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Technology (Apple)

Submission + - Aussie education dept picks Apple Macs

Submitted by daria42
daria42 writes: Western Australia's Education Department will install Apple Macs in a large number of schools throughout the state in a massive new project. The department will install Intel-based iMacs, Mac minis and MacBooks.
Google

Submission + - Youtube Claims DMCA Covers Public Events

Submitted by
simon
simon writes: "Does the DMCA prevent you from recording public events? Apparently so, as one West Australian Citizen Journalist find out last week when YouTube removed his public recordings of the Red Bull Air Race at the request of IMG Media. From the article:

...it raises a much larger issue with respect to copyright. Are IMG Media, the people that organize the Red Bull Air Race, suggesting that they own the copyright to all free public displays of the Red Bull Air Race? What type of precedent would that set?
"
Databases

Microsoft Plays Up Open Source 224

Posted by kdawson from the coopetition dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Recently Microsoft's open source software lab posted PostgreSQL on Windows: A Primer. Postgres is one of the longest running open source databases — it has been around for nearly 11 years. The powerful object-relational database is a direct competitor to other OSS databases, as well as Microsoft's SQL Server 2005. So why is Microsoft promoting it? I get Redmond's interest in boosting anything that runs on Windows as a platform. Is this simply a case of left-hand, right-hand, or is something deeper going on?"
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - Put a price on switching jobs.

Submitted by
Anonymous Coward
Anonymous Coward writes: "I've been out of school for little more than a year and I have only good things to say about the job market! So far, there doesn't seem to be any lack of demand for a good .NET developer. I've got to admit, though, I feel a little disloyal at this point. Several great job offers have come my way and I've taken them. My resume is starting to make me look a bit restless and it worries me. Until now I've just chalked it up to "I'm just settling in," but now another opportunity has been dropped into my lap. Would I be digging my own grave by taking this job? It'd be my fourth job in 16 months but each offered a promotion and a 30% to 40% raise. I know better than to put a price on job satisfaction but I'm pretty certain I'd be happy there. Is being branded as a "hot potato" enough to keep you from switching? What's your price on this stigma?"
The Internet

Submission + - Microsoft: The World's Biggest Cybersquatter?

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: What happens if you use Internet Explorer and try to visit a domain that doesn't actually exist? Microsoft sends you to an automatically generated results page filled with related pay-per-click ads. Click any ad and MS earns $$$. Earthlink is doing this too and Charter just got into the game. Is Firefox next?

http://www.dailydomainer.com/200784-microsoft-eart hlink-charter-cybersquatting.html
User Journal

Journal Journal: Steve Ballmer, infringement claims, and an open letter

Journal by Quixotic Raindrop
Here recently on /., there was a news item about an open letter to Microsoft's Steve Ballmer, essentially calling Microsoft out on their claims that Linux infringes several patents that Microsoft claims to own. I like the idea; in fact I think it's vitally important that if there is a question of trademark, patent, or copyright infringement in Linux or other OSS/Free Software that it be identified and resolved. After reading the letter, t
Microsoft

Submission + - Windows Vista WGA Still Plagued By Problems

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: IWeek blogger Alex Wolfe writes that Vista is Still Plagued By Windows Genuine Advantage "False Postive" Problems. Along with his own experience (a support person hung up on him), he cites numerous cases on Microsoft's own forums where users have be forced to reactivate their copies of Vista and told there's a problem with their license.

[Messages like this: "After running vista for a few weeks, I rebooted this morning to find that my purchased copy of vista is no longer genuine."]
Based on the volume of problems, Wolfe characterized Microsoft's downplaying of false-positives last month as "spin control." Right now, the only "technical" solution when you run into this is to type "slui 4" into the command line and then go through phone activation. Have you had a problem with WGA? Do you agree with Wolfe that WGA should be shut off until Microsoft can resolve the 'false positives' problem? More importantly, do you think this could seriously undermine adoption of Vista?
Software

Submission + - File Deleting Software a Hoax

Submitted by
teamhasnoi
teamhasnoi writes: "In a followup to yesterday's story the developer of Display Eater has responded to the poor publicity, admitting that the app does not delete files. Quote: "It was my hope that if people thought this happened, they would not try to pirate the program. I could stop wasting time writing copy protection routines to be broken over and over. It turned out to be a mistake." He has now made the application free by posting a registration code, and plans to open-source it."
The Internet

Submission + - BitTorrent going legit - why would users pay?

Submitted by Tookis
Tookis writes: As of Monday you'll be able to pay for movie downloads from BitTorrent.com, but why should people use file sharing for good instead of evil? While there are plenty of legit uses for the BitTorrent technology, obviously the number one use is to illegally download files such as movies, television and music. So what makes BitTorrent.com think these people will suddenly be prepared to pay for what they already get for free? Will files from the BitTorrent Entertainment Network come down faster than illegal BitTorrent files from the wider internet? Not likely, as the factors that affect peer-to-peer download speeds are still at play regardless. And why should people use a legit BitTorrent with DRM instead of say iTunes? http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/9922/1085/
Security

Submission + - Surveillance Cameras Get Smarter

Submitted by
atanas
atanas writes: "A security camera is under development which will decide PREEMPTIVELY if you have criminal or otherwise untoward intentions. "Researchers and security companies are developing cameras that not only watch the world but also interpret what they see. Soon, some cameras may be able to find unattended bags at airports, guess your height or analyze the way you walk to see if you are hiding something." http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SMART_SURVE ILLANCE?SITE=WIRE&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT"
Windows

Journal Journal: Microsoft's Real Plan?

Journal by TemporalBeing
What's Microsoft's real plan? With the advent of .Net, the Microsoft/Novell deal, the splitting of Microsoft into three major groups internally, and the impossibility of Windows being developed the same way that Vista was for the the generation of Windows it becomes quite possible that Windows as we know it - with an NT Kernel and all - is no longer the future of Windows. Just how might Microsoft surive? Check out my full blog describing
Security

Tor Open To Attack 109

Posted by kdawson from the peeling-the-onion dept.
An anonymous reader writes "A group of researchers have written a paper that lays out an attack against Tor (PDF) in enough detail to cause Roger Dingledine a fair amount of heartburn. The essential avenue of attack is that Tor doesn't verify claims of uptime or bandwidth, allowing an attacker to advertise more than it need deliver, and thus draw traffic. If the attacker controls the entry and exit node and has decent clocks, then the attacker can link these together and trace someone through the network."
Internet Explorer

Submission + - IE7 and FF 2.0 share vulnerability

Submitted by hcmtnbiker
hcmtnbiker writes: Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox 2.0 share a logic flaw. The issue is actually more severe, as the two versions of the Microsoft and Mozilla browsers are not the only ones affected. The vulnerability impacts Internet Explorer 5.01, Internet Explorer 6 and Internet Explorer 7, and Firefox 1.5.0.9. "In all modern browsers, form fields (used to upload user-specified files to a remote server) enjoy some added protection meant to prevent scripts from arbitrarily choosing local files to be sent, and automatically submitting the form without user knowledge. For example, ".value" parameter cannot be set or changed, and any changes to .type reset the contents of the field," said Michal Zalewski, the person that discovered the IE7 flaw. There are Proof of concepts for both IE7 and firefox

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