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Comment Re:First amendment? (Score 1) 250

by ripvlan (#48604375) Attached to: Sony Demands Press Destroy Leaked Documents

Where does Possession of Stolen Property enter the picture? The data, such as internal private emails, all stolen should have some kind of protection. Sure - probably not much because the cat is out of the bag.

The question I ask - if somebody has stolen something are you allowed to participate? "sorry - I found the store window broken and the cash drawer open...so I counted the money because it was in plain sight. And rifled through the secret employee documents while I was in there."

Submission + - A paper by Maggie Simpson and Edna Krabappel was accepted by two journals (vox.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A scientific study by Maggie Simpson, Edna Krabappel, and Kim Jong Fun has been accepted by two journals. Of course, none of these fictional characters actually wrote the paper, titled "Fuzzy, Homogeneous Configurations." Rather, it's a nonsensical text, submitted by engineer Alex Smolyanitsky in an effort to expose a pair of scientific journals — the Journal of Computational Intelligence and Electronic Systems and the comic sans-loving Aperito Journal of NanoScience Technology.

Submission + - AdNauseam browser extension quietly clicks on blocked ads

Submitted by stephenpeters
stephenpeters writes: The AdNauseam browser extension claims to click on each ad you have blocked with AdBlock in an attempt to obsfucate your browsing data. Officially launched mid November at the Digital Labour conference in New York, the authors hope this extension will register with advertisers as a protest against their pervasive monitoring of users online activities.

It will be interesting to see how automated ad click browser extensions will affect the online ad arms race. Especially as french publishers are currently planning to sue Eyeo GmbH the publishers of Adblock.

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: Dealing With Electronics-Induced Pseudo ADHD? 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: I am a graduate student in his twenties who used to be able to read dozens and dozens of lengthy books in his childhood. Over the years, I have noticed that my attention span and ability to concentrate has decreased noticeably, seemingly in synchronization with society's increased connectedness with the Internet and constant stimulation from computers and mobile devices alike. I have noticed that myself and others seem to have a difficult time really sitting down to read anything or focus on anything relatively boring for even more than ten seconds (the "TL;DR Generation," as I sometimes call it). I see it when socializing with others or even during a professor's lecture. It is not that I have developed true ADHD in a clinical sense, but rather pseudo ADHD, possibly due to electronics dependence and a constant need for stimulation. I have tried leaving my mobile phone at home and limiting myself to fewer browser tabs in an effort to regain concentration that I believe has been lost in recent years. Nonetheless, this is an issue that has begun to adversely affect my academic studies and may only get worse in time. What advice do fellow Slashdot users have with regard to reclaiming what has been lost? Should such behaviors simply be accepted as a sign of the times?

Submission + - Electric eels zap other fish via 'remote control' (sciencemag.org)

Submitted by sciencehabit
sciencehabit writes: Electric eels produce the most powerful shocks of any fish. They can zap prey with up to 600 volts of electricity, enough to hurt even a human. But the serpentlike fish have an even more amazing trick up their sleeve, new research reveals. The eels can shock their prey from meters away--even controlling their movements to some extent, like a remote controlled taser.

Comment Re:Who's their test group? (Score 1) 239

by ripvlan (#48523263) Attached to: Google Hopes To One Day Replace Gmail With Inbox

I'm not sure where they got the idea - but who understand what drives innovators.

I've been using Inbox for awhile and at first I liked it - it solved many of the problems that I have with email in general. I use the Tabs feature in GMail which hides email I probably don't want to read. This cut down the number of times my phone said "you've got mail" -- I can batch read/delete promotions.

Great I thought! Inbox does this better?! After a week of kicking it around the block I started to like it less and less. I'm still 100% eat-the-dog-food on my phone.

Sure it has it little bugs which I can overlook. It is the concepts that I'm evaluating.

First - I'm never sure I've read all of my email. The categories sort in different places depending upon the most recent email behind door #1. If I delete an email - then the whole category slides down and sorts based upon the next most recent email.

