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Android

Fake Antivirus Scams Spread To Android 236

Posted by timothy from the spreading-the-joy dept.
SharkLaser writes "Fake antivirus scams have plagued Windows and Mac OS X during the last couple of years. Now it seems like such scams have spread to Android. Fake antivirus scams on Android work the same as they do on PC's — a user with an Android phone downloads an application or visits a website that says that the user's device is infected with malware. It will then show a fake scan of the system and return hard-coded 'positives' and gives the option the option to buy antivirus software that will 'remove' the malware on the affected system. Android, which is based on Linux, has been plagued with malware earlier too. According to McAfee, almost all new mobile malware now targets Android. Android app stores, including the official one from Google, has also been hosting hundreds of trojan applications that send premium rate SMSes on behalf of unsuspecting users."

Comment Can you look at yourself in the mirror? (Score 1) 826

by godIsaDJ (#35113426) Attached to: Is Setting Up an Offshore IT Help Desk Ethical?
At the end of the day, the real question is can you do that job and look at yourself in the mirror? The guy decided that he couldn't. There are plenty of jobs I would not do, in fact I'd rather change my lifestyle than make certain compromises. Sadly lots of people have very silent consciences... For instance, how can you design weapons and sleep at night? Or more mundane I think the people that worked on the London congestion charge are unhethical :) If curses can affect your after life, I have no doubt they'll have some nasty surprises...
Image

Genghis Khan, History's Greenest Conqueror 279

Posted by samzenpus from the taking-the-good-with-the-bad dept.
New research suggests that in addition to being one of history's cruelest conquerors, Genghis Khan may have been the greenest. It is estimated that the Mongol leader's invasions unintentionally scrubbed almost 700 million tons of carbon from the atmosphere. From the article: "Over the course of the century and a half run of the Mongol Empire, about 22 percent of the world's total land area had been conquered and an estimated 40 million people were slaughtered by the horse-driven, bow-wielding hordes. Depopulation over such a large swathe of land meant that countless numbers of cultivated fields eventually returned to forests. In other words, one effect of Genghis Khan's unrelenting invasion was widespread reforestation, and the re-growth of those forests meant that more carbon could be absorbed from the atmosphere." I guess everyone has their good points.
Image

Swiss Bank Has 43-Page Dress Code 212

Posted by samzenpus from the dress-for-a-specific-success dept.
Tasha26 writes "The HR of Swiss bank UBS AG came up with an innovative 43-page document (French) to establish fashion 'dos' and 'don'ts' in their retail branches. Among the rules are such things as: 'neither sex should allow their underwear to appear,' perhaps Dilbert was a bit ahead of them on that. The document also mentions smells and 'avoid garlic and onion-based dishes.'"

Comment Re:Cut YouCut (Score 1) 760

by godIsaDJ (#34598892) Attached to: 'YouCut' Targets National Science Foundation Budget

By the US govt.? Try by the rest of the world. Just because the peaceniks in Europe march in the streets doesn't mean that their governments actually give a damn about what they are marching about. The world wants us on that wall. The world NEEDS us on that wall. We are Team America: World Police because dammit, we're the only ones who can do the job. Of course there is waste, but you can forget about the US hanging up its badge and turning in its weapons. Carriers are needed because they are. Just because you have a philosophical problem with that doesn't change anything. The world is still a dangerous place and would be even more dangerous if we weren't walking the beat.

Is that supposed to be funny? Like in http://www.teamamerica.com/ I Hope it is...
Medicine

Americans Less Healthy, But Outlive Brits 521

Posted by timothy from the cross-cultural-croaking-comparison dept.
An anonymous reader writes with this intriguing snippet: "Older Americans are less healthy than their English counterparts, but they live as long or even longer than their English peers, according to a new study by researchers from the RAND Corporation and the Institute for Fiscal Studies in London. Researchers found that while Americans aged 55 to 64 have higher rates of chronic diseases than their peers in England, they died at about the same rate. And Americans age 65 and older — while still sicker than their English peers — had a lower death rate than similar people in England, according to findings published in the journal Demography."
Biotech

Chip Allows Blind People To See 231

Posted by samzenpus from the bionic-eye dept.
crabel writes "3 blind people have been implanted with a retinal chip that allowed them to see shapes and objects within days of the procedure. From the article: 'One of the patients surprised researchers by identifying and locating objects on a table; he was also able to walk around a room unaided, approach specific people, tell the time from a clock face, and describe seven different shades of gray in front of him.'"

Comment Re:So, what's the answer supposed to be? (Score 4, Insightful) 235

by godIsaDJ (#29322455) Attached to: Former Intel CEO Andy Grove Wants Struggling Industries To Stop Slacking

He asks students to imagine if mainframe vendors had asked government to prop them up in the same way that General Motors recently was.

Perhaps there would have been more supercomputers? Or the internet would have arrived sooner and networking would be more advanced? None of us know what would have happened. Assuming it would have been worse is just speculation.

Given the history of such enterprises, learned speculation would tell it'd have to be worse... You are saying that since they didn't have a chance to screw that up, magically it would turn out to be their only success...
The Courts

Downloading Copyrighted Material Legal In Spain 323

Posted by kdawson from the presumed-innocent dept.
Sqwuzzy notes a judge's ruling in Spain that makes that country one of the most lenient in the world as respects sharing copyrighted material over P2P networks. "The entertainment industries in Spain must be progressively tearing their hair out in recent months as they experience setback after setback. ... After Spain virtually ruled out imposing a '3-strikes' regime for illicit file-sharers, the entertainment industries said they would target 200 BitTorrent sites instead. Now a judge has decided that sharing between users for no profit via P2P doesn't breach copyright laws and sites should be presumed innocent until proved otherwise." This ruling occurred in a pre-trial hearing; the case will still go to trial.

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