Submission + - Visa and Mastercard suspend donations to Wikileaks (bbc.co.uk)
An anonymous reader writes: quoted from the BBC:
"Visa Europe has begun suspending payments to whistle-blowing website Wikileaks ahead of carrying out an investigation into the organization. It follows a similar move by rival payments processor Mastercard on Tuesday...A spokeswoman for Visa Europe said its investigation would determine the nature of Wikileaks' business, and "whether it contravenes Visa operating rules". She added that Visa Europe could not suspend payments to Wikileaks immediately, and that the process took a certain amount of time. Mastercard said in its statement that it was "in the process of working to suspend the acceptance of Mastercard cards on Wikileaks until the situation is resolved"."
So after the Citizen's United decision, it's free speech for corporations to donate however much they want to any organization, but corporations can decide when to forbid my right to freedom free speech?
"Visa Europe has begun suspending payments to whistle-blowing website Wikileaks ahead of carrying out an investigation into the organization. It follows a similar move by rival payments processor Mastercard on Tuesday...A spokeswoman for Visa Europe said its investigation would determine the nature of Wikileaks' business, and "whether it contravenes Visa operating rules". She added that Visa Europe could not suspend payments to Wikileaks immediately, and that the process took a certain amount of time. Mastercard said in its statement that it was "in the process of working to suspend the acceptance of Mastercard cards on Wikileaks until the situation is resolved"."
So after the Citizen's United decision, it's free speech for corporations to donate however much they want to any organization, but corporations can decide when to forbid my right to freedom free speech?
Submission + - New Dell laptops bundled with Hardware Keylogger (virus.org.ua)
Art1fice writes: For further investigation and debate for the Slashdot community:
I was opening up my almost brand new Dell 600m laptop, to replace a broken PCMCIA slot riser on the motherboard. As soon as I got the keyboard off, I noticed a small cable running from the keyboard connection underneath a piece of metal protecting the motherboard.
I figured "No Big Deal", and continued with the dissasembly. But when I got the metal panels off, I saw a small white heatshink-wrapped package. Being ever-curious, I sliced the heatshrink open. I found a little circuit board inside.
Being an EE by trade, this piqued my curiosity considerably. On one side of the board, one Atmel AT45D041A four megabit Flash memory chip.
On the other side, one Microchip Technology PIC16F876 Programmable Interrupt Controller, along with a little Fairchild Semiconductor CD4066BCM quad bilateral switch.
Looking further, I saw that the other end of the cable was connected to the integrated ethernet board.
What could this mean? I called Dell tech support about it, and they said, and I quote, "The intregrated service tag identifier is there for assisting customers in the event of lost or misplaced personal information." He then hung up.
A little more research, and I found that that board spliced in between the keyboard and the ethernet chip is little more than a Keyghost hardware keylogger.
The reasons Dell would put this in thier laptops can only be left up to your imagination. It would be very impractical to hand-anylze the logs, and very CPU-intensive to do so on a computer for every person that purchased a dell laptop. Why are these keyloggers here? I recently almost found out.
I called the police, as having a keylogger unknown to me in my laptop is a serious offense. They told me to call the Department of Homeland Security. At this point, I am in disbelief. Why would the DHS have a keylogger in my laptop? It was surreal.
So I called them, and they told me to submit a Freedom of Information Act request. This is what I got back: http://virus.org.ua/unix/keylog/klog_files/homelandletter.png
Capsida.Net — Remote Admin Service
I was opening up my almost brand new Dell 600m laptop, to replace a broken PCMCIA slot riser on the motherboard. As soon as I got the keyboard off, I noticed a small cable running from the keyboard connection underneath a piece of metal protecting the motherboard.
I figured "No Big Deal", and continued with the dissasembly. But when I got the metal panels off, I saw a small white heatshink-wrapped package. Being ever-curious, I sliced the heatshrink open. I found a little circuit board inside.
Being an EE by trade, this piqued my curiosity considerably. On one side of the board, one Atmel AT45D041A four megabit Flash memory chip.
