darrell73 - Slashdot User

Submission + - Does IT-Sec 'need' to employ Hackers?

Submitted by ghostcorps on Wednesday May 23, 2007 @12:46AM

ghostcorps writes: .

I am writting an assignment for Uni, and have chosen the topic:

"To win the fight against e-crime, partnerships are not only needed between law enforcement and the private sector, but also with Hackers."

Obviously (IMO) the answer is the question. But, can anyone detail some specific 'employ a hacker' policies that worked or that did not work? Preferably in spectacular fashion.

If there are any employers of 'White-hats' reading this, could you please give a quick explanation of why the decision was made to employ a 'Hacker' and what, if any, precautions were taken to sooth the concerns of the 'powers that be'.

How well do the IT-sec professionals and the Hackers work together? Do their skills compliment or clash?

Opinions and anecdotes are appreciated and expected.

Submission + - Apple refuses to fix Macbook Pro

Submitted by

notquiteleet

on Tuesday May 22, 2007 @11:36PM

notquiteleet writes: "I was called on the 21st of May by Apple to come pick up my Macbook Pro after having it repaired.

Why was it repaired? Here is the short back story.

I had a cracked LCD screen a few months ago. I paid nearly 1400 bucks to have it fixed and repaired (which included the top and bottom assembly). A month after I got it back I noticed that the display would not latch properly, not without my forcing it shut. I also noticed separation between the plastic lining and the metal assembly on the top and bottom of the chassis. This was also noticed on the display. At the time I needed it for school and for work setting up a few websites, making money etc. Semester was over, caught a break in work and met the tech at the Genius bar to address the issues on the weekend of the 12th of May. Genius tech agreed it was flawed, sent it to Apple Care to be fixed at no cost to me.

Went to pick up the laptop the first time on or around the 17th of May. I refused to accept the repair because there was still a large bulge between the lining and bottom assembly from the audio port to the back of the laptop. I could easily get my thumbnail in it. It was still present on the other side of the laptop but less prevalent. The display was never replaced so the condition on it still existed. The genius tech said he sees a lot of laptops come in with this "condition" and it seems to be typical. He said he couldn't guarantee anything, but he would send it back to Apple Care. He also said they may send it back without touching it.

Well here we are on the 22nd of May and this time its MUCH worse. Though I was optimistic, I still couldn't accept the repair. The top and bottom assemblies looked great, no issue there.

My issue was now the display itself. It has what I would say is a horrendous U bend when closed and latched.

Please let me know if I'm being a little over sensitive, here are the pics (click for 6 MP version):

Go to the host site to see the pictures.

http://notquiteleet.com/2007/05/23/apple-refuses-t o-fix-macbook-pro/

I was helped by Khalil Smith, the General Manager of the Apple Store at Crabtree Valley Mall in Raleigh, NC. I told him that I was not comfortable accepting the laptop in this condition.

I told him the assemblies and plastic lining looks great but I was concerned about the bend in the display. I asked him to send it back to Apple Care.

He said, "I will not authorize any more work on this laptop"!

I asked again that he send it back to Apple Care since I did not feel confident in the integrity of the display due to the large bend.

He replied that, "The repair falls within our specs."

I asked to see the specs.

He said, "They are confidential".

I almost lost it at this point. He then said if I refuse to pick the laptop up, they would follow their abandonment procedure where I would be called at a regular interval for 60 days. I picked up the work authorization paper work and said that I would like this as a record of the repair on it. He forcefully snatched it out of my hand and said "that is only if you pick it up". I asked him to make a copy of it, twice if not three times, before he went to the back and did it. He didn't copy the itemized repair page that showed exactly what was repaired.

So if you could let me know if I'm just being a little too sensitive about this Id appreciate it. They know perfectly well how much we spend on these machines, and at that price we deserve to have it looking and functioning perfectly, especially right out of a repair depot.

I worked for the Apple Store at Southpoint Mall in Durham, NC. for about 10 months (approximation) or so when I was in College, this being about 2 years ago. I left when I was offered and internship at a Fortune 100 company where I currently work now as full time Engineer.

Given the experiences Ive been through the past 2 weeks I'd like to thank Apple for disowning one of its "own".

Not only do I feel discriminated against, I am thoroughly disgusted, and deeply offended by the way Khalil Smith, a General Manager handled the situation. I have no confidence in the Management of the store to do what's right. My trust in Apple has been violated. My enthusiasm as an advocate of Apple and its products is substantially degraded. I also have little faith now in the Depot, nor any repair entity of Apple to fix this machine properly.

After all, the more time I have to wait for the Macbook Pro to get fixed the more money I lose. That isn't good.

Apple Inc, Digg, Slashdot, Consumerist, Reddit, will someone please help me?"

Submission + - Google Nepotism Goes Beta

Submitted by

theodp

on Tuesday May 22, 2007 @11:05PM

theodp writes: "Fresh off her marriage to Google co-founder Sergey Brin in the Bahamas, biotech entrepreneur Anne Wojcicki has snagged a $3.9 million investment from Google (SEC filing) for her 23andMe startup. The startup, whose name refers to the 23 pairs of chromosomes in humans, is hiring. Wojcicki's sister Susan, a VP of development for Google who played Cupid to the pair, sold her house to Google last fall for an undisclosed amount (Larry and Sergey once rented the home's garage)."

Submission + - StarCraft II - Worlds Best RTS, with In-Game Ads?

