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Submission + - iPhone seeks wi-fi connection when "off" 5

Submitted by rbarrphd
rbarrphd writes: Recently, my university email account became locked every few hours due to repeated incorrect network login attempts. The culprit was my iPhone 5 trying to connect to the school’s wi-fi with an old password---even though its wi-fi Setting was “Off.” Therefore, iPhones must surreptitiously and repeatedly attempt connection to nearby networks even when that function is supposedly disabled. Is this well-known? Does anyone have another explanation?

Submission + - Massive chip design savings to be realized (utwente.nl)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: IT researchers working at the University of Twente have developed a programming language making the massive costs associated with designing hardware more manageable. Chip manufacturers have been using the same chip design techniques for twenty years now. The current process calls for extensive testing after each design step — a massively expensive state of affairs. The newly developed, so-called functional programming language makes it possible to prove, in advance, that a design transformation is a hundred per cent error-free.

Submission + - OpenSSL 1.0.2 Released (marc.info)

Submitted by kthreadd
kthreadd writes: The OpenSSL project has released its second feature release of the OpenSSL 1.0 series, version 1.0.2 which is ABI compatible with the 1.0.0 and 1.0.1 series. Major new features in this release include Suite B support for TLS 1.2 and DTLS 1.2 and support for DTLS 1.2. selection. Other major changes include TLS automatic EC curve selection, an API to set TLS supported signature algorithms and curves, the SSL_CONF configuration API, support for TLS Brainpool, support for ALPN and support for CMS support for RSA-PSS, RSA-OAEP, ECDH and X9.42 DH.

Submission + - Finding ET – we're gonna need a bigger dish (newscientist.com) 1

Submitted by Z00L00K
Z00L00K writes: The hunt for alien civilisations may need a rethink. A new paper argues that the signals we're listening for might not be the ones ET would choose.

Historically, SETI – the search for extraterrestrial intelligence – involves scanning the sky for radio signals that another civilization is deliberately sending. The simplest would be a constant blast in all directions, but in a narrow range of frequencies, similar to early radio broadcasts – like a constant hum that would tell a listener it is artificial. From light years away, we would not be able to get any other information – all we would be able to tell from Earth is that a signal was there and where it was coming from, not what it says.

Submission + - Americans Support Mandatory Labeling of Food That Contains DNA

Submitted by HughPickens.com
HughPickens.com writes: Jennifer Abel writes at the LA times that according to a recent survey over 80% of Americans says they support “mandatory labels on foods containing DNA,” roughly the same number that support the mandatory labeling of GMO foods “produced with genetic engineering.” Ilya Somin, writing about the survey at the Washington Post, suggested that a mandatory label for foods containing DNA might sound like this: "WARNING: This product contains deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). The Surgeon General has determined that DNA is linked to a variety of diseases in both animals and humans. In some configurations, it is a risk factor for cancer and heart disease. Pregnant women are at very high risk of passing on DNA to their children."

The report echoes a well-known joke/prank wherein people discuss the dangers of the chemical “dihydrogen monoxide" also known as hydrogen oxide and hydrogen hydroxide. Search online for information about dihydrogen monoxide, and you'll find a long list of scary-sounding and absolutely true warnings about it: the nuclear power industry uses enormous quantities of it every year. Dihydrogen monoxide is used in the production of many highly toxic pesticides, and chemical weapons banned by the Geneva Conventions. Dihydrogen monoxide is found in all tumors removed from cancer patients, and is guaranteed fatal to humans in large quantities and even small quantities can kill you, if it enters your respiratory system. In 2006, in Louisville, Kentucky, David Karem, executive director of the Waterfront Development Corporation, a public body that operates Waterfront Park, wished to deter bathers from using a large public fountain. "Counting on a lack of understanding about water's chemical makeup," he arranged for signs reading: "DANGER! – WATER CONTAINS HIGH LEVELS OF HYDROGEN – KEEP OUT" to be posted on the fountain at public expense

Submission + - The end of Public Domain 1

Submitted by eporue
eporue writes: Since I uploaded the public domain movie The night of the living dead to YouTube I got 18 different complaints of copyright infrigment on it.
Actually, I have a channel of Public Domain movies in which monetization has been disabled "due to repeated community guidelines and/or copyright issues".
The problem is that 99% of the complaints are false, they are from companies that have no rights over the movies but by issuing millions of take downs, manage to control a good number of videos in YouTube.
Is there any way to fight back ? Is there a way to "probe" public domain ?

