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Comment Re:Imagine that! (Score 1) 191

by FauxReal (#48597403) Attached to: Spanish Media Group Wants Gov't Help To Keep Google News In Spain

Corruption is rampant nearly everywhere. Plus last time I heard Spain was a democratic regime with a parliamentary monarchy.

In the USA the MPAA and RIAA pass stupid laws all the time why do you think in Spain things would be different?

He doesn't, he was telling that to the naive person he was responding who thinks it should be different.

Submission + - BrowserStack compromised? (lastbuild.com) 3

Submitted by algofoogle
algofoogle writes: While not yet confirmed to be a security breach, customers of BrowserStack have apparently received a facetious email claiming the service is shutting down. The language hints at a disgruntled employee or nefarious user, alleging that aspects of the Terms of Service are false, while also revealing apparently-sensitive internal information. Whether coincidental or in response to the email, BrowserStack.com is currently offline, stating that "we're performing some maintenance at the moment".

Submission + - NSA possibly using loophole for additional unconstitutional surveillance

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: By routing American traffic out of the country using either BGP or DNS attacks, a new research paper posits that the NSA could be using an Executive Order permitting unfiltered foreign data collection to justify thwarting its duty to protect the constitutional rights of American citizens. From a new article:

the lesser-known Executive Order (EO) 12333, which remains solely the domain of the Executive Branch — along with United States Signals Intelligence Directive (USSID) 18, designed to regulate the collection of American's data from surveillance conducted on foreign soil — can be used as a legal basis for vast and near-unrestricted domestic surveillance on Americans.

The legal provisions offered under EO 12333, which the researchers say "explicitly allows for intentional targeting of U.S. persons" for surveillance purposes when FISA protections do not apply, was the basis of the authority that reportedly allowed the NSA to tap into the fiber cables that connected Google and Yahoo's overseas to U.S. data centers.

Submission + - FTC Says T-Mobile Made Hundreds of Millions From Bogus SMS Charges (ftc.gov)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Today the FTC filed a complaint (PDF) against T-Mobile USA, alleging the carrier made hundreds of millions of dollars from bogus charges placed on customers' bills for unauthorized SMS services. "The FTC alleges that T-Mobile received anywhere from 35 to 40 percent of the total amount charged to consumers for subscriptions for content such as flirting tips, horoscope information or celebrity gossip that typically cost $9.99 per month. According to the FTC’s complaint, T-Mobile in some cases continued to bill its customers for these services offered by scammers years after becoming aware of signs that the charges were fraudulent." FTC chairwoman Edith Ramirez said, "It’s wrong for a company like T-Mobile to profit from scams against its customers when there were clear warning signs the charges it was imposing were fraudulent. It’s wrong for a company like T-Mobile to profit from scams against its customers when there were clear warning signs the charges it was imposing were fraudulent." According to the complaint, T-Mobile also made it hard for customers to figure out they were being billed for these services, failed to provide refunds when customers complained.

Submission + - MIT Designs Tsunami Proof Floating Nuclear Reactor (mit.edu)

Submitted by Amtrak
Amtrak writes: MIT has created designs for a nuclear plant that would avoid the downfall of the Fukushima Daiichi plant. The new design calls for the nuclear plant to be placed on a floating platform modeled after the platforms used for offshore oil drilling.

A floating platform several miles offshore, moored in about 100 meters of water, would be unaffected by the motions of a tsunami; earthquakes would have no direct effect at all. Meanwhile, the biggest issue that faces most nuclear plants under emergency conditions — overheating and potential meltdown, as happened at Fukushima, Chernobyl, and Three Mile Island — would be virtually impossible at sea.

Submission + - Plant Breeders Release First 'Open Source Seeds' (npr.org)

Submitted by mr crypto
mr crypto writes: Ag with an OSS twist: "A group of scientists and food activists is launching a campaign Thursday to change the rules that govern seeds. They're releasing 29 new varieties of crops under a new "open source pledge" that's intended to safeguard the ability of farmers, gardeners and plant breeders to share those seeds freely."

