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Submission + - Samsung Galaxy Grand I9080 and I9082 (Dual SIM) first sight (gismosnow.com)

rharish writes: "The most expected Samsung's Grand series has arrived. The Galaxy Grand I908 has got a magnificent 5 inch display with the WVGA screen-size of 800 x 480. The Android powered smart phone is expected to run on 4.1.2 Jelly Bean OS. Other features like dual core processor with 1.2 GHz speed, Samsung's Multi window mode, 2,100mAh battery, 8GB of built-in memory, 64GB expandable memory, Bluetooth, DLNA and WiFi makes this an adroable one. The Galaxy Grand has also got a very good, 8-megapixel camera on the back, and a 2-megapixel canera on the front for stunning 720P video calling."

Feed Google News Sci Tech: Pakistan lifts YouTube ban for three minutes, only to find more blasphemy - The (google.com)


The Nation

Pakistan lifts YouTube ban for three minutes, only to find more blasphemy
The Verge
Pakistan's government lifted its three-month ban on YouTube yesterday, only to completely reinstate the block just three minutes later, according to The New York Times. The ban was first implemented in mid-September, in response to a highly controversial ...
Pakistan Lifts YouTube Ban, for 3 MinutesNew York Times
Pakistan unblocks YouTube, then blocks it againSacramento Bee
Pakistan's Rehman Malik promises to unblock YouTubeBBC News
AFP-The Hindu-Pakistan Daily Times
all 148 news articles

BSD

Submission + - FreeBSD 9.1 released (freebsd.org)

tearmeapart writes: "The teams at FreeBSD have reached another great achievement with FreeBSD 9.1, with improvements to the already fantastic zfs features, more VM improvements (helping bringing FreeBSD to the next generation of VMs), and improvements in speed to many parts of the network system.
Support FreeBSD via the FreeBSD mall or download/upgrade Freebsd from a mirror. Unforunately, the torrent server is still down due to the previous security incident."

Operating Systems

Submission + - FreeBSD 9.1 Announced, Available for Download (paritynews.com)

hypnosec writes: FreeBSD Release Engineering Team has announced the availability of FreeBSD 9.1 for amd64, i386, powerpc64 and sparc64 architectures. The new release brings with it improved stability and some new features including new Intel GPU driver with GEM/KMS support; ZFS improvements; Jail devfs, nullfs, zfs mounting and configuration file support; sfxge driver for 10Gb Ethernet adapters based on Solarflare SFC9000 controller among others. FreeBSD has revealed that the 9.1 version if an extended support release and that it will be supported by the security team till December 31, 2014. Because of the delay in launch of 9.1 the end-of-life of version 9 has been extended to March 31, 2013.
BSD

Submission + - NetBSD releases 6.0.1, announces fund drive targeting 60.000 USD (netbsd.org)

northar writes: The other day the NetBSD project released their first update to the 6.x series, 6.0.1. They also (rather discreet) announced a fund drive targeting 60.000 USD before the end of 2012 in the releasenotes at http://www.netbsd.org/releases/formal-6/NetBSD-6.0.1.html.
They better get going if their donation page is anywhere recently updated: http://www.netbsd.org/donations/

Your Rights Online

Submission + - New documents detail FBI,bank crack down or "terrorist" group Occupy Wall Street (guardian.co.uk)

jvillain writes: The Guardian has up a story detailing the crack down on Occupy Wall Street. (OWS). It goes on to show how the FBI, DHS. Terrorist Fusion Centers and the banks all worked together to stifle descent.

"This production [of documents], which we believe is just the tip of the iceberg, is a window into the nationwide scope of the FBI's surveillance, monitoring, and reporting on peaceful protestors organizing with the Occupy movement These documents also show these federal agencies functioning as a de facto intelligence arm of Wall Street and Corporate America."

I guess the next question is how many Americans are now listed as part of a "terrorist group" by the government for their support of OWS?

