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Comment Re:There are no rules like with engineering (Score 0) 508

by cm5oom (#37561584) Attached to: Outlining a World Where Software Makers Are Liable For Flaws
I think the point you and a lot of other people in thread are missing is nobody is asking for perfect software, just for programmers to not repeatedly make the same mistakes over and over again. How is it that brand new software is still being exploited by SQL injections and buffer overflows? Those two problems have been know about for decades yet programmers are still happy to churn out code vulnerable to them.

Nobody holds an engineer liable when something fails in a new and previously unknown way, but they do hold the engineer liable when he builds something with widely known flaws.
NASA

Submission + - Launching Frequently Key to NASA Success (nytimes.com) 1

Submitted by teeks99
teeks99 writes: Even NASA could benefit from the "Launch Often" idea that is often refered to in the software development community. However, in NASA's case the "Launch" is a bit more literal. Edward Lu, writing in the New York Times, points out that by lowering the conquenseques of launch failure, and making frequent launches available to engineers, NASA could open up a new wave of innovation in space exploration. If there were weekly launches of a rocket, there would be many oppertunities for new ideas to be tried out in communications, remote sensing, orbital debris mitigation, robotic exploration, and even in developing technology for human spaceflight. Another benefit would be that the rockets would be well understood, which would improve reliability.
Networking

Submission + - Will Windows 7 finally get IPv6 deployed?

Submitted by
Esther Schindler
Esther Schindler writes: "As Steven Vaughan-Nichols writes in his article at IT Expert Voice, Windows 7 and IPv6: Useful at Last?, we've had so many predictions that this is "the year of IPv6" that most of us stopped listening. But the network protocol may have new life breathed into it because IPv6 is a requirement for DirectAccess. DirectAccess, a feature in Windows 7, makes remote access a lot easier — and it doesn't require a VPN. (Lisa Vaas interviews security experts and network admins to find out what they think of that idea.) The two articles examine the advantages and disadvantages of DirectAccess, with particular attention to the possibility that Microsoft's sponsorship may give IPv6 the deployment push it's lacked."
Intel

Submission + - Intel Patches Flaws in Trusted Execution Tech (net-security.org)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Invisible Things Lab issued the results of their research in which they describe how flaws in Intel's Trusted Execution Technology (whose function is to provide a mechanism for safe loading of system software and to protect sensitive files) can be used to compromise the integrity of a software loaded via an Intel TXT-based loader in a generic way, fully circumventing any protection TXT is supposed to provide. The attack exploits an implementation error in the so called SINIT Authenticated Code modules and that could potentially allow a malicious attacker to elevate their privileges.
Books

Submission + - e-Readers to Evolve in 2010 (foxnews.com)

Submitted by Velcroman1
Velcroman1 writes: Ex-PC World editor Harry McCracken has started writing a column for FoxNews. The first installment deals with the topic of e-book readers, focusing on the Nook but also looking ahead to the future of the gadgets:

Postpone your e-reader purchase, and you'll also have more hardware to choose from. A startup called Plastic Logic plans to release details at January's Consumer Electronics Show about its big-screen Que, which will be sold at Barnes & Noble stores. Also coming soon is the EnTourage eDGe, a unique two-screen gadget that claims to be part e-reader, part netbook mini-laptop. And with Amazon's last major overhaul of the Kindle almost ten months old, there's a strong chance a next-generation model isn't far off.

Then there's the hottest product of 2010, which remains a persistent rumor rather than a confirmed reality: The Apple tablet. Just about everybody in the business of watching Steve Jobs' company thinks he'll release a device that resembles a giant iPod Touch — a slick gizmo with a color touchscreen that does music, movies, the Web, apps ... and e-books, one assumes. An Apple tablet wouldn't match the marathon battery life of today's dedicated readers, but it would be infinitely more versatile.
Science

Submission + - Stopping global warming with a hose (associatedcontent.com) 3

Submitted by FutureDomain
FutureDomain writes: Nathan Myhrvold from Intellectual Solutions has proposed a hose to pipe sulfur particles to the stratosphere as a temporary solution to stop global warming. Noting the recent Climategate emails and distrust of global warming science, he suggested that an open scientific study should be done of global warming, with everything above board and dissenters included. If the study concludes that global warming is occurring, then a temporary solution of pumping sulfur particles into the atmosphere should be started while the world moves to clean energy as a permanent solution. The sulfur particles will dim the sun's light just enough to counteract any warming, with the particles only making up an extra 1% of the sulfur particles already in the stratosphere from volcanoes. The scheme would only cost $250 million dollars, compared with a loss in GDP of $151 to $210 billion in 2020 and $631 to $639 billion in 2030 for the Lieberman-Warner bill currently in congress.
Security

Submission + - SPAM: Report: Russian gang linked to big Citibank hack

Submitted by alphadogg
alphadogg writes: U.S. authorities are investigating the theft of an estimated tens of millions of dollars from Citibank by hackers partly using Russian software tailored for the attack, according to a news report. The security breach at the major U.S. bank was detected mid-year based on traffic from Internet addresses formerly used by the Russian Business Network gang, The Wall Street Journal [spam URL stripped] said Tuesday, citing unnamed government sources. The Russian Business Network is a well-known group linked to malicious software, hacking, child pornography and spam. The FBI is probing the case, the report said. It was not known whether the money had been recovered and a Citibank representative said the company had not had any system breach or losses, according to the report.
Link to Original Source
Operating Systems

