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United States

Submission + - U.S. Voting Machines Standards Open To Public (eac.gov)

Submitted by
Online Voting
Online Voting writes: "The U.S. Election Assistance Commission has published new voting systems testing and certification standards for 190 days of public comment. For all the critics of electronic voting, this is your opportunity to improve the process. This will be the second version of the federal voting system standards (the first version is the VVSG 05). To learn more about these Voluntary Voting System Standards see this FAQ."
The Courts

Submission + - Ohio University finds key to getting RIAA to stop 7

Submitted by
NewYorkCountryLawyer
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: "Ohio University, in Athens, Ohio, has found the key to getting the RIAA to stop inundating it and its students with "settlement" letters. According to the university's student online publication, the university paid $60,000, plus $16,000 per year "maintenance", to Audible Magic, the business partner of the RIAA's all-purpose expert witness Dr. Doug Jacobson, for its "CopySense" filtering software. Once it made the payments, the letters stopped. This of course raises a lot of questions as to the 'disinterestedness' of Dr. Jacobson, whose deposition in the UMG v. Lindor case was the subject of interesting Slashdot commentary."
Censorship

Holocaust Dropped From Some UK Schools 1286

Posted by kdawson from the careful-you-might-offend-somebody dept.
dteichman2 writes "It appears that some UK schools are ignoring the Holocaust. A government-backed study, funded by the Department for Education and Skills, found that some teachers are reluctant to teach history lessons on the Holocaust for fear of offending Muslim students whose beliefs include Holocaust denial. Additionally, similar problems are being encountered with lessons on the Crusades because these lessons contradict teachings from local mosques."
Businesses

Submission + - IT Pros are Slackers!

Submitted by Anonymous
Anonymous writes: In a recent editorial column, CIO Insight executive editor Eric Chabrow writes that despite the perception that IT pros are overworked, "all other professions, save one, work longer hours on average each week than IT workers." The typical full-time computer professional last year averaged 42 hours, 24 minutes per week on the job — at the office, on the road and at home, he says, citing figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
"A few readers doubted the data's accuracy because they don't trust anything the government says. Others felt employers intentionally underreported the hours their IT pros worked. But that wasn't the case. The reported hours came from the employees themselves or a family member interviewed by trained government survey takers."
Chabrow believes the numbers "reflect reality, though they could be off a few hours a week."
And the one profession that works fewer hours than IT? "The category that includes educators, trainers and librarians averages the fewest hours on the job, at 41 hours, 18 minutes."
Spam

Submission + - ReCaptcha the Books

Submitted by
neraath
neraath writes: "Ben Maurer posted on his blog a new concept to 2 very old problems: Captchas and digitally scanning books. Spammers have been continually getting better at their methods of mayhem to crack Captchas, and scanners work hard to figure out the words scanned in from books. Combined the two and you have ReCaptcha, a step towards better captchas and helping computers figure out "what is that word"."
Biotech

Submission + - CAVEman, an anatomically-correct VR human revealed

Submitted by MitsuMirage
MitsuMirage writes: Researchers at the University of Calgary have unveiled the CAVEman, a virtual anatomically-correct human male, as reported in the Globe and Mail. Using Java 3-D technology in a "holodeck", the simulation has 3000 body parts that can be explored to show the effects of medication on organs over time. It can also be used for surgery simulations. Slashdotters rejoice, a female version is in the works.
Security

First OpenOffice Virus, Not In the Wild 169

Posted by kdawson from the raucous-laughter-in-Redmond dept.
NZheretic writes "According to APCmag, the first cross-platform OpenOffice.org virus — 'SB/Badbunny-A' — was emailed directly to Sophos from the virus developers. The proof-of-concept virus affects Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux systems and uses different methods on each. It has not yet been seen in the wild. Despite Sun's OpenOffice.org developer Malte Timmermann's claims to the contrary, this kind of embedded scripting attack represents a real threat to OpenOffice.org users. Back in June 2000 when Sun first announced the open sourcing of OpenOffice.org, the twelfth email to the open discussion list put forward a two-part solution for providing OpenOffice users with Safe(r) Scripting using restricted-mode execution by default and access by signed digital certificates. In October 2000 the issue of treating security as an 'add-on' feature rather than as a 'system property' was again raised. Is it time to now introduce such measures to the OpenOffice.org Core to greatly reduce any future risk from scripted infections?"
Security