Submitted by ReKlipz on Tuesday May 22, 2007 @10:59PM

ReKlipz writes: Everyone knows StarCraft was a huge success, and is still a fairly popular game, despite the fact that it was released nearly 9 years ago. Blizzard has recently officially announced development of StarCraft II, expected to be released sometime next year (some speculate as a 10th year anniversary to StarCraft). Along with the announcement came a website sporting gameplay videos and in-game screenshots. Whats interesting though is whats in the screenshots. Although the landscaping and the highly improved detail of characters and other models looks amazing, there was something else that caught my eye when viewing. The screenshots contain what look to be futuristic billboards, billboards of which present day games (like Battlefield 2142) use to display in-game ads.

http://us.media.blizzard.com/starcraft2/images/scr eenshots/ss1-hires.jpg (near upper right)
http://us.media.blizzard.com/starcraft2/images/scr eenshots/ss2-hires.jpg (same as first, upper right)
http://us.media.blizzard.com/starcraft2/images/scr eenshots/ss3-hires.jpg (upper left, green)
http://us.media.blizzard.com/starcraft2/images/scr eenshots/ss4-hires.jpg (very top, "REAL MEN DRILL DEEP")
http://us.media.blizzard.com/starcraft2/images/scr eenshots/ss5-hires.jpg (upper left, "NUKE COLA")
http://us.media.blizzard.com/starcraft2/images/scr eenshots/ss8-hires.jpg (upper right)
http://us.media.blizzard.com/starcraft2/images/scr eenshots/ss10-hires.jpg (upper left, "REAL MEN DRILL DEEP")

Of course, this is all just speculation, and some may add that the speculated ads are nothing more than pleasant scenery. While I hope the latter is true, one cannot just toss out the possibility that these are just place holders for what would be real ads, as these do seem to be out of place, and in my opinion, unnecessary.

Now, don't get me wrong. In-game ads aren't always a bad thing. It's possible that they may drive down the cost of the game (although unlikely). Also, I'm sure that Blizzard would do a good job of making sure that the ads fit in well with the scenery (again, I believe Battlefield 2142 does a very good job of this).

This is just something I noticed, and is not backed by anything other than screenshots and speculation.

Submission + - Blizzard makes WoW wish virtual reality

Submitted by mobydobius on Tuesday May 22, 2007 @10:00PM

mobydobius writes: Blizzard makes young cancer patient's wish come true: He becomes a small part of the WoW storyline.

Okay so this is a little more sentimental than your typical slashdot fare, but the father in this article is my best friend and I just love his kid so much that I want everyone to know his story. And hey, it's WoW; it's Blizzard; so it's tangentially relevant.

Bookmark BigString 2.0 "The World's Coolest Email" (bigstring.com)

by bandnic on Tuesday March 06, 2007 @02:39AM

Novell Releases OO–OOXML Translator 157

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday March 06, 2007 @01:52AM from the biting-the-hand dept.

Tookis writes in with news that Novell has released an Office Open XML (OOXML) translator for OpenOffice.org. The article argues that, though this move may represent a nail in the coffin of the franchise known as Microsoft Office, and therefore a Good Thing, what is truly needed is a fully supported Evolution on Windows.

Journal Journal: Mac's advice: write down your password on a paper 1

Journal by ksamanta on Tuesday March 06, 2007 @01:36AM

http://geniusamsidea.blogspot.com/2007/03/macs-advice-write-down-your-password-on.html

Submission + - Microsoft gets ownd by its own Windows OneCare

Submitted by Stony Stevenson on Tuesday March 06, 2007 @01:25AM

Stony Stevenson writes: Microsoft has launched a marketing campaign that lets any student from an Australian university buy the Ultimate edition of Office 2007 (usually costs $1150) for only $75. A discount of about 93%. But when users go to the site, Microsoft Live OneCare pops up saying the site is a potential phishing scam.

From the article: When entering the site, some users have reported receiving a warning from Windows Live OneCare advising that the www.itsnotcheating.com.au site is a suspicious website.

The warning reads: "Phishing filter has determined this might be a phishing website. We recommend that you do not give any of your information to such websites. Phishing websites impersonate trustworthy websites for the purpose of obtaining your personal or financial information."

A Microsoft spokesperson said the company was unaware of the warning but pledged to amend it as soon as possible.

Submission + - Windows Vista Needs DST Patch

Submitted by on Tuesday March 06, 2007 @01:12AM

An anonymous reader writes: Windows Vista and Windows XP may require a HotFix patch to the C Runtime Library MSVCRT.dll as part of the Daylight Savings Time nightmare. Microsoft released a technical bulletin on 3/1/07 detailing the products which require the patch. Unfortunately Microsoft had the Vista Patch on 2/16/07 and the Windows XP patch on 2/19/07 but they decided to hold on to them until 3/1/07. This is the second round of Operating System patches for Windows and Daylight Savings Time. See KB932590 for more details. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/932590/en-us. Note that to get the patches, you must call Microsoft and request the patch.

Journal Journal: Firewalls, H323, Abstraction

Journal by Saint Aardvark on Tuesday March 06, 2007 @12:58AM

Last month, my work got a new H.323 video conferencing unit, and today we had our first real test: a lecture given at SFU that was streamed to us. For the most part, it went really well; there were no big screw-ups and everything went as planned. During the second half of the conference, though, the audio was intermittently choppy. I'm not certain, but I think that a local user's Internet radio stream may have caused the problems.

Slashdot Top Deals