Submission + - SPAM: The Good, Bad, and Ugly OSes of the Decade

Submitted by itwbennett
itwbennett writes: Hundreds of Operating Systems were released during the past decade, finding their way into microdevices, watches, refrigerators, mobile phones, cars, motorcycles, jets, even the International Space Station. Some worked; some even worked well. Others, sadly, didn't. And some were just ahead of their time. Blogger Tom Henderson takes a look back at the best and worst OSes of the decade. Among the worst? Vista, as you'd suspect, along with WinME. But what about GNU Hurd? And some of the best? Solaris/OpenSolaris 10, MacOS X, And newcomer Google Android.
The Internet

Submission + - IPTV Development Given Go-Ahead in UK (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by iateyourcookies
iateyourcookies writes: Following the deliberations of the BBC Trust, the BBC alongside TV companies such as ITV, Five and Channel 4 and ISPs including TalkTalk and BT (British Telecom) has been given the go-ahead to participate in "Project Canvas" — an attempt to develop a common interface for internet-television services in the UK. Canvas will be designed as an open platform, allowing other broadcasters to join and offer their content. For example, Flickr could offer a tool to allow people to stream their photographs form the site directly to their Canvas-powered set-top box and television. Manufacturers will be free to use the software to build their own set-top boxes.
Wireless Networking

Submission + - SPAM: Study: Texting drivers more dangerous than talkers

Submitted by alphadogg
alphadogg writes: A new study by University of Utah researchers sheds light on why texting and driving is a bad mix and finds that this activity is even more dangerous than talking on a cell phone while driving. Based on studying behaviors in a driving simulator, University of Utah researchers used a high-fidelity driving simulator to find that texting drivers had 6 times more crashes than non-texters, responded more slowly to brake lights on vehicles in front of them, and showed worse forward and lateral control than drivers who either talked on cell phones or drove without doing either. Texting has emerged as the most urgent of driver distractions, with advocates, regulators and government officials calling for action of some kind. In November the Federal Communications Commission and U.S. Department of Transportation announced a working group to come up with technology-based solutions for distracted driving.
Link to Original Source

Submission + - Certain plants can sense insect eggs (pnas.org)

Submitted by Arvisp
Arvisp writes: Research teams, have found that certain plants can sense when insect eggs have been deposited on their leaves and will act immediately to rid themselves of the incubating menace. They may sprout carpets of tumorlike neoplasms to knock the eggs off, or secrete ovicides to kill them, or sound the S O S. Reporting in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Dr. Hilker and her coworkers determined that when a female cabbage butterfly lays her eggs on a brussels sprout plant and attaches her treasures to the leaves with tiny dabs of glue, the vigilant vegetable detects the presence of a simple additive in the glue, benzyl cyanide. Cued by the additive, the plant swiftly alters the chemistry of its leaf surface to beckon female parasitic wasps. Spying the anchored bounty, the female wasps in turn inject their eggs inside, the gestating wasps feed on the gestating butterflies, and the plant’s problem is solved.
Books

Submission + - SPAM: Jonathan Lethem and Philip K. Dick on gadgetism

Submitted by destinyland
destinyland writes: Science fiction author Jonathan Lethem is also the man who edited Philip K. Dick's anthologies for the Library of America. In this new interview, Lethem answers the question: What would Philip K. Dick say to our contemporary gadget fetishism and addiction to information machines? "[M]edia is utterly consciousness-transforming in ways we can no longer competently examine, given how deeply they've pervaded and altered the collective and individual consciousness that would be the only possible method for making that judgment. And yet — we still feel so utterly human to ourselves..." And Lethem compares novels to video games, arguing that novels are also a kind of virtual reality experience. "As I see the rivals emerge, I feel that novel-making and reading becomes one option on a very large menu, and in some ways a rather antique or humble or lumpen example. But I also think some of the things that make it that are also deep strengths that are becoming more and more highlighted." (This article appears in the new edition of H+ magazine.)
Link to Original Source
Microsoft

Submission + - 10 things Microsoft did wrong in 2009 (betanews.com)

Submitted by Arvisp
Arvisp writes: The year 2009 was perhaps the most difficult for Microsoft since Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded the company nearly 35 years ago. Company executives can thank economic turmoil for the hardships. But Microsoft could have handled 2009 much better than it did. I present the list of 10 things Microsoft did wrong in 2009 in no order of importance. They're all important.
Utilities (Apple)

Submission + - Australian iPhone app assists police (themercury.com.au) 1

Submitted by StantonSmith
StantonSmith writes: The Tasmanian Police Department has this month released an app for police issued iPhones to take a picture of a vehicles licence plate and automatically have it check vehicle registration and owners licence information.
"In the first eight minutes of the new system being turned on last week, a licence and registration check conducted while police were stopped at a traffic light in Hobart resulted in a significant drug bust."
In the first 10 days of operation 167 unregistered vehicles were found and 107 disqualified or unregistered drivers caught. App currently doesn't make an order and direct to nearest Donut King but this is surely in the works.
Apple

Submission + - iPhone only dominates foreign handsets in Japan (gaijincoder.com) 1

Submitted by Kreios
Kreios writes: Recently Slashdot reported that the iPhone has secured 46% of the Japanese smartphone market. To put this figure in a more sobering light, the smartphone market in Japan consists of roughly 6 million devices of which Apple commands 46%. The mobile phone market in Japan consists of 110 million devices of which Apple commands roughly 2.7%. All Japanese phones are inherently 'smart', and there has not been a phone released in recent memory that can not browse the internet, send email or run native applications. Yet Japanese manufacturers avoid the smartphone label lest their devices be seen in the same light as clunky, inferior overseas devices. Therefore the smartphone market in Japan today is essentially the non-Japanese handset market.

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