Submission + - Comodo provides discounts to BBB Customers

Submitted by
comodo
comodo writes: "Comodo provides discounts of proven Internet Authentication solutions to enhance online trust for all Better Business Bureau (BBB) members Comodo's Trust Bundle — including the new EV SSL, PCI and Daily Vulnerability Scanning — is offered to BBB members for nearly $2,000 less than leading competitor's bundle

Jersey City, NJ (May 22, 2007) — Comodo, a global Certification Authority and leading provider of Identity and Trust Assurance Management solutions, announced today that it is extending a discount on three of its leading security and authentication solutions to members in good standing with the Better Business Bureau. These businesses, many of whom are Comodo customers already follow best practices for understanding the role that trust plays in successful customer relationships. Accordingly, they are well positioned to gain maximum benefit from Comodo's proven solutions for creating trust. This is an ongoing effort by Comodo to further allow eMerchants who already use trust to drive business to do it with robust technology and at the lowest possible cost.

Comodo's "High Assurance Confidence Pak" consists of the new EV SSL certificate, HackerGuardian PCI Compliancy and Daily Vulnerability Scanning for $595 (representing a 40% discount off retail prices). Competitively, at $595, Comodo's High Assurance Confidence Pack offers BBB members a 75% discount (or a savings of nearly $2,000) versus bundled services offered by competitors such as VeriSign and ScanAlert.

Importantly, Comodo's High Assurance Confidence Pak also offers significant technical and visitor conversion advantages versus the competitive offerings:
  • Comodo EV SSL includes proprietary technology called EV AUTO-Enhancer- Automatic EV Deployment and Maintenance Technology, which provides EV green address bar compatibility with the large, installed base of Windows XP users. Comodo's solution is significantly easier to deploy and maintain than other EV SSL solutions.
  • To stimulate visitor or sales conversion of customers, Comodo will also offer BBB members patent-pending TrustLogo certification seals. This technology promotes visitor conversion through unique "point to verify" technology that delivers site credentials effortlessly within the purchase process.
  • Uniquely, Comodo TrustLogo certification seals include break through technology that allows visitors to visually authenticate legitimate TrustLogos from logos that were faked. No other certification seal offers this revolutionary mark protection technology.
  • Comodo's brand is well established among consumers as a "trust brand", given the millions of users who are being protected by Comodo desktop security solutions. This reputation as a trust brand provides powerful reassurance to visitors, which translates into more trusted transactions.


"Comodo, as a Certification Authority, shares many BBB members' commitment to creating trust in the online world. These discounts are our way of delivering conversion-building technology to businesses that understand how fundamental trust is to creating more trusted transactions," said Melih Abdulhayoglu, CEO and Chief Security Architect of Comodo. "Since many of our customers are already BBB members, we wanted to make these solutions available as affordably as possible so that more businesses will be able to protect consumers and enable trusted ecommerce." Comodo's EV SSL Certificates Overview:

Comodo is a new standard for identity verification and, as a result, delivers more solid identity assurance through the green browser bar display, signifying the presence of an authenticated site. Online visitors can verify that the identity of the site and the site owner have been authenticated by a Certification Authority, which creates more visitor trust and consequently more sales conversions. HackerGuardian PCI Scan Compliant Solution Overview:

Only a PCI-approved scanning vendor (ASV) like Comodo can provide vulnerability assessment scans. A company that successfully passes the PCI criteria (no vulnerabilities of severity level 3 or above), will also be provided with a "PCI Compliance Report" that can be sent to the acquiring bank as evidence of compliance. Once the site has passed the scan, Comodo provides a new type of TrustLogo called "Credit Card TrustLogo". Like all other Comodo TrustLogos, the Credit Card TrustLogo provides additional reassurance that the e -merchant is both secure and trustworthy. HackerGuardian Daily Vulnerability Scanning Solution Overview:

HackerGuardian Daily Scanning performs over 14,000 daily tests on a company's server, scanning for weaknesses both at the firewall's perimeter and beyond. HackerGuardian provides another layer of detection and protection from threats that might seep through an open port. A detailed report is delivered after every scan, and, if any threat or discrepancy is found, the user is advised on a remediation process. Once a site passes the daily scanning test, the HackerShield TrustLogo is displayed as certification of the site's safety. About Comodo

Comodo, through itsgroup ofInternet securitycompanies, is a leading Certification Authority and global provider of Identity and Trust Assurance services on the Internet.Comodo securesand authenticates online transactions and communications for over2,000,000 businesses and consumers.

