Submission + - Do-it-yourself Energy Weapon and other pastimes 1
cstacy writes: Some goofball kid in Russia is demonstrating his microwave-on-a-stick. What's the most stupid dangerous thing you ever did with common household items?
Submission Summary: 0 pending, 25 declined, 12 accepted (37 total, 32.43% accepted)
Submission + - Court Rules Against Online Anonymity 1
cstacy writes: The Virginia Court of Appeals has ruled that people leaving negative feedback for a carpet cleaning service are not allowed to remain anonymous. Yelp must unmask seven critics to the carpet cleaner, who feels that they might not even be real customers.
Submission + - LG Phone Giveaway Leaves 20 Injured (theregister.co.uk)
cstacy writes: As a publicity stunt, LG attached vouchers for free smartphones (852$US) to 100 helium balloons for people to catch at a promotional event widely advertised on social media. Customers showed up with BB guns, knives on sticks, and other tools. With only about two dozen security guards, the frenzied crowd surged, the guns fired, the blades were wielded, and at the end of the day 20 people were injured; some had to be taken to the hospital.
A spokesman for LG was reportedly overheard to say, "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly..."
A spokesman for LG was reportedly overheard to say, "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly..."
Submission + - Google deletes Nav app from Android phones, customers bewildered and pissed (google.com) 6
cstacy writes: Google has removed the Navigation app from the Android smartphones, and released a new version of Google Maps (which they think replaces Nav). Customer response seems to be universally negative.
Maps is not an in-car navigation app like Nav. It doesn't have a UI suitable for use in a car, and lacks most of the significant features such as traffic alerting, ETA, alternate routes selection, plan/turn view toggling, and much more. Moreover, the new version of Maps apparently crashes all the time.
It's a breathtaking move on Google's part. Many people, like me, purchased their devices (mine's a Samsung Note 2) specifically because of the excellent Nav app provided on the ROM. People are really upset. No word from Google.
Maps is not an in-car navigation app like Nav. It doesn't have a UI suitable for use in a car, and lacks most of the significant features such as traffic alerting, ETA, alternate routes selection, plan/turn view toggling, and much more. Moreover, the new version of Maps apparently crashes all the time.
It's a breathtaking move on Google's part. Many people, like me, purchased their devices (mine's a Samsung Note 2) specifically because of the excellent Nav app provided on the ROM. People are really upset. No word from Google.
Submission + - Lax SSH key management a big problem
cstacy writes: Tatu Yionen, inventor of SSH, says he feels "a moral responsibility" to come out of retirement and warn that a "little-noticed problem" could jeopardize the security of much of the world's confidential data. He is referring to the management (or lack thereof) of SSH keys (i.e. "authorized_keys") files. He suggests that most organizations simply allow the SSH key files to be created, copied, accumulated, and abandoned, all over their network, making easy pickings for intruders to gain access.
Do you think this is a widespread problem?
How does your company manage SSH keys?
Do you think this is a widespread problem?
How does your company manage SSH keys?
Submission + - No more "Asperger's Syndrome" (guardian.co.uk)
cstacy writes: The American Psychiatric Association is dropping Asperger's Syndrome from the upcoming edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5).
It's symptoms will be included under the umbrella of Autism Spectrum Disorder, which includes everything from severe autism such as children who do not talk or interact, to milder forms of autism. Asperger's disorder is impairment in social interaction and repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, activities and interests, without significant delay in language or cognitive development. Often the person has high intelligence and vast knowledge on narrow subjects but lacks social skills. DSM-5 comes out in May and will be the first major rewrite in 19 years.
It's symptoms will be included under the umbrella of Autism Spectrum Disorder, which includes everything from severe autism such as children who do not talk or interact, to milder forms of autism. Asperger's disorder is impairment in social interaction and repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, activities and interests, without significant delay in language or cognitive development. Often the person has high intelligence and vast knowledge on narrow subjects but lacks social skills. DSM-5 comes out in May and will be the first major rewrite in 19 years.
Submission + - NASA: Nothing to see here...yet (cnet.com)
cstacy writes: NASA has announced that there is no announcement — the supposed tease of an amazing discovery, "one for the history books", was a quote taken out of context. Geographical evidence of water has already been found, but perhaps evidence of organics will still be found. Curiosity continues, at home and on the red planet.
Submission + - Confidential Police Confetti at Macy's Parade (upi.com)
cstacy writes: The Nassau County (New York) Police Department is "very concerned" about reports that shreds of police documents (with social security numbers, phone numbers, addresses, license plate numbers, incident reports, and more) rained down as confetti in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The documents also unveiled the identities of undercover officers, including their SSNs and bank information, according to WPIX-TV. Macy's has no idea how this happened, as they use commercial, colored confetti, not shredded paper.