On the other side, one Microchip Technology PIC16F876 Programmable Interrupt Controller, along with a little Fairchild Semiconductor CD4066BCM quad bilateral switch.
Looking further, I saw that the other end of the cable was connected to the integrated ethernet board.
What could this mean? I called Dell tech support about it, and they said, and I quote, "The intregrated service tag identifier is there for assisting customers in the event of lost or misplaced personal information." He then hung up.
A little more research, and I found that that board spliced in between the keyboard and the ethernet chip is little more than a Keyghost hardware keylogger.
The reasons Dell would put this in thier laptops can only be left up to your imagination. It would be very impractical to hand-anylze the logs, and very CPU-intensive to do so on a computer for every person that purchased a dell laptop. Why are these keyloggers here? I recently almost found out.
I called the police, as having a keylogger unknown to me in my laptop is a serious offense. They told me to call the Department of Homeland Security. At this point, I am in disbelief. Why would the DHS have a keylogger in my laptop? It was surreal.
So I called them, and they told me to submit a Freedom of Information Act request. This is what I got back: http://virus.org.ua/unix/keylog/klog_files/homelandletter.png
Capsida.Net — Remote Admin Service
Making Ubuntu Look Like Windows 7 473
DeviceGuru writes "Although it won't help Linux run Windows-specific software applications, this easy hack produces an Ubuntu desktop that looks and feels a lot like Windows 7. It's particularly suitable for reviving older PCs or laptops on which the main activities will be web-browsing, email, document writing, and streaming music and videos from from the web. The process installs a Windows 7-like GNOME theme on an otherwise standard Ubuntu 10.04 installation, although it might work on other Linux distros with GNOME and appropriate other packages installed. Naturally all this begs the question: why would anybody want to do this? Why indeed!" People have been doing this sort of look-and-feel swap-out for years; it seems best to me as a practical joke.
Submission + - Quantum Mechanics and Time?
bknack writes: "I was watching Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman. They covered Quantum Entanglement. Scientists want to know how two particles separated by vast distances can "share information" instantly (apparently not governed by the speed of light). Someone mentioned that the information might travel over a higher dimension than the 4d of SpaceTime.
This lead me to an idea that I'm putting out there for you to comment on. I'm almost sure that it falls into one of the following categories:
1. This is obvious and already known to anyone who knows anything about quantum mechanics.
2. It is silly for the following reason...
3. Hmm... interesting.
So, please help me out with you comments!
Here's the idea I had:
I thought about how we routinely project 3d scenes on a 2d video screen. When this is done, a dimension appears to disappear. You might be able to see the entire stream of bullets shot from directly in front of you (if they were translucent) but you would not know which was closer and which farther away because the depth dimension is "missing" from the 2d projection (I know the bullets that are closer would appear bigger, but let's ignore that). In fact, depth is not missing from the 2d projection, rather it is "compressed" in such a way that we see all of it without being able to pick out any point along it.
What if the quantum particles we see are a 3d projection of the 4d SpaceTime? If so, we would expect that the entire time dimension would be compressed. It the particles don't "experience" time, can this explain why they react instantly?
Lastly, what would we see looking at such particles? I imagine an electron orbit. It is like a train on a track. If we want to know where the train is, we are actually asking: Where is the train at some given time? Without the time component, we can't specify where the train is on the track. If we think of the electron, assuming it represents a 3d projection with time "compressed out", we would expect to see all of time. I was really surprised by this because the probability function used to describe the electron before it is observed seems to me to be exactly this!
This might be the weirdest and nerdiest comment I have seen on Slashdot. All I can say in my defence is: Slashdot is billed as being for nerds :)
Cheers
Bruce."
This lead me to an idea that I'm putting out there for you to comment on. I'm almost sure that it falls into one of the following categories:
1. This is obvious and already known to anyone who knows anything about quantum mechanics.
2. It is silly for the following reason...
3. Hmm... interesting.
So, please help me out with you comments!