Submission + - What does a person use for a three button mouse these days? 2

Submitted by guises
guises writes: Ever since mouse wheels were introduced the middle mouse button has been sidelined to an inadequate click-wheel function, or in some cases ditched altogether. This has never sat well with me, a proper middle button is invaluable for pasting, games, and navigation. More than that, my hand categorically rejects two button mice — the dangling ring finger causes me genuine physical discomfort. I have begged Logitech on multiple occasions to make just one, among their many screwy specialty mice, to replace the Mouseman which I loved so dearly. I thought for a moment that I had been answered with the g600, only to find that they had put the right mouse button in the middle.

So my question to Slashdot is: where does a person turn for a three button mouse these days? I've only found two, both ergonomic and priced accordingly. I use the Contour and like the shape and wheel position, but would love to find something wireless and with a higher DPI sensor.

Submission + - Is Spacetime Countable--And Why It Matters?

Submitted by KentuckyFC
KentuckyFC writes: One of the big problems with quantum gravity is that it generates infinities that are hard to deal with mathematically.They come about because quantum mechanics implies that accurate measurements of the universe on tiny scales require high-energy. But when the scale becomes very small, the energy density associated with a measurement is so great that it should lead to the formation of a black hole, which would paradoxically ruin the measurement that created it. So physicists have invented a technique called renormalisation to get rid of the infinities. They assume there is a minimum scale beyond which nothing can be smaller, the so-called Planck scale. This limit ensures that energy densities never become high enough to create black holes. This is equivalent to saying that space-time is not infinitely divisible. Instead it must be discrete, or as a mathematician might put it, countable. In other words, it is possible to allocate a number to each discrete volume of space-time making it countable, like grains of sand on a beach or atoms in the universe. Many physicists are uncomfortable with this ideas and now they may have an alternative. A small group of cosmologists are developing a new theory of gravity, called shape dynamics, in which spacetime is infinitely divisible and so uncountable . This ignores many ordinary features of physical objects, such as their position within the universe. Instead, it focuses on objects’ relationships to each other, such as the angles between them and the shape that this makes (hence the term shape dynamics). These angles and shapes are scale invariant--they are the same whatever scale you look at them. And that's why spacetime in this model is infinitely divisible. It's early days for shape dynamics but a growing number of theorists have high hopes for the theory following a recent proof that special relativity is its mathematical equivalent.

Comment Re:X-Files vs. Bab-5 - ouch! (Score 1) 480

by Z00L00K (#48891649) Attached to: Best 1990s Sci-fi show?

Why really compare them - both Star Trek and B5 were good in their own way.

Considering the CGI of B5 - it was at the time good - and did shock some. Now it looks dated, but there are more modern CGI that actually is worse even if it has finer details. Just because you can have 1000 times more polygons today than when B5 was made it's not worth crap if you don't get the perspectives right or get strange artifacts.

As for the 5th season - it's not as sharp as the beginning, but it do bring some closure and brings up side stories. As in real life - people come and people go, and I think that it was part of the beauty in B5 - that even main characters weren't there all the time and that they changed.

I think that too many series get stale because there's a fear of replacing main characters.

Submission + - Verizon Nearing the End of its FIOS Builds

Submitted by WheezyJoe
WheezyJoe writes: If you've been holding out hope that FIOS would rescue you from your local cable monopoly, it's probably time to give up. Making good on their statements five years ago, Verizon announced this week they are nearing "the end" of its fiber construction and is reducing wireline capital expenditures while spending more on wireless.
Verizon CFO Fran Shammo says "we are getting to the end of our committed build around FiOS". The expense of replacing old copper lines with fiber has allegedly led Verizon to stop building in new regions and to complete wiring up the areas where it had already begun. So, if Verizon hasn't started in your neighborhood by now, they never will, and you'd best ignore all those sexy ads for FIOS.

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