merbs - Slashdot User

Submission + - Do Cyber Bank Robbers Care If the Public Knows Their Secrets? (cio.com)

Submitted by

Curseyoukhan

on Thursday October 11, 2012 @01:28PM

Curseyoukhan writes: "What happens when news gets out that a gang is recruiting botmasters to help them with online breaking-and-entering? Does it help the banks or halt the attacks? Maybe, say experts."

Submission + - Antarctic Ice hits an all-time record high level

Submitted by dtjohnson on Thursday October 11, 2012 @11:56AM

dtjohnson writes: "Two weeks after a new record was set in the Arctic Ocean for the least amount of sea ice coverage in the satellite record, the ice surrounding Antarctica reached its highest ever level. Sea ice extended over 19.44 million square kilometers (7.51 million square miles) in 2012, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). The previous record of 19.39 million kilometers (7.49 million square miles) was set in 2006." Ice extent is reaching an all-time record high on the bottom of the planet just after ice reached an all-time record low on the top of the planet. What can it mean? Either there will soon be more ice at the top or less ice at the bottom or the planet will become seriously 'bottom heavy.' Now there is something to worry about...

Submission + - Why Do So Many Liberals 'Like' Mitt Romney on Facebook? (vice.com)

Submitted by

pigrabbitbear

on Thursday October 11, 2012 @11:29AM

pigrabbitbear writes: "Mother Jones reports that "In recent weeks, a host of liberal types have complained that their Facebook accounts have erroneously “liked” Romney’s page, and some are floating the theory that the Romney campaign has deployed a virus or used other nefarious means to inflate the candidate’s online stature. This conspiratorial notion has spawned a Facebook community forum, and its own page: “Hacked By Mitt Romney” (cute url: facebook.com/MittYouDidntBuildThat)"

So what’s going on? Is the Romney campaign engaging in some tech wizardry to hijack Americans’ Facebook pages? Seems unlikely, tech wizardry of any kind coming from the not-so-online-savvy campaign, but Romney did somehow manage to acquire millions of fake Twitter followers. And sure, Romney probably feels a bit envious of Obama’s 30 million ‘likers’, seeing as how he only has 8 million. But it looks like the Romney campaign isn’t behind this one — Facebook and its crappy mobile app is."

Submission + - Climate Change Forced a Nuclear Shutdown

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 14, 2012 @03:14PM

An anonymous reader writes: Thanks to record-breaking temperatures, more than half the nationâ(TM)s counties are in a declared state of emergencyâ"drought and heat waves, as youâ(TM)re likely aware, have been the norm this summer. Corn isnâ(TM)t growing, drought is holding, and nuclear power plants are shutting down.

A reactor at the Millstone nuclear plant in Waterford, Conn., has shut down because of something that its 1960s designers never anticipated: the water in Long Island Sound was too warm to cool it. Under the reactorâ(TM)s safety rules, the cooling water can be no higher than 75 degrees. On Sunday afternoon, the waterâ(TM)s temperature soared to 76.7 degrees, prompting the operator, Dominion Power, to order the shutdown of the 880-megawatt reactor.

Sure, scientists themselves have long been quite squeamish about drawing such a hardline link between climate change, and as a result the public remains skeptical about the notion. But this summer, some of the top climate scientists in the world made the unusual step of explicitly linking the excessive heat to climate change. In fact, NASAâ(TM)s top climate dog, James Hansen, has released a paper that produces the conclusion that "âoeYou would not have these extremes without global warming.â

Submission + - Ecuador grants Assange political asylum (rt.com) 3

Submitted by NSN A392-99-964-5927 on Tuesday August 14, 2012 @03:10PM

NSN A392-99-964-5927 writes: Ecuador has granted political asylum to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who requested it after the British Supreme Court refused to reopen his appeal against extradition to Sweden where he is wanted for questioning over alleged sex crimes.

Ecuador took a long time to assess the request, but finally announced that asylum had been granted on August 14th.

WikiLeaks founder has been holed up in the country’s London embassy since June 19.

The asylum guarantees him safe passage from the UK to Ecuador, says Professor Donald Rothwell from the Australian National University College of Law.

Submission + - In Vietnam: Being a Blogger Could Land You In Jail, Cost You Your Life (thediplomat.com) 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 14, 2012 @12:13PM

An anonymous reader writes: Bloggers in Vietnam are increasingly finding themselves thrown in jail. Despite freedom of speech being enshrined in the nations Constitution, many who speak out against the government are thrown in jail — thanks to a new law that forbids such talk.

In one desperate act, Dang Thi Kim Lieng lit herself on fire outside the Bac Lieu People’s Committee building in southern Vietnam. She died of her injuries. She was protesting the detention of her daughter who was arrested for blogging against the government. Three other bloggers are scheduled be tried under section 88 of the criminal code, which relates to propaganda against the nation. A maximum sentence could carry with it 20 years in jail.

Submission + - "Pirate" website owner sentenced to 4 years in prison (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by Grumbleduke on Tuesday August 14, 2012 @11:01AM

Grumbleduke writes: Anton Vickerman, who owned SurfTheChannel.com has been sentenced to 4 years in prison following his conviction last month for "conspiracy to defraud". This is the first successful prosecution of an individual in the UK for running a website merely linking to allegedly infringing content (several earlier cases collapsed or resulted in acquittals).

Vickerman was prosecuted for the controversial offence of "conspiracy to defraud" for 'facilitating copyright infringement', rather than for copyright infringement itself, and it is worth noting that the relevant copyright offence carries a maximum prison sentence of only 2 years, half of what was given.

FACT, the Hollywood-backed enforcement group who were heavily involved in the prosecution noted that the conviction "should send a very strong message to those running similar sites that they can be found, arrested and end up in prison", but it remains to be seen whether this will have any effect on pirate sites, or encourage development of the largely hopeless legal market for online film.

Slashdot Top Deals