Second - Archive vs Delete. They assume that every email you read you'll want again later. Or everything you archive you'll never look at again (kind of the SMS approach - who reads SMS a week later?!) It is easier Done a message - but takes 2 taps to delete. For me - I either want to refer to the email again, or Never see it. "Hi - here are the directions to get to X" - I might need those again. "Here's a discount offer that must be used today" It's like that pile on my desk - either something I might want to read next month - or toss it in the trash. Inbox only has 1 mode of operation --- place it on that pile on the desk.

Third - it is a task based UI design. Most operations require 2 taps to get anything done. The basics are all single taps. But the next most used features are at least 2. Open Tasklist - Pick Task. ActionList -> Action. I've seen UI designs like this before and they become tedious to use in the long run.

Everytime I open Gmail I notice emails that I have forgotten to do something with. For whatever reason I have overlooked them in Inbox. Something just isn't right. Maybe I'm using it wrong. Someone emails me a question - I can't get to it now... Snooze it? Sounded like a great feature. Out of sight out of mind. GMail - it just lingers on my list. Inbox - it can stay hidden behind door #3 such that I forget about it. I can't deal with this Now..maybe later...but Snooze forces Later...and later is defined as "when I have free time."

The zero inbox sounded great. The problem is - my inbox is more a todo list and somethings are never really done. I tag things and then archive them - family photos, cool new toolkits to take a look at etc. A collection of crap all organized and packed away.

I've given them feedback. I go back to GMail to feel relaxed and make sure all of my email is read.

Submission + - Pizza Hut Tests New "Subconscious Menu" That Reads Your Mind

Submitted by HughPickens.com
HughPickens.com writes: Allison Griswold reports at Slate that Pizza Hut wants to help you order your food subconsciously with a new product that is being tested at 300 locations across the UK that uses eye-tracking technology to allow diners to order within seconds using only their eyes. The digital menu shows diners a canvas of 20 toppings and builds their pizza based on which toppings they look at longest. To try again, a diner can glance at a "restart" button. "Finally the indecisive orderer and the prolonged menu peruser can cut time and always get it right," a Pizza Hut spokesperson said in a statement, "so that the focus of dining can be on the most important part — the enjoyment of eating!" According to news release from Tobii Technology, the Subconscious Menu can determine which ingredients your mind and eyes have been looking at longest in exactly 2.5 seconds. The menu then uses a powerful mathematical algorithm to identify, from 4896 possible ingredient combinations, the customer’s perfect pizza. "Tests on the Subconscious Menu have been incredibly positive with 98% of people, recommended a pizza with ingredients they love."

Submission + - FBI Analysis of Wiper Malware Finds Korean Language Packs, Hard Coded Targets (securityledger.com) 1

Submitted by chicksdaddy
chicksdaddy writes: A copy of the FBI's recent five page FLASH alert reveals that the malware alleged to have wiped out systems at Sony Pictures Entertainment deployed a number of malicious modules, including a version of a commercial disk wiping tool on target systems. Samples of the malware obtained by the FBI were also found to contained configuration files created on systems configured with Korean language packs.

The use of Korean could strengthen theories that the destructive cyber attacks have links to North Korea, though it is hardly conclusive. It does appear that the attack was targeted at a specific organization. The malware analyzed by the FBI contained a hard coded list of IP addresses and computer host names.

Media reports have linked the malware to the destructive attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment, though the FBI FLASH alert does not name Sony or any other organization. A group calling itself #GOP – for Guardians of Peace – took responsibility for that attack last week.

Theories about the purpose of the attack on Sony abound. One of the more colorful explanations has the destructive cyber attack as retribution for The Interview, a new Sony film due out at Christmas starring Seth Rogen and James Franco. (http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/did-north-korea-hackers-leak-sony-films-in-revenge-for-comedy-the-interview-9896716.html)The two play western journalists who score an interview with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, and are then instructed by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency to assassinate him. The government of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) publicly criticized Sony for plans to release the film and lodged a complaint with the United Nations.(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/10914088/North-Korea-slams-US-film-The-Interview-about-Kim-Jong-un.html)

Submission + - You're Doing it All Wrong - Solar Panels Should Face West Not South

