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Security

Obama Administration Argues For Backdoors In Personal Electronics 575

mi writes Attorney General Eric Holder called it is "worrisome" that tech companies are providing default encryption on consumer electronics, adding that locking authorities out of being able to access the contents of devices puts children at risk. “It is fully possible to permit law enforcement to do its job while still adequately protecting personal privacy,” Holder said at a conference on child sexual abuse, according to a text of his prepared remarks. “When a child is in danger, law enforcement needs to be able to take every legally available step to quickly find and protect the child and to stop those that abuse children. It is worrisome to see companies thwarting our ability to do so.”
Science

Researchers Develop Purely Optical Cloaking 59

Rambo Tribble writes: Researchers at the University of Rochester have developed a remarkably effective visual cloak using a relatively simple arrangement of optical lenses. The method is unique in that it uses off-the-shelf components and provides cloaking through the visible spectrum. Also, it works in 3-D. As one researcher put it, "This is the first device that we know of that can do three-dimensional, continuously multidirectional cloaking, which works for transmitting rays in the visible spectrum." Bonus: The article includes instructions to build your own.

Comment this is a learning experience (Score 1) 191

Don't expect them to get it perfect the first time. And depending on their age, don't start them off with what you'd consider the best final approach. You're in a school, treat it like any other learning experience.

Just using passwords may be a new experience for some of them. Start with the basics. I wouldn't focus too much to start with on "strong passwords", they can work on that later. For now, work on selecting a password they can remember, NOT sharing their password, and changing their password as needed.

Once they've spent some time on that and feel more comfortable with it and don't feel like the world is going to explode if they forget their password, move on to password security. Using stronger, longer passwords, using different passwords in different places, password managers, advoiding and dealing with a password lockout, password resetting, etc.

This is just one of those "things they should have taught us in school", treat it as such. Like time/money management, basic cooking, resume writing / job huting etc.

Comment Re:Maybe driver vs passenger doesn't matter (Score 1) 364

I can see other issues, like not being able to use it while in a cab or bus

I really don't see that as a problem. Very few text messages are so urgent they cannot wait a little while.

But how would you like to find yourself on a bus that's been hijacked by a wacko with a gun or knife, (happens from time to time) and no be able to call 911 until he decides to let the bus stop?

Comment Re:Maybe driver vs passenger doesn't matter (Score 1) 364

My suspicion is that they will simply not bother discriminating.

Every GPS I've laid my hands on in the past two years has had a motion-lockout enabled on it. (all garmin... maybe it's a Garmin thing?) It won't let you into most of the menus while it senses it's in motion. So me as the passenger, trying to plug in the destination, I have to dig through the menus to find the option and disable it. (I think they bury it on purpose)

One that's off, all the gps functions return to normal and it can be used while in motion. I can't imagine them doing it any differently on a cell phone. Just a matter of not giving the owner the option to disable it.

I wonder how that'll get along with the "any cell phone must be able to dial 911 even if it has no service and is locked" law? They got that one supported by all the manufacturers, and this wlll probably require a similar amount of effort to pull off.

I can see other issues, like not being able to use it while in a cab or bus. But waaaah all you want about that, you shouldn't have used your phone illegally in the first place, endangering the lives of others. That's just part of your punishment.

Comment Re:How about... (Score 4, Interesting) 819

I'll forgo my mod pts today to make a comment on this I've been wanting to say.

The problem is the first time you fly with an airline you have no idea how crammed they are versus the competition.

What they really ought to be mandated to do is provide physical examples of their seating and storage at the terminal. No more of this guesswork as to what's going to fit in the bin, what's going to fit under the seat, whether or not SirEatsAlot can squeeze into a cattle class seat without "spilling over". No questions as to whether or not my knees can clear the seat in front of me. Seats shown with seat in front in reclining position with a "this is what your fellow passenger is allowed to do to you" sign.

This is mainly an issue of not being able to see the product before paying for it and only after your purchase is non-returnable. This ought to already be illegal. You ought to be able to sit down in a demo seat at the terminal, get out your laptop, realize there is NO space to use it, say "screw that!", get a refund, and get up and walk to the terminal across the way and rebook on another airline.