Here's the idea I had:
I thought about how we routinely project 3d scenes on a 2d video screen. When this is done, a dimension appears to disappear. You might be able to see the entire stream of bullets shot from directly in front of you (if they were translucent) but you would not know which was closer and which farther away because the depth dimension is "missing" from the 2d projection (I know the bullets that are closer would appear bigger, but let's ignore that). In fact, depth is not missing from the 2d projection, rather it is "compressed" in such a way that we see all of it without being able to pick out any point along it.
What if the quantum particles we see are a 3d projection of the 4d SpaceTime? If so, we would expect that the entire time dimension would be compressed. It the particles don't "experience" time, can this explain why they react instantly?
Lastly, what would we see looking at such particles? I imagine an electron orbit. It is like a train on a track. If we want to know where the train is, we are actually asking: Where is the train at some given time? Without the time component, we can't specify where the train is on the track. If we think of the electron, assuming it represents a 3d projection with time "compressed out", we would expect to see all of time. I was really surprised by this because the probability function used to describe the electron before it is observed seems to me to be exactly this!
This might be the weirdest and nerdiest comment I have seen on Slashdot. All I can say in my defence is: Slashdot is billed as being for nerds
Cheers
Bruce."
Submission + - Ubisoft DRM problems remain unsolved (ubi.com) 1
ocean_soul writes: "More than three weeks after the release of The Settlers 7, with the controversial "always on-line" DRM, a lot of people still can't connect to Ubisoft's DRM servers. The forum threads where people can post if they are unable to connect keeps growing daily. The reason for the lack of fixes or responses from support seems to be that the people responsible were on vacation during the Easter holiday, despite the promis of 24/7 monitoring of the servers. The moral of this story seems to be that it is a bad idea to buy a game just before a major holiday. Something to keep in mind for Christmas shopping..."
Submission + - US Hosted Exchange Provider (Intermedia) down
ebade writes: Intermedia is the largest hosted exchange provider in the US and possible the world. They also provide other services and boast of a 99.999% uptime SLA [http://www.intermedia.net/exchange-hosting/exchange-hosting.asp]. They have had several server issues this year and I wonder if they will review their 99.99% uptime record. The current message to clients experiencing delays is here [http://www.intermedia.net/support/currentnetworkstatus.aspx]. I believe they have several locations (3 at last count) and I am just wondering how, in a company as big as they are with multiple server locations, can things go wrong? I would assume they have monitoring tools and the likes.
SolarPHP 1.0 Released 125
HvitRavn writes "SolarPHP 1.0 stable was released by Paul M. Jones today. SolarPHP is an application framework and library, and is a serious contender alongside Zend Framework, Symphony, and similar frameworks. SolarPHP has in the recent years been the cause of heated debate in the PHP community due to provocative benchmark results posted on Paul M. Jones' blog."
An Early Look At Civilization V 286
c0mpliant writes "IGN and Gamespot have each released a preview of the recently announced and eagerly awaited Civilization V. Apart from the obvious new hexagon shape of tiles and improved graphics, the articles go on to outline some of the major changes in the game, such as updated AI, new 'flavors' to world leaders, and a potentially game-changing, one-unit-per-tile system. No more will the stack of doom come to your city's doorsteps. Some features which will not be returning are religion and espionage. The removal of these two have sparked a frenzy of discussion on fan-related forums."
Scientists Say a Dirty Child Is a Healthy Child
331
Researchers from the School of Medicine at the University of California have shown that the more germs a child is exposed to, the better their immune system in later life. Their study found that keeping a child's skin too clean impaired the skin's ability to heal itself. From the article: "'These germs are actually good for us,' said Professor Richard Gallo, who led the research. Common bacterial species, known as staphylococci, which can cause inflammation when under the skin, are 'good bacteria' when on the surface, where they can reduce inflammation."