Withaglobal presence Comodooffersbusinesses and consumers third-generation solutions for intelligent security and authentication technologies that create trust online. Comodo's technological expertise includes PKI digital certification, Code signing certification, integrated authentication infrastructure services, Web Content authentication, Secure messaging solutions, regulatory compliance solutions, and digital e- commerce services.

For additional information on Comodo — Creating Trust Online visit http://www.comodo.com

Note: This offering has not been authorized by the BBB nor is it intended to imply that Comodo has any relationship with the BBB, or that the BBB endorses Comodo and its products.

For more information, media representatives should contact
Judy Shapiro
Comodo
(201) 963-9471
Email: judy.shapiro@comodo.com"
Communications

Submission + - New Cable Modem to Triple Internet Speed

Submitted by
BlueMorpho
BlueMorpho writes: "That's right-optical fiber-to-the-home service had previously offered the fastest available connection for residential Internet. The best-known example is the FiOS service from Verizon Communications, which peaks at 50 megabits per second.

But the cable industry has recently taken the wraps off new cable modem technology that exceeds the FiOS speed by a factor of more than three. Called the Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) 3.0, it allows data throughput of as much as 160 megabits.

http://www.livescience.com/technology/070522_cable _modem.html"
The Internet

Submission + - Mount Your Server Racks on the Wall

Submitted by
1sockchuck
1sockchuck writes: "A New Zealand company is selling wall-mounted server racks that can hold up to five 1U servers, which are mounted vertically on a swinging hinge that allows easy access for cabling and maintenance. The unit can be bolted to a wall and includes an internal fan system for cooling. There's a video demo from the Interop show floor. The system was developed for a company that wanted servers available at a construction site. It's being marketed for remote branch offices and instant offsite backup for disaster recovery."
Power

Submission + - Energy efficiency in the data center

Submitted by jcatcw
jcatcw writes: In Computerworld's Grill, Rocky Mountain Insitute's Amory B. Lovins claims that a watt of energy saved is worth $20 to $27 to a business and that U.S. data centers are missing comprehensive integration of efficiency technologies that are available.

The next big step will be when one or more major operators puts all these parts together to realize the ninefold or greater savings that we outlined. In fact, I now think we can do even better, because both the IT and the support equipment are proving to be more efficient than we thought possible.
The Courts

Submission + - Why the Copyright Office disappoints on Fair Use

Submitted by Paranoid Mandroid
Paranoid Mandroid writes: Ars Technica has an eye-opening article on Fair Use that explains why the Register of Copyrights in the US continually refuses to authorize things like DVD ripping. The reasons are complex, but basically boil down to the fact that the Register agrees with the industry that if you need a backup, you should buy it. Need to rip content? Just buy VHS (no joke). Beyond that, the article discusses the Copyright Office's narrow reading of the Betamax case.
Books

Submission + - The world's smallest book

Submitted by
Roland Piquepaille
Roland Piquepaille writes: "According to a short article in LabnewsOnline, Canadian physicists have created the world's smallest book. This book, which was 'printed' in the nano-imaging lab of Simon Fraser University (SFU), measures only 0.07 mm by 0.10 mm, and is composed of 30 microtablets. This book, complete with an International Standard Book Number (ISBN-978-1- 894897-17-4), is entitled 'Teeny Ted From Turnip Town.' It was written by Malcolm Douglas Chaplin, a Canadian artist, and was typeset in block letters with a resolution of 40 nanometers. You can even buy one of the 100 copies of this book for about $20,000, electron microscope not included. Read more for additional details and links, including a picture of this microbook with a maxiprice."
Science

Smithsonian 'Toned Down the Science' In Climate Change Exhibit 372

Posted by Zonk from the pre-emptive-censorship dept.
An anonymous reader writes "According to an International Herald Tribune article, the Smithsonian pre-emptively toned down the scientific content of a climate change exhibit put into place last year. The changes, including removal of scientist conclusions and muddying of displayed data, were made to ensure that the exhibit would not offend the Congress or the White House. Pressure brought to bear by Institute officials resulted in the resignation of Robert Sullivan, a sixteen year veteran of the organization. 'This is not the first time the Smithsonian has been accused of taking politics into consideration. The congressionally chartered institution scaled down a 1995 exhibit of the restored Enola Gay, the B-29 that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, after veterans complained it focused too much on the damage and deaths. Amid the oil-drilling debate in 2003, a photo exhibit of Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge was moved to a less prominent space.'"

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