Slashdot is powered by your submissions, so send in your scoop

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×

Submission + - Hacker given in-game death sentence (bbc.com)

Submitted by mpicpp
mpicpp writes: A character controlled by a hacker who used exploits to dominate online game Guild Wars 2 has been put to death in the virtual world.

The character, called DarkSide, was stripped then forced to leap to their death from a high bridge.
The death sentence was carried out after players gathered evidence about the trouble the hacker had caused.

This helped the game's security staff find the player, take over their account and kill them off.

Over the past three weeks many players of the popular multi-player game Guild Wars 2 have been complaining about the activities of a character called DarkSide. About four million copies of the game have been sold.

Via a series of exploits the character was able to teleport, deal massive damage, survive co-ordinated attacks by other players and dominate player-versus-player combat.
To spur Guild Wars' creator ArenaNet to react, players gathered videos of DarkSide's antics and posted them on YouTube.

The videos helped ArenaNet's security head Chris Cleary identify the player behind DarkSide, he said in a forum post explaining what action it had taken. Mr Cleary took over the account to carry out the punishment.
The video shows DarkSide being stripped to his underwear then made to leap from a high bridge in one of the game's cities. It also shows the character being deleted by Mr Cleary.

"Oh yah, he's also banned," he wrote. Several other accounts belonging to the same player have also been shut down.

Submission + - Russian Spacecraft Nears a Fiery Re-Entry (nytimes.com)

Submitted by mpicpp
mpicpp writes: A Russian spaceship on a failed cargo run to the International Space Station is falling fast and expected to hit Earth's atmosphere and burn up late on Thursday, satellite tracking websites showed.

The Progress-59 freighter was launched on April 28 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, but did not make it to the station, a $100 billion research laboratory that flies about 250 miles above Earth.

Ground controllers lost contact with the capsule, which was loaded with more than three tons of food, fuel and supplies for the station's six-member crew, shortly after it separated from the upper stage of its Soyuz launcher.

The tumbling spacecraft is expected to be tugged back into Earth's atmosphere around 9:36 p.m. Eastern timeon Thursday as it passes over China, the United States Air Force's contractor-operated Space-Track.org website showed.

Continue reading the main story
RELATED COVERAGE

A Russian rocket carrying the Progress M-27M cargo ship was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Tuesday.Russian Space Station Cargo Ship Is Said to Be Out of ControlAPRIL 29, 2015
Another prediction by Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, shows the capsule falling out of orbit between 6:13 p.m. and 9:51 p.m. Eastern on Thursday.

The spaceship and its cargo should incinerate in the atmosphere, Roscosmos said in a statement.

"Only a few small pieces of structural elements could reach the planet's surface" — similar to what happens at the end of routine Progress cargo missions, Roscosmos added.

Submission + - Self-destructing virus kills off PCs (bbc.com)

Submitted by mpicpp
mpicpp writes: A computer virus that tries to avoid detection by making the machine it infects unusable has been found.

If Rombertik's evasion techniques are triggered, it deletes key files on a computer, making it constantly restart.

Analysts said Rombertik was "unique" among malware samples for resisting capture so aggressively.

On Windows machines where it goes unnoticed, the malware steals login data and other confidential information.

Rombertik typically infected a vulnerable machine after a booby-trapped attachment on a phishing message had been opened, security researchers Ben Baker and Alex Chiu, from Cisco, said in a blogpost.

Some of the messages Rombertik travels with pose as business enquiry letters from Microsoft.

The malware "indiscriminately" stole data entered by victims on any website, the researchers said.
And it got even nastier when it spotted someone was trying to understand how it worked.

"Rombertik is unique in that it actively attempts to destroy the computer if it detects certain attributes associated with malware analysis," the researchers said.

Submission + - Woman Alerts Police of Hostage Situation Through Pizza Hut App (go.com)

Submitted by mpicpp
mpicpp writes: A Florida mother held hostage by her boyfriend used the Pizza Hut app to notify police she needed help, authorities said.

Cheryl Treadway, 25, was allegedly being held at knife point in her home by Ethan Nickerson, 26, in Avon Park on Monday, the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office told ABC News today.

"She was held hostage by him all day," Public Information Officer Nell Hays said.

Nickerson took away Treadway's phone, police said, but she was eventually able to persuade him to let her order a pizza using her Pizza Hut app.

"She told him, 'The kids are hungry. Let's order a pizza. Let's get them some food,'" Hays said, noting that's when Treadway was able to sneak in a written message through the delivery.