Submission + - Oracle Deflects Blame for Troubled Oregon Health Care Site (itworld.com)

Submitted by itwbennett
itwbennett writes: Oracle is gearing up for a fight with officials in Oregon over its role developing an expensive health insurance exchange website that still isn't fully operational. In a letter obtained by the Oregonian newspaper this week, Oracle co-president Safra Catz said that Oregon officials have provided the public with a 'false narrative' concerning who is to blame for Cover Oregon's woes. In the letter, Catz pointed out that Oregon's decision to act as their own systems integrator on the project, using Oracle consultants on a time-and-materials basis, was 'criticized frequently by many'. And as far as Oracle is concerned, 'Cover Oregon lacked the skills, knowledge or ability to be successful as the systems integrator on an undertaking of this scope and complexity,' she added.

Submission + - Ubuntu Linux 14.04 LTS Trusty Tahr Released

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Ubuntu Linux version 14.04 LTS (code named "Trusty Tahr") has been released and available for download. This updated version includes the Linux kernel v3.13.0-24.46, Python 3.4, Xen 4.4, Libreoffice 4.2.3, MySQL 5.6/MariaDB 5.5, Apache 2.4, PHP 5.5, improvements to AppArmor allow more fine-grained control over application, and more. The latest release of Ubuntu Server is heavily focused on supporting cloud and scale-out computing platforms such as OpenStack, Docker, and more. As part of the wider Ubuntu 14.04 release efforts the Ubuntu Touch team is proud to make the latest and greatest touch experience available to our enthusiast users and developers. You can install Ubuntu on Nexus 4 Phone (mako), Nexus 7 (2013) Tablet (flo), and Nexus 10 Tablet (manta) by following these instructions. On a hardware front, ARM multiplatform support has been added, enabling you to build a single ARM kernel image that can boot across multiple hardware platforms. Additionally, the ARM64 and Power architectures are now fully supported. See detailed release note for more information here and a quick upgrade to a newer version of Ubuntu is possible over the network.

Submission + - Passist - a password manager app that does not actually store passwords?

Submitted by Jonathan Custance
Jonathan Custance writes: Passist (iTunes; Web Info) is a revolutionary app for helping you keep track of passwords for web sites you use. It is unique, in that it algorithmically generates strong passwords for the sites you use and does not use a password vault, meaning it is harder to hack than traditional solutions. All of the passwords are protected by a single passphrase of a user's choosing. We don't even store the passphrase or a full hash of it, making it harder still for someone to compromise your password list via brute force attack.

Green Custard have been working on the app concept for a number of months and Heartbleed gave reason to complete the app and get it out. An Android version is coming soon.

Submission + - Americans are scared about the future of drones, robots, and wearables (networkworld.com)

Submitted by colinneagle
colinneagle writes: Findings from a recent Pew study on Americans' opinions on future technology and science: 65% think it would be a change for the worse if lifelike robots become the primary caregivers for the elderly and people in poor health. 63% think it would be a change for the worse if personal and commercial drones are given permission to fly through most U.S. airspace. 53% of Americans think it would be a change for the worse if most people wear implants or other devices that constantly show them information about the world around them.

The drone concern is to be expected, from both a privacy and a safety perspective. Last year, a small Colorado town tried to issue permits for residents to shoot down airborne drones, and came pretty close to making it legal. And just last week, a drone fell out of the air at a triathlon in Australia; an ambulance crew had to pick pieces of the drone's propeller out of her head. Compare this problem with Amazon’s vision of constant drone deliveries and you have a recipe for a country full of concerned parents.

The wearable concern is just another sign of privacy concerns going mainstream. Google Glass has seen some serious backlash lately, with even physical violence and theft against those who wear them in public. The study just illustrates how widespread this contempt goes.

One issue I was surprised not to see was concern over the impact of robots and drones on jobs for humans. A 2013 Oxford study estimated that as many as 47% of human jobs in the U.S. can be automated, taken over by robots or drones that don’t require a wage (let alone a minimum wage) and can work round-the-clock.

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