Avataritis — On the Abundance of Customizable Game Characters 78
Martyn Zachary writes "The Slowdown has posted a new critique, 'Avataritis,' that attempts to portray the utilization of character customization as a pandemic, emotional response on behalf of publishers and developers to finding the easiest, most efficient solution to the very unique dilemma presented by the enlarging, widening player base of video games. 'No mechanisms are in place stopping developers from writing and designing heterogeneous yet fully structured, narrative-based computer games with carefully constructed and immutable, unchangeable characters.' The article discusses the emergence and role of gender criticism and research in relation to the recent proliferation of the customizable avatar. The story also dissects the very act of character creation, subsequently aiming to clarify several semantic distortions related to the terminology utilized in character creation, and in turn breaking apart the concepts of relatability and understandability, wholly differentiating the two. The overarching analysis is finally related to examples from the gaming marketplace, where many continue to corroborate apparent falsehoods and misunderstandings in relation to the utilization of the avatar. Ultimately, the writer hopes to dissuade readers, developers and players from believing that written narratives are going away as customization and emergent content are entering video games with full force."
Submission + - Google fails to win any spectrum bids (komotv.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Verizon Wireless, a joint venture between Verizon Communications Inc. and British telecom giant Vodaphone Group, won nearly every license in the consumer-friendly "C block." Google Inc. was not among the winners, meaning the search engine giant will not be entering the cellular telephone business. The auction, overseen by the FCC, attracted a record $19.6 billion in bids.
Feed Techdirt: Verizon: Bandwidth Hogs Are A Tech Issue, Not A Legal Or Business Model Problem (techdirt.com)
While ATT has been siding with Hollywood in saying that file sharing is bad (so bad!) and that it needs to filter file sharing to deal with it, Verizon very clearly stated a few months ago that it didn't think that was appropriate. However, now it appears that Verizon has gone even further, in working with a P2P software maker to improve the efficiency of P2P to make it less of a bandwidth hog.
Now, there are a few points worth making on this announcement. First, part of it is clearly just hyping up one startup that is offering a "legal" P2P file sharing offering. Second, part of this is Verizon using the opportunity to tweak ATT and make itself look much more consumer friendly (something that doesn't often happen with Verizon, to be honest). Third, this hardly means (as some have been suggesting) that Verizon is "file sharing friendly." It only works with the one app that worked on this test with Verizon. However, what it does show is that Verizon recognizes that "bandwidth hogs" really are a technology issue that can be dealt with via technology solutions on the backend, rather than legal or business model methods that make life worse for consumers. That, alone, is a lesson that hopefully other companies in the space (and politicians) will learn.
Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
Now, there are a few points worth making on this announcement. First, part of it is clearly just hyping up one startup that is offering a "legal" P2P file sharing offering. Second, part of this is Verizon using the opportunity to tweak ATT and make itself look much more consumer friendly (something that doesn't often happen with Verizon, to be honest). Third, this hardly means (as some have been suggesting) that Verizon is "file sharing friendly." It only works with the one app that worked on this test with Verizon. However, what it does show is that Verizon recognizes that "bandwidth hogs" really are a technology issue that can be dealt with via technology solutions on the backend, rather than legal or business model methods that make life worse for consumers. That, alone, is a lesson that hopefully other companies in the space (and politicians) will learn.
Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
Feed Science Daily: Royal Corruption Is Rife In The Ant World (sciencedaily.com)
Submission + - SPAM: NASA to test emergency ability of new spacecraft 2
coondoggie writes: "NASA this week will show off the first mock up of its Orion space capsule ahead of the capsule's first emergency astronaut escape system test. NASA in late 2008, says it will jettison the full-size structural model off a simulated launch pad at the US Army's White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The launch escape vehicle sits atop the Orion capsule which is slated to be bolted on an Ares rocket. The escape vehicle is made up of three solid rocket motors as well as separation mechanisms and canards, and should offer the crew an escape capability in the event of an emergency during launch, according to NASA.
[spam URL stripped]"
Link to Original Source
Link to Original Source