Along with her order of a small, classic pepperoni pizza, she wrote: "Please help. Get 911 to me," according to police. She also wrote: "911hostage help!"

Submission + - Uber? It's not in Kansas anymore (cnn.com)

Submitted by mpicpp
mpicpp writes: Need a cab in Kansas? You'll have to hail one the old-fashioned way. Uber isn't in Kansas anymore.

It stopped operations there Tuesday after the state legislature approved a new law the company says makes it "impossible" to keep operating.

Kansas legislators voted to override Gov. Sam Brownback's veto of new, stricter regulations on companies like Uber, that allow people to hail a ride with an app on their smartphone.

The governor said the new rules are "premature."
"To over-regulate or improperly regulate an emerging industry before the marketplace actors make proper arrangements is to invite more, problems, not less," he said in April, when he vetoed the legislation.

Uber first launched in Kansas about a year ago.
The company was actually on board with the original draft of the new rules. It required Uber to disclose certain information to customers, including how fares are calculated and the driver's license plate number before they get in the car. Uber already does those things in its app.

But, the final bill also requires Uber drivers to carry a level of insurance that the company said is not required in any other state.

Submission + - Wells Fargo charged with opening accounts without customers' permission (cnn.com)

Submitted by mpicpp
mpicpp writes: Wells Fargo is accused of opening up accounts and credit cards in customers' names without their authorization.

The accounts are being opened by Wells Fargo employees under pressure to meet unrealistic sales goals and quotas, according to the civil complaint filed by the Los Angeles City Attorney.

The complaint charges that bank employees opened new accounts for existing customers without their authorization, in order to meet sales quotas. The employees also allegedly transferred money from customers' authorized accounts to pay fees on the unauthorized accounts.

When fees on unauthorized accounts went unpaid, some customers were placed into collection. Others had negative information placed on their credit reports as a result.

The complaint, filed in California Superior Court on Monday, seeks a $2,500 fine for every unauthorized account, and seeks to have all of the money taken from customers returned. It did not estimate how much those penalties could cost the bank.

Wells Fargo said it would "vigorously defend" itself from the suit. But the statement it issued did not deny or even address whether its employees opened unauthorized accounts as charged.

Submission + - French parliament approves new surveillance rules (bbc.com)

Submitted by mpicpp
mpicpp writes: The French parliament has approved a controversial law strengthening the intelligence services, with the aim of preventing Islamist attacks.
The law on intelligence-gathering, adopted by 438 votes to 86, was drafted after three days of attacks in Paris in January, in which 17 people died.
The Socialist government says the law is needed to take account of changes in communications technology.
But critics say it is a dangerous extension of mass surveillance.
They argue that it gives too much power to the state and threatens the independence of the digital economy.

Main provisions of the new law:

Define the purposes for which secret intelligence-gathering may be used

Set up a supervisory body, the National Commission for Control of Intelligence Techniques (CNCTR), with wider rules of operation

Authorise new methods, such as the bulk collection of metadata via internet providers

Submission + - Apple pushing music labels to kill free Spotify streaming before Beats relaunch (theverge.com)

Submitted by mpicpp
mpicpp writes: Aggressive tactics from the music giant have garnered scrutiny from the Department of Justice.

The Department of Justice is looking closely into Apple’s business practices in relation to its upcoming music streaming service, according to multiple sources. The Verge has learned that Apple has been pushing major music labels to force streaming services like Spotify to abandon their free tiers, which will dramatically reduce the competition for Apple’s upcoming offering. DOJ officials have already interviewed high-ranking music industry executives about Apple’s business habits.

Apple has been using its considerable power in the music industry to stop the music labels from renewing Spotify’s license to stream music through its free tier. Spotify currently has 60 million listeners, but only 15 million of them are paid users. Getting the music labels to kill the freemium tiers from Spotify and others could put Apple in prime position to grab a large swath of new users when it launches its own streaming service, which is widely expected to feature a considerable amount of exclusive content. "All the way up to Tim Cook, these guys are cutthroat," one music industry source said.

Submission + - Internet Customers Surpass Cable Subscribers at Comcast (nytimes.com)

Submitted by mpicpp
mpicpp writes: The Internet is taking over television.

That shift is occurring at Comcast, where the number of people who subscribe to the company’s Internet service surpassed its total video subscribers for the first time during the second quarter this year.

