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Comment Reliable Results? (Score 1) 78

The government did a study a few years aback, regarding the legitimacy of online genetic testing companies. The whole report can be found here: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d06977t.pdf Their findings are a bit disturbing to say the least, it seems like some of the genetic testing companies out there try to sell you their "nutritional supplements" and none of the companies that were tested seemed to provide solid, accurate results. There also seems to be a lack of oversight regarding the procedures.
Security

Kaspersky Customer Database Exposed 175

secmartin writes "A hacker has managed to gain access to several databases via a SQL injection vulnerability on Kaspersky's US website. He has posted several screenshots and a list of available tables; judging from the table names, the information available includes data on bugs and user- and reseller accounts. The hacker has indicated that no confidential information will be posted on the Internet, but since a large part of the URLs used was visible in screenshots, it will only be a matter of time before somebody else manages to duplicate this."
Privacy

Give Up the Fight For Personal Privacy? 751

KlaymenDK writes "Over the last decade or so, I have strived to maintain my privacy. I have uninstalled Windows, told my friends 'sorry' when they wanted me to join Facebook, had a fight with my brother when he wanted to move the family email hosting to Gmail, and generally held back on my personal information online. But since, amongst all of my friends, I am the only one doing this, it may well be that my battle is lost already. Worse, I'm really putting myself out of the loop, and it is starting to look like self-flagellation. Indeed, it is a common occurrence that my wife or friends will strike up a conversation based on something from their Facebook 'wall' (whatever that is). Becoming ever more unconnected with my friends, live or online, is ultimately harming my social relations. I am seriously considering throwing in the towel and signing up for Gmail, Facebook, the lot. If 'they' have my soul already, I might as well reap the benefits of this newfangled, privacy-less, AJAX-2.0 world. It doesn't really matter if it was me or my friends selling me out. Or does it? I'd love to hear your thoughts on the matter. How many Windows-eschewing users are not also eschewing the social networking services and all the other 2.0 supersites with their dubious end-user license agreements?"
Slashback

Submission + - No Slashdot April Fools Jokes in 2008 8

An anonymous reader writes: Slashdot will not be participating in the April Fools jokes this year due to a lawsuit that was settled out of court with undisclosed terms stemming from the 2007 April 1st stunts. The false stories were determined to be too egregious by a yet to be named individual. Slashdot's parent company SourceForge, Inc. found it wiser to settle out of court then a lengthy battle that was obviously going to span several months.

The ponies will be missed.
Music

Submission + - Harvard Law Prof Urges University to Fight RIAA

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: "Distinguished Harvard University Law School Professor Charles Nesson has called upon Harvard University to fight back against the RIAA and stand up for its students: "Students and faculty use the Internet to gather and share knowledge now more than ever....Yet "new deterrence and education initiatives" from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) threaten access to this vibrant resource. The RIAA has already requested that universities serve as conduits for more than 1,200 "pre-litigation letters." Seeking to outsource its enforcement costs, the RIAA asks universities to point fingers at their students, to filter their Internet access, and to pass along notices of claimed copyright infringement. But these responses distort the University's educational mission....... One can easily understand why the RIAA wants help from universities in facilitating its enforcement actions against students who download copyrighted music without paying for it. It is easier to litigate against change than to change with it. If the RIAA saw a better way to protect its existing business, it would not be threatening our students, forcing our librarians and administrators to be copyright police, and flooding our courts with lawsuits against relatively defenseless families without lawyers or ready means to pay. We can even understand the attraction of using lawsuits to shore up an aging business model rather than engaging with disruptive technologies and the risks that new business models entail...... But mere understanding is no reason for a university to voluntarily assist the RIAA with its threatening and abusive tactics. Instead, we should be assisting our students both by explaining the law and by resisting the subpoenas that the RIAA serves upon us. We should be deploying our clinical legal student training programs to defend our targeted students......""

Feed Law-Student Slam Board Costs Another Student His Job (techdirt.com)

Back in March, we posted a story about how some law-school students were blaming their lack of success in the job market on message-board postings that had been made about them. Of course, it wasn't at all clear if the messages themselves really played any part in the students' job hunts, and we noted at the time that if they did, it was probably a bit of an overreaction on the part of potential employers. Now, another law student has lost a job offer because of the site -- only this time, it's one of the site's employees. Even though the student was the site's "chief education director" and had no control over the message boards, a law firm that made him a job offer last August has withdrawn it, saying the site was against the "principles of collegiality and respect that members of the legal profession should observe in their dealings with other lawyers," and refused to change its mind even after the student resigned his post. Some see it as the guy getting what he deserved, but this still seems like little more than an overreaction on par with other firms basing their employment decisions on anonymous postings by third parties beyond job applicants' control.

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