angeles13 - Slashdot User

TV Delays Driving AU Viewers To Piracy 394

Posted by kdawson on Sunday February 25, 2007 @02:26PM from the desperate-for-housewives dept.

Astat1ne writes in with a story in The Register about the delays Australian TV viewers are experiencing getting overseas-produced series and how this is driving many of them to download the shows via BitTorrent and other peer-to-peer networks. The problem is compounded by the fact that Australian viewers are unable to download legal copies of the episodes from the US iTunes website. Quoting: "According to a survey based on a sample of 119 current or recent free-to-air TV series, Australian viewers are waiting an average of almost 17 months for the first-run series first seen overseas. Over the past two years, average Australian broadcast delays for free-to-air television viewers have more than doubled from 7.9 to 16.7 months."

Submission + - IE7 and FF 2.0 share vulnerability

Submitted by hcmtnbiker on Sunday February 25, 2007 @01:35PM

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

Submission + - An interview with Chuck Thacker

Submitted by

Mihai Budiu

on Sunday February 25, 2007 @01:35PM

Mihai Budiu writes: "I had the opportunity to interview Chuck Thacker, a Microsoft technical fellow who has been awarded the 2007 IEEE von Neumann medal for his "central role in the creation of the personal computer and the development of networked computer systems" (i.e., Xerox Alto and Ethernet). Chuck speaks about building hardware, education, reverse engineering, open-source, and many other fascinating topics."

Introduction to Linden Scripting Language 139

Posted by CmdrTaco on Sunday February 25, 2007 @01:08PM from the fad-or-fantastic dept.

prostoalex writes "Dr. Dobb's Journal runs a lengthy introduction to Linden Scripting Language, the language behind avatars and their interaction in Second Life: "LSL is a scripting language that runs server-side, on a piece of software called the simulator. The simulator does just what it's name implies — it simulates the virtual world of Second Life. Each simulator runs everything for 16 acres of virtual land — buildings, physics, and of course, scripts. While you manipulate the script text in a form that is somewhat easy to read, the actual code that runs on the simulator is compiled. A compiler is a piece of software that takes the text version of the script and converts it into something that can actually run. In the case of LSL, the compiler exists within the Second Life viewer itself. In the future, it is likely that the compiler will move from the viewer into the Second Life simulators, but where the code is compiled isn't very important. What matters is that the text is converted into a form that can run on the simulators.""

Submission + - The RegisterFly battle continues: Kevin in control

Submitted by kimvette on Sunday February 25, 2007 @01:05PM

kimvette writes: from http://story.malaysiasun.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/d8 05653303cbbba8/id/230159/cs/1/

The two principal shareholders John Naruszewicz and Kevin Medina at the weeks-end were still trading verbal blows, while ICANN stepped in to the fray after nearly three years of complaints. Whilst most focus has been on the failure of the company's support systems, allegations of fraud and corruption were flowing freely Friday, not only from the principals involved, but from ICANN.

Meantime the control of RegisterFly.com, seized by Naruszewicz on Tuesday, was back in the hands of Medina late Friday. Both parties are accusing the other of hijacking the company's Web site and administration, which has been effectively dysfunctional for weeks. Medina has also replicated the current site at www.registerfly-inc.com so if he loses control again, or the original site is brought down, he can continue to trade on.

What does this mean for the 90,000 domain holders? Many of us have domains in redemption or pendingDelete status because of this internal RegisterFly battle. We finally got ahold of Kevin Medina by getting him to come to RegisterFlies, and all he did was attack the partners who ousted him; he had nothing to say about rescuing customers' domains nor did he seem to care in the slightest. He seems intent only on maintaining control of the company, the database, and of course his investment, and forget about customer service issues.

Whereas John Naruszewicz and Glenn Stansbury raise customers' losses as their first concern, and saving their investment second. On the surface they appear sincere in their claim that they want to make things right.

Rumors are flying about Kevin, about back-room deals with other registrars, reasons why domains have disappeared from customer accounts, why domains have been allowed to remain in redemption status until they move to pendingDelete and are lost.

The coming week will be very telling. If the authorities step in Monday and arrest Mr. Medina, we will know that Mr. Naruszewicz and Mr. Stansbury are likely legitimate in their claims.

But, what happens for small businesses who have lost their domain names due to Mr. Medina's alleged misconduct? Who will ensure that we get our domains back?

Submission + - Bacteria to protect against quakes

Submitted by

Roland Piquepaille

on Sunday February 25, 2007 @12:41PM

Roland Piquepaille writes: "If you live near the sea, chances are high that your home is built over sandy soil. And if an earthquake strikes, deep and sandy soils can turn to liquid, with some disastrous consequences for the buildings sitting on them. But now, U.S. researchers have found a way to use bacteria to steady buildings against earthquakes by turning these sandy soils into rocks. Today, it is possible to inject chemicals in the ground to reinforce it, but this can have toxic effects on soil and water. On the contrary, this use of common bacteria to 'cement' sands has no harmful effects on the environment. But so far, this method is limited to labs and the researchers are working on scaling their technique. Here are more references and a picture showing how unstable ground can aggravate the consequences of an earthquake."

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