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Science

Submission + - Doomsday miscalculation ? (metta-physics.com)

An anonymous reader writes: A new report suggests that the Mayan prophecy of the doomsday December 12, 2012 may have been miscalculated by nearly 50-100 years during the conversion of the Mayan calendar to our own Gregorian.
Security

Submission + - UK Teen Arrested Over Lulzsec Attacks (bbc.co.uk)

An anonymous reader writes: A 19-year-old man was held during a raid at a house in Wickford, Essex. A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "The arrest follows an investigation into network intrusions and distributed denial of service attacks against a number of international business and intelligence agencies by what is believed to be the same hacking group." The Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) were one of the agencies attacked.
Security

Submission + - LulzSec suspected arrested by UK police (sophos.com)

An anonymous reader writes: The UK's Police Computer e-Crime Unit (PCeU) has arrested a 19-year-old man in Wickford, Essex, in connection with the series of LulzSec attacks against organizations including the CIA, PBS and Sony.

The man, who has been arrested under the Computer Misuse and Fraud Act, has had his house searched and a significant amount of material taken away by police for forensic examination.

The PCeU worked with local Essex police and the FBI on the investigation.

Microsoft

Submission + - Silverlight Developers Rally Against Windows 8 (itnews.com.au) 1

aesoteric writes: "A legion of Silverlight developers have threatened revolt after Microsoft made no mention of Silverlight or .Net in the vendor's brief video preview for its upcoming Windows 8 operating system. Developers expressed fears Microsoft might let their investment in skills "die on the vine" as Redmond finally embraces open standards. Microsoft, for their part, have told developers they can't say more until September."
Science

Submission + - Becoming a Scientist Over and Over Again (discovermagazine.com)

purkinje writes: Erez Leiberman does physics, yes, but also linguistics, engineering, and molecular biology. He's a scientist, but rather than honing in on one area, he tackles questions that interest him--whatever field they fall in. He's mathematically analyzed the half-lives of verbs, determined how strands of DNA up in a cell's nucleus, and invented a special insole that helps the elderly improve their balance.
The Courts

Submission + - Federal courts to begin first digital video pilot (networkworld.com)

coondoggie writes: "Federal district courts have been prohibited from allowing any sort of electronic dissemination of trials since 1946, but that is about to change.

Fourteen federal trial courts and 100 judges have been selected to take part in the federal Judiciary's three-year digital video pilot, which will begin July 18 and will go a long way towards determining the effect of cameras in courtrooms."

Privacy

Submission + - School District Hit With New Mac Spying Lawsuit (computerworld.com) 2

CWmike writes: "A former student at a suburban Philadelphia high school has sued his school district for allegedly spying on him and his family using a school-issued Mac laptop, according to court documents. The Lower Merion School District of Ardmore, Pa. was first sued in February 2010 by another student using similar charges. That case, dubbed 'Spygate' in some reports, was settled last October when Lower Merion agreed to pay Blake Robbins $175,000 and cover $425,000 in court costs. On Monday, Joshua Levin, a 2009 graduate of Herriton High, charged the district with violating his civil rights and privacy by remotely activating the notebook's built-in camera to take photographs and screenshots. On Wednesday, Lower Merion spokesman Doug Young called Levin's lawsuit 'solely motivated by monetary interests and a complete waste of the taxpayer's dollars.' Levin begged to differ. According to his lawsuit, Lower Merion used his laptop to take more than 8,000 photographs and screenshots between September 2008 and March 2009. A district report uncovered more than 30,000 photographs and 27,000 screenshots taken. Last June, lawyers made photos and screenshots available for viewing by the 76 affected students. 'Plaintiff opted to view the recovered images, and was shocked, humiliated and severely emotionally distressed at what he saw,' Levin's lawsuit stated."
Security

Submission + - Court:Passwords+Secret Questions=Secure Banking (krebsonsecurity.com)

An anonymous reader writes: A closely-watched court battle over how far commercial banks need to go to protect their customers from cyber theft is nearing an end. Experts said the decision recommended by a magistrate last week — if adopted by a U.S. district court in Maine — will make it more difficult for other victim businesses to challenge the effectiveness of security measures employed by their banks. This case would be the first to add legal precedent to banking industry guidelines about what constitutes "reasonable" security. The tentative decision is that a series of passwords + some device fingerprinting is enough to meet the definition of "something you know" + "something you have". The case has generated enormous discussion over whether the industry's "recommended" practices are anywhere near relevant to today's attacks, in which crooks usually have complete control over the victim's PC
Google

Submission + - Google Redirects Traffic to Avoid Kazakh Demands (wsj.com)

pbahra writes: "Google has rejected attempts by the Kazakh government "to create borders on the web" and has refused a demand to house servers in the country after an official decree that all Internet domains ending with the domain suffix for Kazakhstan ,".kz", be domestically based. Bill Coughran, Google senior vice president said in his blog that from now on, Google will redirect users that visit google.kz to google.com in Kazakh:" We find ourselves in a difficult situation: creating borders on the web raises important questions for us not only about network efficiency but also about user privacy and free expression. If we were to operate google.kz only via servers located inside Kazakhstan, we would be helping to create a fractured Internet." Mr. Coughran said that unfortunately, it would mean that Kazakh users would have a poorer experience as results would no longer be customized for the former Soviet republic."
Music

Submission + - Mari Kimura SUBHARMONICS violin String Theory (makeahistory.com)

An anonymous reader writes: In April 1994, at a solo recital given by Mari Kimura in New York City, subharmonics were introduced to the musical community as a revolutionary bowing technique to extend the violin's range by a full octave below on the open G string without changing the tuning. Subharmonics require precise control of the bow pressure and speed, in order to freely utilize this extended bowing technique. Subharmonics can be used as a musical element for composers to explore additional possibilities for the violin and other string instruments. As the technique has grown significantly since the initial discovery more than 15 years ago, it was apparent that Subharmonics needed a closer look in the most controlled environment. ....

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