Submission + - Ivan Sutherland wins Kyoto Prize (kyotoprizeusa.com)
cstacy writes: The Inamori Foundation has awarded the Kyoto Prize to graphics pioneer Ivan Sutherland, for developing Sketchpad in 1963. The award recognizes significant technical, scientific and artistic contributions to the “betterment of mankind, and honors Sutherland him for nearly 50 years of demonstrating that computer graphics could be used “for both technical and artistic purposes.”
Submission + - Apple Patent Invalidated (forbes.com)
cstacy writes: Apple's "rubber band" scrolling patent has been provisionally invalidated by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). This patent was part of Apple's recent billion-dollar win against Samsung. The patent includes a number of touch screen gesture features (such as rotation); all 20 claims have been invalidated. Many of the claims have been ruled "obvious" and "anticipated". Is the PTO getting a clue?
Submission + - Linkedin Passwords Breached (theverge.com)
cstacy writes: A Russian hacker has posted 118MB of (unsalted SHA-1) hashes for about 6.5 million Linkedin accounts, and people are finding theirs on the list. Linkedin says they are investigating but have found no evidence of a breach. According to Computerworld, the hashes are being cracked now. http://blogs.computerworld.com/20272/hackers_crowdsource_help_to_crack_nearly_6_5_million_leaked_linkedin_passwords?source=rss_blogs
http://www.dagensit.no/article2411857.ece
http://www.dagensit.no/article2411857.ece
Submission + - Smithsonian Honors Inventory of Email (washingtonpost.com) 1
cstacy writes: The Smithsonian is honoring V.A. Shiva Ayyadurai, who invented email. The museum is launching an online exhibit of documentary materials showing how, as a 14 year old in 1978, he invented email and wrote the first software (including features such as the header lines To, From, CC, and BCC)
Numerous people have contacted the Washington Post, which ran the story last Friday, to inform them that email already existed before this. The paper has clarified that in addition to his story of being the inventor, "Ayyadurai holds the copyright to the computer program called 'email', establishing him as the creator of the 'computer program for [an] electronic mail system' with that name. (However, the Smithsonian itself still appears to be clueless.)
Numerous people have contacted the Washington Post, which ran the story last Friday, to inform them that email already existed before this. The paper has clarified that in addition to his story of being the inventor, "Ayyadurai holds the copyright to the computer program called 'email', establishing him as the creator of the 'computer program for [an] electronic mail system' with that name. (However, the Smithsonian itself still appears to be clueless.)
Submission + - USPS ending overnight letters (yahoo.com) 1
cstacy writes: The United States Postal Service will be closing half of its processing centers this spring. Currently, 42% of first-class mail is delivered the following day for nearby residential and business customers. But that overnight mail will be a thing of the past, with delivery guaranteed only for 2-3 days. About 51% will be delivered in 2 days. Periodicals may take up to nine days. (Additional delays beyond this may come into play when Congress also authorizes USPS to close operations for some days each week.) Stamp prices will be going up in a few weeks. How long before the post office is a footnote in the history books?
Submission + - French Nuclear Company Used Malware (cfoworld.co.uk)
cstacy writes: The head of security and his aide at Électricité de France, whose 66 nuclear power stations produces 22% of the electricity for the European Union, have been sentenced to prison for three years for spying on Greenpeace using trojan malware. Also, EDF is being hit one of the largest fines ever imposed by a court on a French corporation for any reason, 1.5 million euros.
In 2006, the power company employed Kargus Consultants to steal 1,400 documents from the computer of Yannick Jadot, the head of Greenpeace campaigns against nuclear power in France.
Meanwhile, the head of Kargus, Thierry Lorho, was also sentenced to three years in jail, while his technical expert and former secret service man, Alain Quiros, was given two years suspended. Earlier this week, Quiros was sentenced to six months in prison in a separate case for using the same malware, involving a French anti-doping lab, Floyd Landis, and the Tour De France in 2006.
In 2006, the power company employed Kargus Consultants to steal 1,400 documents from the computer of Yannick Jadot, the head of Greenpeace campaigns against nuclear power in France.
Meanwhile, the head of Kargus, Thierry Lorho, was also sentenced to three years in jail, while his technical expert and former secret service man, Alain Quiros, was given two years suspended. Earlier this week, Quiros was sentenced to six months in prison in a separate case for using the same malware, involving a French anti-doping lab, Floyd Landis, and the Tour De France in 2006.
Submission + - John McCarthy has died (wired.com)
cstacy writes: John McCarthy, who coined the term "Artificial Intelligence" and helped found the field, invented LISP, garbage collection, time-sharing, and made other seminal contributions to computing, has died at age 84.