Security

Submission + - The many, many uses of a hacked PC (krebsonsecurity.com)

Presto Vivace writes: "Exploring the Market for Stolen Passwords

Some of the most valuable data extracted from hacked PCs is bank login information. But non-financial logins also have value, particularly for shady online shops that collect and resell this information. Logins for everything from Amazon.com to Walmart.com often are resold — either in bulk, or separately by retailer name — on underground crime forums. A miscreant who operates a Citadel botnet of respectable size (a few thousand bots, e.g.) can expect to quickly accumulate huge volumes of “logs,” records of user credentials and browsing history from victim PCs. Without even looking that hard, I found several individuals on Underweb forums selling bulk access to their botnet logs; for example, one Andromeda bot user was selling access to 6 gigabytes of bot logs for a flat rate of $150.

"

Submission + - Free Software Foundation Campaigning To Stop UEFI SecureBoot (slashdot.org)

gnujoshua writes: "The article title is "Free Software Foundation Campaigning To Stop UEFI SecureBoot". However, this is simply not true. We want computer manufacturers to implement Secure Boot in a way that is secure. If a user can't disable Secure Boot and they are unable to sign their own software (e.g., bootloader, OS, etc), then we call that particular implementation "Restricted Boot." We don't want computer makers to implement Restricted Boot. We want them to implement Secure Boot and to provide a way for individuals to install a fully free OS on their computers. Many computer makers *are* implementing UEFI Secure Boot in this way and we want to continue encouraging them to do so. Please add a correction/update to this article because it is very damaging to our work. Below is the complete text of our statement that we ask people to sign:

We, the undersigned, urge all computer makers implementing UEFI's so-called "Secure Boot" to do it in a way that allows free software operating systems to be installed. To respect user freedom and truly protect user security, manufacturers must either allow computer owners to disable the boot restrictions, or provide a sure-fire way for them to install and run a free software operating system of their choice. We commit that we will neither purchase nor recommend computers that strip users of this critical freedom, and we will actively urge people in our communities to avoid such jailed systems."

Microsoft

Submission + - Linux on Microsoft Surface: What are the odds? (paritynews.com) 3

hypnosec writes: With Linux enthusiasts and distro publishers eagerly waiting for a solution to Microsoft’s UEFI SecureBoot, there are those who have already looked at the viability of Linux on Microsoft Surface tablet. Matthew Garrett, a.k.a. UEFI-guru, has revealed that those who are keeping their fingers crossed and hoping to find run Linux on Microsoft’s tablet are on an uphill walk and it doesn’t seem to be an easy one. So why is this? The answer is in the manner in which Microsoft has restricted the Surface from loading non-signed software / binaries by implementing UEFI SecureBoot. Microsoft has loaded its private key instead of the "Microsoft Windows UEFI Driver Publisher" key on the ARM based tablet, which is needed to sign non-Microsoft software like Linux distributions or loaders. So, no publisher key = no signed non-Microsoft binary = no Linux.
Microsoft

Journal Journal: Windows 8 falls behind Vista adoption pace at month 2 1

Computerworld's Gregg Keizer reports that based on NetApplications current adoption statistics for Windows 8, the operating system is not achieving market share as fast as Windows Vista. At the 2 month point Vista was at 2.2% of all Windows devices. 2 months past Launch Windows 8 has achieved a share of only 1.6%. In a related note, Fujitsu President Masami Y

Facebook

Submission + - Instant Facial Recognition Coupons. What could possibly go wrong? (redpepperland.com) 1

Press2ToContinue writes: "Facial recognition cameras are installed at local businesses. These cameras recognize your face when you pass by, then check you in at the location. Simultaneously, your smartphone notifies you of a customized deal based on your Like history."

From Facebook, whose track record for privacy problems is legendary.

What could possibly go wrong?

Privacy

Submission + - Oliver Stone: "The US has become an Orwellian State" (rt.com)

dryriver writes: Americans are living in an Orwellian state argue Academy Award-winning director Oliver Stone and historian Peter Kuznick, as they sit down with RT to discuss US foreign policy and the Obama administration’s disregard for the rule of law. Both argue that Obama is a wolf in sheep’s clothing and that people have forgiven him a lot because of the “nightmare of the Bush presidency that preceded him.” “He has taken all the Bush changes, he basically put them into the establishment, he has codified them,” Stone told RT. “It is an Orwellian state. It might not be oppressive on the surface, but there is no place to hide. Some part of you is going to end up in the database somewhere.” According to Kuznick, American citizens live in a fish tank where their government intercepts more than 1.7 billion messages a day. “That is email, telephone calls, other forms of communication.”

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