Comment Re:yet if we did it (Score 4, Interesting) 463

quoting the report:

"a person s negligent if he does something that a reasonably careful person would not do in the same situation or fails to do somethign that a reasonably careful person would do in the asme situation". ...
"to establish the crime of vehicular manslaughter, the People would be required to prove that Wood's encroachment into the bicycle lane, nuder the circumstances, was negligent." ...
"the fact that Wood did not apply his brakes or swerve to avoid the collision indicates that he did not see or notice Olin until the moment of impact." ...
"Wood's entry of 'Yes I...' followed by '][\NOKKO' is also consisten with him utilizing his MDC at the time of collision" ...
"Based on all of these circumstances, the People cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Wood's momentary distraction in the perfomance of his duties constituted a failure to use reasonable care"

So... he was negligent, he was negligent, he was neglegent. But in summary, he wasn't negligent. Either that or texting while driving isn't negligent. Which I'm pretty sure has gone onto the books in most states by now. If he felt he had to respond immedidately to a message with obvious indications of serious urgency (such as keywords like "bro") he should have done like the same advice he would have given anyone else while ticketing them for texting while driving, "next time, pull over and do your texting from the shoulder".

I also found this particularly insulting in the latter part of the report:

"It is significant to note that the driver in the vehicle directly behind Wood's patrol vehicle, Andrwe McCown, also failed to see Olin in the bicycle lane prior to the collision"

Look back at the witness accouns and see "something equally significant that we aren't going to mention again":

Ashley McCown was the passenger in that vehicle. (the one following Woods patrol car) She stated that she noticed Olin in the bicycle lane prior to the collision"

Of course the driver of the following car didn't see Olin, he doesn't have xray vision to look through the patrol car, his passenger is in the correct place to see around into the right bicycle lane. It look s like the person writing that report was making a number of stretches trying to justify not pressing charges?

Someone with more time on their hands needs to type up and post that report online in searchable format. I can't help but wonder if they deliberately put it up in image format to meet their legal requirements without making it easily quoteable and searchable...

The Internet

Grand Ayatollah Says High Speed Internet Is "Against Moral Standards" 542

An anonymous reader writes A Grand Ayatollah in Iran has determined that access to high-speed and 3G Internet is "against Sharia" and "against moral standards." However, Iran's President, Hassan Rouhani, plans to renew licenses and expand the country’s 3G cellular phone network. A radical MP associated with the conservative Resistance Front, warned: “If the minister continues to go ahead with increasing bandwidth and Internet speed, then we will push for his impeachment and removal from the cabinet.” “We will vigorously prevent all attempts by the [communication] minister to expand 3G technology, and if our warnings are not heeded, then the necessary course of action will be taken,” he added.

Comment Re:About time (Score 2) 89

there's really very little difference between optimizing audio and video. back-culling polygons and all that magic to increase framerate by lowering processing overhead. Same thing with audio. It's just that it hasn't really been taken very seriously in the past.

When Marathon came out, it had "ambient sounds" that changed as you moved in relation to their source. They were also in stereo. (these were new, no other fps had it) Sound effects from map features, weapons, and ordinance were adapted based on distance from you and were also in stereo. Sadly, lery little has changed since then.

Comment Re:"Against a wall" (Score 4, Insightful) 149

In other words, it's ok to place this directly agains the wall, because the shape ensures it cannot be placed agains the wall. Well done.

That's actually completely accurate. Towers do tend to get placed under desks, or more commonly, in a corner where the desk meets the wall. Ventillatoin back there is crap, and the system overheats. So rather than make another case that will just generate a lot more support calls and broken harware in warranty, they just made it physically impossible to keep installing it like retard.

y'know... for their retarded customers ;)

Knowing your customer is key to a successful business.

But all sarcasm aside, I do like the new design. I'm a mac fan but I can see some thought went into this both for functionality and for original and interesting design. Even if they fail at both, at least they're trying. It's not just another boring beige / black box.

I think the biggest concern for me though would be how much floor space this is going to take up, plus how little or zero space there is to set anything on it. I don't even think you could set the keyboard aside on it without risking it falling over. And imagine the users setting drinks on top of it! At least with a box, if you knock your drink over, it's on the floor. HERE.... it can drain your entire soda into the mobo ports (back) or fan intake. (front) I think that will be the biggest problem this case has, getting users out of the habbit of setting things on top of their case.

Windows

Microsoft Dumps 1,500 Apps From Its Windows Store 126

redletterdave writes: Microsoft announced on its Windows blog Wednesday that it's removed more than 1,500 apps from its Windows Store in a bid to clean up the store and restore trust with Windows 8 and Windows Phone users. Microsoft's new certification process, in particular, asks for clear and accurate names that "reflect the functionality of the app," more accurate categories, and differentiated icons to ensure apps aren't confused with one another. Microsoft reached out to developers with apps that violated its policies; some agreed to make changes to their software, while those who were "less receptive" saw their apps removed from the Windows Store. That might be just the beginning.

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