Submitted by HughPickens.com
HughPickens.com writes: In the US, a new solar project is installed every 3.2 minutes and the number of cumulative installations now stands at more than 500,000. For years, homeowners who bought solar panels were advised to mount them on the roof facing south to capture the most solar energy over the course of the day. Now Matthew L. Wald writes in the NYT that panels should be pointed south so that peak power comes in the afternoon when the electricity is more valuable. In late afternoon, homeowners are more likely to watch TV, turn on the lights or run the dishwasher. Electricity prices are also higher at that period of peak demand. “The predominance of south-facing panels may reflect a severe misalignment in energy supply and demand,” say the authors of the study, Barry Fischer and Ben Harack. Pointing panels to the west means that in the hour beginning at 5 p.m., they produce 55 percent of their peak output. But point them to the south to maximize total output, and when the electric grid needs it most, they are producing only 15 percent of peak.

While some solar panel owners are paid time-of-use rates and are compensated by the utility in proportion to prices on the wholesale electric grid, many panel owners cannot take advantage of the higher value of electricity at peak hours because they are paid a flat rate, so the payment system creates an incentive for the homeowner to do the wrong thing. The California Energy Commission recently announced a bonus of up to $500 for new installations that point west. "We are hoping to squeeze more energy out of the afternoon daylight hours when electricity demand is highest," says David Hochschild, lead commissioner for the agency’s renewable energy division, which will be administering the program. "By encouraging west-facing solar systems, we can better match our renewable supply with energy demand."

Submission + - 18th Century Law dredged up to force decryption of devices (theregister.co.uk) 1

Submitted by Cognitive Dissident
Cognitive Dissident writes: The Register has a story about federal prosecutors using a law signed by George Washington to force manufacturers to help law enforcement access encrypted data on devices they manufacture. The All Writs Act is a broad statute simply authorizing courts to issue any order necessary to obtain information within their jurisdiction.

Quoting the Register Article:
Last month, New York prosecutors successfully persuaded a judge that the ancient law could be used to force an unnamed smartphone manufacturer to help unlock a phone allegedly used in a credit card fraud case. The judge ordered the manufacturer to offer "reasonable technical assistance" to make the phone's contents available.

End quote. What will happen when this collides with Apple and Google deliberately creating encryption that they themselves cannot break?

Submission + - Security Researcher Creates Database of 300k Known-Good SCADA Files

Submitted by Trailrunner7
Trailrunner7 writes: A prominent security researcher has put together a new database of hundreds of thousands of known-good files from ICS and SCADA software vendors in an effort to help users and other researchers identify legitimate files and home in on potentially malicious ones.

The database, known as WhiteScope, comprises nearly 350,000 files, including executables and DLLs, from dozens of vendors. Among the vendors represented in the database are Advantech, GE, Rockwell, Schneider and Siemens. The project is the work of Billy Rios, a former Google security researcher who has worked extensively on ICS and SCADA security issues. WhiteScope is a kind of reverse VirusTotal for ICS and SCADA files, allowing people to determine which files are known to be good, rather than which are detected as malicious.

He said via email that the current iteration of the database is just the first version and that it represents about half of the software he has.

“I have 300,000 files in WhiteScope right now, and I plan to have half a million files in WhiteScope by the end of the year. I’ll have over a million the first quarter of 2015,” Rios said.

“Getting access to the software is the most difficult part, to get the artifacts that allowed WhiteScope to be created, it took over 5 years. If someone was more focused, they could probably do it in less time.”

Submission + - 10-Year-Old iTunes DRM Lawsuit Heading To Trial (itworld.com)

Submitted by itwbennett
itwbennett writes: Plaintiffs in the Apple iPod iTunes antitrust litigation complain that Apple married iTunes music with iPod players, and they want $350 million in damages. The lawsuit accuses Apple of violating U.S. and California antitrust law by restricting music purchased on iTunes from being played on devices other than iPods and by not allowing iPods to play music purchased on other digital music services. Late Apple founder Steve Jobs will reportedly appear via a videotaped statement during the trial, scheduled to begin Tuesday morning in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

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