successor Carries Codename 'Redstone' And Will Splash Land In 2016 (hothardware.com) 1

Submitted by MojoKid
MojoKid writes: Windows 10 isn't even out the door yet, so what better time than now to talk about its successor? Believe it or not, there's a fair bit of information on it floating around already, with its codename being particularly interesting: Redstone. Following in the footsteps of 'Blue' and 'Threshold', Redstone is an obvious tie-in to Microsoft's purchase of Minecraft, which it snagged from Mojang last year. Redstone is an integral material in the game, used to create simple items like a map or compass as well as logic gates for building electronic devices, like a calculator or automatic doors. The really important news is that we could see Windows Redstone sometime in 2016.

Submission + - A Government Agent Was Also Tipping Off Silk Road 2, Sources Say (vice.com)

Submitted by sarahnaomi
sarahnaomi writes: Last week, the public learned how two US law enforcement agents allegedly made hundreds of thousands of dollars off the digital black market Silk Road, while simultaneously working to take down the site.

One of the officers, Carl Mark Force IV, is also being charged with acting as a paid double agent by providing information obtained in his position as a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent to the Silk Road’s owner.

It now seems that Silk Road 2, the site that was set up just weeks after the original, may have also had a similar arrangement—either with Force, or another law enforcement informant who was leaking information to the black market’s operators.

Motherboard interviewed two Silk Road 2 staff members who independently claimed the existence of such an informant. This informant was paid $500 a week—the same salary Force is under investigation for receiving from the original Silk Road under one of his many alleged monikers—in exchange for information about the government investigation, according to the staffers. The arrangement began in November 2013, just after the original Silk Road was shut down, they said.

Submission + - $10 billion wasted on military projects

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: In the past decade the Pentagon's Missile Defence Agency has wasted $10 billion on defense projects that were either impractical and impossible.

There's no single quote about the absurd stupidity of these projects because the article is filled with so many. Read it all and weep. However, here is one quote which indicates who we should blame:

President George W. Bush, in 2002, ordered an urgent effort to field a homeland missile defense system within two years. In their rush to make that deadline, Missile Defense Agency officials latched onto exotic, unproven concepts without doing a rigorous analysis of their cost and feasibility. Members of Congress whose states and districts benefited from the spending tenaciously defended the programs, even after their deficiencies became evident.

We get the government we deserve. Until we stop electing candidates (from either party) who promise pork, we will continue to get pork, and waste, and a society that is steadily going bankrupt.

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