Announced in an earnings call on Monday, the development signals a major turning point in the technological evolution sweeping across the media business, as the Internet becomes the gateway for information and entertainment.

Comcast, the country’s largest cable operator, abandoned its $45 billion takeover of Time Warner Cable last month after the deal drew regulatory scrutiny regarding concerns that the combined company would have too much control over the Internet.

Comcast is already the country’s largest broadband provider, with more than 22 million high-speed Internet customers.

Brian L. Roberts, Comcast’s chief executive, said in the call that the company was disappointed about the collapse of the deal but had moved on. He said that Comcast’s top priorities now were to advance its existing business and improve its poorly rated customer service.

Submission + - Montana man arrested after 'liking' his most wanted poster on Facebook (foxnews.com)

Submitted by mpicpp
mpicpp writes: A Montana man was arrested last month after he apparently "liked" his most wanted poster on a Crimestoppers Facebook page.

Levi Charles Reardon was arrested April 24 after he liked his photo on the Cascade County Crimestoppers Facebook page, according to the Great Falls Tribune. The newspaper reportedly captured a screenshot of it before Reardon revoked the like.

Reardon, 23, who is accused of felony forgery after he allegedly stole a wallet and cashed forged checks, was then apprehended by police without incident, the newspaper reported.

He made his initial court appearance last week. His arraignment is scheduled for Thursday.

Submission + - Facebook opens Internet.org to developers (telegraph.co.uk)

Submitted by mpicpp
mpicpp writes: Facebook has opened its Internet.org project up to developers in an effort to help those in developing countries get connected.

Facebook has invited developers to write new sites, services apps for its Internet.org platform in an attempt to boost the numbers of people in emerging markets connecting to the internet.
The decision has drawn criticism from online activists in India who expressed concern over the social network's control over all data accessed on the service, saying it violated the principles of an open web.
Internet.org offers free access via mobile phones to pared-down web services, focused on job listings, agricultural information, healthcare and education, as well as Facebook's own social network and messaging services.
It has been launched in nine countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia, including India, bringing over 8 million people online, said Chris Daniels, vice president of product for Internet.org, who was in New Delhi to speak with partners and operators.
The platform will be open to all developers who meet certain guidelines, including that they produce content that can be browsed on both basic mobile phones as well as smartphones and is accessible in limited bandwidth situations, Facebook said.

Submission + - Messenger's Mercury trip ends with a bang, and silence (bbc.com)

Submitted by mpicpp
mpicpp writes: Nasa's Messenger mission to Mercury has reached its explosive conclusion, after 10 years in space and four in orbit.
Now fully out of fuel, the spacecraft smashed into a region near Mercury's north pole, out of sight from Earth, at about 20:00 GMT on Thursday.
Mission scientists confirmed the impact minutes later, when the craft's next possible communication pass was silent.
Messenger reached Mercury in 2011 and far exceeded its primary mission plan of one year in orbit.

That mission ended with an inevitable collision: Messenger slammed into our Solar System's hottest planet at 8,750mph (14,000km/h) — 12 times quicker than the speed of sound.

The impact will have completely obliterated this history-making craft. And it only happened because Mercury has no thick atmosphere to burn up incoming objects — the same reason its surface is so pock-marked by impact craters.

According to calculations, the 513kg, three-metre craft will have blasted a brand new crater the size of a tennis court. But that lasting monument is far too small to be visible from Earth.

Submission + - US successfully tests self-steering bullets that can follow moving targets (independent.co.uk)

Submitted by mpicpp
mpicpp writes: The United States Department of Defense has carried out what it says is its most successful test yet of a bullet that can steer itself towards moving targets.

Experienced testers have used the technology to hit targets that were actively evading the shot, and even novices that were using the system for the first time were able to hit moving targets.

The project, which is known as Extreme Accuracy Tasked Ordnance weapon, or Exacto, is being made for the American government’s military research agency, Darpa.

It is thought to use small fins that shoot out of the bullet and re-direct its path, but the US has not disclosed how it works. It only says that the programme has “developed new approaches and advanced capabilities to improve the range and accuracy of sniper systems beyond the current state of the art”.

Technology in the bullet allows it to compensate for weather and wind, as well as the movement of people it is being fired at, and curve itself in the air as it heads towards its target. That should allow snipers to become much more accurate — even those that are not experienced at using the system, as was found in the tests in February.

Slashdot Top Deals

There are two ways to write error-free programs; only the third one works.

Close